The web is an ever changing phenomenon and I believe that it's going to keep growing and keep changing. Newspapers and magazines are already beginning to focus more on the web aspects and I think all forms of print media will eventually become very rare. Inventions like the Kindle and iPad to name a few of the more popular ones are out and available to anyone willing to spend the money on them.
Bloggers are becoming the norm and providing a newer form of critique and journalist views that used to be only seen within the news. Everyday people like myself can build blogs, posting their own thoughts and ideas.
Either way regardless the web is growing and will continue to grow and I look forward to building my technological toolkit with it.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
Website Woes
Website Woes
We were assigned to create a webpage for my New Media class. My most recent blog is based of part of our assignment and my views of how my page turned out.
My original proposal idea was to create a page on something that I enjoy so that I would be committed to creating a unique website. I chose basketball because of my interest in the sport and the wealth of information already available on the web. I wanted a site that fit my tastes and interests in the game of basketball and it was my goal to create that.
I initially drew up some basic sketches that consisted of a basic header, a drop down navigation bar, the body of the page covering the left and center, and a side bar with enjoyable widgets such as a calendar, scrolling scores and upcoming games. Then I began to work on my webpage and reality set in. I realized it was a lot harder to move particular images and words exactly where I wanted them without much trial and error. I began to become very frustrated (as I’m sure many other people did) and focused more on simplicity. I played with backgrounds wanting to find a color that popped and really showcased the few images I wanted but I ended up just using black.
One area I really believe I thrived in was quickly coming to an understanding of how to link other sites and pages. My webpage as of now has a total of 8 pages, 3 of which are links from one page. An area that I struggled with was centering my images and video, it caused me numerous headaches trying to get it to fit how I wanted, but in the end I figured it out and I think it came out very simple and not as amateur looking as I thought it would.
To make my first webpage look even more polished and professional I wish I would have tried my hand at some Photoshop elements or even a small flash video. I think that although I have very little knowledge in both of those arenas that it would have been an interesting attempt. I also wish I would have put more thought into adding a calendar. In my original site I had a marquee on the professional page with scrolling scores and while I liked the look of the scrolling scores it seemed a bit amateur (probably because I have never seen that type of scrolling on ESPN).
My overall impression of my webpage is that I am so proud of myself. I am completely amazed at what I have accomplished in such a short amount of time with my crazy schedule. I think that although I ended up making it a lot simpler then I originally intended that I prepared something that I am proud of and that I have shown to all of my friends and coworkers.
We were assigned to create a webpage for my New Media class. My most recent blog is based of part of our assignment and my views of how my page turned out.
My original proposal idea was to create a page on something that I enjoy so that I would be committed to creating a unique website. I chose basketball because of my interest in the sport and the wealth of information already available on the web. I wanted a site that fit my tastes and interests in the game of basketball and it was my goal to create that.
I initially drew up some basic sketches that consisted of a basic header, a drop down navigation bar, the body of the page covering the left and center, and a side bar with enjoyable widgets such as a calendar, scrolling scores and upcoming games. Then I began to work on my webpage and reality set in. I realized it was a lot harder to move particular images and words exactly where I wanted them without much trial and error. I began to become very frustrated (as I’m sure many other people did) and focused more on simplicity. I played with backgrounds wanting to find a color that popped and really showcased the few images I wanted but I ended up just using black.
One area I really believe I thrived in was quickly coming to an understanding of how to link other sites and pages. My webpage as of now has a total of 8 pages, 3 of which are links from one page. An area that I struggled with was centering my images and video, it caused me numerous headaches trying to get it to fit how I wanted, but in the end I figured it out and I think it came out very simple and not as amateur looking as I thought it would.
To make my first webpage look even more polished and professional I wish I would have tried my hand at some Photoshop elements or even a small flash video. I think that although I have very little knowledge in both of those arenas that it would have been an interesting attempt. I also wish I would have put more thought into adding a calendar. In my original site I had a marquee on the professional page with scrolling scores and while I liked the look of the scrolling scores it seemed a bit amateur (probably because I have never seen that type of scrolling on ESPN).
My overall impression of my webpage is that I am so proud of myself. I am completely amazed at what I have accomplished in such a short amount of time with my crazy schedule. I think that although I ended up making it a lot simpler then I originally intended that I prepared something that I am proud of and that I have shown to all of my friends and coworkers.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Website Update
Website Update
So it is officially 3 weeks (I think) into building this website and I must say I never realized just how slow going and tedious it is. I feel like all I'm doing at this point is coding, refreshing the web page with my fingers crossed, and then trying again. Either I am a very picky person or I am expecting an amazing look on just the first try. Even with all of the tutorials and books available to the beginning web creator I find myself constantly uncertain of how I want it to look. Although I am progressing relatively slow I am truly enjoying trying different elements and options out within my website. My goal is just to keep at it and create something that looks clean.
So it is officially 3 weeks (I think) into building this website and I must say I never realized just how slow going and tedious it is. I feel like all I'm doing at this point is coding, refreshing the web page with my fingers crossed, and then trying again. Either I am a very picky person or I am expecting an amazing look on just the first try. Even with all of the tutorials and books available to the beginning web creator I find myself constantly uncertain of how I want it to look. Although I am progressing relatively slow I am truly enjoying trying different elements and options out within my website. My goal is just to keep at it and create something that looks clean.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Website Fun
Working on project 2 I've learned to really get excited about the little things. Even my small victories of figuring out how to do this or that get me really excited. One of my small victories included centering one of my headers (yeah I know it's just the simple things in life sometimes). Another was creating a hanging navigation bar. Although I don't claim to be a great web designer I'm definitely learning and beginning to better understand the design process. While my website still has a very long way to go I'm proud of myself for my efforts thus far given my limited previous knowledge and my lack of free time. I'm really beginning to appreciate people who design and continuously maintain their websites. It is something that has a lot more to it then one would initially think but either way I am very glad I have the opportunity to learn this skill.
