HTML – Got It! CSS…Ummm?

My first experience with HTML was on a myspace like website call Blackplanet.com. I first started by searching for specific codes that were already built to perform a function. I would just copy and paste the code into my profile and there you had it. Of course I grew an interest in decoding these pre-made HTML codes, so I began to dissect each input. I would erase and add certain things to see the effect and quickly began to realize what each input meant. From there I would visit my local library and check out self help books on HTML and website development.

That’s about as far as I am at the moment, but I must admit, just these basic skills have gotten me further than I would have imagined. Until now, I was unfamiliar with CSS and how it functioned.

The relevance of Web standards is most obvious when we consider emerging technologies. In these times of tremendous growth, the Web needs guidance in order to reach its full potential – and standards can serve as the perfect guides to help realize that potential. Thanks to HTML structuring elements, text documents interpreted by browsers can display their contents according to specified formats. HTML is one of the main reasons why the Web has become so popular over the years. CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is a mechanism through which changes in appearance and position can be assigned to HTML or XML elements, simply by declaring specific styles to them. The overall appearance of entire sites can be so defined with the use of CSS, allowing it to be remodeled in a matter of seconds. This Standard was brought forward to create a simpler and more structured World Wide Web.

But how is HTML and CSS significant to the present and future??

The use of standards automatically makes every page you build genuinely cross-browser and cross-platform. Anyone who’s been active in Web development for more than 15 minutes knows how time-consuming and complicated it is to double-code for different browser versions. Standards help you avoid such headaches.

With the arrival of new hardware like mobile phones and hand-held devices, coding 100% compatible Web applications will only get harder, if not simply impossible. Using this standards is the most efficient way to achieve a better, more stable Web, where applications we can only dream of today can be turned into the reality of tomorrow.

Web standards offer a set of rules that every developer can follow, understand, and become familiar with. When one developer builds a site according to standards, another will be able to pick up where the former left off as easily as if he had been the one designing it in the first place.

I know that I have only begun to understand the beginning of a more complex form of coding. I realize that HTML and CSS are important aspects of web design now and in the future. It is remarkable the amazing results one can get from using web standards such as HTML, CSS, AJAX and Java. But having a strong understanding for the standards must come first before great works can be created. I hope to gain enough knowledge about these markups to turn it into a business for myself.

GTD Applications

I was digging more into this GTD concept and found some really neat applications available to help you  keep track of your Most Important Tasks as well as Contexts, Projects, and more. Happy Exploring!
Simple To-Do Lists

My To-Do’s - Features – sharing, RSS feeds from friends, chat. Nice looking notebook style. Includes calendar planner, projects, and priority levels for to-dos.

TODOIST - Features: calendar, projects, keyboard shortcuts, gmail integrations, mobile access, quicksilver, iGoogle plugins, more. Wasn’t the one for me, but it is nicely done.

Joe’s Goals - for simple tracking of your goals and daily notes. Good for your daily and recurring to-do’s.

Ta-Da List -  I like this one because it is very simple, nice format, easy to use.

Complete GTD Systems

Simple GTD - I like this one a lot because it is simple and at the same time it is flexible.

Thinking Rock - I’ve heard great reviews of this one. I’ve watched the demo’s and it looks very comprehensive. If that is what you are looking for, you should take a look.

GMail GTD – this is a Firefox extension that turns your Gmail into a GTD application. I haven’t used it but I’ve read that people like it. If you love Gmail, this might be the thing for you.

Free Mind - this is a mind mapping software that is free and opensource. It can be used for many things including as a task management system. I haven’t used it this way, but I’ve seen it done. It is worth having for any creative projects you need to think through.

TaskToy – I like this one too. Can view by Today, Week, or All. It has preset “locations” which are like contexts (home, office, shopping) which doesn’t seem like you can modify. And it has up to 40 projects to which you can color code and assign priority of Low, Med, or High.

ToodleDo – This one is very cool. Here are some features: To-Do List, Sharing,Calendar, Scheduler,Goals,Statistics,Learning,Search, Contexts, Import / Export,Connections,Booklet Printer. Some are free (i.e. to-do list & more), some are partially free (you can track life goals, but stats with tasks linked to goals is a paid upgrade) and some are only with the upgrade (such as scheduler). You can sync with Google calendar. You should check out this one for sure!

Podcasting and Vodcasting

Podcasting & Vodcasting – Peter Meng

The article above is a very informative article regarding the uses and differences of Podcasting and Vodcasting. For those who are new to the terms (like me) podcasting is the process of capturing an audio event, song or speech and then posting that digital sound to a web site or blog. VODcasting or vlogging stands for video on demand and is the same as podcasting but it uses video instead of audio. Simply enough right. So as I am reading how a podcast works and what tools and equipment are necessary, there is a sentence that made me think, “How cool would that be!”.

Because of the low cost of entry, anyone can be a publisher, or a broadcaster of their own “radio” show.

Ok, so how interesting would it be to have your own radio show? Well for me, talking is definitely easier than typing. So I went out and researched some podcast. One site I found and subscribed to was Podtech.net. I’m still searching through the information, but have found some very interesting podcast. Any suggestions to other sites are welcome!

When it comes to Vodcasting, it is clear that it takes more tools and equipment to get it going. Some of the software mentioned was new to me, such as iMovie and Adobe Premiere Elements. Once I researched these I found that they were simply tools you can use to create a Flash video that conforms perfectly to the needs of YouTube or other sites, so you get a nice optimized video that loads right up to a web site. Thats kinda cool! I was never really sure how people got their videos on youtube on other video sites.

Of course these two mediums raise significant issues, but one question already being asked caught my attention. How does podcasting or VODcasting challenge the current “talking head” model of classroom lectures? If all lectures are available via video and audio, do students need to go to class?

That’s a great question don’t you think? I have talked about this with other classmates regarding the life-learning process. After reading this article, my answer to the question is that it enhances not challenges the current teaching model. An instructor can only teach you what they know (my instructor has said this to me many times) . And what good does it do if you take only what they have passed on to you? We as students need to take responsibility in our own learning in addition to the structured learning we receive from our institution. I think the traditional teaching model is still needed as a guide and training process for future learning. We all have to learn to learn to be successful in our own life-learning. What are your thoughts in response to the question stated above?