I have always thought slot machines were a really cool thing. I understand that odds are you will probably never win any significant amount of money but the concept is still pretty cool. I've never been to a casino or played a slot machine (unless you consider the game at the check out aisle of Big Y last week), but the flash graphic posted here is an awesome way to learn about slots and play around with probability.
This graphic is a much more interesting way to explain how slot machines work and visibly show the reader the odds they have to win in a given scenario. Normally this would probably be a pretty boring story talking about gambling addictions, but with the flash graphic you can see for yourself how it works and why it works that way.
The text is a great added feature to the slot machine flash. It provides the essential journalistic information that separates this flash graphic from a game to an actual informative piece of journalism.
The three tabs along the top of the graphic provide this with interesting components. The reader first has a chance to play the slot and read some common myths and misconceptions about slot machines. Then the second tab is a "behind the scenes" look at the slot and explains why the machine lands where it does based on the weighted jackpot symbol. And the third graphic lets the user set up any combination they want, see the payout and see the odds that the combination will ever come up.
Its a cool addition to what could be a boring story. But, I still don't think I'll be heading to Vegas to play the slots anytime soon. The gold coins at Big Y will have to do for now.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Best and Worst Sites
Lingscars.com has to be one of the worst websites I've ever seen.
For starters, the site looks like it’s designed by a sixth grade girl. Too many colors. Too many blinking graphics. No direction or professionalism. Just way too much stuff going on.
The site for a company that leases cars, and according to "Ling," the cars are cheap. My first impression of the site is that it is terrible. With every business having their own website you would think these websites would look professional. After all, they are trying to make money for the company.
I would never spend a dime on a site that was so poorly designed. It’s a representation of the company and if the website is poorly run, I assume the company as whole is poorly run as well.
Personally, I think a site dedicated to leasing cars should have a search bar. You should be able to type in the name of a car and get results. If a search bar is too much, the site should be broken down into different types of cars (example sedan, SUV, van etc.).
Lingscars.com has neither.
It doesn't take a genius to realize that this is a bad site. It’s a difficult site to navigate and even after spending time clicking through it’s impossible to get the hang of navigating the site.
ESPN.com is my favorite site. I'm a big sports guy so I log-in everyday for my daily sports news and I think it is put together nicely and updated continuously.
ESPN's slogan as the Worldwide Leader in Sports and its brand gives it a big time advantage over most other sports sites, but personally I think they layout of their pages are the best. Almost every story has a video attached and on the home page all the scores from the day are posted along the top.
The right column of the page provides the headlines for the day and as you scroll down there are columns and other non-traditional, hard news articles.
One critique I do have of the site is the automatic video player. I hate clicking on a link and not expecting any video or audio and having a news clip start playing. As I mentioned before, I think the videos are great, but I want to be able to play them when I want. I don't want to be forced to watch them.
Part of the reason why ESPN has such a good site is because of their overall dominance of sports coverage, however I think they do a good job of using their resources to create an effective website.
For starters, the site looks like it’s designed by a sixth grade girl. Too many colors. Too many blinking graphics. No direction or professionalism. Just way too much stuff going on.
The site for a company that leases cars, and according to "Ling," the cars are cheap. My first impression of the site is that it is terrible. With every business having their own website you would think these websites would look professional. After all, they are trying to make money for the company.
I would never spend a dime on a site that was so poorly designed. It’s a representation of the company and if the website is poorly run, I assume the company as whole is poorly run as well.
Personally, I think a site dedicated to leasing cars should have a search bar. You should be able to type in the name of a car and get results. If a search bar is too much, the site should be broken down into different types of cars (example sedan, SUV, van etc.).
Lingscars.com has neither.
It doesn't take a genius to realize that this is a bad site. It’s a difficult site to navigate and even after spending time clicking through it’s impossible to get the hang of navigating the site.
