So i checked out the tutorial recommended at Net.Tutor
The source i have chosen to use is Wedding Central Australia
Title: Wedding Central Australia
Publication: Wedding Central Australia Pty Ltd
Date Accessed: 31 January 2009
Date Publishing - Ongoing - 2009
Author: No details provided
The main purpose of this site is to provide people of Australia one of the biggest wedding directories online. It's directories provide information & links to anything you need to create your special day. It stems from function venues, decorators, entertainment, videographers etc which is Australia wide. This site also provides online forums, photo galleries, announcements etc. I believe based on the Net.tutor and from my research on this site, it is very reliable & has the credibility for anyone to trust and use this information provided. The site has authority as Wedding Central Australia is a very well known wedding company that controls many aspects of the industry including bridal expos, wedding magazines and has a huge presence online. I'd imagine the authors would be employees of the company who put the website together and get all the information approved by managers before submitting the information online.
Content - Each directory record has a website link and also a profile which provides more information about about the business & also allows for reviews & testimonials. With a site like a directory based site you must always go directly to the business you found to find out more, it only is an introduction to each business.
The information is current and added to the site on an ongoing basis & changes when a business changes it's status. The site also does provide recognition to other websites & vice versa with other prestige wedding businesses.
When choosing whether which body of information when to refer back to this site would probably be going to the original site. Reason being is because my view could come across as bias as i show my appreciation for the site and the favourtism for the site over others. Others may not have a good experience when searching this site, they may not like the design, user friendliness of it or other reasons. Also my annotation could become old and the site may continue to update & improve OR go bad after my annotate is published, therefore making my view unreliable.
In terms of external users to help judge whether this site is useful or not would be to first look at who publishes the information, for eg Wedding Central Australia. My annotate would help them review the site as it provides good feedback as to what the main purpose is, why it is credible & reliable and a direct link to the site. An about us, reviews & open forums judge if it is useful or of interest to them.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Module 4 - Boolean searching task
First i began reading up on Boolean Searching on the Internet
I remember doing something similar when i did information technology for the HSC, wow that was a long time to ago! These tutorials and search techniques i find really helpful, i really do struggle when searching the web, especially for technical accounting rulings for work, i can never seem to find what i'm looking for, but i am getting better and really starting to understand how to get my answers quickly & smartly.
So the key words i previously used were with an additional word function "Sydney Wedding Venues Function"
I think to get the best results with accurate findings i should use AND, therefore
"+sydney +wedding +venues + functions" Lets see... I actually got 113,000 hits for this one, the information is relevant and gives me exactly what i am after.
Lets try OR instead and see if this is better... "Sydney wedding functions OR Venues". This actually came up with better results giving 143,000 hits. So using OR has proven to give the biggest number of hits.
Overall the both search options used have given relevant information so that isn't a concern for either techniques.
Lets give it one more go, lets try NOT "Sydney Wedding Venues NOT Melbourne"
It has given us 510,000 hits BUT, yep wait there is a but, when looking at the search results the URLS provided don't really give me the answers i am looking for, don't get me wrong there are still relavant sites here but its a time waster to have to trail through each one to find what i am looing for. Also there are no unversity sources
I remember doing something similar when i did information technology for the HSC, wow that was a long time to ago! These tutorials and search techniques i find really helpful, i really do struggle when searching the web, especially for technical accounting rulings for work, i can never seem to find what i'm looking for, but i am getting better and really starting to understand how to get my answers quickly & smartly.
So the key words i previously used were with an additional word function "Sydney Wedding Venues Function"
I think to get the best results with accurate findings i should use AND, therefore
"+sydney +wedding +venues + functions" Lets see... I actually got 113,000 hits for this one, the information is relevant and gives me exactly what i am after.
Lets try OR instead and see if this is better... "Sydney wedding functions OR Venues". This actually came up with better results giving 143,000 hits. So using OR has proven to give the biggest number of hits.
Overall the both search options used have given relevant information so that isn't a concern for either techniques.
