URL to an IP adress

During today's session, I spaced on a URL converter-here are a couple of reliable sites to convert any URL to an IP and to complete a DNS Source look up.

If you want to check it on your computer:

Open a MSDOS prompt (Start > Programs > MSDOS Prompt) and type: ping url and hit enter.

If you wanted to know the IP of another URL such as yahoo.com:

ping www.yahoo.com and hit enter. (notice the space between ping and www)
Type exit and hit enter to close the MSDOS prompt

Gender, Barbie and Stereotypes

While we were discussing gender and identity in class today, I thought about some images I recently saw online about Barbie and the average American woman.

Check out this site for the real-life Barbie's dimensions. Interestingly, the blog it entitled "MatchStickMolly". Think about that.

Programming WWW & Web Metrics

With every reading we do for this class, I am reminded how little I know about the technology I use on a daily basis. I figured I knew what the internet was or what a web site was, but I never had to explain it THANK GOODNESS!!!

Programming the World Wide Web reinforced how little I knew. It reviewed the the origin of the Internet and how the the Internet and the World Wide Web are different. It explained different addresses, and Domain names, servers, URLs... all things I've heard of but couldn't explain before. It also introduced me to programing information, protocols, development framework and all these other things different languages I had no idea I didn't know about. I had to re-read some of these paragraphs just because this info (although we've discussed some in class) is still pretty foreign to me.

The web metrics information is still a little hard for me to comprehend because I am still new to the units. Some of the statistics were interesting the number of unique images as opposed to non-unique?

I feel like some of this information is intimidating BUT having this contextual information before jumping into production can only help. Having taken a programming class and jumping straight into production with no idea what I was working with was frustrating. I was able to complete assignments and "make things work" but had little understanding of what I was doing. I did a lot of programming but didn't learn much. If we are going to be making websites it's probably know what they are.

Programming the World Wide Web

I have been using the web for quite some time so I consider myself fairly knowledgeable as a user on how it works.  But I never knew all of the schematics that go along with the internet.  In my head I just imagined that whenever I used the internet the information that I entered into the browser connected to some imaginary  space where all of the internet was floating.  I found it interesting that the internet is actually many computers which are connected to a communications network. Upon reading about domains I was intrigued to find out that the IP address can be typed into the web browser and it will take the user to the website.

I found section 1.2.2 titled "Web or Internet?" interesting.  To me the web and the internet are the same thing.  I know that many people including myself use the term interchangeably to describe one thing; however, the author defines the internet as a collection of computer and devices that connect to equipment and the web as a collection of software and protocols which run documents to users. Although this makes sense, I feel that it is not necessary to have separate definitions for web and internet.  They both describe what is called online.

The Interwebz

This was definitely an interesting reading. Nice to find out that the origins of the internet came about in the 1960s because the department of defense became interested in developing a new large scale computer network. The purpose of this network: communications, program sharing, and remote computer access for researchers working on defense related contracts. Sebesta calls the internet a huge collection of computers connected in a communication network. In fact some of the devices connected to the internet are not computers at all. (He mentions printers and plotters) Citing that in 1982 TCP/IP Transmissions Control Protocol/Internet Protocol became the standard for computer network connections.

Internet nodes are identified by names which is their numeric memory address also called their IP (Internet Protocol) address. In 1998 a new IPv6 standard was approved, this change was to expand the address size from 32 bits to 128 bits. In an abstract sense the web is a vast collection of documented some of which are connected by links. Sebesta says that the web and internet are not the same. The internet is a collection of computers and deices connected by equipment that allows them to communicate with eah other. The web is a collection of software and protocol that has been installed on most, if not all , of the computers on the internet.

Web Browsers are when two computers communicate over some network, in many cases one acts a client and the other as a server. The client initiates the conversation. Web servers are programs that provide documents to requesting browsers. Servers are slave programs. The most commonly used Web servers are Apache. This is very cool for me because I have a  basic understanding of Apache.

