Assignment No.3: Who is Tim Berners-Lee?

Tim Berners-Lee is a brilliant engineer and professor credited for the invention of the World Wide Web. On top of this already impressive feat, Berners-Lee is also the director of the WC3 and a plethora of web related foundations and organizations.

His accomplishments include but are not limited to recently receiving an honorary doctorate from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam as well as being named as one of the "100 Most Important People of the 20th Century" by Time Magazine.

Assignment No.3: Who is Jakob Nielsen?

Jakob Nielsen is a renowned web usability consultant.

Nielsen has worked at suck companies as Bell, IBM, and Sun Microsystems. A Ph.D graduate of Denmark's Technical University, Nielsen has spent most of his working life helping to define and evolve the idea of web usability. Nielsen hold's 79 United States patents concerns usability and has developed five components of usability goals:

Learnability, Efficiency, Memorability, Errors, Satisfaction.

Additionally, Nielson founded the "discount usability movement" which focuses on the development of fast and cheap user interface improvements. A published web design author who continues to be highly regarded in his field, Nielsen most recently co-founded the consulting company Nielsen Norman Group.

Assignment No.2: W3C and its Role on the Internet

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an online body and community that looks to set standards to propel the overall growth and quality of the internet.

The primary objective of the W3C is to ensure compatibility between industry members in regards to the software and website technology used to encourage consistency and usability. By agreeing to adhere to a core set of principals, member organizations can become regarded as W3C-compliant. To this point, the W3C has yet to offer official certification.

Assignment No.1: The Blog That Keeps Giving

Back in 2007 a younger more optimistic me would have had little trouble making decisions when it came time to deciding on what to read next. Working at a bookstore put me in the ideal position. I was constantly surrounded by some of the hottest titles and timeless classics, as well as some of the most educated opinionated people who I have ever met.

All that changed when I quit in the fall of 2008, inadvertently severing my ties to the world of fantasy and fiction I’d grown to love in pursuit of a career. This is when I first discovered, and quickly became an avid reader of, Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist.

Blogging since back in 2005, Pat’s continues to be my first-stop when in search of reviews, previews, and interviews, of all the biggest names in the fantasy genre. Gaining momentum since his initial efforts, Pat has gone onto recommend what have turned out to be some of my favourite fantasy titles in recent years.

If a critically minded review from somebody who’s been around the block is something you look for (when it comes to reading popular fantasy novels) be sure to check this out. As an extra incentive, through his connections with publishers Pat is able to hold contests and book giveaways that can range from single copies of new releases to full on collections.

Pat’s has become a reliable source for reviews and insight. A thumbs up on The Hotlist has yet to lead me astray.