The first assignment was of course, to get our web-sites up and running. Throughout the length of the semester I have been working constantly on updating and trying to make a site that is both enjoyable and informative. I used a neat graphic that I personally made as the homepage designator. I did this about five weeks into the course, and from there I took a mini sabbatical on my webpage due to the mounting assignments that were coming up. But after the main brunt of assignments, I definitely went back to work on it.
Throughout the semester I found that there were a few elemental design ideas that I enjoyed more than others. One thing that I really liked was the element of blog design. It is simple, yet suggests technological aptitude. I enjoyed the blog feel so much that I used that as a motif for my entire web-site. I think that the blog look adds a distinct feel my web page. I also enjoy the fact that I have been getting really good at using the expression web software. It was a challenge, but the program is actually really easy to use once you get the hang of it. Overall, I think that my web-page is my strongest piece, but it is still a work in progress, and I have a few more things to edit on it.
The ordered and unordered list assignment was more of a research experiment, I found out. By looking at the websites that were really terrible, it was easy to spot elements of design that really worked. I found that for the most part, simple is better. By adding too much to web pages it makes it generally have a tacky image. By researching what works, it definitely made it easier to work on my own web-site. The list itself was generally easy to assemble, that’s all that one had to do is take a look at the link on the Writing 501 website that had some of the worst design elements known to man.
With the rhetorical analysis assignment I found myself looking for design elements that did work. I found a website called Catbytes, which is a biannual publication put out by the Chico State department of Journalism. It takes a look at the nightlife scene and activities for the students around town. It was a good website for those in the area. It definitely let on to places to go, best places to eat, and what sort of drink specials there were. As far as design goes, it was pretty well put together. After I had written this assignment, I found sites that were better, and had less design flaws, but this one captured my attention due to it’s easy to use page. Navigation was a little tough, though, as it didn’t really point you in the directions you needed to go sometimes. Also, there was a weird thing with whenever you ran over the navigation bar the buttons would temporarily disappear.
For my technological autobiography I decided to go in a little bit of a different direction from most of the class. I felt that, while adept at programs such as word and power-point, my skills would be wasted on such a rudimentary way of looking at my autobiography. I decided to use a program that I was fairly adept at. By putting my autobiography in Adobe Illustrator I could have a little more free range as far as the look and feel of it. I decided to go with a comic book motif, seeing as how I feel it is an underrated form of media. We’ve discussed in this class different types of media, and how they affect the perception of those that read them. I tried to incorporate a little humor, which I find is the easiest way to connect with people for me personally. It sort of comes across as tongue in cheek, which is the way I wanted it. The only thing that I don’t like about this type of media, however, is that it is hard to reach people with disabilities because there are no words for programs such as JAWS to scan over. As soon as I figure out how to separate the panels I think that I will be able to go back and make the autobiography a little more user-friendly.
As far as the work, itself, I chose to show a gradual progression from rudimentary images drawn in Adobe, to pictures that were altered through the program, to plain pictures. I used this as a way to show that, I, like humans through the ages, have learned and progressed. The images become clearer, and we are not surrounded by the fog of confusion. I personally enjoyed this project because I got a chance to stretch my creative legs and see what I could accomplish.
The podcast, in my personal opinion, was my weakest work. There were many things that affected the outcome of this podcast. Mainly it was due to the fact that I lost a lot of information some time about a week before it was due. My computer, the constant arch nemesis that it seems to be, decided to quit. I'm talking pack it's bags, grab its pink slip, and quit. So, I had to overcome that barrier. From there I had an original version of the podcast which, for a beginners try, wasn’t that bad. Then, somewhere along the lines I lost it, or thought I had anyway. So, after another week of bad luck and trying to get my podcast to work with audacity,
I was finally able to edit and get everything done with my podcast. But saving is a whole other story. When I went to save it, it would only save the first half (I later went on to find out that my Z drive was full to capacity and fit in as much as it could, which doesn’t really help me at all).
Needless to say, I was frantic. But lo and behold, even I get a break sometimes, and the first podcast I had created was still hanging around, I just couldn’t find it. This is, I believe, the true definition of bittersweet. But I found my podcast and went with it.
