GOOGLE MAP

HEALTH SCORES IN LYNDONVILLE VERMONT GOOGLE MAP

( A collaborative effort with the one and only Justin Chenette)

We made a Google map displaying health scores of restaurants in the Lyndonville area. We covered:

1. Asia

2. Trout River Brewing Company

3. The Hornets Nest

4. Stevens Dining Hall

5. China Moon Buffet

6. The Lyndon Freighthouse

7. Subway

8. The Branch Brook Inn

View Health Inspection: Lyndon in a larger map

The highest and most impressive score was a 99 and that goes to the Branch Brook Inn. The lowest score was a 74 earned by Asia. The idea of the Google map was to see what restaurant s in Lyndonville had what health violation.

On the Vermont Department of Health and Safety's website they say: "Critical items (listed in bold) need to be corrected while a qualified inspector is on-site or shortly thereafter according to a corrective action plan." The Vermont Department of Health and Safety operate on a 44 item inspection system. They enlist one of their staff to go visit the restaurant then after they leave, if necessary, the health inspector may have to go back to the site according to the correction plan and make sure the restaurant is on track. The time the restaurant has to fix their critical errors depends of the status an the condition of the restaurant.

According to the chart on the Vermont Health and Safety website this is the chart they go by when there are critical points on a restaurant:

The Google map we created allows the customers in Lyndonville to see what places are actually dangerous or were dangerous to their health. Of course if the restaurant got a now score in 2009 and are still open today we hope to think that the inspectors did their follow-ups and that the place is now running up to code. It is only a score under 70 that the restaurant owners should be truly worried about the standing of their establishments. If they only have a few non-critical errors that they fastly fix--they are in the clear.

No Java, No Fox

FOX 44 CRITIQUE 

The first thing that sparks my mind when i see the Fox 44 website is the immense amount of Java script on the main page.

In a perfect world, without macs or smart phones, Java would be a good idea--but we do live in a world where half of it is occupied by mac users who cant access Java.

This would make most of the main page un-navigable to all mac and smart phone users.

I did like the use of a "conversation room" in a few social media sites. The Twitter and Facebook integration is right at the top of the main page.

This allows for fans of the website to follow along with stories on their social networking site. This not only means for more viewers and subscribers but it means for more reoccurring viewers as then they are reminded of the site on their regularly viewed network.

WRITING: When it comes to the writing of Fox44 there is much more text than in CBS Atlanta. Fox has thick paragraphs of text that aren't broken up like CBS. Fox does have a column of related articles on the side that will keep viewers occupied for longer. Users also have the opportunity to like each article on Fox44.

VIDEOS: On CBS the video option is in the drop down menu but FOX44's was hidden and took me a few minutes to find. Once i found it just under the slideshow on the front page i realized they were just the top videos and that there was no search option.

ORGANIZATION: CBS's website was covered in such a vast amount of of stimulation, them trying to get every last bit of information down that it was overwhelming. FOX focuses on a smaller array of information and executes it well. They don't try to jam in a great amount of things into a small space.

NORTHEAST NSN

NSN: Your hometown sports specialists.

NSN northeast kingdom is the defination of an organized and eye-catching website. There is no overload of information or stimulation. On the left side is a photo slide show of local sports events. Now, Ill be the first to admiit that baseball, soccer, and football are not my cup of tea but I can definately appreciate the quick mind capturing information and the paced photo slideshow that is certain to keep viewers interested.

The small caption under the picture is a nice multimedia outlet that also allows for some interactivity as the viewers can click and choose similar pictures. Next to the photo slideshow is a gray box that covers the upcoming games. The short information blurbs telling the teams, time, and sport is effective and easy to follow. there is no filler information that the reader skims through. It is bare-bones media that is sure to keep the reader on the page.

The best part about the homepage is that the everything the viewer wants to see is right up on the top of the page so that scrolling isn't as necessary as other website, which is important considering websites lose viewers as the page scrolls down. As the page scrolls viewers become less interested.

Each piece of text on the website has large sized font with easy to understand paragrpahs and long headlines to tell the viewer what the report will be about. One of the coolest features on each articles in the rating 

feature.This not only allows the viewer an opportunity to actively participate on the website but it also gives the website owners and reporters a better idea of what is working for readers and what isn't. 

Also there is a scroll bar on the side of the article rather than on the side of monitor. This allows for the readers eyes to stray less from the page and the words the website wants them to read.

One other things i saw on the website was a flock of ads and as an avid computer goer i can speak for everyone by saying, ads are annoying, but the way NSN has set them up in the corner and on the bottom of the page so that it doesnt distract the reader or pull them out of the story. besides, how could I not support a website that advertises my favorite school--go LSC hornets!

Pimpin' Blog

PIMPIN'

I started my blog with the fish gadget. And I continued by changing the background the the bookcase because I'm an English major and print and books are a big part of what I want to do. I named it Thirsty Kirstie because thats how I get people to remember how to pronounce my name. I added a poll on the side and a follow by email option.

No News Here

NO NEWS HERE


TICONDEROGA LOSES FIRST ROUND LEGAL BATTLE

Midville lost the first round of legal batte after John O'Kelly tried to sue over the display. A local attorney (Manford Mabley) said that John shouldn't be allowed to to sue due to the fact he had only been in to see the display once. 

