Britney Spears VMA "Performance."

Now while I realize that there are far more pressing issues to discuss other than a mediocre pop- star’s dissent back into the trailer park, I couldn’t think of anything else interesting to write about and I knew that there would be PLENTY of material to choose from for this particular topic. I didn’t actually watch the award show myself (I wasn’t that bored), but I have seen a few hilarious clips. Anyway, here are the views of two different women who wrote blogs on the topic called "America’s Favorite Tragic Figure" and "Britney Spears and the VMA’s."

"America’s Favorite Tragic Figure" was the first blog that I read. It was written by a woman who calls herself MommyK. I found her through Technorati which eventually linked me to Blogger where her blog, "Conversations With Myself," is found. MommyK’s blog differed from the other blog because it was more thoughtfully written. Her blog had a more professional look to it and it was more astheticly pleasing because it was more organized than the other blog. She seemed to empathize with Britney. While she agreed with the fact that Britney’s performance was awful and that she pretty much made a fool of herself she thought it was uncalled for for people to call her fat. She is a mother herself and realizes that it isn’t possible for everyone to bounce back to their pre-pregnancy weight directly after having children. She also believes that people should be less judgmental when it comes to Britney’s mothering skills. MommmyK admits to breaking many parenting rules herself and thinks that everyone else has too.

"Britney Spears and the VMA’s" was the second blog that I read. I also found this blog through Technorati which lead me to some woman’s myspace blog. The woman’s name wasn’t on the site but I know she is a woman because her gender and age were listed. This blog was not nearly as well written as the other blog, but it was 100 times more hilarious. It looked very amateurish and tacky. Pink and purple, like an eleven- year- old girl created it. The content differed greatly from the other blog as well. This woman had no sympathy for poor Brit at all. She believed that Britney’s body looked terrible and that, "...in Hollywood it takes only a month," to get rid of the baby weight. Which I found really strange because this woman is a mother too. She was equally critical of Britney’s parenting. She made a comment so funny about this that I feel the need to quote it entirely. "Poor kids have more disgusting teeth than the hobo that lives next to the dumpster in my neighborhood. At least the hobo has an excuse. He can't afford a toothbrush and has no running water."

The thing that both of these blogs had in common was that they were both written by mothers. My guess is both of them are bored housewives who need something to do between changing dirty diapers and washing dishes. Both blogs talked about the fact that the performance was abysmal and an embarrassment.

The Greg Oden Knee Saga/Conspiracy/Conundrum/Whatever

Note: Unfortunately, Greg Oden didn't get his knee injury dancing with this girl, because that would have been awesome.

With news that the #1 overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft forced to undergo surgery that will put him on the chillin' list for the entire 22007-2008 NBA season, the bloggers were out in full force.

Henry Abbott, mastermind behind the TrueHoop NBA blog is a lifelong Portland TrailBlazer fan, so his coverage of the Greg Oden news was in depth.

Actually, his general coverage of the NBA is deep. He is one of the best bloggers out there. There is a reason he was hired by ESPN to bring his blog to them.

Abbott reported early news the Oden needed to have his knee looked at under the knife, then reported news that they weren't sure how bad the injury was after surgery, and then finally reported news that the surgery was worse than people expected and it's going to cost him his rookie season.

Marcel Mutoni, the blogger behind SLAMonline's "The SLAM Wire," reported the severity of Oden's surgery after news was broke that the injury would sideline Oden. There were a couple of small links about Oden's potential surgery, but nothing to the extent that Abbott reported.

Now both bloggers are linking to reports that Oden may have known about his injury before the draft, causing conspiracy theorists to have a field day and claim that he duped the TrailBlazers and their fans. Either way, there's a lot more to come from this story and both bloggers should have plenty.

Comparision of Houston sports blogs

I haven't yet delved too deep into reading blogs, but one I've liked reading is that of Richard Justice, a sports columnist for the Houston Chronicle. His blog, SportsJustice, is separate from the material he writes for the newspaper; for example, he had a post lauding the Texans after their big win over the Carolina Panthers Sunday.

