Web 2.0 strategy for the Canvas site.

We wanted the Canvas website to encourage interactivity and communication from our targeted users. This could be achieved in a number of ways using multimedia: 

• Comment forums, to encourage communication from users.
• Picture slides / animation
• Flash.. updated or current headlines for Canvas website
• Blogs, related to current activities on campus
• Podcasts

Blogs are a good way to read detailed information that would otherwise be too large to fit on the site. It is better to list useful blogs with a summary. This allows the user to choose their own way of navigating the site and absorbing information.

Podcasts are another effective way of getting content to users. For those in a hurry they can download the segments of particular interest. 

Using flash enables us to animate headlines or create moving photo slides which gives the eye something to look at other than just text. 

A chat forum would be a great way of communicating with users and allows them to have a say on particular features of the site. 

Exploring the virtue that is Web 2.0

Well this is my first post for 2008. I had to fight the cobwebs as I entered the portal, not sure if I'm in the right place. 

This semester we have been looking at web 2.0. What is Web 2.0 you may ask, well i will make my best effort to explain. 

It is a term which refers to the second generation of the web. What it means is that the World Wide Web has evolved from just a collection of websites, Web 1.0, to a full computing platform through the use of applications, architecture and social networking. 

The second phase of architecture and application development that is Web 2.0 was coined by Tim OReilly in October 2004. Web 2.0 was evolving, linking people, and not just information as did it's predecessor Web 1.0. The Web has become a social apparatus, with information and architecture being shaped by social participants. 

Tagging, blogging and pod casts are all part of the social nature integral to the web 2.0 concept combined with web services, interaction and the development of key technologies used to build web applications. These applications are adapted to work in any browser and are a fundamental part of the 2.0 concept. Applications which make up the Web 2.0 family are:

• Flickr
• Adsense
• Wikipedia
• Blogging
• Social Networking sites - Facebook, MySpace
• Search engine optimization
• web sevices
• wiki's
• RSS feeds
• Flash
• Web Services
• Folksonomy (tagging), del.ici.ous
• Bittorrent
• syndication - simultaneous use for different websites

The internet has now become a more mallable tool, used as a social extension to daily life. Blogs are a good example of this. They are used either as a way of communicating ideas with other bloggers or as a journal. If you look at social network sites,  It is all designed to fit with the users needs, and the user controls the applications. 

class minutes

fireworks: creating buttons for personal websites.
Handouts: using the vector tool, exploring fireworks tools panel.

Plan website, a personal showcase or online promotion for future employers to read.
design according to fit image I want to promote
low level promotion site
what buttons need to be created, e.g personal, which could house c.v
new content button. Define high level categories. Explore ideas, simple or complicated banners? low key, simple colour changes. Map of site, homepage, map pages coming of that.
whats it going to look like...l-shape/ inverted 'u', rough sketch your interface and layout ideas.
Navigation planning essential, draw map.

Group information into subheadings:

• Radio: gun&gang crime
• Print
  
• online
  
• work experience

Every page will have the same basic elements, will need to be an editable region where content can be manipulated
one editable region/ easier to create multiple pages.
flash rollover effects, main navigation bar.. key categories
rollover menus.. sub menus
sub navigation on other pages.
secondary navigation...at top and bottom of page.
write an original feature about....1000 words.
plan this week.
curves. instead of just squares and rectangles.
consider scanning, conversational tone,think about target audience
layer information, break into chunks.
inverted pyramid sentence.
bulleted lists. no lists for less than four items.
keep paras to max of 5 sentences.

Read jakob nielson, crawford killian - inverted pyramid

Web Design

I have secretly harboured an interest in web design for a while now, so this little assignment had me quite excited. So lets see what we can dig up.

From an aesthetical point of view i found LuLu Wow quite pleasurable to look at. The first thing I noticed was that the links change colour when you rollover them, which i found amusing and couldn't resist shouting ,"I did that" at the screen. This site was refreshing, clean and simple. I caught myself sniffing, expecting to smell flowers. Each link had a different colour scheme which added some variance and stimulation. I do have to say that the contacts page was awful, reminiscent of an Andy Warhole wannabe. The navigation is very easy to use and guides you though the site well.

A review of 'News News' retrospective

Can it be said that online news is everything it was predicted to be? In some ways yes, and some no. The first News News seminar was held a decade ago at Poynter Institute. The online medium was brainstormed with the intent to predict what new online news would deliver. Many of the predictions surrounded the idea of the "limitless newshole," hyperlinking and communication between readers and reporters, to mention but a few.

So, let us first look at the 'limitless newshole'. It has been said that the most attractive thing about online news was the diversity and availability of material, including, material which could not be squeezed into limited print space. Online news does provide news in detail, but perhaps not to the depth previously anticipated. This is due to online news being a downstream product, which means it is supplied by the provider, to the customer. The reality differs to the prediction because online text is not written for online but is re-purposed print material. In my opinion, online news presents a much edited and watered down news content, but more videos and audio options to amuse yourself with.

The 'give me more"mentality supported the idea of supplying more comprehensive texts and information for it's readers. However as people are often on a schedule, they don't have the time to read in depth commentaries. This in itself contradicts the publics own desire for more information. This could indicate that people want fast, quick bursts of information which are visually pleasing. It has been noted that when news seekers want more in depth news, they will search for it themselves. I am inclined to agree with this having looked at my own surfing habits.

Hpyerlinking was estimated to be one of the advantages or the internet. News organisations would be able to direct viewers to related articles and news feeds within their own domain. The aim was to allow readers to find all the information they needed in one area. I think that this was a little naive to assume that readers would wish to stay in one place. Although Google can generate thousands of relevant information, it is not always specific enough to meet individual needs and so in fact can hinder rather than help the consumer.

Communication between reporter and reader was another prediction of change. Reporters would face an interactive audience. Readers could contribute to site content and also communicate with reporters.

MP frolicking comes to a head

Mark Oaten - Is a Liberal Democrat MP and former home affairs spokesman. Born in 1964 and living in Winchester, is a married man and a father of two.

He resigned from his position after the News of the World printed a story about him. The story claimed that he was caught with two male prostitutes.
On the 21st of Jan, Recess Monkey's and Guido Fawkes blog's were already slinging the rumours around with vicious words and lurid insinuations.

Did they have the right to run the story or did they have an ethical resposnibility to Mark Oaten?

Communities - a thing of the past?

Use your imagination - Indra

I liked this piece; the subject is always a constant source of interest on my part. I think that those who embrace the new materials such as self-help books are taking charge of their lives, and then there are those that frown upon this, perhaps because their own motivation for change and understanding is lacking in strength or indeed not present at all.

It is easy to say that communities were strong in the post war period, due to necessity, but that does not mean that today’s needs for community are any different. However people are so consumed with the daily routine that little time is left for building substantial and intimate relationships within a community, instead the prevalent perspective is the pursuit of all things hedonistic. Long working hours and the demands of an economically greedy government have taken toll on what little and scattered community spirit remains.

I wrote this comment because i found the subject really interesting. I think that Indra Idnan is right when she says that we should find new and innovative ways to sustain a feeling of community. However it could be difficult to achieve this on a widespread scale without believable support and input from the government. Local post offices everywhere are closed and yet it is these often small and rural shops which are the heart of an example of existing community. Local hospitals are suffering the same fate. Those which lead us undermine the foundations of that which shapes a good society.

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