Final Product

After having to interact with the work on the Blog, Website, and Wiki , I feel that I know so much more about computer today than I did 3 months ago. The course was well worth it. I hope to start building my own Websites in the near future. The class has helped me to enhanced my organizational skills while working with files and has given me more confidence to interact with different interfaces. Writing For Electronic Media ROCKS!.............

It's almost over!!!

This has been one of my most challenging classes, I will admit. But it was also fun, relaxing and the complete opposite of all my other classes... and that is refreshing! But even though I am releived that its almost over, and i can finally stop feeling like a complete idiot for being lost in prof. Cripps class.. I am actually saddened that the semester is over... i have learned so many new things.. and my eyes are now open to the endless possibilities in the world of technology... its amazing how oblivious i have been all this time abouts websites and blogs and anything technologically oriented! but now i know... i guess knowlege is never wasted.. this has been a good experince..

The last week!

I am so excited that this is the last week of classes. As the weather gets warmer, it becomes torture sitting in class wishing I was at the beach sipping cocktails! As excited as I am that summer is just about here, I think this class was very informative. I learned a lot more about the web (ex-blogging) than I had previously known. I also learned some new tools, such as dreamweaver and photo shop. Professor Cripps was also awesome, often dealing with many unprepared students, he continued to successfully get through each days' exercise. That said, SUMMER HERE WE COME!

The End is Near

The end is near and even though I want to be happy, I have to admit that I am not. I am going to miss being in Cripps class often unprepared, afraid and feeling stupid. I learned something feeling stupid is a good thing. First it changed the relationship I have with my son. I know longer assume that he can do things that seem easy enough for me. I forgot that we are each given different gifts. My gift to the world is not technology. Okay, I will admit it, technology has been a gift to me. I did learn a few things. I now know what a wiki is. I have been introduced to the world of blogging and I appreciate all of the tedious work that goes into making a website. I also learned something very important. I learned how to find the answers. Their are people out in the world who really love this and to them I say bless you. I get to enjoy the benefits of your labor. The world is changing and you must adapt or you will be left to perish and cry with me!

A few days left to Showcase

All we have is a week to get everything in order and present our work. The blog, The Website, The wiki. WOW, We did really learned a lot in this class. It is true that it requires a lot of work and dedication, but at the end we can say that we really know how to make changes to a Webpage, and Blog on a topic of our interest. Relative criticism on our projects was a good part of the class, I really liked the feedback from all the classmates and the encouragement by Professor Cripps. Great Class

Comfortable Endings

As the semester comes to a close I find myself getting a lot more comfortable with the course wiki. It has come to my attention that with better understanding of the symbols and editing tools it is really simple to use. Unlike Dreamweaver, wiki is much more simplified. In addition, I'm currently working on my review on Live Journal which is blogging service and it seems it be extremely interesting and easy to use. Here is a link that leads you directly into the site:

http://www.livejournal.com/explore

Oooh the Horror

By now the general consensus is that I complain too much... But what can I say! It is quite frustrating trying to keep up with all this technology.. and I can assure you, I am definitely trying.. All these programes simply do not like me.. I have decided to take this all very personally.. On a more serious note, I find these classes to be informative and even exciting.. this is what today's world is all about.. TECHNOLOGY!! But the problem with this is, is that you need to put the hours into assignments if they are to be worthwhile... This is where I am at a disadvantage.. Not keeping up with the times and not being a proud owner of a Mac, regardless of putting in the time, I still feel as though I am behind.. I really wish someone would tell me if I should buy myself a Mac.. Looking back on this semester, its all a bad horror film...

Wiki is driving me crazy

The media Wiki project sounds awesome; however, I spent a lot of time in debating on my "Tip, Trick, or Tut" in class. I wanted to do something productive for the class and of interest to me. At first I thought of presenting additional photoshop tools to remove unwanted elements from a picture, but it sounded kind of repetitive, easy and boring. I kept going back and forth between topics with professor Cripps during class. Finally at the end of class after discussing my interests and major concentration with professor Cripps, I realized that sometimes we want the easy way to get a job done, but if we invest a little more time and dedication we can come up with something better that will benefit us more in the long run. So...... I have changed my Wiki project, I hope I can get it done nicely without pulling my hair out.

