Category Archives: BU MET CS 601 Fall 2011

Category to hold my blog posts for MET CS 601 that I am taking during the Fall 2011 semester.

First Real CS 601 Post – Felke-Morris Chapter 1 Focus on Web Design

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First Real Post

The first blog assignment for class is to look at one of the sites referenced in the first chapter of Felke-Morris’ Basics of Web Design: HTML5 and CSS3 (LINK) and answer some questions about it. I decided to use the Creative Commons website. As an serious amateur photographer with (I’d link to think) above average knowledge of copyright issues, the idea of having a series of licenses that allows for sharing media without full release into the public domain. It also allows for more control than something like the GNU public license. (If you’re interested in this, I would suggest reading Siva Vaidhyanathan’s Copyrights & Copywrongs, though it may getting outdated as it was published in 2001.)

Anyway, to the topic at hand (web design). I’ll go through the questions as presented in the book:

  1. What is the purpose of the site? The main purpose of the site is to educate people about the concept of Creative Commons and the organization. (They also provide a mechanism to search for content.)
  2. Who is the intended audience? Basically everybody, but the focus in on media producers & users. However, this includes several groups such as artists, in one form or another, educators, scientists, and governments.
  3. Do you think that the site reaches its intended audience? Yes. The front page has links basic information presented prominently. It also has direct links on the main page to subpages for specific groups.
  4. Is the site useful to you? Yes. I actually have licensed my photos use CC license, and the site has provided detailed information on the different type of licenses. It also has a good description of the overall purpose of CC and why it’s important.
  5. List one interesting fact or issue that this site addresses. That both Al Jezeera and Nine Inch Nails have issued material under a CC license. This is actually important in that it shows it’s not just amateurs that are using CC licenses. Instead, real media creators are doing so as well.
  6. Would you encourage others to visit this site? Definitely. Issues of media ownership and use are very important to the future of information exchange.
  7. How could this site be improved? Personally, I find the very large summit "e;ad"e; distracting and takes away from the content. (On my smallish laptop screen, it cause the real information to be pushed off the bottom.)