I then found a second Houston sports blog, on KPRC Local 2's Web site. It's written by Randy McIlvoy, the Sports Director and an anchor for the television station. I wasn't familiar with it before this assignment, and from what I read I wasn't missing anything.

It's easy to see that Richard knows better how to use a blog, as his includes long entries, viewable reader comments and at the top of the most recent one he had links to interviews with Texans players commenting on the latest win. While on this latest entry I didn't notice any replies from him to reader comments, I know from reading it in the past he will respond. I've always enjoyed reading his columns and the blog is no different. He may be a columnist, but he still attends practices at times, and interviews top officials with the Astros, Texans and Rockets, which goes a long way in legitimizing his opinions on the teams' respective front offices.

McIlvoy's blog on the other hand, was not very good. There was a link to send him a comment via e-mail, but nowhere on the site were readers' comments visible to the public. The entries were also generally shorter and did not provide links to past stories or articles written by others in the industries (which Justice does; he's even provided links to YouTube in reference to high school performances). "Randy's Rants" seemed to be more about...well, Randy, instead of being an area to converse about Houston sports. His "about me" bio page is long as any entry I saw, and in the top right corner of the site is his mug.

I've read Justice's columns for a while now and there's usually good reads. They provided substance whether the reader agrees with him or not, and that carries over to the blog. Rand's Rants focus more on upcoming content on other forms of media: radio, TV highlight packages to look out for, etc. In this regard Justice is more entertaining to me.

O.J. compared

NOTE: Given that these bloggers are always posting, the links may or may not take you directly to the O.J. post I am writing about.

Since my ultimate goal in life is to find myself working in fashion magazines I decided to pick two entertainment blogs to compare. Just as almost everyone in our society is interested in the celebrity aspect of life, I am too, but for a different reason; I like to laugh and whenever I’m in a bad mood I can always go on to one of these sites to look at the failings of the millionaires.

The Perezhilton blog and a blog called Popbytes have a bunch of unimportant information relating to celebrities, movies, TV or anything of that nature featured on their sites. I like to read these in particular because they, the bloggers, are either making fun of the sticky situations of the famous or stating it in a humorous way.

For this post I will be comparing the reporting of the most recent O.J. Simpson debacle. As background for those who don’t already know, Simpson was just recently named as a suspect in a casino break-in case that dealt with some sports memorabilia.

On the Perez blog an entire folder is dedicated to this…person, detailing all of his past mishaps, run-ins, etc. but on Friday half way down the homepage a picture of the man was in full display with the word ‘idiot’ written in white across his forehead [See right picture]. The title of the piece read: “O.J.’s Confession.” The short, short summary consisted of barely eight lines with a link to an ABC source in the midst of the sentences.

On Popbytes this same story was a bit more difficult to find. On this homepage under daily_pop_nosh a short blurb states, “besides murderer - you can add burglar to this asshole's name” with a link to a different bloggers page. I found it interesting that this blogger didn’t even care to write up his own short, short blurb as Perez had. He basically calls him an asshole and leaves it at that. Just to see where the story went I clicked on the link and was take to a blog titled holycandy. On this blog the summary was longer than Perez’s and had a different picture with a link to an AOL source.

Both blog sites allowed for their audiences to comment on their sites. Most of the comments were a bit inappropriate but still funny given this man’s situation.

I liked Perez’s approach to the topic a bit better than I did for popbyte’s. I think it was more effective and depicts what most Americans already feel towards ‘the juice.’

Austin City Limits, here I come!

I'll be moblogging from ACL this weekend at cindyroyal.blogspot.com . I apologize in advance for the poor quality photos from my phone and the cryptic text message posts. But, it should be fun!

Anyone else, feel free to blog about ACL here or post a link to another blog that you are using.
Cindy

Compare 2 Bloggers

For this week's blog post, I want you to compare two different blogs. Find two blogs that are relevant to the same topic, then write a post that compares and contrasts their coverage of a certain issue. For example, you might compare Daily Kos and a blogger from the Washington Post, as to their coverage of the war in Iraq. Make links and references to specific posts to support your entry.

