The Gray Ratsnake Project

And we are LIVE! Welcome everybody to the Gray Ratsnake Project. Thank you for your understanding and patience in my delayed release of this website.

The Gray Ratsnake Project

Your support, feedback and ability to act interested in what I have been babbling on about in class is greatly appreciated. Enjoy.

The Final Push

As the Gray Ratsnake Project nears completion I just figured I'd swing by and show some of the chaos behind the scenes. There is at least a couple of GB worth of information and edited photographs that have been drawn from/uploaded to the site plus an addition GB or so of raw uncropped photographs and video that have been added to the site. 

I have put in a very large number of hours into the design and layout as that seems to take a lot more time than actually typing up all of the information. (I'm willing to ballpark well over 40hours, but I have no way of telling the exact amount of time). I hope in the end the final product pleases all who visit the site and does the park and the Friends of Murphy Point justice, after all had it not been for either of them I would not have the information or the site that I have created so far; never mind the impact the two organisations have had on my life in general. 

Attached is a screenshot of the mess of monitors I have on the go at the moment and a quick video showing where it all happens. As it stands about 80% of the website has been completed, it is still yet to be published. Enjoy.

So many windows, plus a sneak peak at some of the content I suppose. Click to enlarge.

Theatre in Canada - Sarah's project

If you are an aficionado of theatre, be it big or small then go no further. Sarah Duncan's capstone project provides you with a great look at Canadian theatre.

Sarah's site looks at some 350 theatres in Canada, the most impressive part of it, is the map that features all of the theatre locations. Along with the location of all of the theatre sites she has intentions of adding the website link, so that people can get further info, be it in terms of future performances, phone numbers and so forth. This has all been done through the use of a program called ZMaps of which uses a large spreadsheet which Sarah has created by referencing the Canadian Theatre Encyclopaedia. The map created using this information is now being displayed on the site which she has created using the website creator, Wix. She has also used a timeline which allows people to see the years theatres have been established in, also providing a brief history of the location, including whether or not the theatre is still in operation. At the moment the timeline feature is only available for the province of Nova Scotia, however Sarah did mention it may be possible for additional time lines to be added which would be an interesting feature,

Overall Sarah's site is aesthetically pleasing, using colours that contrast nicely making text easy to read and having an overall soft and warm look to the site. There are a number of images and explanations of all of the features. The site looks incredibly easy to navigate and incredibly user friendly. While there are some things I think would serve as beneficial additions to the site, those things are ones that were addressed during the presentation as "soon to come." In particular additional links to theatre sites, and historical backgrounds/the Canadian Theatre Encyclopaedia will be quite beneficial to your standard user. She also made mention of further available readings that could be posted, contact information for people to ask questions, as well as to add additional theatre locations, and even a chance of having a blog added to the site.

All in all I find this site very interesting and informative, I think the map feature on its own is spectacular, and all of the other content is an added bonus! Needless to say, I look forward to seeing the finished product.

Images of the Past Brought Back to Life

As technology advances there are several pros and cons that become quite apparent in the world of digital imaging. The most apparent pro is the fact that the more and more advance wwe get, the better the quality of the image will be and the more we can do to alter and process that image. The downside is the fact that as we advance in leaps and bounds the "stuff" of the past can get left behind.

For example some formats aren't compatible with newer programs, something that happens frequently with all sorts of files be they images, music, video, text, and so on. But what about the files that come from before the digital age? The endless number of photographs, be they ones that were taken by families at picnics or soldiers on leave, they all have a place in our history. When these images are found they cannot simply be uploaded into a program and then sent out for whatever they will be used for. Instead they have to be developed, a process that is far from simple. From there, assuming the images are even visible to start off with, they have to be scanned, uploaded and worked with to make them appear within range of their original quality.

Recently National Geographic put out a short 10 minute video on the Rescued Film Project, where Levi Bettwieser, a photographer, processes and brings back to live 31 roles of WW2 era photographs. Its an interesting watch and helps to get a better understanding on the process of turning old roles of film into modern digital images.

The Link:
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/short-film-showcase/wwii-photos-seen-for-the-first-time

The Project So far... again.

