Monday, April 30, 2007

final project

I am planning to create a web site that offers the service of casting permanently a badge or special keepsake in a clear resin. I have signed up with Homestead, but building the web site has been harder than I expected. I have some pictures of a few badges I made for Immigration recently. That's the plan anyhow.

Final Project Proposal - Protect & Serve

I intend to (option 1) put a 5-page website up on www.protect-serve.com, which I purchased last month. There will be a paypal or google checkout button for those intending to donate. I will have to scale back on my home page because I won't have merchandise to sell, etc., but I think just putting the information up, privacy policy and donation page will pretty much be 5 pages.

Sunday, April 29, 2007

Final Project Proposal

My Proposal is to complete Option one. That is to create a web page with a least 5 pages. One each of services and products. One each of about us and privacy policy. I do not have at this time a need to except credit card information or sales over the Internet. As I will need to speak to the persons needing the services. I will include a type of order form, but it will in all probability be an email contact link. It will be published on the www. The site maybe unprofessional looking or in workings, But I’m happy that with what I have accomplished with the limited time I have had and being the first time I have even had a course in e-business or any business for that matter. I created something that may well help me get a business and work for myself.

Here is a link on a subject you may wish to see about paypal.
http://whitepapers.techrepublic.com.com/webcast.aspx?docid=288140&promo=0995&tag=nl.e099.emts2042507


Also here is a link for those who have wondered about the inter-workings of computers.
How does the small arrow in the screen of the computer work when we move the mouse? Haven't you ever wondered how it works? Now, through the miracle of high technology, we can see how it is done. With the aid of a screen magnifying lens, the mechanism becomes apparent. Be sure to move your mouse.
http://www.1-click.jp/

Good design resource: Smashing Magazine

This site is an awesome design resources: www.smashingmagazine.com

Particularly, this article, 35 designers x 5 questions, pointed me to an excellent book, which I read in one sitting:

Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug.

This guy, Steve Krug, is a usability expert. He's funny, brief, and most importantly, he quickly shows you how to make any site you design/develop/work on more user-friendly.

Web 2.0 in Five Minutes



Here is a wonderful video created by Micheal Wesch, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Kansas State University. It eloquently shows what Web 2.0 is and means in about 5 minutes. Take a look. What do you think?

Saturday, April 28, 2007

Final Project Proposal

Michelle Dastyck said...

For my Final Project I plan to launch a new ecommerce site - ShesStillGotIt.com from MichelleCosmetics.com. This it a totally new site will be created to sell fast and easy to use makeup kits designed for busy moms. Each kit has seven pieces and will take women from Play Dated to Date Night!

Project Proposal

For my final project I will create a web site for the business: Inspired Education! This will include a free trial page where people can try out our services for one month. Subscribers will be able to get a free gift basket of emails containing inspiring, educational things for one month straight.
Does anyone have any suggestion on whether I should call this a service or a project?

Final Project Proposals

I thought I would start a new thread to post our proposals to. I thought I had already submitted mine, but I couldn't find it.

Proposal:
I'm in the process of creating a dynamic site using PHP and MySQL to list all available childcare resources in Southern California. The static part of the site is mostly finished, but I'm still in the process of building the database structure and the PHP scripting. If the site is not complete enough to constitute a final project at the end of the term, I have also prepared a business plan as a back up.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Bowling for Virginia Tech

The terrible tragedy at Virginia Tech yesterday brings many things to mind, the horror of random gun violence, the deep sadness of parents who are now suffering the pain of their precious child dieing before they do, how those who are normally good people can do bad things, gun control - pro or con, the tenuous nature of our lives, the potentially violent influence of video games, and more -- however, this is an E-Commerce blog.

The thing I want to point out is how so many of the students had cell phones that were used to take instant photos and videos and then upload them immediately to the Web and to TV stations. Within seconds of the event, even while it was still happening, the images and sounds were being sent throughout the globe and shown on our TVs and computers. What implications does this have? Can it be a force that can help prevent this kind of violence in the future? What does it say about the amazing connectivity of our world, and the disconnect from it that would allow someone to even consider doing this?

On a personal note. In my classroom I once had an incident where the campus police came to apprehend one of my students because he was sending threatening email to other students and another teacher. Up until then I had never felt threatened by him. He seemed like a normal student, though he was a quiet and moody person. Suddenly, I felt vulnerable and frightened.

School normally feels like such a secure and safe place. It's disturbing when that sense of security is punctured by events like these.

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Rules, rules and more rules

In trying to answer a students question about where rules, like the "rule of seven" came from I ran across this Web page from the North East Texas Consortium, a site that supports some colleges in that area. I loved the rule collection. It consolidated much of what I've learned over the years about making Web pages more understandable and how to prepare instructions. The "Kevin Bacon rule " is simply fun. Check it out.

http://www.netnet.org/instructors/coursedev/general.htm

Here's another reference to the Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two in Wikipedia (Wikipedia was originally created in Pacific Beach, btw).

Monday, April 9, 2007

Is there really a Web 2.0?

I have a friend who recently went on a major rant over use of the term Web 2.0. He pointed out that the term is really misleading because there is actually not a second generation of the Web. Sites such as Wikipedia, and YouTube, LimeWire and applications such as RSS (Really Simple Syndication) are not using any radically new technology, just old technology used in a new way. The major difference lies in the fact that these sites and technologies are now two way streets instead of one. Information no longer simply flows from provider to user, client to server, things flow back and forth.

Courtesy of O'Reilly, the folks who helped coin the term "Web 2.0" here's a list of Web 1.0 entities and their Web 2.0 equivalents:

Web 1.0 --> Web 2.0
DoubleClick --> Google AdSense
Ofoto --> Flickr
Akamai --> BitTorrent
mp3.com --> LimeWire
Britannica Online --> Wikipedia
personal websites --> blogging
evite --> upcoming.org and EVDB
domain name speculation --> search engine optimization
page views --> cost per click
screen scraping --> web services
publishing --> wikis
directories (taxonomy) --> tagging ("folksonomy")
stickiness --> syndication

Since there's not a radical new technology being used here, just technology being used differently do you think Web 2.0 is still a good moniker? Is it simply a marketing ploy or does it have real meaning? Is there another name you think would be better?

Also, what do you think the impact of this interactive way of using the Web is having on eCommerce? How do you think you can use "Web 2.0" stuff in your efforts to create a viable business on the Web?