Module 3 - Tasks (Blog Optional)

I had a look in the Library through OASIS but could not find Rebecca Blood's 'The Weblog Handbook' so ventured onto Google. Essentially the book costs money, so I won't be buying it. I found Rebecca's website though who provides ten tips for a better weblog. Here is the short version:

1. Choose an updating tool that is easy to use.
2. Determine your purpose.
3. Know your intended audience.
4. Be real.
5. Write about what you love.
6. Update frequently.
7. Establish your credibility
8. Link to your sources.
9. Link to other weblogs.
10. Be patient

Blood, Rebecca. "Ten Tips for a Better Weblog", Rebecca's Pocket. 22 March 2003. 08 January 2006, http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/ten_tips.html

Ten tips have to be better than five right? ;-)

Module 3 - Tasks (Blogs)

Ok... I'm already using a blog for my learning log, so I think the need to set up a blog may be a moot point by now, as would be taking a screen shot to of this blog to drop in here. Place a mirror in front of you and behind you, lean a little and start counting your reflections...

Anyway, go and take a look at my first entry labelled 'Creation'. If you've ever seen Doctor Who you will get.

...seen it, sorry if you find it little lame but I love the quirky stuff...

Module 3 - Tasks (FTP I)

What is with ftp and I, we just don't seem to get along. Whilst I had no real problems with uploading my index page to the presentations area , for the life of me I cannot seem to get my ftp client to work. I'm not sure if it is an issue with the OASIS server or whether I'm doing something wrong. I keep getting the same message...

Finding Host ftp.student.curtin.edu.au ...
Connecting to 134.7.171.70:21
Connect failure

Using my ws_ftp client I try to open a Remote location, this includes adding the following information:

• the host name: ftp.student.curtin.edu.au
• my user id being my student id
• my password
• No SSH as it is a trial version which may be why it's not working.

I've placed a post on the discussion board to see if anyone can clue me in on whether it's just me or everyone is having a problem at the moment. I might try a different client. URL to follow once this matter is resolved.

Module 3 - Tasks (Legal Issues)

Since undertaking this unit this is the first time I find myself in familiar territory. Intellectual Property is something that most entities, particularly commercial, are very protective of. You only need to pick up the Annual Report from your favourite magazine publisher and check out how much the intangible assets are worth, particularly when compared as a ratio to tangible assets. Moving on from the quasi interesting financial context, we have questions to answer:

Have you used images or words on your web page or website that contravene copyright laws?

No, the pages I've created have been for academic non-profit purposes. Copyright Act, Section 107 - Limitation on Exclusive Rights: Fair Use, exempts Copyright for purposes of '...criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research...' (See Copyright Website, for further details)

• http://www.benedict.com/info/FairUse/FairUse.aspx

Would you be in breach of Copyright if you put the Curtin logo at the top of your web page?

Given the only web pages I have has been created for the purposes of this course and are purely for scholarship then I beleive S.107 Copyright Act would apply. On the other hand, if I owned a web page selling essays then I'd be in a bit of trouble.

Module 3 - Tasks (Standards 2)

As suggested in the Optional Standards 2 Task I opened the pages of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) http://www.w3.org/. Given that I've only been into this whole HTML thing for only about five days I'm expecting a few problems. The web page I intend to use is very much embryotic at this point, consisting only of an index page with a list of the assessment items and a footer with a mail to. After uploading and running index.html through the markup validation service, this is a summary of the message I received:

Result: Failed validation, 1 error
File: C:\Documents and Settings\Tom Davies\My Documents\OUA\Curtin\NET11\Net11 Web Pages\index.html
Encoding: utf-8
Doctype: (no Doctype found)

No Character Encoding Found! Falling back to UTF-8.
No DOCTYPE found! Attempting validation with HTML 4.01 Transitional.

The Character Encoding was added following the links specified within the validation results, as was the Doctype. I was not sure of which Doctype to use, so I used strict. Here are the results second time round...

Result: Failed validation, 4 errors
File: C:\Documents and Settings\Tom Davies\My Documents\OUA\Curtin\NET11\Net11 Web Pages\index.html
Encoding: utf-8
Doctype: HTML 4.01 Strict

1. Error Line 16 column 14: there is no attribute "BGCOLOR".


2. Error Line 21 column 0: character data is not allowed here.


3. Error Line 21 column 96: document type does not allow element


4. Error Line 47 column 75: document type does not allow element "P" here; missing one of "OBJECT", "MAP", "BUTTON" start-tag....bct.curtin.edu.au">Curtin University
   

Well, that did not go as I expected... ok, so maybe transitional might be the right doctype. I seem to recall reading from the Net11 discussion board that assessment does not include W3C standards but this has piqued my curiosity.... and again...

