Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Assignment K

Our assignment for this week was to work through a step-by-step guide on building iPhone apps with HTML, CSS and JavaScript, as opposed to Objective-C, which author Jonathan Stark explains is difficult to learn. Stark makes a great argument for the inconveniences of using Objective-C and the difficulty of getting your app approved through Apple… as well as the challenges of debugging while trying to keep app approval rates up. Because of the increased flexibility and relatively far shorter time it takes to develop a web app via open source technologies, this alterweb can prove far more appealing to those interested in developing their own web app.
I learned a great deal from this book because he takes you through the steps of adding/changing code, and he offers you a screenshot of how those changes should appear. Personally, I find I learn most effectively when I am offered this kind of guidance, added with the opportunity to go through the steps on my own. I truly believe you can’t excel in writing code unless you do it over and over again. This is what my first programming professor explained to my class, and he was absolutely right. This assignment is a great stepping stone to applying this same concept, and I look forward to utilizing other resources as opportunities to practice.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Assignment J

I have been considering potential career paths a great deal lately, as well as the experience I will need to pursue those careers. Thankfully, I have had the privilege of participating in the MIT program and have already learned a great deal. However, the recent decline in jobs has drawn many individuals who are involved with IT either in school or in the workplace to grow their knowledge in their own personal time, making them more competitive in the job market. There are a wealth of sites out their that can assist one's self-teaching in sharpening programming skills or perhaps learning another language via step-by-step tutorials. A few sites that I really learn a lot from include Landofcode.com, w3schools.com and java.sun.com. All three of these sites offer a brief overview of the topic, a few examples, and opportunities to practice on your own.

I was talking with a friend the other day concerning the increasing need for higher and higher degrees of education in order to obtain a job/salary of choice. Over the decades, the average level of education seems to have grown from high school diploma, to bachelors, to masters... and most recently, many of my friends and associates are looking into going back for their doctorate! I had finally concluded not too long ago that getting a masters has become a given requirement like the bachelors of a few years ago... only to now wonder if getting a doctorate degree will be what is needed to self oneself apart in this increasingly competitive job market.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Assignment I

I1 - ONLINE STORAGE


Ignorance is Not Bliss


It was not until I made the big move from my Dell to a Mac that I finally faced the issue I had been dodging for YEARS... online storage. To many, backing up your data may be something that has been a habit since you 1st owned a computer. For myself, it was something I thought was a good idea but not really necessary. I'm just thankful I was able to change my mind before being hit with the infamous "computer crash" nearly all of my friends have faced at some point during our undergrad years. I chose each time to ignore the countless horror stories of losing final projects and papers in an instant, knowing in the back of my mind that I could be next...but not caring quite enough to do anything about the impending danger.

Baby Steps

I'm still not completely sure what my hesitation was when it came to backing up my data. I have to admit, being on the other side looking back, it really wasn't a huge fuss. However, it was a major decision choosing which online backup tool/service to use. I thought, "If I'm going to bother doing this, I might as well do it right". But I had no idea where to start. Finally, I began asking family, friends, professors, etc. what they use and/or what they would recommend. I also did some research on the internet, but didn't feel comfortable trusting the online reviews I perceived to be biased.

Freedom is Not Free


As I received feedback from those I knew, I began to realize that this was going to cost me... maybe not a lot, but it would cost. I was initially enticed by the advertisements for "FREE online storage", only to be let down when I discovered the storage space was insufficient. I eventually accepted the inevitable and moved forward. I then went back and forth on whether to pay for a monthly or yearly subscription thinking "Well, the yearly IS cheaper, but this is new to me ad I'd rather try it out for a month and see how I like it". Then it came to me. Instead of paying just yet, I could use a trial backup and see how it goes. But disappointment found me once again when I realized this "trial" was not an accurate depiction of what I would be paying for. The amount of features available in the full subscription were not available in the trial. I couldn't back-up or organize my files in the manner in which I anticipated, so it was back to the drawing board.

