We would've been, could've been worse than you could ever know...

..The dashboard melted but we still had that stereo...

We have reached the end of an era, the era that is networked media. In crossing the finishing line a time comes for reflection and ultimately a retrospective overview of what has been achieved this past semester, especially in terms of this blog.

Frankly I believe that this blog has assisted me in my journey through the unit. It has allowed me to openly express and organize my thoughts and further obtain understanding and insight into the both the lecture and tutorial content. Each blog post that I have made was made with the some reflective intention whether that was to do with the production projects or Michael’s weekly lectures. I also believe that I would have blogged as often as weekly regardless of the unit requirement because after the first few posts (as can be observed by the shift of my blogging voice – satirical to serious) I really learnt the benefits of expressing thought in type.

Content of the blog: What can I say? Each post captures a state of mind or a state of being. Looking back I can feel frantic when reading slurs in capital letters or excitement with chat-speak (“OMMMGGG”) like remarks. My content was restrained primarily to the content of the course because frankly I didn’t feel the need to branch out into areas of the web or my social life that would not actually drive my work within the unit forward. In retrospect it was important to keep my brain active and on task in regards to the unit, and this was achieved through monitoring the content (keeping it all related) of my posts and the very task of posting weekly. I feel that the “push” to post weekly, although sometimes difficult, was incredibly beneficial in keeping my straying mind on track.

I used this blog to explain things. It might have been a new concept brought up in the lecture. It might have been the exercise we worked on in the tutorial. It might have been the grueling process I underwent in creating a project; nonetheless the main purpose of the blog was to explain. Explain and solidify concepts and ideas.

POST 1 is a prime example of the latter. This is a post that I am proud of, a post where I explained the entire building process of Production Project A. Here I could say everything that I wanted to say in the rationale, but couldn’t because of its sheer redundancy in terms of the rationale’s guidelines.

The two other posts that I am going to share are an example of tutorial learning. The material that we learnt and the knowledge that we gained in the tutorials after blogged not only stick, but are also shared to an audience. That’s the magical thing about blogging and the connectivity o the internet, that knowledge can be shared and spread to a wider body of people.

POST 2

POST 3

Audience: I don’t believe that I reached an audience beyond Michael and the University of Canberra crew. I counted myself on two other blog rolls and have a total of three anonymous followers. Over the 15 weeks that my blog was on the web I received a total of one comment. I think this gives a pretty good overview of the vastness of my audience. I believe it would be impossible to extend my audience into the wider web without giving them something more to offer. Right now ‘Zombie Stomping and Bear Blood’ revolves around a very specific realm of interests, a realm that you really have to be involved with to have interest in. It can be said that the subject of a blog determines its audience, which is especially evident when you look at some of the more successful or “famous” blogs on the internet. Even within the Networked media group there exists blogs which are more appealing to the common audience, they often included reference to the wider topic areas and an impression that they could continue beyond the course.
In retrospect a conscious effort could have been made to ‘connect’ to a broader audience, although I also believe that to do that the purpose and benefit for me as a blogger would have been negated. In my earlier posts I can see that I was trying too hard to gain traffic, and in placing my on popularity my resulting posts contained nothing more than a pathetic attempt at wit and little to no content. Striving for an audience basically led to me a rant pointlessly.

Connectivity: Audience also can be determined by connectivity, where a blog is placed and where it is advertised. In terms of connectivity, my blog connects to the blogosphere through the Moodle database and further connects to other blogs through a blog roll. Connectivity is the one thing I love about the internet, through linking and networking we all affect each other. For instance if I posted the link to this blog on my facebook account, the kids on my blog roll could potentially gain new followers and new friends. Connectivity is the lifeblood of the internet and ultimately the key to knowledge within the blogosphere.

Blogging in General: Connectivity not only provides knowledge but almost a social networking element to blogs. An entire community can be founded on a singular blog roll. For example: “I like sewing here are links to other bloggers who also sew.” Just as our blog rolls established a connected Network Media community. We learnt more about each other and our experiences through our blogs.

What I have learnt this semester is that blogging plays a leading role in communication. I can state with confidence that it is an essential part of the networked principal because it is run by the people. Blogging is just another way to be human, we express, socialize and empathize through connecting with each other. We can also broaden our horizons.

My blog may not be much on it’s own but it stands as a part of a larger picture. It continues to lives as I do, acting as a record, or a library, or a diary for all to see, observe and react to. Maybe one day, in the future it will help someone, but in the meantime this is the end of Zombie stomping.

