Internet Studies

1. Before you start you blog, sit down and think what will your blog be about? What do you want to write about? Also, make a bullet list of the subjects you will cover. This will help you decide your blog’s categories.
2. Have an ‘About’ page—because users will want to know who the writer is.
3. Use descriptive titles.
4. Publish quality content regularly.
5. Follow basic weblog ethics.

Further Reading

Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox, 2005, Weblog Usability: The Top Ten Design Mistakes (accessed on March 05, 2007)

Rebecca Blood, 2002, Weblog Ethics, from the Weblog Handbook: Practical Advice on Creating and Maintaining Your Blog, (accessed on March 05, 2007)

Joshua Porter, 2007, 9 Lessons for Would-be Bloggers, Bokardo-social Web Design, (accessed on March 19, 2007)

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

I have used a theme designed by Fredrik Fahlstad and is for free for personal use only. I may alter this theme as I like as long as I keep the link in to the designer in the footer.

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

Yes. Had a problem with trying to follow the legal text on the Curtin web site. Also, copyright issues are discussed in more than one place. I found that to be very confusing. But I actually found this link on Kelly’s Blog: Curtin Logo Use Policy Document.

The aim of this post is to cover basic disciplines to writing specifically for the web. Here are my five top rules to writing online.

1. Write Scannable Text—Web users do not usually sit down to read the whole text on the web page. They skim the page and look for the next link to click on. There are things you can do to help them:
   • Start with the most important stuff at the beginning. The first sentence in the first paragraph should be a summary.
   • Divide the text into logical divisions and use semantic markup to mark them up accordingly. Simply, break your content into smaller paragraphs.
   • Provide informative headings—Users will scan the headlines to know what the main ideas presented in the page are.
   • Draw attention to keywords by marking them with boldface (using <strong> tags) or using bulleted lists. This will highlight main points and will make easier to scan.
   • Use excerpts from the text through the text using <blockquote>.
2. Be Clear and Concise—don’t waste your audience time with blurbs or marketing texts. Keep it short and to the point. On the other hand, don’t be afraid to elaborate on the point if need be. There are studies that show web users are more comfortable with scrolling down nowadays.
3. Use simple language, not marketing or technical lingo—write to your audience in a way that will be easy for them to understand.
4. Spell Check—On the web, as opposed to print media, you can always go back and correct a misspelled word. Therefore, there shouldn’t be an excuse to have misspelled words in your text. Furthermore, this will give you a good chance to review your draft and edit it before publishing.
5. Use Meaningful Links—particularly important for screen readers, a link that says ‘Click Here’ is generic and doesn’t have a meaning. Use links that indicate where they lead you. The links you provide support and authenticate your arguments. Some believe that links within the text can become a visual distraction, offer half-told stories and recommend avoiding them within your text. A different solution is to use a list of references in the end of your article (as done in this one).

Further Reading:

1. Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox, 1997, How Users Read on the Web, (accessed on March 05, 2007)
2. Sarah Horton, 2001, Writing for the Web, From Web Teaching Guide, (accessed on March 05, 2007)
3. Aaron Swartz, 2001, Don’t use “click here” as link text, W3C Tips for Webmasters (accessed on March 05, 2007)
4. William Strunk, Jr., 1918, The Elements of Style, (accessed on March 05, 2007)
5. Mary K. McCaskill, 1998, A Handbook for Technical Writers and Editors, Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia (accessed on March 05, 2007)
6. Jared Spool, 2006, Long Pages Rule!, on User Interface Engineering, (accessed on March 05, 2007)
7. Nathan Wallace, 1999, Web Writing for Many Interest Levels, (accessed on March 06, 2007)
8. A List Apart, Online Magazine, Articles on the topic of Writing, (accessed on March 06, 2007)

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.