Monday, May 5, 2014

Monday, May 5

I had never seen this video before and I thought that it was really cool. Recently, the big idea was that people are on technology too much, and this video is really good because it provides a visual and a poem. I am guilty of being on my phone/ computer too much, I'll admit it. I think that what happens is that I get bored, or don't trust paper and pencil. If I am given an address, there is no way I would try and find it with out my phone. But I don;t know why it is this way. Growing up, we had a TV in my house, and my parents had cell phones, but I never thought that it was too much. At some point, however, I looked up from my iPhone and realized that life kept moving, even though I didn't really know it. My parents are always trying to get me to do other things, but I tell them "You don't understand! You don't know how useful this phone is!" But the thing is, they don't need to understand that because they are aware of life around them, and they know what I looked like as a young kid reading, and they just want me to be happy again.

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Tuesday, April 29

What is a 'splash page'? Look it up. Explain what they are and how they are used.

Splash pages are basically the first thing that you see on a website. Before you can even look at the website's index, you would see the splash page. They are great tools for promoting specific things on your website or providing advertisements.The are sometimes referred to as "splash screens" as well. Often times they are used to alert the viewer that the page is loading. They can also be used to warn viewers of what they are about to see on the website.


splash page example

Friday, April 25, 2014

Friday, April 25

What do you think about it? What is the teacher trying to say? In your own words explain what "the main event" is. Do you agree or disagree with the writer?


Who ever this teacher is, he needs to speak in front of large groups of people so that they can hear this as well. My favorite part was the last paragraph: "So, do yourself a favor: Man up. Woman up.  No more excuses.  No more justifications.  No blaming.  No quitting.  Just pick your head up.  Rip the cords out of your ears.  Grab the frickin’ pencil and let’s do this." I love this, because believe it or not, some students actually do care. Some students including me. It is extremely annoying and irritating that some students just come to school because they have to. Don't they realize that high school is the stepping stone to your future? High school students try to say that high school isn't important because all we learn how to do is graph a parabola; which we do learn how to do, but we also learn so much more that WILL help us after graduation. Problem-solving, perseverance, how to pay attention, how to take notes, how to get what you want, and so much more. I completely agree with this writer, although it is strange to think that my teachers might be losing sleep because of me and my peers.

Monday, March 31, 2014

Monday, April 31

Status update! Tell me where you are at on your product website? Can you be finished by tomorrow at the end of the hour? Do you need more time? How much more time? Be honest and explain yourself.

I still have a lot of work left to do. Last week, i tried, but didn't get a lot of things done because i think that I was too hung up on the fact that I didn't know how to do something. I ended up figuring it out, and made lots of progress on Friday. I don't think that I can be finished by the end of the hour tomorrow, there is just too much left to do. To get the highest quality work produced, I think that end of the day on BLOCK or by the beginning of the hour Friday is a more realistic deadline.

Monday, March 24, 2014

Monday, March 24

Welcome back! How was your Spring Break? Tell me all about it. You've been out of school for 10 days so I know you will have plenty to share. Make it good!

My family is actually building a house, so we decided to stay home this Spring Break, and try to save a little money. It was really nice being able to just stay home and relax. I think that I probably watched 10 movies over break, and 3 of them were in the theater. I saw Frozen, again, as well as Non-Stop and Divergent. They were all really good. One day, my mom, sister and I went to the World War 1 museum because it was an extra credit opportunity for my AP Euro class. Another day, we went shopping at the Legends. I liked going there because their J.Crew store had 50% off everything. Also, after the NCAA tournament started, there was a lot of basketball for me to watch, I had KU winning it all, but oh well. Although I didn't go anywhere warm or exotic, I liked being able to spend some time with family and just relax.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Tuesday, March 11

Do you like the layout of this project? Have you benefited from your brainstorming sheet? Was it more helpful or annoying when starting to map out your website? Explain why.

The brainstorming packet is extremely helpful. It allows me to easily create my website, because it is already all planned out. Although at first it was annoying, and I didn't want to plan out my whole website, I am glad that I did.At this point in the project, I am glad that I have this packet.

Monday, March 10, 2014

Monday, March 10

Are you caught up? What helps you stay caught up in class? Do you like having small checkpoints? Are you behind? If so, what are you going to do to get caught up?

