YouTube Videos

In my interactive journalism class we read and article called "YouTube Videos Pull In Real Money" This article is about how successful some people are on YouTube. Due to advertisements on their videos some people make a living off of videos. Michael Buckley has videos on YouTube that have become so successful that he even quit his job to focus on the show. Although his shows are only five minutes long he says they take a lot of work. His show is called "What the Buck" and he rants about celebrities the whole time. His jokes about celebrity comebacks and rumors have proven to earn him a living.

There are tons of YouTube hits on the web. I think the key to a YouTube hit is to be funny. I also think some of the best videos are the candid ones. People happened to have a camera at a funny moment.

Autobiography Project

In my interactive journalism class we are making autobiographies. I have incorporated narration, video, pictures and interviews. i show pictures while I narrate. The pictures match what I am talking about. Although my filming and sound aren't great I think altogether the video is almost done. I still need to work on adding music under my narration. I am trying to make the music match what I am saying. I feel that my project has evolved from a simple slide show to a video. I hope that my project will ultimately incorporate lots of interactive features.

Digg.com

Today in my interactive journalism class we went on Digg.com. One very popular article on the site was the "Most Disturbing Animals on Earth"(824 diggs). It included a Thyclane which is a cross between a kangoroo and a dog. For all of the animals there were pictures and some even had video which is very interactive. Another popular one was the top 10 searches in 2008. They included Britney Spears(1) WWE(2) Barack Obama(3) and more. This article had pictures of each of the top searches. Another interactive feature was a link to the search results.

Inside the Teenage Brain

Today for my interactive journalism class I was asked to watch the documentary "Inside the teenage brain". The first section called "Teenager' Inexplicable Behavior" was about why teens act the way they do. Doctors are trying to understand teenagers by studying there brains. The second part was called " The wiring of the adolescent brain" Some doctors are studying children's brains by putting them in an imagery machine. They talk about teenagers like they are some mysterious species. Teenage brains can acomplish a lot but they don't think about the consequences. The third part is about called "Mood Swings". They say that teenagers can go from being concentrated to angry in a short period of time. some cartoonists make cartoons showing experiences with teens. The fourth part is called "You Just Don't Understand" They had kids look at pictures of people showing emotion. The teens often say angry but they don't see sadness. Some teens talked about stereotypes of teens. Some people think that all teenagers are trouble and liars. I agree that these stereotypes are wrong. The fifth part was called "From Zzzz's to A's". When teenagers were brought into a sleep lab it looked like they had a sleep disorder. most teens only get 7 1/2 hours of sleep. A lot of teens stay up late but can't wake up in the morning. Some schools are making there high schools start later. I think this makes sense because it is easier to learn when you are awake. The last part was called " Are There Lessons For Parents". People are disappointed that doctors can't find much even with so much technology. Many parents were suprised that teenagers actually want to spent more time with their parents.