The All-Invincible Mac

At one point in my internal battle, I considered not backing up my computer at all. Besides, it was practically invincible, right? I clearly remembered reading in sheer amazement that Macs don't get computer viruses... or was it PC viruses? Ah yes, I revisited the site which assured "Mac OS X doesn't get PC viruses" :) But my joy was short-lived. I then stumbled upon another page which read "Why your next PC should be a Mac". Wait, so the Mac is a PC but Mac OS X doesn't get PC viruses? As I read further non-Apple sites and articles, my confusion only grew. I would read that Macs never get viruses, which would be followed by something more like "It is very rare or unlikely. Most recently, it has been my understanding that Macs rarely get viruses only because almost none have been created yet. So while Mac users are mostly safe for now, it is essentially a waiting game. And I would rather be safe than sorry...


I2 -
*Findability - the ability of users to identify an appropriate website and navigate the pages of the site to discover and retrieve relevant information resources
*Findability/SEO:
- Better practices in Findability will help build a better foundation when coding for SEO
- SEO is Strategies and tactics used for improving how easy a search engine can find a site that best fits the requested search, so SEO improves findability
*Findability/Usabilty:
- The better your Findability the better your Usability
- Like usability, findability applies broadly across all sorts of physical and virtual environments (http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/the_age_of_findability)
*Findability/Accessibility:
- Better findability increases accessibility
*Findability/Information Architecture:
- Good IA can help decrease the cost/time associated with findability



I3 -
* General iPhone Web page best practices
http://webdesign.about.com/od/pdas/a/aa070207.htm
* Working with the viewport
http://drinkingoatmealstout.com/2007/07/01/constrain-your-viewport-for-iphone-web-development/
* CSS for good iPhone Web pages
http://cssiphone.com/
* The WebKit and using it's features for iPhone Web apps
http://drnicwilliams.com/2008/11/10/to-webkit-or-not-to-webkit-within-your-iphone-app/
* the iUI
http://www.digitalistic.com/2008/07/28/writing-an-iphone-page-in-minutes-using-iui/

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Assignment H

In my MIST 7700 class, I have had the opportunity to work with OpenOffice. Though I had heard of it many times before and had been sent odt files, I held off on downloading it until this class. One feature I really appreciate is "find & replace". This has been useful in my conversion of two Managing Data Exchange chapters from XML format to Global Text Project Format. Without "find & replace, this process can be rather gruesome. Thankfully, this function enables you to select all text in the document that has the same style, and change that entire group of text to a different style. With the extremely long document I had to change, being able to do this in a couple of clicks made all of the difference. Also, completing this task was completed with less errors in changing styles.

In general, the transition to OpenOffice from Microsoft Office has not been as smooth as expected. Though I have no problem at all opening preexisting .doc files in OpenOffice and also have the option to save it as a .doc or odt. file, I have not had the same luck in opening my Access database files. I'm still trying to research and see if I may be missing something (i.e. some other method of perhaps converting the database file before trying to open it), but nothing has worked initially. I still need to try opening spreadsheets, but I assume this will not be an issue.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Assignment G

G2 - Wordia Video Preparation -

Best practices for producing and distributing video on the Web.


Say there is a company that has produced a great how-to-video on making widgets. The next thing they need to think about is how they are going to publish or distribute this video on the web. When posting videos online there are a couple of things to consider. First what is the goal of posting it? Is it to start a viral marketing campaign about a social issue or is it to provide a service on the company's website to draw more people in? And secondly, what kind of web server does the company have and how knowledgeable is the webmaster?  The answers to those questions can help the company decide whether to host the video on their on server or post your video to a sharing site such as YouTube. 


Benefits and concerns of a company hosting its own videos:


Hosting your own video can draw more visitors to your site, enable you to customize how everything on the page looks, and one can choose to sell ads or not. There are a few things that need to be in place before this is a viable option. First, you have to know how to work with the video files if you are going to host your own videos. The webmaster will have to encode the video into a different format to incorporate it into the website. For example a lot of videos are edited using mpeg or avi but to put them on the web in an easily usable form they need to be in Flash (by Adobe) or Quicktime (by Apple).  Most web videos are streamed using Flash. The second thing to consider is can I afford the bandwidth? Video files are large and require a lot of bandwidth to host.