Lets give it one more go, lets try NOT "Sydney Wedding Venues NOT Melbourne"
It has given us 510,000 hits BUT, yep wait there is a but, when looking at the search results the URLS provided don't really give me the answers i am looking for, don't get me wrong there are still relavant sites here but its a time waster to have to trail through each one to find what i am looing for. Also there are no unversity sources
Module 4 - Searching the Web
So close yet so far, the end is almost near and i have only a few tasks to get through, lately i have been reflecting so much about this subject and the many tools i will take away from it, there is so much that people don't know about the internet & it's communication. I'm thinking that high schools should really make a compulsory internet subject, i think it is going to be needed in the future, i also think it should be a core subject for any bachelor degree, EVERY single person will use it & will be able to take this information away with them in any workforce chosen!!
OK WOW i got 164,000 hits!!! See below: I have copied & paste my results into paint for your reference!!
Now.. I'm using Copernic to search through 3 search engines. Tried setting up the 3 search engines in Copernic, but i have no idea how to do it? I searched the help online and when i search it goes to sponsored links only?? I can't seem to find where i can insert my three different search engines to use, when i click on the "Web" icon, it goes straight to Copernic Find? . Does Copernic even have the option to trail through other search engines with our choosing? Argh this is so frustrating, i'm going to the webct discussion board to see if anyone else has had this problem. Be right back...
Overall, i would NEVER use Copernic to trail the internet for searching the web, it needs to stick to searching your network and thats about it!!! Pretty ordinary experience with Copernic but can't go wrong with Google. Is results provided me with exactly what i was looking for & they were pretty accurate. Not that i need to use 164K results BUT it's better than 83 and gave me more options than Copernic.
Neways back to the topic, Searching the Web! I think this experiment will be fun.
So we have to choose our most commonly used search engine & do a search with words of my choosing. Well Google is the only place i go to search, no one else even gets a thought! Ok i'm going to search for "Sydney Wedding Venues"
OK WOW i got 164,000 hits!!! See below: I have copied & paste my results into paint for your reference!!
Here are the first five hits for this search:
Now.. I'm using Copernic to search through 3 search engines. Tried setting up the 3 search engines in Copernic, but i have no idea how to do it? I searched the help online and when i search it goes to sponsored links only?? I can't seem to find where i can insert my three different search engines to use, when i click on the "Web" icon, it goes straight to Copernic Find? . Does Copernic even have the option to trail through other search engines with our choosing? Argh this is so frustrating, i'm going to the webct discussion board to see if anyone else has had this problem. Be right back...In the mean time i'm going to put "sydney wedding venues" in the Search box and choose "All" and see what happens. Yep it says no matching documents but brings up 83 web results. The results only seem tp come from Google & Ask.com?? The search doesn't even compare to searching directly from a search engine, why would anyone want to waste there time with this? Copernic is so basic and i find it so hard to use when searching the web...
I just had a look at Jamies blog and he seems to have the same problem when searching the "deep web"! Phew, i'm not the only one who can't navigate around this site.. OK I worked it out, the home version only allows you to search from their criteria. From the search results it did allow me to search other search engines including: Google, Ask.com, Windows Live & Yahoo.com . But no deep web! However the first five hits of this search brings up Google only. See below for my results!
Overall, i would NEVER use Copernic to trail the internet for searching the web, it needs to stick to searching your network and thats about it!!! Pretty ordinary experience with Copernic but can't go wrong with Google. Is results provided me with exactly what i was looking for & they were pretty accurate. Not that i need to use 164K results BUT it's better than 83 and gave me more options than Copernic. Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Module 4 - Downloading Tools/Plug ins Task
1. Adobe PDF Reader
I already have Adobe's PDF Reader on every computer i own. I find this program one of the most used programs i have simply because it allows me to PDF anything i want. This is great because i can share my documents with other people that have all kinds of PDF viewers. It is user friendly, fast & has many built in features to collaborate your electronic documents. I mainly use this program for PDF'ing invoices, CV's, letters, spreadsheets, & financial data. When preparing something in word or excel it is easy to convert to a PDF file and send to a client, this also enables the client to see it in a clean format rather than opening the actual file use to create the document.