My contribution to the class publication was another way that I feel I could stretch my legs a little and be a little more creative. I decided to write some poetry and write an article concerning a few movies I enjoy. The article was actually fun to write, so I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the fact that I had to think about images and their correlation to copyright, and had to make sure that I wasn’t infringing on anybody’s rights. The whole copyright section I was extremely interested in and felt that I learned a lot about. I think that in the future knowing about this will help me right for mass publications a little bit better, or at least make it easier. I felt that I could have written a little more, but in the end I was extremely happy with it. My favorite part of the assignment, however, was the poem. I feel that poetry is something that every good English major should at least dabble in. It made me extremely happy to be able to write something that was posted, and not on my own web-site.
The main thing about the class publication that I learned was that it opened up a whole new world for me as far as web logs go. I had never even dealt with blogs before this assignment, and this showed me that sites such as Blogger.com are easy to use and extremely easy to set up. I liked the thought of blogs so much that I even changed the motif of my personal web-page to mimic that of a blog. I enjoy the thought of chronicling my personal thoughts and works online, and it is a great outlet for doing so. I enjoy the raw feel of technology that it puts in your hands. The blog sites are set up for simplicity, and to put emphasis on words, not pictures. Somehow they do this without seeming too lacking, and it is a design element I feel I can learn from greatly.
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Class Project Contribution, part II
Freedom! Forever?
For the better part of the century, American citizens have been comforted by the fact that they have certain unalienable rights that, no matter how much you kick and scream, cannot be taken away. The right to bear arms. The right to due process. And of course, the one that Americans continue to bray about and hopefully will continue in the future; the right of freedom of expression. Free speech has always been a touchy topic throughout the length of civilized human interaction, starting with grunts signifying food, shelter, and of course, where to get your car detailed as to not become subject to the offenses of the mainland predatory creatures. Throughout the years these grunts eventually came to distance us as a people from one another due to different dialects, and dare we forget, languages
themselves. But through all of the trials and tribulations that have led us to our current and very modern day life, we find ourselves bonded by that one right that is so easy to remember, but frequently unobserved for fear of retribution or backlash.The most prevalent way that humans have decided to communicate with each other is through the power of mass media. Some of the most advanced technological resources available for humans to use in modern society centers around the globalization of mass media and the different ways we as humans interact with it. Amongst other forms, like blogging and radio transmissions, one of the most habitual forms of spreading the word is through the use of cinema. Big budget films have become intertwined into our culture. And why not? Movies bring out the best and the worst of us as a people. We constantly reference them and on many occasions they come up in our daily lives. The cinema gives us a way to escape and, for at least an hour and a half at a time, let us forget who we are and just let go.
There is a problem, however, in letting ourselves be so led on by such mass media. The obvious risk in this is bedsores from watching too many movies, but there lies a certain menacing and initially subtle consequence to letting one’s guard down and believing in the might and omnipotence of broadcasted information. In films such as V for Vendetta the general public is kept in a state of fear and dullness by what the government has to say. The main outlet for news in V for Vendetta’s war-ravaged world is the BTN, or British Televised News. The government feeds lies to the BTN, and the people follow the lies like puppets on a string. There are parallels between what happens in V for Vendetta and what is happening in our own country. It would seem that, while there is a feeling of free speech, much of what is said in the American mass media is filtered by government sanctioned organizations. As Tony Williams states in his article Assessing V for Vendetta, “Dissemination of government lies and propaganda represents BTN's ideological mission in much the same way as Rupert Murdoch's Fox News in the United States. BBC ethnic newsreaders such as Moira Stewart are no longer present in a new world order hostile to diversity. Her white female equivalent is a twenty-first century version of 1970s BBC newscaster Jan Leeming who blinks in astonishment at viewers whenever she has to read the latest government lies. V blurs boundaries between Britain and America but its real target is the United States.” (Williams). Technology has given us ways to protect ourselves from the grandest forms of perjury and injustice we can find, but it also has the power to control us.
When there is a power shift between the people and their government, it is usually never brought about by those common folks voting their congressmen into office. The love of power has been a common theme and threat throughout the history of civilized society, but as of late there has been more and more emphasis on who truly has the power between a government and a people. Excuses are easy to come by when higher government officials and delegates decide what is good for the common people without so much as a hearty handshake or explanation why. This, as can be seen in many books and movies, such as V for Vendetta, leads to revolution. There are parallels between the movie and current situations in the United States, but it takes much more drastic measures to create a catalyst that leads down the road to revolution. As the character V, played by Hugo Weaving states in the movie, “People should not be afraid of their government. Government should be afraid of their people.”
