Time to get back on track

Boy a few weeks can sure pass by as if just minutes, or even seconds.

To give you a quick update, we are currently developing slideshows in class utilizing a handy program called SoundSlides Plus, which easily allows any user to upload photos and sounds to tell a story a different way.

My group for this project includes: Eddie Alvarado, Rocio Rodriguez and Michael Stephenson.


We are to seek a person with an unusual hobby or job.

Interpreters are necessary in this world to aid disabled students. The job isn't necessarily one that just anybody can identify with.

Thus today we went out and interviewed Ms. Mary D'ettorre, who is the coordinator of the interpreters for the Cerritos College Disabled Students' Programs and Services.

She provided some golden information in a well-spoken interview that will be pieced together for the sake of completing this project.

From there we will seek out photos tomorrow in hopes of moving along this process quickly.

I will keep you all posted (for sure this time) on our progress as it comes along.

Sharing with others

I hope that everybody is enjoying their long weekend.

Blogging has become a huge part of my life, and I wanted to share some of it with you.

Sports are another big part of my life, which is why I chose to pursue a career covering them. That said, I have a portfolio website that I recently (about nine days ago) fixed and am using again.

The reason for the name 'iJG' on this blog is in reference to my portfolio, located at: iJonathanGarza.com.

Apple sells just about anything by placing the letter 'i' in front of anything. The iPhone, iPad, iPod, etc.

So how about i, Jonathan Garza.com?

Here's a couple of articles that I have written over the last few days. Take a look at them, and let me know what you think.

 - Baseball: Clayton Kershaw named opening day starter
 - Football: Colts moving on from Dwight Freeney and Austin Collie
 - Baseball: Could the Dodgers land Justin Verlander?

I am always looking for writers to contribute to my Dodgers blog, located at Dodgers Nation, so if you are interested, ask away. As a matter of fact, our fellow classmate, Michael Stephenson is already a member for a season.

Want to talk sports? Let's do it!

But in any case, I hope that everybody is enjoying their weekend and I will see you all on Tuesday.

Utilizing LinkedIn and Vizualize.me

What better way is there to progress in your career than to market yourself? Social media websites have really helped many journalists go from being unknown to stardom.

One such medium is LinkedIn, a website that allows a person to show off his skills and abilities, and then connect to other users that might be colleagues and/or professionals.

Want to see mine? Be my guest and feel free to connect to me. 

It gets even better than this though.

While visiting LinkedIn it's easy to get lost in a bunch of text.

What if I told you that there was a way to visualize your portfolio? Sounds better, right?!

That's where Vizualize.me comes in to play. It's a website that can be linked to your LinkedIn account in order to maximize its potential.

Suddenly what's black and white (or in text) becomes beautifully illustrated utilizing the several options available to users.

Here's a look at mine:

You may view the direct site, or I have embedded images for the sake of simplicity.

Experience and education are typically the two components that will land any aspiring professional a job.

Will you be able to relate to a prospective employer in any way? Perhaps! And it could be the determinant in landing you a job.

Hablas español? Parlez-vous français? Show it off! The more ways you can connect to people, the better your odds are of being considered for a job position.

As usual, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about what's been covered in class.

I am always more than happy to help anybody.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Getting up to speed (again)

As others review blogs in the class, I just completing copy editing the front page of tomorrow's Talon Marks newspaper.

In it are designs that I made, where I got to mock-up a Falcons coin and also a Falcons dollar bill.

It will be hard to miss either of them, but I really suggest that you have a look at it when the issue hits stands tomorrow around 9 a.m. at several locations on campus.

Check back later on tonight for a link to our digital edition of the paper.

In Class
OK, so this is supposed to be a blog about the class.

I am about 85 percent completed with the infographic that we were assignment a class period ago.

The project is to study statistics of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Have a look for yourself: 

My infographic is well underway, but still needs some finishing touches.

How are your projects coming along?

Would you suggest that I do anything differently from what I already have?

Today
I mentioned earlier about how we reviewed each others' blogs.

If I came off as too harsh, I'm sorry, but I'm not. My goal as a journalist is to educate the inhabitants of the world, but also to better my colleagues.

Thus, I strive to improve everybody as much as possible.

That said, here are the four sites I had a look at today:

Carlos' Multimedia

In.Kay.For.El's.3rd.Eye

Mr. Hodge

Comprehending Multimedia Reporting

All-in-all I was impressed with what I saw, but know that even the best blogger needs improvement.

