Creative And Social Uses Of The Net

Elaborating on the Week 5 tutorial, here is a brief review and discussion of five sites Jason showed us.

Firstly is Polyvore which essentially acts as a dress up game, allowing users to search through an extensive catalogue of clothing and then piece them together to get the right look.

What's more, the site also provides collections of outfits worn by popular celebrities so that users can mimic their favourite look.

This site is both a great social and creative piece, allowing for creative combinations of clothing and for users to get an idea of what they are after instead of having to browse multiple stores.

I constructed a little dress up of my own: man I wish more girls dressed like this (not really).


Next is an interesting site http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php. Essentially, users get a live feed of disasters as they occur around the world. They can see exactly where the disaster is happening and the extent of the situation. The site also keeps information on impending disasters and past disasters for additional reference.
Again, a great social tool for knowing whats going on in the world around us all.

http://www.speedtest.net/index.php?nojs=1 is a site that shows how long it takes for the user's computer to conenct to other servers and computers anywhere around the world, thus visually providing a distinct image of just how simple it is to communicate with someone anywhere around the world. While not a site that keeps you coming back for more, everyone should check it out at least once in order to see the potential of the communication age we live in.


Finally, a list of the numerous social networking sites on the web can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites.

Besides the popular, myspace, facebook and twitter, it is clear there is a number of social networking sites that cater to a particular audience or subculture.

This wikipedia list is a great site by itself as it gives a list of potential hotspots that apply to a specific interest so that people can meet up with others who share the same interests.

One site shown by Jason Elftown goes to show, that subculture is important and perhaps more enjoyable to some people then using myspace or facebook where there is no specific interest toher than sharing assorted information with friends. These smaller social networking communities encourage creativity and allow for users to embrace their particular interests and bask in it together. Quite frankly, the internet needs more sites like this (not about elves though).

The image below is a screenshot of testimonials given by Elftown users. "I use Elftown because...' I found this interesting as it is something you rarely see at sites nowadays. It really gives its users a sense of importance as it displays their input and allows them to express their love for their subculture.

Another social networking site last.fm allows users to add their favourite bands and artists and automatically creates visual representations of data, including top songs, playlists and much more. However, perhaps best of all, it provides band suggestions based on a user's current artists by finding similar groups, thus allowing users to expand their library and also meet peoplle who share the same interest in music.

Here is a visual representation of a small bunch of bands I listen to.


All up there is no limit to the creative and social potential of the internet, and it is clear from all these sites that there are some great ideas out there. Who knows what the future might hold... One thing we can be sure of though, there's always going to be something interesting.

Week 6 Tutorial

Courtesy of www.sketchcast.com, a site linked to us by the wonderful Jason, the entire world can now experience my pathetic attempt at sketching. An attempt so pathetic some would consider it funny... here's Gary.

It seems my sketchcast has inexplicably disappeared, so to compensate I have uploaded someone else's sketch in order to show what the site is all about.

...After further study there seems to be an error with sketchcast itself as it won't allow me to embed any sketches, so unfortunately I must leave this out. As an example I have taken a screenshot of the end result of a sketchcast video. The user draws the image and then sketchcast creates a video of the image being drawn.


Also, in order to fulfill this week's requirements, here is a screenshot from the website Personas. Personas is a program that shows a visual representation of the all the data that appears when your name is searched for online and compiles it in a graph.

According to the internet, this is who Craig Thompson is.

Google Maps

So I got around to creating my own Google Map. It's pretty aweswome, the idea is its an online address book, but with the cool exception, you can label each address or hotspot, and then download directions to get from where you to where you want to be. I listed some cinemas, restaurants and me and my friend's house to test it out and ultimately I think its a good thing to keep if you've got a lot of places you want to rememebr. Fortunately, it's more convenient for sharing with other people than keeping for yourself. If you like a place, you generally know where it is and how to get there. Nevertheless, take a look at mine if you're curious as to my feeble lack of hotspots.


View Craig Thompson's Hotspots in a larger map

Internet Short Films

The following are a set of three internet exclusive short films intended to illustrate the unique opportunities the internet provides people with creative talent, but whom wouldn't originally of had a method of gaining exposure.

The first of my videos is Bugs Bunny's Birthday Blowout, an episode in a series of 'Angry Video Game Nerd' episodes by internet personality James D. Rolfe. Originally james posted two video game reviews online in a distinct style and the videos became rather popular. James tidied up the production and actually started to produce regular episodes hosting them from his website www.cinemassacre.com. The videos continued to gain popularity to the extent that www.gametrailers.com actually started to sponsor James as a result allowing him to share his films with a broader audience.

I chose this video as it shows how the internet provides a much greater slection of cinematic entertainment as I wait for each new episode how I would wait for a new television show episode. The internet gives a chance for everyone to express theirselves, and the truly talented of the bunch actually can make a career out of their work through sponsorship and brand merchandise.



My second video is an episdoe from a youtube serial created by brothers Remi and Regis Broadway, entitled 'Choose Your Own Tube.' This was the first of a now common technique involving audience participation in youtube videos. At the end of each episode viewers are given a three or four options on what can happen in the following episode. After tallying the votes, the next video reflects the most popular outcome and the series continues as such. While not as successful as some youtube hits, it was the first series to attempt the idea and still exists as a symbol of creative use for youtube and internet video. Regis and Remi created the series as a trial for a potential TV Pilot in order to gauge audience responses, using the idea for audience participation as a hook and means of evaluation.



Unfortunately, the internet isn't necessarily home to unique and interesting video entertainment. This simple snippet of a home video has acquired 9,801,953 views, millions above either of the previous productions. This particuarly goes to prove that the internet isn't only a means of creative expression, but a waste dump for humorous, but redundant material that doesn't serve to do anything but provide a cheap laugh. However, the views alone just go to show, this is the kind of thing people enjoy. While interestingly, this video has likely received no profit and is quickly forgotten about. It's cheap, you see it, laugh, tell your friends, forget about it, and they do the same.



I think together these short films demonstrate the variety of material available on the internet. Anyone can have their 5 seconds of fame here, whether it be through creative expression, creative evaluation, or a cheap gag. All three of these films are entertaining in their own right and do the internet proud.