Who would have thought…..

That the first interview I went to I would be offered the job for? Certainly has gone to my head - thats for sure!

So, I am now officially a Tech Consultant for Blitz - a company in Melbourne who handles internet connections for residential and business locations - The main focus of my job is to handle errors handed over from the customer service department (router configuration, internet connection issues - things like that) It is a little bit different from the development path I was headed down but it is still in the area I love - IT - I also get to moderate forums!! Which I am looking forward too and particularly excited about. No one could ever replace the guys at the SP forums but I am going to try and make myself at home there

End of an Era

Well, not really an Era, but you know what I mean

I resigned from my position at SitePoint and although I am really sad, it is for the best. I am still going to be working in IT and will find a job as soon as possible but I am taking some time off for Summer in the meantime - a well deserved break I say!

Going to miss all of my forum buddies sooooo much. And the boys at the office

She be castin…

I am involved in a really exciting project at work… It is probably way over my head, but I am really excited to be working with the people I am going to be working with - professionals that I can learn so much from.

I have to be vague on the details, because it won’t be a surprise other wise and I am not a 100% sure if it will be fully backed by SitePoint, but I know that I won’t sleep until this project is off the ground, and hitting the web like cyber based missile!

Many things are all so in stall for the Forums, but all in good time people…. Lets just say the forums are going to get a little more ‘competitive’ in 2008

QuickSilver chick I am :D

“Act without doing”

Is the moto/catch phrase highlighted on the quicksilver web site, http://quicksilver.blacktree.com/.

I suppose ‘Act without doing’ is taking it a little to far, you still need to ‘act’ on typing commands into a keyboard, but man, it makes like a little more simple, especially since I email heaps and heaps of people!

Thanks to Kev, I am now happy Quicksilvering away everything. Well, mainly opening applications and sending emails without even having to move my fingers from the key board of my brand new iMac. Gawsh, work totally rocks right now :d

So, Ye Old SitePoint Offered the Megster a Job

Ok,  so I haven’t signed a contract yet but I am currently reading it.

I was previously employed as a trainee through an special training agency and now I am going to be a full time Employee of SitePoint. Yay!

I am going to be learning a lot of other things - it is going to help me get more experience in IT,  and moving away from the Admin side of things will be great (even though it isn’t going to be happening immediately, I am still happy)

In other news, I am going to kick my computers ass!

Why IT Courses can Suck!

I have, for a long time felt that if you are going to learn how to build a web site, you learn from the ground up, you don’t take short cuts. You learn how to write the HTML Markup and then go onto CSS, Javascript…..and whatever.

Which is why I am totally irritated by Dreamweaver and everyones apparently obsession with it. Well, not everyone, just my teachers obsession with it mainly.

Do they not realize they are learning how to use a program, not create a web site? There isn’t anything wrong with this as per say but I think that if you if you are learning to build web sites in an IT course, you should learn properly.

So I try and put this point across every class that I spend on Dreamweaver. Some people are so blind. Do they not realize that they are not helping themselves? I was looking at a Javascript file and the annoying creep actually commented, ‘Why would someone want to learn how to write that’ (I call this guy ‘the creepy guy’ because he constantly does weird things to get my attention, uses any excuse to touch me and does weird things like stand right behind me and say nothing)

Um…. If you have no interest in Javascript, why the hell are you taking a course primarily focused on learning how to be a developer?

The other thing that now frustrates me is that our teacher does not believe in using external files when it comes to inserting CSS and JS into HTML documents. I have been learning approx 2 months, and even I know this is good practice. But no, all that code is lumped together….ain’t it pretty?

Argh. Fed Up. I know I am arrogant and I think I know everything and yeah who am I to think I am smarter than my teacher but I think I have some sense in this argument.

Internet Skanking: The Social Networking Web Site

I am not afraid to admit it. I have a Myspace. I use Facebook. I love Twitter. When it comes to Social Networking, I am a junkie looking for my next hit.

