Social Networking Revisited

I recently heard on the news that a High School teacher was forced to resign after some pictures on her Facebook page were brought to the attention of her principal. I know we've already covered the social networking pros and cons, but I thought this might generate some discussion.

The teacher had her page set to private, and the pictures only showed her holding drinks, not actually drinking them. The teacher defended herself saying, "I don't look like I'm intoxicated in any way or doing anything provocative or inappropriate". The photos were taken on her European vacation, and she claims she was just acting like any normal adult would.

Her Facebook page is set to private, and she does not friend students or strangers on it. Do you think she should be allowed to keep her job?

Also, should students Facebook or Myspace pages be open to employers as an evaluation tool? What about blogs or personal web sites?

(For the complete story, click here.)

Cascading Style Sheets

Cascading Style Sheets (or CSS) are easy ways to format the layout of a website. A CSS file is just a collection of code that defines parameters for different parts of your website. In other words, it can give different areas of your website different background colors, text styles and sizes. I mainly use CSS to change the positioning of my webpages. If I want a box of text to appear in the left corner of the screen, underneath an embeded video, I can use CSS to make it happen.

CSS is a lot more professional than using tables or line breaks to set up a website. With it, even an amatuer like me can make a professional looking web site.

What Is a Good Website?

Personally, I think the best website is a visually attractive one. No one wants to go to an ugly website where the text is hard to read and nothing lines up. If a web designer can manage colors and images well, he can make something that looks professional. I like websites that follow a similar style on every page.

Also important is the websites content and useability. The site should contain a lot of information, but break it up over a variety of pages so visitors won't get intimidated. Also, links should be easy to use. Whether they are buttons, pictures or text, it should be obvious that they are what you use to navigate.

A list of the basic do's and don'ts of websites can be found here.

One of my favorite websites is Blue House Group's Homepage. They are a web design company that is located in Vermont. It looks amazing, and has an interesting color scheme.