Creating a BufWiki

Making a Wiki was a rather interesting process.. I have never created a Wiki or added to a Wiki site, so obviously I was very nervous when I heard that we would be creating one. When I met with Nick, both of us had no idea on what our Wiki should be. I feel like I’m not really an expertise in anything. We both talked about what we liked doing, and a common interest was going out. We then decided to do a BufWiki on the local bar Third Base on Main Street since it’s a popular college kid’s bar. 

We used Facebook in order to communicate with each other. I think using Facebook is very efficient since I am always logged on, and if I am not logged on then I receive instant notifications via text messages when I do receive a message on Facebook. It’s quick and easier than an email. (Well at least for me anyways, because I rarely check my email)

I think this group project has definitely been easier than past projects. Since everything can be done online it’s easy. We didn’t have to set up a time we could both meet and work on it (since everyone’s schedules are so hectic, this would be rather difficult) instead we used Facebook. This also made it easier to share file information. We could just send it through a message rather than having to put it on a flash drive or anything to that sort.

I liked doing this project more than any other project because we didn’t have to worry about meeting before or after class because everything was online! If I added something to the Wiki page and Nick thought it needed a little revising then he would just go to the page and fix it, vice versa. It was much easier than finding time when we could both meet, because as expected we both have different schedules.

We decided in class who would do what section of the article. After I found all my information and wrote it out, I just messaged it to him on Facebook. This way he could make sure our information didn’t overlap and anything he thought I was missing he could tell me and I could research more on that topic.

Before actually creating the Wiki page itself I wanted to learn more about the Wiki neighborhood. I found an interesting page which had a lot of facts about Wiki.  For example, there are over 75,000 “hot authors” which are people who constantly add and update information on the site.  Wikipedia also contains about 684 million viewers every year. It’s interesting how many people actual use Wikipedia verses how many people actually add to the site.

Making a Wiki is really not as easy as it sounds, and honestly I’m not so sure if I will ever make one again.  I must have read the create a Wiki page a million times. Luckily in class we went over it, which made it a little bit easier to understand, that is until I went in and tried to add information to our page.

As I was adding information to our page, I noticed everything was moving around, and I thought I did this by error (since I was unsure of what I was doing as it was) so I just copied the information I had and moved it back to the way I wanted it. This happened a few times, I didn’t understand how I kept switching it around. I was getting frustrated. Then I went to click the edit button for the millionth time and an error occurred. Mr. Wiki Man (my made up name for him- whoever he may be) LOCKED my page!!  Apparently, I kept undoing what he was fixing. I didn’t know! I thought I was accidently moving everything around! That was really annoying. So it took about 20 minutes before he decided to let me back in to edit our page. If that was not annoying enough he decided to take out some of my information. I was very mad at him.

After all the confusion was over with I learned that making a BufWiki was not really that hard, as long as you stick to Mr. Wiki Man’s rules. [WARNING : DO NOT TRY TO MESS WITH THE TEMPLATE] It took me back to the days of MySpace. I was one of those crazy girls that constantly had to change her background and font size and color so doing it on here kind of brought back memories.

The next day I decided to log back on and see if anything was changed on our page. I logged onto Buffwiki and looked at my creation and I had one file contribution. When I looked on the page I realized they just moved our photo from the bottom to the top right, but it still seemed exciting knowing that someone took the time to look at the page and change the page that we created!

All together, I would have to say that it was a project that I actually learned from. I feel like with a lot of past projects I have done I do it and that’s it. I don’t really take anything with me. This project gave me experience and it’s something that could actually be used again in my lifetime. For example, if I know someone that opens a restaurant, a bar, a club, or anything in Buffalo I could create them a Wiki page so that it could become publicized.  I think it is very useful information to have. I also think that with this experience I can add information to a Wiki. I am not sure I will ever make a Wiki again (unless like I stated before I know someone who needs help or something like that) but I do think that if I am using the Wiki neighborhood I should add information here and there. If I know something on a topic that isn’t on the Wiki page yet I will add to it. I feel more comfortable doing this now since I actually know how to and because I have already added a site to the neighborhood.

All in all I had a great time working with Nick. We definitely got a lot of laughs during the process of creating a Wiki. Here is our page on Third Base.

