Assessment - Week 13

Blogger: originally the design of my blog was influenced by my favorite colour green. a few weeks ago i came across a picture i liked which influenced me to update my blog. i chose a template which i thought to be well laid out and that would suit the image i wanted to use. i would have liked to place it in the top left hand corner of my blog but didn't know how to achieve this so i made it as part of my header. ideally i would have situated further to the right so that it sat directly above my posts but unfortunately i have to control over this. i also would have liked to include a backgound similar to one i found on the web. even without these elements i still feel that i have achieved 'interestingness' and good aesthetics on my blog. the pale colour scheme makes it bright enough to draw attention but not so bright that it is too harsh on the viewers eyes. it generates a cool, relaxing feel which makes it inviting for web browsers to stay and visit my page. i have a range of links with something in every post allowing visitors to explore different pages which are related to the topics. i believe range and variety are very important for 'interestingness' . when things begin to get repeated they become over used and boring. Flickr: i chose to display small images and sets as i thought this format provided the neatest layout. with pictures varying in size, the page still looks neat if they are only spread two wide. the sets on the right hand side provide a quick link to the categories my photos are in. i think usefulness runs parallel to 'interestingness'. the content of my photos ranges from things which are of interest of me, images i find for my friends and family, as well as images i think would be of general interest to any visitors i have come to my site. i also feel that my site functions well as i have photos in the correct sets and an adequate list of contacts who's photos i (and others) can also access with ease. Del.icio.us: although we have little control over the layout of delicious, there are some minor things we can change to improve its aesthetics. i have achieved this by bundling my tags in to appropriate categories and cross referencing any tags which may fall under different headings. appropriate descriptions and comments for each bookmark add to the accessibility and function of the page. i have a high level of content with many bookmarks which i have saved not only for my self but for others too. i have saved websites which i browse for leisure as well as sites which are useful when it comes to research projects and assignments for my classes. the balance between function and content is very clear in delicious. all content is relevant to the user and the functions for accessing the content are clear and well presented.

Visitors

i have been assessing the 'interestingness' of my blog by recording the number of visitors i have on my site. if the count often increases i know that my blog is interesting as people continue to access it. i have chosen to use a sitemeter counter. it allows me to look at statistics such as average visiting time and the location they are visiting from. most visitors are from Australia but i have had a few from America, Canada and Hong Kong as well. i can also see how well my flickr account is going by the number of views i have on each of my photos. flickr records this statistic automatically which is very useful. in del.icio.us the number of people who list themselves as a fan informs me of the usefulness of my site.

Aesthetics

the term aesthetics describes how something looks such as a web page a print article, a poster etc. the subject may have good aesthetics or poor aesthetics. when looking at the aesthetics that create 'interestingness' it is important to look at the form rather than the content. the way that something is or appears to be can still be interesting even if the message contained in the artistic work is dull. as i was browsing the internet i came across a page which i thought to have good aesthetics - Aesthetics Inc. immediately the three photos of water features and architecture stand out, grasping the viewers attention. they are well balanced on the page with the background pattern linking them together. the back ground is a pale blue with a few thin white lines which add to the pages 'interestingness' without taking attention away from its main focus. the page heading is in a captivating font which fits the theme of the page. links and buttons are neatly and clearly set out around the center photo, with the main links having different colours to make them more distinguishable from the background. i also came across a page which i found to have very poor aesthetics. the heading was the same size, colour and font as the rest of the text. there were no photos or other images and no background colour or pattern. this web page is simply text. the only postive i saw was that it had contrast.

Missy Higgins

last night i went down to melbourne to see missy higgins final show of her 'on a clear night' tour. it was a fantastic night. she played a mixture of her old songs from the 'sound of white' album as well as some of her new songs. she also played a fleetwood mac cover with her dad which was really sweet. once again missy put on an energetic and engaging performance which failed to dissapoint.

Technorati

today i signed up for a technorati account. Technorati is a search engine for blogs and the like. it gives you rankings on the popularity of your blog and an authority which is the number of links there are to your blog from other sites. Technorati Profile

Google

i've been sitting at my computer all day trying and trying to get my essay done but every few sentances are followed by a distraction. i've checked my e-mail, updated by delicious and flickr accounts and thought it was time to move onto blogger. alas it has been a rather uneventfull couple of days and i was stretching for a topic to make a new post, my brain already exhausted from all the "work" i haven't been doing. then i thought of something that i know many people have had hours of fun searching for on the internet and someting which i had always thought to be a waste of time - googling your own name! so i went to google and typed it in knowing i probably wasn't going to find much. i have always felt my name to be rather simple and uninteresting. i keep trying to picture my name on the big screen as a director but to me Alex Brown has never seemed as entertaining as Baz Luhrmann or Steven Spielberg. as it turns out i can sing, dance and paint chinese ladies. i even found a girl the same age as me in scotland

RSS Feeds

"RSS is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated digital content, such as blogs, news feeds or podcasts." (wikipedia). Users subscribe to feed readers which allow them to check for any updated content on their links. more information on RSS feeds from wikipedia.

