Short Paper #2: Semiotic Analysis of Sun.com

Preface:
In this essay there will summarize the key points that has been found in an semiotic analysis of www.sun.com. This is a company that delivers some products for computers that belongs to both peoples and businesses. Because of the other assignment when we are going to make a website our self, I choose www.sun.com since they have been on the computer side for a long time and are so massively integrated in the “IT-world”. The website we are going to make later will contain a time line of different happenings in the IT-world, so this site are somewhat connected to the other project. Another reason for choosing this website has to do with it’s multimodal source of knowledge. I will come more back to this in the results.

Semiotic analysis results:
Discourse are socially constructed knowledge of (some aspect of) reality (Kress & Leeuwen 2001). This is a large company that operates with distribution of different computer software. As we can see from the homepage of this company it’s not that hard to figure out what there marked is. The analysis showed that this is a company that knows what they are doing to get there information spread. They have different information that is going to different people and businesses, and this is something they manage to do good with there design elements and production techniques. Almost every computer that are being used to day run at least one of there products. Everyone that uses Windows today are using their product Java, even more and more banks are using Java on the client side on the login to their online version.

The design stands in the middle of gap between the content and the expression. The design are semiotic resources, in all semiotic modes and combinations of semiotic modes (Kress & Leeuwen 2001). Since it is important for a company to give there clients a good impression of there products, it is important to use a good design to show there content, so that there clients get a good expression on them. This is something that Sun has done. It’s a large company that has lots of things to say, but they keep there website clean and tidy. Both the different colors and the layout they use are consistent, something that makes it easier for the client to find information they might seek. Sun uses a regular font on their site to display the text. The reason for using a regular font, has to do with the fact that it’s easier to be taken seriously and not think it’s just a kid fooling around (Cranny-Francis 2008).

They use some tropes on this site, usually they use some metaphors and synecdoches, but they stay away from the irony (chandler 2007). This is not so surprising, since it is a large company, they tend to be very serious all the time.

On the top of the page there is a menu that leads the user to different places on there site, and on the far left of this menu there is the Sun logo. Unlike a lot of other businesses logos, this one blends in with the rest of the site in both size and color. The reason for this might have something to do with the fact that most of the computers in the world actually use there products, even if the user knows about it.

The first thing on this site you notice, beside the large image that I will come back to later, is the download button on the left. The reason this is so highlighted has to do with the fact that it has the orange color that really stands out form the blue. This is done to make it easier for the user to find it, and when the user finds it, it might be mean a sale for the company. Under this button there are also some images that shows there different products, and with a click on the image you go directly to that product.

The main content on this site, is the large content frame in the middle. Here you can get information about: featured, student, startup, small to medium business, developer, partner and enterprise. There is a large image that displays there latest news in the specified category, and two smaller ones that are older news, but that are related to the large one.

The ad-frame on the bottom left on the site stands out like the download button, in the way that it’s in a different color. Here is shown there latest product you can buy.

On the bottom right there is a little container that shows the latest news, and they have made it possible for users of the page to get this information by using an RSS-feed on it. This makes it easier for the user to keep up with the latest news without having to actually visit the page.

The last container on the bottom of this page is the one in the middle. This has almost the same size as the main container on this site, and are therefor of some importance. But if you look at the site this container doesn’t stand out like the other. A good reason for this is the fact that the colors that has been used on it are like the rest of the page, and therefore it blends more in. This is not so good for the company because this container shows there latest trails and hot deals.

The large image in the main container under the featured category are obviously the main attraction on this page. The image shows a large white container with some writings on it. The text to this image states that it is possible to get the whole Internet in a box. And there is a smaller text also that states that the Internet archive’s vast and growing database is now stored in a SUN MD. Beside this there is also a link that brings you directly to the full story. The two words The Internet in the title, are in a different color then the rest of the title, it has this orange-yellow color. The rest of the title In a BOX is in white so it don’t stand out, but the fact is that it still does, but that’s because of it’s size. If you look at the title as a whole, you can probably see that it’s an very interesting title that makes a person curious. How is it possible to get the whole Internet inside a box?

If you look at the container and the title in the large image, you can say that the title can be an signifier for the signified container. The word box in the title is a denotation for the connotative signified container (chandler 2007). When I hear the word box, the first I think about then is a small brown cardboard box. And the same with the container, that the Internet is stored in this container is not the first thing that comes to mind. This means that the words and the image is complementary to each other, and that non of them are redundant. This means that we need both the image and the text to understand the information the company are trying to spread.

Conclusion:
After analyzing this website I must say that they are doing a really good job on there field, and the reason for this is there large amount of knowledge. With all this knowledge they get their information spread trough the design elements on their site, and trough most of the companies that produces computers. Every element you can see on a website operates as a semiotic resource. The reason these elements are operating as a semiotic resource has to do with the fact that it tries to distribute information to the person that looks at the site. The elements on a site are all the text, every image, video, music, colors and more. The more elements you get on a site the harder it might be to get them to tell the information you want to distribute. For a company, all the elements on the site should tell, the person that are looking at it, that they are the best. Sun have been on the marked for a long time, and know how to do this. Their site shows people that they know what they are doing, and that they are really good at it.

