This blog post is a reflection on the first week of work done in this course and what i've learned
My experience with setting up GitHub was a seamless one in that it was quite easy to understand how to set up stuff like
repositories and commits because of having used them last year. Deploying the website onto the pages section of git was
quite interesting and very fun to learn. I had questions about it which got answered during our class session and I was very
content with what i learnt from class. i was excited with making the website even though it wasn't my first time setting up
my html doccie as i have some experience with working with html from my previous undergrad. Overall , it was an insightful
and interesting event working with git and setting up the flow for the entire semester !
Reflection on the readings you selected - relating it to your experience with the internet today:
So I did two of the readings we were provided with. Namely; Berners-Lee et al "The World wide Web" as well as Bush V's "As We May Think".
With the first one; i found it quite easy to understand especially as far the subject mattter is concerned. It provided a lot of
context to the understanding of what really makes up the web at large. I learnt a lot about the concepts W3C and W3 Client Programme
,the utilization of the HTTP Protocol , the fundamentals of the URLs and URI schemes as well as HTML as a mark up language
and all that underpins it (Berners-Lee et al, 1994).
In terms of relating the reading at large with my experience with the internet today; the reading really provided a lot of
exposition to the use of internet as we know it today. It helped me understand not only the meanings of sources i interact
with on a daily but it also helped situate my headspace into the foundations that formed the internet we have today that i may have been oblivious to for some time.
Looking deeper into the implications of the reading in terms of how we can relate it to the internet and the world of the web in contemporary times,
this reading helped unpack a lot of colloborative effort that went into creating the web as we have it today. It's crazy how the people that created the web"
basically created a system that continues to serve the world even post their mortality. In the lectures, Lucky Nkosi mentions something so interesting
about the web which I found worth noting around how it relates to the implications of the reading on the internet today in that, he mentions that
with great power , comes great responsiblity and he means this in relation to how web developers understood what fundamentals of the web
had to go into ensuring that they create a web that is not easy to break. This makes one ponder about the state of the internet today and how many cyber and systems
attacks are being done backhandedly to destroy the web. This is why , he goes on to mention , its important that we get taught how to create websites in a correct way
so we don't contribute to the fatality of the legacy that was left by people like Bush.
I found Bush's text very complex at first. I think this was because it was because of the vocabulary and phrasing of most terms
that he uses to explain a lot of things. After a few re-reads i understood the reading at large as underpinned by the background
knowledge of a modern day computer. in the reading , he takes us on a journey of he develped his concept of a modern day computer
using what he terms as a "MEMEX" (Bush, 1945). He defines it as a digital library device that essentially stores all his books, records and
communications. The reading also fiils us in on the evolution of machines post the times the reading was written in 1945 and
and what the changes that have been made mean for those who engage with the medium of computers today.
This made the reading more interesting for me in relation to my experience today because i particularly found the way he explains the evolution and
contemporary existence of photography intersting in relation to which the internet started as versus what it is has become.
From someone who was part of the Manhattan , living in times where they had no internet and how he became the brains behind
the creation of a modern computer speaks volume about the different ways in which internet was understood back in the day
to how it is perceived today. There is a lot of history that underpins the existence of the internet and all the technologies
that we use to access it that have become close to being erased in contemporary times because we couldn't "care" less about
it was brought about. What the reading does is to remind about that history and shift the paradigm on the internet "as we may think"
about it.
Interesting things you have found about the history of the web:
Based off reading the history of the WWW, I have found quite a few things interesting about the web that i think should be
embraced more. This includes the huge contribution of people like Tim Berners-Lee in coming up with the idea of the web back in
1989. It is interesting how the creation of the internet as well as the web started of as something at a small scale that utilizes
mark up languages like html has made it to become so extensible to the users back then as well users of today who still engage
with the raw idea that was produced from years ago. The stages of history that the web has undergone encompassing the creation
of more technologies such as the URLs is also one of things i found particularly interesting about the web because of how it teaches us
of the broader scope that underpins the web apart from its connection to networks of networks and its existence on the internet.
Your goals for this course:
Apart from wanting to improve my knowledge in the space of web dev and passing really well, i also look forward to using the skills gained here as well
the portfolio we are going to make and investing it into the creation of more authentic commentary and designing websites that are accessible and user friendly. I hope to hone and channel
my skill and knowledge into creating intuitive websites and apps, ones that will help alleviate some of the issues we experience
today.
References:
Bernes-Lee, T. et al. (1994) "The World-Wide Web", Communication of the ACM, 37(8), pp. 76-82.
Bush, V. (1945) Äs We May Think", The Atlantic, 01 July
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