A Mid Winter's Wiki

  Personal experience was the main driving force behind the wikiHow I choose to do. Men can spend a long time looking for the right hair cut, but they can also spend even longer trying out ways to get the hair cut they want and trying to communicate that to whoever is cutting their hair. The side part was something I had want to get for about a year but I didn't know how to go about getting it. The people at Supercut's weren't really understanding what I wanted and I tried Regis as well but that yielded little results as well. However the stylist at Regis suggested going to a barber, and so I set out one day driving around Niagara Falls looking for a barber.
  By coincidence a barbershop opened up about a week later two blocks from where I lived, and so I decided to take a trip in and haven't gone to another barber or stylist since letting Ralph cut my hair.
  The process for going about getting your hair cut worked well with a step by step format. The order of the steps was difficult in the fact that the last few steps could almost be wiki's by themselves, but in the end they were edited to fit in a nice order. To get the best tips and be as prepared as I could be I asked my barber, Ralph, his opinion on what someone should do when they want their hair cut in a side part style. Ralph talked me through most of the steps he thought were important, and with that the frame work for the steps were all laid out.
  The process of deciding what photos to use was not easy, and took a lot of thinking before the final wikiHow post. In the end only one step didn't really require a photo, and that was the "Knowing what you want" step. Step two called "Knowing what you want" was one that I struggled finding the right photo. Step two made me realize that although I can try to be specific I couldn't get too detailed. Everyone has different hair and everyone has different taste so I wanted the reader to come up with their own take on the side part. The photos I used though where basic and conveyed the message or information that was being presented in each step. A barbershop, a side part, the products to maintain the part, and the photo of statue of a depressed person.

The last photo is to represent defeat because it can get real discouraging when you keep failing to get your haircut, and it also ads a little humor to keep the reader's attention.
  To make most of the step process come together I looked at about a dozen different wikiHow to pages to get some sort of reference to base my work off of. Some where very detailed and others where very general when going through the steps. I took what I learned from those examples and combined them with what I have learned in my public relations writing classes to get started with the steps. My first attempt at a draft left me with only around 400 hundred words. Writing for public relations requires you to be short and very concise because you have a limited amount of space.
  Although most of my writing has been based around this short and concise formula for public relations it had taught me to write only what is absolutely necessary. When we went over the draft in class there were parts I knew I could extend upon without it looking like I was dragging on unnecessarily or just putting in filler.
 Finally satisfied with the current draft I let my father look over my work first. He noticed a few mistakes but he also gave me some more advice for the steps.

He has been parting his hair since before I was born so he knew a little more about the maintenance part then what Ralph could tell me.
  The final step, Tools and Products, was the hardest to keep under control. It was either way too short or too long and didn't fit. I looked around on wikiHow to see if I could find a link that would work with the products I was talking about. There was a great article on how to use pomade which I put in my references section. When I was doing that I also added another reference that was good for my first step which was a wikiHow on choosing a good barber. Another good reference I found on wikiHow was an article on men's hairstyles. With everyones hair being different sometimes a side part is not achievable so it's important to know that other hairstyles do exist.
  In doing step 3, Know which way your hair parts, I pulled resources from four places. I asked Ralph, looked at 4 articles online, talked to my father, and I looked at my own experience with parting. When I reviewed all the information the common theme was the placement of ones own cow lick. Although that was a solid enough explanation some peoples hair doesn't follow this so I had to write that it may take some work to find out which way your parts if the cow lick method doesn't work.
  For the tips sections I strictly used Ralph and asked him what made a customer someone he liked and wants coming back to his shop. Making sure you leave a good tip and never bad mouthing the barber were the tips he gave me.
  It's hard but sometime while writing the in the step by step style I learned that you have to include things that would otherwise be seen as common sense. This doesn't mean that readers are uneducated but rather it means the writer is being through which is key to making a successful step by step piece.
 
 
 

 
 

The World Wide Web of Web's

In the beginning there was...

There wasn't much that Web 1.0 could offer to its users. Many people just used it as a calling card, or an ad in the phonebook with not much else to offer. When Web 2.0 was created it changed the structure and how people used the Internet overall.

 Web 2.0 added an element that I think is now a key component when using any website and that is it allows its users to interact with it. Now the interactions of early Web was by no means mind blowing, and it certainly wasn't all that impressive. It did allow for the user to engage, which is extremely important for repeat use. Think about it this way, if you just went on the Web to look up a phone number to a business and all the link took you to was a page with a phone number on it is there any reason for you to return to that website?. The answer is no, unless you forget the phone number then there isn't a valid reason, but what if there was a link to another website or a page with the businesses pricing guide or a "how to" section. Thats the eureka moment that I think has driven Web development the past few years. I do think that Web 2.0 left a lot of room though for improvement because honestly the designs really left something to be desired and it still wasn't all that user friendly.