The overlying message lies in the use or abuse of technology. It is easy to take such a large part of society and use it to one’s own gain, and what stops that from happening? There are many things that can stop the apparently inevitable overtaking and oppression of freedom, such as not putting too much stock in the thing that will control you. The problem with this is that technology has always been something that people have been controlled by. Those that don’t stay current with the technological standpoints around them are generally doomed to be stuck in an era that has made them obsolete. A huge theme in V for Vendetta is the power of suggestion over a people afraid of lies that are perpetrated by their own government. Eventually, however, the means that are used to control and subdue the masses eventually become obsolete, and the people, through their own uprising brought about by the character of V, become free from the chains of their government.
This theme of abuse and use of technology as a means to inhibit the masses is not a new thing, however. Cinema, especially American cinema, has created movies that, even in the last fifteen years, contained concepts of an overlying sinister company run by the government that controls the thoughts and actions of the sheep-like people. This is a theme that is explored in other movies, as well. In the movie Hackers starring Angelina Jolie, a group of underdog computer hobbyists find themselves being tormented by a large company run by a sinister board members. As in V for Vendetta most of the masses are in control of one faction, while an underground rebellion is the only thing standing in between a complete dictatorship and a relatively free society. The use of technology is seen in these movies to be a barrier and a weapon for both sides fighting against one another. The lengths V goes through to free his country from an oppressive government only stop at what he inspires the people to do. He uses forms of mass broadcast through the use of the BTN to incite people to rise and shake off an oppressive and domineering force.
Movies like V for Vendetta show many things. It is important to recognize the dangers of technology and how they can be used for oppression, but it is also important to see how they can assist in making the world a more suitable place to live. But as shown in the movie, it takes more than just relying on others to make it happen. There was never anything good that wasn’t worth fighting for, and this theme is prevalent in V for Vendetta. In our digital day and age, it is easy to become caught in the whirlpool that is the mass media. It is easy to become enraptured by what those nameless powers in control want us to hear, but characters like V will always be around to fight against oppression, even if he only does represent an ideal. The character of V shows how one must sometimes put yourself in front of an ideal. In the movie he displays through his actions that sometimes there are greater things that are worth fighting and dying for. He shows that sometimes we all need a little freedom, forever.
Works Cited
V for Vendetta. Dir. James McTeigue. Perf. Hugo Weaving, Natalie Portman, and John Hurt. 2005. www.imdb.com.
Williams, Tony. "Assessing V for Vendetta." CineAction Summer 2006. General OneFile.
Image credited to http://www.impawards.com/2006/posters/v_for_vendetta_ver2.jpg
Class Project Contribution, part I
A deliberate attempt to control adequacy
I. Mission Control
ten
We start counting down the ways from ten
That we control every little thing around us
It controls us, no doubt, and we lie to ourselves
The remote becomes the comfort blanket
nine
when we see that the only comfort we can seek lies
in infomercials and blog spots
there is no way that we can ever clean them,
even if we add one to the other.
Billy Mays could sell a mac to a pc
and a windows to a linux.
eight
Running at optimum capacity
systems that run smooth. Fans and glass
replacing the wind and water
nothing natural. nothing natural
we see nothing outside of our monitors
and unfortunately for us, we are stuck thinking inside the box
seven
we speed up now. upon the monitor’s unblinking gaze we
see how the might and fury of flat-backed
hooligans, those internet ruffians deliver unto us the
true feel of love. Nothing ever sold so well as a
promise of complete happiness and bliss amongst peers.
Counting down. Ignition.
six
a silence. a silence.
and then, Crescendo! the hall fills with
the rising sound of sentient life! Fingers upon keys
The Brass Flares! The Woodwinds Whine!
The Strings swell and fill the hall with the indomitable and resolute
promise of violence and the digital hereafter!
five
sweat does drip and drip and rip and dip
all upon your face
when staring at your plasma screen,
on eBay buying lingerie and lace
to fill your house with trinkets and codswallop
and useless inane and asinine
front end-loaders and sour cream (but just a dollop)
but why stop there? Why stop there indeed?