You can use Technorati.com to find popular blogs, or seek them out yourself. Make sure that you are comparing blogs, not just regular columns on newspaper sites. Do this before class on Tuesday.

Cindy

The White Stripes just pulled out of ACL. Check Austinist for details...

Multimedia message

My dog chloe

Moblog madness.

Statesman.com

There was an article on statesman.com about Britney Spears' performance at the MTV Video Music Awards. Although people have already talked about it, using multimedia might have made the article even more interesting. The piece discussed the insults and defenses about Spears made on blogs throughout the Internet. It also brought up how hypocritical the public is to both cry shame at the skeletal state of most models and actresses and in the next breath call BitBit fat and disgusting.

The first piece of multimedia would have been easy: show the video of Britney's performance. It's pretty painful to watch, as you can see here, but it would have perfectly demonstrated why people were hurling insults at her. While to me Spears doesn't look fat, she certainly looks out of shape and practice, wobbling around on stage.



The second piece of multimedia would have been audio clips of people (normal people, not celebrities) who saw Spears' performance. Perhaps the AP writer could have made contact with some of the most critical and most defensive bloggers and made their comments available in audio format.

Third, I would have put an online poll next to the story. People could vote and see results right away of what the general public thought of Spears' little romp on stage. A) They hated it and she looked awful, B) It was bad, but give the girl a break, or C) I've been living under and rock and don't know or care what she does.

Lastly, Spears has had a history of bad public events. The baby on her lap, the crotch photos, the shaved head, her husband... An interactive flash choose-your-own-adventure package would be fun to see. Perhaps it could start way back at the beginning of Spears' career until the present, and along the way you would be able to choose options, as if you were Spears, to see where you end up. It'd be childish and a waste of time, but what else do you have to do at work?

MYSA's treatment of the Cowboy, Giants opener

On September 10, 2007, the Dallas Cowboys opened their 2007 by playing the highest score ever in a division game against the New York Giants. The Cowboys led by new coach, Wade Phillips were proud to pull out a victory but leave with some defensive concerns. The game played out like an offensive war with each team posting high passing yards, a plausible running game, and a worn down defensive.

Since the 2006 ended with the snap heard around the NFL, first-year quarterback, Tony Romo, spent the entire off season talking about the hard loss. Romo needed his season opener to be a game the fans would not forget-in a good way. With his need to prove himself as the real deal, Romo should have been the headline of the day, but the San Antonio Express-News folks continue to follow the herd and report on Terrell Owens as the player to watch in Dallas.

In Tom Osborn’s story, “NFL: Cowboys Win Offensive Opener”, the reporting carelessly leads to the reader into the Cowboys season opener by using insignificant quotes from Owens and other players that portray the game’s highlights as uneventful. Owen’s pre-game quote about picking up the slack is insignificant, because he was shut out of the first half of the game by the Giants defense. Adding a multimedia content to the story could have helped translate the team’s excitement as well as the crowd’s support during a crucial division win.

First, after focusing on significant quotes that captured the team’s momentum in the story lead, I would have add a link to a video of Romo commenting on the game, the game’s turning point, and being named the Player of the Game. The video would show Romo with Madden by the trailer of where his picture is posted as a stand-out player of the game. Romo would give Madden details of how the game changed at the half and what his concerns were when the score was so close at the half. He would also give a spontaneous response the being the player of the game when just a year ago he wasn’t even a starter. Since the game had the highest score ever between the two teams, a second video link would be in the story to show the Giants/Cowboy rivalry history.

The second piece of multimedia I would add would be a two mini-timeline’s showing the comparison of plays that came out in the pre-season in comparison to plays that were used in Week One. The chart would have a link to the name of each preseason game. Then, the link would show two graphics of the play and how it was used. The link would also label the play a success in a green highlight or unsuccessful in a red highlight. The chart would help fans learn the Cowboy playbook without having to study the game.