2. Shockwave player
So i clicked on the "Check this page" on webct to see if i have a flash or shockwave application, to my surprise it asked me to install the program. I really should invest in a good one so i installed the Adobe Flash Player . So i installed it, really quick & easy to do! I have to say though Adobe's website is incredible, just looking at there flash demonstration entices you to have their product! This program will come in handy when i download my favourite shows which i have always wanted to do but never got around to it :)
3. Media Player
I already have Windows Media Player which i think works great, again it is easy to use & loads really quickly. So i downloaded Real Time Player for this experiment. This website is also really hi-tech and up their with Adobe. SO i downloaded the Basic Real Player which was really easy to do. In a matter of minutes i had this brand new spanking player on my PC. When comparing to Media Player they both offer the same features & interact with many other programs. I think i like the look of Windows Media Player better when it comes to the actual play, stop, etc panel. Although i really like the Real Player features with it's built in online movie library, i love the fact that it is all right there and you don't need to go searching for movies. The only difference between the full featured player and basic is that you can't burn from this player which is fine because i use Nero for burning anyway. It also gives you 500 movies instead of 200 in the library but hey 200 movies is pretty good! And for what i'd use it for limited audio & visual control would be suitable for my needs.
4. Search Managers/Combiners
So i'm thinking..... A search manager, to be honest i've never used one before and do i really need it! Well let's download it and see what the fuss is all about... I chose Copernic for this experiment. Downloading the program was quick & easy to do, now to test the program to see if it works. Ok so i'm going to search for my concept project file which is currently in Microsoft word. Lets see if it can find it?
Yep, it quickly assembles the search results with your different criteria. So i tried a few more files and i have to say it is pretty accurate and so quick. I think this would be really good to use at work when searching in a client directory or my email directory to be able to find a file quickly, i always seem to have this problem and it takes me forever to find files sometimes, with Copernic it enables the user to gain access quickly & efficiently. Not bad at all!!! I don't think it will benefit using this program for private use but would definitely gain productivity time for business use. I also like the fact that it separates web results from desktop results, it is user friendly. However i have heard of scenarios where people have used search programs and were unable to locate the file or email even though they know it is on their hard drive! Has anyone experienced that and if it is true then why bother with a search program that doesn't do it's job.
5. Bookmark Manager
When learning about this in our topics i always thought that they would not be useful for me as i rarely would need to manage my bookmarks. But i guess we can only try... so i downloaded BookMark Buddy. This program managers your bookmarks & favourites which enables you to find bookmarks quickly & filter by date, rating & site changes. I think the best feature that this program offers is that it checks the status of your bookmarked sites in the background to see whether they have been updated or move since the last time you used it. In my personal experience this gets me everytime, i go to use a bookmark from my favourites and all of a sudden it's gone. This would be the only reason why i would use this program! The only other feature i like is that it maintains your lists based on what you recently visited, favourites etc. Other than that i don't think i'd use this program on a day to day run, i'm to lazy & don't have enough bookmarks to manage...
6. Offline/Browser Copier
I have never used an offline copier before but i would think that it would be very useful when working on uni projects & searching for information. The fact that it can save complete copies of your sites & almost anything online for later study is GENIUS. For example when researching & preparing for my concepts project i had countless websites running at the same time, but if i had to finish up and wanted to remember & keep all this information, this offline copier would be able to store all this information for me to be able to work on it later and offline. This program is extremely efficient for business & personal use and i would recommend anyone to use it.
Out of all the programs i downloaded today i would have to say that the flash player & offline copier would be the ones i'd use most. Flashplayer for lifestyle reasons & offline copier for university & studying reasons. From this experiment today i have definitely learnt some great tools to take away with me to make me a more efficient user in the online & offline environment of the internet.
I already have Adobe's PDF Reader on every computer i own. I find this program one of the most used programs i have simply because it allows me to PDF anything i want. This is great because i can share my documents with other people that have all kinds of PDF viewers. It is user friendly, fast & has many built in features to collaborate your electronic documents. I mainly use this program for PDF'ing invoices, CV's, letters, spreadsheets, & financial data. When preparing something in word or excel it is easy to convert to a PDF file and send to a client, this also enables the client to see it in a clean format rather than opening the actual file use to create the document.
