Kristy’s ^.^

(picture  by betta design, 2008, flickr)

I think I learnt what I expect in this semester. Throughout the whole course, firstly I keep track with the lecture and tutorial. I did not attend every lecture, but I usually go check Seth keen’s blog, and engaged with the useful materials. The examples of the works of the previous students are really useful, which helps me understand more what the project requires and how can we launch it. There are something quite good such as the spatial montage the students made, it’s pretty sure that they explored a lot. As to the tutorial I attend for every time. I learn a lot from every practice. The things what we do is more like to play around with the basic materials and explore it to our own knowledge, such as when we make table by follow the steps of CSS Dog. Instead of teaching and following the teacher’s step, this way seems inspired us more, and helps us to learn in our own way. For the homework, or the exercises every time, I really engaed a lot to put the theory into practice. Just like the portfolio, I find many online teaching staff and play around with the effects, so now I know more about the website. The only thing I think I didn’t do well is that I should go to the lecture more. Although sometimes it seems boring, but the its important to learn knowledge step by step, otherwise its useless for only practice. In next semester I will pay more attention to theories and keep put it into practice while explore more from outside.

So far I go back check my final project. At first it was only links, after I change it, add my opinions, it looks better now. I find academic information for each part of the definition; I find examples from outside which is links or pictures. Also I add many images which relate to the topic, and I try to play with the effects. As the tutor suggest which we made many links to the project itself in the portfolio, I links each part to each other to help it works more like a consistent staff. However, the references I find may not be academic, but they all really useful. Hope the project works fine!

as i have mentioned before, i want to make some effects to make my website looks better. i found some online teaching website and  try to apply them. The pictures can fly everywhere. but i want to make my title better. i try to make it moves from right to left, or works like typing mashine. However, the codes are not useful as they are come from chinese websites. haha~~ maybe i should try more what is fine to me, but not the things i don’t know.

in my reference page, i realise that the “-” is not working to make the paragraphs in list. so i tried the <ul> <li> to make it work. Just as i think, it looks much more better now. However, it’s not like in the guide list. I also used that way to make a list, however, only the main words, which could not be linked, is listed in parallel. but why the links are not work in that way? so stange…….

after tried many times, i find its too complex for me now to change my guide list to the thing as erni does. For my project its a big table with two rows and two cells. The upper two are used for title, the left under one is the main part. The right hand under one is where i put my guide list. After seeing her codes, i find instead of using only one table like me, she uses five tables, each of them for a list guide. So, if i want to change my guide, i need to break the table and make four new ones! But it is easy to upset what i have now. So i think its fine in my style, but i will list it in order.

in the weeks we doing for final project, erni, tristain,rebecca, elaine and i sometimes work together. At first they don’t know much about what the project is, so i told them what i know, and we discussed how to make it well. This time when we meet again, we show own’s job to each other and give comments. I think the guide list erni made is really good. Not like mine which looks empty, erni’s looks more not like just a table. Maybe i should change my way?

i almost finish the project now, so i go back and check the things, especially in the links. I don’t know whether its good to link to every page(including welcome, intro,pictures….), or just have a rough content. Finally i decide that it will be more clear if i make a breif content. So i devide my link to intro_ welcome,  and explore_defintion, post, public arena, short and unpretentous, and New_video blog.Then lastly references.  it seems to be more fun for the viewers to explore more details out.  Meanwhile, i check the copyrght staff, especially for the pictures. However, i don’t know how to reference to the background image i uses, may be put them in reference list but not under the picture when i use them? I changed some of my pictures, cause i want the background images to be in theme with the topic, it wuld be more interesting. I also see the colors of my staff, and i want to make it nicer.

source: google,2007, url: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU4gXHkejMo

after finding the staffs, we need to make a reference list for the sources we used. In my final project there are things like video, picture,websites i used, which all of them should be referenced. However, each time i use a picture, i quote about the name of the maker,but i don’t know how to reference to the author of the background image. Should i wirtie it above the picture? or i just list it in reference?  Also, i don’t know the differences between reference to website and videos, basically i just list with author, date of publish, title of book, address, publisher. Hope they all works.

Next part i need to fix the “short and unpretentious” part. It used to be three pictures which shows the different small ideas. Under each of them there is a different link to other pages. One is “small idea” links to a blog i find, it writes a good entry for small ideas. Next is an example of an unpretentious blog, which has a nice picture with some kids laughting. It talks about the blog is just made for fun, to record some small things in everyday, maybe just a thoughts. Next is an diary blog, which i think is  a kind of small ideas blog. However, as i need more acdamic staff about blog, i find a good entries talks about the small idea of a guy named Burger Kinga’s in his book ‘the Long Tail”. He discussed it quite well, which inspired me a lot. and then i write down my thoughts, and add those links into my words. The pictures i used are put in the first page, which links to the next part.