Since the last time I wrote about my project on this blog, a fair bit has changed, in a good way. I spent several hours looking over data, research, other information and so on; then I spent many more hours creating the foundation of the website – words, around twenty or so single spaced pages of descriptions, explanations and so forth. While it may sound like a lot, when broken down and separated across The Gray Ratsnake Project website it is a very manageable amount. Some of the site pages feature no more than a couple of paragraphs, while other pages feature a page or two worth of typed information.

That being said, it’s not all gloomy and wordy, or at least it won’t be when the project is finished. Over the past couple of days and the weeks to come I will be slowly transforming the website from a jumble of text into a more visually pleasing online exhibit. The most prominent feature of the exhibit will be photographs. Over the course of the summer I took well over a thousand pictures and a fraction of these photos will be placed on the website to divide up the text, provide better explanations and examples, as well as just give people something to look at.

Along with photographs, there will be some short video clips as well as a handful of maps that will help in creating “big picture scenarios” such as helping see the overall movements of radio telemetry subjects. While there will be lots of imagery of the surface, there is still a lot of valuable information beneath, for this is not an “all sizzle and no steak” type of project. Vast data bases have been referenced to help better describe the snake’s population and the movement of the snakes over the course of the summer. I have also turned to some moments of personal experiences, having been the Gray Ratsnake Technician to compliment the information I talk about on the site.

While there is still a lot to do, and a lot of polishing to come after that, I am reaching the end. I am in contact with the park biologist at Murphys Point every now and then to get additional information and images, which has been more than helpful. A general suggestion to anyone creating a website; its helpful to be closer to your main source of information than I currently am. A five hour travel gap means most of your information needs to be collected remotely, which can prove difficult at times.

Social Media and Work

As social media branches into our lives more and more it becomes a part of different aspects of our lives that we never envisioned it in. As I plug away at my website, I can't help but remember the role it played in my job this summer, and the problems it also creates.

Social media has been renowned for creating problems in the work place, mostly as a)a time waster/distractor but also as b) a censorship issue. The first issue is quite obvious, even if you are doing something such as updating a twitter account directly related to your work, it looks highly unprofessional to be on your phone while in the workplace, especially on a social media site. In terms of censorship I am referring to the fact that once you say something or share a video, even if it is meant for a personal audience, everyone, including the people you work with see it. Therefor the moment you share something that is in bad taste you are being evaluated by current, old or future employers. The question is, is this right? Should employers be looking at stuff you post? Or better yet, should you be posting stuff that you know your employer will see. It is something that makes me cringe every time I see something controversial come across a facebook feed. In turn this bring on the question of; is being on social media to such a large extent starting to censor people who are concerned about being called out by a supervisor? Who know, maybe I shouldn't be as bothered by it as I am, but I think that in a world where everything is so readily available to the public it is difficult to remain professional at all times.

While social media plays into employment in the above way, it also can be beneficial. For example, a facebook and twitter account set up for the park I worked at helped to keep people up to date on what was going on. I used my phone to regularly update a twitter feed about the research I was doing. Click here to see the twitter feed. Its a great tool for attracting people who may never had heard of the project outside of the park. But at the same time, using a phone regularly at work, even if it was for work tasks did, in my opinion, look unprofessional. There is also the issue with the likes of accessibility. Lets just say the Canadian Shield does not provide the best cellphone service, which can make regular updates difficult from time to time.

This less than impressed looking Barred Owl was quickly shared to social media 

What do you think, is the interaction between social media and the workplace a good thing. or a bad thing?

Google Earth

Google maps has become the standard way of most families to plan out their route, be it searching for a remote hotel, a store you in a busy district or finding that one relative's house that is so far off the beaten track that you wonder what you are doing going to visit them in the first place. Of course, is this is all you desire to get out of a map then google maps is a great place for you to start. However, if you need to get more out of a digital map, and don't want to go out and purchase expensive mapping software, then look no further than Google Earth and Google Earth Pro (which is now free, so might as well grab it instead of plain old Google Earth.)

