ciuffinicrap

Monday, November 21, 2005

Domain name is the game.

Here is a hypothetical situation:

My name is Leslie Green. I am a designer, fashion expert and professional photographer. Now fully immersed into a world of technological markets, I need a website to stay in the game. I hire a web designer to capture my visions of a website to online reality. One that is fully interactive, user-friendly, matching my style and of course, one that works. The designer finds me a list of possible URLs.

www.hostmysite.com/~lesliegreenphotography
www.lesliegreen.com
www.flying-green-monkeys.com

So what one should I choose? If the answer is not obvious then maybe you need more lessons on Internet usage and productivity in a professional sense.

I'll first outline the negatives for the two I will not pick.

www.hostmysite.com/~lesliegreenphotography is just too ugly. It is clearly a web site domain obtained for a very low paying price if the host name (hostmysite) appears before the desired domain (lesliegreenphotography). However, if as Leslie Green I weren’t able to afford a domain name such as the second one, I would opt for this one over the third.

www.flying-green-monkeys.com just doesn't fit. Unless my photography subjects are flying green monkeys, then there is no reason to use this URL. It may be funny and attract people to your site based on the name alone but won't attract you desired audience. And really a website name is normally picked based on easier navigation and marketing value toward a specific audience.

That leaves us with www.lesliegreen.com. This is the best URL for my photography portfolio website. Not only is it my name, it is easy to type and easy to remember. If I meet people during the course of my career I can tell them to visit my website.

"Thank you for coming to my photo exhibit tonight, visit my website at myname.com, that’s right, lesliegreen.com."

That would be something I would say, something that will be easy to remember for the people who become interested in my photos and would like to see more of my work. Of course, if I had more artwork to post later on, it would be beneficial to use the same site with the same name and just add more links. This way I would be truly represented via the Internet.

So clearly the hands down choice would be www.lesliegreen.com. Visit me here now and check out my photos!

Mike Ciuffini

Sunday, November 13, 2005

Text, Sound and Images that Move = politcal warfare

History sucks. The past is over and I am here in the present looking to see what my next move will be, so why waste time looking back at something that's over and done with? Either way, to some it's important to look at the events of the past in order to improve in the future. That's evolution baby.

So what about Media? This gigantic wheel seems to turn and turn without ever looking back. But what many people don't know is that there are people inside the mill continuously working on the wheel, maintaining it and even upgrading certain parts to make it spin with more efficiency. Over, the years the Media has gone from print to radio then to TV, what makes the World Wide Web so special? It's a wheel that runs off all three of the content of the past in a unique and interactive way. The Internet combines print, sound, and moving images to provide what has become an almost essential service to the entire world. Business, government and civilization run off the newest form of Media and would crash and burn without it. We have built a civilization with a dependency on a network linking cities, nations and continents together.

But which of these three different content found within the Web will make a significant impact on the future? What will generations after us look to, to find news, information or even entertainment? My answer to these questions is the unique combination of all three. People right now are being given a choice. Web pages use print to describe details and outline information that video and sound cannot. But for those multitaskers out there, sound broadcasting, such as radio or podcasting tend to be the best way to get information as they work on a plethora of other things. Video combines images with sound to bring a more dramatic take on different issues. The video involves more work. In order to match visuals and sound together in a way that makes total sense many people need to have their input before something is published. The World Wide Web can combine these three using the principle of choice.

People want choice. As civilization continues to evolve, choice will be the biggest issue of all. People will be more plugged-in and involved with government and democracy. More public scrutiny will alter people's perceptions and create more means for protest and demonstration. In order to compensate this demand for information, people will want to be able to choose exactly what they want to read, hear and see. I foresee extensive website projects that incorporate all various media outlets around the world, tied together in a collaborative manner. The general public will have a much louder voice than ever before. Governments will find it harder and harder to contain the people behind the sites because people from different nations will manage the sites all across the globe. Therefore the sites will be very hard to regulate.

As old generations with little knowledge of advancing technologies die out, the generations following will be more in-tune with the newest means of getting what they want when they want. Governments will turn a blind eye to this evolution as more amounts of money is fed in from the new businesses and trade agreements become more and more lenient. Political warfare will be the mark of the new media. While television, radio, and print struggle to keep their role in daily events, the Internet will emerge as a global weapon of political protest. By using print, sound and video websites will influence a generation to become more demanding, more demanding of choice.

Mike Ciuffini

Friday, October 14, 2005

Rise of the Blog!

Will we find ourselves blogging our way to the future? Or will it die out as merely a fad?

Blogging has had effects on the general media audience, the same people who post them. Some blogs get lost in the millions that are posted each and everyday, but some stick out. Some have continuous impact and showcase unique and interesting lives or events that counter-act mainstream media. An example of this is through the recent Gomery inquiry. The Liberal government was under investigation for money laundering and Judge Gomery, trying to keep the scandal from getting out of hand placed a media ban on the details of the proceedings. However, a blog-based journal began circulating on the web. The journal was reporting the details of the hearings and transcribing the actions being taken by Gomery and the two sides. Unlike newspapers, TV and radio, the Internet is nearly impossible to control. The Internet circulates throughout the world and any web page or blog based in a specific country can be found nearly anywhere at anytime.

