Internet Studies

I just finished reading Rebecca Blood’s Weblog Ethics and I thoroughly enjoyed her writing. I have been following 80 odd blogs for the last few months and usually the first thing I do is go to the ‘About’ page to check out who the writer is. It’s one way for me to know whether to trust what that person is saying or not. I also noted many things that she mentions in the article but never knew the reasons behind them. It is nice to know there are a few rules that most follow when blogging.

Further Reading: Stuart Brown, Ethical Blogging 101, March 02, 2007

I have been a member of 3 mailing lists since last year:

• webstandardsgroup.org
• css-discuss.org
• webdesign-l.com

What are the pros and cons of email lists versus discussion boards?

Are there certain kinds of communication or purposes more suited to one than the other?

I joined the above lists because I found it hard to try and work by myself. I was new to Web Standards and many times I had problems and questions and I had no one I could consult or ask for help. By joining these mailing lists, I am a part of a community that strives to help their members. I learn from other people’s questions and maybe one day I will feel confident enough to help others.

The Web Standrads Group also sends periodic emails with links for light reading as well as organises meetings in major cities every few months (which I haven’t had a chance to be a part of yet).

I’ve used support forums and eventhough many people get answers that way, I found that more active discussions occured in the mailing lists I am subscribed to. In my last course, participation on the discussion boards was not part of your grade and just did not happen. Most of my communication with my teachers was done via emails, which sometimes were not replied quickly. I also bet the teachers got tired of answering the same questions over and over again.

In this course, the discussion boards have a few advantages:

• Takes the burden from the instructors to answer repetitive questions. Students can help themselves and find answers to their questions if those questions were asked by others before.
• Gives the instructors an overview of students knowledge and capabilities.
• Makes the students go back to the course area to check what others have been discusing.
• Eliminates the feeling of being alone that is so prevalent with online students.

And I think I went of topic here (maybe).

1. What information about a user’s email, the origin of a message, and the path it took, can you glean from an email message?

I’m not sure I understand what you mean by saying path, as in traceroute like in module 1 or just the mail server domain.

2. In what cases would you find it useful to use the ‘cc’, ‘bcc’ and ‘reply all functions of email?

Use CC: if you want to send a copy of your message to someone.

Use BCC: if you want to send a “blind” copy of your message to someone, without other recipients knowing about it.

3. In what ways can you ensure that an attachment you send will be easily opened by the receiver?

File Format—The receiver needs to have the application that was used to create the file in order to be able to open the attached file. Or we can use a PDF file that can be read by an Acrobat Reader, which is a free software designed to make portability of documents easier.

File Size—We should be aware of the attachment file size. Many email accounts, specifically web mail services, have limited storage capacities.

Encoding—We should be aware of the encoding type used in the email and attachment, especially for non-native English languages. Plain text (ASCII) file will be read by all. Also, send attachments using the MIME.

And last, we should be aware of security—many email agents will block suspicious attachements that might appear as an executable files (.exe type).

4. What sorts of filters or rules do you have set up, and for what purpose?

In my email application I haven’t set up any specific rules or smart folders. I created group folders (for example for all my Curtin emails) and I manually move the incoming mail into from Curtin into that folder. I do have Junk Mail filters turned on and I add emails to my blocked list.

5. How have you organised the folder structure of your email and why?

Sort of answered that in the last question. At work my folders structure is as followed: Enquiries/Reservations, Equipment/Orders, Environment, Dive Groups, Guests, Marketing, Misc, Weather and PADI.

This structure helps me find subject-related emails more easily when I’m looking for them.

Base 10 conversion: curtin.edu.au

134.7.179.10 is from Australia(AU) in region Oceana

TraceRoute to 134.7.179.10 [curtin.edu.au]
Hop (ms) (ms) (ms) IP Address Host name
1 1 0 0 66.98.244.1 gphou-66-98-244-1.ev1servers.net
2 1 0 0 66.98.241.16 gphou-66-98-241-16.ev1servers.net
3 1 1 0 66.98.240.12 gphou-66-98-240-12.ev1servers.net
4 1 1 1 129.250.11.129 ge-1-11.r03.hstntx01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net
5 2 2 1 129.250.2.228 xe-0-1-0.r20.hstntx01.us.bb.gin.ntt.net
6 37 37 37 129.250.4.112 p64-1-3-0.r21.lsanca03.us.bb.gin.ntt.net
7 37 37 37 129.250.3.159 p16-1-0-0.r02.lsanca03.us.bb.gin.ntt.net
8 196 196 196 198.172.90.102 so-2-1-0.a00.lsanca02.us.ce.verio.net
9 200 199 199 202.158.194.153 so-3-2-0.bb1.b.syd.aarnet.net.au
10 212 212 211 202.158.194.33 so-2-0-0.bb1.a.mel.aarnet.net.au
11 221 221 221 202.158.194.17 so-2-0-0.bb1.a.adl.aarnet.net.au
12 248 248 248 202.158.194.5 so-0-1-0.bb1.a.per.aarnet.net.au
13 248 248 255 202.158.198.178 gigabitethernet0.er1.curtin.cpe.aarnet.net.au
14 248 249 248 202.158.198.186 gw1.er1.curtin.cpe.aarnet.net.au
15 248 248 248 134.7.250.18 -
16 248 248 248 134.7.248.65 te1-1.b309-sr.net.curtin.edu.au
17 248 248 248 134.7.179.10 prodweb1.curtin.edu.au

Trace complete.

17 Hops and it took 7190ms. Many of the other students had an answer around the 246ms. I guess something is wrong in my reading of the traceroute.

Ping WebCT from my computer:

This time it was only 5 hops and a total of 1883ms. A lot shorter and quicker.

Personally, I prefer to use SmartFTP on Windows and CyberDuck for Mac OS, and both are freeware. And our winner is: CAPITALIZATION MATTERS.

This was a first time for me to be using Telnet. At first I wasn’t sure what to do but I figured it out. I found 2 books by Bennahum but only one by Bennahum David A 1936: Managed care: financial, legal and ethical.

I have a confession to make: I don’t have the book required for NED11 module. I don’t need it as I am already familiar with XHTML and CSS (And I have Elizabeth Castro’s book on XML) but it does create a problem that I can’t submit any of the execises and tutorials that are in the book.

So, to prove that I do know what XHTML is, here’s a link to a site I created in my previous course: Certificae IV for Web Site Design. My assignment was to create and implement an Instructional Design Plan. I created instructional materials to teach my clients how to update the site I created for them. This site includes an introduction to XHTML, XHTML Tags Primer, Introduction to Character Entities, Introduction to FTP and a couple more things that are relevant to the actual site and my assignment.

I tried to make it really simple and to use clear language, but even though, my clients got confused. So, I guess, it wasn’t simple enough.

Anyway, here’s the link: Instructional Design.

Just checking if anyone in the course is signed up for LinkedIn?

I just signed up this morning to everyone’s feeds. I think this will make it easier to keep up with everyone’s work.

• The Elements of Typographic Style Applied to the Web-A practical guide to web typography
• Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton
• Great Font for Web 2.0
• Typesetter
• Which Are More Legible: Serif or Sans Serif Typefaces?