Google Earth enables you to complete a range of things, outside of exploring a large digital map of the world that is. It comes with your standard satellite imagery, and scope of different layers (roads, places, etc.) but it also allows for you to create your own markers, pins, insert your own imagery and so forth. Any pin you create can be titled in the manner of your choosing and the icon can be altered to be more suiting to the location. Creating one of these pins is as easy as clicking a button (there is literally a button with a pin on it), and then selecting the point on the map where you want to place it. Don't like its positioning? Each marker has a "preference" option where you can change its location by entering precise gps positions (although as a warning, there are times where the LANDSAT imagery is misaligned, so your pin can be slightly out of place). Images, descriptions, and web addresses can also be linked to points, if additional information is required. All of this can then be saved either as an image, or a .kml file which then can be easily shared with other people who may want access to what you have created.

If you wish to use Google Earth even more you can create polygons,(seen in red in the image above) to highlight desire regions, and you can even overlay maps onto the satellite imagery (you can alter these maps a bit, but by no means will it match Google Earth imagery perfectly, due to differences in perspectives etc.). None the less, its minor flaws can easily be overlooked due to the fact that the program is free and it is incredibly user friendly, especially when compared to sophisticated GIS programs. If you want to try it out for yourself, click here, you might as well, its a fun, cool tool, and its free so you have nothing to lose.

The History of Sustainable Housing, a review

Matt’s capstone project will be composed of a website that will focus on Sustainable housing both past and present. Personally I think this will be an excellent website and good resource, especially for new home owners who are looking to make their homes a little greener. There are many positive things to say about this site and very few if any negative and I will highlight them as I proceed.

This site tackles many aspects of the rising sustainable housing industry. As a history student, I do find the aspect at looking at the history of sustainable housing to be quite interesting. I think it could prove also beneficial, and it seems like Matt was leaning in this direction too, to include a general history of housing seeing as sustainable housing seems like a more modern concept. Showing how inefficient houses were during the, say 1800s, compared to what we have now could prove rather interesting, especially in terms of heating. Anyways, I think this timeline aspect of housing evolution will be quite cool, and also be a benefit to the class’ overall scheme.

From Matt’s presentation and paper I also gathered that the project will spend the majority of its time looking at the achievable sustainable housing upgrades. I really like the fact that his emphasis on upgrades will be placed on reasonable ones that your “average joe” will be able to complete, in most cases, on their own. Matt also made mention that most sites looking at this topic are more blog based; so it will be good to have an easy to navigate website. While sites, like the Home Depot’s and other home improvement stores may have sections on sustainable housing it will be beneficial to have a site strictly dedicated to the matter at hand.

Asides from providing general information on improvements and the history of sustainable housing Matt also aims to tackle the current inefficiencies he has seen in modern housing. His goal is to outline the flaws on his site and prompt critical conversation which will in turn lead to better strategies in house renovation and construction. I think this is a bold yet excellent step. It could be hard to get the ball rolling in the conversations and difficult to see this have a quick impact on the home construction and renovation industries, but if it really takes off and given time I think that it could help people bring some major changes to housing, be it on a small or large scale.

This is a good idea for a project and the only thing I place emphasis on at the moment is that you may want to start building the general structure of your site sooner than later. This will give you a good idea on how long it will take to complete various aspects on your site and will also better help you assess which applications and methods you want to use to display information on the site, be it Sketch Up, maps, images, videos and so forth. I look forward to seeing the final product!

To read Matt’s project proposal click here.

The Gray Ratsnake Project - Proposal

For my Hist*4170 capstone project, my aim is to create an all encompassing website on the Gray Ratsnake and its history (both past and more present) within the boundaries of Murphys Point Provincial Park. In turn, the project will take the form of an online exhibit or even museum if you wish, as the site itself is divided into separate portions. The site opens to a home page where you can then decide where you wish to begin. Most who are new to the site and the species will commence with the identification portion, then look into the history of the park that has been linked to the Gray Ratsnake, this is followed by a section on the park’s current standings with the Gray Ratsnake and then the last core exhibit of the site will be based on research that took place over the past year or so. The site will also include easy to navigate subcategories for each core section as to provide both ease of navigation and to split the information up. Additional subheadings will be present that offer information on what the site is, where people can find resources on the Gray Ratsnake and so forth. The website will be full of visuals, and be written to appeal to an audience of teenagers and older, that being said I do believe anyone could use this site if they so pleased, as it will serve as a great source for a wide range of Gray Ratsnake information.

