Blog Assignment No. 5

Colour has different connotations within different cultures, so it's important to keep that in mind when designing a website. A colour, such as red, can have such vastly differing meanings to people (Western: anger, China: joy). While deciding on a colour scheme for a website, the designer should work around who the audience of the site will be. If it is intended for a variety of cultures, then neutral colours might be considered over ones with strong cultural connotation.

Blog Assignment No. 4

Dr. Jakob Nielson is a useability expert; The New York Times has called Nielsen "the king of useability." Wikipedia says, "Web usability is a general approach: it is as much about the effectiveness of transferring information via the internet as it is about the smooth interaction of an end-user with online (and offline) software. With web browsers becoming a greater part of the interaction between humans and electronic devices, the terms "usability" and "web usability" overlap in numerous ways."
But despite Nielson's guru status in all things web, his site, http://www.useit.com/, is ugly as hell. He tries to justify it with question/answer pages (Why this site has almost no graphics) but his answers are lame and a cop out. He is known as the useability standard, but in this day and age useability and esthetics can go hand-in-hand--and should.

Blog Assignment No. 3

W3C is the World Wide Web Consortium, which works together to develop standards for the internet. The mission statement on their site, http://www.w3.org/Consortium/, states:

"To lead the World Wide Web to its full potential by developing protocols and guidelines that ensure long-term growth for the Web."

Blog Assignment No. 2

One of my favourite websites would have to be YouTube, of course. This is because of the endless videos anyone can upload in a matter of seconds, and the ease by which they can by accessed. And the fact that I am on it does not hurt, either.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=OnkVeJbFOpc

My other favourite site is MySpace. Call me a trendwhore, but I check both these sites on a regular basis for new videos and music. I find MySpace easy to navigate through, and a good source for new music. And...I am once again on this site, too.

http://myspace.com/conquerbysupremacy2

Blog Assignment No. 1

I think my favourite blog of all time would have to be one I came across after its author left a comment about one of my posts. Lettuce Prey Four Whilred Peas is an absolutely beautiful blend of images and inner thoughts. Although it is only updated monthly, the posts the author adds are insightful and memorable, and make up for the lack of quantity with their quality.
My favourite quote from the blog is from the November 15th entry of 2006:

"Like you, I once was.......like me, you shall be........put that on my tombstone."

Another blog I guiltily frequent, which is on the other side of the scale of sense and morals, is the infamousPerez Hilton.com. There's something about getting lost in the shame of others that is disgustingly appealing, which I discuss in a post on my personal blog:

The Worship of False Idols with False Eyelashes