RESPONSE
Author: Jack Mulligan
Website Design Analysis
My favorite website is Popjustice.com. It is a website for news, music, and culture all surrounding the UK music scene. I primarily visit this site for new music recommendations and reviews. The layout features a pink header at the top which bears the logo for the site. The main feature of the site is their weekly "New Music Friday" article which is positioned as the largest image and blog post. These "New Music Friday" articles most likely get the most hits because they contain a short review of all of the British pop songs that have come out over the course of that week and gives them a short review. Above the feature article and just below the logo, there is a menu bar that shows all of the different types of articles included on the site, The Briefing, News, Music, Vids, Interviews etc, and Forum. This website serves many purposes besides news, but only really hardcore music fans will want to participate in the forum. The articles begin on the left side of the site with a substantial border and continue toward the middle. There is always a right hand side bar on every page of the website reminding visitors of their list of the best albums of the year and other options like a mailing list. The contrast on this website is primarily achieved by the black text on a white background, but the site also includes elements of pink for further visual interest. Some of the text in the headlines and paragraph headers appears in pink for further emphasis. The site is aligned along the space used for the major article space, with every other link seemingly optional. Popjustice does a good job of grouping the interests of readers together. Similar songs and articles of interest appear along the sidebar to entice readers to visit different pages on the site. The padding and the margin of the site make it more easily readable. Overall, I think this website is well presented in terms of formatting. It presents its information in a concise manner and maintains enough white space so that it is not overwhelming.
Lesson 3 Response
In reading the copyright overview I was reminded of the situation with Disney. I remember reading that the dates surrounding how long something remains under copyright are heavily influenced by the copyright of Mickey Mouse. Mickey first appeared in 1928, so how long will it be until iconic Disney material becomes public domain. How will we be able to progress into the future of copyright if so many images have been used and re used, thanks to the advent of the internet. It will be interesting to see how Disney will fight to maintain their copyright. I can't imagine Mickey Mouse being free for the public domain.
Low Fi Manifesto Reaction
I had previously only heard the phrase "low fi" used in relation to fuzzy sounding indie music. As I continued to read the manifesto I gained a great deal of respect for the points Stolley was trying to make. We must first understand the parts of a whole before we can really know what is going on. We have essentially skipped learning the language of the programs that have become so ubiquitous in our lives. His Powerpoint example is especially telling as the phrase "slideshow" as been phased out in favor of the Microsoft Branded "PowerPoint". He argues that it is essential to learn the parts of the system before we can feel like we confidently understand the most popular programs used today. It makes a good deal of sense that using the most low-fi programs and avenues we will be able to be more adaptable and reach a wider audience with our original content. As far as the Git videos, they seem helpful despite how scary coding can seem. The program seems to have fairly user friendly interface. Overall, I'm pretty much sold on wanting to learn more about low-fi programs and how we can break down the programs we have become so unconsciously used to.
Jack Mulligan intro
Hey yall,