Literature:

daniel chandler. 2007. Semiotics – the basics. London: Routledge.

Gunter Kress & Theo Van Leeuwen. 2001. Multimodal discourse – the modes and media of contemporary communication. Great Britain: Hodder Arnold.

Anne Cranny-Francis. 2008. Multimedia. London: SAGE Publications.

Short Paper 1

Bauerlein’s dumbest generation.

Introduction:

Mark Bauerlein talks about the young generation in the United States being the dumbest generation. He claims that the threshold from the teens adolescent to a mature adult life has deteriorated. And the reason for this is has to do with the way and witch the digital age has made 17 years old so intensely connected to one and other, so preoccupied with pier pressure that as the relationship between the teenagers and their parents, ministers and elder role models has been blocked out. This is because of there inability to sit down and read books on school, doing assignments, visiting the museums and libraries on there free time. And that they don’t lay in bed reading a book at night. Instead they sit there in the bed with there laptops, cellphones and blackberries, and connect to other 17 years old that are 3000 miles away. This was not how things worked when he was 15, the way they communicated then was over the phone and this was regulated by the parents (Bauerlein 2007). I will here look at the web page that is made to promote his book and make an semiotic analysis of it.

Welcome page:

The welcome site plays on words, quotes and historical events to make a point about what the young generation in the US actually don’t know. And this is something he means they should know. After looking closer to this site I believe that is was made to provoke the young generation in the US. While just looking at the front page I see these famous quotes and pictures that are just mashed together, just to make his point.

Take a look at the rolling text on the top of the page. The way it is rolling and with those colors, it looks like a game. This might just be the designer of the page that have gone a little bit crazy. But the way I see it, the text is rolling in and out of the screen so fast that you can’t read longer then the second line. To underline the point about this rolling text just being a provocation, above it there is a small title that say “50 Million Minds Diverted, Distracted, Devoured”. Therefore I don’t believe that this was done as an fancy design, but it intentionally tries to divert, distract and devour people.

The title “The Dumbest Generation”, is a play on words. I believe this is taken from the title of the famous book “The Greatest Generation” that is written by Tom Brokaw. And the reason for the word Dumbest might indicate an underlining of the word to make it more leverage. Unfortunately I have not read the book so I can’t say so much more about this title. To explain the to words signifier and signified, the title on the site is the signifier that refers to the signified title of the book. Studies have shown that red can have a physical effect, increasing the rate of respiration and raising the blood pressure. I think therefore “Dumbest” is in red here, because it grabs the attention and it get people to take action. And on top of that it makes sure the word don’t just sink into the background, but that it gets emphasized from the rest of the text.

In the title there is a picture of some transformers or robots raising the American flag. This is a signifier for the historic photograph that was taken on February 23, 1945, by Joe Rosenthal; Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, and this photograph will therefore be the signified. The reason he is using the transformers or robots here instead of the people might have something to do with the fact that after some research earlier showed that the younger generation don’t remember much about the history of there country. One of the questions was about when Columbus sailed for the New World, on this question 26% answered incorrectly. On another question they asked was when the Civil War was, here amazingly 57% answered incorrectly (CBS 2007). He might therefore have used these transformers or robots to get closer to the young generation by using things from there time, but on the other hand he might have done it to see if it rings a bell in their heads that this actually refers to the famous photograph.

On the bottom of the site there is a warning sign that looks like the ones on the CD covers, but with a little twist, and this twist is the text on this label. The quote on the label say “Don’t trust anyone under 30”, and this refers to the famous quote from the 60’s by Jack Weinberg, the leader for the Free Speech Movement in the US. He said this in an interview with San Francisco Chronicle reporter. Later he also said that he did not actually believe the statement, but said it as a kind of taunt to a question asking if there were outside adults manipulating the organization (Bartleby n.a.).

Home page:

On the home page you can read a short introduction to Bauerlein’s book. It explains why the young generation can be called the dumbest generation. To this text there are two images, and they have both some additional arbitrary text that explains how this young generation actually is the dumbest one. On the bottom of the page there is a headline in red that says “The Not So Greatest Generation”. Like mentioned earlier the use of the red color might be used to cause awareness and reactions or actions over this statement. The whole point about this paragraph is to state that studies have proven the dumbness of this young generation, and that it is not just a tradition of thinking.

Summary:

This web page contains different ways of promoting the content of Bauerlein’s book.. To the people that belong in the young generation that Bauerlein is talking about, might find this page some what irritation and offensive. There has been used many parodies and much irony in the progress of promoting it. There has been used red color to emphasize different points, and the use of signs and pictures that has an connotation has been used to show why the young generation is the dumbest generation.

Literature:

1. Bartleby. n.a. Http://www.bartleby.com/73/1828.html
2. Bauerlein, Mark. 2007. An Interview with Mark Bauerlein. Http://www.dumbestgeneration.com/media.html
3. CBS News Report, 2007. Http://www.dumbestgeneration.com/media.html
4. Chandler, Daniel. 2007. Semiotics: The Basics. London New York : Routledge

Guide til UiB 2

Guide til UiB 2

Vi  har valgte å lage denne portal siden for forskjellige guider for universitetet i Bergen, på denne måten fordi at det var disse bygningene som var mest populær i forhold til guiden til UiB 1. I tillegg til dette så er det en ren og oversiktlig design uten forstyrrelser for brukerne.

