Author: yz4970

http://imanas.shanghai.nyu.edu/~yz4970/week4/index.html

I encounter a lot problems when doing this exercise. First is adjusting the positions of the pictures. I forgot the “flex” function in css. Then I had difficulty in assigning numbers to a variable. After changing the order of the code, I succeeded in assigning right numbers to the variable each time we click the button. Then, I figured out that everything in Javascript only happens once. And everything else will rely on events. Every time an event is called, code inside that event will happen. 

Our idea of this story is a dog’s journey through metro in Shanghai. Our main character is a dog who got lost in the metro in Shanghai. So he has to find his way back home. During the way, he went to lots of places and had a lot of interesting stories.

When creating comics needed for the project, we used photoshop and a Wacom tablet to draw. We drew our character: the dog. And put it into a picture of the metro using photoshop. This is what we have right now:

Then we plan to take more pictures of the metro and other places in Shanghai. So we could take the reader to go around Shanghai following the dog’s journey. And we would edit the pictures using photoshop to put our cute little dog into it.

Then I think we are going to do web design. I think we need to put a lot of effort in building the storyline because there’re a lot of choices that the reader would make. 

http://imanas.shanghai.nyu.edu/~yz4970/week3/CRAZYCAT.html

I finished this exercise only using a javascript. I found it repetitive and boredsome to use javescript to design the style of the web. I would definitly use css next time.

Also, I succeeded in only using one picture to complete the fliping step.( :D)

In  “The Medium is the Message” by Mcluhan, he discusses how the medium can possibly shape our understanding of the content. The medium itself becomes the message, but not the content. This phenomenon reminds me of how social media shortens people’s attention span. Just imagine there’s a book in front of you, which contains words and illustrations. At the meanwhile, there’s a post on Instagram which contains exactly the same content. Will you perceive the information exactly the same? No. Absolutely no. In the book, you will read the words and just skim the illustrations. The details in the words will make a great impression on you. While on Instagram you would examine the picture first. And if the picture doesn’t interest you, you won’t even look at the paragraphs that are written below this. You would just scroll over and won’t even swipe to the left to see the next pictures. 

Social media does make a difference in our attention spans. We are so likely to be distracted nowadays that it becomes a privilege to actually sit down and do some work without interruptions or mind-drifting. We will become anxious if we hear the notification sound but not be able to pick up our phone and look at the screen. We will feel uncomfortable if we cannot check our phone regularly. Our minds will drift away in a lecture without visual aids. The medium plays such a big role in delivering the content. Or, just as what Mcluhan says, the medium itself is the message.