ESPN.com is my favorite site. I'm a big sports guy so I log-in everyday for my daily sports news and I think it is put together nicely and updated continuously.
ESPN's slogan as the Worldwide Leader in Sports and its brand gives it a big time advantage over most other sports sites, but personally I think they layout of their pages are the best. Almost every story has a video attached and on the home page all the scores from the day are posted along the top.
The right column of the page provides the headlines for the day and as you scroll down there are columns and other non-traditional, hard news articles.
One critique I do have of the site is the automatic video player. I hate clicking on a link and not expecting any video or audio and having a news clip start playing. As I mentioned before, I think the videos are great, but I want to be able to play them when I want. I don't want to be forced to watch them.
Part of the reason why ESPN has such a good site is because of their overall dominance of sports coverage, however I think they do a good job of using their resources to create an effective website.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Story Ideas
Story Idea 1
Video Chatting
Why Now?
Campus live launched its new video chat last week, claiming it was "safer" than chatroulette, a site which has been in the news because of the obsenities reported on it.
Why is this interesting?
In my opinion anytime you are matching up two total strangers to have a conversation via the computer you could run across some problems.
Campus live forces people to have signed up for an account in order to video chat. I'm assuming this is so that they can hold people accountable for reported inapproriate behavior. But because of that, students have to give up information such as an email address. I understand that hackers can steal your information from any site, but isn't it more likely on a site like campus live, or chatroulette because you are being paired up with random kids from across the country? On chatroulette ther no signup or information necceassary.
It seems to me that this could create some identitiy problems, but its only been up and running for a week, so it may be too early to tell.
Here's the link from the Collegian's website about the site.
http://dailycollegian.com/2010/03/21/campuslive-launches-new-personalized-video-chat-service/
Video Chatting
Why Now?
Campus live launched its new video chat last week, claiming it was "safer" than chatroulette, a site which has been in the news because of the obsenities reported on it.
Why is this interesting?
In my opinion anytime you are matching up two total strangers to have a conversation via the computer you could run across some problems.
Campus live forces people to have signed up for an account in order to video chat. I'm assuming this is so that they can hold people accountable for reported inapproriate behavior. But because of that, students have to give up information such as an email address. I understand that hackers can steal your information from any site, but isn't it more likely on a site like campus live, or chatroulette because you are being paired up with random kids from across the country? On chatroulette ther no signup or information necceassary.
It seems to me that this could create some identitiy problems, but its only been up and running for a week, so it may be too early to tell.
Here's the link from the Collegian's website about the site.
http://dailycollegian.com/2010/03/21/campuslive-launches-new-personalized-video-chat-service/
Monday, February 22, 2010
Online Schooling is a Joke
The internet could play a key role in education reform at the K-12 level, and Greenfield, MA could be opening the flood gates.
I'm not opposed to online classes at the college level, but to think that grammar school kids would have the same education online is insane.
I’m not saying that kids can’t be taught math, science or history through online classes but the K-12 experience is much more than textbooks and calculators.
Kids need to learn how to behave in social settings and that cannot be taught via the internet.
This generation knows how to communicate on facebook, myspace, and text messages, but many struggle with face to face conversations.
We are teaching kids that being lazy is okay, and parents are spoiling kids a ridiculous rate. It is not okay to get out of bed at noon, do a few online exercises and call it a day.
Getting up early, and getting to school every day shows responsibility and is a part of life that is impossible to teach online.
Online class would add to the number of bad habits that exist throughout our country and only adds to the laziness of our youth. It’s a bad idea.
I'm not opposed to online classes at the college level, but to think that grammar school kids would have the same education online is insane.
I’m not saying that kids can’t be taught math, science or history through online classes but the K-12 experience is much more than textbooks and calculators.
Kids need to learn how to behave in social settings and that cannot be taught via the internet.
This generation knows how to communicate on facebook, myspace, and text messages, but many struggle with face to face conversations.
