CSS Zen Garden and A List Apart demonstrate the artistry and the technique of CSS design
Here’s something aspiring web designers may find interesting:
CSS Zen Garden
http://www.csszengarden.com/
At any given moment, the CSS Zen garden has several designs that show how much can be done with CSS.
A List Apart
http://www.alistapart.com/
While the Zen Garden focuses on the visual aspect, A List Apart focuses on the technical aspect of CSS and web design.
Ripping Video from the Internet & Free Online Conversion
Ever needed to grab a video from YouTube for an academic project?
Or convert between audio or video formats on the fly?
Compress a video?
Now there’s MediaConverter.org!
The free portions of this website allow you to grab videos from video portals like YouTube, convert them into common video formats, and download them onto your computer for editing and use in presentations. You can also use the site to convert audio, video, and text files already on your computer between common formats and compression sizes. Check out their FAQ for more details.
Remember! It is a thin line between using videos online for academic purposes and stealing. When in doubt, consult the Fair Use Act and use your best judgment.
Everyone with a Vassar email account has access to Vspace.
With Vspace you can upload files from your computer into your Vspace account, and then be able to access them via the Internet. This is super useful. You don’t have to carry around a flash drive or burn a CD. You can work on something in your dorm or at home and then have it available in class or at the library.
This quick video tutorial will show you how to use Vspace to share large files with other people on and off campus.
This is useful for audio or video files, as they tend to be larger than the 20mb allowed in Vassar’s Webmail.
Creating a wiki is an easy way to develop web pages.
A wiki is a group of web pages created and edited by one person (or a group of people) that allow for easy access and editing via a web browser. The pages contain text but they also support links and other forms of markup language. Since wiki web sites are easy to use but hard to describe, here’s a great video that explains the wiki concept:
One of the easiest to use wikis is PBwiki. Here’s a video demonstrating how to get started with your wiki in PBwiki:
If you don’t like PBwiki, don’t fret, there are a ton of wikis out there.
If you need help setting up your wiki for use with your academic work at Vassar, feel free to call the Cloisters at x7279.
Google Docs provide collaborative work environments for a variety of applications.
Google Docs (which you can use for free if you get a free gmail account) allow you to create, edit, and share word processing documents and spreadsheets. They are useful for collaborating with people on campus or overseas. There are myriad academic applications. Watch these videos to find out more.
Students, Faculty, Administrators and Staff can sign up for web space.
This is a duplicate of information found on the CIS Web Services page.
GetWeb
As a member of the Vassar community, you can get your own webspace. GetWeb is a web interface that allows users to get their own personal web accounts or change their web account passwords if an account already exists for them. Once you have signed up for your account, you can look for your newly created space here. Assuming your name is Matthew Vassar with username mavassar and depending on your association, your account would be located at one of the following(replace mavassar with your web username):
Many Vassar professors are using wikis in collaborative writing projects.
A wiki is a great way to do asynchronous collaborative creation.
Here’s a great bit of eLearning on what a wiki is:
It can take a while to wrap your brain around the wiki concept as it is a paradigm shift.
Here are some examples of Vassar Professors using wikis with their students:
The Web Design team members are experts in a range of web programming languages, including XHTML and CSS. We would be happy to talk to you about your web site project and share our passion for web standards and accessibility.
Check out this excellent article on Monocle’s web presence. Their exacting standards and bespoke philosophy have won them accolades, particularly for the quality and presentation of their video content.
A List Apart is a super useful site about all things web design related.