So much for that GREAT pitching staff (so far)

The New York Yankees have me concerned lately. Not to the point of a panic (I mean come on, it's not even may), but they need to step it up. ESPECIALLY the pitchers! Wang seems clueless out there and was even skipped in his start against the Red Sox. Sabathia and Burnett are doing OK, but below their abilities. Joba is also doing decent-nothing spectacular, but thats almost expected since he's still young and transitioning. Pettitte, in my opinion is looking the best. He has brought consistency with every start. Now if only the other pitchers would get their heads out of their asses! It's time to wake up and stay up!

Its Crunch Time!!!

It is approximately three weeks remaining in the Spring '09 semester and around this time students in all majors find themselves in "Crunch Time" mode. The school library is usually filled to capacity.. .all computers are in use and what makes it ironic is that the students that you would never expect to be in a library, is definitely there completing any and every assignment possible. I believe I'm not alone on this one, but we all have this "Crunch Time" sickness. Also, what makes this even worst is that its nearly 90 degrees outside and you can't really enjoy it! Nevertheless in my opinion, its always "work" before "play." Even though we York Collge students suffer from this crunch time sickness every semester, we somehow try to overcome all obstacles and achieve all goals to be successful.

Dreamweaver a Keeper

I like the way Dreamweaver allows you to create, build and manage complex websites. I also like the fact that what I see is what I get which means that I can design my web page visually and whatever I see on the screen is what my visitors will see when they visit my website. I don't know if all the other free web editor out there can do what Dreamweaver does, but I like the interface and the familiarity I get with just a few clicks. The only downfall is that is just way to expensive for a students like me; however I think it is a good addition to your software library once you start marking the big bucks.

Oooh the confusion!

Dreamweaver and Photoshop.. oh boy! What can i say? I dont think they are necessarily difficult programmes to use, they are just slightly confusing if you are not familiar with them... This has been such a roller coaster... Some class meetings go really smooth, and I understand what is being taught, and in that moment I am able to apply it.. and I am sure everyone can relate, cause you actually feel like you have accomplished something.. but then... give it a couple days, and you're back to square one! Wow, this has been a looong road... I only hope that I can get it together in time for the last day of class!!!

Freebies for WEB DESIGN

Go to www.thefreesite.com/Free_Graphics I found this incredible website full of free graphics and clipart resources. The popularity of "TheFreeSite.com" is based on reviews done on Web's top free graphics and clipart resources. So, if you are looking for some snazzy, royalty-free graphics to spice up your website , or how about a nifty animated image to liven up your Web pages, or some eye-popping wallpaper for your desktop, or a free service that allows you to "crunch" your Web site's images so they'll load faster then give "TheFreeSite.com" a try, I think you'll like it.

Computer Software for Course

A number of students have been interested in purchasing Dreamweaver and Photoshop for themselves. Either they want the packages or they have trouble getting to the lab to do the homework.

Pricing is exhorbitant at full retail, with Adobe Creative Suites 4 Web Premium listing at $1699 (students can get it for $599). You get a lot for that price, but you'll go hungry trying to make the payments.

Here are some much more affordable options:

1. Don't buy the "latest" version. Grab a not-quite-the-latest set of Adobe Dreamweaver and Photoshop disks off eBay. It's legal, and vastly more affordable. I have 2 machines with 2004-era versions of Dreamweaver and Photoshop. The programs work JUST FINE, and there are no real compatibility issues. Dreamweaver 8 (circa 2006-8) can be had for under $100 (Dreamweaver MX 2004 is also good), and Photoshop 6 (which works just great!) runs just over $100 on eBay. Make sure that you're not buying a "training dvd" or a book, that you're getting real versions with codes (not "upgrade" disks), and that you buy for Mac or Win, depending on your home computer.
2. Go Craigslist.org and ditch eBay. I did a quick search in my "area" and found a guy selling Adobe CS3 (the software in the lab) for $100. That's an INSANE price. On eBay that package is still going for more than $300. You get Dreamweaver, Photoshop, ImageReady, Illustrator, Flash, Acrobat, and a whole, whole lot more. Crazy. If you search in New York City you'll find it for less. Just use caution and get real disks with real activation codes.
   
