Cranborne’s Hot Burning News in BBC February 28, 2006
Posted by lsalama06 in Hot issues.8 comments
Cranborne’s fire was caught up at BBC….
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/dorset/4757784.stm
oh my God that was a scary experience last night at Cranborne…. eventhough the fire was on the 3rd floor but we could smell the smoke on the 7th Floor… Hongy we were lucky!
Index page Oked! February 25, 2006
Posted by lsalama06 in Issues in Interactive Media.2 comments
Today had a very successful converstaion with my client. here is a summary of what we agreed on.
1-the first page and the look of the website…
2-Volker will ask a programmer if he can help.
3-I will send Volker the function I need to be scripted so that he send them to his programmer friend.
4-Volker agreed to have music on the website..but first I have to check if the university offers royal free music and if not then I might have to ask my flatmate if he is free to compose music (and I hope he doesnt turn out like Steve…disappearing on me).
5-I still have to send Volker the storyboard of the e-card.
6-We still need a name for the website.
Here is a sample of my Skype Chat History with (volkerincairo) I conducted with Volker today. I am registered as bubbles0673.
Created on 2006-02-25 20:27:26.
bubbles0673: 12:56:10: hi volker
bubbles0673: 12:56:28: i just finished first draft of first page for your website
Volker Scherl: 12:58:36: perfect, I cant wait to see it
Volker Scherl: 12:58:39: hi lubna
bubbles0673: 12:59:00: well it’s very basic
Volker Scherl: 12:59:02: unfortunatley i have to leave in afew minutes, i am in the office
Volker Scherl: 12:59:11: I want to see it!!!!
bubbles0673: 12:59:11: no problem I will send it via email
bubbles0673: 12:59:17: please send me your comments
Volker Scherl: 12:59:19: I cant wait!!
bubbles0673: 12:59:23: even if you dont like it
Volker Scherl: 12:59:25: I will do so!
bubbles0673: 12:59:30: I am working on another draft..
Volker Scherl: 12:59:33: I will be honest
bubbles0673: 12:59:39: to give you at least 2 -3 options
bubbles0673: 12:59:46: you can choose from 🙂
Volker Scherl: 12:59:49: you are great
bubbles0673: 12:59:54: ok ciao for now
Volker Scherl: 12:59:57: thanks a lot
Volker Scherl: 13:00:04: see you later!
bubbles0673: 13:00:15: thank you
Volker Scherl: 13:00:50: ciao
Volker Scherl: 18:02:51: Hi Lubna,
Volker Scherl: 18:02:57: you did really a great job, I like Index2
Volker Scherl: 18:03:02: Mabruk
bubbles0673: 18:03:20: really you like it
bubbles0673: 18:03:34: i like index 2 as well
Volker Scherl: 18:03:43: yes, I really like it
bubbles0673: 18:03:45: index one seems a bit feminiin 🙂
bubbles0673: 18:03:58: I thought black is better to highlight the photos
Volker Scherl: 18:03:59: and believe me, I will tell you if I dont agree
Volker Scherl: 18:04:15: thats the best background color
bubbles0673: 18:04:21: yup
Volker Scherl: 18:04:38: if I give a white frame to the pics it looks for shure great
bubbles0673: 18:04:56: actually when I looked around most of the picture frames I have seen in galleries, in books have a black border
Volker Scherl: 19:33:28: Lubna, I have to tell it again – you are really doing a good job with the homepage!!! I like the index 2 so much!!!!
bubbles0673: 19:35:35: thanks Volker …. I am just a beginner though have so much to learn yet.
Programmer…Disappeared February 25, 2006
Posted by lsalama06 in Issues in Interactive Media.add a comment
Bad news …Steve the programmer who promised to help me disappeared.
He has not been answering my emails 😦 I am kind of in big trouble. So I am basically asking anyone I meet online (not really successful) and offline for help.
I have received positive feedback from my classmates Sally and Mats. I met them on Thursday they gave me alot of useful information about scripts and php….
Sally helped me find scripts for e-cards and Mats helped explaining why we need php and also showed me (and Hong) interesting sites where we can purchase domains, but I asked Joe if the university offers free space on its server and he said he will get back to me by Wednesday 🙂 Mats also showed us another site http://www.hotscripts.com where we can get FREE scripts.
Now all this is great but in practice I am still not sure how to implement it…just to give an example…I tried today to copy the the CGI e-card script in dreamweaver…obviously that is the wrong way to do it…so here I am I have the script but have no clue what to do with it 😦 Ultimate frustration.
I also asked my Volker (my client) today if he knows any programmer who might be able to help. He said he knows someone in Austria but cant promise anything. But first I have to send me exactly what I need. So I hope by end of next week I find someone….
Points for Volker February 17, 2006
Posted by lsalama06 in Issues in Interactive Media.7 comments
PENDING ISSUES:
1-Need to come up with a name for the website! Suggestions:
-FlashMemory
-Volker photography
-Worth1000words
……….and I am open for other suggestions 🙂
2-Interface not specified, I suggest Xhtml… + FLASH introduction
3-Selling photos online will be difficult due to security issues, and it will cost for coding it and according to the survey I conducted among users its not a priority accoridng to user survey). So thought of another alternative for marketing client’s project is through developing e-card and comments sections (Volker what do you think?)
