Category Archives: WeeklySummary

Weekly Summary #1: Hello!

M. Marshall 1.17.2025

Hello, and welcome to my blog. In all honesty, this is the most technologically advanced thing I’ve ever done. When I was younger, I wanted to have a blog, but my mom wouldn’t let me. Similar to Ryan and Creed, from The Office, my mom allowed me to share my thoughts on a Word document. I guess the world was not prepared for whatever I had to say.

(Me, 2007) What would she have had to say?

Beginning this class was definitely anxiety inducing for me, as I have little-to-no experience in terms of anything related to tech. Maybe in my younger years, I’ve changed the color of a Tumblr blog or figured out how to use Minecraft, but those days are not representative of my current skill set.

I was able to guide myself through creating this website; however, pretty much immediately I hit a wall: I realized I had no idea how to edit the website or even access WordPress. I ended up booking an appointment with the Digital Knowledge Center. I met with one of the students working there named Feli. They were very helpful and I was able to give my blog a little theme which was very exciting! This was very helpful for getting started and learning the ropes. I do not have a crystal ball, but I see many DKC appointments for this class in my future.

(The Wizard of Oz, 1939)

I feel much less nervous and much more prepared for the class after that visit. I am now excited and intrigued for what the rest of the class will look like. I’m still waiting for the aha! moment for the name of my blog title, only time will tell, I guess.

I decided to watch Black Mirror (S3E4, San Junipero) for my Tech Noir media choice. I really enjoyed this episode and connected with some of the considerations about eternal life and whether or not to upload one’s consciousness into a cloud (side note: I probably wouldn’t). It was very beautiful and I really appreciated the LGBTQ+ representation.

I’m kind of running out of things to talk about, so this is where I will end it. I feel really good about this so far and hopefully I will continue using my resources and find a sense of confidence within this sphere.

Week 1 Summary

This week, I completed several tasks to get started with the course. I read through the syllabus and scheduled a meeting as required. Since I already use Apple’s built-in password management app, I did not create a separate password manager. I also already had a domain, but since it is still under construction, I decided to create a subdomain specifically for this class. I downloaded WordPress to the subdomain, and once the course is complete and I’m ready to add content to my main domain, I plan to migrate everything over. Here is the link to my subdomain: https://ds106.rusulabbas.com/blog/.

I created a Mastodon social account, sent a greeting message using the #ds106 hashtag, and explored some of the posts shared by others in the community. My account can be found here: https://social.ds106.us/@Rusul. I also read the assigned articles, and my favorite was Sci-fi Noir: The Terminator and Tech Noir | 10 Updates to Film Noir. I’ve never watched The Terminator before, but I found the article fascinating and engaging.

Additionally, I watched The Matrix because I’m a fan of Keanu Reeves in John Wick, and I was curious to see him in a tech-noir film. I wrote my thoughts, reactions, and reflections in a blog post on my subdomain. Lastly, I created a set of goals for this course, which I shared in another blog post. You can view my course goals and movie review here:

DS106goals

The Matrix Review

In terms of reflection, I learned about the theme of Tech-Noir, and I’m excited to see how this theme will unfold. As a data science major, I find it particularly interesting and a bit unsettling because I definitely have fears about AI taking over the world (jk). Working with this theme creatively will be a challenge for me, as I don’t typically watch films related to Tech-Noir and It’s new to me.

I enjoyed seeing everyone share their responses on Mastodon and getting to work with WordPress. The hardest part of this week, though, was deciding which movie to watch! I’m very indecisive, but I’m sure I’ll face different challenges as the weeks go on.

Week 1

Week 1 was a little difficult at first because I have never used any of these resources before to create anything. I have never even tried to create a domain before, so everything was brand new to me but once I understood how to use the resources, I was able to successfully set everything up. With time and the more I use the resources I will learn more about them and get better at using them

First week summary

My first week has been pretty busy since this is my last semester, i’m taking a few higher level course so the workload has come a little bit earlier than expected, despite the quick start I’ve been adjusting well and feel its made me focus even more than I typically would.

