Critical Reflection WINOL

Each year, WINOL is becoming more and more successful and during my time working on WINOL, I have seen huge improvements in the content that is being produced across the site. This has been shown through the numerous BJTC awards WINOL has won and the great popularity WINOL continues to achieve from its viewers. WINOL not only offers the latest current news affairs in and around Winchester, but also offers its audience entertaining features and sports updates along  with a weekly bulletin which is produced live at five every Wednesday. 

The best way to ensure that WINOL continues to improve is to look at the strengths and weaknesses of the content that we've produced and learn from them so we can continue to progress and achieve an industry standard project. However, though WINOL is a student project, everyone works together to make sure we provide a high standard, professional quality of work each year and each semester.

During this semester, WINOL became a lot more challenging for everyone. Each week we compared our website and content to our competitors, East London Lines. This is a student produced news website, much like WINOL, by students at the Goldsmiths College, The University of London. Each week, we looked at the strengths and weaknesses of both WINOL and East London Lines, so we were able to achieve target goals and work towards a stronger website overall.  

WINOL has gradually progressed. The website itself has had some huge improvements over the weeks in order to make it much more accessible. The first few weeks of the semester got off to a rocky start as we were trying to hugely improve our content and also find the right template for the site. The content started off quite poor particularly in news and features as not enough content was being produced. With the features, we decided that it would be much more professional and much more useful for our audience if we were to produce a number of different features to put up on the site daily rather than weekly like we had previously done.

 Alexa rankings started off quite poor and we found that as we produced more and more content, this significantly improved and we worked towards the idea that our audience were "coming for the news, and staying for the features." As our rankings began to boost, the news team made sure they produced a current and up to date news article every day to go on the site, rather than relying on the weekly WINOL bulletin on a Wednesday.

This year we had a huge change in format, as the web team decided it would be more beneficial to change the website format from Joomla to Wordpress. This brings a more formatted design which as a whole, made the website look neater and simpler to use and the content was much easier to navigate to, making it more useful for our audience. Wordpress also gave WINOL a broadsheet style which overall looked much more professional and is easier to maintain. This year we have also improved in our advertising of WINOL. Everyone, from production, news and features, got into the habit of using social media websites such as Twitter, to tweet whilst they were out working on a story to ensure that our audience were able to get updates from WINOL anytime and anywhere so not only can we gain new viewers, but also to keep our audience updated and therefore, interested. We found that over time this successfully pushed more traffic towards our site, and we were also beginning to gain a loyal readership. 

Due to the continuous promoting from the team on social networking sites, people are now spending an average of 7.04 minutes on the site, which has risen compared to previous weeks. It has also been agreed that this semester, WINOL has produced more stories and features which are better suited to our target audience. We also had a larger team this semester in comparison to the last two semesters and so more content was able to be produced more frequently. 

A lot of problems did arise due to lack of communication between the team. Chris stressed the importance of communicating between each other so if ever a member of the team is off sick or is unable to produce their story or package, we can have a back-up story or someone can fill their place before the deadline so we're not a story short. As a team, we did learn from this and improved on our communication skills between each other so this problem wouldn't arise in the future. 

Bulletins were strong and on time this year however, the lack of communication between senior members of the team did prevent a bulletin from going out on time and this would have caused a crucial problem for our viewers so it is massively important to stay connected and organised as a team.  

Overall, the huge improvement I have seen in WINOL this semester is the improvement in our Alexa Rankings which is a massive significance and most important factor in tracking the professional and entertaining level of WINOL amongst our audience.

This semester, I continued my role on WINOL as a features writer and producer and this semester the features team along with the web production team, completely revamped the features part of the site, giving it a whole new and improved structure and appearance to make the features clearer and easily accessible. We created a features magazine for the website called ABSOLUTE:LY. This was set out to target a bigger female audience which we hadn't previously done before. However this was influenced by the popularity of 'Shemail' in the Daily Mail. Not only does 'Shemail' feature in their paper, the Daily Mail also have a feature magazine targeted at woman on their site and so ABSOLUTE:LY allowed us to be more professional and gain a new and larger audience. 

The features themselves looked much more organised as they were put under specific category titles in the magazine, such as hair, makeup, and shopping. This meant the layout of the features and the magazine as a whole were better presented compared to previous features. This also meant they we covered different topics so our audience would get to used to understanding that if, for example, they wanted to know what the latest fashionable hairstyle was, they could come to our site for all the latest hair trends and tips, and the same for people interested in makeup and clothes. 