4-Accessiblity (at least all images have to be labelled in ALT Text so that blind users will be able to know what this website is about…this is based on RNIB recommendation)
5-The website will have six categories (each
categories will have five section and each section will
have 4-6 photos):
-PEOPLE
-TRANSPORTATION (4-6 photos)
-SUNSET (4-6 photos)
-CRAFTS (4-6 photos)
-DESERT (4-6 photos)
-LOCATION
-Cairo (4-6 photos)
-Alexandria (4-6 photos)
-Sharm El Sheikh (4-6 photos)
-Siwa (4-6 photos)
-Baharia (4-6 photos)
6-The menu will include:
1-About me
2-Contact me
3-Send post-card
4-View comments
Anything else Volker you would like to add?
7-I was thinking since this is more of exhibiting your art…I would like to suggest in in every photo maybe you can add a line or two about what inspired you to take this specific image..or what were the circunstances…or maybe you have a title for the photo and tell us why you named it like that….what do you thin?
Some thoughts on mlearning February 12, 2006
Posted by lsalama06 in Research Project.add a comment
Marshall McLuhan describes: “Today … most learning occurs outside the classroom. The sheer quantity of information conveyed by press-magazines-film-TV-radio far exceeds the quantity of information conveyed by school instruction and texts.”
—————————————————————————————————–
Some features to be considered when designing for Mobile Devices:
There are many variables that should be considered when developing user-friendly interfaces for websites. According to Nielsen there are ten usability features, which facilitates the use of the websites amongst is that it maximum time to download a page should not exceed 10 seconds “that’s the limit of people’s ability to keep there attention focused while waiting. One way to so when developing course content designed for mobile learners is to reduce the use of graphics and multimedia.” Alternatively, one can turn to the properties inherent in the mobile devices and communication standards when connecting to the Internet, such as better processing power, high speed wireless internet connections, and the like.
A number of mLearning studies and articles have addressed issues relating to user interface issues.
Screen size is of utmost importance as it is the main interface the user interacts with in an mLearning environment. Nielsen (2000a, p.356) indicates that a large screen gives the user with a better overview of web content than a smaller one. Designers thus have formidable task of coming up with a device that is neither too bulky – to be considered a computer, nor too small so that it makes it difficult for the student or teacher to work effectively.
Quinn (2000), for instance, states: “My preference would be something with about an 800 x 600 color screen, a pen, a foldout keyboard (when necessary), fully networked, with a microphone and a speaker. It might be 3 x 5 inches when the keyboard is not extended, and would have a slot to plug in additional capability (for example, a camera). It would either have an advanced browser or a dedicated learning application as one of the software packages”.
More ideas to explore for DAP project February 12, 2006
Posted by lsalama06 in Digital Art.add a comment
DAP : Human Animal within technoscience February 12, 2006
Posted by lsalama06 in Digital Art.add a comment
This is just on aspect of our group (Hong http://hongy.wordpress.com, Xaveir http://maimewrk.blogspot.com/project and I) project for the DAP:
We would like to show an aspect of animal-human relationships within technoscientific
worlds.
Here are some quotes from Haraway’s Cyborg Manifesto ( and :
“So my cyborg myth is about transgressed boundaries”
“By the late twentieth century in United States scientific culture, the boundary between human and animal is thoroughly breached. The last beachheads of uniqueness have been polluted if not turned into amusement parks–language tool use, social behaviour, mental events, nothing really convincingly settles the separation of human and animal. And many people no longer feel the need for such a separation; indeed, many branches of feminist culture affirm the pleasure of connection of human and other living creatures. Movements for animal rights are not irrational denials of human uniqueness; they are a clear-sighted
recognition of connection across the discredited breach of nature and culture. Biology and evolutionary theory over the last two centuries have simultaneously produced modern organisms as objects of knowledge and reduced the line between humans and animals to a faint trace re-etched in ideological struggle or professional disputes between life and social science.
Biological-determinist ideology is only one position opened up in scientific culture for arguing the meanings of human animality. There is much room for radical political people to contest the meanings of the breached boundary.”
Apology February 12, 2006
Posted by lsalama06 in Hot issues.add a comment
From: Sahar El-Nadi
Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2006 6:03 PM
Subject: Official Apology from Danish paper in Al Ahram today (7 Feb-2006)
salaam all,
attached is a digital photograph of the apology published today on one full page in Al Ahram newspaper, page 13, and to be honest with you, I think this is more than enough by way of apology, what we really need now is to work hard on reaching out to educate those people about us and our religion and culture in a civilized way and in a language they understand.
yesterday there were two very contradicting pictures in the news channels: that of Muslim hooligans burning and destroying public and private property in the name of Islam, and that of Danish people gathered in a public square in Copenhagen on their weekend in freezing weather, holding candles and signs reading “we’re sorry, we’d like to talk to you”… who wins in this comparison???
it’s time that we stop reacting emotionally and to take the initiative of positive and constructive action.
My Research Question February 10, 2006
Posted by lsalama06 in Research Project.add a comment
Can the m-learning (that includes cell phones, PDAs, MP3 players, portable game devices, handhel) be preferable to other forms of learning and teaching methods?
Impressions 