We are teaching kids that being lazy is okay, and parents are spoiling kids a ridiculous rate. It is not okay to get out of bed at noon, do a few online exercises and call it a day.
Getting up early, and getting to school every day shows responsibility and is a part of life that is impossible to teach online.
Online class would add to the number of bad habits that exist throughout our country and only adds to the laziness of our youth. It’s a bad idea.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Story Ideas
Story Idea #1
What is your story's news hook? (That's another way of saying Why now?)
- I think a good story idea would be to talk to UMass students living off campus, and how they deal with snow. More specifically, I would find out who shovels the driveway, and how they get to class when its snowing; bus, car, walk etc. I need to find out if they aer satisfied with the snow removal at their residence. Why now? Because it's winter in Amherst.
Who is your audience, and why will that audience find this story interesting?
-My audience would be UMass students. It would appeal to students who live off campus and students who live on campus but are thinking about moving off. Students who live on campus don't have to worry too much about snow so it would inform them about what to expect, if they decide to move out of the dorms.
Who are your sources? Write at least three full names, and tell me why they would be good to interview for this story.
Brad Linnehan- He lives off campus in a duplex on Main St.
Phil DiSantis- He lives in Pufton. I think the Pufton management takes care of snow removal, but I would want to talk to him about their effectiveness of the removal.
Jenna Ryan- Lives on Lincoln St. in a big house, that is broken into five or six smaller apartments and her driveway always has about ten cars in it.
Kendrick Property Managers- They manage the house I live in and a number of other houses in the area. It would be good to get their perspective on how snow removal works as compared to the view of the students.
Story Idea #2
What is your story's news hook? (That's another way of saying Why now?)
- What are students doing for Spring Break? Its a tough economic time for the entire country and college students have plenty of bills, I want to find out if people are going away on break and where they are going and how they are paying for it.
Who is your audience, and why will that audience find this story interesting?
-Once again it would be targeted to college students, but I would try not to keep it specific to UMass.
Who are your sources? Write at least three full names, and tell me why they would be good to interview for this story.
-I would want go to the travel agency on campus, and talk to someone who works there about the number of students who are going away for break and where they are going. I would try to get some names from the person who works there and talk those students. Then I need to find someone who isn't going away, and ask them what they plan on doing for spring break and their reasons for not going are.
What is your story's news hook? (That's another way of saying Why now?)
- I think a good story idea would be to talk to UMass students living off campus, and how they deal with snow. More specifically, I would find out who shovels the driveway, and how they get to class when its snowing; bus, car, walk etc. I need to find out if they aer satisfied with the snow removal at their residence. Why now? Because it's winter in Amherst.
Who is your audience, and why will that audience find this story interesting?
-My audience would be UMass students. It would appeal to students who live off campus and students who live on campus but are thinking about moving off. Students who live on campus don't have to worry too much about snow so it would inform them about what to expect, if they decide to move out of the dorms.
Who are your sources? Write at least three full names, and tell me why they would be good to interview for this story.
Brad Linnehan- He lives off campus in a duplex on Main St.
Phil DiSantis- He lives in Pufton. I think the Pufton management takes care of snow removal, but I would want to talk to him about their effectiveness of the removal.
Jenna Ryan- Lives on Lincoln St. in a big house, that is broken into five or six smaller apartments and her driveway always has about ten cars in it.
Kendrick Property Managers- They manage the house I live in and a number of other houses in the area. It would be good to get their perspective on how snow removal works as compared to the view of the students.
Story Idea #2
What is your story's news hook? (That's another way of saying Why now?)
- What are students doing for Spring Break? Its a tough economic time for the entire country and college students have plenty of bills, I want to find out if people are going away on break and where they are going and how they are paying for it.
Who is your audience, and why will that audience find this story interesting?
-Once again it would be targeted to college students, but I would try not to keep it specific to UMass.
Who are your sources? Write at least three full names, and tell me why they would be good to interview for this story.