It was cool to learn about what all these names actually do. Javascript is a client side scripting language that can be embedded into xhtml. flash is a framework to building animation into XHTML documents. Ajax is an approach to building Web applications in which partial document requests are handled asynchronously  Ajax can significantly increase speed of user interactions.  PHP is the server-side equivalent of JavaScript. All of these different languages I am so looking forward to using and understanding in the future. I am ready to code.

The Fundamentals

This reading was a huge help to me. Up to this point I’d heard and seen a lot of these terms used, but never really understood what they meant, or what this did. I found this reading surprisingly enjoyable.

The concept from this reading that I found the most interesting was that of the Internet Protocol (IP). I had no idea that you could type an IP address into a browser and have it work the same way as a domain name. Though, I’m very glad that we have domain names, because remembering all of those numbers would be a struggle.

I never knew that the Internet and the World Wide Web were not the same thing. Until now I’d been using the terms interchangeably. But, what I have now gathered is that the Internet is a network of computers, and the Web is how most users access the Internet, though you do not have to use the Web to use the Internet. 

Making Connections

Reading through these pieces, I think I'm starting to get the more "technical" side of the internet and how webpages are linked to the larger scheme of things. Combined with the piece we read about the architecture of the Internet, I think I'm beginning to understand a bit more about how everything is connected. I'll admit it, I'd never had any idea what an IP address was before reading through this. I mean, I knew that I had one (well, my computer did) and that it was important, but now I get that it's almost like a mailing address in a way. It lets the servers know where to send the information (hopefully I got that right).

Although the pieces were definitely very useful, there was a lot of information to take in at once. One thing that I thought was awesome was the explanation of why URLs look the way they do. Who knew that all of the slashes, dashes, and periods were so important? I guess it makes sense, as if you forgot to put one characters in while you're searching for a site, the site won't show up. Another thing that helped me out was reading about the document tree. I think this really helps me to organize how things move/how all of these pieces are put together in the big picture. Everything follows paths between the different parts, and the pieces of the IP address, URLs, etc. are like road signs that indicate which path is the way to go.

On the other hand, the web metrics piece was confusing, but what I understood was really interesting! What I'm getting from this is that the most pages could be more efficient than they are, so why aren't they? It seems like if things were more compressed and consolidated on each page, that the whole system would speed up and be overall more efficient.

Dod/ARPA/NSF/TCP/IP/DNS/ftp/CERN

This article gave us another lil history and background of the Web starting off with the start of the internet thanks to DoD and ARPAnet, then lead us into TCP/IP (Internet Protoc-well everybody read it so I guess I don't need to explain it..back to what I was saying..) addresses and how they work. Which is basically a giant naming system of numbers, 32-bit numbers, that work with the different nodes of the internet to connect all of the different local networks to the actual Internet (a physical connection). Keep in mind, these numbers all must be unique..and before I even reached the next point in the paragraph I questioned whether or not we were running out of these IP numbers (yeah, I know, silly question), and sure enough, next paragraph it explained how in 1998, a new IP standard, IP6 was introduced..now the numbers can be up to 128-bit.

The article then gets into domain names, which is something I feel like I knew, but reading this, like, made so much more sense. So there are two to three or more domain names, all the domain names relate to the host, the domain that the host is a part of, and the type of organization that the host resides in. (You know, like .edu, .com. .gov...and so on and so forth.) Following the description of domain names, the article explains how important the DNS is, that's used to generate and convert domain names so that what we are sending over the internet can be transmitted over the internet.

Then to quickly wrap it up, the article introduces telnet, ftp and mailto, which basically were like the first protocols that allowed for the transmittal of messages, documents, and information over the internet. But because users had to know way to much about these protocols in order to use them good ol' Tim Bernes-Lee helped give birth to the Web, in 1991 (one year after I was born, wow, I'm older than the web!).

Oh, and I can't forget the second reading...which was a bunch of sizes and numbers of the web, Web Metrics...to be honest, I didn't fully read through every line of this reading, I more over skimmed through the numbers to gain an idea of some of these fine details of the web.

