Introduction: Taming
the WebAs I progressed, I started wondering how things worked "under the hood" as far as the net. So, I bought additional books to learn HTML over and above what the class had given us. You are lucky (if you are G10 or above) because the HTML Book we got was a lot more than I got in G8. So I figured out what all those"<>" meant and I went at finding ways to make my page stand out better that what it did when we did when we all originally uploaded.
I admit, I started "stealing" images from other pages, but I provide a link to that sight. For example, you might have seen a few APPLE icons here and there. I didn't ask them for permission but I linked to their page so that they get a little free advertising whenever you people look at my page. That's how I started.
This year, I am exploring Java
and other programming techniques like Cascading Style Sheets, Dynamic HTML,
and others. I bought another book on Adobe
Photoshop so I could learn how to render images and put them online,
much like the images you saw on my homepage. I knew nothing in the
beginning but I didn't let that stop me. I wanted to know how this
monster worked and I pushed past my fear to learn oftentimes on my own.
I have started thinking about doing this as a business and have started
looking into creating webpages for businesses, but I will not think about
that until I get all my reports done. I have even applied to Apple
Computers in Cupertino to do work for them, but I have to graduate first.
That won't happen until at least next summer. So, good luck and if
you need any help with your page, please email me for help because I am
here so that you all can benefit from all I have learned.
Earlier Generations:Back When...The depth of the generations depended a lot upon the amount of information they had to report on, the experience and where they were as far as all the generations were concerned. The trend was as the generations progressed, so did the depth of the topics. The generations also tended to give general observations earlier on and that trend still continued depending on the report visited. It seemed that the student and their amount of disclosure may have depended upon whether or not they understood the topic or whether they explored more deeply than others.
Conclusions
In conclusion of this section, The generations have expanded on each other (as a whole) and have gotten better in every aspect of HTML and content. When the generations continue on, there will be the same situation as seen before where most students have never seen HTML or other parts of the web, but the technology will get progressively better with nwer and faster modems, computers, and more capable browsers to choose from. When the earlier generations have trudged through on LYNX, we can further appreciate Netscape 4.5 and other software that make our journey more exciting and more efficient.
Advancing Topics
Inevitably as time goes on in cyberspace, new psychological and technological topics will emerge. Addictions, Cyber-Marriage, Cyber-Therapy, and many others have been born on the web in the last few years and have gained more and more attention and popularity. We must remember that "Virtual" can never take the place of "Reality" because most things in cyberspace tend to be intangible to senses other than sight and sound. Yes, we will tackle new psychological research dealing with these new problems and rightly so. We need to know how to deal with those topics effectively with knowledge and experience.
Email and Personal Experience
Most of the email discussions
I have read or participated in were of a personal nature either in personal
experience or in opinion. Sometimes there are people that have very
strong opinions about certain subjects. I remember discussing the 
Mac
vs. PC war in which was better, and there were a lot of opinions for both.
You can figure which side of the fence I am on. We have already discussed
whether the net can and has taken over TV, or whether or not the net affects
beer consumption. Everyone has commented at one time or another about
their personal experience or opinion during the email discussions.
Email is usually an informal and faceless means of communicating, especially
in this class. It is a great (and free) way to communicate all over
the world.
Response
In my experience, the topics that hit closer to home
either on the academic, moral, or political front usually gets a stronger
opinion. More often than not people are open to dispute (as long
as it's nice) or disagreement. Although I cannot generalize on whether
or not opinions are affected in the same way, I can say that people I observed
in newsgroups are affected more strongly when a topic means more to them.
Web Design Principles as I See
It: Thinking in HTML
suck."
I have been accused of some of these techniques like loud backgrounds,
cluttered text and other wacko things that really show that I have Filipino
blood. I know that there are other ways to do a page, but I didn't think
that people on the other side of the monitor might not know what they are
doing. I thought that my stlyes of pages worked best, but it is not
about me and my creation, but how simple the page is so that users of all
ages can use the page easily.
Purpose
The purpose of this page is to educate us--the web designer on how to not only create great looking pages that work, but to avoid the pitfall of bad looking and bad functioning pages. There are four links to go to when you get to his page:
This link talks about the really bad things to look
for when you are making a page. Although there is lots of humor
in this link, there are points to look at when you are making a page. Are
we guilty of making a few of these mistakes? We are bound to because our
personal pages reflect who we are and when there are too much pictures
of your pets (#8), or your header is so big it can kill the rest of your
page (#10), or you have obnoxious background music (which I have never
had). Think about what we can do to rid ourselves of the pain of viewing
these sights!!