Search Engine Optimizations tips:




Limit each page to one video, allow the URL to be specific to a video, place all videos in a central folder/directory, use an embedded player in the page instead of a popup, use text on the page to describe the video, use tags and meta tags to help search engines, submit the video to Google sitemaps  to help speed up the indexing of the video for search, and allow users to share the video with friends by providing the url or providing social networking links.


Benefits and concerns of a company posting videos: 


Unlike a hosted solution that requires video conversion, the posted solution takes care of converting the video files, and they pay for the bandwidth. Also, most of these sites, like YouTube, MetaCafe, or GoogleVideo, have a good reputation and a large user base that is constantly watching videos and sharing the videos with friends. This is a great solution for any type of viral marketing campaign. Popular YouTube videos are tied into universal search (incorporated into Google "web search", people don't have to be specifically searching for videos to be shown videos on that topic ) in Google which is a great way to publicize a video. Going with a posted solution however,  you lose the full customization over the look of the page and whether ads are shown. In most video sharing sites, ads are displayed. Some ads maybe images or text but some maybe videos that play before your video is shown. In some cases this could be an ad for a competitor.



Search Engine Optimization tips: 



Post your website URL in the description of the video, create your own account/channel/brand to allow people to follow all of your videos and any future updates, use your url in a watermark in the video because these might be copied and posted elsewhere (it is viral), allow comments and ratings to generate user excitement and discussion, and use tubemogul.com to upload the video to all major sharing sites and see analytics on those videos. TubeMogul looks like a very powerful tool for businesses or individuals to track videos all over the web.

Information from http://www.reelseo.com/seo-best-practices/


Thursday, October 15, 2009

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Web Site Attractiveness


Web pages can be made to look more attractive and appealing by considering several factors that will initially attract, as well as keep the attention of viewers. You can make your site more aesthetically pleasing by using a particular color scheme that will arouse positive emotions, changing the layout to be more user-friendly, or altering the messages and titles to fit those that will draw in the visitor.

Many people think that SEO and SEM are the same thing, but they are slightly different. In actuality, while SEM (Search Engine Marketing) increases website traffic and "stickiness" by increasing its visibility in search engines, SEO is different in that it accomplishes this via unpaid, "natural" methods. All in all, the main purpose of SEO/SEM is to put a website higher on a list of results, increasing the chances that it will be chosen. Those searching for the most "popular" or "legitimate" site typically expect to find it at the top of their search results, ignoring sites at the bottom of the page or the pages that follow.

Other design elements that can contribute to the attractiveness of a website include:

1. Audio/Music - adding an audio/music file that plays upon entering the site can aid in setting the intended theme or mood.

2. Font - Readability is essential in encouraging visitors to read the content of your site. While it may initially look nice to have an elaborate cursive font, it loses a great deal of functionality when it comes to reading.

3. Form/Shape - You must decide if you want objects and shapes on your site to be sharp and harsh, or if you want them to be smooth and flowing. Sharp lines can be used as an abrupt and shocking way to draw in site visitors, or you mmay use the latter to foster a tranquil experience.

Web Analytics


Web Analytics is defined as the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of internet data for purposes of understanding and optimizing web usage (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_analytics). What is typically being measured on a site depends on which of two kinds of web analytics is being used. Off-site web analytics measures a website's opportunity, visibility, and comments, while on-site web analytics measures a visitor's journey through the site.

In regard to tools currently available to measure web analytics on my blog, Google Analytics is an option and readily available for those who have a Google account. It provides insight into web traffic and marketing effectiveness. Though the latter is not of great importance in my scenario, knowing about web traffic would be helpful.

Yahoo also has their own web analytics tool offering real-time user behavior and information on the demographics and category interests of your site visitors. It uses IndexTools software to gather this information. However, it does not seem to be as freely available as Google Analytics.

Another tool is Piwik which is a downloadable, open source PHP MySQL software program. It says says openly that it aims to serve as an alternative to Google Analytics, and it seems to offer more detailed information such as visitor languages and key words they use(d).