Weekly Summary 1/16/2025

My first week of ds106 was productive! This is my first DI course, so it was a lot of information to take in, for me! On the second day of class I went to the DKC because I overwhelmed myself with information by going down a syllabus-domain-mastodon-discord-cyberpunk-tech noir – RABBIT HOLE, and I freaked myself out. Luckily for me, Feli from the DKC was fantastic and helped relieve me of any worries that I had. Feli gave me a pretty in-depth explanation of how this class works and showed me around on word press, how to create subdomains, and showed me a few different tools that could be helpful to me in the future.

Overall, I would say the first week was a complete success! I carefully followed the syllabus, went to the DKC, and completed my first 2 blog post.

Week 2, here I come!!!

Mae B

First Week Summary

Starting off the week

I started the week for this course by reading over the syllabus carefully, as well as scrolling through the course website just to start acclimating myself to what is expected of me. I then started the weekly tasks for the first week, and planning out when I would do what. I also thought about what I wanted to accomplish with this course. I went more in depth about my goals in my post My Goals for this Course.

The First Week Tasks

I found the first week tasks to be easy, as I simply created the accounts I needed. Also, I already have created a domain and various subdomains in past digital classes, so creating a new subdomain, as well as installing WordPress with it was a piece of cake. I also had the group meeting, which was very helpful in terms of answering questions and getting to know the professor as well as some fellow classmates. It was also interesting to dive into the background and meaning of Tech Noir, as well as some films and tv shows that fall under that genre. I watched an episode of Black Mirror, which I went into more detail in my post Film Review: Black Mirror.

Week 1 of Digital Storytelling

This class has always piqued my interest, so when I got the opportunity to take it this semester, I was very excited. The most important thing I learned from this week was to not let the volume of tasks intimidate me. At the beginning of the week, the assigned amount caught me off guard, and I was anxious about how to succeed in this class. One by one, I eventually started to cross them off. Some parts took longer than others, but for the most part, they were very easy to complete. The hardest part, and the thing that drove me crazy, was setting up Discord because of technical difficulties. I already had a Discord account for another class I was taking, but when I clicked on the invitation link, it wanted me to set up a new one. Then I forgot which email I was using for my Discord, and it was a longer process than it needed to be. The easiest part was getting to watch an episode of Black Mirror. I had a lot of fun doing that because I’ve been meaning to check out the show and the episode I watched; I really liked it, which was a pleasant surprise. I’m pleased with how the first week went and am happy I didn’t fall too far behind on the assigned tasks.

First Week Summary

Well, I made a website.

Now I just have to make it look more like it’s actually mine. That is a fight for another day though. There are truly so many guides I can hear my fan huffing and puffing

https://umw.domains/guides/categories-tags-and-menus/
Posts and Pages – Web Building at UMW
Web Building at UMW
And this list can go on…

January 2025
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
	1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31

And you are telling me that the first month hasn’t even passed yet?!

;-;

The process was far simpler than I had anticipated, thanks to the many resources provided. Admittedly, the hard part was being aware that these resources existed. I really enjoy trying to find free pictures online and then realizing it’s easier to take my own, then figuring out I am definitely not doing it right, so things will look plain for a while longer.

Final Week Summary

I wanted to use my character, Rikaro, for this video, but it made no sense to appeal to Aggressive Technologies since he is against them. I’m glad I took this class, since it made me explore my creative side through video-making, which is a skill I will improve from now on when making YouTube uploads. This has been an amazing class, especially since it is the final one before graduation. Thanks for the amazing semester everyone!

The Final Week of DS106

As DS106 comes to an end I look back at my transformative experience. I learned how to use creative narrative techniques with digital tools to create compelling stories. I also deepened my understanding of narrative structures and audience engagement. The course felt like a collaborative environment where students from diverse backgrounds shared insights and learned from each other’s unique perspectives. This combination of creativity and technology equipped me and other students with valuable skills applicable in various professional and personal contexts, emphasizing the power of AI in storytelling.

To create the video below I used Blabberize.com – Make a Blabber! to make Leo Storm talk. For the audio I used Realistic Text to Speech converter & AI Voice generator (speechgen.io) to write the script of what Leo would say. Once the script was complete, I uploaded the file to Blabberize and let the software do its thing and what you see below is the finished product. In the video Leo responds to the two prompts: What is the best thing you saw in the course? and hat was the best thing you made in the course? He also explains why Aggressive Technologies should support DS106. I hope you enjoy the video! Until Next Time!