Process Post 5- Mini Assignments, Peer Review and Accessibility

I particularly enjoyed this week’s reading, named “Digital Gardens” as it relates to what we are doing as a class. This blog talks about how people are making their own, personalized websites to post their content and all of it is under the same Internet. Even though it is gaining popularity now, it dates back to 1998 Mark Bernstein introduced the idea of the “hypertext garden,” arguing for spaces on the internet that let a person wade into the unknown. “Gardens … lie between farmland and wilderness,” he wrote.

Philosophical readings aside, I added yet another accessibility tool to my website, A TRANSLATOR! This is pretty cool. This idea came to me during tutorial when I overheard students talking in different mother tongues, and I thought to myself, “it would be sweet if they went to my website and could read posts in their own language.” This would promote inclusivity and add a personal touch to the website. This feature makes my website accessible to more people from different parts of the world.

This tool is on the upper right portion of my website so it does not feel cluttered, nor does it block any content.

We have been working on our mini-assignments and the third one is due soon. I have a few ideas for it, so stay tuned! Our first peer review was due this week, so you can check it out here. I reviewed The Weekly Grain of Malt by Stephanie Malt.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra – A Technological Marvel

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is a tour de force in the smartphone world, a harmonious blend of Samsung’s technological prowess, design acumen, and commitment to delivering the ultimate user experience. This detailed review delves into why the Galaxy S23 Ultra stands out as a remarkable choice for an Android phone and is also a phone I wanted to buy.

1. Design:
The Galaxy S23 Ultra boasts a design that seamlessly blends form and function. The device’s glass and metal construction exudes an aura of sophistication and feels incredibly premium in hand. The slim profile and ergonomically curved edges make it comfortable to hold and operate. It’s a device that turns heads with its timeless elegance.

2. Display:
The S23 Ultra features a 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with Quad HD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. This results in a visual spectacle characterized by vibrant colors, inky blacks, and ultra-smooth animations. HDR10+ certification ensures the device is ideal for consuming high-quality multimedia content, be it streaming movies, browsing the web, or playing games.

3. Performance:
Equipped with the latest Snapdragon or Exynos chipset (depending on the region), and paired with 12 gb RAM, the Galaxy S23 Ultra offers unrivaled performance. It handles multitasking, gaming, and resource-intensive applications with effortless ease. Samsung’s One UI, which sits atop Android, ensures a seamless and highly customizable user experience.

4. Camera System:
The camera system is where the S23 Ultra truly shines. It is internationally known to take ultra zoomed in images and had gone viral for taking super close ups of the moon as well. A versatile quad-camera setup, including a remarkable 108-megapixel main sensor, a periscope telephoto lens for jaw-dropping optical zoom capabilities, and ultra-wide and macro lenses, redefines mobile photography. The camera performance is nothing short of spectacular, delivering shots replete with intricate details, vibrant colors, and outstanding low-light capabilities. Innovative features like 100x Space Zoom provide creative possibilities, while the laser autofocus guarantees swift and precise focusing.

5. Battery Life:
The Galaxy S23 Ultra packs a robust battery that comfortably powers through a full day of heavy usage. Efficient power management, wireless charging, and fast charging capabilities ensure you spend more time enjoying your device and less time tethered to an outlet.

6. 5G Connectivity:
The device is primed for the future with 5G connectivity. This ensures that you’re ready to embrace the latest network speeds and capabilities, guaranteeing a fast and immersive online experience.

7. S Pen Integration:
For users who appreciate the convenience of a stylus, the S Pen integration is a game-changer. It offers a fluid and natural writing and drawing experience on the device’s expansive screen, making it an indispensable tool for productivity, creativity, and precise note-taking.

8. Software:
Samsung’s One UI is a user-centric and feature-rich Android interface that promises a seamless and delightful software experience. Regular updates and security patches underscore Samsung’s commitment to keeping your device up-to-date and secure.

9. Build and Durability:
The Galaxy S23 Ultra is no slouch in terms of durability, boasting an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance. It’s built to withstand the rigors of daily use and provide an extra layer of protection to your investment.

In conclusion, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is not just another smartphone; it is the epitome of what a high-end mobile device should be. It excels in design, performance, camera capabilities, battery life, and software experience. If you’re searching for the absolute best that Android has to offer and refuse to compromise on any aspect of your smartphone experience, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is the unrivaled champion. Its innovative features, cutting-edge technology, and luxurious design make it a true flagship device that deserves a place in the pocket of discerning tech enthusiasts.

Read more:

https://www.samsung.com/ca/smartphones/galaxy-s23-ultra/

https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s23_ultra-12024.php

I found this week’s reading, “Digital gardens let you cultivate your own little bit of the internet,” quite interesting. The author explained that the nature of the internet has changed over time, allowing people more creative freedom over their online real estate. The author uses the term “digital gardens” to explain that blogs and personal sites can really be whatever we want them to be. They don’t have to be these formal pages that follow the same template week after week.

I felt quite inspired by this article. Since starting this blog, I have struggled to find my voice. I have so many ideas, but this blog is the first time I have had this much creative control over anything, and stringing all my ideas together has been difficult. This article helped me realize that I shouldn’t be afraid to take more risks with my content and try out new types of posts. The written posts are still going to be the bulk of the blog, but I am going to experiment with video posts and photos to share with my audience.