Bits, Bytes, and Broadbands

Sebesta and the Google Metrics give that oft-missing technical side in the perceptions of the world of design, for which I was glad to see it discussed in the material. Sebesta gives the history and underlying principle basics that for truly understanding how the internet works. It's not just mythical unicorn magic that we wave our cursor over the wireless settings and hope works; it's a structured system with rhyme and reason. The difference between the Internet and "the Web" becomes apparent when viewed in the context Sebesta gives, allowing for the concepts of last week's apps to fall more perfectly into place.

Viewing the metrics after reading Sebesta paints, to me, a complete picture. The web is pure code, it's all mathematical. It's rational, understandable, and it's made up of it's own little complex digital ecosystem. The beauty of the web and most modern technology I feel lies in this, and it's often taken for granted: that web design can be just as mathematical for these reasons as it is artistic. There's a certain completeness, an extra quality, in such a well rounded thing. It often goes unnoticed with the web, but much the same as we appreciate architecture and engineering for joining form and function, aesthetic and purpose; so too does the web.

The most exciting point in thinking this as I viewed the metrics page though, was just how much data existed on that page from sampling. It reminded me that because of the web's mathematical, informational nature, it continues to open new doors for the future of design. The fact that a metrics page even exists is a marvel of the web: the ability to obtain data purely because of it's end-of-day application with electric wires and mathematical formulas. The data mining capabilities of the web were proven simply by the Google Metrics sampling on data usage, and it made me appreciate that beautiful duality of the web all the more.

Programming the World Wide Web

This chapter from the book really showed me the separation of the "Internet" and the "World Wide Web." The book defines the Internet as "a collection of computers and other devices connected by equipment that allows them to communicate with each other" and the World Wide Web as "a collection of software and protocols that has been installed on most, if not all, the computers on the Internet." These definitions really helped me to understand  the differences between the two. The Internet is the technology and infrastructure and  the Web is the information and ideas.

This reading goes on to explain a surplus of useful information about the Web, URL, HTTP, MIME, XHTML, etc. There was so much information that is was a bit hard to absorb it all for once, but it did help me to have a better understanding on how everything works, which I think is a very important information to know if we are going to be designing websites ourselves. It is important to learn HOW and WHY everything works the way it does if you are going to be working with the Web.

One thing that I found very helpful in this reading was the part where Sebesta talked about clients and servers. I'm not going to lie, I know very little about the Internet and how it does what it does, so this reading really opened my eyes to the complexity of it all. I always knew that it was complex and beyond my understanding, but even getting a little taste of how it works, makes me feel like I can appreciate it a bit more.  The "Web Metrics" page you had us look at was extremely confusing to me. I didn't really know what was going on so hopefully when we discuss it in class I will have a better understanding.

Programming the World Wide Web

Today’s reading was a basic technical overview of things such as computers and the internet (I noticed hypertext made a second appearance). Other things such as URLS, web browsers, servers and IIS was talked about.

I recognized some of this stuff. Some from classes, some of the information I had seen on the internet, some I had guessed from other information I had. For instance I had a better understanding of the idea of document root and server root after I thought of how information is sometimes stored in certain types of programming. I understand the basics of servers – though I have heard some of my more software talented friends talk about them enough to know I don’t understand even half of it. For instance I know proxy servers are important for many games my friends like to play and I don’t understand those at all.

HTTP was the hardest thing to take in. It was a big information dump and I ended up reading some of the sections twice and looking over the tables. I know some things about HTTP 0- who hasn’t run into 404 errors and I did know about 200 ok before reading this – but most of the other stuff was foreign to me. But since this is how the web communicates I should at least know the basics. Even though I have little interest in this type of information it is always good to know the backbone of what I will be working on. 

Things are starting to click

After reading this piece some things started to fall into place. Sebesta gives the background information that I have been wanting to know and understand. I understand some of the definitions and lingo, though being new to this there was only a small portion that I fully understood. Though I do feel that I got a bit lost in all of the acronyms, but some of them are starting to become clearer.

