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The change you want to see in the world, in your community and in your school, begins with you!!! Ever since I knew about the Global Citizenship and Equity Learning Experience (GCELE) to Advocate for LGBT Human Rights, I decided to be part of this project, to be involved in the movement for LGBT rights and share with my school and community the issues that LGBT people face in different countries around the world.

As part of this GCELE, we traveled to New York City where we visited historical sites such as the Museum of Tolerance and the Stonewall Inn, and organizations such as Human Rights Watch, the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission and the United Nations that work towards the global initiative to recognize LGBT Rights as Human Rights. I had the privilege of enjoying this unique and meaningful learning experience that allowed me to reflect, analyze and synthesize information about the principles of social justice, equity, tolerance and acceptance.

A lot of feelings came up for me during this experience. I found it shocking to learn about the violence against the LGBT people and the violations of the existing international human rights law in many countries around the world. On the other hand, I feel confident that the organizations we visited are true examples of human rights defenders working to protect LGBT people and end with the discrimination against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. Some people might think that LGBT rights and human rights are different things; but if we look them closely they are one and the same. Being LGBT does not make you less human, inferior or less intelligent, and that is why LGBT rights are human rights, and human rights are LGBT rights!

I realized that the most violent element in society is ignorance! How many times have we pointed out other people because they are different? Different in the way of think, way of walk, way of dress, talk or love. We feel with the right to judge others just because they have a different opinion than ours and we forget we live in a plural society, where everyone has a place and where everyone should be listened, and even more the minorities who have been marginalized and are suffering a silent discrimination.

A few months ago a saw a poster like this posted by one of my friends on Facebook, it made me realize that we should care about and protect the rights on every human being. It made me think that sometimes people only cares and fight for the problems that affect them, but why?  Why not fight for the issues that affect other people to make this world a better world?

  I'm talking about human rights in general, but here I want to focus especially for the LGBT human rights, that if we look them a little more closely, they are one and the same. For me human rights means that no matter where in the world you live you can be yourself! It’s about equality, tolerance and acceptance. LGBT human rights is part of a movement for a social justice and equity for all people around the world, in which everybody is equal and everybody has the same rights to be who they are.

  I had the opportunity to apply and be selected for a unique learning experience to explore human rights from the LGBT perspective and support the World Pride Human Rights Conference; and tomorrow, me and other students and faculty members of the college are going to New York, for an educational visit to understand the history of the LGBT rights movement and how we can help, support and raise the awareness about issues in particular parts of the world.

  This means a lot for me, especially because I came to Toronto and experienced the freedom, be accepted for being gay and treated equally. I came from a country where is hard to be who you are, people are kept in the shadows and face difficult situations. The homophobia is a problem of an ignorance society, this is the reason that I decided to join to the LGTB rights movement, to be a voice and help people with my experience and support the organizations working on these issues around the world.

During my second semester in the Interactive Digital Media program, I have been exposed to some interesting topics of legal policies and I have become more aware of how websites on the Internet collect and use our personal information. Nowadays, websites ranging from large companies (such Google, Facebook and Amazon) to small businesses and websites collect and use our personal details and can track all the online data and browsing history. It’s hard to know what they actually do with this information and if they stored it, share it or sell it.

  The Terms of Services, Privacy Policy and Community Guidelines are important things that we as users need to consider to protect our information when we sign up on a website or service. When we create an account we need to be aware about our personal details and third party services as well as information related to our web browser, current location, cookies and web tags. There is particular information that will be shared with the public through the website and third party services. For that reason is important to read this terms before sign up in a website or service to keep our personal information secure online.

  Recently most of the important websites, like Google, Microsoft, Tumblr and so on have changed their privacy policies and terms of service. Usually we say that we have read, understand, and agree to those terms without take the time to actually read it (well, probably you will say that nobody got time for that) but what is behind all this? The true is that most of the websites are using and collecting our data to improve their products, provide anonymous statistics, or make enhanced features that may (or may not) provide a better and greater experience for us.