 DOG BIT CHILD IN MIDVILLE

Gordy Jamison was ticketed after an assault of his canine's viciousness. His Chow mix dog bit a six year old child around the neck and ear who is now being treated at a children's hospital for his injuries.

HEART ATTACK CAUSED BY CAR CRASH

Woman crashed into the Subway Central Restaurant window causing a man to die of a heart attack. John Barker died at Memorial Hospital after complaining of chest pains when the car came crashing through the large plate glass window.

TICONDEROGA COUNTY SCHOOL RESTAURANT CLOSING

Spokesman for the Ticonderoga County school said that closing the school's restaurant will save20,000 to 50,000 dollars. Although special needs children went to the restaurant after school for some hands on experience, there are 80 other restaurants in Midville that can offer the same thing to them. 

Articulating (CBS)Atlanta

The first thing one must notice when logging onto the CBS Atlanta website is the piles of links thrown at the onlookers from all angles. After the reader gets over the swamps of text and the downward shirfting menu bars located at the top of the screen, they will then finally be able to see the strong accurate and well-updated structure of each article.

There are copius amount of text. Text that is not usually shaken up with pictures, polls, or video--anything that would make the story more interactive. For this I will rate this website more media 1.0 than the newer interactive media 2.0 form.

The red icons next to each story link do come in handy if you are deciding weather or not to read the article. its good to know when their are pictures or videos available for further reasearch before the reader glances over the article.

I will say that the homepage is too jammed packed with stimulation. Its hard to read any of the lengthy titles when blinking ads for vacation getaways to South Walton light up the whole sidebar of my screen.

Besides the ads that take up much of the readers patience there are a lot of things directly aimed towards the people of Atlanta, Georgia. This makes sense because that would be their target demographic but for the people who do not live any where near Atlanta, the school closings and local channels are not relevant.

The drop down menu although it seems to add to the homepage's already cluttered appearance it does add a depth to the website. It makes it easy to navigate to articles that the reader may be interested in by theme but it also has a search bar and a connection to other social media.

The video section of the website is also intriguing and high quality access to the material. CBS Atlanta may not be the most modern cutting edge website but they master the classic. They know how to write a good story that is grounded in fact and not friend to seek out the truth.

For more Information visit the CBS Atlanta website here.

Finding Food Porn: Critiquing Scanwiches

Have you ever had a hankering for olive loaf, american cheese, pickles, and mayo on wheat bread? That was the newest post In the blog "Scanwiches" , posted on August 31st. It was a sandwich made at the 5 Burough Bistrow in New York City.

The premise of this widely popular blog on Tumblr is all about one man and many, many sandwiches. The creator of "Scanwiches" is a graphic designer who also has the double identity of a severe foodie. He scans pictures of sandiches he buys or makes himslef into his scanner for the estetically pleasing and vibrant image. Jon Chonko, the creator of the blog, may be one of the leaders in the new visual food pandemic thats been sweeping the internet, also known as "Food Porn."

Recently the blog's fame had led to a contest by Jon Chonko, created to continuing extending the hype of the blog. The contest was called "Fanwiches" and the mission was to immortalize the next great Sandwich. The "Fanwich" would then join the ranks of other famed named foods like: Caesar salad, Reaban sandwich, and beef Stroganoff.

The contest was judged by: the blog's creator (John Chonko), April Winchell (runs Regretsy), Melissa Vaughn (recipe developer and Author) and Powerhouse Books. First prize won their Scanwich to be presented in the "Scanwiches" book out for open release November 23rd 2011 (on National Sandwich day, no less). They also get five signed copies of the "Scanwiches" book and a framed picture of the sandwich. 

 The above picture shows the winner, a sandwich called "The Stalwart Goatherd" created by Brianne M. The sandwich contained: Montchevre goat cheese, honey, roasted beets, roasted red pepper, roasted garlic spread, Arugula, on raisin and nut whole wheat bread. 

Yeah, that's right--the "Scanwiches" book. The blog has hit such high fandom that it has become a book. However, one can only assume that after looking at pages and pages of different sandwiches the only result that can be conceived is hunger closely followed by boredom. One question might be, why would the fans of the blog pay the $19.95 for a copy of what they have already seen for free on the internet. 

The pros of this blog would be its remarkable innovation. Who thinks to scan their sandwich in high quality photo working for all of the internet space to see? Its a great concept although it may be a slightly repetitive and reoccurring one. The readers and visualizers of the blog are also shown a variety of interesting tastes that other people may not have thought of. The flavor combinations of Octopus and mixed Italian salad may not be apparent to even the most passionate of the foodies. 

On the other side on the argument, no matter how passionate the reader is about a good and appealing sandwich, how long can anyone look at page after page of sandwiches with limited explanation or informative reasoning. Id like to see more definitions and more written descriptions added to "Scanwiches" for  it to be a blog that is more pleasing and satisfactory to readers who want to do more then stare at pretty pictures of sandwiches

my closing words for this blog? Is it lunchtime yet? 

For  more information on the "Scanwiches" blog click here to their Tumblr site or here for more information on the "Scanwiches" book