Placecasting blog - Marie Singleton

Week of Oct 19, 2009.

Placecasting blog.

This is probably the most interesting blog I have come across so far.

The placecasting blog brings together the audio world and the visual world. The blog is kept u

p by a man named Jeff Jones from Saint Paul, Minnesota. A radio producer and avid traveler, Jones has come up with a revolutionary way to explore the world using one of our most powerful senses (hearing) and readily accessible technology. In this day and age, most have access to a cell phone and to the internet. Jones uses these to his advantage. 

His most recent post is about an audio tour of Mississippi River in Wisconsin. The audio tour lays out information about cities, sites, and landscape along the River. 

He also mentions in an earlier post about something called a Cell Phone Tour. The Central Park Conservancy in New York City has created a unique type of tour. Almost everyone has a cell phone nowadays, so why not create a tour of Central Park using this technology? Throughout the park, they have posted signs with a phone number to call and an extension specifically for that sign. When a tourist (or resident, for the matter) calls the number, they are directed to a pre-recorded message. The message consists of actors reading a script about the area around the sign, particularly the buildings and flora. The message gives suggestions on how to enjoy the Park, in order to avoid the normal tourist traps.

Jones gives yet another form of exploration. This is particularly helpful to those who

 are unable to visit a place at that certain time. He mentions using Google Earth to explore a region. He used the service to survey Yosemite National Park and Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. He denotes that, although it is much more fulfilling to see these places in person, Google Earth provides a close second. There are 3D images of buildings and structures in the park.

Jones mentions ways to visit, even if a person is unable to

 physically visit the site. Today, technology is so

 readily accessible, why not use to explore the natural Earth?

Drifting Through The Grift - Marie Singleton

So, I've got some making up to do. 

Week of Oct 12, 2009.

Drifting Through The Grift

You can view the blog here.

The author of this blog is using his form of media to convey his thoughts on the forthcoming mayoral elections of Atlanta. 

He is particularly critical of Republican Party. He is not necessarily sympathetic to the Democrats, but seems to favor them slightly over the Republicans. And it is not all Republicans that he has a problem with. Moreover, he seems to have a problem with the Republicans who are hypocritical. 

On September 17, he writes, "What I have put my finger on is the belief that although there are some Democrats speaking stupidly, there are far fewer Republicans speaking reasonably. Both should do better."

He splits the Republicans into two groups - Land of Nodding Know-nothingness and Land of Reasonable Republicans. He believes that a Republican should be able to work with and compromise with the Democrats without attempting to force an opinion on someone else. 

The author uses humor and satire in his posts in order to bring about change in his readers' minds. He loses respect for one particular candidate after her statement of the desire to use eminent domain to take poorly cared for property away from property owners. He compares the candidates for the mayoral position in a way that makes them seem like horses to be bet on in a race. He ranks them in order of who he believes would be best for the community, based on political opinions and past commentary. 

It is particularly interesting to hear someone's opinion on politics from a blog. Often, humor and sarcasm are difficult to convey electronically. However, this author seems to achieve that and bring a questioning thought into a reader's mind whereas they may have not previously thought about a political candidate's remarks.

Bay Line Park (streetsblog)

(This is late for last Friday after figuring out what we were supposed to do for it)

To view the blog, you can go here. The plan is a visionary one that could revolutionize the way old engineering systems can be reused. The east span of the Bay Bridge is completely unusable due to new laws saying it is not stable enough. The plan is to change the bridge to a park that hovers over the water. The innovative design would recycle the unused bridge and help create a better sense of community. The mixed use bridge would create a small community on the water.
Ronald Rael has developed a plan that would preserve the existing cantilever and truss section of the Bay Bridge and transform the span into a park and mixed-use development.

The upper deck of the bridge would include about 2 miles of bicycle and pedestrian pathways, as well as tennis courts, a climbing wall, and 15 acres for planting gardens and growing crops. The lower level mixed-use development would include a number of pre-fabricated residential units, swimming pools, retail development and cultural amenities, such as museums and an open-air amphitheater. This idea will retrofit America and help with discoveries of other ways to "green" the community.

inDECATUR

Whereas the Decatur Metro blog seems to focus on the problems in the Decatur area, inDECATUR mostly celebrates the community of Decatur by posting about different events, including concerts, local store news and fundraisers, but also posts about some troubling issues in the area.

inDECATUR shows itself as an example of how a community should interact and connect with each other by posting stories or local events that bring citizens together to relax and enjoy themselves, like where you can see a big turnout for the Blue Sky Concert and having one every a great time. This blog also shows how connected the community is with each other by posting about a restaurant getting a new sign or a new paint job which shows that the citizens take notice and care about the appearance of their family-run restaurants. Another way that inDECATUR shows the strong community of the city is through the posts about fundraisers from the city wide SkaterAid to the Decatur High School marching band's yard sale so that everyone can come out and support these organizations like a good community should.

However, Decatur still has to worry about crime and other violence despite being a nice community-based city. Earlier this week, two DeKalb county policemen arrested a man who was threatening a young girl with rape. So while this story shows potential danger in Decatur, it also shows how concerned and active its policeforce is in protecting those in need.

Even the blog itself shows how a community should be by using pictures and video to share with everyone and by allowing comments to be added to the blogs to show interaction between citizens and an exchange of ideas and viewpoints on certain stories.

-Thomas Rowe

Decatur Metro

Shaun Roberts

The reader can tell from the writers posts on the importance of topics within the neighborhood. They focus on the several deep problems within the area. Some of these topics may not directly correlate to the city itself, but rather the world as a whole, but in some way have something to do with the problems of the city. Decatur Metro talks about in one posting about the banned books through history. They celebrate the banned books to show that no literature should be banned. This implies that reading is important and should not be destroyed or banned just because of some context. These books, though vulgar in some way, are important because they teach a lesson worth learning. The blog has pictures on the post to help give a visual of the idea but doesnt seem to use the same media types for many other blog posts.

The writer also posts about the safety in certain neighborhoods. Even though the focus is on really small topics, such as the the stealing of a car, the main point is the overall safety of the neighborhood. As said before, they focus on the larger problems that could harm a neighborhood, while showing what a good neighborhood should be. The residents are instructed to be safe and help with the safety of the other citizens.

On a larger scale, the writer also talks about the energy problem that America is facing. It talks about how areas that are not well circulated with water will not be able to receive as much renewable energy from the sun. The demand of energy today has a harsh effect on the planet and individual neighborhoods to be more precise. They writer instructs that even though the burden would be less, renewable energy does not come without its defects.