I also found that this semester, we were producing more visual and written content including much more photos and written pieces to go with the photos rather than video content. In my first semester I had just produced video features with a written version to go with it, but this semester I felt it was a huge improvement to be producing more photo based and written features. This allowed me to develop skills from both styles of features, however, the content of the features I produced and the photos themselves looked much more professional compared to the videos I had previously produced and they were better suited to the style of the magazine.

I think the features improved mostly this semester, particularly on the production side as the team was bigger and had better editorial management. I felt like I had improved a lot this semester in the terms of the content I was producing. I think it took a while for the team to get into their roles and to start producing content during the first couple of weeks as the site itself was improving, however, the features definitely pulled though and everyone started to produce regular high standard work. 

I enjoyed producing video reviews in my first semester, and so this semester I decided to carry on producing regular reviews but this time in the style of a magazine so they were written with plenty of photos to go with them. This also allowed the audience to know that they could visit our site regularly knowing that they could get all the latest tips and advice on the current hair and makeup products. 

I produced a particular hair product review for Dry Shampoo, which is an everyday essential to most young girls and women. However, when I produced my review I didn't just use one product to review, I decided to compare to high street brands, which are available to buy from all different stores in order to give the audience more valuable advice. I chose two different brands of Dry Shampoo, both with a significant price difference so the audience could see which brand I thought was more worth the money. This is particularly relevant to our student audience which is our target audience, as price is hugely important to students on a budget. 

However, I also chose to compare two brands, available at different stores as I wanted to ensure I was being equal in my comment and not bias towards a particular brand or store, which was an issue I learnt from a previous restaurant review from my first semester. I did this for all my hair and makeup product reviews to keep the same style throughout. 

I also learnt the importance of photos and images during this semester as well. Chris stressed that it always important to use our own images where we can to prevent any copyright issues, and to always remember to credit the image if it isn't our own. However, I wanted to get used to taking my own images so I avoided using any images from creative commons so that problem wouldn't arise. I also learnt that people are always more interested in seeing faces and action shots, so for my hair and makeup reviews I always used close ups of peoples faces, I zoomed right into their face rather than keeping a distance as this is always more appealing to viewers.

I took as many relevant images as I could from all different angles to put into my written review to add to the appeal. I also learnt how to style my images in my article to create a more magazine double-page spread look, to fit in with the magazine style. For my first review, I had put my photos between paragraphs of writing, and by the second review, I learnt that it was actually much more professional to create a double-page image almost like a collage of photos, with numbers and then a description of each numbered item in a box and all edited together to create one big image spread. 

Overall, the content and appearance of mine, and all the other features which were produced have hugely improved on a professional level. The content from news, features and sport are becoming more and more frequent and alexa rankings are continuing to progress. I have learnt a huge amount from working on WINOL, and I still have a huge passion for features. It has been great to see the website improve and I will keep connected to WINOL to see its continuous success. 

ABSOLUTE:LY MAGAZINE: Flawless Face Foundation Review

    

With the party season here, you need a flawless look that will last you all night long. 

That’s why Max Factor and Rimmel have introduced two brand new foundations that both offer you a light feeling, long-lasting finish.

But with so many on the market, what’s different about these? 

Max Factor’s new Facefinity 3 in 1 is a new foundation that contains a primer, concealer and foundation all in one, that is said to give you a perfect finish all day long.

Whilst Rimmel have introduced the new Match Perfection with smart tone technology that adapts to your skin tone and texture so you can find your perfect shade for this festive season.

So I’ve tried out both to see which one leaves you looking fresh-faced for longer.

Max Factor Facefinity All Day Flawless 3 in 1 Foundation £11.99 available at all good supermarkets and chemists.

This new foundation gave me a full even coverage which felt light and fresh at the same time. However, my skin is prone to imperfections so I did have to build up a few layers to get the full coverage I wanted.

This foundation really highlights the skin and there is real luminosity to it, especially across the cheekbones, which is great for that glowy party look. You don’t need to use a highlighter at all, and it works with great with your favourite bright or glitzy eye make-up.




Although this foundation offers a glamourous look, it also offers a natural beauty look too, even with the extra layers! Its luminosity also gives you a subtle glow which leaves your skin feeling fresh and looking natural.
Finished off with your favourite blusher or bronzer, this foundation is perfect for any occasion.

It really lives up to its long-lasting name too. I wore this foundation all day at work, through to the evening for a girls night out, and this foundation didn’t let me down with only a little wear at bedtime.

The result: I would used this foundation again for both evening and day wear, it gave my skin the coverage it needed, without feeling heavy. A great beauty buy for Christmas parties!

