Google Reader

Google Reader is an online web based utility that handles RSS feeds similar to the way Flickr handles pictures, or Del.icio.us handles bookmarks, and that is that it groups them all in one place for greater ease of use for the user.  

Google Reader also allows the user to share his/her RSS feeds with friends, add tags, and group them so that each addition to the feed is separate  but under one heading, like a type of "categorisation" 

RSS Feeds

RSS feeds are a utility that allow users to subscribe to sites on the internet that update regularly, so rather then checking sites for updates, the RSS feeds will inform you the moment an update as occurred which will save time for the user.

RSS feeds are not limited to sites, for example Itunes also use RSS feeds for a lot of podcasts and such that allow listeners to download podcasts at their leisure with ease as the Feed will produce a type of "shopping list" of downloads that have been uploaded to that feed.

Counters

Counters are handy little add-ons to web pages that allow the owner to view the traffic to and from his webpages, basic counters may only provide a numerical counter that shows how many hits the site has received.

The problem with the basic counters is they do not discern whether it is 10 people or 1 person that reloaded the page 10 times, while this may not bother the owners, it will detract from the overall accuracy.

The counter I installed on my blog only displays how many hits the page gets, but upon logging into my account on the providers site I am given a full report on how many unique pageloads occured and how many of them were returning visitors, aswell as a total amount for the day, I  am also able to view the amount of time they spent on my site.

FTP

FTP or File Transfer Protocol is a system that transfers data over a network, such as the internet, and as such is a highly valuable tool that has become part of our daily lives. After reading wikipedia I realized the system was simple yet very technical making it almost overwhelming to people new to the field, and thus creating a downfall in itself.  

There are benefits to the system however, 1 of which is the fact that the system does not discriminate against operating systems and can be used both by Macs and PCs. Another good point is it is usable over any type of network, making it very versatile

With every good there comes bad, and with FTP there  are several security flaws that pose fundamental threats to users, possible the biggest flaw is the fact that basic FTP transfers passwords and personal details in plain text, making it extremely easy for people to steal private information FTP does however counter this with protocol enhancements that are available, however not everyone maw no this.

Another downfall is that because FTP uses multiple connections to transfer data, it may confuse firewalls causing the system to be blocked by the firewall, or cease working altogether.

My view on FTP is that while it is a handy tool we can use, it must also be used with caution, as it is easy to have information stolen among other problems that may arise.

The Past 8 Weeks (Assessment)

Over the past 8 weeks I've been taught how to use a range of web tools from blogs to well even google docs, which I used to write this very post infact. I'll now go through them in turn. (note: the links in the titles of each section link to my sites on those subjects. I.E click the "Blogger" link and it will take you to my blogspot) 

Blogger 

Blogger was perhaps the first tool we were taught how to use, to those who dont know, Blogger is a weBLOG site that is similar to a forum, with the exception that comments are not displayed on the front page of the blog. We also learnt the basics of HTML in tandem with blogger, as they are integral to each other. 

click Here to go to one of my blogger posts 

Flickr Flickr is an image hosting site that I had not heard of until class during week 4, which is odd as I use image hosting sites a lot, Flickr is pretty much the same as all other image hosting sites I have seen, you upload images and can link to them, since I have an account on other image hosting sites I havent been too fussed uploading massive amounts of images to flickr, and as such I only have 12 individual images, and 2 sets. Here are my favorites: 

Deadwood 

Girl and the Giant 

Frosty Morning 

Del.Icio.us Delicious is a bookmarking site, a concept which I found rather odd at first, especially when Damien first announced that we would be using a site to create bookmarks, I mean dont most internet browsers already have that capability? Regardless I started using Del.icio.us and while I can see how it is useful, you can access bookmarks from any computer, I also find it a little useless actually, if I have a site bookmarked on my internet browser it is through sheer laziness, as I usually memorize everything I bookmark anyway, bookmarking just allows me to click instead of typing the web address, where as with del.icio.us you need to go to the site, then sign in, then find the link you were after. Of course that is just my opinion I'm sure other people may find it more useful then I do. at the moment my Del.Icio.Us has 21 links, of them I use these the most. 

Deviant Art 

My Gallery 

My Flickr 

Other Items of Interest

As I said before we  are learning HTML, the main internet  source language code that can be used to create websites and thats barely scratching the surface, with HTML we have been experimenting with out Blogs and coding them.

I have also been experimenting with the Templates provided by blogger to achieve better aesthetics and have decided on two that I like, "Dark Minima" which would make any space graphics of my own that I upload seem to fit in, and "Rounded 4" is a smooth layout with a more organic yet organized.

Other Web bookmark sites

Del.icio.us is not the only web bookmarking site out there, infact there are probably dozens of them, I searched for a few of them and found several quite easy, here are some of them.

Stumble Upon

Stumble Upon is a bookmarking site that randomly chooses sites, videos, and images that are based upon previous favorites, which eventually makes the random display of sites more suited to your tastes.

Digg

Digg is another site similar to stumble upon, however it it seems to be a smaller community that isnt as spread out, however without joining I may be misjudging the site.

Feedburner

This site is another bookmarking site, however this one is different, rather then hosting your bookmarks itself, it emails them to you so that you are responsible for your own bookmarks.

Del.Icio.us

Del.Icio.us is a useful tool that hosts your favorites online, so if ever you are on a different computer you still have access to your bookmarks all in one convenient place. it also allows you to share favorites with other people rather easily, not to mention browse tags to find sites with similar interests.

here is My Del.Icio.us