Ved mer tid ville nok siden sett annerledes ut, vi ville da muligens lagt til noen effekter på siden og slikt. Vi har tidligere laget en del nettsider og har derfor ikke akkurat blitt brukt noen spesifikke sider som inspirasjon for denne siden. Vi har valgt å bruke blått og lys grå som farger fordi at det er to farger som passer godt sammen for en slik portal som dette, i tillegg til en hvit bakgrunn for å gjøre siden “steril”.

Håper denne siden faller i smak =)

Dag, Marius og Kristoffer.

CSS!

CSS står for Cascading Style Sheets. Hvis man ser på en nettside vil det man ser av tekst og bilder være det være HTML. CSS derimot er det som avgjør plasseringer og utseendet til nettsiden. Man kan enten skrive inn denne CSS koden i samme dokument som man har HTML koden, eller man kan skrive den i en annen fil og bare linke den sammen med HTML filen. Formålet med å bruke CSS er at man skiller mellom innholdet til nettsiden og presentasjonen av den. CSS er med andre ord et stilark. Måten man kobler sammen disse to filene er at man legger til en ekstra linje i head-taggen i HTML filen.

Denne linjen vil se slik ut:
<LINK REL=”Stylesheet” TYPE=text/css” HREF=”Navn.css”>

Det finnes noen forskjellige varianter av denne linjen, man kan også ha flere attributter og verdier med, men denne inneholder det man trenger. Det er kun en ting man må huske å gjøre, og det er å skifte Navn.css til navnet på CSS filen man selv har skrevet.

I likhet med HTML er det også viktig her at man skriver en oversiktlig kode. Dette er ikke for selve koden sin del, men for deg/dere som skriver den, men også for andre som eventuelt skal lese den. Her er et eksempel på en ryddig kode og en litt mindre ryddig kode:

body {
background-color: blue;
font-size: 14;
color: orange;
}

body{background-color:
blue; font-size:14
;color: orange;}

Slik denne koden ovenfor er skrevet vil all teksten som er skrevet på nettsiden bli vist slik:
Hei på deg!

CSS filen definerer man som sagt presentasjonen av nettsiden. Man kan legge til div-tagger i HTML koden som for forskjellige deler av siden og dermed definere disse delene forskjellig, eller man kan bruke body-taggen og definere alt som står på siden. Normalt sett vil man bruke denne body-taggen til å definere de tingene som er likt for alle, som for eksempel bakgrunnsfargen på nettsiden.

Det finnes mange sider på Internett som tilbyr forskjellige introduksjoner og øvelser man kan gjennomføre for å lære seg CSS. Her er noen av disse sidene:

• www.w3schools.com/css
• www.csstutorial.net/
• www.echoecho.com/css.htm
• www.tizag.com/cssT/

I tillegg finnes det noen programmer som hjelper nybegynnere med konstruksjonen av disse css filene. Man har blandt annet Dreamweaver som har autofullfør. Noe som man må huske på hvis man bruker andre programmer som windows frontpage eller lignende, er at man bør se igjennom koden etterpå. Det vil nemlig her være en del overflødig kode. Dette er som regel det største problemet med slike programmer hvor man tegner en nettside og trykker på en knapp for å få generert siden.

Gears Of War

The day of the class hike I had not started yet, so istead of posting the picture I should have taken then, I will post another picture and talk a little about that one.

This is a picture taken from a game called Gears of War. It’s a game designed for the consoll xbox 360. This is a third person shooting game, where the locust (monster on the right side in the picture) are trying to take over the world and exterminate all the people living there in the prosess. So the trough the campagne you have to stop the locust from taking over the world. This has long been a popular game for the xbox 360 console.

There’s a first time for everything..

Blogging is something I have never done, so this will actually be my first one. Since this is the first one this blogg will not actually be about anything big.. Just wanted to say hello to all my future readers.

I usually don’t read a lot of bloggs, so I don’t have any bloggs to list, but I can instead list some other sites I visit:

• Sol.no

• Ba.no

• Bt.no

• Facebook.com

• Xbox.com

As you might have understood allready, I’m not a big fan of blogging (if I have to do it). But it’s definitly something that has come to stay, (at least as long as the internett is the dominationg media). Who knows, maby the same thing will happend with the internett as the books..

Hope you like my blogg, and that you will come back for more reading later!

University, sosial networks and students..

These days universities use different sosial networks more and more. There is no problem as long as these universities use these sosial networks for promotion, lextures or other stuff like this. The problem start when they use these sites to gather information about there students to use against them. Not so long ago there was a news story about a university over in the US that had expelled some students because of some pictures that where posted on facebook. The pictures showed the students drinking, and that was the reason they where expelled. You see, the drinking age in the US is 21, and the students where only 18 and 19 years old.

What do you think about this? Should the universities be able to gather information from sosial network sites and use it against students?