Interestingness

interestingness is very colourful word. i believe i have incorporated this element into my blog, delicious and flickr accounts in several ways. Blogger: i have made comments on multiple subjects on my blog to add variety. everything i write about is of interest to me but by broadening the subjects i talk about i hope to reach a wider audience as some may share all my interests, while others only a few. i like including lots of photos on my page because i believe plenty of colour and visuals is a major factor to making something interesting. Flickr: my flickr account includes many photos of family and friends which i have made private but i have also included pictures which i have made available to public in the hope that they will find them as interesting as i have. i think i have achieved this goal as i have recieved comments from flickr users other than those involved in mpi104. also some of my photos have been counted as favourites by other uses. Delicious: again i have a variety of links saved on this page. eachtime i visit a site which i believe i may find useful again i save it to my delicious account.

Assesment - Week 7

well assessment week is here and i'm hoping i have covered all the criteria on the check list. for this class i have set up and maintained 3 accounts: a blogspot, a flickr account and a del.icio.us account. all of these i have personalised and included elements which i find interesting. i hope these elements have also been interesting for others. BLOGSPOT: > i have made regular posts and tried to keep them on a weekely basis. in these posts i have included links and photos, altering the layouts post to post. > for the first few weeks of setting it up i experimented with colours, fonts, formats, layouts etc until i developed settings that i liked and that i found interesting. > over time i developed my profile and altered what parts of it i wanted others to be able to view. > i have included page elements such as a photo, lables, links to my other acocunts, links to other students accounts. also in the side bar i included a link to play sudoku online with a picture of sudoku. i like playing sudoku and i thought that others would enjoy it too. i hope people have been using it. > i have made comments on other students blogs on posts that i found of interest such as cindy's pavement art and driving tips, and jarrads welcome comment. FLICKR: > i have set up a profile and included a buddy icon which is also one of my photos on flickr. > i have progressivly uploaded more photos and saved favourites from other peoples collections. > all of my photos have labels and descriptions as well as the mpi-104 tag (except for my personal photos) > i have joined the mpi-104 group as well as two other groups. i have contributed photos to the mpi-104 group. > i have contacts, some of which i have made friends. > i have made comments on other peoples photos: jarrad, tia and cindy > i have included a general link to flickr on my blogs sidebar and also included a direct link to my own page in one of my comments. > i have left a comment on the ba-ma blog with a link to my account. DEL.ICIO.US: > i have progressivly saved bookmarks > at home i have put del.icio.us as my homepage. this has helped me in accessing pages i use evryday. a common link i use is one to msn encarta as i use it for research for assignments etc. > my posts all have descriptions and tags. > i have bundled tags. > i have subscribed to topics which are of interest to me > i have given the mpi-104 tag to appropriate links > i have joined networks > i have saved links for sirenic and clobear > i have bookmarked flickr, my blog and the mpi-104 blog. i also have a link to del.icio.us in my blog sidebar. > i have posted a working link to delicious on the ba-ma blog.

Welcome back

hope everyone had a great holiday and made it back to wagga safely. this term im going to try use the train to save money as i go home a fair bit.

Anzac Day, Essendon v Collingwood

ESSENDON v COLLINGWOOD

• Where and When: MCG, Wednesday April 25, 2.40pm
• Head to Head: Essendon 96 wins, Collingwood 114 wins, four draws.
• Last Time: Essendon 10.14 (74) d Collingwood 9.7 (61), round 19, 2006, at MCG.

SUMMARY This is the biggest match of the home-and-away series – and arguably the most passionately supported game of the entire season, along with the two preliminary finals, given that the Grand Final sees an unusually high number of uncommitted spectators. The pre-match atmosphere is soul-stirring, and Essendon and Collingwood usually put on a passionate contest to honour the Anzac tradition. The Bombers are back and firing – second on the ladder, with a 3-1 record spoiled only by the fadeout against Carlton in round three. They’ve already won as many matches as they did for the entire 2006 season. The return of skipper Matthew Lloyd and the injection of pace in the midfield and up-forward are obvious reasons for the turnaround, but so too is the renaissance of Adam McPhee on the half-back line after being hampered by osteitis for the past two seasons. Things are not so chirpy in Magpieland, where injuries are threatening to derail Collingwood’s season. Captain Nathan Buckley still has not appeared in 2007; acting skipper James Clement has missed a couple of games, and terrier midfielder Paul Licuria is expected to miss the Anzac Day clash. Other key Magpies are in doubt. There will be much invocation of the Anzac spirit in the next couple of days at the Lexus Centre. match review found at www.afl.com.au

Explosm

Explosm.net is great if you just want to fill in some time. there's movies, forums, articles, comics, art, merchandise.

Pictures on Flickr

Flickr is a great site for storing and sharing photos. click here to take a look at my photos. from there you can browse the site and look at photos from others

Steer - Missy Higgins

my favourite song at the moment is missy higgins newy - steer. its been a little while since missy was in the spot light but i think her new song is going to be a big winner. here is a link to her website where you can listen to her new song: missyhiggins.com

Happy Easter

i thought that this weekend brought forward a great topic to add to my blog. i found a site that discussed different traditions and symbols of easter other than christianity. its actually quite interesting. here is a link to the web page. from here you can also look up heaps of other traditions and events etc.