It is understandable that since the project has such a heavy focus on the Gray Ratsnake there may be a concern on how this relates to the digital humanities and the teachings of the course. It is true, that some portions, such as the identification section of the site, will not feature a heavy dosage of “humanities” related information; however this section is essential as it provides critical information on the species that is required to better understand the snake and to better understand human interactions with the species. Where it ties in with the humanities is in the potions of the site that deal with human interactions and the park’s history. These potions of the site look at how people have shaped not only the habitat of the Gray Ratsnake but also its population numbers. The snake after all, is a species at risk and by no means is it at risk because of climate change or over predation. We have directly impacted their population through the destruction of critical habitat, interference in their movement, and a general hatred towards snakes. This just goes to show that talking about natural history proves almost impossible without involving human/cultural history.

The website will be made using the website creation site known as Weebly. The source comes at no cost and allows for a wide range of website features to be completed. I will be working heavily with programs such as Photoshop to create display images very similar to what you would come across in a museum. Images will all be obtained either from my personal collection or the Murphys Point Provincial Park photograph archive. Some sections will feature aerial images as well as maps to help demonstrate a scope of information (from snake movement to the impact of humans on a region and so forth). Data from a range of research project that have taken place within the park will also be used, to help demonstrate a number of things, but mostly to show snake movement patterns as well as flocculation in the snake’s population within the park. It is at this point I should also mention two important things. When using this data I will be not only be using it to prove a point but I will also most likely be critically evaluating it as, like with most data, it does have its flaws. The second thing to be mentioned is what I have discussed in my blog and in class a couple of times. Due to the fact that this information is regarding a Species at Risk and was not obtained by myself, but through the not for profit organization The Friends of Murphys Point Park, I have to go through the proper channels in order to maintain a professional relationship with both the Ontario Parks organisation as well as with the Friends. I have of course done so and the Friends have graciously allowed me to use all of their information and the Park Biologist at Murphys Point has agreed to help me gather any photographs etc. that I may need (as there is four and a half hours distance between us). I have also checked with the biologist to ensure that me creating this site, as a third party would be alright, and not a violation of any policies as I do wish to continue working for the Friends and or Ontario Parks in the future. In reality the only “sensitive” part of this project comes in terms of the Gray Ratsnake and GPSed locations of critical habitat and movements, which simply means that when it comes to information on the snakes location the areas that they have been in will be far more generalised.

When it comes to pre-existing information/literature available on the Gray Ratsnake, we do see a wide range of facts, from identification to habitat and behaviour. However this is no more than you would expect to see when you open your standard field guide. Most of the online information that can be found on this species is comprised of online fact sheets, many not as detailed as they should be in order to provide a proper identification. This website becomes more so unique when you combine the snake with Murphys Point Provincial Park. At this point in time the only other source of information that runs in that direction is the Blog on Gray Ratsnake conservation that the Friends of Murphys Point Park run. This site encompasses a range of sources from field guides to pamphlets and interviews, all combined with my personal experiences with the park and the Gray Ratsnake to provide an in depth looks at the snake. At the moment there are no ongoing digital humanities projects that focus on either the Gray Ratsnake or Murphys Point that I am aware of or have come across, which is yet another reason why I feel this project provides a great opportunity.

Overall I feel it could be said this project takes on the feeling of an environmental history project, the emphasis will be placed on humans and how we interact with the species of snake, however there will still be great emphasis placed on the Gray Ratsnake, for you cannot look at the history of human interaction with a species without also looking at the species itself. It should also be said that a relatively decent sized fraction of this site will look at the Gray Ratsnake in a more recent history, as thorough documentation of the species within the part is a more recent occurrence. This means that while there are parts of the exhibit that look at say a hundred years ago, a lot of the history will be placed within the past decade, and the telemetry section will all be within the past year. This may not lend to our traditional views of history, but it is still essential to look at to better understand the species and their history.

All in all

the site will take a thorough look at the Gray Ratsnake and its history with Murphys Point Provincial Park, however it will also have a secondary objective, that being that, with a better understanding and knowledge of the species, people will be more accepting of the snake. We know there are a number of people who are not the biggest fans of snakes, yet it is my hope that with this new information, people may will be more respectful of the snake and maybe even take an interest, even if they still remain less than comfortable around the Gray Ratsnake. After all, knowing is half the battle.

