PageSucker

What a cool name, that's about the only thing cool about it.

This is another one of those trick questions—linking students to an application that was last updated in July 2003 and only offering software that's obviously for an older operating system that's almost completely vanished. Why do they do this? I did not download this.

At first, I couldn't think why you would want to work offline, download speeds getting quicker and cheaper so there doesn't appear to be a reason to bother with this application. That's assuming all things being equal—your internet connection is working as it should be.
BUT then the thought struck me—what if your at work and you don't want your boss to know how much time your spending on the web and not working. You could download the sites without clocking up those hours on the server and read to your hearts content without the boss being any the wiser.

So it is cool after all!

But wait there's more.

The reason this has died
I keep reading the lifeblood of the web is the links, the fact that you can hop onto the web on one site and end up almost anywhere by following the links on the pages. PageSucker would then appear to have a very limited appeal, once the site is downloaded to your computer are the external links still active? I don't know, but if PageSucker needs to keep going out to the web to bring down more sites the whole thing seems pointless. And then there's the problem with filling up your hard disk space with offline web sites. I have a freind working in the Department of Health in Canberra and he said the government site had about 27,000 pages—downloading that site and reading offline might be a bit problematic.

bookmark managers

I tried URL Manager Pro 3.5 and I just can't see the value in paying almost $40 for a product that comes for fee in Firefox. There may be some extra bits that I haven't found that could justify the expense but they would have to have some seriously good automation tools to save time to make it worthwhile.
Also why would you take the trouble to use such a system when there are online bookmarking system for free that are not restricted to one computer. Most of us now have home and work computers so why restrict your self to a fixed system when you can have freedom.

Delicious really is Delicious.

Search manager

Not sure if I'm going mad here but as far as I can figure, Sherlock was a search engine for the old OS9 system, I can't find any reference to it on the Apple site under the current operating system.

And as for Glooton, which you have to say in a French accent, won't help—I can't speak French.

It's not going too well is it.

Now for Copernic Meta, a NET11er gave me a url where she found the application but I must say that was also a bum steer. The date on the site was listed as 'Friday, August 20, 1999', even if I did download it it won't work on the new operating system.

It's look like I'm stuck! Better go back to the 'Blackboard' and ask.

No luck, see post http://lms.curtin.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab=courses&url=%2Fbin%2Fcommon%2Fcourse.pl%3Fcourse_id%3D_14736_1%26sc%3D%252fwebapps%252fdiscussionboard%252fdo%252fmessage%253faction%253dlist_messages%2526conf_id%253d_23724_1%2526forum_id%253d_47938_1%2526message_id%253d_558527_1%2526thread_id%253d552622%2526nav%253ddiscussion_board%2526course_id%253d_14736_1

Is this a trick question?

Media Players

I already have Apple Quick Time player and have used the Windows version Flip4Mac, but I haven't needed RealPlayer before but I still downloaded it anyway. I find these types of applications are all very similar so I tend to stay with the one that most suites. I get most of my kicks with iTunes. I think it fits into the concept of "Your audience's use of communication" (Concept 2, 2009), in this case I'm the audience and my mode of communication is Apple's iTunes or Apple Quick Time player.

If I have time I'll investigate the others further.

Flash

It's found everywhere

This is another application that I didn't have to download, yes it comes with CS4 but in most cases it's already loaded onto your new computer.

(Flash Player Penetration, 2008)

The thing I really hate about fancy Flash based web sites is the waiting time while you download their introduction that shows you how good the developers of the web site are. I usually skip it if I can or just avoid the site altogether. However, Flash is a fantastic tool for adding interactivity to a web site that enriches the experience.

There are two trains of thought about flash:

My view
The tool can enhance the communication by incorporating animation and video in the web page and can be lots of fun to use. Although I do admit I hate the adds that keep moving and distracting me from reading the text.

Jakob Nielsen view
Flash: 99% Bad (Nielsen, 2000). Nielsen goes on to say that reduces the usability by encouraging design abuse, breaks web fundamentals and distracts from a site's core values. You just need to look at Nielsens web site useit.com it get a feel of his views on web site design. It's not mine!


Outcome
I concede to Nielsen, Flash is probably not a good for web sites and generally interferes with web design, but I find if employed wisely, it can be great fun to use and view.


References:

Flash Player Penetration [image]. (2008). Retrieved April 9 2009, from http://www.adobe.com/products/player_census/flashplayer/

Nielsen, J. (2000). Flash:99% Bad. Retrieved April 9, 2009, from http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20001029.html

Adobe Acrobat

I have used Adobe Acrobat Read in the past but now use Acrobat Pro 9—it came with my copy of CS4. I've used Acrobat since version 3 and although I don't claim to be fully versed with the current version and I'm sure there are practical uses I have not explored yet, I feel comfortable with my level of understanding of this product.