We need more and more and more
Or how else will we plant the seed?
four
the spiral effect of dive-bombing doves and
pigeons know how to make your head grow
around that which you cannot live without
contemporary man has no need for the past; all he needs is to stand on the shoulders of those before him. Make him man. Make him god.
Those contributions, those technological contributions, those gadgets and gizmos
And new age mythos
Those letters from doctor Spock, hand free from needless spanking
It becomes clearer and clearer who gets the banking
rolls by using this automation and money back guarantees
(don’t worry; soon we’ll all be 100% human free!)
three
we wind ourselves down and up like a watch
whose function we have yet to figure out
who needs a calendar, stopwatch, laser pointer,
remote, garage opener, can opener, can recycler, nuclear fusion reactor,
decompression chamber, and automatic juicer in their watch?
Well, I suppose the juicer would be nice.
The degrees of separation are as various as our degrees
of killing ourselves with kindness.
two
This is our digital age. Our digital revolution
I had a gigapet when I was a child. When it came time to put it down
all that was required was that I put it down. Sometimes it’s easiest to pick
up a child’s toys in the morning.
meander to the desk. click. click. click. click. click. click.
this site makes me grumpy. So grumpy
but this one makes me happy. So happy
and this one makes me sleepy. So sleepy
and this one makes me dopey. So dopey
and this one makes me bashful. So bashful
and this one makes me sneezy. So sneezy
hmm, these symptoms certainly will send me to the doctor.
right Doc?
one
spiraling in a web, halcyon red and blues and whites and greens
it is so easy to find Lolcats and movie quotations, but what about
it is so easy to find ourselves wrapped in our technological bundle.
Do you sync? Everything should sync. In this world of digital mechanics
and analog components it is good to know
that when it comes to sync or swim, we can finally let ourselves sync.
One. By. One.
II. The Sheer Audacity
creak one leaky eye open on a Sunday morning
only to have a head full of throb and an ear
full of static
the music is too loud, I want to scream
the music is too loud
turning over into a puddle (was that there last night?)
a puddle not involving a girl with a pixie-cut and a man with a sweater-vest
the music is too loud
but wait…there is no music. Where does the infernal racket come from?
the television is on, but…where is the sound?
the computer is flashing, but…where is the sound?
Stumbling to the mirror it is easy to see that throughout the night you have been attached
to your source of pain.
two thin white cords spill from your ears
and in between them a small pillbox. Medicine, they say. Medicine.
One for the doctor and one for the patient
One for the soldier in the camp where he’s stationed
One for the sailor, on rolling seas
One for the pastor, ill at his ease
A jerk. A hard yank. Silence. Silence.
now the song that was playing over and over is launched into
digital orbit surrounding your bed
in one ear and out the other?
not in this lifetime, said the voice in your head.
Not for all of the tea in china, or on the hearts of those who implore
nor on the blackest of smiles lying on Poe’s Plutonian Shore
pull your boxers up, boyo
there’s much to be done today.
Put those hoses back to your ears and rest assured that you will encounter
things that will test your moral fiber and defibrillate your self-esteem
but the thin white noose hanging around your neck assures you
that the comradery and violence circling the outskirts of your own universe
will never be able to silence the decibels screaming inside your own head
III. The Old Man and the C:
what do we save? Where do the little little things in our lives
that we save to aesthetic memory go when we sleep?
children have the greatest knowledge of when to click and when to save
but their memories are short. shorter than their little legs and little fingers that
pry into the deep
recesses of the widest web. Social webs with little spiders crawling
and sprawling across your screen. The children keep
tabs open and browsers full of the things that most keep their attention.
But what does
grab and
nab and
poke and
pull
the attention of the little spiders, on the shores of the C:
eventually crashing the waves upon their little feet
Search and rescue bars for the children lost to
the generations between. Gen X? no. Gen Y? no.
Do they get into the surf, the digital surf, and find out fatefully the undertow?
Where do these children go when those waves come crashing on their feet?
A lot of candid paragraphs can be written, through the impersonal and lackluster
Films on the web, but where do these children go? Where do they, where do they go?
In a world where wireless supplants dial-up, the span
of time that it takes to grasp the children’s attention and run with it, run far away
until the only question left to ask is “where did they go? Where, where did they go?”
they compose their songs and play and cast their pods into the sea
the sea. the sea.
where did they go? Where, where did they go?