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

F3 - Software as a Service


I currently do not use online productivity applications regularly, but my groups in undergrad often used tools like Google Docs to collaborate/share over the web. I focused on this particular tool because it was one I had previously been exposed to, yet declined to use regularly. Furthermore, I considered the fact that I already had a Google account making it even more logical to choose Google docs.

From here, I began discovering the ins and outs of Google Docs but still ran into the problem of not knowing how it differed from the other online productivity applications listed. It was necessary to research, compare and contrast, and I was able to gather information from various websites:

Zoho vs. Google Docs - http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2007/07/zoho-vs-google-docs.html
As I suspected after working a while with Google Docs, others have tried to get ahead but offering entire office suites for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, etc. Zoho, who counted on Microsoft's design to create their look and feel, has accomplished just that. In addition to what is listed above, Zoho offers their own version of Microsoft Access called Zoho creator. Even so, Zoho is lacking in that is has yet to provide the calendar and email capabilities that Google currently offers.

Microsoft Web Applications vs. Google Docs - http://www.microsoft.com/video/en/us/details/ebf079e6-6972-43dc-9781-14c013c38e82
I think it is a bit challenging to try to compare these two, considering how long Microsoft has offered and developed their office suite. Now Microsoft is taking the step in 2010 of offering Word, Excel, and Powerpoint online, giving users the ability to access their files online from any computer wit IE, Firefox or Safari. Those who already use google docs may choose to switch to Microsoft mainly because of the widespread popularity of the standard Word file. Even with capabilities and design aside, it still has a great deal to do with what is most widely accepted... whether you are sharing a file with friends, family an employer, etc.

Monday, September 28, 2009

F2 - Rich Media: Video


After having watched Dr. Horrible's Sing-along blog, I began considering what implications that video web broadcasting has for those not in the television industry. Sites like YouTube have made it possible for anyone with video-recording capabilities to publish their video to the web for public viewing. Doing so requires no special qualifications, giving nearly anyone the power to distribute video for the purpose for entertaining, informing, or many other purposes.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/28343/dr-horribles-sing-along-blog

Friday, September 25, 2009

6th Entry (Sept 24th)


During Thursday's class, we visited several websites including:

Hulu.com
gapminder.org
akamai.com
liveplasma.com
wefeelfine.org

What makes Hulu so popular is that it allows you to watch movies and TV shows from several TV stations on your computer. Gapminder.org puts an interesting twist on reporting statistical information. On this website, you can view a very visual representation of anything from "Best teeth in the world" to "Family size and length of life". You see this information on a graph, but the site allows you to press a "Play" button to view progression over a period of time. Geographic regions are represented by bubbles of various colors and sizes. The size and positioning of the bubbles changes over the time period being played.

Wefeelfine.org takes "I feel" and "I am feeling" phrases found in weblogs, identifies the feeling represented, and organizes/reports them on the site. These are all very interesting websites that can be very useful for the distribution of information over the internet.

Monday, September 21, 2009

5th Entry (Sept 17th)


Molly Holzschlag, Software Evangelist for Opera Software came and spoke this past Thursday, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I had heard a few things about Google Chrome and Opera was new to me, so it was very helpful for her to explain the features and capabilities of each browser. It was very eye-opening for her to conclude that the browser is really the platform as opposed to the OS. What her lecture reminded me of is just how vast the subject of internet technology is. Because of her experience and passion for the subject, she was able to speak so thoroughly and intelligently about various aspects. Even so, there were a few questions brought up that even she could not answer. This made me realize just how much more I need to learn and just how much further I have to go in my studies. But it also taught me that no matter how many courses I take, no matter how many years I work in the greatest position with the best company, I will never know everything there is to know about the internet. Not only is the internet at present such a wealth of information, but it is constantly changing with something new to learn every day.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Twitter Tools


Nest.Unclutter - This tool will automatically block users who are following more than a designated number of people.

Twitoria - It searched out people who have been inactive for a number of weeks, months, years, etc.

TweetSum - Goes through and finds people who may prove to be annoying or bothersome. From here, you can decide to follow or avoid them.