As I have mentioned, blogging can have an affect on media and even on the government. Blogging keeps the power in the hands of the people. If a blog does raise enough questions about certain the actions of politicians or the government, or even large organizations the blog has potential of being affective. However, credibility issues surround these blogs because if the proof of certain accusations is deemed minimal then they as disregarded. People expect mainstream media outlets to tell the truth and extract the important information from different situations. Blogging allows for more depth, more analysis, and more opinion. The popularity, therefore effect of the blog lies in the hands of those who write it.

But remember, this is just my opinion. Take it for what its worth to you.

Michael Ciuffini

Sunday, September 25, 2005

Comparing Sites

Blog assignment #2. How fun.

Kristian Olsen Art & Design vs. Chapters Indigo.

Let me compare these sites based on the four main categories discussed in class. These traits include: utility, consistency, coherence and visual appeal. The Kristian Olsen site is simple and effective. The site's layout is not only attractive in its design, highlighting the creative artwork, but is simple in its design. The flash slide show cycles through Olsen's various artwork and puts it front-in-centre of the page. While your eyes are first drawn to the artwork flashing at you, little squares are located to the left. These squares represent the different prints and entice the visitor to click on them. Different designs of Olsen's portfolio are hidden within each thumbnail and link to a larger sized version of the design. The new page allows the visitor to zoom in on the print to get a better visual on the interesting details of the design. The essential parts to the site, like the navigation bar at the top and the shopping cart, are placed intrusively and fit into the site's overall appeal. This simple yet visual appealing site works as a portfolio perfectly and is well designed.

Chapters Indigo main page is a good example of a typical online store site. The book retailer, who also sells music, DVDs and small gifts on this site, use a basic design that many sites use to showcase their merchandise. Overall the site looks professional and well organized. The navigation bar at the top is easy to use and highlights the different pages on the site well. The only problem I find is the large advertisement in the middle of the page. It distracts the visitor from the rest of the site and focuses them on the ad other than the content of the site. This ad is located in that very spot to get more attention and, therefore, the advertisers pay more to have it. Either way, I find it very distracting. The menus found on both left and right of the page are used to break up different categories and aid in the navigation. Content found down the middle of the page highlight the current deals the company has to offer. Overall, it is easy to find what one is looking for with this navigational design but could use a facelift in visual appeal. Sure it's a simple site, designed to be general tone but a little spunk would help it have more appeal.

When both these sites are put side by side, the differences stick out like a sore thumb. The Olsen site was designed to attract the visitor to the artwork and so it uses a more artsy approach to the design. The Chapters Indigo site, on the other hand, is simple and designed around practical navigational needs. Both sites however share in the practicality. They are both easy to navigate, even though there is more to the Chapters Indigo site. Overall, both sites work for what they have tried to accomplish and succeed in making the visit enjoyable.

Michael Ciuffini

Monday, September 12, 2005

Blog Time!

If you ever have any newspaper writing classes you learn not to lead with a question. Doing so will only frustrate the reader. They want to read the news and want it straight to the point. Luckily this is blogging, so conventions can be thrown out of the window. If you ask me a question, I might just answer you. So go on and ask those questions!

Now on to the good stuff...

So what is blogging all about anyway?

Wait a minute. Did you want me to answer that? I was hoping you could tell me. Whatever. I'll give it a shot.

Blogging is all about communication. Being able to address your individual or collective concerns in a simple online-journal kind of way. Sure everyone can read it, but it's really there to keep the writer satisfied more than anyone else.

Can other people find the writer's thoughts interesting, informal or downright amusing? Sure. But I bet you all the money in my account that the writer will have more people disagree with them than agree. It doesn't matter, the writer is writing it for him or herself and no one else.

In my case, I am being marked on this very post (thankfully not the content, just the fact that it is here). Before I can sign off I need to refer to one other Blog that spiked my interest. Even though I am not one to judge (because I am a journalist and need to be objective) I took a few minutes of my busy *cough* schedule to skim through a bunch of blogs set up on Blogger.com. I was quite bored during this process, paying attention more to the music in the background while I clicked away. Countless clicks later, passing by various pages of useless information, broken links, pornography and journals of high school girls bitching about their boyfriends, I came across The Hoss Report.

The Hoss Report is a small and simple blog. Sure it isn't updated every day, but that’s what I like about it. The journals come far enough between, so if someone stumbles onto it (like I) then they can read it and get some humour out of it. It’s a perfect example of the personal satisfaction I was leaning on before. The writer(s) update it when they see fit and write about what they want. Now that's effective blogging. The "no one cares but me" attitude is what it's all about. The latest entry speaks about how there is always that one co-worker that smells like fish. Well I have worked with many people and many have smelled like fish, so I can relate. So can many others. But, like I said, there are probably more people that have no idea what this writer is talking about.

Just like this very entry on ciuffinicrap. If you don't get it, forget it.