Well, I doubt I am the only one at this time of year but I am SICK of heavy/rich food. At the moment I really don’t think I can stomach another piece of chocolate. eeek!

I need YOU!

I’ve decided that this year I am going to spend more time cooking and learning about new meals and ideas for dinner. I found myself getting very lazy the last couple of months and grabbing things that were quick and easy to make.  Please feel free to leave some suggestions. My aim is to have dinner parties one day! Have you any catering ideas? Any special party catering ideas even? All ideas, comments, advice and suggestions welcome!

Above is a link to the Coillte hompage.

Alternative text on images

- The “Contact” page has a valid submission form. When the user fails to enter in the text fields, an error message appears reminding the user to input their data.

Search Facility

- Through out the site, the content is clearly written with headings underneath. There are tabs along the top and when the user clicks on these a futher list of sub-headings appear at the left hand side of the screen.

Accessibility Statement

For further information on web accessibility please watch the following video:

ESB customer supply

Above is the homepage of ESB customer supply.

The contrast used on this website is quite eye catching. The turquoise colour is used to highlight the residental customers while the red colour represents the business customers. The white background makes a great contrast.

Contrast of colours

Everything is aligned to the left and makes for easy reading. When links etc are aligned badly, it gives an overal unappealing look and makes it very hard to read leading to confusion.

Left alignment

The proximity within the website is very appealing. There are gaps between each section but these are easy on the eye and not too far apart or too near.

Proximity

There is little to no repetition on the website in relation to text, except for the residental and business links on the top right hand corner and the repetition of these on the main body of the website.There is  repetition of colour using the turquoise and red colours to differentiate between the different types of clients and the services provided for each group, makes navigation clearer for the user.

Repetition

The website doesn’t overload the user with images and content which may lose the user’s attention.

Click here to access the ESB Customer Supply website

Click here for more information on alignment, contrast, repetition and proximity

Kevin Kelly speaks

On December 2007, Kevin Kelly adressed a large crowd in Los Angeles, California, USA. He spoke about his expectations for the next five thousand days of the internet. He described the internet as one machine, and all the devices we use e.g. laptops, as components of this one machine. He described this machine as the most reliable machine ever made as it boasts elements such as no interruption.

Kelly described three consequences to having this “machine”.

1. Embodying: Every screen is a portal into this “machine”. Kelly predicts that phones and applications such as Word will eventually go through the web. He described the machine as a “black hole sucking everything in”.

Idea-to-idea linking

2. Restructure Architecture: Data will be linked different. Idea-to-idea will be linked rather than page to page.

3. Dependency: Kelly observed our new found dependency on sites such as Google.

Kelly predicts the internet will be smarter, more personalised and filling (we will be in the middle). He says that we will be in the machine.

“The one is us. We are in the one”

Click here for more TED talks

Engelbart showcasing two of his mice

Debut of the first mouse

The image to the right shows the first computer mouse, which was invented by Douglas Engelbart. The mouse was first showcased in his 1968 demo dubbed “the mother of all demo’s”. Engelbart stated that the device earned the name ‘mouse’ due to the resemblance it bore to the creature with its tail-like wire. The modern mouse uses this same tail-like chord.

The first prototype consisited of a square, wooden outer shell and containted a large wheel inside.

View of the wheel underneath

Engelbart revealed the mouse was just “a tiny piece of a much larger project, aimed at augmenting human intellect” and one solution to “problems facing mankind”.

Engelbart is also credited with being part of the development team responsible for hypertext, networked computers and precursors to GUIs. However, Engelbart is best known for inventing the first computer mouse.

Engelbart was born on January 30th, 1925 making him eighty four years old.

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