In the year 2014....

With this class coming to an end, I think it's time that we take a look into the future. The future Josh? That's right, lets look into the future...all the way to the year 2014.

• In the year 2014, we will receive streaming television on our cars' headrest flat screens provided by satellite company XSirius. Fox's "Sanjaya: The Comeback Special" will be blamed for thousands of motorists driving off bridges.

• In the year 2014, there will still be newspapers, but they will be customized for the readers. Subscribers will read constantly updated editions specially tailored to their interests. They will get their personal paper by pushing a button on their home printing device, which will be rented from the newspaper company. Non-subscribers will swipe a card or input their reading preferences at printing stations to receive their own editions.

• In the year 2014, readership of the specialized newspapers will sharply rise because we will have free time on the way to work in self-driving cars.

• In the year 2014, all our computers will have video phones so we can communicate face-to-face with each other for free over the Internet. This technology will lead to the rise of eHarmony models, who stand in for you and talk to a potential date for a nominal fee.

• In the year 2014, we will be able to view the Internet on our aviator sunglasses. This will cause quite a few delightful misunderstandings when people start looking up porn on the beach.

• In the year 2014, Amazon will have a thriving business selling books that people download for use on hand-held devices for 30 days. There will be no need for reading lights in bed because the text will be illuminated on the screen.

• In the year 2014, there will be a rejuvenation of sorts for the old-fashioned drive-in movie as portable projection devices allow people to show films on the sides of their houses. Everyone at the family barbecue will be able to enjoy Rocky IX.

• In the year 2014, everyone will be a paparazzi with a social networking site that instantly beams people's photos and tales of celebrity encounters around the world. Paris Hilton's daughter, Louvre, will become the darling of the amateur paparazzi circuit.
  

• In the year 2014, Apple will come out with the iToothbrush, which plays your favorite songs in two-minute bursts to help you time out your brushing.

• In the year 2014, more people than ever will get college educations as universities offer entire cirriculums online. There will still be plenty of students too hungover to attend class ("Zero-point-zero").

• In the year 2014, electronic billboards will be the hottest thing in advertising. We will be able to skip commercials on TV and the radio, but there will always be traffic.

• In the year 2014, I will have retired a millionaire after cashing in my stock in Google, which will have its own government by then.

Family Vacation - A Planning Assignment

For this week's assignment, I will be taking on the role of Clark W. Griswold (World's Best Dad) planning a wonderful summer museum vacation for his family. Along for the ride will be Grandma, my son Josh (aka Rusty) and, because I didn't think it was right to leave my wife at home alone, Beverly D'Angelo Griswold.

Rusty, who is 15 years old, is a budding baseball star at Theodore Roosevelt High School in Gary, Ind., in large part because when he was a child, I tied his right arm behind his back to make him learn how to pitch lefty. As a reward for making A-B honor roll, I told Rusty he could pick our family vacation this summer. To everyone's surprise, he chose the National Baseball Hall of Fame instead of traditional favorite Wally World -- where his sister Audrey was killed in a tragic log flume accident. The following is my planning for the trip on June 1-3 from Gary to Cooperstown, N.Y.