Which is why I am so OVER web heads (yes, I am bagging my kind) constantly put shit on these web sites. Yes we know, Myspace is not standards compliant, we know that! Now leave us alone so we can comment our friends.

Not only is social networking fun, it provides an interface for many different readers to access your blog, web site or…whatever. It gives your readers a portal to access you and the things you like, all in one easy place. In terms of advertising (ok, possibly spamming) tools like Myspace can be invaluable. You want a quick hit of traffic? Post a bulletin. You want someone to know when you are about to make a post on your blog? Throw it on Twitter. The best part about this is that it is minimal maintenance and energy, FREE and easy to exploit.

Why would you say no to the applications on Facebook? As soon as I make this post it is going to show up in my mini feed so people know I have made a post on my blog.

If this all sounds a little to money hungry and traffic greedy for you, think of the element of fun you can add to your day. Trust me, these web sites are FUN! You can easily catch up with friends and meet some good looking boys if you are into that, there are hundreds of web sites out there who will help you ‘pimp your profile’ by adding cool back grounds and pretty pictures.

Who cares if you are an social networking whore. I am and I am not scared to admit it.

Oh, and here are my links

MySpace Me

Twitter Me

Put my hot face in Your Book (FaceBook)

Ah, there we go, a little bit of Megan’s Social Networking crack to go round for everyone.

From a Beginners Perspective: Designing a Good Web Site..

Usability Vs Design.

Well, according to me, these characteristics of a web site should fall in place 50/50.

As beginners, people primarily think of one thing when they think of their web sites: How will it look? For beginners it is so easy to get caught up in aesthetics in dream-weaver and so forth.

The problem I know I will face with myself is removing myself from my ideas of what a good design when speaking to a client. The same goes with usability - it may be easy for me to use, but how would my friends find it?

However, one must ask themselves, is a good design necessarily usable? Or visa versa. Google for example, totally usable. In my opinion, not very pretty. I know the opinion of a 20 year old wanna be isn’t that important - who am I to laugh in the face of the Google empire?

Finding a good design and incorporating usability should really be decided on a case by case basis - or a client by client basis.

Firstly, by knowing the product or the aim of the web site - Who are they, what do they do, what do they sell etc. You should really know or have a fair grounding on what the organisation is based on. Also, you need to know exactly how the company wants to represent themselves in their design. Do they have preexisting logos etc? Don’t become their biggest fan but how are you supposed to sell something if you can’t put yourself in the eyes of their consumers?

Which brings me to my second point - Who are their clients? Are they children, parents? Who is going to be using the web site and what would appeal to them. A little bit of marketing strategies comes into it here. Researching your audience pays off even if its just thinking of simple things like corporate clients do not always like pink. Remember, the design in not about what you like (I happen to love Pink)

Then the psycho-aesthetics come into play. Not everyone thinks of these things - For example, did you know that yellow is the first color your eye is attracted to? Or that Green is the last color you can see before you go blind? Now I am not saying that you should make a yellow and green web sites but little tricks like this are good to remember. One useful thing to remember always is people normally look at a page starting from the left corner of the page - because thats how we read stuff! Some people will just scan a piece of text and then click through to a shopping cart whilst others will thoroughly explore a page - the trick is define these ‘user groups’ and aim to make your page suit a few if not all of these characteristics.

When you have noted the main points down which you need to keep in mind whilst designing each page you can constantly refer to them like a checklist - keeps yourself on track and if you are anything like me you go out on a tangent all the time. I use this technique a hell of a lot when I write because I go off topic constantly - Like the time I was writing about this stuff and….- ha.

Then there is other things like keeping the visual elements of the design consistent throughout the whole web site - keeping the client informed of changes and asking for feedback regularly. I would ask colleagues what they thought, get people to test design and give feedback on how they found using the web site.

I guess the main aim of these ideas is to give more perspective to your design and site which isn’t just your own and acts to the benefit of your clients.

Making HTML Hot….