The Gray Ratsnake Project

While it had a name before, things have become a bit more official. I have tidied up the main page as you can see in the following image. More importantly however, with a complete skeleton on the site completed I then felt confident enough to submit my plans to the required sources in order to get confirmation on whether or not it would be okay for me to complete this project. As it stands, they are very intrigued with what I have and where I intend to go with it. The concept of an online exhibit seems promising in their eyes as well as mine, especially in terms of serving a purpose and minimal amounts of upkeep required once it has been published.

At this point in time the site stands to be a third party server, so basically I am outside of the two key organisations that I will be referring to most on the site (Ontario Parks, and the Friends of Murphys Point). It will remain a third party server until it has been completed. Once completed I will propose the site to the entire board of directors for the Friends of Murphys Point Park to see if they would essentially like to "Brand it" and take over, or the site will simply be a temporary exhibit that will be scavenged for parts once it is complete and then taken down. Either way the results are positive as not only do I get to continue with creating this site, but also because I have been graciously given access to all of the data, maps and so forth that the park has in relations to the site. Of course as mentioned before, not all of the collection of Data and maps will be published as some of it is sensitive, but some of it will most definitely be used.

The overall goal of this site is to act as an online exhibit for the Gray Ratsnake, focusing on the population within the boundaries of Murphys Point. The site will be appealing towards and audience over the age of thirteen or so, that being said it will obviously be open to everyone. The site will cover all sorts of aspects on the snake and the park, ranging from snake behaviour, identification, habitat, history of the snake in the park during certain time periods, current interpretation of and human interaction with the snake, as well as research and studies.

The ideal goal of the site, as I have briefly discussed with the Park Biologist/Senior Natural Heritage Education Leader at Murphys Point is to promote the snake species, the park and the Friends of Murphys Point Park, along with, an most importantly, provide a resource for elementary and high school students to learn more about the species in potentially more of an interesting way than flipping through a field guide. The site will also host basically a bibliography/additional source page which will enable people who use the site to gain a larger scope of information if they so wish,

That's it for now.

A Quick Update on the Project

As mentioned before, due to the nature of this project and some of the groups and information it encompasses there is a need to get some sort of approval before the project can go into full swing. Therefore, what I have done is created the skeleton for a site using Weebly. This site has allows you to do all sorts of cool stuff and is pretty basic. Along with it I have also relied heavily on Adobe Photoshop Elements to create some of the graphics you will see.

Essentially the reasoning for this pre-emptive skeleton is so that I have something to show and use to explain what I want to do, and also demonstrate the quality of the site I will be creating.The site opens with a large splash image, with the whole "click to begin" kind of ordeal, and then you are brought to the homepage which gives you a brief introduction. from there the site is divided into 4 main sections, and each section tackles a bit of a different subject but still focuses on the theme of Gray Ratsnakes. The overall goal of this site is to not only deliver a form of exhibit to the public but also to demonstrate to people that while the GRS may be an intimidating creature, it is not one that we should be fearful of, and it is indeed a species that has been heavily impacted by the human populous.

 The main page features links to social media websites related to the park, as well as the charitable organization "The Friends of Murphys Point Park" who fund the majority of the GRS research. There is a brief description of the site and then below there are links to the 4 categories that the exhibit will explore. The site also has a bar that runs across the top of the page with drop down menus for easy access and so forth. At this point in time the site has NOT been published.

This is Hitman-Two-One-Actual that’s a solid copy. Go ahead. (Part 2)

If you have not read Part One, do so first by clicking on the link. 

Evan Wright’s Generation Kill, HBO’s Generation Kill and Nathaniel Fick’s One Bullet Away all look at the USMC 1^st Recon’s Bravo Company during the invasion stage of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Being a specific platoon within a rather specific branch of the military means these three different sources heavily overlap one and other, especially seeing as HBO’s series is based on Wright’s book, which in turn mostly focuses on the platoon Lieutenant Fick commanded. Using a text analysis tool known as Wordle, my goal is to look at, examine and compare the quantity of use of different words in from each source. Here are just a few of the results I gathered.

So what can we make out of these three clouds of words, I mean we know that the bigger the word is, the more frequently it was used in the text (of course having ruled out the common words of the English language – a feature automatically provided by the tool) and in total we have 150 words from each text. In order to really analyse the meaning of the cloud, you are going to have to read the books and watch the series (for a total of seven hours of film and 840 pages). Fortunately, as I have done this already, I can save you some time.

