Love Episode Seven

Frankly, I do not have much experience living with an elderly. In my memory, my grandfather and grandmother were the kindest people I have ever known. I believe that the elderly has some sorts of wisdom gained from their entire life experiences; and it seems natural that an elderly loves to share his/her stories or thoughts with the young. Does the young generation show respect and love for the elderly? I guess the answer is 'maybe'. Education is necessary undoubtedly.

There is an article titled "Teaching our children to love the elderly". This online article has been posted on a blog (I guess it is instead of a photography website). I appreciate the author's views on educating the young generation to love the elderly. However, the first impression I had when I saw the article was in fact terrible, not only because of the text colour but also the layout of the article. It is really a tight squeeze! I think a clear layout contributes to the readers' convenience. As online readers tend to skim articles fast to look for what they are interested in, a concise layout could be a key to attract readers' attention.

The main story is placed in the middle of the page which takes the focus of the readers. There is a picture with an old man at the beginning of the article. This photo shows exactly what the young needs to care about, that is to spend more time on the elderly. I believe that we can only hear the needs of the elderly if we really care what they want. If I were the author, I would enlarge the picture to show the eyes of the old man clearly. Personally, his eyes reflect his anxiety for love and care. Also, I think there is still space left for more pictures of the elderly. 

A Chinese traditional idiom says "An elderly is worth a treasure at home". To educate our kids to respect the elderly is really important. They are the ones who have contributed to our society and it is time they enjoy their lives. Try not to love the elderly at home only but all the elderly you meet in daily life!



Let's show love and  respect for the elderly!



Love Episode Six

Can you imagine that 15 million children under 18 have been orphaned as a result of AIDS? Most African countries are facing a great problem with the arrangement of the orphans. The orphans in African have no choice but live without their parents' love. Fortunately, the AIDS orphans are still the beloved ones. Do you know who offers them help? Let's read the articles about AIDS orphans!

When I was reading the articles on this website, I found the AIDS charity, AVERT very effective in designing their website in three ways. First, they have used a top-down approach in the notion of information architecture. As a reader, I read from the top to the bottom automatically in order to get more details of AIDS orphans. The sequence of details is delivered by using clear subtitles which are coloured in purple. Under each subtitle, there are separate key words which help show the ideas in the coming paragraphs in green. Readers may feel convenient and easy in reading hundreds of words. Remember to read the paragraphs under subtitles "country responses" and "the need for action"!

The second effective mean is actually the use of images. Some relevant photographs are inserted between paragraphs. I think the pictures bring a pleasant perception rather than a sense of sadness or grief. For AIDS orphans, hope and care are important. I felt warm and grateful when I saw the picture with a girl standing with a smile on her face. Apart from images, videos are powerful to convey messages. There is a video clip under the subtitle 'family structures' but the link of the video has been removed. This reminds me of the importance of website maintenance.

Third, I appreciate the design of the interface. The algorithm is well-structured with the main story in the middle. The navigation system is designed on the top and left of the page which is user-friendly. However, the search system is not shown obviously. Maybe it is placed in the middle of left column with very light colour. It could be a good idea to show the search system on top of the page. Overall, this website is a good example of information architecture.

How do you feel after reading the articles? I guess the best way to help AIDS orphans is to offer help by supporting organisations like AVERT and UNICEF. May God bless the orphans!   

Love Episode Five

The meaning of love differentiates between selfish love and selfless love. Some people believe that the more you love a person, the more selfish you will be with your love. This argument could be possible but my idea of love is just the opposite. A true love is founded on how much one can sacrifice for his/her love. There are live examples of selfless love. The article "Selfish Love vs selfless Love" shares with you more about Love. 

As an online article, the choice of a suitable title is crucial. Internet users may not stop to read an article unless it is surprising or meaningful for them. To me, this title "Selfish Love vs selfless Love" itself is not surprising, yet the intention of the author on the title attracts me. Look closer! 'selfless Love' with a small letter s for 'selfless'. Why? I guess the author is trying to convey the meaning of 'selfless'. It means you minimize your own need for the sake of others. In contrast with 'Selfish', someone being 'selfless' is more humble because you do not see yourself more important or 'bigger' than others. 

Frankly, this article is just too colourful in terms of its presentation. Colourful words give people a sense of brightness and cheerfulness. They also separate subtitles, paragraphs and examples to make the article easier for readers to understand. Thus, it is more convenient for readers to scan information they want. However, I feel dizzy as my eyes blurred after reading the article for five minutes. 'Well, nothing is perfect!' Good techniques can have side effects anyway; love sometimes hurts too. 

The effective use of fond size is another advantage. The author deliberately altered the fond size to deliver her messages. Apparently, she used lots of love icons and pictures for decoration. I appreciate her effort as I guess people feel warm with dozens of hearts. See one of the pictures here! 