Result: Passed validation
File: C:\Documents and Settings\Tom Davies\My Documents\OUA\Curtin\NET11\Net11 Web Pages\index.html
Encoding: utf-8
Doctype: HTML 4.01 Transitional

The uploaded document...

"C:\Documents and Settings\Tom Davies\My Documents\OUA\Curtin\NET11\Net11 Web Pages\index.html"

...was checked and found to be valid HTML 4.01 Transitional. This means that the resource in question identified itself as "HTML 4.01 Transitional" and that we successfully performed a formal validation using an SGML or XML Parser (depending on the markup language used).

I just feel so validated :-)

Module 3 - Tasks (Standards 1)

Example of Eyetracking (or F-Tracking)

What are the five most important rules for writing online?

• Concise Text -Reduces the users cognitive burden by communicating in a meaningful and precise manner. Simply put, if it is too long people get bored and won't read it.


• Scannable Layout - F-Patterns (as above) demonstrate that users don't read text thoroughly and view the page roughly in an F shaped pattern. Accordingly, it is important that the most important points need to be placed within the first couple of paragraphs if you wish to communicate effectively to the user.


• Consistent Navigation - There is nothing more frustrating than getting lost in somebody else's space. Employment of consistent navigation through pages, to and from the index eases much angst.


• Simple Design - Save download times and lets face it... being pretty does'nt get the job done.


• Correct use of links (Hypernavigation) - Poor use of links can distract you from the flow of a document or not provide suitable information within context of the document. Correct use of links creates a more manageable and informative read.

Why these five? Why not include something like objective language? Blogs have made their mark in the online environment and are an expanding source of publishing and information sharing for the average joe. Past lessons have shown us that the blogs adopt an informal style of writing so objective language is now out the window as a rule. It's these kinds of internet applications that dates some of Neilson's points (1997 paper).

After reading through this stuff and having a few moments of contemplation it occurred to me that nobody seems to be raising 'fit for market', which may from time to time be at odds with some of these rules. In otherwords, designed with a specific audience in mind. As an example, if you own an online business that sells customised high end sports vehicles you would be dealing mostly with wealthy folks who in all probability can afford high speed connections. Simple design would not be such an issue providing it follows the other four rules.

Module 3 - Tasks (HTML Tutorial)

Mt. St Helens

I started the html tutorial tasks 17 December 2006 and finished 22 December 2006, with 19 handy pages of notes on tags, including a bit of handwritten practice. The tutorial from Cloudmedia has been bookmarked to refer back to as the course continues. I found the content informative and easy to follow.

The 'writing html' tutorial from provided a fantastic hands-on guide to basic html. It was quite clear in the instructions and being left with an example of the work at the end illustrating the HTML at work was wonderful. I went through steps 1 to 14 finally creating Volcano Web in a split form. There were very few problems with constructing the web pages during this tutorial and I feel that this is largely due to taking my time to complete the tutorial.

From time to time, after loading the page into my browser, it was evident something was wrong. Generally I'd missed a forward slash closing off a heading... ergo all subsquent text was formatted as a heading. The anchored links took a little bit of practice but I'm feeling confident after creating a few extra links in the Volcano web documents in an earlier version.

I saved a copy of the old index page that was mostly in lumped form and uploaded to the CTWeb Presentations area. The images and some of the local links won't work as I did not upload all the files, however the source will contain most (if not all) the relevant tags from the tutorial.

I've noted from the discussion board that many of my fellow students have been utilising various HTML editors to publish their webpages (Dreamweaver seems to be mentioned a bit). Personally, I'm going to try and continue using my Notepad to write the html. Whilst my web page (yet to be published to the Curtin web) may not look as flash (and I may be tagged as a sucker for punishment given that this most certainly going to be more time consuming), I can't escape the feeling that it is important to get a solid grounding in HTML given the direction I wish to take my studies.

The tutorials can be found at:

http://www.cloudmedia.com.au/FTV244/html_intro.html

http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/lessons.html