Transportation

• Times have been tough at the chemical company this year, so I was looking for the most cost-effective way to plan the weekend. The first step was to find inexpensive transportation for the four of us. I began by trying to find a flight out of Gary on Orbitz. This was a very frustrating experience. Having booked through Orbitz before, I thought I'd have no problem, but I underestimated the fact that there are no major airports near Cooperstown. After browsing through the hundreds of airport codes on the site, I decided to go to Google Maps to search for airports in and around Cooperstown. The closest was in the county outside Utica, but it was not listed by Orbitz. So, again on Google Maps, I found out that Albany was about 1.5 hours away in driving time and Syracuse was about 2 hours. But after searching for flights to those cities, Orbitz told me there were no flights found and that I needed to change one or more of my search criteria. I had no idea if the problem was that the Gary airport stinks, that the other airports stink, that all flights are booked or that flights don't go from Gary to those places on the weekend. I made one last ditch attempt to get a flight to Buffalo, but once that failed, I gave up on the flight plan.
• I then went to Plan B -- renting a car. I think the Wagonqueen Family Truckster has seen one too many road trip over the years and won't be able to make it to Cooperstown. And though I've always been fond of red Ferraris, I decided to look for something more comfortable that would be alright for Grandma's bad knees. After doing a Google search for rental cars in Gary, I found out that there is an Enterprise location right downtown on Grant Street. So I went to the sponsored link for Enterprise Rent-A-Car. I did a search for a luxury car to rent on Friday and return Sunday, but because the store is closed on Sunday, I had to settle for returning it bright and early Monday. Unfortunately, there were no luxury vehicles available but Enterprise's site really made picking out a car easy. I was immediately sent to a page that showed all the types of vehicles available for the trip, complete with pictures and prices. I decided to go with a minivan. It will cost just under $200, which is a little more than I wanted to pay but much less than air travel. With room to seat 7, a van will allow Grandma and Rusty to stretch out more than a full-sized sedan would. I selected the van and reserved online with little delay.

Directions

• After already pulling up a Google map of Cooperstown to find nearby airports, I stuck with it over Mapquest to get directions. I love using Google maps because they give you the point-by-point directions in the bar on the left and a beautiful map in the middle that can be easily manipulated. The ability to grab and move the map with the hand tool, zoom in or out on the map and look at a satellite view really sets Google apart from Mapquest. By zooming in on Cooperstown, I realized that Frankfort, N.Y., is nearby and on the way from Gary. My cousin Eddie just happens to live in Frankfort and though staying with his family of hicks can be annoying, it would save us a few hundred dollars on renting multiple hotel rooms. So I easily rerouted my map to Frankfort and also printed out directions for the 50-minute trip from Eddie's house to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.
• After checking out the map, I realize that we're going to have rides of over 11 hours on Friday and Sunday. The long drive should be fine for Rusty, because he has an iPod to listen to and a PSP to play, and Grandma, because she does not go anywhere without her crochet gear. Beverly, on the other hand, doesn't have any such hobbies and gets very bored on long rides. So I decided to look for some audio books for her to listen to on the ride. I remembered that Cracker Barrel has an audio book rental program, so I decided to look it up. According to the Web site, you purchase a book on tape or CD at regular price ($9.99 to $48.00) and then return it to any Cracker Barrel location to get a refund of the purchase price, minus $3.49 for each week you have it. That sounds like a pretty good deal to me, and Beverly loves some Nora Roberts books. I clicked on the "Closest Cracker Barrel" link in the left navigation bar and quickly found a location in Merrillville that we can hit for a nice breakfast Friday before getting on the road...and boy does Grandma ever love her some country-style breakfast at Cracker Barrel!

