[an error occurred while processing this directive]
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
Volume 3.9 Issue 2
AH! News
Protect Your Domain Rights!
AH! Trends
Graphics vs. Text, and the Visual Architect
Link Up!
www.allclipartsite.com
Our Site!
The ArisHost site of the week: www.rbore.com
AH! Relief
Ah... the realities of life. Good thing the
Internet offers up some laughs. It's time to take a break!
Archive
Our Previous Issues
AH! News
Protect Your Domain Rights!
There are regulations created by ICANN that specifically assert the rights of webmasters
and owners to transfer domains to their registrar of choice.
This reminder comes in light of the complaints of many ArisHost customers whose requests for
transfer have been denied by Network Solutions, Inc. (NSI). These transfer failures are being
attributed by NSI to the customers' inability to respond to their confirmation within a
specified time. However, according to ICANN, losing registrars cannot deny transfers simply
because they claim to have not received a response from the domain owners.
Louis Touton, the Vice President and General Counsel for ICANN, writes Christine A. Russo,
Manager of Contracts and Compliance at VeriSign Global Registry Services: "The allocation of
responsibility does indicate, however, that the losing registrar may not deny a transfer
request that the gaining registrar has verified merely because the losing registrar has not
verified it. Thus, a losing registrar should not deny a transfer request simply because it
has notified the Registered Name Holder of the request and has not received a response."
AH! Trends
Graphics vs. Text, and the Visual Architect
The issue of being content-driven or graphics-laden seems old and hackneyed, considering
the fast maturing of the web. From the initial concept of Tim Berners-Lee that the Internet
be a solely textual and information exchange medium, it has grown into the hodgepodge milieu
of data, flashy pages, games, adult content and what-have-yous that it is now. There are
millions websites out there, offering anything and everything. Sometimes these sites load
into browsers like clumps of boring text, sometimes a well-drawn comic book with so-so script
or even sales-swatches from some glossy magazine. And while it is good that the Internet has
grown, it becomes important again to return to a basic question: is it graphical or text?
Today's computers have the capacity to handle much more information than those of yesteryear.
They can load even the most complex online graphics, albeit downloading for minutes just for
a picture or background. Appearances are important, but so is content.
There are purists who believe in the optimization of the Internet as a means of information
exchange. No frills, no nonsense-just a medium for networking data, most often in text form.
Of course, this should not discount the value of graphics within web documents. Studies
indicate that today's readers are more visually literate, hence receptive to learning as
supported by visual aids. Besides, with the advent of MacroMedia technologies that enable
visually arresting online presentations, graphics have changed the way we receive and
perceive the web. Graphics have repackaged the potentials of the Internet from being merely a
medium of data exchange to one of multifunction and visuality. This has lent to its popularity
as the so-called 'new-media' and has made it highly commercialized. Some lament that textual
content has been sacrificed for flash and superficiality. Content has at times given way to
fluff, which web users inadvertently have to wade through to get to what they want. Graphics,
especially the more complex designs, make it longer for pages to load, and might not even be
viewed in some web browsers.
Still, graphic design, or the combination of text and static graphics, offers more potential
than any singular means of presentation. In education alone, the Internet has gained wide and
fast acceptance, partly because of its emphasis on overall communication; that is, the use of
both images and words. Visual literacy is supposed to extend learning potential the same way
that hypertext expands plain print. The problem therefore is knowing when the flash is too
much and where more meaty content must be used.
Enter visual architecture, which balances the communication between images and words. This
means that graphics should be used to draw attention to the text and not divert, as is the
usual mistake. It makes use of The Rule of Three, and can be applied across media (advertising,
television, the Internet, etc). The Rule of Three is based on the triangle-objects (graphics,
title, text content, etc.) are laid out in a triangular pattern to create a powerful and
refined perception of the message. As such, website content takes the spotlight, and is clear
and concise; and messages come across easily.
References:
Tangles
www.sleeping-giant.ie
FutureText
Jay David Bolter
By Roy Christopher
www.frontwheeldrive.com
Visual Architecture: The Rule of Three
By Carole Guevin
Digital Web Magazine
www.digital-web.com
Link Up!
http://www.allclipartsite.com/
Clipart has gone a long way since the art libraries that went with earlier versions
of Microsoft Office. There are now a myriad of options online, and a lot of these are 'freely
distributable'. Allclipartsite.com is one of the more comprehensive sources of free clipart.
The site boasts an extensive library/gallery, which is categorized and sub-categorized for
easy reference. They feature a Top 60 graphic sites, although it remains unclear how these
sites are ranked. This Top 60 table is also a link-fest, which is sure to lead to that perfect
clipart. Site visitors can add their graphics websites when they sign up for membership.
What's annoying about allclipartsite.com, though, is the blitz of pop-up ads with every
followed link. By our estimatino, however, it's worth it to have all these treasures in one
place.
Our Site!
The ArisHost site of the week:
www.rbore.com
Ruben Boré is a renowned artist who has restored several old oil paintings at the State Hermitage
Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia; exhibited in prestigious art galleries such as The Robley
Gallery and the Landing Gallery in New York; and participated and won in several exhibits,
like the United Art Exhibition in Moscow and the Impressionism Exhibition in Paris, France.
His son, Eduard, also works in the art industry and holds a masters degree in Computer Science.
Their team-up not only created one of the more prestigious art galleries, the Ruben Boré and
Son Art Gallery, but also brought to the web an engaging collection for great art. Like their
gallery, rbore.com promotes talent and art appreciation. It's an amazing site to visit!
AH! Relief
Ah... the realities of life. Good thing the Internet offers up some laughs. It's time to take a break!
Help! Help! Help!
There was a programmer who drowned at sea. The Marines were around but they weren't
able to save him. Nobody knew or understood. All they heard was the programmer shouting "F1!
F1! F1!"
The Top 10 Stress-relieving Comebacks
- I plead contemporary insanity.
- You! Off my planet!!
- Chaos, panic, and disorder - my work here is done.
- When I want your opinion, I'll give it to you.
- Errors have been made. Others will be blamed.
- I'm not tense, just terribly, terribly alert.
- Just smile and say "Yes, Mistress."
- I work 40 hours a week to be this poor.
- I pretend to work. They pretend to pay me.
- This isn't an office. It's Hell with fluorescent lighting.
|
|
|