3. FREE! Go OPEN SOURCE. We're using Dreamweaver and Photoshop, but you don't have to. There are really good html editors (with a visual interface) available free, and Gimpshop is an open source graphics editor that has menus laid out just like Photoshop. (Why do this? You have to review some software or interface tool as part of the course. Why not get some decent software on your machine, use it, and then do your review. It costs nothing but a little hard drive space, and some time.) I'll work with you if you choose this option.
   
4. Put Adobe's free 30-day trial to use. Download Adobe Creative Suites 4 Web Premium and try Dreamweaver and Photoshop for 30 days. After that you'll be locked out unless you buy the suite, but you can uninstall at that time.
   

Those are the only recommendations I can make.

Got a Minute for Andy Chen?

http://www.andychendesign.com/

You have to like this. Ok, you don't. I like it. I especially like what Andy has done with the Student Design Agency.

Assignment:

1. What is the Student Design Agency?
   
2. How might York create its own Student Design Agency (SDA)?
3. What's stopping you from doing it?
4. If you don't care to engage with the SDA idea, write about Andy's website and portfolio.
   

Recover a Deleted File

If you happened to delete a critical file for which you have no backup, there's a good chance it's recoverable even if it's no longer in the Windows Recycle Bin. Follow the steps on retrieving a deleted file from PC World Magazine Video and try to get those important files back.

Got a Minute for E.Webscapes?

Elite by Design has a blog post entitled, "Getting Inspiration Wrong: Website Rip Offs," in which the author offers paired comparisons of possible rip offs. I open our Got a Minute for E.Webscapes with the EbD link to get you thinking about the boundary between inspiration and rip-offspiration.

Assignment:

1. Take a few minutes to read through that post.
2. Head over to E.Webscapes.
3. I don't think that E.Webscapes is exactly "ripping off" some other design, but there's a very close family resemblance to design elements used by some big company whose logo is a piece of forbidden fruit. Steve Nojobs has compiled all 27 of this company's ads on his blog page, for those of us who need help figuring out the design "inspiration" for E.Webscapes. Is this out of bounds?

Think that "borrowing" a silhouette logo idea and repackaging it in a different format means it can't be a ripoff? Check out youthoughtwewouldntnotice.com and think again.

Need to create silhouettes for yourself? Check this out!

My life as a college student

It took me a while to make my mind in choosing a major , I finally did choose a major at the beginning of this semester. I believe I am on the right field but i am a serious problem putting my schedule together. This semester is taking mad long , but we almost getting to the end.
let' talk about life in general, all I know is that life is not a joke the harder you build it the the easier it will bw for you at the end.

Online Pricing

While you are shopping online prices may fluctuate. If you want to get a good deal online download Amazon Price Watch at http://www.nukeprice.com/download.html . This is an IE/Firefox plug-in, it monitors an item you're interested in and alerts you when its price falls below an amount you specify. Another great tool is Price Protector you can find it at http://www.priceprotectr.com/, this tools warns you if the price of a product that you recently bought online is reduced, so you can claim a partial refund under the store's price guarantee policy. As always do not forget to clear you browser cache after every purchase, it will make your online shopping a lot more safer.

Tough Class Today (3/10)

Today didn't go well.

We had to bump the discussion of Williams and Tollett, and the planned workshop on web design ideas because too few people had done that homework. Then the brief tour of Dreamweaver got ugly and people experienced about 6 different things that can go wrong. Things were slow at times, too fast and confusing at other moments. No one left class with a clear sense that they accomplished "real" work on the personal website.

I spent a couple hours tonight reflecting on the class, and have come to the following decision:

I'm going to shift the WIKI part back to the last portion of the class and move more personal website work into the middle. This will enable us to make good progress on our sites.