Attractions

• While the trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame is something Rusty and I have wanted to do all our lives, it does present a bit of a problem for Grandma and Beverly. Grandma grew up in Cincinnati and has been a huge Reds fan all her life. The problem is, she has refused to step foot inside the Baseball Hall of Fame until Pete Rose's lifetime ban for gambling on the sport is overturned and he is voted into the Hall. That being said, Beverly hates all sports and would much rather spend her day on a shopping trip than staring at dusty old baseball equipment. So we decided that Beverly and Grandma could drop Rusty and myself off at the Hall at 8 a.m. Saturday and pick us up at 1 p.m. after enjoying a day in Cooperstown together. A Google search of Cooperstown turned up the village's Chamber of Commerce. Apparently, Cooperstown is nicknamed the "Village of Museums," so I clicked the "What to See & Do" link to find out what museums were available for the ladies. The Chamber of Commerce features a very quaint design, complete with vintage post cards of the village, that really creates an emotional small-town feel. But scrolling through the museum list (with entries like the Hero's of Baseball Wax Museum and the Northeast Classic Car Museum), I didn't see anything that would really work for Beverly and Grandma. Luckily, the Chamber of Commerce site had a navigation bar at the top of the page that dropped down to reveal links to many helpful pages, including one labeled "Where to Shop." Below the postcard image, there seemed to be an exhaustive list of all the stores in and around Cooperstown with addresses, phone numbers and links to Web sites if they had them. The one thing lacking on this page was a brief description of each shop. Most, like Sam Smith's Boatyard and Boat Rentals, were pretty self explainatory, but I have no idea what The Owl and Moon is, and there was no Web site listed for it.
• On the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce site, I found a link to Essential Elements Day Spa and Boutique on Main Street, which looked like a great place for Grandma and Beverly to spend some time. After browsing a complete list of services and prices, I decided that Beverly should get a 90-minute Full Body Massage (which includes Swedish, Deep Tissue and Shiatsu) and Grandma, who is a little more fragile, should get a 90-minute Theraputic Massage to help with those aching knees. The total cost for the two messages will be $175. The font color on the navigation bar made it difficult to see, but I found the "Make an Appointment" link and followed it to a simple form. I filled it out and the ladies were set for an appointment from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. in a manner of seconds.
• Beverly and Grandma will still have about three hours to kill before getting us from the museum, so after returning to the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce site, I found some shopping they could do. There are numerous craft and antique shops along Main Street that they can explore after their massages. Once they are done with the shops on Main Street, they will have to drive three miles north of Cooperstown to visit Heartworks Quilts & Fabrics, "One of the top 10 quilt shops in the USA!!" Grandma should be able to find all sorts of quilt designs and fabrics, and will be able to bring it all home thanks to the ample room in our minivan. Though the Heartworks Web site isn't exactly the most elaborate in the world, it does tell about products, quilting classes, directions and even a newsletter you can sign up to receive. It also has a lovely quilt theme throughout, with colorful navigation bars made to look like quilt pieces. I was a little bit turned off by the extremely large font size on the "What's New" page, but it makes perfect sense when you think about the store's clientele. Once Grandma gets done picking out her patterns, I'm sure it will be time to pick us up from the Hall of Fame.
• After getting the ladies squared away for the morning, I began researching what Rusty and I would do. One look at the National Baseball Hall of Fame Web site and I was instantly connected emotionally. Besides the photos of baseball greats like Cal Ripken Jr., Tony Gwynn, Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson, everything is presented in red, white and blue. The museum logo especially taps into a sense of nationalistic pride by displaying stars and stripes behind the image of a baseball...the only thing more American would be to add a slice of apple pie. Along the navigation bar and on the right side, I was immediately drawn to the "Plan Your Visit" link. When I scrolled my mouse over the link, the star beside it morphed into a baseball...nice touch. One of the first things I noticed on the "Plan Your Trip" page was the hours of operation...it doesn't open until 9 a.m. Luckily, the number to Essential Elements Day Spa was easy to find on their Web site, and I called to push Beverly and Grandma's appointment back to 9:30. I decided to keep our meeting time at 1 p.m., giving the boys four hours to explore the museum. The Web site is packed with information, including a downloadable floor plan with explainations of the collections in each room. There is also helpful advice, like to bring a camera with a good flash because lighting is low to preserve the collections and to bring gloves and a ball to have a catch in some open field areas. After clicking on the "Hours and Admission" link, I found out that we'd have to purchase two adult tickets for a total of $29. The Web site pushes you to become a member at numerous locations, but after reading about all that it entails, membership does not sound cost effective for a one-time visitor. Under the "Frequently Asked Questions" link, I find a question about the average time it takes a visitor to make it through the Hall. It states that a casual fan can make it through in half a day while an extreme devote can spend two days and still not be satisfied. After considering Rusty's ADHD, I believe our four-hour visit should be just enough time. I was unable to find any information on the site about tour guides or audio tours, so I suppose I might purchase the 65-page guide book for $6.95 so we can accurately direct our own tour. Overall, though, I think the Hall of Fame's Web site is a wonderful resource for visitors and I plan on consulting it again before I go to learn more about the specific collections.