I bid you, my dear readers (if you are out there) adieu.

End of the line: Project B Rationale

My Production Project B takes the form of a data visualisation. Unfortunately I do not have the skills to build a functioning, active and algorithmic online application, so I have chosen to represent my master concept as a proposition or ‘blue print’ for a data visualisation.

My proposition can be viewed here:


Drug trends and Crime within Australia:

Annually information collected about drug trends within Australia by the IDRS (Illicit drug reporting System) and the EDRS (Ecstasy and Related drugs reporting system) and displayed upon the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (Found Here), UNSW’s website. So all information displayed within my data visualisation is attributed to them and their work. ABS was also referenced.

I chose to create a data visualisation on the grounds that they assist in the discovery of information and learning. Through undergoing this project I also have formed the belief that information, especially government founded and supported, would be better released and absorbed by the public if it were in the form of data visualisation. Essentially I believe in the power of the visual for conveying messages.

Research for this project entailed looking at multiple data visualisations and consequently the structure of my project mimics the style of similar information based works. I was largely influenced by Google Public Data who convey information with simplicity and style.

I chose to use this data because it is represents a problem that needs a solution. With drug related deaths and over doses become more prevalent among youth and adolescents, perhaps acknowledgement and understanding of this information, in simple and visual form, will end in action. I believe that a data visualisation is a more effective way of conveying data because of its immediacy (visually gained) and simplicity. Direct relations can be made by the user and it is over all more stimulating to interact with than the standard report.

I thought it would be important to include animated gif images in my proposal. This was not only for practicality reasons, cutting down the amount of images, but also to give a better demonstration and perception of how my project would function if it were to be actually built. The Dataviz was constructed in Photoshop CS2, using up to 180 layers that were effectively turned on and off as the image was saved and resaved to produce “frames” for animation. Each image was imported into Adobe Image ready as a frame and then exported as an animation.

Symbols are a prime informative of the work. They are utilized in both panels, but are predominantly featured within the location or map panel. I made this choice because it symbols are recognized as a convention of marking something not physically based on a map. The map functions to provide information upon mouse over. The user theoretically should gain specific knowledge and insight into a particular crime, which enhances the meaning of the symbol and benefits the knowledge of the user.

The ‘keys’ on the map are reflective of the crimes they represent, a universal perception. For example a hand signifies violence crimes whilst a car is the symbol of driving offences. The choices for the symbols were very deliberate based on what I believed would be audience assumption. I discovered upon viewing copious amounts of similar projects that it is important to work with association patterns for the benefit of both your audience and effectiveness of your data visualisation.

I chose to use circles to represent the drugs because of their inability for tessellation. I believe that the as circles they are not lost visually in a pattern which may occur with squares or triangles especially when colour similarity occurs.
Colour is also an important feature of the visualisation. In The map panel colour is used to distinguish the different drug types. This is essential for the “visual information gain” element of the project as looking at the map it is easy to derive patterns such as specific drug use in specific areas. I have discovered that colour is an important visual informative as you only have to look to understand, no thought or calculation required.

Similarly colour is used in the left panel. I specifically chose to make the ‘most available’ the colour red, because it is often associated with the notion of “more.” The green to red spectrum is also a common feature I noticed in Data visualisation when doing my research. Another example of use of the green to red spectrum is Data Viz. Similarly this project associates the colour red with “more”.

Another visual element I use in the left panel is size. The sizes of the circles correspond to the use of that drug for that year. The larger the circle the more widely used the drug. Again size association occurs, the visual message is received
I specifically chose to use the font’ Rockwell’ because of it’s on screen readability. I attempted to keep my work as simple and as minimalistic as possibly for the purpose of accessibility across a broader audience. Personally I believe that I maintained a level of simplicity that is easy for anyone to understand.
In terms of putting the thing online, although I don’t know all that much about algorithms, I am going to attempt to guess what such algorithm would be used in the construction of my project:


Left Panel:
Year="*"
Symbol="*"
Crime="*" = associated with side bar crimes, number perhaps 1-5
Colour="*"
Location="lat, long"
Mouse over="info"


Right Panel
Year="*"
Circle Class= "e.g. Heroin"
Width= "px"
Colour percentage="*" - colour gradiant given percentages, 100% = red.
Mouse over= "info"

*circles must touch

(I'm probably totally wrong.)