I want to create a blog that is useful for others, but I also want to use this space to express myself and share my passion creatively.

When I decided to make my blog about fitness, I knew I wanted it to cater to an audience I have been a part of. More specifically, I wanted to create a space for people just getting started in the fitness world, because it can be so intimidating. When I was first learning about fitness, I found the most valuable information came from fitness professionals and influencers who made their content accessible for all skill levels, so that is what I have tried to do with this blog so far.

There is almost too much information available on the internet about fitness, so to separate myself from the masses, I blog about the absolute basics. I want Fueling Your Twenties to act as a blueprint that anyone can access and apply to their own journey. I focus on using simple language and keep my posts as short as they can be to make them more accessible and easy to digest.

Truthfully, I picture my audience being largely female. This influenced my choice of theme because I wanted to ensure that it looked feminine. Additionally, I made the whole site pink, because as a female myself, everything looks better in pink.

Peer Review 1

Name-  Stephanie Malt

URL- https://maltigrains.com/

For this peer review, I will be reviewing Stephanie’s website. I have been visiting this website for a week and I see that it is frequently updated, follows a consistent theme in all the posts and I really enjoyed the content I see on there. On the About page, Stephanie explains the meaning of the website’s name and I liked the puns she made of her last name. This page is concise and clear and gives us the perfect introduction we need to herself and the website. This website is about her daily life where she has podcasts, SMISKI stories and unboxings, game reviews, and much more.

Menus

As the requirements wanted, the website has easy-to-navigate POSIEL/PUB 101 menus in the header. There are proper subheadings for all assignments and all links work as illustrated. I found her website very easy to use and all the posts and assignments were easy to navigate.

Content and Process Posts

Posts on this website were informally written, which makes it engaging and easy to follow. Stephanie used a combination of written posts, images and podcasts as her weekly content posts, which I found to be very cool. There were times I found that there could be a better use of grammar, but this could also be a personal choice in order to make the posts set their informal tone. I listened to her 35-minute podcast and I found it to be very well done. The teacher had told us that podcasts/video making as content posts should be done only if we have a history of making them, and I feel Stephanie has successfully proven to deliver a well-finished product.

The dates on the process and content posts show that they were worked upon and published in groups on the same day. Even though this is not a problem, WordPress offers an option to change the date of publishing, so my suggestion would be that Stephanie changes the dates in order to show these posts were published on different weekly dates.

The content posts are well-written and engaging, and the only suggestion I have is to probably tag them as “content” posts rather than blogs.

(PS- This is a personal suggestion and I would check with the TA or teacher if tagging “content posts” as “blogs” is also acceptable)

Design

I like the overall design of the page and there is a simplistic yet consistent theme throughout. The landing page of the website shows all the posts with their respective featured images and a little excerpt of the post. This layout increases the accessibility of the website and gives the user a snippet of each post which they can continue reading upon clicking on the post. The website is also very accessible on phone and no feature is left behind even when viewing on a smaller screen.

Overall, I find the blog very interesting and interactive. Both the theme and content with the course, and adding the Spotify widgets add look as well as interactivity. I will definitely return to this website and am looking forward to seeing what Stephanie does with it. Good luck.

My classmate Karamveer’s site “Blockchain: The New Internet” is a blog dedicated to discussing the evolution of blockchain technology. Immediately, I was impressed by the design of the site. The site is sleek, organized, and easy to navigate. I tend to associate darker colours with topics like business and finance, so I found the black and blue tones used across the site to be quite aesthetically pleasing. 

Before starting this review, I read all the content on the website. The process post from week 2 stood out to me because I saw some clear connections to Gardner Campbell’s work. Campbell (2009) explains that by giving students a digital space in which they can create freely, they would learn and practice a wide range of skills that can be applied to other avenues of life. In addition, having a digital space, or personal cyberinfrastructure, allows students to express their passions and interests in diverse ways (Campbell, 2009). In his week 2 process post, Karamveer shared that he works as a software engineer outside of school, so he was able to use his skills from that field to develop his website. He also mentioned that blockchain technology is something he is passionate about, so blogging about it was an easy choice. I found it really cool that in just a few weeks of class, there are already such clear links between how we run our sites and the material we are learning about in class. 

I spent some time trying to figure out who the intended audience is. There is some background information about blockchain technology in the “about us” section, but I found that the actual blog content went a bit over my head, as someone who has no background knowledge on the topic. As mentioned by Hollenbaugh, (2021), content creators tend to imagine an audience, and create their content with that audience in mind. From my perspective, it seems as though Karamveer has imagined an audience that is equally as passionate and knowledgeable about blockchain technology as he is. If he wanted to widen his audience a bit, Karamveer could make a “blockchain technology basics” post, or something of that nature, for people with little to no knowledge of the topic. 

Overall, Karamveer has created an online self that demonstrates a passion for blockchain technology, as well as educating others about the topic. Karamveer’s interest in web design is also made clear through the sleek and simple layout of the site. 

References 

Campbell, G. (2009). A Personal Cyberinfrastructure. EDUCAUSE Review, 44(5), 58.

Hollenbaugh, E. E. (2021). Self-Presentation in Social Media: Review and Research Opportunities. Review of Communication Research, 9, 80–98.