Don't feel too frustrated if you're lost. You poked around in Dreamweaver, tried a few things (links, modify a template, make new pages based on a template, change some colors in the stylesheet, etc.) And you got a general look through some key parts of the interface.

I do have Dreamweaver screencasts to help with each part of the interface, and with making key modifications to the templates. These will be helpful in the coming weeks.

Let's come to class with our work ready to go next Tuesday, pick up the pieces, and carry on!

We'll talk about Williams & Tollett, Krug, our draft website content, and our designs. We'll also put our content into 4 pages on the website and actually upload a "draft" personal website. Bring your feedback for your peers so they have something to work with as they revise their own content.

Got a Minute for One Hat Designs?

One Hat is a studio that offers integrated media solutions. I posted the studio in Got a Minute because they include video projects in their portfolio. I like the limited use of Flash on the site. It adds some animation and dynamism to the home page without distracting the reader from the real content on the site.

Assignment:

1. Take a look at the effect on the buttons and the graphic effect at the bottom of the key images on each page. What do you think?
2. Look at the key images again. Why do you think they chose to put a red border across the top? What about the black border at the bottom?

Life..and death

I've recently have been thinking about how fragile life truly is. This past weekend my friends mom passed away in a car accident-she was only 49 years old. It is such a tragedy and completely unexpected. The wake was one of the worst things I have ever seen in my life. My friend and her two sisters were completely devastated. It is scary how your life can be over in a flash. It is one thing if you are sick for a while and then pass away (which is still horrible). Then I think about how you can be healthy and everything seems great and the next thing you know, your life can be over. Whether it be from an car accident, or any kind of accident. It is truly scary. My friends mom didn't wake up and think, "oh I am going to die today". It's just not fair. I think everyone should live their life as if everyday is their last, because any day-it could be.

Got a Minute for Bluewater?

Bluewater Web Development has a clean, minimalist website. Take a minute to poke around.

Assignment:

Choose a website you like from the portfolio. Write up a brief interpretation of what works and what doesn't in the site.

Got a Minute for Sacha Dean Biyan?

Sacha Dean Biyan, a photographer (or so it seems), has a very engaging website called Eccentris, if you have Flash installed on your machine. (The "no flash" version is just a one-pager. What's that tell you?)

You’ll probably want to spend more than a minute exploring the Eccentris site. Trust me. It’s worth the time. Eccentris even has a wallpaper pack for the iPhone. What the...?

Assignment: Find something specific about this site that you think it interesting, or perhaps even offensive.

dicovery #1- Dynamic Trump Static

After reading this "discovery" i have come to the conclusion that a blog does not necessarily have to be complicated.. sometimes simplicity is what matters most, since this is what is going to make your readers interested and wanting to come back again and again.. the idea is to choose an interesting topic and find ways to keep it fresh.. update regularly and use new images, "catch phrases" and formatting...

the blog

I find this whole idea of an online journal to be quite fascinating.. sure I am slightly apprehensive of the fact that my private thoughts and opinions are open to public scrutiny... but on a more positive note, this can definitely be used to my advantage! who woulda thunk it! people spilling there hearts out for the world... ONLINE! oi ve... what a world, what a generation.. oh boy! the TECHNOLOGY!!`

McAfee Site Advisor

McAfee Site Advisor is a FireFox add-on that tells you whether you can trust a website. It works by putting icons next to search results and by placing a safe browsing button at the bottom of the FireFox interface. If you use Internet Explorer you can also download it and install it, it will work the same way as in FireFox but the safe browsing button will be display on top. To install the Site Advisor go to www.siteadvisor.com/download and select the download link. Now when you visit a website if the safe browsing button turns green that means you can trust that site; however if you see it yellow then the site includes nuisances and if it's red there is a serious issue with the site. So go ahead try it. This neat and simple application will help you stay safe online.

Got a Minute for 4 Guys Interactive?

Check out 4guys.com This is an interesting little design house that illustrates how one might use icons for navigation.

Personally, I think the careers icon looks more like a sign for the men's room than a jobs link.