What is Web 2.0?

Web 2.0 is not a word that can be easily defined. Even though it does not have one set definition there is criteria, which a website must have in order to be considered Web 2.0.

Tim O’Reilly and Media Live International created Web 2.0. Web 2.0 basically has more applications than ever before. Tim O’Reilly said the most important thing is to figure out how to make the databases easier for the user. He was implying that what users want is what Web 2.0 sites have to give them.

Before Web 2.0 websites, people visited html based websites. The information was first transmitted and then consumed. Today Web 2.0 sites information can be created, altered, and shared. Web 2.0 seems to be an upgrade from earlier. It makes websites user friendly. Web 2.0 can fulfill any need of any user. The user can customize the website to fit their needs exactly.

There are different types of Web 2.0 sites. There are programming, video, music, chat, images and photos, blogs, bookmarking, VOIP (voice over IP), games and sketching, wikis, office tools, RSS(really simple syndication), emails, news,  file sharing, and other Web 2.0 sites.

An example of a popular Web 2.0 site is YouTube. It is the number one Web 2.0 video site. Other common Web 2.0 sites include: Pandora, Flickr, Blogger, Skype, Wikipedia, Gmail, Facebook and many more.

There are eight core characteristics of Web 2.0: user centered design, crowd sourcing, web as a platform, collaboration, power decentralization, dynamic content, SAAS, and rich user experience.

User centered design means that every possible need of a user is fulfilled. A good example of this is iGoogle. A user can set their iGoogle homepage to receive RSS. Many people set iGoogle to see the weather, news, popular videos and so forth so they only have to go to one page rather than many.

Crowd sourcing means that a lot of information is posted in a short amount of time due to bloggers. Web 2.0 sites get more information faster than traditional news stations and sites because there are a lot of people adding information.

Web as a platform means that programs will be free.

Collaboration means that information can be edited and shared. A good example is Wikipedia.  On this website a user can add more information on a topic, add pictures, links, and edit text. A person can go on Wikipedia to get a basic understanding of a topic that they know little about. Users trust that the contributors to the site are posting honest information.

Power Decentralization means that the users have the power and there are no administrators.

Dynamic Content means the Internet must always be changing and keeping up with current technology and the wants of their consumers.

SAAS is if a program like iWorks opened up a free version online and people no longer had to pay for such programs.

Rich user experiences means it must be fast, less cluttered, and more appealing. Those are the eight core characteristics to determine if a website is Web 2.0 or not.

As everything in life there are “dangerous” sides of Web 2.0. People should be reluctant to put out too much personal information due to hackers. Also companies need to make sure their websites are safe in order to protect their consumers.

Web 2.0 is constantly in change. Web 2.0 is a website that is designed with a user in mind. Web 2.0 sites allow a user to use the site to their full potential.  

My First Time Using the Internet

I remember my Dad carrying a large box into our living room. After hours of setting it up, I finally got my chance to use it.  I remember we had AOL and the sound of the connection, is a sound that I will never forget.

The Internet was very slow at this time, but I couldn’t have cared less. I found it fascinating to be able to log onto a website. I remember AOL instant messenger was very popular. The biggest contest was coming up with a better screen name than all of your friends. After much time, I came up with the name Loveablebug232.  I laugh at the name now; I’m not even sure where I came up with it. It’s not like it was fascinated with bugs or anything to that sort. I actually hated bugs.

After creating the screen name, I remember having to sign off the Internet so that I could call my best friend Katie and tell her that I finally got a computer and my AIM screen name was Loveablebug232. Immediately, I hung up the phone and logged back on…again the buzzing noise of AOL will never be forgotten.

After logging back on Katie instant messaged me. There she preceded to i/m me everybody’s screen name. I thought I was so cool, having an AIM screen name.  Even though my parent’s strictly told me “NO CHAT ROOMS!” I remember logging onto one. I kept turning my back to make sure that my parent’s weren’t coming into the room. I loved to make up who I was… I remember people would ask me “asl?” (age, sex, location) I always lied, I would say I was 18, female, and from Florida. (Kind of funny, what 18 year old would be in a chat room?) It was fun living in a fantasy world. 

Oh, the days of fake names, ages, and locations... It still makes me laugh, how i thought i was so awesome :)