Here is where you will learn about our team members,
contact us, or read our credits and citations.
Before having our site published, we were asked
to fill in a final entry form. It had quite a few questions, and we thought
we post our answers here.
Note: These answers are longer than the ones we
put on the entry form.
There
was a vast difference in the technological resources available to our
team. On one end, we have Maegan, who has 2 computers with 56k modems,
and for a while was on vacation with no access to computers. She lives
in a fairly isolated area, and the nearest library is not even in reasonable
driving distance, over 30 minutes away.
On the other end, we have Jordan, who has a DSL line in his house, a school
with multiple T1, a public library, and quite a few neighbors with computers
available for his use if needed. Even when on vacation, he still had fast
computers within reach. Chris was somewhere in the middle, because although
he has DSL in his house, he was away for a majority of the time, being
in Canada for the entire summer.
<Web> </Architect> is a invaluable resource for the everyday
web programmer, as well as those who are new to the field. It provides
lengthy courses on everything from Java to the History of the 'Net, including
HTML, Promotion, Hardware and much, much more. It contains reviews on
Books and Web sites,
not to mention interviews with successful web designers....
<Web>
</Architect> even features a glossary of 250 Internet related terms,
and message boards where people can give their own opinions on a variety
of subjects. It is truly a
priceless resource for anyone interested in the 'Net.
Maegan did a large variety of subjects on our site, ranging from book
reviews to software. But we all agree that her specialty was Coding
and the Internet. She wrote courses on
everything from HTML to DHTML to Javascript, and even did a Computer Ethics
course. Maegan created many ideas involving
the sites structure and design, and also designed the flash intros for
each section. She also enjoyed writing reviews, so she did most of the
ones on our site.
Maegan provided our team with guidance, and made sure we strictly kept
to the rules and regulations of Thinkquest, carefully citing each source
and getting permission for anything and everything imaginable. This carefulness
paid off in the end.
We enjoyed a cross-cultural experience, as her lifestyle was quite different
than the other members of the team. We frequently enjoyed hearing
Maegan say that she needed to go
feed the horses, or exclaiming that she was humming to the tune of some
country music band that we'd never heard of. At times she also had very
different views than other team
members, and our long discussions with her let us get to know each other
better and be more accepting of other cultures. Meagan's contribution
to the site was invaluable.
Jordan and I nick named Chris... "Hardware Man" - I've never
known anyone so passionate the guts of a computer. He built his own computer
when he was 13. He provided the technical know-how on things like modems,
servers, hardware, and file extensions. Completing several courses, giving
technical
assistance, critiquing our site and providing a basic skeleton of the
flash intro while at the same time overcoming obstacles such as hacker
attacks, and coping with a laptop computer that simply would not cooperate.
Chris has "true grit". That's just one side of Chris; under
that intelligent-not-quite-geeky exterior is a goofy, fun loving, honest,
canoeing, beaver-loving, French-Canadian, who kept me in stitches the
whole time (when i should've
been working). His enthusiasm amazed me when everything seemed to fall
to pieces. Giving an overall light air to difficult concepts, Chris' contributions
to the site are full of personality and wit.
Jordan supplied plenty of "moral support" and "reality
checks", but besides that, he also added major contributions to the
<web> </architect> team. He created the general idea and title
of our site, and formed the basic design, later carrying through with
a massive amount of content, everything from the glossary to internet
and computer basics. Jordan completed tasks that he labels "manual
labor" (he hates that), including the tedious uploading process of
our 200+ page site, we could have never accomplished our
goals of having a multi-faceted, mixed media resource production if it
weren't for his diligence. I respect his perseverance and determination
throughout the whole project
- and I believe it shows in his work on the site.
The team was created in a very interesting way, considering that the current
team has only been together since the end of April, compared to some teams
that could have been together since September of 2000, 7 months earlier.
Jordan and Maegan had worked together on a TQ site the year before,
and enjoyed the experience so much that they wanted to do it again.
Chris was found at the end of April/ Early May, after another potential
team member bailed out.
As a team, we had to coordinate our schedules, and plans together.
Because of the two-hour time difference between NY and CO, there were
many occasions where we were not sure as to which time zone we were meeting
each other in. This took adjustment, but we adapted to the circumstances.
The
team was collaborated in a manner, so that each team member's computer
knowledge was unique and useful. We were
all able to contribute something that the others did not know. In
general, Chris was in charge of Hardware and Computers, Maegan of Coding,
and Jordan of the Internet and
designing web sites.
Challenges, although certainly not planned for, kept our team on our toes.
We had many challenges and struggles throughout the Thinkquest year, and
our determination helped
us get through even the toughest of situations. After spending a month
on another subject and aborting the idea, we had to choose a title. This
was decided in one long conversation, in which we managed to get on each
others' nerves so much we were yelling at each other. We have posted
this conversation on our site. :-)
In
mid-January, Jordan took a vacation to Central America, where he met a
girl named Jennifer. Because she had no computer knowledge, he figured
it would be a great
idea to have her on the team. Jennifer would be able to learn about
what Jordan and Maegan wrote, and she could
critique them and give us opinions as to what she didn't understand. Unfortunately,
after 3 months of attempting to get in touch with her and explain to her
how to sign up for
TQ, she was not able to sign up on time; and we were left with no third
partner. Then we found Chris, the perfect match.
We had minimal contact during the summer due to vacations,
and as we rounded the corner to the last week, the entire site's navigational
structure was deleted in Front page due to an error in the program's design.
This took days to restore, days we didn’t have.
These
problems add a twist to TQ, that we confronted and overcame.
A person visiting this site will gain a rich understanding of many aspects
of the Internet, Web Design, and of Computers. We have a very wide
range of quality courses. A
user will be able to read reviews guiding him/her to even more resources.
The site is educational, created with both
students and teachers in mind. Users can uniquely learn more about
us, through posted conversations we have had throughout the year.
Our site allows the viewers to go deeper into the web community.
Surfers can submit their own reviews and ideas which will be posted on
our message bards. A creative feature of our site is the webmaster test,
which a user can
fill in, and then within 24 hours will receive scores and a suggested
"prescription". The hotline is one of the most inventive aspects
of our site - never before has technical support been attempted by instant-messaging,
and through that, the <web> team provide real time assistance!
