What is the Internet anyways?

We have come a long way since 1994 as is evident from this news clip featuring Katie Couric. Enjoy!



So, in today's "modern-age" we must have a presence upon these "billboards" others can access through a "vast network of computers that is getting bigger every day."

From BBS (bulletin board systems) to mIRC and America Online people around the entire planet can now carry entire encyclopedias and others' whole lives within their pockets or purses. Making one self visible has become vastly simpler, but now there is clutter and static to contend with. A bubble within the crest of a wave will have a difficult time making itself more noticeable than the surrounding whitewash it is a part of. This is today's Internet. A vast ocean of information that when looked at from a high enough vantage point appears as more of a singular body and the difficulty to distinguish characteristics within the mass requires dedication by the noticer and the noticee.

Since attention spans have been altered due to the access to everything available a source of information must be easy to understand, eye-catching, and interesting. The Quark Nova site reminded me of the blogspot site I made for friends and family while my wife and I were away in Latin America, here's a link: www.mikeandfaith.blogspot.com.

The blog developed and expanded as time passed and features were added to the site. I realized the importance of the side bars in relation to the top menu. The side bars were always visible and somewhat unchanging, which is good, people don't like change. Uniformity is key, confusing the audience making them feel as if they left the site can lead to complete abandonment and loss of interest. Our blog was intended to update our network of friends and family and promote certain organizations/movements. We added links to these organizations and films, using the top menu. After looking at Quark Nova I realized how important a Home Page is. We let the continuous blog be the Home Page, we probably would do that differently if we were to do it again.

We went through the process of publishing our blog into a book through web converter websites such as www.blog2print.com and www.lulu.com. We were going to market the blog-book, but decided the information within the blog was personal and shouldn't be exploited. There are people mentioned within the blog who wouldn't be benefitting from my profitting of their story. Instead we made printed versions of the book available only to certain individuals: family and friends. Lulu.com is an amazing site, upload a pdf file, create a page, and you set the price.

I like the personal feel of the Quark Nova site, it feels like a person is in charge, and they are entrepreneurially selling their own products. Websites from giant corporations have that sterile and squeaky-clean perfect look that feels disinfected and inhuman. A website should invite you in to have a cup of coffee and sit on the couch for a minute. Quark Nova gives enough information to be able to get the concept without having to read volumes, excellent style especially with today's shorter attention spans. The site doesn't feel like a consumer frenzy erratic buy-now! While supplies last! kind of site. Nobody likes those, and they lead to empty consumption.

I hope to create a web presence similar to the Quark Nova site for the community I will be spending the Summer with. I hope to be able to take the "come in, have some coffee and sit on the couch for a minute" and turn it into: actually leave your computer screen, your surroundings, and experience something new. Seeing Quark Nova's site I feel like I could even make their business site a blog-style site, which is great because I have no experience with any other style of webmastering. I hope to show the experience, tell the story, and offer services in a succinct, eye-catching, informative, and inviting way. I believe I will be able to accomplish that, and am excited to potentially assist my friends in Guatemala with the skills I am currently polishing.

1080pHDW200Samsung

So, after creating the video for this class I realized that my Olympus TOUGH is a little subpar for the task I would like it for. The images it captures are quality stills, but the video comes out unclear and poor quality. I have decided to try out a different camera and after some research the Samsung W200 seemed like the best choice. I am going to be needing a camera that is concealable, rugged, but shoots quality footage. The Samsung W200 records at 1080p Full HD is waterproof and shockproof. I have been getting used to its functions and capabilities since I received it in the mail just this week. So far I am content, of course it lacks a lot of the fine tuning that higher end cameras are capable of, but I needed to make a compromise between these types of features to achieve the concealability and ruggedness my field research will require. This class has helped me come to this conclusion, I thank everyone for the constructive criticism and I'm sure the community will appreciate the final product (promo film) a lot more now too.

I will also be submitting my UFVA application soon, as the deadline approaches.