The video on scratch made it quite interesting. What was most interesting was how it showed what could be done with the program. One could make the characters move, talk (whether it be by sound or text), and see what others have created (ScratchEd). The PDF was also helpful after I downloaded Scratch as it tells you how to use the tools (Getting Started with Scratch version 1.4).

Although after downloading Scratch I played around with it, but had a difficult time. I tried to change the cat’s color but when I accidentally did the background color as well and lost the cat’s body. When I attempted to change the background back to its original color the cat’s body was gone, so I canceled it and didn’t attempt to change the color again. I also played around with the motion of the character. Ultimately, I find Scratch interesting but probably wouldn’t use it outside of this class as it already is a bit frustrating to me. However that’s most likely because I’m still learning to use it.

Works Cited:

ScratchEd. Intro to Scratch. Online Video Clip. Vimeo. Accessed on  26 November                    2012. <http://vimeo.com/29457909>

Getting Started with Scratch version 1.4 (c) 2006-2009. Lifelong Kindergarten Group,           MIT Media Lab. Accessed on  26 November 2012           <http://scratched.media.mit.edu/sites/default/files/GettingStartedGuidev14.pdf>

The most interesting part from Roy Rosenzweig’s Scarcity or Abundance? Perserving the Past in the Digital Era is when he discusses the fragility of digital data. The case regarding the U.S. government records, where Rosenzweig discusses that, “governmental employees profess confusion over whether they should be preserving electronic files” (Rosenzweig). Due to this confusion, information that may hay help an historian could be lost. Also, he mentioned that, “books, journals, and film–that are increasingly being born digitally” (Rosenzweig) inidcates just how much more digital the world has become. The problem is the guarentee of whether such information on the web will be available later for historians as stuff can be taken down or edited.

The Internet Archive and the Wayback machine Rosenzweig mentions digital archives. Even though these two are perserving digital data, they also have limitations. Also the Wayback machine can demostrate how a site has changed over times, which could indicate that information could be lost when websites change over time.

Works Cited:

Rosenzweig,  Roy. Scarcity or Abundance? Perserving the Past in the Digital Era. Essays on History and New Media. June 2003. Web. 19 November 2012.

http://chnm.gmu.edu/essays-on-history-new-media/essays/?essayid=6

This article presented a view on powerpoints I’d never read before. What was most interesting was Tufte’s reasoning: “When information is stacked in time, it is difficult to understand context and evaluate relationships. Visual reasoning usually works more effectively when relevant information is shown side by side. Often, the more intense the detail, the greater the clarity and understanding.” and further explanation. The reason I think this is interesting is because of how the author applied this to satistical data. The picture of the table over the slides with the various graphs made more sense. The author argument regarding powerpoint appears to be good one from the example given.

Work Cited: Tufte, Edward. PowerPoint is Evil. Wired. Issue: 11.09. September 2003. Web. 5/111/12.  http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/ppt2.html