The third piece of multimedia would be a link to certain names in the story that would give a history piece to fans. The team is starting with a lot of new key positions in a team that has a respected history in the league. The links would be to head coach, Wade Phillips, and the link would show Quick Facts bulleted on Phillips football career. Tony Romo would have a link to show Quick Facts on his quick rise in the NFL and how he arrived at the NFL. Lastly, Quick Facts will be applied to the offense, defense, and special teams.

The final piece of multimedia would focus on the game’s injuries. Each player that went out on both sides would link to a description and diagram of the injury and possible recovery times and treatments. Since Eli Manning when out with a bruised shoulder that would be a link with a recreated picture of Manning’s should and details on possible treatments.

In my treatment of the story, I chose video over photo, so the viewer can feel the rush of game day by hearing the crowd sounds. Then, I chose timeline links, because fans enjoy dissecting the players and the game.

Multimedia content for Multiple Sclerosis

Living with a disease is difficult, but when you have the support of your family and friends, it makes the hard times easier to deal with. I chose this story on a bike team called Carpe Diem, who are riding for Andrea Guerrero, a San Antonio woman with multiple sclerosis. MS is a disease that affects the central nervous system. My mother went through a bout with cancer after I was born and she always emphasized how my father’s support helped her make it through. I could relate my mother’s experience with Guerrero’s, who has children and is struggling to cope with her disease. Carpe Diem is riding in Valero MS 150 Bike Tour, which helps raise money for MS research. The team consists of Guerrero’s friends, who she through her childcare business, which she is unable to run anymore because of her MS. Her husband will also ride in the tour, but with another team. The bike tour will begin at the AT&T Center in San Antonio and end in Corpus Christi.

I was surprised the story had no multimedia because there are many things that can make it more interactive. The easiest multimedia content the Express-News could have added was a map outlining the route of the bike tour. It could include an infobox on the map which gives the dates of the tour, who is sponsoring it and a legend. The map can have mark stars with each of the stops that will be taken on the tour by riders. At each stop, which I assume it will be a city or town, when the mouse rolls over the star, it could bring up a box with statistics showing the number of people living with MS in that area.


Another piece of multimedia I would include is a video clip showing a day in the life of Guerrero. The story provides details about how it is a struggle for Guerrero to do things such as going to grocery store or shopping for her children’s school clothes. It could begin with Guerrero getting up in the morning, getting herself and children ready for school and then how she goes through her day to day. There could be shots of Guerrero doing exercises, taking medication or planning her diet to deal with her MS. More importantly, it could show how her family keeps things together through efforts such as the “believe” maxim her daughter began, which appears throughout their home, according to the story.

The third piece of multimedia content could be a graphic showing how to do exercise that alleviate pain associated with MS. The National MS Society has an illustrated manual on their Web site with stretching exercises beneficial to those suffering from the disease. I would include three different stretching exercises, one on the neck and shoulders, another on arms and the last on legs, which would cover most of the body. I would have the graphic show each exercise with numbered steps with a small description under each illustration explaining what to do. I would include a link to the illustrated manual at the bottom if people want to learn more exercises.

The last piece of multimedia would feature an interactive graphic of a person who suffers from MS. It would be like a video game, in the sense that you can move the person around, but it would basically be a graphic that moves. Initially, the person would be shown as a someone who was just diagnosed with the disease. The user could have the person trying to do the dishes or pick up a box in their home and showing how they become fatigued faster or feel pain in their arms or legs. When the pain becomes to great after the person attempts to do the activity, a screen can come up which shows the central nervous system of that person. It can give a breakdown of what is happening internally to nervous and signals that are being sent to the person’s brain. Then it could show someone with a the disease more progressed, who is trying to comb their hair or get dressed in the morning. Once again, when the person gets too exhausted and in pain to continue their activity, the screen will give another breakdown of what is happening to the person internally.

Mii's Taking Over the House That Mario Built

I chose an article titled: Casual Fans Are Driving Growth of Video Games. The article is about the quickly expanding video game market, and the affect that casual gamers are having on the video game market as a whole.