-I would want go to the travel agency on campus, and talk to someone who works there about the number of students who are going away for break and where they are going. I would try to get some names from the person who works there and talk those students. Then I need to find someone who isn't going away, and ask them what they plan on doing for spring break and their reasons for not going are.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Bullying
Social media sites are at the height of their popularity, and for all the good the sites do, they create plenty of trouble when misused. In the tragic story of Pheobe Prince, the South Hadley teen who committed suicide recently, investigators are looking into bullying as the possible reason for Prince taking her life.
Bullying at school has always been a problem, and recently the internet and more specifically online bullying has complicated the problem. Students are no longer free from bullies when they return home, they now deal with threatening emails, instant messages or facebook posts.
The internet and communication devices are becoming more portable, kids are spending more time online, and this is resulting in more opportunities for cyber bullying. According to a New York Times article, kids spend almost every minute of the day online.
It is a situation that is virtually impossible to control without the cooperation of the kids.
It’s sad that it takes a tragedy such as the one in South Hadley to bring bullying to into the forefront. But it shouldn't ever come to that point, the numbers speak for themselves.
Nobody should ever take thier own life because of a bully.
Bullying at school has always been a problem, and recently the internet and more specifically online bullying has complicated the problem. Students are no longer free from bullies when they return home, they now deal with threatening emails, instant messages or facebook posts.
The internet and communication devices are becoming more portable, kids are spending more time online, and this is resulting in more opportunities for cyber bullying. According to a New York Times article, kids spend almost every minute of the day online.
It is a situation that is virtually impossible to control without the cooperation of the kids.
It’s sad that it takes a tragedy such as the one in South Hadley to bring bullying to into the forefront. But it shouldn't ever come to that point, the numbers speak for themselves.
Nobody should ever take thier own life because of a bully.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
What Does Scott Brown's Victory Really Mean?
Scott Brown’s stunning victory in the Massachusetts special election last month has been dissected for the past three weeks. One year after President Obama took 62% of the vote in the historically liberal state; the people went against tradition and elected Brown with 51.9% of the vote.
But is Brown’s victory a metaphor for the problems with party politics our country is now facing? The victory was monumental for blocking (at least temporarily) the President’s health care bill.
Obviously, all the chips had to fall into place for Brown to pull off the upset, and about three weeks before the election it became apparent that Brown had a realistic chance to win.
“As a republican, I wasn’t paying much attention at first,” explained John Collias, “I thought it was a done- deal; she (Martha Coakley) thought it was a done deal.”
Collias, a Fall River resident, said he always votes but, like many other Massachusetts Republicans, he didn’t start paying close attention until the polls starting coming out.
One of the earliest polls (conducted by Suffolk University) on September 16 of last year showed Coakley holding a commanding 30 point lead over Brown. The Boston Globe reported Coakley's lead had been cut in half on January 2.
“People think the fix is in. People get mad when they think their vote is taken for granted, and I think that's what happened here” Collias said.
And when Brown, now famously, explained that the seat he was running for did not belong to Ted Kennedy, but rather belonged to the people of Massachusetts he got more attention.
People voted for him, and the healthcare bill was blocked.
“I love my country, I want to see the president get things done,” Collias said. “But I think the Republicans just want a chance to fine tune the (healthcare) bill, before it passes.”
Time will tell whether Brown’s victory will be just another Republican vote in the Senate, or if he will be able to break down party lines the way he did in Massachusetts.
But is Brown’s victory a metaphor for the problems with party politics our country is now facing? The victory was monumental for blocking (at least temporarily) the President’s health care bill.
Obviously, all the chips had to fall into place for Brown to pull off the upset, and about three weeks before the election it became apparent that Brown had a realistic chance to win.
“As a republican, I wasn’t paying much attention at first,” explained John Collias, “I thought it was a done- deal; she (Martha Coakley) thought it was a done deal.”