I believe that this data would be most beneficial to the public as a dataviz because it relates drug trends within Australia. Drug abuse is becoming one of our countries concerns especially in an age where parents are overly cautious. I believe that my project, if built, could inform parents about neighbourhood activity and ultimately influence their real estate choices. There is a possibility that it could also be utilized by the police force to monitor trending drug activity, and the prominence of certain drugs on the street which could ultimately determine their course of action.

Ultimately I imagine that the core design of my dataviz could be utilized to display a variety of relating information, such as Drug related fatalities in relation to drug use or the demographic that certain drugs effect. Alternately as the data visualisation could grow to encompass these options after research is conducted.

As corny as it sounds the data visualisation has the capacity to change the course of the world, frankly because it is so much more engaging the way we record information standard, black and white text reports. We seem to be fighting what nature has bred us to do, to absorb colour and shape and distinguish patterns. After this project I firmly believe that if we just coloured our worl a little more, we can strive for change.

Not much to report on goven'r

I’m at this point, this point where I have absolutely no motivation in any aspect of life. I can hardly be bothered to watch television let alone construct a data visualisation among the 500 other things that I’ve left too late.

I’m thinking that the geo-narrative is more my style…yet…there is something (call it intuition) that is telling me ‘no’. Just ‘no’. So the reasoning centre of my brain (which, random fact, isn’t fully developed in teenagers) interprets that as “A geo narrative is too much work. You have little to no motivation, imagine if you actually had to get up from your computer and leave your dark little room to take pictures. By golly, the world would collapse.”

So there you have it.

I thought this would have been a more substantial post.

Mapping out a plan:

In order to actually begin thinking about production project B I have to write up a blog, and map out a plan of the processes that I need to undertake to get the ball rolling.

1) Find a set of data.
It would be great if this was data that I hold some interested in, or that would give me motivation to complete this assessment. Either way it has to be a broad set of data, applicable to a dataviz in a way that would allow exploration and discovery.

2) Mind map and document the most effective way of visually presenting that data.
Okay, so since I have no skill or knowledge whatsoever on building data visualisations, this is going to be more of a proposal data viz, one that I can show through different images, or perhaps an animated image or slideshow how the dataviz is going to function and allow exploration. I’ll probably work digitally, on photoshop because it will eliminate that cause for scanning where I don’t actually own a scanner.

3) Make the damn thing.
That is pretty self explanatory, and hand it in before the due date. I need to get this started before the next tutorial, which is Wednesday. I need to have at least found my data set, and have explored possibilities of how to represent it visually.

4) Write the rationale.
Again, let’s try to get this done before 2 hours prior to the due date. We’ll aim for a couple of days before.

Okay, so I basically want to knock this over in a week if I can. So that I have time to reflect, edit if I need to and most likely fix any spelling and grammar mistakes I manage to leave on my rationale.

Sounds so simple doesn’t it?

All the more reason to get started.



P.s. I miss Networked Media lectures. On the other hand, I like having a spare hour and a half.

Toast is interesting.

Oh man, why do I have to do so many subjects that involve staring intensely at a white, possibly illuminated surface.

EPIC HEADACHE.

Okay. For project B, I've been thinking about it and I've decided to head in pursuit of a data visual rep. The geo-narrative isn't half as appealing to me after the lecture as it was before. So, the data viz wins my vote on the grounds that I would otherwise produce a fairly uninspired geo-narrative. (that and I totally managed to lose my digital camera.)

We're thorugh the looking glass people...

Okay, so it just occurred to me that I never finished last week’s post. Frankly I straight up forgot about it, that and I’ve been battling a severe case of procrastination. Though I do intend to go back and pick at it some more, perhaps when there are less pressing matters at hand- such as this week’s blog post.

Data Visualization:

Or dataviz if you want to be all jargon-professional. So what is dataviz? Essentially it is a means of representing abstract data visually, in a way that exploits fundamental elements that humans can detect (…i.e. colour, shape, pattern, scale) and ultimately leads to the uncovering of new information or assumption.
So, the premise of an effective data visualisation is that it exploits the user’s ability to see. The user should be able to ‘experience’ (or interact with) a dataviz, to further explore and uncover information for themselves through correlations or parallels.

I discovered the merit of a dataviz with this week’s tutorial exercise. Looking at the delicious links kinda solidified what data visualization should entail, more so than it would have had I gone searching for a dataviz on my own.