2. Shockwave player
So i clicked on the "Check this page" on webct to see if i have a flash or shockwave application, to my surprise it asked me to install the program. I really should invest in a good one so i installed the Adobe Flash Player . So i installed it, really quick & easy to do! I have to say though Adobe's website is incredible, just looking at there flash demonstration entices you to have their product! This program will come in handy when i download my favourite shows which i have always wanted to do but never got around to it :)
3. Media Player
I already have Windows Media Player which i think works great, again it is easy to use & loads really quickly. So i downloaded Real Time Player for this experiment. This website is also really hi-tech and up their with Adobe. SO i downloaded the Basic Real Player which was really easy to do. In a matter of minutes i had this brand new spanking player on my PC. When comparing to Media Player they both offer the same features & interact with many other programs. I think i like the look of Windows Media Player better when it comes to the actual play, stop, etc panel. Although i really like the Real Player features with it's built in online movie library, i love the fact that it is all right there and you don't need to go searching for movies. The only difference between the full featured player and basic is that you can't burn from this player which is fine because i use Nero for burning anyway. It also gives you 500 movies instead of 200 in the library but hey 200 movies is pretty good! And for what i'd use it for limited audio & visual control would be suitable for my needs.
4. Search Managers/Combiners
So i'm thinking..... A search manager, to be honest i've never used one before and do i really need it! Well let's download it and see what the fuss is all about... I chose Copernic for this experiment. Downloading the program was quick & easy to do, now to test the program to see if it works. Ok so i'm going to search for my concept project file which is currently in Microsoft word. Lets see if it can find it?
Yep, it quickly assembles the search results with your different criteria. So i tried a few more files and i have to say it is pretty accurate and so quick. I think this would be really good to use at work when searching in a client directory or my email directory to be able to find a file quickly, i always seem to have this problem and it takes me forever to find files sometimes, with Copernic it enables the user to gain access quickly & efficiently. Not bad at all!!! I don't think it will benefit using this program for private use but would definitely gain productivity time for business use. I also like the fact that it separates web results from desktop results, it is user friendly. However i have heard of scenarios where people have used search programs and were unable to locate the file or email even though they know it is on their hard drive! Has anyone experienced that and if it is true then why bother with a search program that doesn't do it's job.
5. Bookmark Manager
When learning about this in our topics i always thought that they would not be useful for me as i rarely would need to manage my bookmarks. But i guess we can only try... so i downloaded BookMark Buddy. This program managers your bookmarks & favourites which enables you to find bookmarks quickly & filter by date, rating & site changes. I think the best feature that this program offers is that it checks the status of your bookmarked sites in the background to see whether they have been updated or move since the last time you used it. In my personal experience this gets me everytime, i go to use a bookmark from my favourites and all of a sudden it's gone. This would be the only reason why i would use this program! The only other feature i like is that it maintains your lists based on what you recently visited, favourites etc. Other than that i don't think i'd use this program on a day to day run, i'm to lazy & don't have enough bookmarks to manage...
6. Offline/Browser Copier
I have never used an offline copier before but i would think that it would be very useful when working on uni projects & searching for information. The fact that it can save complete copies of your sites & almost anything online for later study is GENIUS. For example when researching & preparing for my concepts project i had countless websites running at the same time, but if i had to finish up and wanted to remember & keep all this information, this offline copier would be able to store all this information for me to be able to work on it later and offline. This program is extremely efficient for business & personal use and i would recommend anyone to use it.
Out of all the programs i downloaded today i would have to say that the flash player & offline copier would be the ones i'd use most. Flashplayer for lifestyle reasons & offline copier for university & studying reasons. From this experiment today i have definitely learnt some great tools to take away with me to make me a more efficient user in the online & offline environment of the internet.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Concept Research & how i am going with it!
Hi Guys
HaPpY AuStRaLiA DaY - Go the Green & Gold
So i have been working on my concepts project over the last few days and thought i'd give you an update as to how i am travelling.
HaPpY AuStRaLiA DaY - Go the Green & Gold
So i have been working on my concepts project over the last few days and thought i'd give you an update as to how i am travelling.