A column containing a series of bullet points that detail what a “Noob” is (a casual gamer). This would contain information such as specific examples of casual games. Other bullet points might include the birth and growth in popularity of services such as Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade, Nintendo's Virtual Console, or Sony's Playstation Network. Though all three services are relatively new, each one has become incredibly popular, and each caters primarily to casual gamers by offering a host of simple, pick-up and play games.

A time line illustrating a history of the video game industry, specifically the history of home consoles. This would begin in the 1972, which marked the release of the first home console: the Magnavox Odyssey. Users could view information detailing important events that occurred during a given year by clicking on that year of the time line. For instance, 1975 would be a highlighted year because it marked Atari's first entry into the home console market with a machine dedicated to playing Pong called The Sears Tele-Game System. Other highlighted years would include 1983, which saw the collapse of the video game industry as a whole, and 1985, which saw the revival of the industry with the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Mario Bros.

The most difficult multimedia treatment to put together would be a “Casual Game Player.” This would be similar in use to the video player on YouTube, but instead of being a simple interface for watching videos it would be a simple interface for playing various Flash-based games. A large number of these games are available free of charge, and it wouldn't be very difficult to put together 3 or 4 examples of “good” Flash-based games that users would be able to play. These Flash-based games are important because they paved the way for casual gaming.

Tailgating 101 treatment

The University Star’s “Tailgating 101: A football fan’s guide to game day,” located here, was a story centering on the experiences and exploits of Texas State fans tailgating before football games. The story featured some good quotes and examples of activities, and had a few pictures to accompany it. School spirit was stressed as a major point in the story, and I had a few ideas how it could be improved with a multimedia treatment. The use of video footage, an interactive comment box, links to other tailgating sites and graphics have gone a long way toward improving the overall story.

The simple step of a reporter arriving early at Bobcat Stadium’s parking lot and looking out for colorful tailgating characters to interview on camera would have been excellent. I tailgated at both home games this season, and there is no shortage of colorful characters in the parking lot. Face and full-body painted Bobcat super fans are aplenty, and self-proclaimed barbecue experts are even more abundant. The sound bytes alone would have made the extra time worth it. A narrator’s personal account of his preparation, interlaced with some video footage of him being painted would be a great addition.

Adding a comment box at the bottom of the page would take a step toward the future of journalism. By adding interactivity, readers would have the opportunity to share their secrets to tailgating, showing school spirit and barbecuing. The growing Internet trend of interactivity and online communities is the best example of how successful a simple comment box can make a story.

Other tailgating sites, including those for other sports would also give readers interested in becoming game day champions more information to absorb. This site list could include more than other articles. Forums and blogs would go two ways, as both more information and another venue for interactivity.

The use of graphics charting tailgaters’ attendance for Texas State football games would also be another good choice for this article. An effective graphic can go a long way toward sending a message to viewers and readers — often times more than the article itself. An overview map of the stadium, with fans in the stands (more fans reflecting higher attendance numbers) would be cool. Finally, a poll asking readers’ opinions about tailgating or barbecuing methods would fall under both graphics and interactivity. The results of the poll could be sent back to readers in an unusual way. Instead of displaying a bar graph, a simple flash mini game of possible popular answers would be entertaining and informative.

Todd's King of the Hill Interactive Wonderland

The article I have chosen ran in the University Star and was written by a very talented and handsome young reporter. The article is about a King of the Hill exhibit at the Southwestern Writers Collection in the Alkek Library. The exhibit is basically a celebration of the show and its 11 plus seasons. The archives were donated to Texas State by one of the show’s writers and producers, Jim Dauterive. I chose this story because it is interesting and there are many possibilities for multimedia interactivity.

The first piece of interactive multimedia would be a slide show. But this isn’t your aunt Fanny’s slide show from her cruise to Alaska or bingo night. This would be a slide show with pictures, quotes, and audio from the characters of King of the Hill. Just imagine it, a slide of Hank Hill comes on the screen and you hear, “Damn it Bobby,” or “I sell propane and propane accessories.” Or better yet, a picture or two of Bobby Hill, accompanied by several of his more outrageous quotes, such as, “That’s my purse, I don’t know you.”

