Evaluation of The Queen’s Playground

What worked out well? The intention behind our group blog The Queen’s Playground was to make the first steps in London a bit easier for international students and give them (and everyone else who doesn’t know the city very well yet) some ideas on how to spend time and money in London. In this respect I think we have fulfilled our aim quite well by offering a diverse choice of tips – though, of course, still improvable. Even though we didn’t plan each one’s contributions blow-by-blow we managed to update the site with new content every day. I think we worked really well together in general, considering the fact that we were quite a big group and hardly knew each other beforehand.

What needs improvement? Regarding my own posts I could definitely improve in terms of interactivity and multimedia as I didn’t exploit the full potential of the web  – partly due to lack of time, partly because I’m not experienced using the appropriate devices yet. Also my posts were not really responsive to recent events (though not sure if that was necessary considering our concept). The result of the news day exercise was alright, we all helped each other as good as we could but one thing we (or at least I) really need to work on is interview technics. I guess it is quite common that you get only five or ten minutes for an interview and to know how to get the information you want in such a short time would be very important.

What have I learned? This project clearly showed the advantages and the challenge of working in a group. The communication within the group is essential to avoid duplication and get the desired results. Personally, I realised that I don’t necessarily work faster with a daily deadline but that I get started quicker as the tasks were defined clearly – and also because I simply like the immediacy of the web.

Patria

Apparently some people get excited about the fact that typewriters are still in use. Isn’t it, Sam?

… and another one that makes my day, every day

An all time favourite …

Generation Facebook

We went to the NME Shockwaves in Brixton on Saturday. I intended to write about the bands and their performances, but as the night developed I realised that the thought-provoking part of the show took place in the audience rather than on stage. Photoflashes every few minutes. The motif were not the artists but the photographers themselves. Girls kept spreading out their arms and taking pictures of themselves or themselves and their friends by turns. And we’re not talking about spontaneous snapshots here – these poses and facial expressions had been rehearsed and brought to perfection. I wonder if these pictures were taken to remember a good time later on or to remind of an evening which has been missed almost completely. Pretty certain though that the result was put on Facebook the day after. Or maybe even the same night. It’s the kind of pictures where I always think: “Gosh. I didn’t realise how boring my life is.” Pictures as evidence of a wild and exciting lifestyle.                        

The social network has become more than a toy and does not just keep records of everyday life anymore. Status updates, photo galleries and notes construct identities and somehow, I can’t help it, smell of fear. Generation Facebook is petrified of insignificance. As a counteraction it seems that some people shape their life as if it was a film for which the script is going to be written afterwards. The girls mentioned earlier didn’t pay to see an artist, they paid for the backdrop of the next scene.

Silver Surfers board the World Wide Web

With the internet as a research tool we see ourselves faced with a whole new dimension of sources and information. As soon as you’ve figured out how to use it and where to find what you’re looking for without wasting time, the WWW becomes your best friend. Using the example of a research on Silver Surfers (elderly people discovering the internet) I tried to find helpful links by defining the search criteria precisely and giving some unfamiliar search engines a go. Here’s the result:

http://www.digitalunite.net/ssd/

http://www.silversurfersguide.com/

http://www.sylviamilne.co.uk/silv.htm

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-477140/Silver-surfers-beat-young-Web-wizards.html

http://technorati.com/videos/youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D2CYIrNdhJeY

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?sid=07e86fa8830b9ae9b218affd1ec59a0e&gid=22849076209

http://de-de.facebook.com/group.php?sid=07e86fa8830b9ae9b218affd1ec59a0e&gid=2208326327

http://de-de.facebook.com/group.php?sid=07e86fa8830b9ae9b218affd1ec59a0e&gid=57797527384

http://www.buzzfeed.com/buzz/Old_People_on_Facebook

http://networks.silicon.com/webwatch/0,39024667,39116903,00.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_YMigZmUuk

I can’t help suspecting that also in terms of research the old boy capturing Youtube would be far ahead of me.

About what makes men cry

Since Sex and the City at the latest you’d think that women spend the whole blessed day dealing with relationships, fashion and failed haircuts (usually slightly hysterical). This stereotype is about as true as it is false. And as one of those women who are also interested in football and cars I had a look at what men write about. The Telegraph’s football blog. Ten bloggers (all male, by the way) write about football and whatever they feel is connected to it. Some bloggers focus on their favourite club, others cover the English football by international comparison. While you could get the impression that football was a matter of life and death when reading some articles, others sparkle with wit and are easily approachable – also for non football aficionados.

Now, I may have to say: I am not capable of listing any team lineup and neither do I remember the latest player transfers or the name of the referee who called Liverpool-Chelsea last Sunday. But I am able to  explain the offside rule without using a mnemonic that contains the words ‘shopping’, ‘queue’ and ‘mascara’ and I watch the Reds play (on TV) whenever I can. That alone doesn’t turn me into a fan but rather into a simply interested person. And as such I read the football blog with great pleasure. Most of the stories have a subjective and personal approach and are written in column style. When David Johnson writes about Stoke City you can imagine him hanging on the edge of his seat when watching a match. Then again, he shares his literary interests with the reader or the, I guess, to all of us familiar argument about the remote-control.
In his latest article Sam Green made the attempt to form a band, based on the criterion of “Who’s got the most rock ‘n’ roll hair in football?”. Not a serious undertaking but definitely entertaining and a good balance to match analyses or focussed stories about football as a business.

In many aspects this football blog reflects the small and big truths of life. Is it just the English footballer who reluctantly thinks of being transferred to a foreign team or do the islanders have a general issue with moving to another country? What impact has the economical crisis on the football market – or does it have one at all? Is football rightly associated with primates conduct and beer? The latter, at any rate, I can answer with no. Or ‘only conditionally’. There are at least ten guys who show a passionate but differentiated examination of this sport and, with clever reports, give also amateurs an understanding of it. So, this stereotype as well is as true as it is false. And, also men care about failed haircuts.

Hello world!

Some people are most productive in the early morning hours. They get up at 6 or even 5am and make use of the virginal day to get down to work with a fresh spirit. Not me. It takes the hell of a lot of time for me to get ready for earthly tasks. After being busy all day processing impressions, images and encounters, my mind keeps me awake when others go to sleep. All the little ‘noises’ which got drowned during the day surface with the silence of the night. So that’s when I either try to get tired by reading (or, I must confess, doing silly knowledge tests on the web) or use the distraction-free time to do some work and writing.
Hence most stuff you will be reading on this blog has probably been written sometime between midnight and 3am. Good night and hello world!