New Website

Well here we are at the end of class!  I am really excited and pleased with Myounghyang Kim's and my website for the All Okinawan Ozak Mountain Karate Association's website.  I sent the link to many AOOMKA members and officers and have received lot's of positive feedback from most of them. I feel like we have gone above and beyond was required for us for the class.  I really appreciate Kim's help and cooperation in building this website that I hope we use for many years to come.  There is still much planned for it in the future long after this class is over.  Even though we submitted it Thursday, I plan on making changes up to and long after we review it on our scheduled final day, next Monday. 

Last week, we successfully registered our domain name and got the AOOMKA website live on the internet!  I can't express how much the members of our association and I appreciate the new website and how much means to us.  Thank you Kim and Dr. Zeng!

Check us out online if you get the chance!

www.aoomka.org

Client Website

Well I once again let another week slip by me without blogging.  I get so busy it just slips past me.

This week we submitted our first review.  We were supposed to get the business owner to review it.  Since mine and Kim's website is for my martial arts association, I actually sent the link to 14 different officers and members to review and give me ideas.  All the feedback that I have gotten so far has been very positive and I have already added three more pages to it.  I, andeveryone that I have shared it with has been excited with our new webpage.  Earlier today, I even got on Godaddy.com and purchased the domain name for five (5) years already.  So if you ever want to check us out after this semester we will be at:

http://www.aoomka.org/ (yes we are a non-profit organization registered in the state of Arkansas)

For now you can check it out at:

http://comm.astate.edu/~intcomm/s12_client/craft_wes_client/

It is not up online just yet, but I actually the person that will be hosting it for me in the other room working on putting what we have already online.  He works for me at JHDC and is the computer IT guy.  He is also going to school to get his degree in computer technology.  He has a couple of computers set up at his house that he is going to host it for me.  He was eager to get my files so he coulkd start working on and figuring out how to host sites from his home computers.

So things have really gone great in our Internet Communications class and I am proud of what I have learned. I am also proud of the website that Kim and I have made and look forward to using it and learning from it for many years!

Two Weeks

Video for the AOOMKA Website

I missed posting the week after springbreak.  Things were just too hectic and for some reason I had a difficult time thinking very coherently all week long.  It just wasn't the best week school-wise.  It was a productive week for the personal website.  Hanshi John Peeler finished working on a slide show video about Hohan Soken and the Matsumura Seito group that was around the Torii Station Karate Club on Okinawa in the late 1960's.  I helped John by spedning many hours over a long period cleaning up old photos getting rid os fuzz, specks, waterspots, etc. The slkideshow is comprised of photos that he and my instructor Soke Tom Hunnicutt took during that time period.  It also has a couple of poems that my instructor wrote.  My group project Kim Myounghyang did some translations for it as well.  The video is 7:54 long.  Take the time and check it out.

Evaluating Information on the Internet

I'm certain that everyone is excited that Spring Break is here and has some awesome plans.  Personally, I still have to work . . . at least until next Thursday.  Then next Friday, meand some of my karate students are heading down to Alexandria, Louisiana for three day.  I am teaching some close quarters combat seminars at a martial arts school there.  The Head Instructor is another of my students.  In the real world he is a pharmacist.  While we are there, his wife has her season opener Saturday night, so we are planning on going to watch her roller derby game.

In class this Thusday, Eric Hicks, Hayden Belgavy, and Symphonie Privett gave their presentation to our class over the subject of "Evaluating Information On the Internet." Ericd started out speaking about Youtube. I think anyone that has anything to do with computers and the internet have visited Youtube.  I have a couple of videos on there and even use it to train people in other parts of the country and even other countries in the martial arts. It is a great way to share things that just can't be communicated via a phone line. Kim and I also intend to host the videos for our website on Youtube and then provide links to it.  Hayden Balgavy then presented information about Google and how it has become such a dominant presence on the internet.  Guess some people are just resistant to change.  I still predominantly use Yahoo! Finally Harmony Privett presented on Wikipedia.  Listening to her, I actually thought that as the president of the All Okinawan OzarkMountain Karate Association, I might want to consider getting on Wikipedia and making a few entries concerning my association!  Overall, the presentation Thursday was very informative and got me thinking about ways to utilize these forms of media with our website.

That's it for this week.  Hope everyone has a fun Spring Break.  BE SAFE!



Guest Speaker Doug Criss

Dr. Zeng introduces guest speaker Diouglas Criss

This Thursday in Internet Communications class, we had a special guest speaker.  It was unfortaunate that the majority of our class chose not to attend and missed out on this interesting opportunity. 