Rimmel Match Perfection £8.99 available at all good supermarkets and chemists




This new foundation from Rimmel has a unique innovative formula, that adapts to your skin tone to give you a true, flawless complexion.

It gave me a full coverage without the need for extra layers, and felt light on my skin.

I found it easy to find my shade by testing the foundation on the back of my wrist. However, my shade was quite pale compared to colours I usually go for as I like my face to have a tanned look so I did find myself buying a darker one which didn’t adapt so well.

This foundation did last all day, however I did touch it up in the evening like I do with my usual foundation, although I was able to avoid doing this with Max Factor’s Facefinity.

The result: I would use this foundation again as it does what it says and matches your skin perfectly, however, I would prefer a longer-lasting foundation to see me from work to party this season.

And the winner is… 




Max Factor Facefinity 3 in 1 Foundation, with a touch of blusher and a sparkly lipgloss, you’re set to shine!

ABSOLUTE:LY MAGAZINE: Dry Shampoo Review

 

Beauty is timeless, but when you don’t have the time you need that quick and easy trick to transform your greasy mop from flat to flawless with just one spray.

That’s why dry shampoo is the perfect rescue remedy for those busy mornings when you only have minutes to spare. From roots to ends, you can create your perfect style quicker than ever.

But with so many on the market, it’s hard to choose the best one for your hair so I’ve tried and tested two quality brands to see which one can fight the dullness for longer.

New Batiste Paisley Dry Shampoo £2.99 exclusive to Superdrug   

The funky design of this bottle catches your eye and stands out in the crowd of dry shampoos. It’s mixture of colours are feminine and pretty and would look the perfect finish to any dressing table. It does enough to catch your attention but does it keep your hair fresh for longer?

Once sprayed to your roots, this product adds texture and gets rid of the grease just as it should but I did have to use a lot of powder to achieve the revitalising results I expected. Luckily, I have fine and medium length hair but for those of you with long and thick hair, you will find yourself buying a new bottle after just a few uses.    

The floral scent is refreshing and uplifting, which means your hair doesn’t just look good, it smells good too.
This product seemed to work very well, and I could immediately see a difference in the volume and dryness of my hair.

However, the one negative side effect I noticed was the feel and texture of my hair. As a result of having to put so much on, my hair felt coarse and unnatural by the end of the day.

The result: I would use this dry shampoo a second time and try to use less but it’s not something I would like to use regularly on my hair. It’s great for a quick fix and finishes off well with your favourite hairspray. 




TRESemme Instant Refresh Dy Shampoo £4.89 available from all good supermarkets and chemists

This product really does instantly refresh your locks with volumizing and uplifting texture. It has a fresh and lively scent which gave my hair a clean look and feel with just a few sprays.

I found that this product immediately absorbed oil and revitalised my hair so it was no longer dull and fine and instead it gave it instant fullness and shine.




My hair stayed fresh and felt natural all day.

The only criticism I have is that I needed to apply more towards the end of the day to add more volume as my hair gradually started to feel flat again.

I did use this product for another day before washing my hair as it gave my hair the volume and shine it needed without any hassle.

The result: I would continue to use it as it gave me instant results and worked for more than just one day, although the price is slightly more than its other rivals. But sometimes it just pays to be beautiful!

And the winner is…

TRESemme Instant Refresh Dry Shampoo For instantly fresh hair without washes! 

Language about Language

Philosophy of Mind - Language


Seminar Paper


Frege was born in Wismar, Germany in 1848. He was a German mathematician, logician and philosopher. He is generally considered to be the father of analytic philosophy for his writings on the philosophy of language and mathematics. In his childhood, Frege encountered philosophies that guided his future scientific career. His father wrote a textbook on the German language for children aged 9-13, the first section of which dealt with the structure and logic of language.


Though his education and early work were mathematical, especially geometrical, Frege's thoughts soon turned to logic. He wanted to show that mathematic grows out of logic. He is one of the founders of analytic philosophy, mainly because of his contributions to the philosophy of language.


Frege attacked the psychologistic appeal to mental explanations of the content of judgement of the meaning of sentences. He didn't start with the purpose of answering questions about meaning. He formed his logic to explore the foundations of arithmetic answering questions such as 'What is a number?' But after solving such matters, he found himself analysing and explaining what meaning is, and as a result he came to numerous conclusions that were highly consequential for the subsequent course of anlytic philosophy and the philosophy of language.