Working on creating a website also makes me more observant to the multiple elements within other websites. I constantly find myself wondering how that was done or how can I use that element within my own website.
Working on creating a website also makes me more observant to the multiple elements within other websites. I constantly find myself wondering how that was done or how can I use that element within my own website.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Identity
For this week's Tech Corner I will be discussing Identity and Security on the internet. I decided I also wanted to blog a bit about the identity part since it is such an interesting topic.
It amazes me how far technology has come in just my lifetime which makes me wonder where it's going to be in the next 20 or so years. The internet is a strange phenom because you can be whoever you want to be. People who you maybe knew in high school and are friends with on facebook can portray themselves in a completely different light. In other words your internet you can be completely different then the real you.
Identity fraud is also becoming more common due to people using the internet in more ways; people putting personal information on social websites, banking online, and other things that even 10 years ago was unheard of. Just because internet and its usage is growing doesn't mean that people should be less cautious of the information that the put out there.
For this week's Tech Corner I will be discussing Identity and Security on the internet. I decided I also wanted to blog a bit about the identity part since it is such an interesting topic.
It amazes me how far technology has come in just my lifetime which makes me wonder where it's going to be in the next 20 or so years. The internet is a strange phenom because you can be whoever you want to be. People who you maybe knew in high school and are friends with on facebook can portray themselves in a completely different light. In other words your internet you can be completely different then the real you.
Identity fraud is also becoming more common due to people using the internet in more ways; people putting personal information on social websites, banking online, and other things that even 10 years ago was unheard of. Just because internet and its usage is growing doesn't mean that people should be less cautious of the information that the put out there.
Monday, April 19, 2010
My Technology Toolkit…Oh, how empty you are
So before I took this New Media studies class I was completely and utterly under the impression that while I’m no tech geek I could hold my own. Boy was I wrong. As it turns out I have very limited technology skills. My technology toolkit is so sparse and in desperate need of a toolkit upgrade to gain a basic knowledge of all of the latest computer/web gadgets.
My current technology toolkit includes a basic working knowledge of social networking sites (i.e. how to update my status), Microsoft Office Suite although only a very basic knowledge of Excel, how to print things, a lot of the command shortcuts (that I must say a lot of people don’t know these so I feel like it can go on the list, and a basic knowledge of video editing (I know all of these don’t really count but I have to have something in my toolkit)
As for what is to come in the near future I hope my upcoming toolkit will consist of xhtml, CSS, scripting, some knowledge of graphic formats, and some photoshop knowledge.
Lastly as for future aspirations of what I want flourishing in my toolkit a great grasp and knowledge of photoshop and other aspects of design, excelling in xhtml and CSS, and multimedia. While I know that acquiring these skills will take work and patience on my part I am excited to embark on this new learning experience and really try my hand with these different tools.
So before I took this New Media studies class I was completely and utterly under the impression that while I’m no tech geek I could hold my own. Boy was I wrong. As it turns out I have very limited technology skills. My technology toolkit is so sparse and in desperate need of a toolkit upgrade to gain a basic knowledge of all of the latest computer/web gadgets.
My current technology toolkit includes a basic working knowledge of social networking sites (i.e. how to update my status), Microsoft Office Suite although only a very basic knowledge of Excel, how to print things, a lot of the command shortcuts (that I must say a lot of people don’t know these so I feel like it can go on the list, and a basic knowledge of video editing (I know all of these don’t really count but I have to have something in my toolkit)
As for what is to come in the near future I hope my upcoming toolkit will consist of xhtml, CSS, scripting, some knowledge of graphic formats, and some photoshop knowledge.
Lastly as for future aspirations of what I want flourishing in my toolkit a great grasp and knowledge of photoshop and other aspects of design, excelling in xhtml and CSS, and multimedia. While I know that acquiring these skills will take work and patience on my part I am excited to embark on this new learning experience and really try my hand with these different tools.
Monday, April 12, 2010
The order of things for creating websites
As one of our class assignments we have been given the task to "analyze" websites based on a scoring rubric of our own creation. In class we discussed the "order of things" for creating and designing a website. It consists of planning, design, building, testing, and finally promoting the website. After looking over several websites with a more critical eye I am beginning to believe that some web designers are overlooking or just plain skipping some aspects in the order of things.
The first aspect is planning which website creators need to determine why they are building a website and what functions they want. As of late I am noticing more websites that have been created for no rhyme or reason.
Another thing that bothers me is websites that take several clicks to discover what they are truly about. The best bet for individuals designing websites especially those websites for personal use is to look at the “order of things” to determine what you want your website to portray and follow those steps to make an efficient website.
The first aspect is planning which website creators need to determine why they are building a website and what functions they want. As of late I am noticing more websites that have been created for no rhyme or reason.
Another thing that bothers me is websites that take several clicks to discover what they are truly about. The best bet for individuals designing websites especially those websites for personal use is to look at the “order of things” to determine what you want your website to portray and follow those steps to make an efficient website.
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