I am 100% on track. The small checkpoints are really helping me because now I know where I need to be. Without them, I would be worried that I am lagging behind, which is not the case. However, I feel like sometimes, I am ready to take the next step, but I'm not sure what that next step is supposed to be. I don't want to work ahead because I am afraid that I'll do it wrong. So even though I am where I should be, I don't feel confident enough to work ahead.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Wednesday, March 5

What idea do you have that is going to make you product website different, unique or unlike anyone else? If your answer is you don't know - it's time to start THINKING. Explain your idea.

My concept  is unique, but not unheard of. Also, it is something that people would actually use. It's functionality and attractiveness will be appealing to my customer. If anyone else in our class has the same idea as me, then I will be very surprised. Hopefully, my vision is executed to a level of excellence.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Tuesday, March 4

What product have you decided to feature/sell on your product website? Explain why you've chosen this product and remember, the sky is the limit on this project!

The general theme of my website is "Rainy Days". Different products on the site will be rain boots, jackets and umbrellas. I want a pair of Hunter boots, and that inspired me to create this website. Also, there aren't very many websites devoted to rain gear, and I wanted to be original. Hopefully I am able to execute this website nicely and have it be visually appealing, as well as functional.

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Wednesday, February 26

What are three things you learned about color theory and web design yesterday? Go in to detail.

The first thing that I learned about was how color-blind people perceive websites. I knew that red-green color-blindness was the most common, but it was interesting to see what color-blind people saw. The second thing that I learned about was the different combinations of color. Analogous, complementary, etc. The third thing that I learned was how color combinations that are found in nature are often the most visually appealing. I thought that this was interesting, but it makes sense. Often times, nature is the inspiration for a color scheme and we don't even realize it.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Tuesday, February 25

What effect can a color scheme have on a website? How can it make a website better? How can it make a website worse? Explain why color is important.

Color Scheme is very important to a website because it makes it easier for users and people viewing your website. If your colors are horrible, for example you have a black background and blue text, I am not going to enjoy using your website. If, however, your color scheme is a collection of nice green tones, then I will enjoy using your website. Color is important because it is what most people notice right away, it is also constant throughout the whole website. If you want your website to be popular and enjoyable, having a good color scheme is very important.

Monday, February 24, 2014

Monday, February 24

What did you learn about file types as you created and designed your travel website? What are some other kinds of file types you know of? What do these different files do? Explain.

During the travel site, we used PNG files as well as PSD files. I have heard of JPEG files before, but I'm not sure if there is a difference between PNG and JPEG. I know that they are both used for photos. I also know that there are a lot of other types, but I have no idea what they are called or when you use them. I imagine that different programs and different formats have different file types. I couldn't name any of them however. Beyond the default Microsoft Office file type and the types that we just used on our Travel Site, I have never used any other kind.

Friday, February 21, 2014

Friday, February 21

What was your takeaway from this Travel Site? What did you learn that you didn't know before? How will the knowledge of how we built this site help you improve your future websites?

I really enjoyed creating my Travel Site. I had never done anything like this before and I thought that it was interesting. I learned how to do roll-over images and how to use Photoshop to create unique photos for my site. In the future, I will be able to use roll-over images as an alternative option and I will use Photoshop to enhance my visuals. The Travel Site has been my favorite website to create thus far.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Tuesday, February 18

How can Photoshop be a valuable tool in web design? Explain.

Photoshop provides a way to create unique images so that websites are more personalized and interesting. You can't always find the exact photo that you want with the exact text that you want over it. Photoshop is also fairly easy to use. Before we started our Travel Sites, I had never worked with Photoshop before, but now I feel pretty comfortable with it. Photoshop is probably the most valuable resource used in web design because it allows the user to personalize things for their websites.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Tuesday, February 11

What do you know about Photoshop? Have you used it before? What can it do? Are you an expert? A newbie? Tell me about your background and what you already know.

I have never worked with Photoshop. If you were to ask me to do something with it right now, I would have zero idea of where to start. I think that newbie is an understatement, in fact. I'm really excited to learn how to use it though. I'm always excited to learn how to do something new.

Friday, February 7, 2014

Friday, February 7

Think about how a user (me or anyone else using your site) might function and interact with your site. What are some important functional features to make your website easy to work with? How can you make it easier for the user and not frustrating? Explain why this is so important.

