Ryan's Writings…at Mason

Archive for comm361

Instagram for Android: Finally!

Today on Mashable.com, all people seem to be talking about how Instagram is now available on Android smartphones. This news was actually announced in March at SXSW by Kevin Systrom, co-founder of the app, and ever since, Android users have been waiting for it’s release. Well the wait’s over and people are already loving the […]

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E.C. Workshop: Dreamweaver

On March 28, from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., I went to visit a George Mason University IT Training Workshop that explained the basics behind Dreamweaver CS 5.5, which is an interface used to manage websites. By the end of the workshop, we had practiced writing basic HTML and embedding links into HTML and using […]

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Google’s Reinventing Morse Code

Google’s introducing the Gmail Tap, which as described in the video above, is a new typing system that uses just two buttons — one for a dot and one for a dash to simulate Morse code. By narrowing down the standard QWERTY keyboard to something with only two buttons, this will revolutionize how quickly people […]

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Magazine’s Aren’t Looking Too Pretty on the iPad 3

So far, just one magazine looks perfect on the iPad3.

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My Pinterest

Around January, one of my friends invited me to join Pinterest.com. I had no idea what “pinning” was and I had no earthly idea how addictive this news social media site could be. My first day using Pinterest, I wasted 3 hours of my life just pinning items to my boards. I’m not kidding. Three […]

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Briggs Chapter 9: ‘Data-Driven Journalism and Digitizing Your Life”

After reading Mark Briggs’s ninth chapter of “Journalism Next,” I realized that all of the emphasis my parents and professors have put on time management will actually benefit my future career as a journalist. Who’d of thunk, right? Time management is essential to journalism, especially now that journalism is digital. We have e-mail, e-invites, calendars, […]

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Briggs Chapter 8: ‘Telling Stories with Video’

Painting a story with your words is something that journalists learn how to do perfectly. But sometimes words just aren’t enough for the reader. Videos can take a story to the next level — letting the reader watch the story unfold is the perfect way to get them reading. Mark Briggs’s example in his eighth […]

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Skillset Exercise #5: GoogleDocs

Using GoogleDocs, a program offered through a Gmail account, I created a data visualization of all of the places I have been to in the United States. First I created a Table, something like an Excel sheet, which listed the locations I have been to and the dates I went to those locations. Then, I […]

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Workshop #2: Switching from a PC to a Mac

Yesterday, I went to another George Mason University STAR Lab workshop. This workshop just went over the basics of switching from a PC to a Mac and what are the differences between the two. We mainly went over the differences in the toolbars, tool names and functions between PCs and Macs. Also, we learned about the […]

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Workshop #1: Photoshop

Yesterday, I went to the George Mason University STAR Lab Workshop for Adobe Photoshop. It was an introductory level workshop that just explained the basic tools and functions of Photoshop. We learned about the different editing tools to enhance photos as well as the tools we could use to cut photos and rearrange objects to […]

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Learn How to Pitch

Pitching an idea isn’t anything new to journalists. In newsrooms all over the world, editors and writers pitch story ideas and try to sell them to get the front page of their publication. But now, since media has gone digital and mobile, pitching has become a useful tactic for journalists on the entrepreneurial end of […]

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Slideshow Skillset Exercise

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10 Google Search Tricks From Mashable

Searching Google these days seems easy for younger generations who grew up with popular search engine — and it is — but I bet it would be easier if we actually knew how to conduct a proper Google search. Usually, we just type in exactly what we’re looking for. Boolean Search…what’s that? Well, thank goodness […]

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Briggs Chapter 11: ‘Building a Digital Audience for News’

Since journalism has taken a liking toward the Internet, as well as mobile platforms, you can bet that is where our audience is going to be. People reading the morning paper with their coffee and a bagel are far and distant memories that will soon be long-lost; but that doesn’t mean what they are reading […]

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Briggs Chapter 10: ‘Managing News as a Conversation’

News used to be a process where audiences just consumed the news from varying media sources. Well, not anymore. In Mark Briggs’s tenth chapter of “Journalism Next,” Briggs discusses how news is becoming more conversational as media becomes more social.

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How to Care for a Journalism Student’s Best (Tech) Friend

While mobile journalism and using the Internet for everything is great, it doesn’t work unless your smartphone or laptop are working — which means we have to keep our gadgets in tip-top shape. That’s why Mashable.com created this great list of tips for keeping a happy, healthy laptop.

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Briggs Chapter 6: ‘Visual Storytelling with Photographs’

Words have the ability to paint beautiful mental pictures for the reader; but what’s better than a mental picture?

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Briggs Chapter 5: ‘Going Mobile’

In Mark Briggs’ fifth chapter of “Journalism Next,” Briggs discusses how mobile appears to be the future of journalism. People are having most – if not all of their content – going directly to their smartphones, so journalists need to keep up with the audience’s mobility by entering the world of mobile journalism.

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Video Skillset Exercise: GMU Benches

George Mason University’s student organization benches.

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Pinning Wars: UK vs U.S.

Pinterest, a new form of social media, is booming in the United States as a place for men and women – well, mostly women – to “pin” and share ideas for crafts, DIY projects, future homes, art, wedding planning and more. And while Pinterest is still growing in popularity in other places, like the U.K., […]

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