The second interactive feature would be a map of the Hills’ neighborhood in suburban Arlen, Texas. Using a flash animation that looks like Google Maps, have an overhead view of the neighborhood. Special locations could be the houses of the main characters, the beer-drinking fence (not a fence that drinks beer), the propane business where Hank works, or Bobby’s school. Other possibilities include Bobby’s route to school, or Hank’s route for walking the family dog, Ladybird.

The third piece would be more interactive. I would have a flash “game” where the user could select one of several memorable King of the Hill backgrounds, say, the fence in front of the Hills’ house. On top of their chosen background they would build their own King of the Hill scene. Yes, just like those sticker books we all remember from childhood, but now the user can recreate their favorite scene from the show, or make a new favorite. Additional features would include “speech bubbles” that the user could fill with hilarious dialogue.

The fourth and final feature of my interactive King of the Hill experience would be a magic 8 ball, Dale Gribble style. The user types in a question, submits it, and based on certain key words in the users’ question, the 8 ball feeds the user a response, either in text, or better, in the voice of the ultimate conspiracy theorist himself.

Multimedia Treatment to the Auto-Ped article

I chose the article that appeared in The University Star about the auto-pedestrian accident that I was involved in to show some multimedia additions that could supplement the story. The article includes a basic overview of the accident, including quotes from a responding officer and an eyewitness, as well as a photo of the car that was involved. This is (obviously) a story that I am interested in and I have had to answer a lot of questions about the accident and collect information about it from a variety of sources. This assignment made me consider--if they had been available–what details to the story I would like to know and could have been provided using elements of multimedia.
No. 1- The first multimedia element that could be included in the story is a slideshow. Pictures taken at different angles, and of people at the scene of the accident would give the story more detailed, especially with the inherent lack of specific information in the text of news stories of this nature. Also, captioned photos taken at a later time in the same area and at other streets surrounding campus, would show the amount of automobile and pedestrian traffic that is typical.
No. 2- Because the story included remarks regarding the safety of students walking on and around campus, I think it would be interesting if the story included an opinion poll. Similar to the simple and straight-forward opinion polls that already appear on the Star website, this story could include a one-question poll showing the split among the Texas State community’s concern for safety. For example, questions like: "Is it dangerous to be a pedestrian at or around Texas State?" or "Do you think the City of San Marcos and/or Texas State University needs to take action to ensure the safety of students walking to and from campus?" show the percentage of readers that are satisfied with the current conditions of the campus-area and those who would advocate changes.
No. 3- This article also mentions a number of eyewitnesses present at the time of the accident. A third multimedia element that would be appropriate for this article, is the inclusion of eyewitness input. Audio and/or video components of onlookers’ accounts could have been collected and included, as well as any existing eyewitness- generated media like cell phone pictures, or digital video.
No. 4- The final multimedia addition that I thought of was a digital re-enactment of the accident. It’s a little bit out there, but I got the idea after I read the police report. The last page had a drawing of Chestnut St with little cars, a stick figure (me), and a bunch of arrows, and I thought it would be interesting if I could watch a CGI-like video of what happened.

New Approaches to Treating Tourette Syndrome; New Approaches to Relaying the News

I read an article from the San Antonio Express-News website about new treatments that are being researched for Tourette Syndrome. A 6 million dollar study is being done at six different universities, one being the UT Health Science Center, to research the effectiveness of behavioral therapy treatment. The study is attempting to find a non-drug solution to the tics and behavioral outbursts those with Tourette Syndrome experience. The behavior therapy teaches patients to recognize oncoming outbursts and try to mentally suppress them.

While I found the article very interesting, providing mulitimedia treatments could provide more information and color to the article.

In the article, David Retano, who suffers from Tourette Syndrome, provides a brief personal experience growing up with Tourette and it's symptoms. The article could include in it, a message board like feature, where others suffering from Tourette, or simply just people wanting to comment on the story or sydrome could do so. This feature would be not onlike the blog we use for class, and would add a more personal feel to the story by allowing the readers to share their own stories.