  On the other hand, as a business owner on a website or app, when we required collect personal information from our user (including result of searches, signing up to an email newsletter, or online ordering and payment processing) is really important to review the privacy laws and best practices to make sure that we comply with the privacy requirements within the service that we provide in our website or app. This way we protect our backs if we are committing an infringement without really knowing. It’s important to follow the laws that operate under our jurisdiction, province or country when it comes to personal information protection.

For those users who travel long distances by car, bus or train and want to know which side of the car or train is best to sit to avoid the sun this is the right app.

 This app will work for passengers who travel by bus or train and help them to select the best seat (left or right) to avoid the sun, will work for passengers traveling by car who are not driving as well. For drivers the app will show the best hour to avoid the sun between two cities or two places.

  Why create this app? People who spend large amounts of time traveling are at risk for sun damage on their face and body. When the sun is shining directly into driver's eyes, it leaves a glare that may cause risks to the driver. This glare increases the number of traffic accidents due to drivers may be temporarily blinded by the sun. Passenger who spend large amount of time exposed to the sun can feel a terrible headache caused from the heat of the sun.

How the app will work? First you will select if you are a passenger or driver followed by your destination:

  Then the app will show the result:

For passengers the app will show the percentage for the left and right side where the sun will be the most part of the time.

For drivers the app will show the best hour to avoid drive into the sun between two points.

  This app could work with Google Maps API that allows developers to integrate Google Maps into their websites or applications and is a free service. To calculate the sun position there is an equation where the position can be determined based on the location and the time of day. Using emerging technologies this could be a great app to be developed and create a great traveling experience!

In the Production Tools class we have learned the technology used on the world-wide-web to create great websites. Some of the software techniques and the emerging technologies really caught my attention.

  One of the most significant things that I learned was Responsive Web Design, this is a great approach to provide an optimal user experience. I never really liked the mobile versions for web pages, especially those that didn’t have the option to see the Desktop Version or the Full Website. Sometimes the mobile versions instead of help you make more difficult and complicated the navigation due there are elements that are missing. For that reason I think Responsive Web Design is a great technique that makes easy to see any website through multiple devices.

  I think you start appreciate a good website and great design when you have dealt writing and editing code including PHP and JavaScript and you realize that is not easy as you might think. PHP is used almost exclusively for web development and for that reason we learned the basics in this class, as well as JavaScript to add some interactivity to the webpages. We also looked the new things of HTML5, like the tags that make easy to include multimedia on the web, and the tags elements to design the content of documents. All of this helps to create a better user experiences on the world-wide-web.

Social Media sites make a great contribution to engage users. Sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are the most popular and most visited on the web. To connect and interact with users, some companies are using and getting the most out of Social Media to engage with their fans and followers in a fun and unique way, as well as create ways to attract potential new customers, promote a brand or create awareness for a specific issue. Below is a list of 3 awesome examples of creative use of social media:

  Samsung Smart TV Stare Battle

This was a competition in a custom built YouTube channel, developed by the agency Muse for Samsung to promote their new series of Smart TV. Users were engaged and challenged to stare at the new Smart TV for as long as possible, discovering its features in a battle without blinking. This social media channel was using an innovative eye tracking device registers eyelid movement via the user's webcam and every week the player with the longest stare time was rewarded with a Smart TV prize package including the Smart TV. The result of this creative use of social media was engaged and entertained millions of people and generating up to 500 thousand visit to Samsung YouTube Channel, it even got into on the top three channels on YouTube. In total, people watched the new Samsung Smart TV for more than two months resulting in over a thousand hours of interaction with the social media channel.

  CNN Ecosphere

This was a digital ecosystem in the form of an evolving garden growing from thousands of tweets about climate change. CNN was invited to the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP 17) and brought the world to the climate change conference with a creative use of social media, the hashtag #COP17 was used to engage users and create a real-time visualization of the global discussion on Twitter. In the weeks before the conference CNN called for contributions with the press online and TV campaigns and the CNN Ecosphere project began to spread via social media to join to the global conversation with the hashtag #COP17. All the tweets around the world began to flourish and became part of one of the numerous plants representing topics like sustainability or carbon. The result was the CNN Ecosphere got more people involve in a climate change conference that even before, displaying over 220,00 tweet around the world.