I. Mission Control
ten
We start counting down the ways from ten
That we control every little thing around us
It controls us, no doubt, and we lie to ourselves
The remote becomes the comfort blanket
nine
when we see that the only comfort we can seek lies
in infomercials and blog spots
there is no way that we can ever clean them,
even if we add one to the other.
Billy Mays could sell a mac to a pc
and a windows to a linux.
eight
Running at optimum capacity
systems that run smooth. Fans and glass
replacing the wind and water
nothing natural. nothing natural
we see nothing outside of our monitors
and unfortunately for us, we are stuck thinking inside the box
seven
we speed up now. upon the monitor’s unblinking gaze we
see how the might and fury of flat-backed
hooligans, those internet ruffians deliver unto us the
true feel of love. Nothing ever sold so well as a
promise of complete happiness and bliss amongst peers.
Counting down. Ignition.
six
a silence. a silence.
and then, Crescendo! the hall fills with
the rising sound of sentient life! Fingers upon keys
The Brass Flares! The Woodwinds Whine!
The Strings swell and fill the hall with the indomitable and resolute
promise of violence and the digital hereafter!
five
sweat does drip and drip and rip and dip
all upon your face
when staring at your plasma screen,
on eBay buying lingerie and lace
to fill your house with trinkets and codswallop
and useless inane and asinine
front end-loaders and sour cream (but just a dollop)
but why stop there? Why stop there indeed?
We need more and more and more
Or how else will we plant the seed?
four
the spiral effect of dive-bombing doves and
pigeons know how to make your head grow
around that which you cannot live without
contemporary man has no need for the past; all he needs is to stand on the shoulders of those before him. Make him man. Make him god.
Those contributions, those technological contributions, those gadgets and gizmos
And new age mythos
Those letters from doctor Spock, hand free from needless spanking
It becomes clearer and clearer who gets the banking
rolls by using this automation and money back guarantees
(don’t worry; soon we’ll all be 100% human free!)
three
we wind ourselves down and up like a watch
whose function we have yet to figure out
who needs a calendar, stopwatch, laser pointer,
remote, garage opener, can opener, can recycler, nuclear fusion reactor,
decompression chamber, and automatic juicer in their watch?
Well, I suppose the juicer would be nice.
The degrees of separation are as various as our degrees
of killing ourselves with kindness.
two
This is our digital age. Our digital revolution
I had a gigapet when I was a child. When it came time to put it down
all that was required was that I put it down. Sometimes it’s easiest to pick
up a child’s toys in the morning.
meander to the desk. click. click. click. click. click. click.
this site makes me grumpy. So grumpy
but this one makes me happy. So happy
and this one makes me sleepy. So sleepy
and this one makes me dopey. So dopey
and this one makes me bashful. So bashful
and this one makes me sneezy. So sneezy
hmm, these symptoms certainly will send me to the doctor.
right Doc?
one
spiraling in a web, halcyon red and blues and whites and greens
it is so easy to find Lolcats and movie quotations, but what about
it is so easy to find ourselves wrapped in our technological bundle.
Do you sync? Everything should sync. In this world of digital mechanics
and analog components it is good to know
that when it comes to sync or swim, we can finally let ourselves sync.
One. By. One.
II. The Sheer Audacity
creak one leaky eye open on a Sunday morning
only to have a head full of throb and an ear
full of static
the music is too loud, I want to scream
the music is too loud
turning over into a puddle (was that there last night?)
a puddle not involving a girl with a pixie-cut and a man with a sweater-vest
the music is too loud
but wait…there is no music. Where does the infernal racket come from?
the television is on, but…where is the sound?
the computer is flashing, but…where is the sound?
Stumbling to the mirror it is easy to see that throughout the night you have been attached
to your source of pain.
two thin white cords spill from your ears
and in between them a small pillbox. Medicine, they say. Medicine.
One for the doctor and one for the patient
One for the soldier in the camp where he’s stationed
One for the sailor, on rolling seas
One for the pastor, ill at his ease
A jerk. A hard yank. Silence. Silence.
now the song that was playing over and over is launched into
digital orbit surrounding your bed
in one ear and out the other?
not in this lifetime, said the voice in your head.
Not for all of the tea in china, or on the hearts of those who implore
nor on the blackest of smiles lying on Poe’s Plutonian Shore
pull your boxers up, boyo
there’s much to be done today.
