Task 4: Evaluating the Web

To start with, the recommend reading was unavailable, and has been for the last few days, so I was unable to do the readings, and unable to evaluate my source. I've written an annotation anyway.

Wigand, R., Benjamin, R., and Birkland, J. 2008. Web 2.0 and Beyond: Implications for Electronic Commerce. ACM International Conference Proceeding Series 342 (7): Article 7. ACM. http://portal.acm.org.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/citation.cfm?id=1409550&jmp=cit&coll=portal&dl=ACM&CFID=15605080&CFTOKEN=55032916#abstract

This article was produced by three authors, Wigand being from the university of Arkansas and Benjamin and Birkland from Syracuse. They collated the article to be presented at the ACM International Conference to demonstrate that Web 2.0 is impacting the direction of the internet and creating, and transforming electronic commerce (e-commerce). The intended audience for this article is those who are involved in the internet seeking further internet into the dynamics of Web 2.0. The main purpose of the article is to provide an understanding of consumers and commerce on the web. This is tackled by first defining Web 2.0, then discussing human psychology and its relationship to using the internet, followed by the implications which this creates. The standpoint made is that the world needs to embrace the way the internet is evolving and use it to develop the communities and networks in this space. The article is short and sweet and touches on all crucial points in a basic way. These authors have also used their previous works as reference to this article. While the article is very basic, it states its point clearly and concisely that the internet world is moving to satisfy peoples needs online.

I believe that annotations are more indepth than simply hyperlinking a site and that it is a useful skill to have.

Task 4: Organising Search Information

To record websites and web information to my computer I used my recently acquired tool "Webcopier", because I can title the page and keep copies of it at the time I used it..
The sites I saved were:
1. "Security Practicum: Essential Home Wireless Security Practices" by Ken Fisher of Ars Technica. This site gave tips and recommendations to help internet users secure their computers as much as possible.

2. "WLAN security: Looking Beyond WEP" by John Cox of Network World. This article talks about the redundancy of WEP and how it should no longer be used.

3. "Locking Down Your Wirless Network" by Jonathon Yarden, TechRepublic. This article again talks about how to secure a wireless network, and questions the insecurity of WEP.

Task 4: Boolean Search

MMM.... Boolean...
The biggest search I was able to create with WEP(and its keywords) was "WEP OR Wired OR Equivalent OR Privacy" with 31,800,000 hits, but I a lot of the results I received were irrelevant. The next biggest search I received was for "WEP" at 16,200,000 hits.

To find the most relevant information I found searching for "WEP OR (Wired AND Equivalent AND privacy) AND internet" (199,000 hits).

To receive a few results from universities I found the most successful results came from searching "WEP AND University" (926,000 hits).

Boolean language is a very useful tool, and I'll always use it whenever I'm looking for a specific result.

Task 4: Search Engines

Top 5 Google search hits for 'Wep':

Wired Equivalent Piracy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wired_Equivalent_Privacy

What is WEP? - A Word Definition From the Webopedia Computer
www.webopedia.com/TERM/W/WEP.html

(In)Security of the WEP algorithm
www.isaac.cs.berkeley.edu/isaac/wep-faq.html

802.11 WEP: Concepts and Vulnerability
www.wi-fiplanet.com/tutorials/article.php/1368661

WeP Peripherals Ltd.
www.wepindia.com

Top 5 Copernic hits for 'Wep':

WEP - Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WEP

What is WEP? - A Word Definition From the Webopedia Computer
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/W/WEP.html

Wired Equivalent Piracy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wired_Equivalent_Privacy

(In)Security of the WEP algorithm
http://www.isaac.cs.berkeley.edu/isaac/wep-faq.html

WEP. World Events Productions Makes TV the world remembers.
http://www.wep.com/

Both these searches gave some strange results (as usual) but neither more effective than the other. At first glance the multisearch looked promising, but if you look at wep.com, it's actually a television production website, and wepindia.com actually sells printers and consumables. Apart from that the searches came up with three common sites, and the others were information also about WEP. I don't think either search comes up with better results, they're both as flawed as the other, but Google, while limiting my searches as iTNews says, it'sjust so much simpler, faster, and more convenient to use.

Task 4 - Downloading Tools

The first program I thought I might try was Glooton, but because the website was entirely in french, and hence I really had no idea what I was downloading, I decided to try out Copernic instead. I've never heard of a program like this, so it was a new experience for me, but I also don't think I'll use it again. It is very clever and if I were looking for something to search the net so accurately then I might, but I don't do this frequently, and when I do, I'm embarrassed to say I use Google. I like the layout of Copernic but I found all the category options very overwhelming. It seems a little gimmicky to me, it's unnecessary, especially as a download. Why can't this tool be available as an online service? Kind of like Meebo is for chat programs.