Coca-Cola Sitelets

Electric Ikebana is an interactive piece that expresses global internet traffic and online activity in a visual manifestation.

  The interesting about this project is it changes every time you watch it! Why? Because the current time and user location affects the environment, each viewing of Electric Ikebana is unique. There are a series of 12 colors associated with the 24 hours in a day and everybody sees something different based on their time zone and location. The fluidly moving around the environment changes when it is watched to provide a unique user experience.

  The goal was to create a visual art piece that interacts with the internet traffic and online activity transactions to form an unique Ikebana (Japanese flower arrangements) different for each user. You can see Electric Ikebana here

  How Electric Ikebana works? The data of the internet from Earth Day 2012, gathered by the Alcatel-Lucent Wireless Network Guardian (WNG) over a 24 hour period, is visually translated into a particle system and sorted into 13 categories: Advertising, Video, Social Networking, Messaging & Chat, News & Information, Music, Email, Searching, Blogging, Photos, Weather, Cloud and Shopping. Their shape, color and quantity are determined by internet traffic volume and type.

  This interactive piece falls under the category of data visualization emerging technology, it was built entirely from code using webGL and javascript. Electric Ikebana is a collaboration project between the artist Douglas Coupland and Paul Humphreys member of the band Orchestral Manouevres in the Dark with the global telecommunications company Alcatel-Lucent, digitally realized by Helios Design Labs in Toronto.

  Electric Ikebana is a gorgeous piece of interactive art that inspires new possibilities of digital expression!

My idea for the final assignment is an App for users who travel long distances by car, bus or train that shows which side of the car or train to sit to avoid the sun.

  This app will show the percentage for the left and right side where the sun will be the most part of the time to helps passengers select the best seat. For drivers, the app will show the best hour to avoid sun exposure between two points.

  Market’s need for this app:

  Risks of Sun Exposure when Driving

http://www.sunaware.org/2010/05/17/uvr-sun-protection-driving/

  Dangers of Driving Into Sun

http://exchange.aaa.com/safety/roadway-safety/dangers-of-driving-into-sun/

  Driving and Sun Glare Can Be a Deadly Mixture

http://www.sunposition.com/glare.html

  Sun Exposure While Driving Linked to Cancer

http://www.webmd.com/melanoma-skin-cancer/news/20100514/sun-exposure-while-driving-linked-to-cancer

  Sun and Heat Safety Tips for Travellers

http://travel.gc.ca/travelling/health-safety/sun-tips

    Technology that will support this app:

  Maps API - Google Developers:

http://developers.google.com/maps/

  Day and Night World Map

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/sunearth.html

  Sun Position Calculator

http://pveducation.org/pvcdrom/properties-of-sunlight/sun-position-calculator

More Than A Map: Google Maps API

www.morethanamap.com/

  7 great alternatives to the Google Maps API

In today’s world of interactive technology and innovation is necessary take a step forward to have a competitive advantage and differentiate from the rest of the world. To keep ourselves updated we need to learn the latest technology and know what are the trends on business.

  It is not a secret that mobiles apps are becoming increasingly popular. Nowadays smartphones are an essential part of our lives, we can’t live without them, and apps are making easier our lives. That is the reason that companies are using this technology to engage customers and make the most out their business. This strategy is used for small and big companies, first of all to do not fall behind their competitors and second of all to establish an interactive way to connect with customer, promote a service, products, reduce costs and enhance performance of their business.

  Another trend that is more that necessary in today’s world is social media. Virtual communities and social networks have arrived to stay for a while in the World Wide Web to allow users interact and keep in touch every day. Companies are still figuring out what to do with social media, but they have done a good job so far, we can notice how companies are currently engaging users in social networks like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and so on, to reach new customers, promote their brand, and learn how to improve their products and services by listening and receiving feedback from loyal customers.