This was the most informative link of the four because it went more
in-depth on what really isn't good for the web in terms of design and how
to turn the junky stuff into net savvy web elements.
This link is Mr. Glover having fun on at Disney World. I liked the link
because of the effects he used on his images. I am going to try and do
that.
This link is about purchasing a CD-ROM for $24.95. I wouldn't buy it because
I am don't believe in using someone else's homepage and using it as a template.
I think all of us can get as creative as the CD and keep our twenty five
bucks.
Psychological Aspects To Web Design: PhD's and Macs
The research was done from Dr. James' Page on Home Page Architecture. Here are my favorite parts to this report:
1. Stylistic Features of Homepages
"Above all, be sure that visitors don't end up waiting impatiently for your Page to load. No spiffy background effect or spectacular images will be appreciated by cybernauts who have to wait precious seconds for you to load just so you can show off!! So how much is too long to wait? In my opinion, the shorter the better. As a rule of thumb, I would say that anything more than 10 secs. is too long to wait for a Home Page. This rule is different for long text files with no images. These can be tolerated since they yield text or content, not just appearance."
This is very true for most pages due to people's tolerance for downloading, although the wait for larger files is much shorter due to the 56K and ISDN modems which allow files to be downloaded much faster than ever before. At the time this page was written, modem speeds hovered around 14.4K or 28.8K which is twice to three time as slow as the modem speeds are now. BUT, this capability does not give us the excuse to create larger files because although the fast stuff is available, not everyone has them yet, so keep your images and pages to a minimum.
2. Informational Content of Homepages
"Whether long or short, we want our Home Pages to be, above all, clear. Clarity and orderliness greatly help the fight against confusion. Look at your Page and ask yourself how visitors would react, where their eyes would go, what can they conclude, what clues can you give them, what are they to do next, and so on. Therefore you need to take charge of your Home Pages. You need to manage the visitors, choreograph their steps (or hops), so to speak. Make them feel guided, rather than left alone in an impersonal system."
Again I agree with this view on the content of his page. I have read pages that are not clear on their content and it can lead to blindness, frustration, and lots of other things that are not fun. We have had that conversation in class regardeing the length of the content, but I have to say that the QUALITY of your content is much better than the QUANTITY. Please do not ramble on to get more space filled on the page because it only succeeds in making people frustrated. Quality can be said with less words, but there a lot of instances that the extra mile is needed. You need to make that choice when you are constructiong your page to fit your content.
3. Cyberspace Home
"I find that Home Pages are always under construction for those owners who are personally involved. Constructing Home Pages on the World Wide Web is an exciting activity! Just think: you have the world at your finger tips. Because you determine what the browser sees and has access to, you are acting like a virtual god -- building a cyberspace architecture through virtual pathways to people's minds."
The thought of webpages always being under construction is true to a point. During the course of a semester, pages are always being added-to and edited. Moreso for pages on the web that are updated daily or weekly. In the generational files, however, those pages are not under construction anymore but provide a lot of information for others to construct their pages in future generations. I agree that creating pages is a really exciting activity and I am always trying to push the envelope to create better content (stylistically and academically) with each report and page. As far as the world is concerned, the ACCESS is there, but out of the millions of people on the net, only a few might see or be interested in the content. Yet, for the community that will see the pages, they provide a wealth of information.
Web
Designers Inc.:Frustration and Jubilation
that ALL MY PAGES WERE CREATED ON A MAC AND LOOK BETTER ON A MAC!!
I am a fierce advocate of a Mac and I was on a PC recently and I can see
why you all are frustrated. Macintosh G3's were made for the Net.
End of Story. The best in the industry know that.
I
also get all my graphics from the Animation Factory, a really cool place
for animated GIFs. Go there and look around...
As far as links go, I usually put as many of the links
that I use for everyone to look at and poke around. There are computer
links, mountain bike links, and Jesus links. Look around and find
what you like....
Web Index:CyberPsychos
Generations Newsgroups Dr. James' Page Icons Links Extreme Research: Psy 499 G10 Instructions Aaron's G8 Page G10 Pages HOME Oral Report