The next application I'm trying is WebCopier "Trial Version" and can I ask straight up, why has it asked for my internet connection information? I'm curious.. Second why is it linked to Internet Explorer? I don't use internet Explorer. I don't like to encourage Microsoft, so I use Mozilla or Opera. And I recommend these tools to anyone.
This tool is interesting. It'll be interesting to use when I'm not in range of the internet. However I have portal internet (a little usb dongle) which I run my internet off, and so it's rare that I'm out of range. I also have a great 'roaming' download limit. I'm not too sure how often I will use this, but perhaps in a year or two ;) but I definately won't be buying this program.

Task 3: WWW Standards

After looking at a few sites for making a website, there seems to be a common understanding that there are certain rules that will help the site be used successfully by users. These can be minimal writing, appropriate use of links, writing for 'scanner' users, keep things simple and user friendly, and keep it interesting. I know my site doesn't utilise all these tools, and that I'm sure a lot of sites don't, but I think they could be on to something. I know I scan webpages, I never read them word for word. I also only giving pages a few seconds to load; if they don't then I go back to where I came from. IT'll be something I take into consideration next time I make a site.

When it comes to my site and copyright, then the only problem I can see (As long as the colour blue is copyrighted) is the chef picture I used. I'm unsure as to whether it's opensource or if it's someone's work :S. Which makes me a little nervous, but I'm sure if I was told by the html tutorial to use the image then I would presume that it's opensource... or I could be completely wrong and have stolen it. Either way I am now quite aware of what needs to be considered copyright and what can be used. I recently started putting together a website for my photography work (I used CMSimple, and a template) and noticed that to use the template I had to give permission to the artist to have his name at the bottom of my site, I really understand why this is required now.

Task 3: Ftp

The url of my uploaded page for those of you at Curtin:
http://student.curtin.edu.au/~13664648/

Task 3: Blogs

What's blogging like? Blogging is a little like writing in a diary except it's public. Why would someone write a public diary? There are actually a lot of uses for it. I've seen people try and get publicity for their businesses and themselves. They sell products in blogs, they journalise on public events, they detail tips they have, express information which they have, they make their opinions public to others, they stay in touch with friends and families. There isn't much bloggers don't do, and they're a very simple way for any user to make use of the internet. I think they can be very useful, and make up a large portion of the internet information out there.

Here a few blogs:
Nothern Norway
Texas Hockey
House for Sale

Task 3: Web 2.0

The comparison of Web 2.0 and Web 1.0 can be seen by looking at these two sites.
Internet Communications Blinklist

Html Version

Wow! This is a great example of how web 2.0 encourages information sharing, and communication, the expression of opinions and interaction. The html version is simple, basic, but quite limited. The web 2.0 version offers discussion between users, reviews and opinions through "blinks" and is some what more interactive and aesthetically pleasing to use. You can personalise your watchlists and contacts as well. The html version works, especially for older people who might find learning interactive versions quite overwhelming, but with the younger generation experiencing facebook, youtube, and friendster how can people go back? We have become accustomed to the lack of boundaries. This is the progression of technology and we can only expect to keep going forward, not back.

Task 3: HTML Tags

Task three of this course was quite interesting. I have learnt some basic html coding before, but never got excessively far after giving up in frustration. This time it was nice having some basic grounding. I didn't get frustrated straight away and actually had fun playing with the quirks of the coding. When I made mistakes I was happy to find I could find them quite quickly. The problems did start to arise however when I went to load the webpage to the presentations section of Curtins webct. First I had to figure out how to link the images correctly - which unfortunately took a while. Once I got them done, I had a bit of a tough time trying to get it to link to the public section so everyone could see it. I wasted a lot of time on this unfortunately :( But all's well that ends well. As you can see from the picture above, I got it finished and uploaded :)
It felt kind of good to work it all out. The site isn't flashy at all but I got it down :D and next time someone asks me to type html hopefully I'll be able to do a little bit more.
To compare this to blogging: let's face it blogging is a lot more intuitive and user friendly, but I get the sneaky suspicion that coding allows you to have more control over what you're doing. Perhaps you could compare it to driving a manual car to driving an automatic; more difficult to learn, but more fun to drive. At the end of the day there are uses for both of these tools, coding and WYSIWYG, so I guess it helps to know how to use both.