Semantic Sound-Off

This week’s articles all deal with discussions on semantic markup. The first reviews some of the basic differences between semantic and un-semantic code. The writing was mostly a reminder of things we’ve already covered in class, but the examples the author used were a great side-to-side comparison of what makes code “well-formed”. In particular, his explanation for using a header tag for something like a company logo was helpful; I hadn’t considered using an h1 tag to delineate something other than a text header.

The next piece is a lengthier discussion on some of the difficulties faced when taking internet data and integrating it into semantic markup. It’s worded a bit clumsily, but the author seems to worry that it is very difficult to agree on what tag names we should use when trying to describe our content. He is concerned that everyone will come up with their own tag names to fit their data and the result will be an online “Tower of Babel” where our ability to read and understand code content will be diminished by the great variety of different tag names we would have to absorb.

I can understand some of his concerns, since it seems very unlikely that there will be a wholehearted acceptance of any one way to name tags due to the deluge of different information on the web. However, I don’t think the goal is a single naming convention for all web data; rather, it seems our aim should be to use tag names that are well-defined and clear summaries of what content lies within. For example, rather than naming something ambiguous like “right_column2”, we should try to use names like “content_news” or “testimonial_box” – names that tell anyone reading the code what kind of content lies within. As long as our tag names aren’t too confusing and we try to abide by the other rules of well-formed code (ie: breaking down the content using standard tags such as headers, paragraph tag, lists, etc.) I believe we need not worry about having such exactness between tag names as this author fears.

Finally, I really enjoyed the last reading for this week. It’s a short rant on the recent emphasis towards making sure everything you create on the web is “validated” and why this isn’t as important as many like to preach. What I like best about this author is his frankness – you can definitely tell the author’s opinion is born out of many a late night trying to make a deadline. I definitely relate to his complaints. Sure, having really clean looking, validated code is great when you have a good amount of time to finish your work, as is often the case when we get school projects. But sweating bullets about not being “validated” when you have a much more pressing schedule to meet isn’t necessary. As the author points out, many of the most popular pieces of web-media or other code won’t validate unless you write specific work-arounds for them, which can be unrealistic for those times when the most important issue is, “Will this work right now?” I found this a refreshing piece amongst the many cries for validation that I often hear.

Cars, Bikes, and Barter

I looked into three different websites this week, each covering a different subject I thought could be used for my “final solution” website that I’ll be working on at the end of class. The three websites I studied covered carpooling, bartering, and bicycling, respectively.

The first website of interest I searched for was one that would organize carpools. I originally became interested in the idea of an online carpooling index through Craigslist, whose “rideshare” section gives people a place to search or post listings for creating carpools together. I’m often interested in splitting a ride with someone for my constant trips to Austin and Houston, both for saving money, conservation, and the pleasure of sharing company with a new person. However, Craigslist presents the information in a very limited way – basically just in list format organized chronologically from newest to oldest. I was interested to see if another website could take the idea further and make the information more accessible to its visitors.

What I found was eRideShare.com, named by Yahoo! as the “most popular ridesharing site”. The website lets you create a free profile, which you use to run searches for posted carpools in your area. The carpool listings give you a brief summary of the driving destinations, the days it takes place, and the members hosting the ride. From there, you can look at a member’s profile page to learn more about them, or to reach them anonymously with more questions about the carpool. Like Craigslist, the site isn’t fancy looking, instead relying on a barebones, content heavy approach, but it certainly seems to cover all the bases. I was impressed by the breadth of different carpooling options available for search and how much thorough information was provided for each ride. eRideShare.com is pretty much the embodiment of the expanded “rideshare” idea I had envisioned, so I’m discouraged to pursue this idea as an option for my one website.

Next, I looked for “bartering” websites. My idea was another extension of a Craiglist-style anonymous posting site, this time with the idea that the site would be a specialized place for individuals and businesses to post and find “bartering” proposals. Users could post products or services they were willing to exchange for other products/services: the unique part is that these offerings wouldn’t come with a dollar price attached. Instead, the system would match bartering proposals based on what each member was looking for in the market. For example, a student interested in learning Spanish might be connected to a native-Spanish speaker who needed babysitting from time to time. In exchange for the babysitting, the student might receive informal lessons from the Spanish speaker.

In my search I found barternet.com, and the results were disappointing. The site is basically a well-organized link portal that connects you to more local bartering companies, but it doesn’t do much “legwork” of its own other than giving referrals. The site I chose from there, TexasBarter.com, was slightly more promising. It allows its members to post business or personal offerings or find other bartering proposals, than purchase or exchange these postings using a “trade dollars” system . However, this wasn’t exactly what I have in mind. TexasBarter.com is too business oriented at the expense of proposals between individuals, and it isn’t free – you’re required to pay a monthly fee (a modest $20) and a transaction fee for every successful exchange.

As such, my own “bartering website” still has some promise, but the idea has many roadblocks. First, how would you standardize the exchange of services without attaching dollar values to them? And how can you match bartering proposals when each posting might be requesting very specific things? If I get serious about pursuing this for my website, these questions will need answers. Any ideas?

Finally, I looked into online biking communities. My one complaint about current sites is that they are too focused on “hardcore” bikers, who are more interested in endurance, off-roading, or competitive riding. What I am seeking is a site meant for people who enjoy riding bicycles and want to know routes around town and meet other casual bicyclists, without the seriousness of most biking sites.

The first site I encountered, bikewire.net , was exactly the kind of website that I wasn’t searching for. Though it did allow you to post bike routes and search for rides in your area, it’s meant for the type of riding I’m not interested in. In fact, I was daunted by all of the independent bike community sights I found after that. There was too much emphasis on miles ridden and distance covered, and very little to offer for people who are just looking for simple urban trail routes or “pub crawl” groups.

In the end, I think I was looking for something too specific; it seems like the information I want isn’t desired by a large enough audience to warrant a complete website. The most similar thing I found was the meetup.com group Urban Dallas Leisure Bicycle, which embodies the idea I’m after. It doesn’t offer as much information as I want, but it’s the closest thing to what I’m seeking.

After all of my searching, it seems like the “bartering” website idea has the most potential, but it also has the most variables I need to account for if it’s going to work.