JN3800: Data Skills Test

For this assignment we were instructed to locate freely available facts/statistics from a source from the Internet.

The Guardian Data blog has sourced the numbers of the world's population by country and posted a spreadsheet of the data here, in wake of the seven-billionth human in the world being born.

From the mass of data supplied, there are some interesting discussions that can be raised when comparing the populations of the European State currently to that of fifty years ago.

As the above graph shows, the total population of the countries comprising the Members of the European State grew from 406,472 million to 501,917 million over 50 years. This is an overall average increase per year of an estimated 1.9 million people between 1961 and 2011.

When looking at this is in more detail we can see that of those comprising the European State, it can be noted that those with the largest populations in 1961 (the top five being Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, France and Spain in descending order) are the ones with the largest increase in population by 2011. 

The largest increase coming from France where the population as increased from 46,218 million to 63,126 million over the fifty years studied, an increase of 16,845 million people. The smallest increase came over the fifty years was in smallest country [in population], Malta, with an average increase of 2.12 million people a year (in comparison to France's 336.9 million). 

The only decline in population over the fifty years that can be found is in Hungary saw a decrease of 44 million people, from 10,010 million to 9,966 million.

It is estimated by the U.N that the seven-billionth citizen shall be born on the 31st October, the same day as this post was written.

The data was provided by The Guardian's Data blog and can be accessed here. To view their analysis of the data please visit here.

This post was written by Brad Wilkinson. Please email bwilkinson@uclan.ac.uk if you would like to contact him.

JN3800: Map Skills Test

View JN3800: Map Skills Test in a larger map

The map above is a custom google map I have created, locating four Lancashire Evening Post stories (from the Monday 24th October 2011 edition of the paper) upon it.

All the points marked on the map, titled by each story's headline, contain the opening passage of the article, link to the full story on the Lancashire Evening Post website and a contextual link for further information on the relevant matters each story relates to.

To view the full map please visit: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=213197851744782481822.0004b00ec67f99988b5fc&msa=0&ll=53.759368,-2.710705&spn=0.075503,0.162563

This post was written by Brad Wilkinson. Please email bwilkinson@uclan.ac.uk if you would like to contact him.

JN3800: Image Skills Test

This image skills test is for the JN3800 module I am currently studying at the University of Central Lancashire. It proves my ability to crop images to a strict specification using Adobe Photoshop.

PNE_Original.jpg

The image above is the original photograph that I took on my iPhone 4 of the Deepdale, the home stadium of Preston North End football club.

The first crop specification was the resolution of 100 pixels by 100 pixels:

PNE_100x100_web.jpg

At such a small resolution, to denote that the picture is of Deepdale I made the Preston North End logo the main element of the crop's composition.

The second crop specification was the resolution of 400 pixels by 300 pixels:

PNE_400x300_web.jpg

My objective in this crop was to remove the car park in the orignal image whilst keeping the main elements of the stadium in the composition.

The final specification was the resolution 200 pixels by 500 pixels:

PNE_200x500_web.jpg

This was a difficult resolution to crop my orignal image down to, and as such, I made sure to include the Preston North End logo like the 100 pixel by 100 pixel crop. I also included one of the floodlights which are a very iconic feature of Deepdale.

This post was written by Brad Wilkinson. Please email bwilkinson@uclan.ac.uk if you would like to contact him.

Welcome

Welcome to Brad Wilkinson's Blog. It will be the home for the university work I produce in the final year of my university degree.

Specifically, this work will be to complete the 'JN3800 - Multimedia Production' module I am currently studying at the University of Central Lancashire.

I hope the work I will display will be of the greatest standard I can achieve, and that those who stumble across it are provided with a useful insight into the world of multimedia production in the journalism industry.

In my spare time, I run an alternative music blog, 'Euphony' that has received mild success in it's time and tries to provide readers with a library of music they may not of heard before.

I am also an avid follower of the technology industry and, as such, am a part-time contributor to the International Mac Podcast Network.


To know slightly more about me, please visit: about.me/bradwilkinson.