Placing Relative Links

A link in file page.html refers to a
referenced file ref.html by relative link:
<a href="ref.html">link</a>
"../ref.html"
page.html
"ref.html"
"folder/ref.html"
ref.html is
higher than page
ref.html
ref.html is
lower than page
Finding Your Way Around

A student wrote email last week ...
Prof. Snyder:
You said the link to the FIT100 home page was on the [paper]
syllabus, but only the Web page for the calendar was there:
http://www.cs.washington.edu/education/courses/100/04wi/calendar/
What’s the class homepage link?

What should the student have done?
Searching the WWW
Locating the right information
on the WWW requires effort
Read Chapter 5
Looking In the Right Place

The WWW is not the first place to look

Go directly to a site -- www.irs.gov
Guessing a site’s URL is often very easy,
making it a fast way to find information



Go to right sight -- dictionary.cambridge.org
Go to the library -- www.lib.washington.edu
OR www.mpcfaculty.net/library/
Go for the kind of information you want -- www.npr.org
Ask, “What site provides this information?”
Search Engines
No one controls what’s published on the
WWW ... it is totally decentralized
 To find out, search engines crawl Web

 Two
parts
Crawler visits Web pages building an index of
the content
 Query processor checks user requests against
the index, reports on known pages

Only a fraction of the Web’s content is crawled
Google Advanced

Boolean Queries

Search Engine words are independent
Search for  Mona Lisa
 Words

don’t have to occur together
To be explicit about occurrences use
Boolean queries and quotes
 Logical
Operators: AND, OR, NOT
monet AND water AND lilies
“van gogh” OR gauguin
vermeer AND girl AND NOT pearl
Queries

Searching strategies …
 Limit
by top level domains or format
 Find terms most specific to topic
 Look elsewhere for key words, e.g. bio
 Use exact phrase only when universal
 If too many hits, requery
 “Search within results” using “-”
 Once found, ask if site is best source
Truth on the Web
Much Web information is wrong
 Using the Web effectively means
recognizing quality information

Information from reliable organizations is usually
preferred -- check out ownership
 Look for accuracy, currency, …
 Follow links to verify that the content supports the
original page

Best: Locate independent verification
A Bogus Site
lme.mnsu.edu/akcj3/bmd.html
True Site, Bogus Implication
www.dhmo.org
Project 1

Create a bogus (fictitious) Web page
To appreciate how easy it is fake quality info
you will build a bogus Web page
Modify photograph, changing its meaning
 Write misleading text
 Add “authenticity” links, fake credentials ...

 Your
page should look as legitimate as
possible, but contain false information
Project 1 Details on Web

You will …
 Write
page in HTML
 Find/take a photo
 Modify w/ Photoshop
 Find “supporting” links
 Milestones
Example Topics
Hurricane Katrina/Ophelia
An MPC “Scandal” ?
Supreme Court Selection
Recent National/Int’l Story
Errors in Google Results ?
Due Next Week: Web page plans w/raw photos
 Due in 3 Weeks: Web page + modified photo

Here’s How It Works

Follow these steps:
 Create
your page locally
 When finished, publish it on the server
 Print off a copy and turn it in in class
 Leave your page unchanged until grading is
complete
We will check
the timestamps
Stumped? Try these for ideas
Hurricane Katrina/Ophelia
was caused by …
flood waters revealed ancient …
Cuba comes to aid of New Orleans
 An MPC “Scandal”
student gambling ring fixes football games
pirated CDs found in old library basement
 Supreme Court Selection
unpublished testimony from John Roberts

Stumped? Try these for ideas
Recent National/Int’l Story
Europe strikes down Software Patents
 Errors in Google Results ?
pages returned regarding political news items
don’t always appear reliable

Project1 part A due Next week

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Plan Web Page in HTML: Title
What you intend to do
Un-modified pictures ( 1 or 2 )
Source of pictures, are they public domain?
True context – what pictures really represent
Fictional context -- What “story” the pics will show
Links to three sites that help authenticate yours
Work at home, print from PC, post when you get to
class
Part A Example: Mars rover
uncovers strange “fossil”?
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
Intend to show bone sticking out of Mars
cliff/crater
Pictures from a) jpl.nasa.gov,
b) utah fossil beds
From Mars rover, and paleo research
Rover exploring crater, saber tooth tiger bone
in Utah
While looking for signs water, rover discovers
bone – like object
Links …jpl/mars, rover mission,
extraterrestrial life group, SETI, etc
Project 1 Grading, 20 pts total
Part A (2 pts ea)
 Complete
 Plan is doable
 Raw images
 Proper references
 On time

Part B (2 pts ea)
 Complete
 Spelling, grammar
 Modified Image
 Believable story
 On time
 Effort!!! (extra)
 Offensive -4 !!!