Tweepler - It allows you to quickly decide whether to follow someone or drop them into an ignore pile

Twitter Uses


Below are a few ways individuals are using Twitter more intelligently:

Marketing/Communication - It's a great way to spread the word regarding products and services

Microblogging - This method is short and sweet, as opposed to composing what could be paragraphs of text for a regular blog

Business Networking - You can stay up to date with those you have a professional relationship with

Breaking News & Getting Scoops - Having a Twitter account makes it very easy to stay aware of the latest topics of importance

Streamlining Your Electronic Inboxes - Users of Twitter tent to check things like email, RSS feeds and IM


The following is a link discussing how to use Twitter specifically for business...
http://www.readwriteweb.com/enterprise/2009/03/4-ways-companies-use-twitter-for-business.php

Twitter


I just created my Twitter account and have viewed the help video for some hints on how best to create and utilize my account. Twitter messages are limited to 140 characters. If I wish to send a message to a particular user, type @ followed by the user's name and type your messages. You can follow others and their tweets. You can add additional personal information and limit your account just to those who are able to follow you. It's easy to add contacts through email accounts like google and yahoo. Twitter is great for staying up-to-date on subjects that are of interest to you.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Opera Software


Currently, Opera is significantly more popular in Europe than it is in the US. However, it recently beat Safari in total number of pages downloaded last month (on handsets). According to their website, a special feature includes their Exclusive Opera Turbo compression which is designed to boost slow connection speeds. Anther feature is what they call "visual tabs". This is truly unique in that instead of showing a simple tab at the top of a browser, containing the name of the website, it shows a full thumbnail for that website. Finally, Opera offers educational resources to educators, students, and even web developers in the form of an Opera Web Standards Curriculum. Furthermore, they offer university tours and seminars, as well as education discussion forums.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Wikipedia


I was surprised with how easy it was to edit a Wikipedia page. Though I knew it didn't take much, all I had to do was create a login. Even that wasn't necessary, but suggested. What I learned from this assignment is how important it is to be careful with using Wikipedia as a resource. Although articles have been largely accurate from my experience, it is important to keep in mind just how simple it is for those who may be less than experts to edit information.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_dance_company

Friday, September 11, 2009

4th Entry (Sept 10th)


After our guest speaker's presentation last night, I did a little more research at acrossair.com. Acrossair is a newly developed iPhone application which puts my current applications like Around Me & Maps to shame. All of the pet peeves I've developed about those current apps seem to have been resolved in this new app. It's unique in that it gives you a panoramic view of local businesses, whether they be movie theaters, restaurants, or even pieces of property based on where you are and which direction you are facing. I regard to use as a map, this is extremely helpful for someone who may get turned around and not really sure which direction they need to head in order to follow directions. Usually if I am at point A and have been given directions to point B, my iPhone currently offers no information on which way I need to start driving. On some rare occasions, I've had to start driving and watch where the blue dot indicating my current location moves (not very efficient OR safe!).

My main disappointment is that this application will not be available for my iPhone. It is only for the iPhone 3GS. This has prompted me to wonder how many more fantastic and innovative applications may be incompatible with my phone. I could definitely see Apple's motives for doing this. Clearly it would prompt new buyers of the iPhone to purchase the latest model to have access to all applications. For those like myself who already own a "regular" iPhone, there is that desire to upgrade in order to enjoy use of some of the new and upcoming apps available only for iPhone 3GS. It will be interesting as the release of acrossair approaches and how consumers respond.

3rd Entry (Sept 3rd)


Currently, I am working on some XML for one of my classes. I got off to a rough start as it had been a while since I had created XML documents and schemas. I must admit I was initially a bit discouraged and a little anxious as I was unsure just how long it may take to pick it back up and learn something new - XML stylesheets. Thankfully, I caught on and I'm grateful that I have learned a new skill of using stylesheets. When I began the project, I was curious as to how I would express some of the data modeling relationships I had become familiar with, and it was interesting to see how that works with XML schemas, as well as how that transfers to use of the document.