Assignment:

1. Find the essay, "Real world 'lessons learned' about designing effective Web sites," and read it. (Hint: It's in the Essays section, under Education. If you can't find it, perhaps the icons aren't working as nav.)
   
2. Pick one of the 4Guys "discoveries" and comment on it here.
3. Don't comment on a discovery already discussed by another student, until all 9 discoveries get treatment.
   

Discovery #7

Discovery #7: watch your competitors and leaders in other industries so you can stay ahead of their innovations.

Discovery#7 is about learning what you can do better in order to keep people visiting your website, also it's a way for you to see what your competitors are doing and use it to enhance or upgrade your own web page. This discovery has a link to cool homepages.com which provides inspirations that can be gained from top web designers. I checked out this site and I thought it was awesome and an inspiration to motivate my creativity with seeing thousands web designs.

Metaphors for the Cell

John Markoff of The New York Times, writing in today's paper, claims that our cell phones are built on a metaphor.

It has been 25 years since the desktop, with its files and folders, was introduced as a way to think about what went on inside a personal computer. The World Wide Web brought other ways of imagining the flow of data. With the dominance of the cellphone, a new metaphor is emerging for how we organize, find and use information.

Here's the article.

What is this new metaphor? Do you see it in your cell phone? Do tell

Blog Themes

You've been styling your blog with a theme you like. Hopefully, your theme is starting to "fit" with your blog topic. Hopefully, you're also adding new page elements to your blog and making some use of Blogger's "gadget" options. Now it's time to tell us what you're attempting here.

I'll go first. I took the minimal theme and went with black background and that bright orange color because I'm drawing on the logo for the primetime drama Criminal Minds. I styled the course website theme with that logo in mind, and named the style "Dr. Reid" as a clear gesture of acknowledgment. Consistency told me to run with it on the course blog.

The Label Cloud page element is something that implements a tag cloud-like aspect to the post labels feature in Blogger. Labels help us narrow down our reading when we want a specific set of posts. The blogroll makes it easy for us to find each other's blogs. The Pogue's Posts is a feed subcription to David Pogue's tech columns in the NY Times, fitting in a course like this. The Hangman game gadget fits for two reasons: it has writing and one must have some fun on a website. Haven't played hangman in a while, have you? Give it a go.

What's in your blog?

Got a Minute for Newark1?

Newark1 has a great website/portfolio. What makes it great is that it is a real web design resource for budding web developers. You can find help on choosing a color palette for your website, on layout and the ordering of visual and textual elements, and a whole bunch of generally very good tips. With all this help, you can do a lot worse than spend some time taking lessons from the folks at Newark1.

Assignment:

1. Pick one of the brief lessons or tips at Newark1
2. Choose a website from the Internet (there are a few available)
3. Use what you learned in the Newark1 lesson to interpret a piece of the website you chose.
4. Write up a 200-word overview of the lesson, the website, and your interpretation as a comment.
   

Got a Minute for Deena?

Deena’s portfolio is an example of a site that you can imagine surpassing before the end of the term. It looks like Deena is making some real money as a web designer, and this might prove quite encouraging to you!

Assignment:

1. Look over Deena's portfolio.
2. Find one constructive change you'd make.
3. Post a comment describing why you think the change would improve the site.
   

Useful Computer Tips

Nowadays with the advantages of the Internet many computer users are able to pay their bills online, check their bank accounts, communicate with people all over the world, and maintain online social networks. Many of these computer users are unaware of safe computer practices online. Criminal activity online has gone from a single virus to steal your identity or get your credit card number. If we try to educate the regular computer user as well as the skilled computer user to start and maintain a better interaction with their system , then we can probably minimize the black hacker attacks and have a better and safer online experience.

Transformers 2

For those who didn't see the Superbowl or the commercials they produced, there was a 30 second trailer that satisfied those who have been waiting since last year. Seeing Optimus Prime being punched in the face, or even jumping on a transformer three times his size, put most of the people I experienced it with on the edge of their seats. June 26th, Summer time this year is going to be another chance for Transformers to pack the theaters. What else could help start the summer right?

http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/transformersrevengeofthefallen/

Evolution

In order for evolution to occur we must accept that the Universe will likely require us to outperform our past efforts by meeting the challenges it puts in our paths... I think its safe to say that "blogs" are definitely a step up from the simple journal, oh how we have evolved!..

