Searching the Web

The next task involved using search engines. Choose your most commonly used internet search engine and do a word search with words of your choosing?

I chose- "ulysses butterfly life cycle" and used Mozilla Firefox as the browser with google as the search engine.

Results were- Articles on Port Douglas & Tropical North Queensland
They have a lot of natural enemies and like all butterflies their life cycle requires a complete metamorphosis. Ulysses Butterfly. Queensland Australia ...
www.portdouglasdirectory.com/articles/view.cfm?articleID=10 - 21k - Cached - Similar pages

First hit above - number of hits 24,300 in 0.09 seconds

Screen shot of next 5 hits below.....



Will try to do screen shot larger next time as you can't really read this version..

Have to take my son to work now, will add more later or tomorrow even though it will be past the due time for the assignment, but it seems silly to complete all these tasks and not post them so I will do so even if they don't get graded at least I'll have the satisfaction of having completed everything. :)

Downloading tools/ plug-ins

This task involved downloading some programs of the internet and exploring and familiarising ourselves with them. Options were as follows: Adobe pdf reader (all ready using), Flash/Shockwave Player (dito), Media Player ( already have and use frequently Windows Media Player), Search Manager/combiners ( this is something I don't have and sounds useful).

When I used the link provided in the curriculum to attempt to download a search manager (Glooton for windows) is the one I tried first. I ended up at a website that appeared to be in french, I don't speak french (surprisingly) so I bailed. Googled Glooton to find another way to download came up with a few but not of them gave a successful outcome.

Moved on to Copernic Meta for Pc- ended up with a down load of copernicagent freeware ,(the personal and professional version appear better but you have to pay for them) so I just downloaded the basic. This took aprox 1Hr (dial-up) but was successful and functions well (is a bit limited but adequate for the next task).

Last task for mod 3-Blinklist or HTML

We were asked to visit Internet Communications Blinklist site that has been set up for the unit and a html version to see what the differences were between the 2 and what we liked or disliked about the formats.

The Blinklist site is easy to use, has all the relevant links plus additional key search words for finding further information. The site is visually pleasing, has screen shots of all the websites suggested and is easy to navigate.

A html version of the same information would still have good usability, be easy to navigate and have all the relevant links and information, but would be less attractive visually , because of the lack of images it would load much faster and display well on all platforms and systems though.

Personally, for study purposes I find the html version perfectly adequate, useability is good, links and descriptions are adequate and the screen shots on blinklist are not really that useful they just break up the monotony abit. I would be quite happy if this format was used also, both formats are functional- maybe a slight blending of the 2 would be good.

Afternoon off work!!

I have taken the afternoon off work to try and get all the tasks that I have completed for Module 4 posted and reflected upon on this blog. Currently they are bits and pieces of information, screen shots and copy plastered all over my desktop. I think if I were to do this kind of thing again I would try to blog after each task so this wouldn't happen. But time is valuable, and lately I have found that I could squeeze in a task here and there but didn't find time to organize and post on my learning log.

The tasks are done so I will attempt to publish them all before the due time this afternoon, at least I might have a chance of them being graded then. So here goes :)

What is Web 2.0 ???

What is Web 2.0? Simply put Web 2.0 is a set of principles and practices that sites demonstrate. The web is the platform and the user controls their own data, web sites (applications) are interactive rather than the flat click the link type web page format that is common for many web sites.

Interaction within sites and also contribution, editing, publishing, etc are some of the features of web 2.0 applications. Also most are free to users, receiving money from online advertising is how most organizations host the applications without charging the user.

There are many examples of web 2.0 applications that are currently extremely popular on the web, some of these are:

~ Blogs- Online journals and articles written by the general user population, allowing interactive discussions through commenting on one an others blogs, blogs also have a feature called RSS feeds (which is the ability to subscribe to blogs of interest and have continuous automatic updates sent to you when the blog is added to). Blogs are archived regularly and new posts are added to the top of the page to allow ease of navigation and usability.

~Google- Google search, google maps, google earth, google images- Google applications have become so popular that the term I'll just google it has become a part of our vocabulary.

~Wikipedia- this is an online encyclopedia, the content of which is published and edited by users for users.

~ also eBay (online selling/buying, auction or instant).
~ Amazon (online shopping) and others.

Blogs & Blogging

I am new to this phenomena we call blogging, and I think if I had more spare time I would actually enjoy posting, commenting and reading blogs. Especially if I were to follow blogs that are relevant to my work as an artist and musician, or my interest in horses,etc. Blogging seems to be a good way to share ideas, photos and videos with others who have an interest in the same subject/hobby as yourself. Other bloggers may have useful information, tips, techniques and such to share/ discuss or amuse us.


Blogs are not just used for this purpose (as a type of public journal), Blogs are now attached to many main stream media programs allowing viewers to input comment or share their opinions on an international level, something that was possible in the past but alot slower to actually be received and commented upon. The issue would be old news, where as it is now live an instant while the issue is still new and relevant.

The general population is able to express their freedom of speech right instantly and internationally through not only blogs but other online applications such as forums and social networks, etc. I think that in general this is a good thing but as usual there will always be the odd killjoy who will misuse the applications for some self satisfying delusional objective or to fulfill some personal inadequacy.

Anyway, back to the topic 'blogs'.

They are easy to set up, publish on, comment upon and follow. They are a great way for individuals to publish their ideas, thoughts and literary work and best of all it's free.