I feel that I am understanding the concepts much better than what I was about a week ago. Though at first this piece seemed to fairly daunting. Now I feel that I am now fully on the road to understanding the Web and how it works. It is going to take a while, but I am determined to get there.

The examples and explanation that were given were very helpful. The more that I revisit this text the more I will understand it. It is going to be a challenge to remember some of these things but I am sure that with time it will come.

Sebesta and the World Wild Web

So in this article, Sebesta covers a lot of things regarding the internet and world wide web.  One thing that I found interesting was the description of the Internet Protocol Address, or I.P. Address.  Many people who use computers have an idea that every computer has a specific address that is unique to each client and server.  One thing I had not realized was that every web site has a unique I.P. address which can actually be used in place of a domain name.

The address itself is a compilation of numbers which describe where the site is within a server.  It is similar to how when addressing a letter, you address the person it is too, than the house or unit, the street, the town, then finally the country.  Having an idea of how your site is organized is important if you want it to work properly.

Meanings and Metrics

The readings for tonight included a chapter that covered a basic history and a general technological explanation of the Internet and the World Wide Web. I am moderately distrubed that some of my classmates should exclaim their disinterest in the subject and that they just want to get to the front-end experience. This knowledge is the basis for how to create an effective front-end. It's tantamount to asking a music professor to teach you composition but not to worry about music theory.

The other reading was Google's Web Metrics. While the first reading served to illuminate the meaning of these statistics from a pure "what are they talking about" standpoint, I find I am still unsure of "what do they mean?" Of course, the highlighted statistics about compression and resource efficiency are fairly clear.

At this point, I'll pick something a little different to bemoan: it's week three, I see a number of page-coding projects on the syllabus, and I still don't know much HTML. Hopefully this is an indicator that we will soon move into code.

Finally... Definitions galore!

First, I want to point out that the Sebesta reading greatly improved by understanding about why and how the World Wide Web functions. I probably won't be able to remember all of the terms and acronyms tomorrow in class unless I have the reading in front of me, though, which isn't an issue. I know my brain's limits.

Second, I'm not gonna lie, I am still not entirely interested in the whole thing. I guess you could say I am only interested to the extent that it will allow me to create a fully-functional and nice-looking webpage.

The Web Metrics reading was VERY confusing for me as I have no background in any of the "computer-related" jargon. Caveats? Huh? (I'm gonna feel really dumb if that is an everyday-vocab word and I've never heard it before.)

Overall, I would rather read the longer Sebesta piece again than stare in confusion at the Metrics one. :/

In case you were wondering if I even TRIED to understand the material, I did look up a website: Web Metrics 101. They describe the terms for you. Sweet!

Web: Programing & Metrics

Side note: As I was reading the programing of the world wide web the one thing that stood out to me was that if you know the IP address then you can type it into the browser bar to get the website.  I actually had to test that out and thought it was cool that it actually worked.

The start of the article covered the history behind the internet and IP address. The article covered the internet started in a lab in the sixties and was not created by Al Gore. The first net was ARPAnet that was created by the department of defense and was replaced twenty years later by NSFnet. As for the IP address part is that it is a 32 bit number that is assigned to different computers. The rest of the article went on to talk about domain names and how they started out as being an easier way to remember how to get to a website. Rest of the article talks about HTTP and HTML.

The second article Web metrics: Size and number of resources, talked about loading websites. What I found the most interesting part about the web metrics is what appears in the highlights portion. The thing that stood the most out to me was that the average web takes about 320 Kb to transfer the data. Which thinking about it it actually make sense at least when I think it about it in the terms of using the terms of a smart phone and how much data I go through. On an average month I use around 136,000 Kb just suffering the web and checking and I can understand better now about my usage. Especially after seeing the table.