Firstly i found it really hard to choose concepts that were right for me, there were so many interesting ones and it took me a good while to get the 4 of topic! The research has been time consuming & i have been creating notes ever since, I think the hardest part so far is having to choose the particular path you want to take each project! There is so many things you can discuss so i went on what interested me the most. I also found it really difficult to get into really deep writing, don't you think it's hard to do in only 500 words? You're just beginning. So trying to keep it to the point & down in words + also get my point across was a mission. I am almost done, now i have to put together & make it a damn good project!
For me this project is one of a kind. It has been really hard to get everything together & to even grasp the idea of what we even have to do. I have never done anything like this before & so i hope i have done each project right!! Fingers crossed! The threads on Webct & Cynthias tips have been really helpful & have sent me in the right direction.
I am hoping to finalise my findings & write up a final draft of each concept over the next week. Summer school is almost coming to an end and i can't believe how fast it has come and gone. I am so glad i chose this subject even though it has taken me on a ride - Good & bad. I sure have come out on top ;)
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Module 3 - Web 2.0
I briefly touched on Web 2.0 already in a previous post but shall dissect more in this post!
There definitely was a stand still time in the history of the internet where it went from published media with no two way interaction to a full blown beast of communication sharing entirely new concepts and social applications!!
In the early days the internet consisted of (Web 1.0):
One way directed websites
Publishing media & information
Business websites
Basic web design
Personal websites (Home Pages)
Mainly Written Data (read, read, read)
What the internet consists of now (Web 2.0):
Technological interactivity with websites & services
Social networking & two way interaction
Self Publishing & creating communities
Visual & Audio data introduced
Mainstream business management & systems (I can see the dollar bills)
Blogs
Communication, communication, communication
Tim O'Reilly provides a more detailed explanation on What is Web 2.0. This is good because a beginner can still understand and see the comparison clearly of Web 1.0 to Web 2.0. Has anyone checked out Darren Barefoot, this guy is from Canada and provides the best comparison by far, you can check it out Web 1.0 vs. Web 2.0 (And he uses a blog to share his ideas to)
There definitely was a stand still time in the history of the internet where it went from published media with no two way interaction to a full blown beast of communication sharing entirely new concepts and social applications!!
In the early days the internet consisted of (Web 1.0):
One way directed websites
Publishing media & information
Business websites
Basic web design
Personal websites (Home Pages)
Mainly Written Data (read, read, read)
What the internet consists of now (Web 2.0):
Technological interactivity with websites & services
Social networking & two way interaction
Self Publishing & creating communities
Visual & Audio data introduced
Mainstream business management & systems (I can see the dollar bills)
Blogs
Communication, communication, communication
Tim O'Reilly provides a more detailed explanation on What is Web 2.0. This is good because a beginner can still understand and see the comparison clearly of Web 1.0 to Web 2.0. Has anyone checked out Darren Barefoot, this guy is from Canada and provides the best comparison by far, you can check it out Web 1.0 vs. Web 2.0 (And he uses a blog to share his ideas to)
The list can go on and i must say i don't think i could live without most of these communicative tools, i'd say most people would agree...
The main idea here is that the internet prior to Web 2.0 was STILL, no talking just Shhh!! Web 2.0 is about TALK TALK TALK!!! Web 2.0 breaks down information & data to the very core, there are no hidden cameras here!! It's all about sharing and communicating and the best part is you don't need to be an expert to do it!
The benefits are countless, everyone can contribute, learn more, share more, see more, teach more, feel more, earn more and communicate more!! And thats only just the beginning..
The main idea here is that the internet prior to Web 2.0 was STILL, no talking just Shhh!! Web 2.0 is about TALK TALK TALK!!! Web 2.0 breaks down information & data to the very core, there are no hidden cameras here!! It's all about sharing and communicating and the best part is you don't need to be an expert to do it!
The benefits are countless, everyone can contribute, learn more, share more, see more, teach more, feel more, earn more and communicate more!! And thats only just the beginning..
Which format do you think you would like better and why?
