Thursday, October 28, 2010

WEEK10 CLEAR: Data vs. Information

Something that was very clear to me in this week lectures was the difference between Data and Information. While many people may think that they are the same thing, they are actually very different.

Data is raw materials and unorganized facts that have yet to be organized. In order for data to become information, it must be processed and organized. Information is when data is processed, organized and structured so that it is useful. Data can be in the form of numbers, letter, pictures and symbols. Once these data are structured into a way that they are meaningful, it becomes information.

To put it short, Data in a meaningful form is information

http://www.differencebetween.net/language/difference-between-data-and-information/

Until Next Week,
Zack

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Web 2.0 Presentation

My Web 2.0 presentation can be viewed at:

http://www.slideboom.com/presentations/227187/Shinnies,-Inc.

Self-Critique:

Is there a logical flow and sequence of content? How could it be improved?
- Yes I think that I had a very logical flow of content. I began by stating a problem and followed up with my solution for the problem.

Does the presenter anticipate questions and answer them in the right place? At what points did you have questions that were not answered?
-Yes. I started out the presentation by explaining a problem that is commonly experience by most snow skiers. I then followed these questions with my new solution of Shinnies.

Did the presenter grab your attention in the first 30-60 seconds?
-I think I did a good job of grabbing attention early on by explaining the background story of how the idea came about. I think that if I would have used more sounds that it might be even better.

Did the presenter ask questions and spark your curiosity?
-I think that anyone that is at all interested in the snow skiing industry will be very curious to read my presentation. Also anyone interested in business and entrepreneurial ideas.

Did the presenter set the context with a concise explanation? Is it clear what the presenter is trying to share?
-Yes the context was set very early on and all questions were answered. It is very clear what the presentation is about.

Did the presenter validate any claims?
-The only claims made are that there is indeed a problem called ShinBang and that shinnies will help to ease this pain. The only way to truly validate these claims are to try a pair of shinnies for yourself.

Did the presenter avoid inconsistencies and errors, typos and unbelievable claims?
-Yes I believe I avoided inconsistencies and typos.

How well did the presenter avoid clutter?
-By only using important pictures and not unnecessary ones, i definitely avoided clutter. The presentation is very readable and not cluttered at all.

What did the presenter do to ensure readability?
-By using simple fonts and good font sizes I ensured the readability of my presentation.

Did the presenter say it, and then show it or did he/she read the slides?
-I think that I said it, then showed it. By stating the problem at the beginning and following it with the solution i have created, I effectively showed what I wanted to show.

After doing this project I realize how important web 2.0 presentations can be in the business world. Especially now that technology and the web are becoming so important in the business world, this is a tool I see myself using for a long time to come. I can now post presentations online and get feedback from lots of people and that is a great tool when starting your own business.

By critiquing a fellow classmates project I learned that there is more than one right way to do things. The classmates project I looked at was very different than mine but was also very well put together.

I now understand more than ever how important web 2.0 presentations can be and how useful they can be to starting and managing your own business.

Until next time,
Zack

Friday, October 22, 2010

WEEK 9: CLEAR: What is a URL?

In these times where technology is increasing at an exponential rate, one of the most important things in our society is the internet. There are many different parts to the internet but a part that is very clear to me is a URL. Im sure there are many people who do not fully understand what a URL is so I will explain it in detail.

A URL, or Uniform Resource Locator, is he unique address that is given to a website. No two websites can have the same URL. A URL is made up of four parts. These parts are the protocol, the domain name, the path and he file name.

The protocol tells the web browser what sort of server it will talk to to fetch the URL. An example of the protocol is http. The domain name identifies he website containing the page. In terms of this blog website the domain name would be www.blogger.com. Next, the path is what identifies where a page is located within a certain website. Last is the file name which specifies the specific file that is being viewed on the page. It will look something like index.asp.

I hope this gives everyone a better understanding of what a URL is and what the different parts are that go into it.

http://www.boutell.com/newfaq/definitions/url.html

Until next time,
Zack

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Week 7: CLEAR: Effective Layouts

This week something that was very clear to me was what types of things should be avoided in order to make an effective web layout. A good layout must be readable, not cluttered and effectively use fonts, colors and themes.

Some things you want to avoid when making a lay out are pictures that are to small. Small pictures are hard to see and are very ineffective. You also want to give a lot of thought into your placement of pictures and words on the page. The placement should look organized and not random. You also don't want to use images that have too much going on. The best layouts in my opinion are simple and organized. Another thing that should also be avoided are pixilated images and distorted images. These only make the layout look cheap and unprofessional.

http://www.webdevelopersnotes.com/design/index.php3

Until Next Time,
Zack