• Blog

  • Web 2.0 / Reading Response
  • 12:10 AM 04.01.2008

  • Link: What Is Web 2.0

    The dynamics of the today's internet has become such norm that it's a bit difficult for me to think back to the days where there weren't sites like del.icio.us, Facebook, or YouTube--what did I do online back then? I remember reading an article quite a while back about how the future trend of computer application will not be running on desktop but rather off a central server. I thought the idea was preposterous. Why would anyone want to do that? That's like going to the laundromat when you have a washing machine at home.

    Fast forward couple of years, dot-com crash, rise of Google and here we are on a web that is saturated with rich internet applications. Web apps have ("revolutionize" isn't quite the right word) improved the internet experience by moving data off the desktop on the web. Now instead of launching Microsoft Outlook at the home to check email, online email apps (Gmail, Yahoo Mail) are accessible from any location through a web browser. The current trend seems that Microsoft Office will be out of business in couple years as we will be doing all of our word processing and spreadsheets online through apps like Google Doc and Google Spreadsheet. However, something feels off with these rich internet applications. I still feel compelled to go back to Apple Mail to sift through my emails and using Word to write an essay. Perhaps we're in a transitional phase while the developers iron out the bugs and polish the software. I think in couple years when bandwidth cost comes down and computer hardware continue to improve, developers will have more freedom to add more features in without fearing loading issues. Until then web apps are still going to be more of a temporary solution rather than the one-stop solution.

  • Explorations

  • Presence
    • Assignment Description
    • Create a dynamic web site that changes based on the number of times a user visits the site. Use PHP's sessions to keep track the number of times a user has returned. Think of interesting or playful ways to take advantage of this basic interaction. Think of how the site would differ if it changed in response to all visits rather than just those of a single user.
    • Use images and CSS for the forms and the result to make the site visually interesting.
    • Launch Project
  • Memory
    • Assignment Description
    • Create a dynamic web site that asks a user for input and uses that input to display a result based on the responses. You can use any technique you want to interpret what the user input. The forms should be extensive enough to get an interesting amount of variation in the results.
    • Use images and CSS for the forms and the result to make the site visually interesting.
    • Launch Project
  • Database
    • Assignment Description
    • Exercise 03 focuses on creating databases to expand on the concept of memory. The assignment will focus on the design and development of a relational database to store items which are flexible enough to be used as blog posts, news articles, works in a portfolio, etc.
    • Create an administrative PHP page which allows you to input data into the database based on this template. Each item must be able to have a title, author, date, description, and image.
    • Your database must consist of at least 2 tables. The first table will hold your items (posts, articles, works), and the second will hold user comments on each item. The comments table should store the name, date, and comment and should be related to the first table using a foreign key. Create an execute a layout for your site. The focus for the design should be on displaying the items in an easy to navigate interface, and allowing for users to add comments to a particular item. Use XHTML, CSS, and JavaScript to create the design. Think about ways to use typography to show hierarchy and relationships between items on the page.
    • Launch Project
    • Download Source Code
  • Network
    • Assignment Description
    • Network structures are an important part of our everyday lives. Nearly any type of structured information can be displayed as a network showing relationships between elements.
    • Using the websites submitted by the class last week, news stories, blog entries, or any other type of structured information, create a Flash 8 interface to show the relationships between elements. Relationships can be categorical (taxonomic), tag/keyword based (folksonomic), date-based (temporal), or spatial/regional/geograpic. Consider the sites shown in class, in particular newsmap, workspheres, and the visual thesaurus. Your interface should allow the user to navigate the network to emphasize certain elements based on the relationships at play in the elements.
    • Your interface should use the techniques discussed in class for dynamic elements and loading information and images from external sources such as images and XML files. You may use on of the API's discussed in class, such as the google news atom feed as a source of your data.
    • Launch Project
    • Download Flash File

  • Final Project

  • Concept + Architecture
    • Assignment Description
    • The remaining 4 assignments are all related to the development of the final project. This project can use any of the technologies discussed in class, or any other technologies you feel are best suited for your project. The project should focus on utilizing the web as a medium in its own right and not simply as an easy way to deliver content to the masses. You are encouraged to work in a group for your final project, although this is not required. Partnering with another classmate may allow for a tighter focusing of skills and a more impressive and original final product.
    • Using Cloninger’s Understanding the Web as Media and O'Reilly's What Is Web 2.0 as references, determine how you will use the characteristics of the web to your advantage to create your dynamic site for this class. In a minimum of two hundred words, explain your thoughts.
    • Construct a map of your site’s page architecture. This map is your tool for explaining the experience of a visitor to the site. How many pages will you have and what will they be? How do you move from one page to another? Will your site simply be an index and articles, or will there be other supporting pages? Will there be a page of abstracts or category pages? Will visitors be able to search or post comments?
    • Be prepared to present your idea to the class. You must be prepared to contextualize your project and explain how it taps into fundamental features of the web and how it approaches the web as more than just a content delivery mechanism. List sites that are related to your idea and be prepared to discuss what technologies you think are best suited to achieve the goals of the project. After the presentations we will discuss possible connections between projects and students are free to meet up and create groups to work together on the final project.
    • Download Site Map + Mock-up [PDF]
  • Design + Technical Studies
    • Assignment Description
    • Explore the visual and formal aspects of your website. What visual language will you develop? What color palette and typeface(s) will you use? The answers to these questions should come from your concepts about your site content and the audience. Who is the intended readership of your site? What style is appropriate for a website about history, technology, and social trends of the internet?
    • Develop three separate design variations based on your Design Concepts. They should explore a range of potential communication ideas. Make quick, rough animation tests if they are essential to understanding the design of your site. Explore a range of designs from radical to conservative. Develop the variations using design tools like Photoshop and Illustrator.
    • Identify the most challenging technical aspects of your project. Develop technical studies "sketching" how you intend to solve these problems. These studies may include flash movies or XHTML layouts showing advanced interface techniques or simple pages illustrating advanced page logic and queries in PHP and MySQL. It is important to develop the design and technical foundations concurrently to help you asses the feasibility of completing the project in the alloted timeframe.
  • Final Implementation
    • Assignment Description
    • Build the site you?ve designed. You will be evaluated based on these metrics: quality of graphic design, information architecture, originality, and excellence of implementation. This counts for 25% of your final grade. You will have an individual critique on Mon Jun 4.
    • Launch PollVault