When comparing the blinklist to the HTML Version the answer immediately stares you in the face! The blinklist format wins hands down!! Medal goes to blinklist :) Reason being is because it's clean, consice, holds a great web design & is presented well. It is easy to navigate and is very user friendly. It has all the characteristics a websites needs to be successful. Look at the HTML version and it screams confusing, messy, dull and on to the next website please! This html version would not win over any users as it is not presented clear and even though there is the same amount of hyperlinks as the blinklist site it seems like way to many in that format. It's not usable in todays Web 2.0 as it doesn't provide anything other than plain text.
You can justify that the HTML version looks more like a Web 1.0 website and the Blinklist looks more like a Web 2.0 website because the Blinklist shows google ad words, visual & audio presentation, two way communication with comments, votes and a virtual community for users where as the HTML version doesn't.
Welcome Web 2.0!! I love everything about it and love the fact that it is growing more each day!
I can't even begin to wonder what the next step in online communication will be?? You can think that there is no possible way to advance from where we are but someone will find a way.
Web 3.0 here we come!! Yippeee!!
Monday, January 12, 2009
Module 3 - Legal Issues
This is an interesting topic because there is a fine line when it comes to copyright online and with the massive range of information how is everyone supposed to keep up with what is being published? Is there a way of protecting copyright in such a huge medium like the internet?
To find out more about how it is protected i went to the suggested Copyright Website!
So basically everything can be copyrighted online except for ideas, titles & names & short phrases. This is interesting, so my website BuyMyPet for instance, i cannot copyright the idea of selling pets & pet goods & services online through a third party medium such as us OR i can't copyright our title buymypet but i can copyright the logo we have created? right? The guidelines do not seem to be fine tuned enough.. So i looked further into the Fair Use Test. Ok so if someone pretty much took our logo and used it for commercial purposes i could sue them? Well that is good to know :) I also quickly went through the How to file a copyright to ensure we have copyrighted our site correctly, based on these facts stated at benedict i am safe! Phew! I decided to check out the copyright legalities in Australia by Copyright Agency Limited. This site is also good as it explains how you cannot copy other users materials & how to protect your site from nasty copycats! I think i would go MeNtaL if i saw my logo elsewhere, wouldn't you just flip out!!!!
So in answer to your questions...
I checked out Curtin's copyright & policy documents to see if i can find whether we are allowed to include the Curtin logo in an assessment? After much searching around i finally found the logo use procedure which defines that the Logo cannot be used as it is a registered trademark and if you wanted to include the logo you would need to get prior approval from the Executive Director of Corporate Communications. Therefore it cannot be used as it is protected from unauthorised use.
I have not used any images or words in my blog or webpage that contravene these laws of copyright. I have only provided links to other peoples sites which is just sharing more information.
To find out more about how it is protected i went to the suggested Copyright Website!
So basically everything can be copyrighted online except for ideas, titles & names & short phrases. This is interesting, so my website BuyMyPet for instance, i cannot copyright the idea of selling pets & pet goods & services online through a third party medium such as us OR i can't copyright our title buymypet but i can copyright the logo we have created? right? The guidelines do not seem to be fine tuned enough.. So i looked further into the Fair Use Test. Ok so if someone pretty much took our logo and used it for commercial purposes i could sue them? Well that is good to know :) I also quickly went through the How to file a copyright to ensure we have copyrighted our site correctly, based on these facts stated at benedict i am safe! Phew! I decided to check out the copyright legalities in Australia by Copyright Agency Limited. This site is also good as it explains how you cannot copy other users materials & how to protect your site from nasty copycats! I think i would go MeNtaL if i saw my logo elsewhere, wouldn't you just flip out!!!!
So in answer to your questions...
I checked out Curtin's copyright & policy documents to see if i can find whether we are allowed to include the Curtin logo in an assessment? After much searching around i finally found the logo use procedure which defines that the Logo cannot be used as it is a registered trademark and if you wanted to include the logo you would need to get prior approval from the Executive Director of Corporate Communications. Therefore it cannot be used as it is protected from unauthorised use.
I have not used any images or words in my blog or webpage that contravene these laws of copyright. I have only provided links to other peoples sites which is just sharing more information.
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