Dining

• In order to find an adequate lunch location for the Griswold's, I returned to the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce site and clicked on the "Where to Eat" link. Though McDonald's of Cooperstown sounded delicious, I was most intrigued by a place called Mama's Kitchen in nearby Roseboom, N.Y. Unfortunately, there was no link to a Web site for Mama's Kitchen. A Google search didn't turn up a site nor a review for Mama's Kitchen, but I did find a brief article about Patty Mallillo (aka Mama) opening up her diner in the aftermath of a blizzard in February. While it sounded heartwarming, I couldn't rely on the article to tell me how good her comfort food really was, so I moved on. Back at the Chamber of Commerce site, I went on to the link for Christophers Restaurant and Country Lodge - no apostrophe. The Web site boasted about the mountains of food and "World Famous Desert," but was lacking a menu link. The reviews at TripAdviser were pretty good, and the restaurant is built like a log cabing with wood carved bears and a "talking moose," so I decided that it's the way to go despite its lacking Web site. The Griswolds should have full bellies after an enjoyable day when they make the drive back to cousin Eddie's house before leaving for Gary on Sunday morning.
  

Best Web site interaction design

• Although I was impressed by the Baseball Hall of Fame Web site during this exercise, I'd have to say the best example of interaction design came with Enterprise Rent-A-Car. They seem to know that the only reason most people come to the site is to reserve a car, so the centerpiece of the homepage is a reservation form. When you input information into the form, it is immediately responsive (unlike Orbitz, which took a while to bring back results), producing a new page with results. Because when I searched there were no luxury vehicles available, it was smart enough to return a page listing all the cars that were available...and I trusted that it was an accurate representation of what was in stock. By simply having a bar that featured photos of the available cars and their prices, I had a pleasurable experience. I felt like I knew what I was getting every step of the way, unlike with the Orbitz Web site.

Worst Web site interaction design

• Out of the sites I searched, the worst for interaction would have to be the one for Christophers Restuarant. I still chose the restaurant for lunch because of the country motif and good reviews on other sites, but its site was totally lacking. It boasted of huge portions and thick and juicy steaks, but without pictures and a menu on the site, how can I trust it? And I don't think anyone would believe their "World Famous Deserts" are actually heard of outside of Oneonta, N.Y. It certainly is not smart, the only thing you can get by clicking on things are 8 (that's right, 8) photographs of the outside of the building taken from different angles. Besides the obvious menu problem, it is a lodge too, and you can't check rates or make reservations online. Surprisingly, they did list a non-toll-free phone number you can call for reservations. There is no real responsiveness because there really is nothing to interact with on this site. Really, the only pleasurable thing is the log clipart that runs all the way down the left side of the page.

Celebration

This post title doesn't just refer to a classic Kool and the Gang song often played at weddings, but also to the word used for announcements at The Roanoke Times' Web site. For this week's assignment on activity-based design, I had to try out a simple activity visitors might do. Because I got married less than two weeks ago, placing an announcement in my hometown paper seemed a good way to go.

Before attempting the activity, I thought the steps would be:

1. Go to Roanoke.com
2. Click a classifieds tab
3. Fill out a simple form with my announcement text
4. Click submit

Here is how it really went:

1. Went to Roanoke.com. Because I used to work for The Roanoke Times and am from the area, I was very familiar with the design of the Web site. As I've discussed before, the redesigned site offers much more than just the newspaper's headlines, which can be good and bad. Tabs take visitors to different sections if they just scroll their mouse over, which can be frustrating if you did not intend to look at a specific section. There are also many Webcasts which pop up and start playing on their own. Because I am so familiar with the site, I have no problem navigating past these obstacles, but I imagine they probably give first-time visitors, who are just looking to place announcements or obits, fits.
2. Clicked Celebrations tab. Unlike most newspapers, The Roanoke Times calls its announcements "Celebrations" ... again, another twist for first-time visitors just hoping to place their announcement. At least the Celebrations link was in a navigation bar at the top of the homepage in a place where it is likely to be seen. The link preceeds the "Obituaries" and "Place an Ad" links at the top right corner.
3. Selected date to place Celebration. The Celebrations page does not overwhelm visitors like the homepage tends to, sticking just to a square format. The first view you get is of a brief description of The Roanoke Times' celebration policies...such as the deadline by which you must have your announcement submitted in order to have it published. When reading the policies, I was reminded (I'm sure to the RT's dismay) of its old policy of not running announcements featuring black couples...a policy that lasted all the way until my childhood in the 1980s. At the top of the box featuring the Celebrations policies are tabs that show the viewer wedding, engagement, anniversary, birth and milestone announcements that had been placed in previous editions. At the bottom of the box is a drop-down menu with dates (Sundays) listed. After selecting a date, I click the "Next" button to its right.
4. Select size of celebration, submit personal info. On the next page, sizes of advertisements you can select are shown along with their price and a button to select them. The sizes are clearly marked with the size the photograph should be along with the approximate word count of the announcement. After scrolling down, there is a form that requires information such as name, address, phone number and email address. At the bottom of the page is a note that all announcements must be paid for in advance and a button for how you wish to be contacted. I select that it is for a wedding and click "Next."
5. Attach photo, fill out announcement form. At the top of this page is where visitors can click the "browse" button and attach their photo. After that is a long form, which requests the names of everyone in the bridal party along with their relationship to the bride/groom. There are also entries for education, work, outfits, etc. of the bride/groom. Finally, at the end of the form is an open entry where you can write your own announcement if you are not satisfied with the RT just using all the above info.
   
6. Submit. After filling out the form, you can click submit or reset the form. After clicking submit, a new page comes up telling visitors that they will be contacted by a celebrations consultant within 24 hours on a business day. Here, visitors are finally given a contact phone number and an email address.

Thoughts:
The Roanoke Times' process for submitting an announcement seems designed for internet-savvy people who do not want to talk to a consultant in person or on the phone. Personally, I'd much rather spend the half hour or so filling out forms online than chatting on the phone, but I feel the process probably does not work for most people who place announcements. I can just imagine the problems my mother or even older people would have trying to place an ad. I don't think attaching a photo is quite within their capacity. Infrequent visitors may also have a tough time finding the Celebrations page from the RT homepage, but at least once they get there, it clearly guides them through the process step by step. I think most older people aren't going to bother with filling out all the forms online anyway, which is why it is very important to have prominant contact info. It was not until the sixth step, after submitting all my info, that I learned of the Celebrations phone number and email address.

New color palate/fonts assignment

The image I chose to select a color scheme from is of a thoughtful Hokie Bird. Some people may say that a thoughtful Hokie is an oxymoron, but I believe that I am one. In the image, the Hokie Bird wears his team colors (Burnt Orange and Chicago Maroon) on his sleeve - actually, his face. The bright orange conveys energy, passion and a will to achieve/earn a victory. The Maroon conveys courage, bravery, heroism and strength. I want to exhibit all theses attributes through my work, along with the thoughtfulness of the Hokie Bird so my energy, passion and courage do not get the best of me. In my cropping from the image, I also snipped a section of the Hokie Bird's eye. I did this mainly so I could use some black or white text if necessary in my blog. I have absolutely no experience with html or css before starting this class, but I began playing around with the codes to change around my colors and kind of taught myself a few things...including how to get the VT logo going across the top of my page!