Collias, a Fall River resident, said he always votes but, like many other Massachusetts Republicans, he didn’t start paying close attention until the polls starting coming out.
One of the earliest polls (conducted by Suffolk University) on September 16 of last year showed Coakley holding a commanding 30 point lead over Brown. The Boston Globe reported Coakley's lead had been cut in half on January 2.
“People think the fix is in. People get mad when they think their vote is taken for granted, and I think that's what happened here” Collias said.
And when Brown, now famously, explained that the seat he was running for did not belong to Ted Kennedy, but rather belonged to the people of Massachusetts he got more attention.
People voted for him, and the healthcare bill was blocked.
“I love my country, I want to see the president get things done,” Collias said. “But I think the Republicans just want a chance to fine tune the (healthcare) bill, before it passes.”
Time will tell whether Brown’s victory will be just another Republican vote in the Senate, or if he will be able to break down party lines the way he did in Massachusetts.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
First Assisignment-- Blog Review
Usually I read sports blogs like barstoolsports.com, deadspin.com, or any of the blogs on espn.com. When we were assigned to take a closer look at a news blog, I decided to try read something with some controversy.
Naturally the first controversial news person I thought of was Glenn Beck.
To be clear, I don't follow Glenn Beck. I don't agree with all of his ideas, more specifically, I don't think President Obama is a socialist. But last semester I began to at least listen to what he has to say from time to time.
When I went to check out his blog, I was disappointed. There is a tab on his wesbite that links to a blog, called "Stu Blog." It has not been updated since June 18, 2009. I read a few of the posts and they are pretty well written, but obviously are not one of Beck's priorities on the site. The blog contains only the bare minimum: text with limited links. No pictures. No videos.
After surfing around his site a little bit, I found the blog that seems to be of much more importance to Beck. It is updated daily and is put together pretty nicely. It contains mainly posts written by Beck himself, but also has transcripts of interviews conducted by Beck like this one with Congressman Ron Paul.
The other feature the site has, aside from Beck's own posts, is Beck's Picture of the Day. I thought the mugshot of Gary Coleman was pretty funny. And I liked that it was linked to a news article that talked about the arrest. A fan of "Different Strokes" posted bail for Coleman, which is a pretty funny twist to the story. The layout of the blog leaves much to be desired.
But overall I think the blog is exactly what you would expect from Beck. Some of his ideas are wacky but if you can't stand to watch his show, I would reccomend checking out his blog. I think it provides a good balance in your news, and you can pick and choose which topics you want his input on.
Naturally the first controversial news person I thought of was Glenn Beck.
To be clear, I don't follow Glenn Beck. I don't agree with all of his ideas, more specifically, I don't think President Obama is a socialist. But last semester I began to at least listen to what he has to say from time to time.
When I went to check out his blog, I was disappointed. There is a tab on his wesbite that links to a blog, called "Stu Blog." It has not been updated since June 18, 2009. I read a few of the posts and they are pretty well written, but obviously are not one of Beck's priorities on the site. The blog contains only the bare minimum: text with limited links. No pictures. No videos.
After surfing around his site a little bit, I found the blog that seems to be of much more importance to Beck. It is updated daily and is put together pretty nicely. It contains mainly posts written by Beck himself, but also has transcripts of interviews conducted by Beck like this one with Congressman Ron Paul.
The other feature the site has, aside from Beck's own posts, is Beck's Picture of the Day. I thought the mugshot of Gary Coleman was pretty funny. And I liked that it was linked to a news article that talked about the arrest. A fan of "Different Strokes" posted bail for Coleman, which is a pretty funny twist to the story. The layout of the blog leaves much to be desired.
But overall I think the blog is exactly what you would expect from Beck. Some of his ideas are wacky but if you can't stand to watch his show, I would reccomend checking out his blog. I think it provides a good balance in your news, and you can pick and choose which topics you want his input on.
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