Mod 3 - The copyright catch

• Have you used images or words on your web page or website that contravene copyright laws?

I don't think so. This is because all the material I have used was supplied by Curtin University for learning purposes only. There is no money being made out of this. Also, at no time is more than 10% of nay article or book published on my volcano web page. But I might put the copyright notice on it anyway just to protect myself because it is now in the public domain - whichis why, I guess we need to move everything into the presentation space.

• Would you be in breach of copyright if you put the Curtin logo at the top of your web page for an assignment?

Absolutely. Unless of course the marketing committee and VC decided it was such high quality that Curtin Uni wanted to put its name to it and pay me copyright!

Virtual communities discussion

Interesting discussion taking place on my CBSM listserv - about listservs and virtual communities, some up to date research and thinking, with clear explanations of various items http://waterwordsthatwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/networkofnetworks1.pdf
Will post it on DB as well.

Mod - Failed validation!

Unsurprisingly, my volcano web page failed its W3C validation test. But what does surprise me is the errors. I don't really understand what is wrong, as the most common point is that the mark up text 'is not closed' see sample paste from validation test. But the tags are closed ... I think these errors are related to useability - as the volc page displays OK. Mmmmmmmmmmm ... 17 errors in one short web page. Eeeek.

1. Error Line 38 column 42: end tag for "I" omitted, but its declaration does not permit this.

        the Earth, over four billion> 

   • You forgot to close a tag, or
   • you used something inside this tag that was not allowed, and the validator is complaining that the tag should be closed before such content can be allowed.

   The next message, "start tag was here" points to the particular instance of the tag in question); the positional indicator points to where the validator expected you to close the tag.

Mod 3 - legal issues

Mod 3 - Optional standards task

Top five requirements for well written web pages - or easy to read/use?

1 best stuff first - perhaps a list
2 no flashy images etc
3 use links that have relevance and won't take your reader away from your point
4 don't break it up too much - you'll lose your reader
5 good short, punchy sentences - web readers scan much more so than readers of hard copy BUT if they really want to read what you have written they will print it - make it easy to print

I think all the articles are interesting and all have some relevance today , but the way we use the internet is always changing and so the way we write for it changes too.

task 2 - don't really have a web page to test this on yet ...

Web design - does it matter?

"Still, the dot-com meltdown has proven that fancy design won't save a bad web site." From course readings. Totally agree - hate those fancy sites but then I'm not a thirty something or twenty something web designer ...
Here's a concept I'd like to explore further: Information & communication are related. People like to develop their own context for the information they are seeking ...

email - the art of it

email is a user interface. Design your messages accordingly, aiming for maximum usability. Makes a lot of sense to me. That subject line is crucial. Much of this is to do with marketing and point of difference - tell people what you do, and what you want them to do in the simplest way possible.