Put those hoses back to your ears and rest assured that you will encounter
things that will test your moral fiber and defibrillate your self-esteem
but the thin white noose hanging around your neck assures you
that the comradery and violence circling the outskirts of your own universe
will never be able to silence the decibels screaming inside your own head
III. The Old Man and the C:
what do we save? Where do the little little things in our lives
that we save to aesthetic memory go when we sleep?
children have the greatest knowledge of when to click and when to save
but their memories are short. shorter than their little legs and little fingers that
pry into the deep
recesses of the widest web. Social webs with little spiders crawling
and sprawling across your screen. The children keep
tabs open and browsers full of the things that most keep their attention.
But what does
grab and
nab and
poke and
pull
the attention of the little spiders, on the shores of the C:
eventually crashing the waves upon their little feet
Search and rescue bars for the children lost to
the generations between. Gen X? no. Gen Y? no.
Do they get into the surf, the digital surf, and find out fatefully the undertow?
Where do these children go when those waves come crashing on their feet?
A lot of candid paragraphs can be written, through the impersonal and lackluster
Films on the web, but where do these children go? Where do they, where do they go?
In a world where wireless supplants dial-up, the span
of time that it takes to grasp the children’s attention and run with it, run far away
until the only question left to ask is “where did they go? Where, where did they go?”
they compose their songs and play and cast their pods into the sea
the sea. the sea.
where did they go? Where, where did they go?
Podcast, script, and analysis
My podcast, transcript, and analysis can be found here: http://birdnest.org/cozzensj2/writing501
Rhetorical Analysis of Electronic Web-site
Catbytes
Audience: The main audience is the student body. While this is not a student newspaper, it is a publication of the school.
The site purpose is to inform and entertain about happenings around the local area. It has events that would be found in any happenings column in a normal student publication. They do have some neat stuff though.
The context is purely seen as a forum for students. There are things on the site such as exotic bar listings, which while it would be fun to see professors there, spending their hard-earned cash on a twenty seven dollar mojito, I'll have to guess that this site is mainly read by students as well.
The interface itself isn't all bad. The design of the site is clear and generally easy to use. It is divided into categories that are easy to find by a handy-dandy little bar on the left hand side of the screen. The design itself probably wont win any awards anytime soon, but I think that simplicity works for it. The design works well enough, and it puts more emphasis on the actual articles the people wrote rather than flash effects and shenanigans. Also, apparently there is a correct way to spell shenanigans. Who knew? There is a problem with contacting the people via internet. I personally couldn't find how to contact everybody, although they do have people like this working there.
The site layout is fairly effective in, like I said earlier, it is simple. The simplicity works for it. The main page is sort of like the teaser. It has articles from a few of the different areas. The areas themselves are listed, like I said, to the right side. The only thing I saw that was a little weird was that the first time you click on the page and scroll over the navigation bars they sort of disappeared on you. A little confusing but the problem rectified itself after a second or two. Crazy kids. From what we saw with Gina, I think this page could be a little difficult at first for those with disabilities, if only because of the non-stamped pictures and odd placement of the navigation bars as compared to the articles themselves.
There is a grid layout. Standard operating procedure, I guess. The thing that got me about the site was actually the colors. The site was well put together in the fact that the colors aren't garish and my eyes didn't once try to jump out of my skull upon seeing anything in the page. It falls a little short on flash, but the content is solid enough to make up for it. While the whole page isn't always used, due to the colors there is very little actual white space. It sort of feels like you're reading something on a desk, actually. huh.
The type is standard and legible. The page itself has a feel of actually being edited, not just by students. Now I personally didn't find any tyops, but thats not to say that there aren't any. I may just be a clumsy reader.
The page does very little with graphics, sticking more to the stories rather than flashy photos. They probably could have done with a little more pizzazz, but the overall effect is still there. The photos are limited to one or two article related pics. maybe. if you're lucky.
There is a very little mulit-media element to the site. The graphics they do have load quickly, but they are few and far between. The computers at the acc lab are hella fast anyway, so it could be just them. I dont think so, though. Its a pretty straight-forward site.
Overall:
I liked the site. It had stuff I was interested in reading and a bunch of the staff members, well lets just say they were aesthetically pleasing. The color and font make it easy to read and the articles are easy to find.