  Something interesting but scary at the same times is how big companies are using the users information to place advertisements on the social networks. Microsoft, Google, Yahoo and Facebook, for example, know all about the user interaction on their sites and take this data and the information on the users profile to offer targeted advertisement based on the users behavior. This type of advertising is a digital trend where businesses are profiting and taking as a strategy to increase revenues. There is plenty public information on the web, especially on Twitter where companies are putting their eyes to make the most out and have a competitive advantage.

  I think the technology influence on how we work and live, sometimes it is difficult to deal with a bunch of information, can be overwhelming and hard to process and digest, but the digital trends are something that we can’t ignore. Companies are now raising thousands and millions of dollars thanks to all the digital trends and learning how apply the technology on business to make a better users experience.

When you create content for the Web is essential find the right tone to express a message. The right tone helps to communicate efficiently and effectively what you intend to say and make your audience be able to easily understand the content. When you express your messages in term of the audience’s terminology, interests and needs is like have a conversation with readers, and the web is the perfect place to do it and share your values and personality. Your brand and messaging need to be reflected in your communication style with a unique and appropriate tone of voice.

  It is important build a strong and effective relationship with your audience, people are more likely to react positively when they have confidence with the message and feel related with the content. In order to build this relationship is essential to determine the tone for a specific situation, it depends of the audience’s feelings and how the content is going to benefit or affect them. The content types need to be addressed in different ways with the tone that fit better for the situation. The key is to be credible, objective and aware of what is important to the audience.

  There are situations when we need to influence and persuade people, whether we are selling a product or requesting an action. In this case is important gather the right information to convince and engage users to buy or participate, the tone of the message has to be focus on the benefits of the product or service to cash the user’s attention, build the interest, and make them want to learn and explore more about. The tone of voice needs to be authentic, consistent, clear and relevant to create an effective user experience and help gain and retain the audience.

  Another situation when you need to find the right tone is when you express a negative message, a bad news or topics that are sensitive for your audience. In this case is important diplomacy and communicate calmly and politely considering to the user's needs and feelings, the tone of the message has to be focus on communicate negative news without being negative, emphasize the positive and match the approach to the situation. It’s necessary be empathetic, sincere and respectful with the user and communicate what they can do and improve in an optimistic way to gain acceptance for the message.

The Fall Tour Interactive 2013 was a two days incredible experience where students and freelancers had the chance to visit the leading companies from interactive digital media industry in the downtown Toronto core. As well as attend workshops, presentations and panel discussions with experienced industry professionals and have the opportunity to ask questions to presenters and panelists in an intimate environment and learn from them a little more about the interactive digital industry.

  The highlights of this particularly year was enjoy on Day 1 all about interactive design, marketing and advertising and on Day 2 have the opportunity to select your passion, whether if it's Gaming, Interactive Advertising or Post/VFX and attend to a specific industry workshops, presentations and panel discussions about those theme, meet people from other programs and schools and make new friends with the same interests as you. The participants were divided in small groups that allowed the interaction with the tour guides, presenters and panelists were in a relaxed, informal and intimate atmosphere to speak freely and ask any kind of questions.

  On Day 1, I had the opportunity to visit four companies related with interactive design, advertising, public relation and social media, very different from each other. Derooted an agency specializing in innovation, creative exhibitions and projections; Bensimon Byrne a big company with huge clients like Google, Scotiabank and Aldo; Lotus Leaf Communications a fashion and public relations agency; and S-Trip a company that brings fun trips to Canadian high schools and universities around the world. On Day 2, I decided to make the most out of the day and spend the morning with a Gaming group and the afternoon with an Interactive Advertising group. I went to Social Game Universe a small group of passionate and talented game makers with a great working environment; and Secret Location a great interactive entertainment agency with huge clients and awesome projects, I can tell it was one of my favorites.

  On these two days event I had the opportunity to interact and meet students from others colleges like Seneca and Sheridan College and talk with the tour guides and ask question about their experience, internships, tips and suggestions about the industry. The workshops, presentations and panel discussions gave me the opportunity to meet creative and talented people who knows very well about the digital media industry and learn from them where and how to start. It’s very gratifying to know that this industry is growing and we may have a safe future and good chances of being successful. 