I am not in Control

I signed up for this class believing that I was signing up for a writing class that would utilize the different internet forums to communicate to the world. Now I feel like I am in a computer class. I could get upset but I have realized that getting mad will aide me in missing the bigger picture. Newspapers are laying off people by the dozens. Advertisers are ditching print media. Maybe it is time that I learned to navigate the internet on a more personal level. I want to be in control and sometimes when things are new we know that we are not going to be able to be in control. OK, I submit. I submit to knowing that this time, just this time, Marchelle is not in control. She has to listen and learn and enjoy. I am hoping for the best. I am sure that with my knew knowledge, I will be able to go out into the world, well, I meant to say, go into the computer universe and communicate on a global level. Ready, set, go!

Stephenson, Command Lines, and Metaphors

Neal Stephenson writes:

"So an OS is a stack of metaphors and abstractions that stands between you and the telegrams, and embodying various tricks the programmer used to convert the information you're working with - be it images, e-mail messages, movies, or word-processing documents - into the necklaces of bytes that are the only things computers know how to work with" (Stephenson 18).

Look at the OS (operating system) and the GUI (graphical user interface) you're using right now. Can you find some metaphors or abstractions? Do share!

First Class

Good discussion, questions, and ideas on day one. While I don't expect folks "understand" much of what we started talking about, I do hope your interest is piqued.

Please post additional thoughts on the Wesch video as a comment to this post.

Got a Minute for BTmplates?

BTemplates has 60 pages of Blogger templates. For those unsatisfied with the basics provided by Blogger, and willing to take a few minutes to figure out how to upload a different template, BTemplates may be just the ticket.

Organized by categories, BTemplates helps you find what you want. And once your template is in Blogger, you can add your own customizations. (Don't be shy; give it a try. Be sure to post a comment with a link if you decide to upload a template.)

Aren't we talking about interfaces and operating systems? Check out the Retro MacOS theme (page 60, on the day I went to the site).

Books for Class (Amazon)

The books on order for the class are available in the campus bookstore, and there are a couple used copies of some of them. In a course like this one, it seems only fitting to consider places on the internet where course texts can be purchased.

Here are the books for class, a rough date when you'll NEED them, and the best (new/used) price available through Amazon (as of Friday, January 23).

• In the Beginning was the Command Line, by Neal Stephenson (Required) - Needed Immediately - $8.50/$1.40
  
• Head First HTML, by Elizabeth Freeman & Eric Freeman (Required) - Needed by Week 3 - $26.39/$17.19
• Blogs, Wikis, MySpace, and More, by Terry Burrows (Recommended) - Helpful Immediately - $10.17/$8.74
• CSS: The Missing Manual, by David Sawyer McFarland (Recommended) - Helpful Almost Immediately - $23.09/$19.97
  

These books ordered new from Amazon are less than $70. Go used and the cost drops to less than $50. By only the required books, go used, and you're down for less than $20 in bound texts.

Do buy the Stephenson at the bookstore, unless you're going to order on January 27, with 2 day shipping. It's the cheapest book on the list, it's a good read, and we're starting the course with it.

Find better prices elsewhere? Share with a comment!

Label Cloud Implemented

I had been wanting to put a tag cloud on the course blog for a couple years. But Blogger doesn't have a cloud out of the box, and I never really took the time hunt down a custom-made widget. Then I found phydeaux3's Label Cloud javascript implementation. Three snips of code and Voila!

Laying the Foundation

I cleaned up the blog this afternoon. After thinking about a "look" for this year's course website, I settled on something based on a popular television drama. (It's too obvious, I'm sure.)

Instead of working in two different blog platforms for the 2009 course, we'll work solely in blogger for our individual and group blogging. We'll use this blog and the "team blog" feature to establish a group blog environment.

That's all for now.