I didn't care for the fact that, while yes, it did seem a little classier than the horrendous Jesus website, it could have used a little flair. At first glance it may not catch your attention like it should. which is a shame because this site does have a lot, at least for those around the Chico State area, to offer.
All in all, I would rate this site at above average, but not excellent. Like I said, I like pizzazz. Just not the kind that makes my brain hemorrhage.
Audience: The main audience is the student body. While this is not a student newspaper, it is a publication of the school.
The site purpose is to inform and entertain about happenings around the local area. It has events that would be found in any happenings column in a normal student publication. They do have some neat stuff though.
The context is purely seen as a forum for students. There are things on the site such as exotic bar listings, which while it would be fun to see professors there, spending their hard-earned cash on a twenty seven dollar mojito, I'll have to guess that this site is mainly read by students as well.
The interface itself isn't all bad. The design of the site is clear and generally easy to use. It is divided into categories that are easy to find by a handy-dandy little bar on the left hand side of the screen. The design itself probably wont win any awards anytime soon, but I think that simplicity works for it. The design works well enough, and it puts more emphasis on the actual articles the people wrote rather than flash effects and shenanigans. Also, apparently there is a correct way to spell shenanigans. Who knew? There is a problem with contacting the people via internet. I personally couldn't find how to contact everybody, although they do have people like this working there.
The site layout is fairly effective in, like I said earlier, it is simple. The simplicity works for it. The main page is sort of like the teaser. It has articles from a few of the different areas. The areas themselves are listed, like I said, to the right side. The only thing I saw that was a little weird was that the first time you click on the page and scroll over the navigation bars they sort of disappeared on you. A little confusing but the problem rectified itself after a second or two. Crazy kids. From what we saw with Gina, I think this page could be a little difficult at first for those with disabilities, if only because of the non-stamped pictures and odd placement of the navigation bars as compared to the articles themselves.
There is a grid layout. Standard operating procedure, I guess. The thing that got me about the site was actually the colors. The site was well put together in the fact that the colors aren't garish and my eyes didn't once try to jump out of my skull upon seeing anything in the page. It falls a little short on flash, but the content is solid enough to make up for it. While the whole page isn't always used, due to the colors there is very little actual white space. It sort of feels like you're reading something on a desk, actually. huh.
The type is standard and legible. The page itself has a feel of actually being edited, not just by students. Now I personally didn't find any tyops, but thats not to say that there aren't any. I may just be a clumsy reader.
The page does very little with graphics, sticking more to the stories rather than flashy photos. They probably could have done with a little more pizzazz, but the overall effect is still there. The photos are limited to one or two article related pics. maybe. if you're lucky.
There is a very little mulit-media element to the site. The graphics they do have load quickly, but they are few and far between. The computers at the acc lab are hella fast anyway, so it could be just them. I dont think so, though. Its a pretty straight-forward site.
Overall:
I liked the site. It had stuff I was interested in reading and a bunch of the staff members, well lets just say they were aesthetically pleasing. The color and font make it easy to read and the articles are easy to find.
I didn't care for the fact that, while yes, it did seem a little classier than the horrendous Jesus website, it could have used a little flair. At first glance it may not catch your attention like it should. which is a shame because this site does have a lot, at least for those around the Chico State area, to offer.
All in all, I would rate this site at above average, but not excellent. Like I said, I like pizzazz. Just not the kind that makes my brain hemorrhage.
Ordered and Unordered lists
Things that work as far as a web page goes:
Making things easy to read. It is important to take into account that not only what is being read, but how it is laid out and the font make a definite impact on how and how long the web-site is visited.
Choosing a color that doesn't make the reader's eyes scream for the sweet release of death. As in the point above, making things easy to read generally helps out the reader with understanding the information you are trying to present them. Also, if they are clawing their eyes or choking on their own vomit and spittle there is a chance that they may not be returning to your website.
Originality. Anybody can create a page that is flat, cold, and lifeless, but if the viewer wanted that, they would just look into a mirror.
Choosing images carefully is extremely important. A picture of a fish being eaten by a clown riding a jackhammer, while amusing in it's own right, doesn't make me want to visit a site about the joys of free-range gnome tossing. Relevant or tasteful pictures help the validity of a site.
The actual function of the web-site helps out. Trying too hard to make things fancy usually muddles up what the intent of the site and makes things oh so hard to find. We can't be having that, now, can we?
