LESSON 1 : BACKGROUND INFO

What's required to setup a website?

1. Register domain name (www.yourname.com)
2. Engage a hosting service (a server space)
3. Create/Write content (text, images)
4. Design/Code these content into html and upload to server
5. Programming involve if information is dynamically updated and the site served as an application (more than just presenting information)

This process involved many professionals from different fields each possess their area of expertise. Even for a simple site, they require someone who are trained and with lots of patience to resolve sometime teething problems, which can also seem to be trivial and mundane.

Individuals started maintaining web journals as early as 1994, but gaining rapid growth and popularity in last few years, mainly because new software and blog hosting providers allow easy creation of blog site.

How easy? Basically you don't need:

• visual design
• page design
• interaction design
• information architecture
• any programming, or
• server maintenance

The term 'blog' is derived from 'Web log' (1997), splitting it as 'we blog' (1999). 'Blog' can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Mr. Brown is one of the earliest blogger in Singapore, as early as 1997.

It looks like Blogging is a phenomenon to stay.

BLOG
A blog is...

• a website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order
• commonly personal journals/diaries and are used to comment on all sorts of topics depending on the interests of the blogger (author)
• usually updated frequently, maybe monthly, weekly or even daily, it all depends on the blogger.

Most blogs enable the visitors to post comments and/or suggestions allowing interactivity between the blogger and the visitors.

Blogs often provide commentary or news on a particular subject, such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual although some focus on photographs (photoblog), sketchblog, videos (vlog), or audio (podcasting), and are part of a wider network of social media.

BLOG SOFTWARE
1. User hosted : Software packages installed by weblog authors to run on their own systems:

• Greymatter
• Movable Type
• Wordpress etc

2. Developer hosted: Software services operated by the developer, requiring no software installation for the weblog author:

• LiveJournal.com
• Typepad.com
• Blogger.com
• MySpace.com
• Wordpress.com etc

ETHICS
From CyberJournalist.net

• Be Honest and Fair
• Minimize Harm
• Be Accountable

Read another short interesting article by Melissa Waters on Blog Etiquette. The keypoints are covered in lesson slides, but read it to get the original source and ideas.

LEGAL

1. Two ethnic Chinese were imprisoned under the country’s anti-sedition law for posting anti-Muslim remarks in their weblogs.
2. Another person by the name Chad posted some images that were deem offensive.

Offensive Post - Self Regulation, well, sort of...

The Wee Shu Min Affair