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!