Final Project Overview

Check my draft on my wiki.
Have fun on my super dry paper.
Ha!

Web 2.0 Expo

Doris, Mei-Ling and I went to the conference on Thursday afternoon- Booth Crawl in the Expo Hall. The fist booth we stopped by is called Zude. According to its ad: it is a new social computing platform offering users an unprecedented level of freedom and creativity. Using an endless supply of free web pages, groundbreaking drag-and-drop technology and a complete set of social networking features, users can create a media-rich website experience to share with the world.
It sounds pretty interesting. Maybe it can play the platform for my final project. However, when I try to join, I couldn’t find the submit button in the signup area. Too bad. I browsed the website for a while, the interface is not friendly to me. Too many “new terms” are not in my concept map about the web authoring. And the tool bar doesn’t make sense to me. In other words, if I want to use it, I need to spend quite a lot of time to figure out how.

The other tool I am interested in is called “bluestring”, which is a centralized location for preserving your photos, videos and music. Users can easily incorporate media from multiple locations into slideshows and creations that can be shared easily with family and friends. So the main points are

• Share exclusively with whom you choose and no one else. Your media never leaves your BlueString account. You are always in control of who can see your BlueString stuff.
• Publish your photos or videos into your own blog or website.
• Create links that you can share or post wherever you choose.
• Just drag and drop the stuff you want to share.
  

So the idea is different from flickr. I am still playing it. Well, there is no video tutorial; I am kind of not used to. HA! And I have to sign up first to get deeper understanding, which made me a little bit uncomfortable. Anyway, hope to find some useful functions in education.

interface analysis

Wetapint is my target interface to analyses since I am considering using it as the platform of my final project, English e-learning website with web 2.0.
As a novice, I found wetapint is not so easy to “play around”. I guess the main reason might be I am not familiar with website design, that is, I might not have an accurate concept map of writing a web page.

Site pros:

• A tutorial video showing me how to build a personal wiki site
• One person can create more than one site
• In “my wetpaint wikis”, it shows me the wiki(s) you have created and the wikis you have joined.
• Navigation buttons are corresponded to my concept map, I have no difficulty to find them.
• It generates the sitemap for the creator and users.
• In “setting”, I have the right to decide who can edit or add my page and who can post threads; I can create my won template; I can choose my page style; I can rename my site name and add header image.
• Since the website is for education, I can contact with the custom service and ask for ad free.
• The pages I create can show their hierarchical structure, which is able for me to design several modules for my target learners.
• It provides threads so I can use it to interact with my target learners.
• It can embed most of web 2.0 tools , such as youtube, ovicethread, flickr, etc.
• “edit” is familiar as Word.
  

Site cons:

• It’s difficult to “add page” in the right position of the hierarchical structure. If I add in the wrong place, I have problem to move it to the right spot. Buttons of “add page” and “move page”, ”delete page”, “rename page” are not nearby. They are supposed to be grouping together.
• Once I name the page, for example “itec830-assignment1”; even though later on I delete it, I can use the name “itec830-assignment1” no more.
• It provides users with sitemap; however, it shows at the very bottom of the web page with rather small font size and with a group of non-associated information.
• It can’t not play the function of e-learning website providing the practice activities, such like multiple choice questions, true or false questions and so on and so forth.
  

In sum, I found wetpaint has the most functions I need for the project, except the last flaw which is my most concern, not be able to provide immediate feedback. If I can’t figure out the solution, well, then I have to find another platform instead.

meaning

Well Design Every Day Things

My two favorite tools in the kitechen

Joseph Joseph Chop 2 Pot.
This innovative chopping board uses the latest technology in polypropylene living hinges, when the handle is squeezed the board folds into a chute to help guide diced and chopped food into the pot. This product is dishwasher safe and comes with a 3 year guarantee.
Size: 38cm x 22cm x 1cm
I bought it at a damn good price $6.99 ( the original price is $14.99) at Macy's, SF downtown. I was longing for this product when in Taiwan. Finally, I got it. Hooray. Beautiful and handy.
More information:
http://www.josephjoseph.com/


Kyocera Revolution Series 5.5" Ceramic Santoku Knife

Advantages of Ceramic Knives
1. Ultra-Sharp Long Life Blade: Holds its edge much longer than steel. Lasts many months or years without sharpening.
2. Stain and Rust Proof: Impervious to the food acids which discolor steel products.
3. No Metallic Taste or Smell: Maintains the fresh taste of food. Won't brown fruits and vegetables.
4. Easy to Clean: Non-stick ceramic surface makes for easy clean-up.
5. Easy to Use: Lightweight and perfect balance make it a pleasure to use(Does not cover cutting bones, prying or flexing).

I fell in love with ceramic knives at the first time using them. Actually, I used a ceramic peeler first since it cost less and I wanted to know if it was as good as the salesman's description. Well, again it is damn good, and I got it with half of the original price. Now, I can easily cut a big watermelon into halves without kick with my favorite ceramic knife. In fact, the ceramic knife is one of the few things that I insisted to bring from Taiwan. HA!
More information:
http://www.metrokitchen.com/kyocera/
Am I a ceramic knife salesman? The company should pay me. HA!

Even though I love both stuff, they have their own down sides. I looked around my surroundings, and found no design products I was 100% satisfied with; no matter how much I have spent . The design of every day thing...can be well, but not perfect.

Guest Speaker, Eugene Lee

This Tuesday, we have a guest speaker, Eugene Lee, in class. His background is pretty impressive. Like many Korea-American kids, with their parents’ super high expectations, he attended super universities and become a super man in his career. Super! I am wondering if his 10-year-old girl is given the same expectations as he was. Ha.

The main topic of his speak focused on applying Wiki into running his company. A new idea“enterprise 2.0” is pretty inspiring. Due to the features of his company, I believe there should be no problems to carry into effect from up to bottom, How about “ school 2.0”? Without saying there are several obstacles ahead, but educators should try to overcome them in this digital age.

According to Eugene, the core wiki use:
1. Collaborative intelligence
a. Securely communicate &share dynamic information across the enterprise.
b. Great for field sales & marketing teams comprised of employees & external partners.
2. Participatory knowledgebase
a. Capture & organize together content from customers & internal experts.
b. Great for technical support & customer service.
3. Flexible client collaboration
a. Efficiently manage complex projects with geographically dispersed teams
b. Great for extranets where connecting with.
4. Business social networks: discover the experts & tap the innovation.