THIS was the data visualisation that I decided to talk about. I found appeal in its simplicity, the fact that data was accessible in a fashion that was both easy to uncover and understand. It’s also incredibly valuable in terms of representing data because it provides both a broad overview of information and a more intimate or specific insight into the data presented.

(a) So what is shown? The fertility rate or an average of how many children per woman/family, of a country is represented on the y axis. This dataviz takes on the convention of the grid, and utilizes numbers as a means of specific communication. (Upon mouse over the specifics of the item can be found, i.e. 8.3.)The x axis is the life expectancy in a number of years, and again mouse over provides the specifics. Countries use the visual element of colour, shape and placement/position to translate their information. The closer the country’s (represented by a circle) colour is to the colour red, the higher the average of births per woman there are to that country, the further along the x axis the longer the lifespan. A marker can be placed on a specific country, in the form of a hovering bubble, which thus allows an easily deciphered (or “seen”) visual representation of the information.

Once more this dataviz is valuable because of the broad spectrum of information it contains. It not only provides life expectancy and fertility rate for a number of countries but also has a “time slider”, to observe the changes that have occurred within that country over an amount of time. 1960 -2008 to be exact.

(b) I imagine the algorithm for this dataviz would go a little something like this…
Date, = country: x axis, y axis.

Maybe there would be another algorithm for colour: the colour depends on the position on the x and y axis. And of course there would be the stats coded to appear upon mouse over.

(c) Although I think I’ve already had a stab at explaining the visual elements of this dataviz…I can’t think of some kind of way to expand stab into a clever analogy…

Anyway…As I mentioned before the use of the grid is a convention and more importantly a means of clarifying. The general mass knows what function of a x/y axis grid is, the further away from the grid line, in most cases, indicates the higher the value of the entity. So here (time 2008), on first glance we can see that Niger the highest fertility rate, (not doing so well with the life expectancy) while China, Japan and Lichtenstein have the top three life expectancies.

If the concept on the grid is lost on you, colour reinforces what the grid may not. Though our own associations of colour may alter our interpretations of attitude towards the information. For example red for me represents pressure, anger and frustration- fittingly corresponding with my idea of having anywhere between five to seven or eight kids. Another person may associate the colour red with love, yes, lots of love produced that many children. That same person might also believe that the blue for 2- 3 kids is depressing, yes depressing that you don’t have seven or eight children to give your copious amounts of love. Or not, just a theory, or a tangent…

Okay, so those are the two key visual elements that I stabbed before further examined. I have nothing more to say on it.

(d) The interesting finds, included the general decrease in the fertility rate, and increase of life expectancy as the years go on.
Rwanda’s life expectancy dropped from 46.6 (1981)years back to 26.4 from 1988. There was also a significant drop in the fertility rate.

In 2008 the country with the lowest life expectancy is in Afghanistan. At a whopping low 48.9.

In 1960 Europe’s countries had the highest life expectancy. Afghanistan has the lowest.
Timor and Cambodia hit a low in life expectancy in the 70s.

Where most of the countries in earlier times sat within the red to orange range in terms of fertility rate, in 2008 only 3 countries sat in the orange range of fertility rate.

I now realise, that this would never have been found out (by me) and retained in the back of my little mind without data visualisation.

THE SYSTEM WORKS! And isn’t that, ladies and gentlemen, the most important thing?

I go to town when I write lecture notes for networked media. Without them, I would hardly be able to comprehend what Michael is saying. They keep me focused. The following notes regard the subjects of…

Multiplicity:

Multiplicity, the anecdote that Michael used was the one of Francis Galton. In 1906 Mr Galton attended a fair, where he discovered that the average of all the guesses of the weight of a cow was closer to the cow’s actual weight than the closest individual guess. This is of course, dear friends, is the power of multiplicity, where the power of the mass outweighs the power of the individual.

Now multiplicity does not only pertain to the notion of power (power = capability to achieve) but also variety- a different way of looking at things, or a broader perspective.

Within multiplicity there exist two subsections: people and machine multiplicity. Machine multiplicity involves scale and algorithm while people multiplicity involves crowd sourcing and the concept of the ‘wisdom of the crowd’.
The wisdom of the crowd, examples including Wikipedia and open source software, has its advantages in four key areas:

Diversity of opinion, independence of opinion (little influenced), decentralization (interpretation of information is likely their own interpretation) and aggregation.

The power of the people is important because people can do things that computers cannot, or can do things with computers that computers cannot do on their own.

(to be continued...
I'm fighting illness whilst sitting here.)