Guest speaker Doug Criss is a copy editor and web editor for CNN and works out of the famous CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia.  Criss is an ASU alum that has worked for CNN for two years.  He works on the CNN Homepage as an editor  and also is responsible for posting tweets and notifications to the CNN Breaking News App. He stated that in this age of technology that before long the CNN website will reach more viewers and be the top earner, even over CNN on television. 

After showing those in attendance the CNN website and others that he is involved with, Criss answered questions.  During this period he shared that when breaking news happens Twitter updates were the number one prioirty, followed by the CNN App and finally the website.  HE also gave advise telling future professional to be prepared to relocate.  Criss also boasted on the ASU Radio-TV and Journalism programs stating "Everything that you need, you will get right here. ASU will prepare you to compete in any market."

Internet Communications Class

Dreamweaver CS5 Logo
(what I have on my laptop)

Things are starting to roll in our internet communications class now.  I am getting excited to see the planning and begining development of our website coming into place. One of the whole reasons I took this class in the first place was because once I finished this class I would be able to make and maintain a website for my martial arts association, The All Okinawan Ozark Mountain Karate Association.  I had no idea thatDr. Zeng would let me actually make it as part of class and for a grade.

This week in class, we had to submit our proposal in essay form to Dr. Zeng.  My partner Kim, originally sent me a proposal for my review a week ago or so, and it was a great foundation to startbuilding on.  She had some great ideas and I just added a few ideas to it.  Everything has been so hectic for me this week with school and work. I would have to say this week was the most busy and sleep deprived I have had since starting back to school. Ihad serious homework and/or projects due in pretty much all my classes, and have gotten maybe 2-3 hours of sleep every night since Sunday. On top of all that, I have been having to prepare for a visit from legislative auditors and going through 90 applications for a job I must hire for at work on top of my regular job duties.  So when Kim asked about her writing the essay for our propsal, I was ecstatic, andmore than glad to let her. Of course, I had to pull my own weight in this project, and as each of you in class have seen, that is a LOT of weight for me to be pulling!  So I worked on out story board to turn in with the proposal.  I chose a green posterboard to put it on because that is one of the colors of the AOOMKA logo, so we will be using tht as one of the colors of our website.  I also used Excel to make the individual screen shots that I put on the posterboard. I'm pretty good with Excel and thought I could use that to make it look cleaner and give more detail inside the screen shots.  Overall, I felt like the storyboard turned out pretty good. Now, on to the building of the actual site!

Myounghyang Kim and the AOOMKA

Myounghyang Kim and Nicki Walker train while
Assistant Instructor (and ASU student)
 Sensei Kenny Sutton watches

As we discussed the development of our website for the All Okinawan Ozark Mountain Karate Association, my partner Myounghyang Kim and I discussed design elements such as colors and other aspects that Dr. Zeng covered in class this week. Kim and I are also in Photojournalism class together, and I am certain our interest in photography will come into play.

As I stated when I was introduced myself (again) and discussed my projected website project for the AOOMKA, "I am very passionate about my martial arts and my association," which I was appointed president of two years ago. As Kim and I talked, I invited her to come to my dojo at my house and take class with me and my students.  Thursday night, I was pleasantly surprised when she did just that and had the nerve to get up and participate!  We further discussed the website after class as I shared with her some of my ideas and desires to incorporate into our website. I am glad that Kim and I are developing a friendship in the process of developing our website and now her training with me.  I hope that some of my passion for my art will be perceivable to her and maybe rub off on her a bit. If it does, I know we will make a great website because we will both be invested in it beyond the point of just doing it for a grade.

AOOMKA Website

This week in class we had submit information concerning our second class website and what people would be working together on the websites. I am excited to be working with MyoungHyang Kim on a website for the All Okinawan Ozark Mountain Karate Association (AOOMKA).

I was appointed as the president of the AOOMKA two years ago and have wanted to develop a website for it ever since.  The majority of my life, I have been deeply involved with my martial arts, and I have been a member of the AOOMKA since the early 90’s. It is an association that has been based out of North Central Arkansas since its inception. My instructor was its first president and is still involved in an advisory position. The whole reason I took this Internet Communications class is to better equip me as the president of the AOOMKA and to give me the capability into bring the association into the 21sr century and give it a presence on the world wide web.  So I am truly excited about this project and intend to use this opportunity to make the foundation of a website that I hope will continue to grow and evolve with the AOOMKA for years to come.

Lastly, I could not be happier with the partner that I have gotten for his project.  Though Myounghyang does not have any martial arts experience, I believe her Japanese heritage, knowledge, and tradition will give our website a certain flair and authenticity to set it apart from others.