For the second part of the assignment, I chose BernhardMod BT as the font for my main header and Staccato222 BT for my description. I love the stems on BernhardMod BT and how they move from being very thin to very thick, especially on the capital "T." It certainly is a far cry from the original bitmap fonts described by Kuo. The "T" reminds me of a cross symbol or sword handle that you'd see associated with The Crusades...which seems to fit perfectly with the theme of courage, heroism and bravery coming from the maroon coloring. As for the Staccato222 BT, I felt it added a nice contrast to the main header and the semi-cursive writing fit with it being a description. When I designed at newspapers, we would often make the main headline something standard like Franklin Gothic Book and set it off with a header in a font like Staccato222 BT. I decided to center the header because it looked kind of goofy on the left, but I struggle to find the proper sizes for them. I eventually settled on something that I think works, but then had to go through and change all my blog entry fonts and sizes to match up a little better. Needless to say it was a full day of trial and error to remake my blog, and it wasn't until I was almost finished that I found some pretty helpful instructions in the blogger help forum of all places. It's good reading for anyone not familiar with HTML and CSS. This site also has a lot of helpful tips for us rookies.

By the way, I know I'm really early with this assignment, but I'm getting married March 10 and going on my honeymoon immediately afterwards, so I don't expect to be blogging too much over that span. Hope everyone likes the Hokie motif.

Web site critique

Hillman Curtis, Inc.

Description

Hillman Curtis, Inc., is a company that specializes in new media design, specifically Flash advertisements and images for Web sites. The purpose of its Web site, hillmancurtis.com, is to attract potential clients, though the company does not explicitly state that.

The way Hillman Curtis, or actually hillmancurtis, goes about attracting clients is by informing them of the creative elements it can bring to a Web site. The company’s site itself is done entirely in a blue-purple background and is rather sparse with some simple links to company/client information across the top, an object that looks something like a digital heart with a search box in the top left and five descriptive links at the center/bottom to videos/books produced by Hillman Curtis. The fifth descriptive link and a tag that says “Powered by Media Temple” are all that appear below the fold. The focal point of the homepage is a large square in the center that immediately attracts viewers because of its different, dark color and its size in relation to the page’s other elements. The square runs a Flash video on a loop.

The video begins with the image of a little girl, looking off screen to the right. The image is so clear and precise that it gives the impression of a photograph. It is not until about five seconds in, when the girl blinks, that the viewer realizes it is an extremely high-quality video. The video, which has no sound, proceeds to show a number of people’s faces as they hold still and occasionally blink.

Analysis

All the elements on the Hillman Curtis Web site are understated in order to draw attention to the large Flash video in the center. The links are all written in a very small font size and in colors such as pale white, grey, pale green, pale orange and dark blue. There are small bubbles beside the descriptive links, and a red “Y” for Yahoo does tend to stand out a little. There is just one color, however, that really jumps out, a fluorescent yellow that is used for the company name over the heart image in the top left corner.

There are no real patterns to speak of other than the way the links are positioned in four short, spaced out columns at the top of the page. The page overall has a square shape thanks to the large, square Flash video box and the grey corner formed at the top left. The clean, empty look of the page makes your eye continue to focus on the Flash video, the one bright and changing element. The descriptive links directly below the video tend to be ignored because of its overwhelming presence.

Interpretation

This Web site does have a serious leaning towards it, but the video immediately caught my attention and amazed me. Using human faces forms a natural emotional connection, and the video does an especially good job in drawing viewers in by beginning with a young girl’s face. My first inclination was that the center box was just a photograph of a girl, and I was about to close the browser window when she blinked. I was shocked, and I had to sit and watch the entire video to see what was going on.

The appeal of a human face is universal. The faces have no language and no sound, and as long as you have the ability to see, you can be touched emotionally by such a video. It reminds me of some highly artistic photographic portraits in a museum, but the fact that they are moving and breathing makes it even more interesting.

Judgement

I believe Hillman Curtis’ Web site is highly effective in pushing potential clients to find out more about the company and its work. The video is so clear and amazing, like very few other videos on the Internet, that it drives viewers to click on the company links at the top of the page. In the age of grainy YouTube videos and Flash videos on sites like ESPN.com that are the size of postage stamps, Hillman Curtis’ technology really stands out. If this seemingly underwhelming Web site can get me, the quintessential short-attention span viewer, to stop and watch, then it is sure to attract many clients.