WebAssignments – Assignment Bank

Inklewriter Tutorial

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Inklewriter is tremendously easy to use, and there are excellent tutorials on the site that answer most questions, but I thought I would do a quick run through of some of the basics in case anyone is completely unfamiliar with this sort of thing.

The first thing you want to do, of course, is create an account on Inklewriter. This is free and easy. Then click on the create new story button and off we go. You’ll be presented with a screen that looks like this:

Inklewriter is all about choices. That’s what the “add option” tab is for. In the first text box, where the preset “once upon a time” is, you want to start your story. I’ll start mine, “Steve left his house, climbed into his car, and shut the door behind him. As the car started, Steve wondered to himself, ‘Where should I get food?’”

This leaves me with a choice to make. Keep in mind, your story doesn’t need to have a choice right away. You can write as much as you want until you decide to start splitting things up.

So click on the add option tab and try inserting some choices. You can make as many story threads as you wish, but keep in mind the more threads you make, the quicker your story can become massive and unfinishable.

So as you can see, I made three possible options about where I’m going to get food. Clicking on any option opens up an entire new story thread.

I clicked on the McDonald’s option which leads me to another choice entirely unique to that first choice: what will I eat at McDonald’s?

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Kumu Tutorial

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Whatever project you decide to make using Kumu, there are a number of basic functions that are important to understand. Kumu is a fairly intuitive program. It comes pretty naturally once you get things moving.

The first thing to do, of course, is to make an account on Kumu. This is free and simple. Once you’ve done this, you want to head over to your dashboard. Click on the “New Project” tab in the bottom left to get things going. Name your project and provide a description .

You’ll then be prompted to choose a base template for your map from four choices:

Each option starts you off with a different visual setup that can be useful if you know exactly what it is you want to do. If you want to make the visual decisions yourself, then choose the custom option on the far right. This gives you the most bare bones template to begin with. It will tell you that the custom template is only for advanced users, but don’t be daunted. It’s really not that complicated and gives you much more freedom.

Once your map launches you’ll be met with this screen:

To begin understanding how Kumu works, press the blue “Add Element” tab on the upper left of your map. It will prompt you to label the element, so type in a name. Once you do, a blue dot will pop on the map with the given name underneath. Go head and make two more dots with different names. The points on the map are free to be picked up and maneuvered with. Once you have three points, your map should look like this:

Now there are many different things we can do with these points. For now, lets connect point 1 to point 2, point 2 to 3, and point 3 back to 1, creating a loop. To do this, click on your starting point and then click the add connection tab below the add element tab. Then type in the name of the point you wish to connect to. Do this same process for each one.

Now we have a very basic Kumu map of three connections. Clicking on the line connecting each element allows for a description of each connection. Pictures can be uploaded to each point and can be visible on the map. If you click the settings tab on the toolbar in the upper right, you’ll find a host of options dealing with your map’s visual look. You can change the colors of elements, connection lines, backgrounds, and much more.

Even a very simple map can quickly get complex:

Or completely outrageous:

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“Email! Email! Read All About It!” Tutorial

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Go to VerticalResponse.com. Create a free account with your Email address and personal password. Choose the “Email Campaign” option. From the “Pick a Template” menu, choose “Purpose” and then “Newsletter/General”. Click “Select” on the template of your choice. It’s time to get creative by entering text and images, relevant to your entity, into the blocks … Continue reading “Email! Email! Read All About It!” Tutorial

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Unit 8

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Telling Stories Within the Web

Reading the description for storytelling on the web is daunting to say the least. Manipulating photos or audio is one thing, but actually digging into a web site and manipulating code (or somehow messing with the guts of the site) seems to me to be something altogether different. I agree with the article that says the concept of using websites to tell a story other than the one that was intended “pushes our consideration of ‘story’”. In practice I wonder what the actual value is in being able to alter a web page. I understand that the goal here is to learn the process, get a better understanding of how web pages work (and in this case, if i learn anything at all, it will be new) and mess with code, but I will have to experiment with this to see if I can discover any instances in which I feel this would be the best way to tell a story as opposed to simply another way to do it. I continue to ask this question even after seeing the examples (like the google site that includes ingredients to cook children) – is this a situation in which these are the best ways to tell a story? I think there are certainly arguments to be made that certain stories can be told best through still images, or just audio – I’m not sure there’s a similar argument to be made in this case.