I have always had a thing for authority figures. I can’t explain it. Power to me is a good thing - maybe even a turn on.

So, I was in my uni class today ‘HTML and Javascript’ and we where learning a little bit of basic HTML - which I am familiar with but I always think it is great to revisit basics and learn them thoroughly. Since most of my experience with web design and HTML is through Dreamweaver I think that looking at basic HTML attributes/tags can only make me stronger - so to speak.

Anyway, Nick, our teacher, is totally hot. I know I know, he is the teacher, but he is gorgeous.

Amazingly, this is making me work so much better in class. I make everything in my code perfect - I obsess over little details in Notepad and I set it all out perfectly and then I trill ‘Nick, can you come look at my work’ (so I can look at you) and he comes over and checks everything in my code whilst I check him out. Then we chat.

Of course, I know this is not a healthy thought process I want to pursue but as long as it works for me getting my work perfect, I don’t see the problem.

This got me thinking about mnemonic devices and learning aids web site designers might use to remember tags etc. For me, pleasing my hot teacher works quite well as a motivator, but as a mnemonic I don’t really have a method I use. I generally have a good memory. I suppose everything just becomes habit after awhile.

I think that if you have a crush on someone, it can have an excellent affect on your work. You work harder because you want to impress them. I know I must sound shallow and totally all ‘giggly school girl’. The same goes when you have a lot of respect for a teacher/boss - you want them to know how good you are. You want them to think the same of you as you do of them.

My conclusion: crush on teacher + school work = A+

Biting the Bullet

I have been procrastinating and thinking about what exactly I was going to write for my first ‘real’ entry.

Going back to some discussion which was brought up in ‘The Blog Experiment’ forums, I have decided to try and discuss some of the ways that Internet users are gaining online identities and how this can affect their lives. I say ‘try’ because I know I will probably get distracted,

With the hype of FaceBook and Myspace, pretty much anyone can get into the swing of things and become ‘known’ in cyberspace. However, being ‘known’ in the world wide web also comes with responsibility - from who we mention in our blogs, what exactly comes up when when people Google our names to exactly what our ‘interests’ section says on Myspace and Facebook.

These things may inadvertently affect our work and our personal lives. This didn’t really occur to me so much as when I started working at SitePoint. Then I thought - what online image am I bringing to the company? Sure, I am an aspiring developer but I am also a 20 year old party goer who drinks maybe a little to much. I like blogging, I like it that my friends read my blog and I am addicted to Myspace. I can be a preacher without a soap box, I can be so politically incorrect and I can be somewhat antagonizing. People have described me as ‘brave’ to write about what I write about, which is weird because I don’t really think it all that bad.

But at what point does your personal enjoyment online (weird how that sounds dirty) become hazardous to your work? Who can you really be hurting when you hit that submit button?

Now, my personal blog goes into rampant detail about my life on the weekends and I have made a conscious effort not to mention work, or mention work as little as possible. I suppose blogging about this now is really blowing it all out of the water but this is my point. Should I not do what I like because I am scared of losing an image of professionalism?

This is something that must plague the minds of avid Internet users such as myself everyday. I mean, we have a blog. We join FaceBook or Myspace. We join Twitter. We join Digg. We post in forums and we share our views. This can all seem well and great - and then a colleague Googles us (ah, bless the Google - Not) and then it somehow gets back to your manager/supervisor/CEO that you secretly have a fetish for feet. Or something like that anyway. (no, I do not have a foot fetish).

In a sense, this reminds me of the crazy world celebrities have to deal with. They need to make sure they wear the right thing and be seen with the right people. Whereas with your average online amigo, they have to wonder if what they are about to post or blog is going to affect their work life, their personal life.

So, where do you draw the line? I know myself, I have thought about this often but that never stops me from going on a semi embarrassing rant about how the people on the train piss me off. I know my boss could read it, I know my sister could read it. The problem is with the Internet you can’t really hide these things and either audience can get a hold of the content.

So, I am at a loss here. But at least I got to rant