Something major I learned in this process is that patience and attention to detail is key. Often times, I would get in a hurry, write a lot of code (some sloppy code somewhere along the way) and end up wasting time trying to go back and find out why it wouldn't validate. Though it can be tempting to hurry in writing the code, it's best in the scheme of things to pace yourself and make sure you write it correctly the first time. Also be sure to hit that validation button often! It is very difficult and frustrating to type a ton of code and go a while without validating, only to hit validate at the end and have to go searching through all that new code you just typed. Thankfully, Oxygen does give you a good amount of information so that fixing those errors isn't as time consuming, so I will definitely keep using that.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

2nd Entry


I am a little late with my 2nd entry, but here goes.

It was amazing to consider the vast array of iPhone applications currently available. Dr. Piercy brought up a particularly popular, innovative and creative one called Ocarina. With this app, you blow into the phone's microphone while pressing down on certain buttons located on your screen. This creates musical sounds, and many users have grown to be quite advanced "players" of this "instrument".

Two other widely used apps include Google Earth and Maps. The first allows you to search any area on the globe and provides an amazingly detailed aerial view. The latter includes this feature but also provides you with driving, bus or walking directions. The application is rather advanced in aiding users in locating the address they are looking for, you can zoom in and out, it constantly updates your location between point A and B, and other features like quickly reversing your directions are easy to use.

Yet another innovative application is Shazam. Essenstially, whenever you hear a song and what to know its title, artist, album, etc., you select Shazam which listens to the music and gives you a summary of its information. I have used this app more recently, and I was pleased with how well it was able to listen to a song, even with a significant amount of noise in the background.

I really look forward to the opportunity to create an iPhone application. Sometimes it seems that any possible app that could exist has already been created, but there are still some great opportunities ahead. And as the iPhone continues to advance, these opportunities will only continue to grow.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

HTML 5


HTML 5, the next major revision of HTML is proposed to be the next standard for HTML and XHTML
Some of the main differences that will exist between HTML 4 and HTML 5 include the following:

- new parsing rules
- new elements
- new attributes
- global attributes
- new form control types
- will not be based on SGML
- frames made invalid
- depreciated elements dropped

What the new HTML would mean for developers includes:

- the ability to create more user-friendly applications
- works well with JavaScript
- building browser-specific apps
- use with mobile devices
- wealth of APIs

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML_5#Differences_from_HTML_4.2FXHTML_1.x
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/07/16/html5-and-the-future-of-the-web/

Friday, August 21, 2009

1st Entry


I am very intrigued by the topic of censorship and how it can vary so greatly in different countries and cultures. What internet censorship essentially is involves the limited or denied access to information on the web. One major example of censorship that I have learned about and experienced first-hand is that exercised by the Chinese government. During my study abroad this past spring, I realized that I was unable to visit certain news sites because of the controversial content posted. My visit was during the anniversary of Tiananmen Square, and I soon learned that discussion of this event was highly discouraged and that the American students in my group should not expect to hear much of anything about it from the Chinese students we were studying with.

Social networks such as Facebook and Twitter are very useful tools for spreading information and ideas at an incredibly fast pace. Individuals are able to share ideas, have discussions and debates, and view thought-provoking information posted by others instantly. This is not looked upon in a positive light by governments who seek to control this flow of information and therefore the beliefs and ideals of its people. The Chinese students we studied with invited us to join a sort of instant messenger application similar to AIM called QQ as this would be a way to keep in touch even after we had returned to the states. In turn, we introduced the students to Facebook and they set up their own accounts. Shortly after, we were no longer hearing from them via Facebook and eventually learned that it had been blocked. After doing some research, I discovered that China is rated as an “Internet black hole”, in other words, one of the most heavily censored nations.

Introduction


The purpose of this blog is to discuss various topics of the MIST 7500 Internet Technology course that I am taking this fall. This is one of the many courses I will be taking as a student in UGA's Master of Internet Technology program. As we cover various technologies, development tools, mobile internet applications, and other major internet topics, I will weekly post what I am learning and any thoughts concerning the subjects. Classmates will have the opportunity to give their opinions or offer any additions by commenting on the posts.