Fall 06 – Interactive Concepts – Researching 5 Ideas

Ok, I should just say… this has been hell. I’m juggling friends, school, and relationships, pseudo-moving, displacement, brokeness… and I still am not getting the hang of it. Is this the proper forum to say these things? I don’t know… but it all needed to be said.

So, like a good student, I spent my weekend between the lab and the library… researching, thinking, wondering. Half of the things I looked for, didn’t get me anywhere… but I guess that’s what’s researching all about. First of all, I decided to visit the magazine section at the library, only to realize the ones who caught my attention the most where related to sociological themes, which brought me to modify my backpackers idea into a anthrofunlogy UGC website.

After that, I made my move into the computer area, where I explored the school’s database and dozens of articles related new media, the web, and marketing through the web. Strangely enough, the database didn’t include anything related to cults.

The next thing was to get books, some I got from the library… others I already owned (luckily, I always show interest in the same things, so 1/3 of the research is done in a way). The books from the library seemed kinda outdated to tell you the truth… but still, even though technical things dont change, the principles behind them pretty much stay the same.

My main source of information, and this I have been doing for a whole semester, is visiting the grad projects desk and take different cd-roms out, and take them on a test drive. This helps me get inspired, and it is the best way to calculate what’s expected. I’m extremely surprised that most grad projects are cd-roms and not real websites or applications. I guess it can be easier in a way… but they run the risk of not being relevant. Who uses cd-roms nowadays anyway… other than kids and institutions in need of promoting themselves? Also, once you see the institution’s cd, you are very likely to not use it ever again. The benefit of the website is just to pass things around and have some fun with them.

Anyway, this has been my weekend. A pretty boring one. Ended up missing the LoveFest and Folsom’s Street Fair. Will I continue missing San Francisco parties because of school? No… because I will do my homework on wednesdays and thursdays from now on… with the sole purpose of going to festivals on the weekends.

So, am I done? Any other questions? Ok, cool. I’ll see you all in class.

-Alex