HTML Validator

When I used the w3c standards validator to check if my page conformed, I was presented with these 2 errors. Which, I honestly can't work out. Why? If anyone has an answer I would appreciate it if you could enlighten me.
Validation Output: 2 Errors

1. Line 3, Column 0: character "<" invalid: only delimiter ">", delimiter "[", system identifier, "CDATA", "NDATA", "SDATA" and parameter separators allowed.
<html>
✉
2. Line 3, Column 0: cannot continue because of previous errors.
<html>

This is the section in ????

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<title>Nerida's Everything Is Web Page ~ Module 3 Task for Net 11 </title>

I welcome somebody to please explain Why? the validator has and issue with the < html > tags. So far I just don't get it!!

HTML-making a webpage tutotials

Now this I find much more interesting and engaging than "chat".


For Module 3 we were asked to go to PageTutor.com and complete 26 lessons on the basics of html hand-coding & create a webpage whilst following the tutorial. To have a peek at my end result go to Nerida's Everything Is webpage
I used the lessons and just modified the outcomes by using some of my own photos and words. I found this website really easy to learn from and it was great to be able to have a quick refresher in the basics. I decided to just spend one night on this task and leave it at that-because as usual I'm lagging again :-(



This is a screen shot of part of my webpage...


I just completed Ned 11 last SP, in which we had to produce a complete and fully functional website in 12wks(I was a complete newbie) but happy to say I was very pleased with what I learnt and achieved in that time, and the fact that I managed to come out with a distinction. So I had all ready tried my hand at coding (I really enjoy it) can be very frustrating and challenging at times,but webpage design is the main reason I decided to get a degree in Internet Studies. A site I found very helpful when completing that unit was w3schools.com for html & for examples of CSS.

---

             ///\\
             (@ @)
  +----oOO----(_)-----------+
  |      EVERYTHING IS      |
  |     Kevin  &  Nerida    |
  | Happy Valentines Day'09 |
  +-----------------oOO-----+
            |__|__|  
             || ||
            ooO Ooo

This is something new I learnt ~ that if you enclose a text picture such as the one above in <pre> </pre> tags it prevents the browsers from collapsing the picture into a big pile of golboldy gook.

---

Mother duties call- so I will attempt to return later to continue my reflections on html and post the results of the validation test of my webpage :)

---

ICQ Chat Task

First of all, I did not have Icq, have used MSN in the past briefly(didn't really hook me- could be the dial-up). So I downloaded and installed
ICQ didn't find this difficult.


Very unimpressed by the fact that icq took over my homepage by default though (How Rude is that?)


I already had a google account set up so that was one less thing I needed to do, so I checked the webct board and found a discussion stating that a group of students were hooking up for a chat at 7pm Sunday nights. So on January 25th I logged online and sent a message to Tess, who kindly added me to the list so I could join the group discussion.(thanks Tess & everyone else involved in the chat that night).

The chat moved fast and was quite interesting- I lagged a little as I only have a dial-up connection at the moment(hopefully I will have my satellite broadband installed in about 3 weeks). One thing I did notice is- that with icq the lag was shorter and more manageable, when I have tried to chat on MSN I lagged behind that much that it really was pointless to even bother(not to mention frustrating) using it as a method of communication and I found myself just using my mobile and texting instead.


I'm not a very chatty person and I really don't have much sparetime, even if I was. That said, I can totally understand why many people do use chat rooms as a way to communicate; it doesn't cost you any extra money, you can hold multiple conversations at once & you can still be working on your computer (multi-task plus).


When I finally get broadband I will try out msn & icq to chat with friends in otherplaces see if its more satisfying then- but for now it still hasn't hooked me...

More email Tasks....

Work managed to interfere with my good intentions to get all the Module 2 tasks recorded onto this Blog a few days ago, anyway back at home again, so here we go.

OK, as I have mentioned before I am not a big user of email, but I explored all the different options. As far as using the cc & bcc and reply all functions goes, I have never had to use these before and until now wasn't really sure what the cc and bcc stood for, now I do and I still really don't foresee myself having any use for these functions in the near future, at least I know what the do now in case I do though.

The next ? was; In what ways can you ensure that an attachment you send will be easily opened?

If you keep your text attachments in either word or pdf format then everyone seems able to open them, myself included. For photos I usually alter there size, etc in photoshop to ensure a quick download for receivers (just in case, they have dial-up like me) which can sometimes take 30min to load a large unmodified photo, I really just don't have the time to wait.


As far as filters or rules that I have set up... Also very basic. NO SPAM!!




I had never bothered with setting up folders before now so thought I would give that ago. I now have a separate folder for friends/family & official mail. This I like & will keep and also probably add more folders in the future. After reading some of the posting on our Uni discussion board I realized the extent to which email plays in some peoples lives (for work/personal) or both. Personally I just don't have that much need for it and only check them 1-2 times a week, I can't even imagine having multiple accounts and having to read and reply to hundreds in a week, urhhh!!

Much rather be drawing or painting :)




The list task I didn't do as I have already had experience with this quite recently and it is not for me, personally I did not appreciate and inbox full of sometimes (most-time) unrelated posts to sift through, so I unsubscribed. I do however receive monthly newsletters from several different organizations and company's that I look forward to and enjoy.

A pic to cheer up the page.

This is my dog TANK. He likes Australian made, loves the left over peanut butter (has to be Kraft though). It is Australia Day after all...