lecture 5: handout

There are only two topics on the handout this week and both are to do with this lecture's supplementary information rather than the main topic (images). This makes it a good moment to remind you that you may benefit from taking your own notes while following these virtual lectures. Only you will know which topics are of particular and personal interest and/or which ones you need to reinterpret in your own words.

using FTP programs

The lecture slide covers this in general terms - this handout should serve as a reference.

Remember you will always need to know your host address, your user ID and your password. I cannot generalise about this and you always need to get this information off your web host or ISP. Here is some space where you can write the information down:

My web host address is:

My user ID is:

NEVER WRITE DOWN YOUR PASSWORD. Remember that your choice of password may not only affect the security of your own files, but the security of others on the system that you are using. I repeat here the School of Computing's advice on choosing a good password:

A good password should:

• Be at least six characters long and preferably eight.
• Be a mix of lower case and UPPER CASE letters.
• Include digits and - if the system allows it - punctuation marks like - / + ( ). Not all systems let you include punctuation, however.
• Be based on something you can easily recall so you do not have to write it down.

Bad passwords are:

• fewer than six characters
• Words or names that exist in any language especially those that are in dictionaries. (A common cracking technique is to get a computer to try every word in an electronic dictionary, like that included in Microsoft Word.)
• Words containing common substitutions of digits for letters, like 5 for S. "br1an" is probably just as easily cracked as "brian".
• Names, titles etc. of books, people, football teams, or other things connected personally to you like your telephone number, car registration number etc.
• Any password that you have seen written down (including in this document)
• Any sequence of adjacent keys such as "asdfghjkl".

A possible technique is to pick the initial letters from some phrase you can remember and then try and get some digits and/or upper case letters in there as well. For example, "I can't think of a good password today" might turn into "Ictoagp2d" which is a decent password (or was one, until I told you about it). The best thing to do is find your own technique.

You may think this is rather over-the-top, if all you're going to be writing is a three-page site for your course work. Perhaps so but remember the aim of this course is to start people on the path to serious web design and anyone publishing a site for any kind of organisation must be aware of these basic security issues. Much of the WWW and Internet is still plagued by appalling security which merely encourages hackers, virus writers etc. just as much as open doors or windows encourage burglars. It's basic common sense.

options information

The following are the six recommended options for Web Design. You will follow one of these.

• Advanced Web Techniques. More advanced HTML: image maps, forms, frames, JavaScript events. Lectures: Mondays, 11:00, RSLT 20 (or follow the virtual lectures 7-10 on this site).
• Graphics on the PC. Paint Shop Pro, CorelDraw, raster graphics, vector graphics, image manipulation, layers etc. Lectures: either Wednesdays 11:00 RSLT 23 or Thursdays 12:00 RSLT 12.
• IT, Politics and Society. A non-technical look at the place of IT and the Internet in the 21st century world. Small-group seminars (no lectures) either Tuesdays at 11:00 or Fridays at 10:00 in room 8.01 School of Computing (this room is accessed via "staircase 1" off Red Route).
• Legal Issues in Computing. Also a non-technical option considering legislation such as copyright and data protection. Lectures are Fridays at 1:00 in RSLT16.
• Electronic Publishing with XML. (You need to have also completed ACOM1015's Further IT Skills Core to take this option.) How to use XML and DOCTYPE declarations in more detail to go beyond HTML for electronic texts. Lectures: Tuesdays, 2:00, Michael Sadler LG15 (near the Rupert Beckett LT).
• Introduction to the Linux OS. What it says: a basic intro to this alternative to MS Windows for those interested in the technical computing side. Lectures are Tuesdays, 1:00, RSLT 9.

If you wish to take an option that is not in the list, contact me on andrew [dot] whitworth [at] manchester [dot] ac [dot] uk to put a case for it. You may well be allowed to take one of the more complex ACOM options but it is very unlikely you will be allowed to take one of the more basic ones like Word Processing or Data Handling.

Select your option through your ACOM account. On the "Account Management" screen there is a link, "Select Option". The process is fairly self-explanatory but be sure you are selecting the right option for the right module (particularly if you are enrolled on more than one ACOM module this semester).