Apart from the fond size, the use of word capitalization happened to function as 'mix & match' in bringing out focuses. It is an appropriate way to show contrast on meanings, yet I do not find those capitalized words meaningful. Verbs, prepositions and connectives are usually not the key focuses in a sentence. Maybe the author aims to make her own emphasis on the words.

After reading this article, do you know what kind of love you are having now? Congratulations if you have 'selfless Love' in yourself and around you!

     

 

Love Episode Four

Let's talk about love for plants in this episode! A lady named Rosemary Ponte is really a plant lover. She has been serious about gardening since she was around twenty. She enjoys having the gardening lessons and talking to other gardeners. The article written by Laura Gwinn describes how Rosemary feels about gardening. Imagine how much love can be devoted to plants by humans!

When you go to the webpage (simply click "Love Episode Four"), you could be attracted by the picture at once. It is a slideshow of six images about Rosemary's vegetable garden. By inserting a slideshow, more space can be saved for the article. The use of a slideshow succeeds in allowing readers' to stop watching the pictures any time they like. Just quit the slideshow by clicking a cross (it's handy)! As the slideshow is placed at the beginning of the article, the beautiful pictures of the garden actually function as an eye-catching spot and a mean to arouse readers' interest in the article. This is in fact a very powerful technique for designing a webpage.

Laura chose to quote Rosemary's words for her entire article with some narrations. She used a single spacing between quotes which made her article clear and easy to read. This kind of layout is effective for presenting quotes and dialogues. It is also a clever way to include lots of quotes, so that the readers can share the authentic experience of Rosemary in gardening. I guess all readers of online articles are curious to know about others' experience. They may expect to read a direct, precise and concise layout of an article because this will save their time. As a reader, I feel Rosemary's enthusiasm for plants.  

Taking care of a garden is never an easy job. Time, love and passion should be devoted to gardening. You may start to cultivate some species of plants instead of a garden. Eventually, you may become an expert of plants!

Love Episode Three

Many pet lovers consider their pets a member of the family. Pet lovers often share their experiences as a pet owner with others. Sometimes their memorable moments with pets explain how much humanity pets can have. It is not surprising to hear people say, "I saw my dog looking at me with tears in its eyes while I was crying." We all know that even pets have emotions. They know who their owners are! They know they are the 'beloved' ones! What about human love for pets?

I just notice that the human-dog relationship can be tested scientifically. One article "Pet love is similar to motherly love, say experts" shows a positive result to prove that social contact does exist between human being and dogs. Frankly, the tone of the article is quite academic with some terminology. It is difficult for someone who does not study biology to fully understand the experiment. However, I appreciate its news angle.

It is an attractive news angle which pet lovers are eager to know (at least for dog lovers). The news value is there in terms of human interest. I guess very few people may have heard about the test on oxytocin levels. By introducing the experiment precisely, readers believe how fascinating our relationship with dogs is. Maybe cats, horses ... not just dogs!

Effective use of quotes can be useful to arouse readers' interest. The author deliberately added the quote by Kikushi, "Miho and I are big dog lovers and feel something changed in our bodies when gazed [upon] by our dogs". The quote leads to a certain curiosity of what exactly the change in the bodies is. The layout of this online article is very concise. The picture of a cute dog and a girl appears to be an appropriate complement of the article. It is just the right size! Actually, I appreciate the use of a white background with words in black for this particular article. It gives me a sense of pure love for pets.      

If you believe the social contact with pets, why not try to feel your pet's emotions by heart from now on? Somehow you may aware of how much you love your pet.

She's so lovely!

Let's hug, my owner!

Love Episode Two

Learning to love is an endless journey throughout my life. If there is a psychologist who can give me BIG tips, I guess things are easier for me. Surprisingly, I found the relationship articles written by Dr. Grace Cornish Livingstone (one of America’s foremost Relationship Experts)very fruitful. Let's share one of her articles 'Why Use Your Finance to Buy His Romance?' together!

I've never thought of paying for a man's presence but things may change over my boosting age. Dr. Grace did not advise readers not to engage themselves into a "pay for play" relationship directly at the beginning. Instead, she shared her real case observation and analysis by the use of powerful word expression like 'cry with excruciating pain', 'a cash-machine for a gigolo', 'sweat at a nine-to-five job when I can get a Honey to dish out some money', 'leaves you broke, alone, and sorry' etc. To me as a reader, I feel impressed with what she said about love relationship.

Furthermore, I guess results from surveys are meaningful for readers in all situation. The survey summary of the three hundred women brings forth the notion of why women are persuaded to use finance to maintain men's romance. If I were the one who was surveyed, I would have known myself more after reading the four categories of personality types. OH! I'll then start questioning myself: Do I really love a man with THIS personality? 

I totally agree to what Dr. Grace mentioned in the last paragraph. Learning to love and value yourself is the key to a healthy love. Love is founded on trust and selfless care but absolutely NOT MONEY. Thank Dr. Grace for giving me this very last sentence - ... instead of one who tries to squeeze your finances dry like an orange in a juice extractor. It really strikes into my heart!