Sunday, January 27, 2008

Let the coding begin!!!

So let me see here... this entire project needs to be ready for testing during exam week, IE 2/25/08 I am going to San Fransisco on 2/16/08 so the coding needs to be done by then. Starting right now then this gives me about 2 .5 weeks to finish all coding and implementation, that is less than a week per system.

It is my plan to build in the functionality of one part at a time. So first I will get the new user / login script working on all three systems, then get the next function working on all three systems etc. All of the information will be published as I go and when all is said and done, I will publish all three systems so that the open source community can pick away at it if they would like.

Well now that i have realized that i only have 2.5 weeks to rock this out, I must go and commence the rocking!

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Wow, who was incharge of this?

So I went to Cross Roads yesterday (Martin Luther King Jr day) and this is what they had:

'The Martin Luther King Jr Special'
Fried Chicken, Collard Greens, Black-eyed Pea Rice & Cornbread $6.59
Served at the Crossbar for lunch 11.a.m. – 2 p.m.
Dinner 4:30 – 8 p.m.

Now don't get me wrong, they MIGHT be able to pass this off if they didn't specify what day it was but holy cow! What kind of organization thinks, 'Hmm... Martin Luther King Jr... well he was black... what do black people like to eat? OH I KNOW!!! Fried Chicken, Collard Greens, Black-eyed Pea Rice and Cornbread!!' Seriously what the heck? I am not of African American decent and I found this insulting. How did this get past the committee?! Oh well, I just got angry about it and thought I would share.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Data To collect!!

So I realized, I never really gave a thorough explanation of what my thesis was. It is my plan to set up multiple servers and install various pieces of software on them, including Joomla, Moodle, and PHPBB3. Then through a series of plugins, modules, and raw code editing I will Collect a various amount of data (See Below). Then after is created, I will design a visualizer for this data so that your ‘average non-tech’ person will be able to understand all the data that has been collected. Also I will develop a series of tools that will be used for ‘measuring’ and ‘judging’ certain quantitative items. Such as ‘the direct communication between multiple people on a thread, and judging ‘social / technical’ noise that can be found on forums. An example of this is on a forum about Cooking Websites, when a person logs on and just posts ‘I LOVE PUPPIES’ that is social noise.

That, in a nut shell, is my thesis. I have the servers up and running, software installed and started sketching out how to log all of this data and how to store it all. That has to be done by the first of March AT THE LATEST, because it will then be used for classes in spring quarter. Then next quarter (spring) I will develop the visualizer / tools that will be used with the data that was created. Then Graduation, the beard comes off, I get a job and start my life (?) I don’t know but that’s alright, because I don’t have to worry about that for another 5 moths…. Wow… 5 months… then I am done, weird…


Data to collect:

(U) Frequency of participation
Count of log ins, log outs (with time stamps)
(U) Duration
(U) Posts Read
(U) Posts posted
(U) average length of post
(U) replies posted
(U) replies read
(T) length of thread
(T) originator
(T) unique replies
(T) total replies
(T) ”reuse of replies” we have to watch out for link backs, copying, and when the user paraphrases it in their own thread
(P) Avatar Use / Change / on / off
(P) Ratings Use
(P) # of posts
(P) categories (expert, novice)
(P) reputation Indicators
(P) Stars Polls

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

New Look


Hello there all. Hope your Christmas was fine and dandy and that you got all thew new toys that you could want this year. Over break I tried my hardest to relax and not do any... whats that called.. oh ya, thinking. I succeeded with flying colors! The one productive thing I did end up doing was a make over of this site. Posted is what the site looked like before hand, and this (obviously) is what the site looks like now. I feel its a bit more me. I used www.fontifier.com to make my handwriting in to a font (as you can see to the left, right and very top). It worked very well once I switched from a pen to a fine tip sharpy. I would highly suggest using them. The only bad part is that they charge 9$, but even that isn't that bad.