Evan Wright's Generation Kill

HBO's Generation Kill

Nathaniel Fick's Generation Kill

Some Key Words for Wright

• Marines
• Colbert/Colbert's
• Humvee
• Men
• Person, Fick, Team
• Recon
• One 
• Fire

Some Key Words for HBO

• Fucking/Fuck/Shit
• One/Two
• Fick
• Hitman
• Sir
• Roger/Copy
• Get/Just/Got (surprisingly some is not as large)

Some Key Words for Fick

• Marines/Marine
• Platoon/Batallion/Team
• One/Two
• Around/Along/North
• Men
• Sergeant
• War
• Time
• Highway

Let’s start with the biggest word in both Wright and Fick’s books, Marines. Followed by a not too distant singular marine, this word occurs the most because it is easiest way for the authors to provide a title to the men they are working/serving with and writing about. Using other words such as soldier to describe the men doesn't really occur in the books due to the elitism of the marines, especially recon marines, who are in a class of their own when it comes to combat and combat training. Each time the author, who is talking about the time spent with the marines, wishes to talk about more than one of the men they are with, or they do not know the name of a specific member of this military unit, they use the word marine. Even if you were to take this blog article, chances are marine will be one of the most common words. But why isn't it of as high usage in the series if it’s so popular in the books? Simple, you can see everything the author is describing. We don’t need someone to say the marines did this or that, we simply know by observing their actions.

One and Two. Why, they are numbers, numbers that when we think of why they would be used, it would be for one thing, describing. There are two unarmed men approaching our position, hold your fire; serves as an example of what we would expect two to be used for. But why do we see it so much, how many times can writers describes things in single/double groupings. The answer lies in communications. Throughout the invasion the marines rely heavily on radios to keep in constant contact with one and other, especially since they are in separate hummers. Evan Wright rides in the hummer code named Hitman-Two-One, and Fick Hitman Two. So every time a hummer’s call sign comes over the radio it is recorded into the transcript as the radio plays an important role in the series. But from this yet another question rises, why does Fick’s book have a high use of One and Two yet Wright’s does not? The answers this time lie with the writer. To Fick these call signs are like a spoken language that he is fluent in, and would use liberally as his book is directed more towards a military oriented audience. Wright’s materials are direct towards the general public, so he uses the names of the marines more frequently than he would the call signs to avoid confusion and allow for a better connection (names being more personable than Hitmen and numbers).

The last, and to us possibly one of the words our eyes are most rapidly drawn to when looking at fucking. Fuck, fucking and further down the line, motherfucker (bottom of the cloud, centered) are used quite frequently in the mini-series, but in Fick’s book its rarely used (as in not on the cloud) and in Wright’s book you have to search to find it (fucking is located by the S in marines). Why? The answer is essentially the opposite of what it was for marines. In the books most of the focus is on describing and in comparison, a very little number of words go towards dialogue; in the film everything is dialogue. Fick admits in his text and is described by Wright in his book as someone who does not swear a lot, which explains why there is a lack of profanity in One Bullet Away. The Generation Kill book/series have this increase in profanity due to the fact that you are learning about men who are well, rather foul mouthed; and in several cases, its rightly so.
these clouds, is

The moral of the story here is everyone should watch this mini-series as it tells a phenomenal story, just don’t watch it with your little cousin, brother, sister, that kid you are babysitting, or your parents if they give you a disapproving scowl every time you say dammit. And if you have an interest in combat, military of history firsthand accounts give Fick and Wright’s books a read, you won’t regret it. Stay Frosty.

Hitman-Two-One this is Hitman-Two-Actual. How Copy? (Part 1)

First seeing the use of Wordle, it looked like a cool tool but not necessarily one that would prove overly useful, asides from creating flashy visuals to show the more common words in a particular text. But then I began to wonder, what if I used this tool to compare texts, in particular different items focused on the same subject. It would indeed create great visuals, but it also keeps tabs on the number of times different words are used throughout a text. Through doing this there is no doubt that I would come to some interesting conclusions.