Finally making a little more sense

It's a wonder that my highlighter still has ink after reading through "Programming the World Wide Web." After figuring out that this was the reading I have been waiting for so I can get some definitions and explanations for what exactly the Web does and what all this Web lingo meant, I grabbed a highlighter so I could highlight all the important information that I wanted to remember. About 45 minutes later, practically the entire reading is bright green and I feel like I understand the concept of the Web a lot more than I did before I sat down.

Sebasta does a great job in this writing by illustrating what each part of the Web does and how it came to be that way. In addition, he gives helpful examples and explanations that I'm positive I will be referencing for the rest of the semester in this class. All of the jumbled acronyms are finally making sense, and now I actually know what a server is and how it relates to the browser. (Laugh all you want.)

 In addition, I won't lie, but the reading on the relationship between the Internet and www/infastructure deeply confused me since I'm still so new to all this computer lingo.

"Programming the World Wide Web," intimidated me greatly as well. The next few months will require an enormous amount of patience and tenacity for me. But I am eager to get this whole web design thing under my belt, and can't say I'm not super excited to learn more!

Reading Response 6

ACRONYMS, BIG WORDS, AND LONG DEFINITIONS! OH MY!

Deciding where to start is a difficult task. In Sebesta’s aricle (“Programming the World Wide Web”) the amount of acronyms, big words and long definitions doesn’t fall short. This is the part in web design that I need to make sure I’m taking lots of notes and watching a lot of tutorials. Sebesta describes the process of how the Internet works from the user’s system, right down to the language or code that goes into the server. This process is broken down with common web language that includes (but not limited to): browsers, servers, URLs, protocols, HTTP, and many other terms that connect with one another.

I struggle with understanding how the web works because of all the possible paths that it takes. This article is a wake up call in patience. The article will also be a great piece to return to when I’m confused about common Internet operation language.

Reading Response 5

INTERFACE: IT MATTERS

In the two article assigned (“Eye Candy vs. Bare-Bones in UI Design” / “Menu-Driven Identities”) the importance of design and how an application or website is laid out is discussed.

I was surprised in the first article to find Steenbergen making an argument that an application or websites graphics and visuals are just as important as usability. Just from reading the article title, “Eye Candy vs. Bare-Bones”, I assumed that the article would take a jab at the visual side of building a website, and praise the importance coding. Instead he gave examples explaining how the two must work together to keep the user informed, interested and make the user WANT to use the product/service.

When reading the second article I was confused as to how the first article tied in, but a few pages in I realized the interface could define certain audiences, therefore stereotyping people into specific identities (when in reality people have multiple identities that make up who they are). In the introduction paragraph Nakamura states, “ Many proponents of cyberutopia claim that the Internet is inherently democratic and color-blind because its users can engage with it anonymously” (5).  Before reading this article I would also have agreed with this statement, however now I see how truly limited the Internet is when it comes to identity. When I enter site I would say that I go in unbiased to as who created it, however the more I think about it maybe I do. A person’s identity is built outside of the Internet, so when that user goes to create a digital space that identity is shown, basically a see-through form of anonymity and in a way what I thought was true simply is not.

My opinion on how this problem could be solved…

One big way to start creating an equal playing field on the Internet is to break the digital divide. Find ways that children of every race have an equal change to utilize the same technologies. Of course this would be a daunting task and wouldn’t even come close to solving the deep issues of racism, it would be a start!

Web Metrics and the World Wide Web

I think that the Programming the World Wide Web chapter would definitely be something that I will resource often. It was interesting to learn the history of how the web was developed, but it was a lot of information in one chapter to retain while reading it just once.

The chapter literally described every aspect of how a web page is delivered to a browser - which is extremely useful for someone to know if they are going into web development (like me). I would have liked to see some sort of a graphic to explain everything like Apache. Also, note the Apache comment... "a patchy version of httpd". Sorry, nerd jokes.

Reading about the web metrics, I was sort of wondering how many servers there are in the world to run over 4.2 billion web pages. Over time, as the number of web pages increases, is it possible for them to ever run out of room - or servers? Or will they just learn to make the pages more compressed; if that is even possible?