OK – I’ve figured out how to install XRay Goggles – pretty easy so far….. Ok, I finished manipulating the website and it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I’m not sure that I learned a ton about how code is used, but it was incredibly simple to change the website. I learned, however, that you have to hover over the lines to get X-Ray to do its thing. Clicking on links before the X-Ray kicks in takes you to a new page and essentially wipes out all the progress you’ve made. Lesson learned.

http://jerseymurphy.makes.org/goggles/jerseymurphys-remix-of-toronto-blue-jays-at-new-york-yankees-april-6-2015-mlbcom-preview

One more down side – I didn’t alter the whole article – just the part that’s visible when you first bring it up. When I went to try and alter the rest of it, I couldn’t see how to do it without starting all over.

Creating a fictional character

I want to create a character named “Archie, the guy smoking outside when you come into work”. Archie is the kind of guy that typically doesn’t want to be bothered with cultural issues or anything else going on beyond the smoking area, but he’s finding himself increasingly lonely because everyone is quitting smoking and therefore he’s using the internet as a way to reach out, albeit awkwardly, to new people in cyberspace.

Note: I’m still not entirely comfortable with this and always feel as though I am stepping into someone else’s private conversation. I guess i’m not used to the fact that it’s really open to everyone. Not sure if I’m linking these comments correctly. I think they still have to be approved, so I’m not sure if they are on the real site yet.

Comment 1: http://dailydigitaldose.net/2015/04/09/how-influencer-marketing-can-help-you-to-build-reach-and-engagement/comment-page-1/#comment-38

Comment 2: http://seeinggainz.com/assignments/my-number-one/#comment-227

Comment 3: https://angietemple.wordpress.com/2015/04/08/a-little-vision-and-determination/comment-page-1/#comment-85

Comment 4: http://zenas-suitcase.co.uk/2015/04/07/myfavouriteplace-10/#comment-45173

Comment 5: http://konarheim.com/daily-create/masters-golf-minimal-paper-poster/#comment-123

Assignments

I enjoyed the Google X-Ray assignment so much, I opted to use it for my first Web Assignment. I tried to link a story to it, as the assignment suggested. It’s WebAssignment 1541 and is worth four stars. ****

http://jerseymurphy.makes.org/goggles/jerseymurphys-remix-of-most-wins-at-the-world-beardmoustache-championships-guinness-world-records

I also used Google X-Ray to design my own personal search engine….for the newly-deceased. I experimented with trying to alter the imagery as well as the text. It initially saved an image of heaven in the upper left, but it didn’t come out through the link below. This is WebAssignment 1438 and is worth 2 stars. **

http://jerseymurphy.makes.org/goggles/jerseymurphys-remix-of-altavista-altavista-search-engine-no-tracking-search

And finally, I used the same program to alter a YouTube page about a cat that appears to be considering bringing his or her owner to a terrible end. At least I would be if they put me in that shirt. (I altered a link in this one as well). Unfortunately the video here does not translate – the link to the tutorial in the Assignment bank is broken. I’m not sure if I did this right or not. This was WebAssignment 730 and was worth four stars. ****

http://jerseymurphy.makes.org/goggles/jerseymurphys-remix-of-cat-dancing-with-michael-jackson-song-youtube

Daily Creates all in one Story

First one – Minimalist Paper Poster – I just wanted to do something relatively easy, but I loved the video included here. I opted for a colored piece of paper with some sugar that, once I pushed it around with my finger for a while, became a sugar flower. (tag: tdc1185)

Umbrella picture tdc1183

The story: The spring is the time of year where the clouds and sun mix in equal measure. The days that hint at sun end with gray, and the heat can break the back of winter at any time. The images here show the transition from day to night to day – the first bright with shiny flowers, then the return of the rain (or threat of rain) with the umbrella.

Summary

I loved this unit. I was excited to tell my family and friends about Google X-Ray. I am still not convinced that it is anything more than a novelty, but as a novelty, it is fascinating and holds a lot of possibilities. I also enjoyed having to link the imagery in the daily creates together to tell stories – after all, that’s what we’re trying to do. And I believe that all of these programs have opened up a world of possibilities when it comes to telling stories and I find myself considering new modes of art as I consider my own creativity. I am learning a lot about the possibilities the internet still holds and I’m sure I will learn even more when we move into the video portion of the class.

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How It All Began

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3 stars Our group came together in the year 2013. We joined forces to make music and spread the word of love. Sara and Rose met up with the other group members through friends on social media. They saw each others talents and potential. All the group members were in some form of dilemma, not … Continue reading How It All Began →

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Oh the Audacity!

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This weeks web assignment that I completed was called, “Find a Digital Tool!” The instructions were to, “Find a cool, easy to use digital tool online! Write up a brief tutorial on how to use it, and what it can be used for.”

I initially was going to use the free online photoshop that I frequently utilize for ds106 assignments, but when I saw that this assignment was worth 5 stars I thought I should put in a bit more effort.