Acrobat has had a extraordinary effect in the printing industry, it has greatly enhanced the mobility of documents, enabling anyone to access the files independent of the platform or the original software that created the document. Previously, printers were required to hold a variety of the most common graphic design tools which was expensive to purchase and even more expensive to train people to use. Now printers only require the professional version of Acrobat and some extra plug-in to fully service the customer. This versatility has extended into general public use and has become the open standard tool for document management for a growing number of industries. (Adobe and industry standards, 2009)


References:

Adobe and industry standards. (2009). Retrieved April 8, 2009, from http://www.adobe.com/enterprise/standards/

Document Management application. (2009). Retrieved April 8, 2009, from http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=51502

furl vs html

Let the fight begin

furl pros

1. attractive GUI
2. easy to add new links
   
3. bookmark management system that can be accessed on any computer that has web access
4. user rating showing the likely interest in the story
5. can group the posts by the tags in an organised list
6. can view or contribute to discussion entries
   

furl cons

1. anyone that's a member of the group can add links to the list—the sites maybe interesting but not relevant to the subject matter.
   

When assessing the html version I have had to assume that the site has no user interaction and therefore is just a linked page generated by the web site manager.

html pros

1. quick download therefore better if your on a mobile device
2. easy to navigate
3. information appears to be relevant to the unit—the web manager has used some sort of criteria to assess if the information is relevant and should be on the list
4. lists web address under main post so you have some warning to where your heading
   

html cons

1. no user rating
2. design outdated and looks unprofessional—could question the validity of the whole site
3. link tend to meld into one another—should have a short description as to the post
4. no user interaction

The outcome
The social bookmarking site furl wins this round, but there is still a use for the html version. I think the question was, from the outset, bias towards the furl site—the comparison might not have been so much in favor of furl if some effort was put into the html code.

Anyway, I sent too much time on this and I'm not sure if I've hit the nail on the head, so it's time to move on.

Next step Module 4

A furly one

Web 2.0 is all about giving the user the ability to contribute to an online community.

Some web 2.0 indicative sites are:

1. furl
2. delicious
3. design float
4. Wikipedia
5. Flickr
6. StumbleUpon
   
7. blogging
8. and more..........
   

Social bookmarking, "Folksonomy" (O'Reilly, 2005)
The idea of this new way to search the web is for people to tag sites that will allow the site to be more easily found via a popularity link. This in effect "harnesses collective intelligence" (Ibid) by "a style of collaborative categorization of sites using freely chosen keyword" (Ibid) which acts "as a kind of filter" to produce better search results through "the wisdom of crowds"(Ibid).

Putting it into practical use—I work in the design industry for print, when I search for new ideas I like to see other designers work for inspiration. One way to find these sites would be to do a Google search which would return over 300 million results when searching for common words or phrases.
A better way for me to search is to use a service like design float or delicious which other users have already tagged content to a common theme and then use these tags such as 'graphic design' to quickly navigate to view these sites and see any current design trends.

The gain in efficiency by using the collective conscious far out ways the effectiveness of the Google search.




Problems with users content
User contribution can be a bit dodgy sometimes if people feel inclined to mislead or if they think they're hero's on a subject and boast about their knowledge without substantial proof. These people just end up being villains that should leave well enough alone.

(Folksonomy, 2009)


Yes I like web 2.0, but use it with caution!


Reference:
O'Reilly, T. (2005). What is Web 2.0. Retrieved April 7, 2009, from http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html?page=1

Folksonomy [image] (2009). Retrieved April 7, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folksonomy

citizen journalism

Power to the people

Clark Kent, Citizen journalist was the first on the scene to post the story of the Hudson River plane crash using a Twitter account via his mobile phone and this was also the case for the attacks in Mumbai. The video shows the story how Janis Krums, the citizen journalist of the Hudson plane crash is an example of how people use new technology unforeseen by the original developers.

Twitter was developed for:

"Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?" (Twitter, 2009)

It also appears now that journals from major news outlets are also tapping into the Twitter feed to get early warnings of significant events:

"On Wednesday evening, I was travelling home from a night out, glanced at my phone and saw one of the people I follow on Twitter talking about Apple's new statement on Steve Jobs' health. That meant I could get straight to work on filing a radio piece." (Cellan-Jones, 2009)

The ethical issues of the rights of the individual balanced with the need to file a story and the public's right to know has been made harder to control with the "mobility of data" (Concept 5, 2009). With all the user content uploading to sites like Flickr, Twitter and personal blogs it's become an even more important question of rights? After events like 9/11, who has the rights to publish images like "The Falling Man" (9/11 The Falling Man, 2009)?

Would you like to see images of people you know in this situation. I wouldn't.

Reference:
Twitter. (2009). Retrieved April 6, 2009, from http://twitter.com/

Cellan-Jones, R. (2009). Twitter and a classic picture. Retrieved April 6, 2009, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2009/01/twitter_and_a_classic_picture.html

Concept 5. (2009). Retrieved April 6, 2009, from http://lms.curtin.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab=courses&url=%2Fbin%2Fcommon%2Fcourse.pl%3Fcourse_id%3D_14736_1%26sc%3D%252fwebapps%252fdiscussionboard%252fdo%252fmessage%253faction%253dlist_messages%2526conf_id%253d_23724_1%2526forum_id%253d_47938_1%2526message_id%253d_558527_1%2526thread_id%253d552622%2526nav%253ddiscussion_board%2526course_id%253d_14736_1

9/11 The Falling Man. (2009). Retrieved April 6, 2009, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXnA9FjvLSU

Copyright—Clipmaster

It's just too easy!

I was researching the furl site and I came across Clipmasters, it's a site that makes breaching copyright all too easy. Where content for the web was once the domain of the web designer and coders, it's now just a matter to cut from the source and paste into your blog. Tools that make somethings too easy are sometimes not good for us.