Nakamura

This piece went over something we never really think about..until we read about it of course. Have you ever seriously thought to yourself, "Yeah I bet the person who designed this is a white guy, because....," I mean- I haven't, but if you have, then you are steps ahead of me. And maybe that's just because I'm a white female, who hasn't particularly noticed that the interfaces and clickable boxes don't allow me to select or express what my identity really is (when it comes to race, that is).

Nakamura argues that in many ways the web "forces the user to choose 'what' they are, and allows only one choice at a time," that the web is stuck in political and racial divides due to demographics and racial representation- that because due to the under-representation of specific races in internet usage, "the racial demographics of those who write the content, design the interfaces, and create the search engines make up the web and condition of our readings...If African Americans are underrepresented as web users, they are even more underrepresented as web builders."She also pulls terms such as digital divide, from Hoffman and Novak, that I feel are important in complementing and describing the racial issues on the web.

 **Now, applying this to web design, it is important for us, as designers, to take into consideration, once again, the audience of our pages/designs. That we must make sure to understand every different type of characteristic or aspect of the user, whether it be race, location, experience or level of knowledge. Not only can we apply this to our designs, but in general, it's just a very eye-opening piece that demonstrates just how naturalized some aspects of our American culture have become and how racism is still around. (but I do feel that since this article has been written there have been some changes, for the good, in online spaces and on the web...just don't google "beauty," right?)

Race & Web Interface

Nakamura explains that within the web interface we assume we can conduct ourselves anonymously. We assume that we can create and navigate the web with neutral identities, or create an identity form scratch. But as we discussed Bitzer's argument, it came up that identity can't really be made "from scratch". Everything happens within a rhetorical situation. The web's interface was not created from nothing it was based on previously existing interfaces. The creators of "new" web space, pull from the space they already know about.

Nakamura provides an example of racially mediated web space, with a web portal that provides a drop-down list of race/ethnicity options. In this list you are not allowed to identity as multiple options. This shows that web elements can be structured in ways that support racial stereotypes.

It was interesting to see that whiteness is viewed as a web-identity default rather than a web-identity option. Race impacts users  in non-web contexts, so although web interfaces have the lure of anonymity they are not "freed" from race and stereotyping.

This article also reminded me of this website. How whitness is defined as default, but it is hard to define.
http://www.understandingrace.org/lived/who_is/index.html

Nakamura Reading

In the opening pages of "Menu Driven Identities" the author makes a point to mention the limiting choice of ethnicity online by stating that users are given no choice to modify or define their race when they have to click a box with predefined ethnicities.  I feel as though clicking a box online is no different from having to fill in the ethnicity bubble on a scantron.  While some users may feel limited as Nakamura states, I feel that by clicking a box to define race the experience of users is not drastically changing.  It's not as if by clicking a box online the entire website design changes to accommodate that race.  And some websites do change their layout or information I feel as though it is supposed to be just another way for designers to appeal many different types of people.  For example, if one women marks that she is Caucasian on when signing up for a beauty website profile and another marks that she is African American wouldn't both be interested in beauty products and tips that specifically cater to their ethnicities?  It is not necessarily a "limiting" thing.

There was one particular statement that Nakamura made on how racial minorities have less access to the web and because of this they are underrepresented.  Going along with Nakamura's idea that ethnic check boxes are horrible (to paraphrase) it seems that usually the United States along with other countries try to accommodate for everyone.  Yes, there are certain ethnic groups that use the internet more than others, but the minorities are accommodated for.  Ethnicities vary especially in the US and while whites were favored we are entering into a time where more accommodations are made to bring everyone to equal level.  The web is a leader in trying to accommodate for interests and sometimes different people have different interests.

Menu-Driven Identities

In cyberutopia, we can be whoever we want to be, or that’s what I once thought. I believed that we had the ability to keep certain traits of ourselves off the web, but this is not true. Nakamura explains, “web interface design reveals assumptions about users’ race and ethnicity” (101).