My site is pretty basic to use. There are 4 tabs across the top that all connect to each other and the main page. My page also easy to read. There isn't text everywhere and you can easily understand it. The layout is visually appealing and easily navigated. Websites need to be functional so that people enjoy working with them. If it is hard to work with your site, no one will want to use it.

Monday, February 3, 2014

Monday, February 3

Tell me about your Sweetheart weekend. If you didn't go to Sweetheart, what did you do? I want details!

I went to Sweetheart and it was so much fun! I had asked one of my good friends to go with me, and we went in a group of 5 couples. The pictures all turned out great, my dress was navy and his tie complemented it nicely. Dinner was great, we went to Bravo at Town Center. This was probably my favorite part of the night. After dinner, we went to the dance, just in time for the crowning. We only stayed at the dance for about an hour, before we headed to Incredi-bowl. We thought that we were going to be able to go cosmic bowling, but all of the lanes were already taken! We did do a round of laser tag however, and that was pretty fun. Since bowling wasn't an option any more, we just went back to someones house and hung out. It was so much fun, and I'm so glad that I went.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Tuesday, January 28

Tell me about your All About Me site. What are going to be your 4 main content pages? Why did you choose those topics? What big plans do you have for your site that is going to make it different and creative?

My All About Me site's 4 main pages are Early Life, Family, Favorites and Friends. I chose these partially because I believe that they will help people to better understand me, but also because they are the most important things in my life. (excluding Early Life) My site is going to be more colorful this time and include plenty of pictures so that what I'm talking about has something to go with it.

Monday, January 27, 2014

Monday, January 27

What are your thoughts on HTML code? Did you enjoy the coding activity? Do you feel like you learned anything? Explain yourself.

I actually really enjoyed the HTML activity. I had never done anything with HTML, and I liked it more than I thought I would. The hardest part for me was probably linking a website. I think that with more practice though, it will get easier. I'm glad that it challenged me though, because a lot of times, computer classes are seen as "easy A's" and even though I'd like to get an A, I'd also like to learn things and challenge myself.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Tuesday, January 21

Tell me about your three day weekend. How was it? What did you do? Elaborate!

On Saturday, both of my parents were off work and so we all just relaxed and spent some quality time together. It was really nice since my family is always on the go. That night I went our to dinner for one of my friend's birthday. Sunday, Dad made pancakes before going to work and then Mom and I went to Taylor's futsol game. Taylor is my younger sister. Yesterday I slept in and then went to get my shoes for sweetheart. And then yesterday afternoon I remembered that I had to go to a girl's basketball game at Truman High and I had done no homework. So I did it on the van and when I got home last night. Last night was kind of a long night. But the three day weekend was great and I got some much needed sleep.

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Wednesday, January 15

Tell me if you agree with this statement and then explain why or why not. "Images on the Internet are 'free game' - if someone posted it, I should be able to use it."

It's fine to use photos that you find on the Internet, but you need to recognize the original owner. Often times, people's photos are used in other places without being recognized at all and that is unfair to them. People put pictures of things that they are proud of on the Internet and the should get the recognition, no matter what. It isn't difficult to refer to the original owner of a photo, so there shouldn't be any reason that people can't do that. Most of the time, people either don't know how to cite a photo or are unaware that they need to. Original owners and artists should definitely receive credit for their photos.

Monday, January 13, 2014

Monday, January 13

What do you know about plagiarism? What do you know about plagiarism on the internet?How do web design, the internet and plagiarism all effect each other?Explain

Plagiarism is when you copy something and don't give credit to where it came from. It is important to acknowledge the original creator or owner so that you don't plagiarize anything. With web design, you are typically using things that you find on the internet (pictures, videos, etc.) and it is important to indicate the original location of the media or text.

Web design, plagiarism  and the internet all effect each other because plagiarism happens pretty often on the internet, especially on personal websites

Friday, January 10, 2014

Friday, January 10

What do you already know about web design? How it works? Programs you can use? Tools that exist? Anything.


I know a tiny little bit about HTML, because we just learned about it. I also know that there is a way to have your website be pulled up with certain key words on a search engine. There are also a lot of platforms for people to express themselves on Internet, for example, Blogger. I don't know a lot about the programs used, but isn't that the reason I'm in this class?