Technically Audacity is not an online tool, but you have to download it off the internet so it should totally still count.

Down below is a brief tutorial on some of the basics behind Audacity. I was initially going to put a GIF before each set of instructions so that the user could watch the GIF and then read the instructions but I was too dumb to figure out how to turn a video into a GIF so I decided to just make short YouTube videos of the “would be” GIFS and use them in the place of a GIF set. The videos do not include sound because the instructions were to write a tutorial…and I was to lazy to edit in audio. Also, for some unknown reason my computer cut off the top of the video so in a couple of the tutorial videos you can not see that I am clicking the “file” button or the other buttons located at the top of the audacity application.

[worth 5 stars] (even though it really shouldn’t be)

Here is the link where you can download Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

After downloading Audacity onto your computer and opening the program, the first step to begin your audio editing process is to import your sounds of choice. For this tutorial I decided to import two songs I already had in my itunes account.

For some reason, Audacity (at least my version) does not allow me to import directly from itunes, so I have to save the songs to my desktop first. After the songs are saved to your desktop, the first step is to click the “file” tab, up top of the Audacity program. After clicking “file” you can scroll down to “Import” then slide right over to “Audio.”

After clicking “Audio” and selecting the songs/sounds you would like downloaded, your selections will be imported in a manner similar to this. If you import more than one sound, they will appear one on top the other, both visible on the screen.

If you would like to move one sound into another, such as taking one piece of a song and putting it into another. The first step you need to take is to select where in the sound you would like to insert the new piece of sound. Once you have selected the spot you would like to insert the new piece of sound, click on that spot. Then click the “Edit” tab up top, and scroll down to “Clip Boundaries” and scroll over to the right to “Split.” After clicking the “Split” option, the place which you clicked in the song will now become detached from the rest of the song. This will leave a gap between the now two pieces of the song to insert something new.

Once the clip is split you can use the double arrow button to slide the two pieces apart from each other so that you can insert the new piece in between. Once you have a significant gap between the two pieces, select the part you wish to insert into the split song and copy it. After it is copied, click back in the empty space between the two separated pieces on your original song/sound and press “paste.” This will paste the copied selection into your split clip.

After you have inserted your new piece of sound into your split slip, you can once again use the double arrow button to slide all the pieces together once again, so that there are no gaps in the song.

If you wish to amplify or decrease the volume of a certain piece of a track and not just the whole track itself you can use the amplify button to do so. Up top of the Audacity application there is an “Effects” tab. After selecting the portion of the sound/song you wish to change, click on the “Effects” tab and scroll down to the “Amplify” option. You can use this option to either increase or decrease the volume of your selected part.

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League of Outlaws

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Saved a bank from a dangerous group of armed gunmen in Switzerland.

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Shadow’s Profile

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Character’s Resume (3 stars)

The following is Shadow’s resume. He doesn’t have much official work with an employer, but has plenty as an entrepreneur. His independent work shows that he needs little to no supervising, making him a wonderful independent employee to have.

SHADOW

321 Shadow Park

Dark, Virginia 22406

[email protected]

Objective: To gain experience in more elaborate heists.

Work History:

Title-Entrepreneur

Robbing Banks
Robbing Jewelry Stores
Smaller robberies

Education:

Advanced Diploma- Shadow-Land High (Dark, Virginia)
Bachelors of Business- University of Mary Washington (Fredericksburg, Virginia)

Skills:

Stealing
Robbing
Spying
Cooking
Hunting

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The Resume of Jack Neff

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This is the character resume assignment worth 3 points.

Here is my admittedly sparse resume. I spent too much time doing dumb things to find success after college. My job at the Long Island Press was a downer and occupied far too much of my time. I’m not too proud of this, if I must say so. I’m glad I’m not currently looking for a job.

Jack Neff Resume

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InkleWriter Baseball: Pressure Pitch

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This is the create and host an interactive story using Twine assignment worth 3 points.

You can find the story here.

I changed this a little bit. I don’t really love Twine. I prefer Inklewriter, depending on what I’m trying to accomplish. I decided to use that for this assignment instead, which may or may not be worthy of its own, unique assignment. Maybe I’ll create that! Anyway, I’m a baseball geek and I got extremely caught up in writing this thing. I was way, way, way too ambitious with my initial plans. Some of the story threads end rather abruptly, others go on for a good bit, but finishing this thing would take at least a dedicated week or so. There are just too many variables to account for. I’m sure there are a number of mistakes here and there. If you play and want to help fix it, let me know! I still think it’s a fun mix between a game and a choose-your-own adventure. Enjoy!