How can we express ourselves as having unique identities if we must select our identity traits from a pre-determined list? We can’t. Like Nakamura says, “it forces the user to choose ‘what’ they are, and allows only one choice at a time” (104). We must identity ourselves, but the options we have to choose are often limited and only allow one choice to be made, though many of the choices may be applicable.

I was very surprised by this reading, and I guess it was because I wanted to live in the naïve bliss that we could be whoever we wanted to be on the web, without the lines of race and ethnicity. 

Nakamura Reading & Eye Candy

For me it is both good and bad that I am able to read and based upon which mentioned companies is a dead give away for the time period that articles or journals are written in. I say that because whenever we read and someone mentions myspace accounts people frown and say who does that. So when this article mentions Excite and Lycos I know that we are somewhere around or before the year 2000's. Its nothing bad or discrediting, its just interesting that technology advances and makes all these names and brands old news.

It was interesting to read the term "digital culture" as Nakamura called it's overuse cliche, even though I never heard of the term before. He says we tend to think of culture as a rich, varied, layered, anchored in specific and possessing depth, yet this is mistaken. He says, if African Americans are underrepresented as web users, they are even more underrepresented as web builders. Then he cites blackplanet.com. I looked it up. In my opinion, it looks like crap. It is very basic. Very social. Nothing that screams hey this is for African Americans.

In my honest opinion, I really dont see too much of racial profiling on the internet or maybe I am just already used to it. I wouldn't be surprised if technology has progressed to already use algorithms to profile me based upon my first and last name alone. As long as it doesnt become intrusive like it was back in the days of Excite, then I don't mind. For me, it helps with relative ads and videos and things I might like, so I kind of like it.

The other reading was more awesome talking about design. Most UI/UX agree that graphics should be kept in check or they take over the entire application. Attracting attention by having a pretty front end is important because it makes user want to use the product. Keeping them distraction-free will allow them to reach a state of flow. They are focused on the task at hand. They article talks about the balance between making it look beautiful and interesting and actually working to accomplish the task. If you have something to do, you dont want to be looking at pictures or extra links. The reading says that their is a fine line between helpful and harmful eye candy.

Digital Identity

Lisa Nakamura makes the argument that race is very often over looked. This is something that I have to agree with. Many races are misrepresented in the digital sphere. There is a default "whiteness" when it comes the internet. The internet is a medium that lacks diversity where there are many opportunities to diverse.

There were many things that i could not quite wrap my head around. Though more than likely everything will fall into place once we start to discuss it in class. There are many different ways to see Nakamura's argument ,none the less i did find this reading to be quite interesting.

The internet is forever evolving and changing. There is a fair amount of the world that does not the same access as many other parts as well. Due to this not everyone is on the same page and some they may never be. This was an interesting read, though I feel as though I did not fully comprehend it. Though talking over it will help quite a bit.

Nakamura Reading

This Nakamura reading brings up interesting ideas about how racism can be tied into how websites are designed. I found it interesting and informative; in fact I hope to tie one or two of her points into some reading I am also doing about the rhetoric of programming for another class.

One of the main points I feel Nakemura points out is to understand that the internet can often times offer us a very limited view of the world. I need to remember this, both as a user and a designer. I cannot let myself think that this narrow view is the majority view. Or even worse – the only view.

When Nakamura gives the example of the Excite website and it’s use of different races I found that something she pointed out toward the end of the example to be very important. She said that “the menu isn’t requiring the user to identify her race by clicking on the link” but the problem is that it’s using “outmoded and at times overtly racist language of demographic census”. This means the designer is taking an already racists problem and having their design become a part of it.

Overall I feel this reading reminded me to never let myself think that the websites I will design somehow don’t tie into the issues of race that we are facing as a culture today. I should be aware of what my design is saying about race. Do I assume that my audience is white? Do I have a narrow or racists view of racial identity in my design? Do I rely on stereotypes or appropriate other cultures in my design?