For this comparison I used the book Generation Kill. The book is written by Rolling Stone Magazine reporter Evan Wright and provides an in depth first-hand account of the invasion of Iraq. Evan rode in the back seat of a hummer, part of the United States Marine Corps First Reconnaissance Battalion, Bravo Company. Yet, what proves most unique and beneficial in terms of comparing the text is the fact that not only was the book turned into an HBO mini-series, but a Marine who commanded the platoon of Humvees that Wright rode in also wrote a book. Nathaniel Fick’s One Bullet Away looks at his personal career in the Marine Corps, most of which is focused on his time in Iraq. As Fick is a lieutenant it means that he was almost always no more than two-hundred or so meters away from Wright, which in turns means the two texts are covering very similar and at most times identical events.

So long story short, I took the text from Fick’s One Bullet Away, the text from Wright’s Generation Kill and the transcript from HBO’s Generation Kill and put them into individual word clouds. This is done in all honesty to satisfy my curiosity as I have read both books and watched the series several times. But in terms of research it can be said that I did this to compare a text written from the stance of the media/a non-combatant/someone with little knowledge in terms of military (asides from a brief assignment in Afghanistan), compared to a Marine lieutenant. I was also able to compare Generation Kill the book to the mini-series, which of course means that there would be a difference from a text consisting mostly of descriptions to a text consisting of primarily dialogue.

It is also important to keep in mind that while the series is highly accurate in accordance to the text it’s based on and most of the dialogue in the book has been translated to the series, there is still a large quantity of “made up” dialogue in the HBO series. However because of the creators great attention to detail and heavy communications with the marines who the series is based on dialogue that is made up still bares the mannerisms, similar opinions to an extent that it could have been said by the marines themselves. This helps to assure that commonly said words would have most likely been the words commonly used by the soldiers during the invasion.

Scene from HBO's Generation Kill, episode two "The Cradle of Civilization"

Results of Wordle’s use to come in Part 2

How things are going... for the project that is.

At this point in time my main idea/theme for my final project would be a form of internet exhibition based on the research I partook in this past summer at Murphys Point Provincial Park as the Gray Ratsnake Technician. I would use information gathered from this study as well as old data and information about the species and the park in order to create a more complete and "full" exhibit.

Of course there are a couple of issues that arise when attempting to cover such a topic. The first is the fact that this project for a digital humanities class. Need not fear, the fact that these snakes are an At Risk species means that they are already well on the radar of human beings, this in turn means human interaction, which in turn means the humanities ties in quite easily. Aspects ranging from "Why have we as human put the snake on the Species at Risk list?" to "what have we as humans done or not done to make this area such a hot spot for Gray Ratsnakes?" Along with that there is also the fact that being a part of nature, the snake and its environment fall under the Natural history side of things which is always entangled with cultural history. Then of course the history of research on the matter at hand can also be looked at, for example, "what was research like on this same species 20, 30, 40 years ago?" and how does that compare to the research I did this past summer. It goes on and on.

We knew snakes could
 swim, just didn't think
they would to the extent
that it would require
a boat...              

While the first issue, I must admit I solved rather quickly, the second issue stands in the sensitivity of the subject, and by that I'm not referring to the fact that snakes aren't the most popular creature in the world, but the fact that some parts of the data collected are not to be publicly revealed as per the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. None the less, I have done presentations on the material so in the long run the majority of the information can be used, as long as info on specific locations are not revealed... so long story short, this blog mostly particular post consists of me jotting my ideas down in order to convince myself that this is what I want to do...

On that note, the site, if constructed in the manner I am thinking of right now, would have your main page featuring general information, and then each sub-page would act like different "wings" or "halls" of a museum, featuring on more specific parts of the subject.


Having worked at the park some difficulties I actually foresee (as opposed to the previous that I was just sorting out) is the fact that a lot of the information I have learned about the park have been through small pamphlets that, if I can recall correctly are short some sources. However, even then, there are small facts that would be subject to that issue, and even then some of it is still good, merely needing to come with a bit of a disclaimer...

And thats where I am, as it stands, I've gathered a fair bit of the information on the subject and so forth at this point in time, now its just a matter of getting it all sorted out and formatted.