Things that don't work so much........
1. Boring sites. Nothing is worse than clicking on a page that makes you feel like you are at the DMV. There is too much fun to be had making web-sites to click on something that reminds us of our dull, gray lives...........
2. I digress. On the flip side of that is the site that makes you go into an epileptic fit. Anything that requires you to put on sunglasses, especially at night, has got to be bad for your health. And besides, only Corey Hart could pull that one off.
3. A website full of animated .gif images is surely one of the 7 signs of the beast. Avoid this at all costs. except that adorable hamsterdance site. That's acceptable.
4. The Colors, Duke! The Colors! Almost as bad as bright and shiny people are bright and shiny web-sites. I personally don't like to feel like a rainbow is vomiting into my pupils, so I'm going to go ahead and guess that nobody likes it.
5. And finally, the most annoying thing to come out of a computer since the cockroach I once had to clean out of the little fan in the back: midi files. I immediately doom a site with midi files to the land of forgotten crap. I did it with the Atari version of E.T., and by God I'll do it with any web-site that makes me listen to Stairway to Heaven in midi form. Man, now I have Stairway to Heaven stuck in my head.....
Making things easy to read. It is important to take into account that not only what is being read, but how it is laid out and the font make a definite impact on how and how long the web-site is visited.
Choosing a color that doesn't make the reader's eyes scream for the sweet release of death. As in the point above, making things easy to read generally helps out the reader with understanding the information you are trying to present them. Also, if they are clawing their eyes or choking on their own vomit and spittle there is a chance that they may not be returning to your website.
Originality. Anybody can create a page that is flat, cold, and lifeless, but if the viewer wanted that, they would just look into a mirror.
Choosing images carefully is extremely important. A picture of a fish being eaten by a clown riding a jackhammer, while amusing in it's own right, doesn't make me want to visit a site about the joys of free-range gnome tossing. Relevant or tasteful pictures help the validity of a site.
The actual function of the web-site helps out. Trying too hard to make things fancy usually muddles up what the intent of the site and makes things oh so hard to find. We can't be having that, now, can we?
Things that don't work so much........
1. Boring sites. Nothing is worse than clicking on a page that makes you feel like you are at the DMV. There is too much fun to be had making web-sites to click on something that reminds us of our dull, gray lives...........
2. I digress. On the flip side of that is the site that makes you go into an epileptic fit. Anything that requires you to put on sunglasses, especially at night, has got to be bad for your health. And besides, only Corey Hart could pull that one off.
3. A website full of animated .gif images is surely one of the 7 signs of the beast. Avoid this at all costs. except that adorable hamsterdance site. That's acceptable.
4. The Colors, Duke! The Colors! Almost as bad as bright and shiny people are bright and shiny web-sites. I personally don't like to feel like a rainbow is vomiting into my pupils, so I'm going to go ahead and guess that nobody likes it.
5. And finally, the most annoying thing to come out of a computer since the cockroach I once had to clean out of the little fan in the back: midi files. I immediately doom a site with midi files to the land of forgotten crap. I did it with the Atari version of E.T., and by God I'll do it with any web-site that makes me listen to Stairway to Heaven in midi form. Man, now I have Stairway to Heaven stuck in my head.....
Technology Autobiography
For this assignment i decided to go in a different direction than most of the class. I knew that many of them were doing stuff in word and powerpoint, but i figured that i had a little bit of creativity stuck up my sleeve, so i went with something that i was semi-good at. I decided to use my skills in Adobe Illustrator to create a comic book motif for my autobiography. I think it turned out well. I used a progression from archaic and rudimentary images to pictures to show a progression in technology.
Home Page
Here is my home page. I've been working on this for some time now, and I am enjoying my final outcome. It definately took some time to get used to it, but I think I am starting to get the hang of expression web.
Here are a few pages I started out with:
http://birdnest.org/cozzensj2/works
http://birdnest.org/cozzensj2/writ501
And here is my home page and works page as seen now:
http://birdnest.org/cozzensj2
http://birdnest.org/cozzensj2/work
Here are a few pages I started out with:
http://birdnest.org/cozzensj2/works
http://birdnest.org/cozzensj2/writ501
And here is my home page and works page as seen now:
http://birdnest.org/cozzensj2
http://birdnest.org/cozzensj2/work
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