In the article, another article in "Newsweek" pertaining to the study treatment is named, but not linked. This article could benefit by adding links to it and thus providing the reader with more related information. This specific "Newsweek" article could be linked, as well as links to the UT Health Science Center, and other sites devoted to educating and supporting people with Tourette Syndrome.

Another multimedia piece that could be added is an interactive feature where the different types of already available treatments are listed and pictured, and upon clicking them a brief description of the treatment is given. This would include how common the treatment is, the price range of the different treatments, their effectiveness and side effects.

One last multimedia piece that could be used to make the article more personal and relatable to the reader is interviews with people suffering from Tourette Syndrome. I imagine the set up of this feature to be very similar to the Washington Post's "Being a Black Man" interactive feature. About ten different people suffering from Tourette Syndrome, of different ages, ethnicities, and age would be pictured. Upon clicking on any one, a different window would open with a few different topic choices for you to select. Ex. How has Tourette Syndrome effected your life and personal relations? What treatment if any are you currently undergoing and are there any negative side effects? You could then select a specific topic and see a video of that specific person's answer to the selected question. This would answer many of the questions the reader is perhaps wondering, and if could come from a patient first hand.

All these multimedia features that could be added to the article would allow readers to spend more time with the piece and the subject overall, past just reading the story. The more options and information you present to your reader, the more interested in your piece they will be.

Bobcat Football: New Football Staff Sets High Goals...

I’m usually not a sports girl, but I am actually interested in football. This year I’ve decided to pay attention to Bobcat Football. I was really interested in this story by Scott Strickman in the University Star called “New Football Staff Sets High Goals for 2007 Season.” I am curious to see how the Bobcats will do this year with Brad Wright as the new coach, especially after doing so well with previous coach David Bailiff.

The first piece of multimedia I would add would be a link with any video clips of the Brad Wright talking about his new coaching strategy and the first and second game. I would also try to add a video clip of the previous coach, David Bailiff, talking about Wright as his successor.

The next multimedia piece I would add to this story would be a photo slide show of the first two games. Since they were both at home it would be very easy to have plenty of shots of Texas State students and fans. Photos of the players and new coaching staff would also be great additions.

Another simpler piece of multimedia would be a schedule updated with wins and loses after each game so that people who don’t regularly attend games can keep track of things easily. Also, as part of this multimedia I would have most if not all of the players listed by name and number with their statistics updated with each game. I think this will help fans get to know the team a little better. I might also include a few video clips of the more spectacular plays with a few individual players.

The last multimedia piece I would add would be a flash presentation much like Angela Grant’s on the roller derby girls. I would have photos of a few of the important players this year, the new coach, and assistant coaches on a main page. When you scroll over each individual’s picture a box with a video clip of each will pop up. I would ask them to talk about their hopes for this season, their thoughts on the coaching staff, and what they think the Bobcats will have to do in order to have a great season.

Multimedia treatment paper on disappearing honeybees

I was intrigued by a story on the front metro section of the Friday San Antonio Express-News titled “Trail of Mystery,” which dealt with a possible explanation of the sudden and immense honeybee disappearances. According to the author of the story, researchers may have found a virus that is linked to the disappearance 50 to 80 percent of commercial honeybees. The bees aren’t used just to make honey, the story reports. They are also necessary for pollinating almonds, apples, cotton and almost 90 other crops nationwide.

The story was well-done and explored information on the recently discovered virus, but I thought of some multimedia projects that could accompany the story on the Web.

No. 1: I would create an interactive map of where reported beekeepers in the U.S. are located. That way, readers can paint a visual picture of which areas are hit harder. A sidebar accompanying the story reports that there are more than 200,000 beekeepers in the U.S., with most of them being small hobbyists and roughly 1,600 commercial beekeepers, according to the USDA.

It can be a simple geographical map of Texas with bee icons representing beekeepers. I think it should be limited to just Texas, because the map is serving mainly a San Antonio audience and a U.S. map may be too ambitious, even for a big Texas paper. Maybe small icons can represent 1-24 beekeepers in an area. Medium-sized icons can represent 25-49 beekeepers. Large icons can represent 50 or more.