Smart Phones

The presentation in our class Thursday was about APPS. We have touched on this some in the past. Everyone in the class appears to have made the step into having a smart phone of some form or fashion, that is with the exception of one person . . .me.  I guess if anybody in class would be resistant to that technology it would be the old guy in class.  I’m not really sure why I have been resistant to it. Over the years, I have watched as improvements in technology have made our lives that much more hectic, and I long for the more leisurely laid back days of a couple decades ago. My life is so crazy right now, I can’t comprehend it being any more fast paced., so I think I am resistant to taking the step into using a smart phone because of this.

Our class centered around apps. I have found there is only one app that I really need from my phone, and that is iSlap.  I need to be able to slap someone upside the head with my phone and it still work afterwards, and I haven’t really found any phone other than the old Motorola Razr that can perform this app without some form of modification. So between this and a desire for keeping life simpler and more laid back is why I haven’t jumped on the smart phone bandwagon.

Happy New Year!

The Arkansas State University Chinese Student Organization hosted its annual Chinese New Year Program Friday night that started at 7:00 in the third floor auditorium of the Carl R. Reng Student Union. 

This year, the Chinese Lunar New Year is celebrated from Monday, January 23^rd through Monday, January 29^th as we usher in the Year of the Dragon.

The Chinese Student Organization’s program was entertaining and included singing, skits, audience participation games, and a Chinese fashion show (shown in the video above).

Internet Terminology Presentation

Our second week has passed in our Introduction to Internet Communications class. We had our first lesson in using Dreamweaver and setting our websites. I, for one, am looking forward to this. I have had a copy of Dreamweaver CS5 for over a year and half and have never done anything with it. This class is going to be such a great opportunity to do something I have wanted to do for quite some time.

Thursday, Bailey Bunyan, Kim Myounghang, Matt Sindelar, and I, presented out report on Internet Terminology. It was a pleasure working with these individuals as a team.  I started out our presentation and was followed by Kim, Matt, and then Bailey. The first three of us covered the internet terminology while Bailey finished out our presentation with an explanation of just what S.O.P.A (Stop Online Piracy Act) and P.I.P.A. (Protect IP Act).

THE BEGINNING OF THE END!

An old picture of my mom, little brother and me
 with Taekwondo Instructor Billy Owens.

 Well . . . here I am at the beginning of my last semester as an undergraduate at ASU!  I’m so excited!  It has been a long time coming.  Heck, I started at ASU before the majority of the people in our class were even born!  It all began for me way back at the first summer session of 1986!  I went a couple of years and let life distract me and knock me off track.  It took way too much to get me back on that track. I always said I was going to return and finish up my bachelors degree. In reality, I probably never would have if life had not used irony to get me back on track. Life knocked me off track, then four years ago it used death to get me back on track when I unexpectedly lost my mother. After a bout with depression, I decided it was time to return to school and get that degree.  We never know how much time we are given, so we better take advantage while we can.  While I am so excited about this semester, it is a mixed can of worms. I can’t help but think about how I wish my mom would be able to be there when I make that walk in May.

Like I said, I am so excited about this semester. I think my excitement is more about the classes I have and the knowledge and skills I will get this semester, and less about actually graduating.  I think this will be my favorite semester yet and it will mainly be about the classes. All my classes are ones I want to take because what they offer by way of knowledge and not because they are required for my degree.  I have three journalism-R/TV classes and one education class and each of them will help or enhance the others. I have wanted to be able to make websites but have found the thought of the whole process quite intimidating any time I have started.  I am so amped that this Internet Communications class will teach me how to do just that! I only need nine hours this semester to graduate but I am taking twelve because I want to take my only R/TV class, which is Video Post Production with a Lab. My other journalism class is Photojournalism, which will build on what I learned in last semester’s photography class.  My education class is Integrating Technology. It will help in my learning how to build websites and other forms of multimedia such as digital story books. It will also show me how to better use this semester’s learning in a classroom environment.  So, I think most of my excitement comes the rounding out of my media skills and how well all my classes will work with and enhance one another. I will learn how to make websites; make videos, photographs, and other multimedia to use with my websites; and how to use them in my teaching, whether as a high school teacher or with my martial arts instruction.

I’ll draw my ramblings to a close.  I hope each of you are as excited about this semester as I am. It is going to be a great one.  Thanks mom. Even in your death, you continue to give me good guidance. I just wish you could be here to witness it all.  Sorry ya’ll.  I promise I’m not as bi-polar as this post may make me appear.