When we thought Google couldn't do more for us to simplify our lives, it surprises us with the new intelligent personal assistant mobile application Google Now. This proactive and contextually aware assistant for modern smartphones is available for the Android and iOS operating systems.

  Google Now uses things like your search history, your location history and you calendar to figure out what information you might need and when. Instead of having to sit through and organize all the information you need throughout your day, Google Now automatically gets you the right information at just the right time.

  The particularly of this UX design is that all the information is ready in the exact moment you actually need it, one simple swipe gives you the information that is relevant to you. It’s implemented as an aspect of the Google Search application and displays the information to in the form of Cards that appears when they’re needed most showing what’s important to you. This innovation falls under the category of Mobile Applications emerging technology.

  Examples of what this great app can do are: 

As you leave your house Google Now is smart enough to check the current traffic conditions and has prepared an alternative route for your commute.

When you are at the subway station Google Now can tell you what time is the next train.

Find interesting local places to eat as you walk down the street.

When you are in a restaurant your phone already has the best dishes listed for you.

Google Now automatically keeps you update on your favorite sports teams in real time.

  This mobile app is always one step ahead, with the predictive power of Google Now you get just what you need to know, right when you need it!

The role of a leader is indispensable to accomplish goals and objectives. The ability to influence, inspire, motive and enable others to contribute toward organization success is very important and necessary in today's world. A Leader has to organize the cooperation and assistance of other people that may have different opinions, attitudes, values, beliefs, habits and ambitions, which cause serious problems.

  There are many situations when challenges may arise and the leader needs to face and deal. A big issue that makes the leadership role really difficult is when a situation is changing or unstable. In organizations sometimes times are tough and transitions may occur, when something is about to start, when something is about to end or when something unexpected happens a leader is expected to be in charge, and has to know how to address and solve the situation.

  In order to cope these situations a leader need to be confident, be decisive, be proactive, be creative and be responsible. One issue in leadership is misunderstanding the role; people can look leaders as authority figures, as mentors, as saviors, as models and as inspirers and this in itself brings a set of challenges. They need to know how communicate and share the vision, maintaining effectiveness, look for a common ground, make decisions and face conflicts.

  Leaders can face with attitude problems and personal issues. The attitude that a leader brings to the work floor influences team productivity and for that reason is very important makes sure these problems and personal issues don't prevent exercise leadership. Leaders can feel insecure, when there are tasks o situations that are difficult to face or when they know that maybe they're not very capable and competent.  The key is to not allow this stop you and listen what the people say to your ideas or plans. Ask question is something that a leader has to do, hear different and diverse ideas is really beneficial because there will be at least one that can help solve the problem. 

  Another issue in leadership is the lack of decisiveness. In many situations is really hard to make a decision and make the right one. The leader has to take the responsibility for the consequences of the decision made and that makes it even harder. That is the essence of a leader, learn to make a decision when necessary and understand that living with the consequences is part of the role.

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Have you ever wondered how a web page works? Maybe you have heard the words "HTML" or "CSS" but you don't know what it really means. These two technologies are used for building web pages.

  HTML is the language for creating web pages that describes how a page is structured and how the information can be displayed in a web browser. If you want to create headings, text, links, lists, buttons, embed graphics and photos in your page, HTML is the language you use to do it. CSS, on the other hand, is the language for describing the presentation of web pages. It decorates, aligns and positioned the elements. If you want to change fonts, add color, layout and set a background in your page, CSS in the language you use to do it. Basically HTML provides the structure of the page and CSS is all about the presentation.

  While you use HTML to create the structure and use elements to build blocks in your page, you use the CSS to align and decorate those elements with borders, lines, colors and backgrounds.

  Although they work well together, you should keep them separate! There are a lot of advantages of having the content separated from the style. One of the most significant is when is necessary make is a change in design, you don’t have to change de code of all your pages, you just have to change the CSS. That gives you control over the entire website by manipulating just the style sheet. Separation of presentation and content is a design philosophy and a methodology used in nowadays, gives you more flexibly and future compatibly.