In his book, Philosophy of Mind, Anthony Kenny talks about Frege's paper, Sense and Reference, published In 1892. In this, Frege believes in a refrence point, that the meaning of the word can only be understood through other words in the sentence. A term's reference is the object that the term refers to, while the term's sense is the way that the term refers to that object. Frege's ideas are hard to analyse. They are difficult to understand and to explain so I have tried my best to make sense of them although I did find that I was confusing myself. (Although that doesn't take much).


Frege aks if identity is a relation? If it is a relation, is it a relation between signs or between what signs stand for? Frege solved this problem by using the sentence "The morning star is identical to the evening star". He distinguished between two different kinds of signification. Where other philosophers talk of meaning, Frege introduces a distinction between the refernce of an expression and the sense of an expression. He explains that planet Venus is the reference of 'the morning star' and 'the evening star' differs in sense from the morning star even though it has been discovered that both expressions refer to Venus.


I think this means that Frege is showing that two different words can have the same identity, such as morning star and evening star both meaning Venus, and the reference Venus, which is only one word, can have two different meanings or identities. This being the morning star and the evening star. This is Frege's substitutivity principle which means replacing parts of a sentence with other expressions that mean the same thing should leave the meaning of the whole sentence unchanged. He continues to say that in general, an identity statement will be true and informative if the sign of identity is flanked by two names with the same reference but different meanings. Whereas Aristotle disagrees and believes that one word can only have one meaning. The reference point, I think is almost like a nickname. For example, 'dough' and 'cash' both refer to money.


In Frege's account of meaning there are items at three levels: signs, their senses, and their references. It's easy to understand that by using signs we express a sense and denote their reference. Frege believed that every sense would have a sense but only one sense. To put it simply, I think this means that every word can have a meaning but only one meaning. However, there is no requirement that every sense should have only one sign. So this means that every meaning can be referenced through different words. For example, although the words 'bank' and 'port' do have different meanings, each type of spelling of the word bank and each type of spelling of the word port do have one set meaning each. However, this slightly confused because if I were to say the word 'tree', for example, I could be thinking of a christmas tree but someone else could be thinking of an apple tree. So to what extent is it true that every sense has a sense but only one sense because in this case, the word tree gives off different senses.
Bertrand Russell adopted Frege's method of dealing with assertions and denials of existence. For example, if we were to say 'The round square does not exist', although this is true, he says we can't regard it as denying the existence of an object called 'the round square'. This is because to say 'the round square' we are referring to a particular object that must have some existence for us to to be able to refer to it.


Frege explains that the sense of a word is different from a mental image. He explains that images are subjective and vary from person to person whereas, the sense or meaning of a sign is something that is the common property of all users of the language.


Frege questions the thought expressed by a sentence. Is the thought, that is to say the content of the sentence, its sense or its reference? If you were to change a sentence by replacing one word of the sentence by another having the same reference, but a diferent sense, the thought of the sentence changes. For exmaple, the thought in the sentence, 'the morning star is a body illuminated by the Sun' differs from that in the sentence 'the evening star is a body illuminated by the Sun'. This relates to his substitutivity principle that the meaning hasn't actually changed but for somebody who doesn't know that the evening star is the morning star might hold one thought or sentence to be true and the other to be false. Therefore, the answer to his question is thought is the sense of a sentence, because sense is the thought or meaning behind an expression or sentence, and in this case the meaning has changed and substitutivity is violated.


Frege then questioned if the thought expressed by a sentence is not its reference, does the sentence have a reference at all? He agrees that there can be sentences lacking reference which are sentences occuring in works of fiction such as the Odyssey. The reason these sentences lack a reference is because they contain names that lack a reference such as 'Odysseus' which Frege says to be untrue and not a real object so therefore, there is no reference. However, we could question this because even though Odysseus is fiction, we still know what the word refers to.


Towards the end of his life Frege became more interested in aspects of language that were not captured by his system of Logic. This was the 'colouring' in expression of thoughts. Scientific lagnuage presents thoughts in plain black and white but Frege says that in humane disciplines, sentences may clothe thoughts in colourful garb, with expressions of feeling. For example, we interject words and phrases like 'Alas!' and 'Thank God!' and we use charged words like 'cur' instead of plain words like 'dog'. These features of sentences are not concerns of logic because they do not change their truth-value. A sentence that uses the word 'cur' in place of 'dog' does not become false because that word means exactly the same thing.  


According to Frege, in his paper 'The thoughts', the same sentence said by two different people, is said in different contexts and therefore, express different thoughts. One thought may be true and the other false. For example, 'I am hungry' said by Peter expresses a different thought than is expressed by 'I am hungry' said by Paul. Although I think we could argue with this because the word hungry is used by both people and that word gives off only one sense which is the need for food. So, it's not entirely true to say that they express different thoughts. Also, to say they do, in a way contradicts Frege's idea that every sense has a sense but only one sense.