When you click on the icons, it can have information to the side of the map, such as the precise number of beekeepers in the area and a breakdown of how many are hobbyists and how many are commercial. This would give readers a good idea of which areas of the state are more dependent on this industry.

No. 2: Images are always popular, so I would propose a slideshow. It would be photographs of the process of beekeeping. There could be close-up shots of the bees along with shots of beekeepers covered in bees.

It could be mixed with sound in a program, such as Sound Slides, so that people can hear the buzzing of the bees and the workers talking about their jobs. Since this is a seemingly uncommon job or one most people would find dangerous, the photos audio and visuals would be a strong combination.

No. 3: An interactive feature on how exactly bees produce honey or pollinate crops would be fascinating. It could be a number of graphics put together and could have text on the graphics, such as “First, the honeybee must …” The second slight could illustrate the second step, and so on.

No. 4: For something more extravagant, I would propose developing a Web page on the Express-News site on more in-depth topics concerning the bees. It could explore the origins of the bees the U.S. uses, the possible causes of disappearances and affects of the missing bees.

One somewhat off-topic but interesting idea that the story didn’t get into was the origins of the bee. The reporter mentioned that this bee virus may have become a problem after the U.S. began allowing imported bees from Australia. But, our bees are not even native to America. They were European bees imported to America by early colonists. And they completely revolutionized the physical landscape of this country. They also changed the country’s agriculture and commerce. National Geographic often does beautiful computer-generated graphics and illustrations depicting what places we can’t photograph look like, including places of the past. I would like to have illustrations of what America looked like before and after the bees were imported over here, so people can get an idea of how they have affected this country.

Most people don’t know bees are used to pollinate so many of our crops, and the story mentions this in a later paragraph. There should be infographics of the crops they pollinate, how many farmers depend on them and how much that industry makes, so we can see the economical aftermath of lost honeybees.

There could also be a timeline/infographic of different types of honeybees, where they are located, when they were imported or migrated to other countries and other pieces of information. This could have something similar to the flash video we saw in class of the African elephant that a poacher eventually killed. It can have dotted lines representing bees crossing countries and continents.

How I Would Change the Cowboys-Giants Recap from the Statesman

The article I took for this multimedia treatment paper was an AP article in the Austin American-Statesman about the Dallas Cowboys-New York Giants football game last night. The Cowboys won 45-35 and have now started the season off 1-0. This weekend was the first weekend of the NFL regular season.

The first multimedia piece I would have accompany this article would be a video highlight clip of the game. It would show some the notable plays and/or scores that occurred during the game. At the end of the clip I would show the final score and some notable stats, much like an ESPN Sportscenter highlight clip; I might even put a couple clips of the post-game press conference in there.

The second multimedia piece I would create for this article would be a photo slideshow. Because this was the first regular season game for the Cowboys this season, I would have a photo slideshow of all of the festivities at the game and around Dallas. I would have photos of fans at the game and some of the pre-game tailgating parties and events put on at Texas Stadium. I would also have pictures of fans in the stands. I would also have sent a photographer to go around to different bars around Dallas and other public places where fans would have gathered to watch the game and gotten pictures of them for the slideshow. It would be a slideshow to really show how the city of Dallas was excited for the Cowboys to start their season.

Another multimedia feature that I would have created for this article would be a flash presentation showing some of scoring drives by both teams. It could have a play summary at the bottom and show how many yards the play went for, sort of a progressive bar graph. If I really wanted to put some effort into it, I'd have a video clip of the scoring play that showed at the end of each drive summary.

The final piece I would have to accompany this article would be a bit of a season preview for the Cowboys. But I would simulate the Cowboys' season on Madden NFL 08 and have a bit of a video highlight clip showing game recaps and different plays the video game players make and use it to project how the Cowboys will do in the regular season and playoffs, if they make it that far. As popular as the Madden video game franchise is, some people would take the results of the season simulation as the truth above all.