I hope that everybody took something from my review.

If you weren't in my group and require advice, feel free to ask. The only stupid question is the one not asked!

That said, have a great rest of the day!  

Without further ado...

I present to you the animated cartoon, whose script was posted on here the other day.

This is a video about joining the Talon Marks newspaper, a brand that I hold dear to myself in my life.

Often times we as editors (and also while staff writers) we would get offended when our hard work would be shrugged off.

Through persuasion, it's not uncommon to find others become excited and want to join the family.

Have a look at the video:


Interested in joining staff yet?

If you are, the instructions are very straight forward.

Contact me and I can help you to register for the class next semester. You may also ask our own teacher, Mr. Cameron, who is the adviser of the paper.

I am looking forward to seeing other productions from the rest of the class.

Recapping Xtranormal and the test

Xtranormal: Giving life to words

In Thursday's class we finally were able to give voices to our scripts.

I'll admit, I had a lot more hope for mine, but, it's ok, it's a start.

I decided to go with stick figures and a plain background, with the thought that one actor be in full color against another that was see-through.

The thinking here is that the fully-colored character would be the knowledgeable person of the two as he introduces reasons to join Talon Marks.

More to come as it happens.

The test

For many class periods we were told that we would be getting our first quiz.

It was finally posted online, and I nearly missed taking it.

A big thanks to Carlos Mariscal for the reminder just before the deadline.

Not only did I take it, but I feel I excelled at it.

Would anybody care to share their answers as to what constitutes a good blog? How about reasons to use social media?

Outside the class

For those that follow me on Twitter, you might have seen that I became the PA announcer for the Cerritos College baseball team.

The experience itself was purely amazing.

However, it's more challenging than it looks!

Here's an example. When you attend a Dodgers (or I guess Angels) game, the announcer will announce the starting lineups, each batter and player substitutions.

Did you know that he has to spot this though?

Thus, I am watching over the bullpen constantly over the game. But not minding it one bit.

The results of the games over the weekend were as follows:

>Citrus College 4
Cerritos College 3

Los Angeles Valley College 1
>Cerritos College 6

>College of the Canyons 4
Cerritos College 1  F/8

My busy weekend also included tweeting a play-by-play feed at @TalonMarks for the Cerritos College men's and women's basketball teams.

Unfortunately the result was a split of the games:

Women
El Camino College-Compton Center 30
>Cerritos College 66

Men
>No. 2 Mt. San Antonio College 80
No. 12 Cerritos College 66

Then there was a trip to Disneyland on Saturday night, and my occasional bowling league on Sunday. But for the one person that made it this far, spare yourself the trouble and just ask me if you are still curious.
 

Moving on to Animated Cartoons

Yesterday in class we discussed animated cartoons, and will be taught how to properly create them tomorrow.

I'm so excited that I thought I would share my script with everybody.

Initially I thought about doing a skit involving a person and his iPhone; particularly a conversation with Siri.

But upon exploring Xtranormal's website, I discovered that such an altercation wouldn't be possible.

Thus, I give you: Reason to write for Talon Marks

Person 1: Why on Earth would anybody want to write for Talon Marks?
Person 2: Why would somebody not want to voice his opinion?

1: It seems like a lot of work!
2: Are you that lazy? Really?

2: The hard work is part of an enjoyable service to help inform the community of Cerritos College

1: But you don't get paid!
2: Is money what really matters to you?

1: Well...
2: Wait! Don't answer that just yet.

2: Think about the hundreds of students you'll spread a message to.
1: I have...

2: I'm not done!

2: Think about the dozens of people you will meet.
1: Sounds...

2: Excuse me! Let me finish!!

2: Think about new situations you will become a part of, and the news you will create out of it.

Silence....

1: Are you done?
2: I was expecting you to interrupt me with a question.

1: No, I was finished.
2: That's terrible journalism. A good journalist is always full of questions!

1: Ok. Umm. How do I join Talon Marks?
2: You have to enroll in the Journalism 107 class with Professor Rich Cameron.

2: After the first semester you can even escalate into the Editorial Board, and could perhaps even be the Editor-in-Chief some day.

2: Who knows? It could consume you enough to get you to change your major.

2: Are you up to the challenge?

1: Absolutely. I'm going to sign up right now!

I feel that the content may be a little short. If you have any ideas or suggestions for me to add on, edit, or remove, feel free to comment away.

See you all tomorrow!