The Library of Congress Web Archives

The Library of Congress Web Archives covers information on around twenty-one more current (post 2000) events. Being the United State’s Library of Congress web archive, this means that there is a heavy focus on events in which the USA and its congress were heavily involved in, placing various limitations on what you can find (for as previously mentioned there are only 21 collections, and an additional visual images collection). The website has recently gone through a transformation in terms of formatting and can be found at this link: http://www.loc.gov/websites/ The upgrade’s most notable feature is the ability to better search for desired topics and significantly narrow down the search, this new styled website also makes the amount of information covered look more comprehensive that the previous site.

But what is the point of the Library of Congress Web Archives to start off with? Basically it has been put in place to capture web activity that corresponds with major US events. Browsing into certain events, such as the Invasion of Iraq in 2003 you can find websites covering a scope of information that related to “Operation Iraqi Freedom.” From political cartoons, websites for returning veterans and even site for pets with patriotic names. Pages for official military branches, anti-war website, news articles, and blogs are amongst the more frequently visited sites when it comes to this subject, but no matter what the source is this website does exactly what it is supposed to and what is desired by the likes of history students and professionals, especially those evaluating the digital humanities.

An in depth search brings me to the 2003 version of
the USMC website. This particular site is fully interactive.

By looking at this site we can gain valuable information on websites that are in some cases no longer existent, or that have been modified and modernized so much that they would not be recognizable.  What does this mean? Continuing with my example of the Iraq War, it means that we can gage public reaction on the internet; see how people felt about the conflict outside of the popular media, we as historians have been granted access to a massive collection of primary sources. We can also see how more official sources such as the United States Marine Corps and leading news agencies told the story of Iraq as they happened. And this case does not apply for only the Iraq war, information in readily available for other conflicts, elections and so forth. The Library of Congress Web Archives provides a large amount of preserved information on a specific scope of topics, which may also be its limitation as it does not cover as many sources as site like the Internet Archives. None the less even if you cannot find what you desire by using this source, which is bound to continue growing with time, it is definitely a good place to start when looking at more “current” US events.

The Effect of Digital Tools on my Education and Future

                As the world continues to get more and more technologically advanced, digital tools and approaches become more and more engrained in our day to day lives. Universities are no exception to these advancements as I am sure most of us can note how technology, especially those dependant on the internet, have become more and more so involved in our day to day lives. Email has connected us to the world around the clock so that students and staff remain up to date, at the same time this service also enables any quick questions to be answered without having to seek out a meeting time with another individual. Research can be done almost entirely online (depending on the subject of your research), as one now has mass collections of research from media, to articles, and books at their finger tips thanks to the digitizing and uploading of all of these formats on to easily accessed databases. In turn once your research project is complete it can even be submitted online. Entire discussion and courses are now being held online too, making it so you don’t even have to leave the comforts of your own room. While this can prove beneficial for students living in cities far from Guelph or who’s schedules are a bit hectic, you also lose the aspects of face to face interaction which for some people, myself included is a large part of a class. You can go entire semesters discussing subjects with a group of people, yet never know who the person is on the other end of the conversation. In online courses, lectures are replaced by readings and slide shows, which depending on your learning style can make learning significantly harder or easier. Yet it seems like this is the way our world is drifting as it becomes more convenient and seen as a financially better alternative.

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what a University can do using technology, for all I have described so far is Email and Courselink. Depending on your classes, specific tools and software will be introduced to better help you with the subject. I took a geography class last year where the lab portions of the class were heavily reliant on a piece of software known as Whitebox (created by Prof. John Lindsay of the University of Guelph), which when coupled with LANDSAT images or even maps from Google Earth, it can be an incredibly powerful tool when it comes to studying the earth from the sky or space. A range of things can be achieved when using this software from reconstructing old aerial photographs, to stitching together numerous satellite images. I have also used programs such as PEAR to edit and be edited by other students when writing papers and technologies such as the clickers have served as an interesting way for classes to become a bit more interactive.

As I move on with my education and career, it is without a doubt that digital tools and approaches will be a part of my future. As a student of history, online databases will always prove one of the best starting points, while the creation of displays be it for work or for school will always rely on the likes of Photoshop, a great tool for producing visually impressive as well as informative displays. Digital photography has also been a part of my life, serving not only as a hobby but an effective way to document artifacts, locations and events that occur at work during the past and future summers. The limits of this new digital era are almost endless as it continues to evolve day in and day out.