However, Frege does also admit that the opposite can happen. For example, if on the 9th December he was to say it was snowing yesterday, he would be expressing the same thought as if on the 8th December someone says 'It is snowing today'.


Russell disagrees with Fege's idea that every sentence has a proper name with a sense and a reference. Russell believed that any genuine name must stand for something, must 'directly represent some object' but he thought that not all apparent names were genuine names. For example, Russell thought Frege was wrong to treat the word 'Aristotle' and the phrase 'the tutor of Alexander' as being the same kind of symbol, each a name with a sense and a reference. This is understandable because if Aristotle is a genuine proper name then it does not have a sense only a reference. On the other hand, 'the tutor of Alexander' isn't even a name at all, it only has a sense because the tutor of Alexander doesn't have an exact reference.


Kenny explains that Frege and Russell believed it is essential that language should contain only expressions with a definite sense. They meant that all sentences containing expressions shoud have a truth-value. If we allow into our system sentences lacking truth-value, then inference and deduction become impossible.

Cooking in Comfort

For our second feature, Becky and I produced a short cooking guide in which we prepared a three course meal for four people at just £12. The aim of the feature was to show young people on a budget, and also as Sally Churchward said on WINOL LIFE it can be aimed at people with a good income, that cooking at home can save you money.

So many people are always going to restaurants, sometimes more than they would like to purely because the food is quick and it's easy. However, our feature shows you that it can be just as easy in the comfort of your own home, cooking with your friends and it does save you a lot of money.

Becky and I learnt a lot from the feature ourselves, particularly as I have never actually cooked a meal from scracth (scary thought), so this allowed me to see for myself just how fun and educating cooking can be.

This was also our first time on WINOL LIFE, a chat show where are features are shown to a professional guest who then give us their feeback. It's a great oppurtnity to recieve a professional opinion and advice in order for us to improve on our future features.

Sally Churchward was our guest on this week's WINOL LIFE and she gave us some great advice about our cooking feature. She told us that the shots were brilliant and the whole idea and aim of the feature was very impressive. However, she did say that we need to bring ourselves into the feature more so we have more time in front of the camera. She also said we were fashionable but we knew that already.

We have taken her advice on board with our feature this week so you will have to come back to watch it!

Sigmund Freud

In Anthony Kenny's book "Philosophy In The Modern World" Sigmund Freud is described as the continental thinker who had the greatest influence on Anglo-American philosophical thought throughout the twentieth century. Surprisingly, he is not a philosopher at all, Freud regarded himself as a scientest and an inventor of a new science.

Freud was born in Moravia in 1856. Fread is best known for his theories of the unconscious mind and the mechanism of repression. In 1860 his family moved to Vienna, where Freud trained as a doctor and joined the staff of the General hospital in 1882 where he specialised in brain anatomy. Freud also collaborated with neurologist, Joseph Breuer, treating hysterical patients under hypnosis.

In 1895, in conjunction with Breuer, Freud published work on hysteria which presented an original analysis of mental illness. Freud gradually started to stop using hpnosis as a method of treatment and he began to replace it with a method he called psychoanalysis. He described this form of treatment as nothing more than an exchange of words between patient and doctor.

Freud believed that the reasons for hysterical symptoms was because the patient had repressed memories of a pychological trauma. He found that having the patient lying down on a couch and talk about whatever came to mind would help the patient recover through a process of free association. Freud was investigating the mind and treating psychopathology through dialogue between a patient and psychoanalyst.

In 1900, Freud published the most important of his works, "The Interpretation of Dreams".  Freud argued that our dreams are coded so we are unable to interpret them and all codes are repressed sexual desires.
In Freud's view, dreams were all froms of wish fulfillment which meant these were attempts by the unconscious t resolve a conflict of some sort. whether iwas somehting recent or something from the past. However, because the information in the unconscious is often disturbing, the preconscious will not allow it to pass unaltered into the conscious. The exercise of free association, reveals thge underlying pattern of the unconscious mind.

In 1923, Frud published "The Ego and the Id". In this, Freud describes our Id as the dominant part of our personalities. He descirbed the Id as our basic desires and instincts which we develop from birth but it should be repressed. The ego is the most superficial portion of the id and one which has been modified by the influjence of the external world. The superego dominates this ego and represents inhibitions of instincts that are characteristics of man.

WINOL LIFE with Sally Churchward