Leaving USF blog

I started using the USF blog, but found it very user unfriendly. I've used Blogger before, very briefly, when I was studying Libarary 2.0. After seeing chapter 17 in the MacDonald text, I decided to come back here. I'm going to cut and paste the blogs I already done at USF below. Here they are:

I lost all my input with the slip of a finger last time, so now I am cutting and pasting using Word.

The first website of exploration this week is the one devoted to one of our three texts: The Principles of Beautiful Web Design by Jason Beaird. While I am writing this in New Times Roman, black-on-white, Beaird exemplifies the five basic elements of design graphically. (That makes sense!) The words “layer,” “color,” “texture,” “typography,” and “imagery” are handwritten across the section heading the regular, old text. You can place the curser on any one of these words and see an example in the page you are looking at. For example, scroll each word, and you will see the following concepts pointed out in red:

Layer
Isolation
White space
Fixed width

Color
Desaturation
Intensity
Complementary colors

Texture
Point
Line
Shape
Shadow
Proportion
Pattern

Typography
Image replacement
“Swiss”
“One Punch Jim”
“Handwritten”
Pixels, points, and ems

Imagery
Choosing formats
.gif, .png
Finding the right images
Edge treatments

Contrasting my awful looking list with a visual counterpart does emphasize the importance of design, both aesthetically, and in terms of integrating concepts and information. Excellent!
Week 1: Websites

Creating Websites: The Missing Manual - Missing CD-ROM - helpful weblinks related to the text http://missingmanuals.com/cds/creatingwstmm/

This site, which accompanies the MacDonald text, provides example files that we can play around with while practicing the exercises. Otherwise, there are a number of sites listed under each chapter with additional information not found in the book. The following documents what I found of interest under each chapter heading:

Chapter 1
History of the Internet
www.isoc.org/internet/history A number of links are available. I chose to look first at William F. Slater, III’s Internet History and Growth. I have read about this several times, but have never committed it to memory. I have many things I need to commit to memory now, so I will just read this again and try to absorb it. I still don’t get TCP/IP protocols and packet switching.

Critique: The slide show goes very quickly and cannot be paused, which is increasingly getting on my nerves.

Walt Howe’s Internet Learning Center is going into my favorites, especially for this class. The glossary of definitions will be particularly helpful. I spoke of packets above. The glossary tells me that a packet is a self-contained bundle of data, typically less than 1500 bytes in size, with a header and too and from addresses. TCP/IP refers to Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol.

DARPA: Defense Advanced Research Project Agency

I am almost through reading about the history of the Internet. I am trying to be sparing in what I write; there is so much that I need to absorb and not interrupt with painstakingly copying everything. HOWEVER, of interest to me is the next area a growth with the Internet: Making municipal areas “hot spots,” enabling wi-fi access. That would be great, but would have a huge impact on library traffic in the system in which I work. Everyone would just bring their laptops with them and sit down where ever, rather than stopping by the library. That would occur in the wealthier areas, but in a place like Hastings, where I work now ( a very poor place), I don’t think traffic would change much.

Chapter 2 exercises: Because I am like a baby just learning to walk with this stuff, I was very proud of my achievements in reproducing the Lee Park resume. I had a problem with the placement of the picture at first, but problem-solved and worked it out.

Browsers

I have Windows here at home and Vista at work. I don’t know how to use Vista yet, and it makes me very angry.

Interestingly, the site for Firefox made me want to use it, only because of the introductory video. That video got me in there and made me want to stay. The windows site was not satisfying for me. I clicked on many things, but what I really wanted was a video. Maybe I’m just lazy. I am quickly saturated with the different browsers touting their features.

Other sites:
The angelfire website made me really irritated. I could only look at it for a few seconds. I will check back regularly as I try to make my own web page to make sure I don’t do any of that stuff.

I just tried some flash games, but I am so irritated right now!