 "I don't know where I'm going,but I sure know where I've been", Whitesnake said it best when it comes to explaining Web 3.0. My best guess would to say it's more about the quality and quantity of data when it comes to Web 3.0. The way I would explain it is that Internet is trying to guess what you want before you if know it. The stamp example used in class is a good way to explain the idea I'm trying to convey. I don't like how now when I use Facebook or Twitter it puts up ads about a product a just googled last night. Marketers are probably loving all of this because it takes a major amount of time spent on research out of their jobs. They can now see what people are talking and looking at instead of having to hold focus groups or just outright guess.

 Web 3.0 has allowed voices to be heard that would have otherwise been left unheard. This current form of the Web has allowed for social movements to gain traction when it would have been hard for them to do that in any other time period.The part I do love about Web 3.0 is that anyone who wants to start a website or wants to be heard can be, and they can do so to an almost global audience.

World Wide What?

We hardly even think about it anymore but the idea of the World Wide Web is impressive. It wasn't always the way it is today though. It had meager beginnings and wasn't even given its Web 1.0 name until after the fact, but nevertheless it has become an integral part of our everyday lives. Lets start with Web 1.0 and what it was and work from there.

 Web 1.0 was the first template of what the Web looked like, and the general idea of the web. Web 1.0 wasn't capable of much though and it wasn't utilized for much. Many people used it as a sort of an ad placement tool but not much else. Web 1.0 doesn't mean any technology advancements though, it means the theory behind the web. So the key concept or take away is that Web 1.0 didn't have any real interactions going on with in it. You clicked and that was basically it. Here is a link to another explanation http://www.igi-global.com/dictionary/web-1-0/32191.

 After Web 1.0 things get much more interesting and involved when it comes to Web 2.0. Web 2.0 took to interactions and things started to get interesting. No longer was a website static but the user could now click on things that brought them to other things that they might be interested in. The Web was starting to truly form because of these interactions. The full potential of the Web was beginning to be realized with the advent of the idea of Web 2.0. People could share information with each other and now they could add on to the internet and make changes to it. A further explanation of Web 2.0 can be found here http://www.oreilly.com/pub/a/web2/archive/what-is-web-20.html. That is actually the website of Web 2.0's founder Tim O'Reilly. 

  Building on the last two Web 3.0, also discovered by Tim O'Reilly, is the idea that massive amounts of data can be collected and accessed with ease anytime. This was a huge step and now with everything even more linked together the web becomes more important and useful. Google is basically the exact example of Web 3.0. Google allows users to access anything they want also long as they have an idea of what they're looking for. Web 3.0 works faster and more efficiently because now all the information and data is written in the same language so machines can decode it faster which allows for a more user friendly interface. http://computer.howstuffworks.com/web-30.htm this gives a more detailed explanation of Web 3.0. Soon the web could be seen as just another expansion of the human brain. 

How to get and maintain a men's side part

Styles come and go in fashion but some are so everlasting that they can't be ignored. One such style that has held up to the test of time is the classic mens side part hair style. Here are some tips to get the look you want and how to maintain it.

1. Find the right person for the job.
You need to find the right person who's going to know exactly what it is your looking for. A barber is the safest bet as they are more familiar with men's hair and typically have the right tools. If you are confident in who already does your hair then don't be afraid to ask them for this cut.

2. Know what you want.
This can be extremely important. The best way to find the style of side part your looking for is through pictures. It's ok to show a picture to who ever is doing your hair the way you want it to look. Over the past few years people have put their own spin on the side part look so there are a few variations.

3. The part.
You have to know which way your hair parts so the person cutting knows how to style around the part. There are many ways to find out which way your hair parts.

4. Communicate
Talk to who ever is doing your hair. Ask about fades, tapering, and numbers. The more educated you are on hair terms the more likely you are to get what you are looking for.

5. If at first you don't succeed.
Try again. You may not like the way your hair turns out the first time. Like all new things give it some time and a few more tries and you might find yourself liking it more and more.

6. Maintenance tools.
To keep your part looking its best you'll need a few tools. A brush and a comb are a must and some sort of hair styling product. Experiment and try working with pomades and wax if you never have before. Pomades have been around for many years and wax is a nice substitute if you have a difficult time finding a pomade that will work.