Desing suggestions and gogle maps!

One of the things i don't like in photo.net is the font used. Did you tried

verdana font? It's font installed in all computers and I think that would

improve the look of photo.net.

 

Another suggestion is to implement a link to google maps for making search of

photos and photographers. I supose that this is hard of programming, but i

could be interesting!

 

I hope my suggestions be welcome and that somebody understand my message!

My english is very poor!

 

P.D. Congratulations to photo.net administrators and photographers and thanks

for many hours of happines! This site is really amazing.

Jose, anyone who uses a computer frequently will likely have a favorite set of fonts. For much of the site content (e.g., forum text), you can define the font used by using the font preferences panel of your Internet browser.

In Firefox, the sequence is Tools>Options>Content.

The Web standard is to design with either serif or sans serif fonts that most users have on

their computers. For serif it's Times. For sans it's either Verdana or Helvetica. Personally, I

prefer sans serif and I use Verdana for just about everything that's not a graphic on a site.

Yes, you can use your browser to override the specified fonts on a site but I don't recommend

it. Web pages, like any piece of graphic design, are intended to be seen in the way that they

were developed by the author. If you switch font faces you run the risk of breaking the

layouts or causing the hierarchy of visual information to collapse. If I was in charge of

Photo.net I'd change everything to Verdana but there's no compelling reason to do so other

than personal preference. Times is fine too.

Serif seems to perhaps be the proportional font type specified by the site, but it seems that the font displayed is user specified based on the browser preference settings. Am I wrong about this?

We are going to do a complete redesign of the site, including all of the interior pages, in a month or two. Some of my students did a good project last semester in which users were searchable via Google Maps. It was a fun feature. We are hoping to geospatialize photo.net soon, along with the "realname" system, so that you would be able to ask for a map of photo.net users near you (no more precise than zip code in the U.S., perhaps to the town level in other countries).

I'll get the ball rolling with the Google maps: as we say here down south of the border mi casa es tu casa. 19o 21' 27.00" N 99o 17' 32.02" W.

 

BTW I think Nikon is great, do I get deleted? Philip, keep up the great work;)

"We are hoping to geospatialize photo.net soon, along with the "realname" system, so that you would be able to ask for a map of photo.net users near you"

 

Scenario:

 

Burglar Bill wants a top of the range Canon DSLR and a bag of lenses so he gets a list of all nearby Photo.net users. He then reads all their posts until he finds someone talking about their new camera system and it matches his requirements exactly. Using google maps and Zip codes and a white pages he locates your house and mugs you or burgles your premises.

 

Even more sinister scenarios spring to mind if 'Pyscho Bill' rather than 'Burglar Bill' is doing the very same thing and wants an introduction to your kids or your wife having seen them in your PN gallery.

Or maybe 'Religious Zealot Bill' or 'Political Extremist Bill' has taken exception to something you posted (street demo photo maybe) and realises he lives only a bus ride away and pops around to 'put you straight'.

The list of ways in which making a member's exact location public a potential danger goes on.

 

I have seen PN photo posts of 'Gay Pride' events in various cities in the USA and from other countries. On some occasions there have been vitriolic, attacking responses made on the person posting such photos because they portrayed Gay people in a positive way.

 

Imagine if that person had the means to locate the photographer's house?

 

There are such people. On such a post recently a respondent said they would like to have seen the Gay pride march bombed (and it's entire route and all the participants whether gay or straight, old or young.)

 

Such people will NOT take such action because (a) they are outnumbered (b) events are Policed © it is usually just hyperbole.

 

But your proposed location system WILL give them the means to find at least one sympathetic individual (the photographer) at his or her address but now undefended by large numbers of people or a police presence.

 

Real names OK and real e-mail addresses OK (with the right to withold e-mail addresses from public view if requested) but not the means to track down address/phone numbers etc. That is information that a member should have a right to exercise discretion over if they wish.

I agree with the privacy concerns expressed by others in this thread. I do not want anyone to have the ability to locate me from the internet, in any way. I cannot be found by googling, 411'ing, reverse directory listing, or any other way. And I mean to keep it that way. I post using my real name already, and have no objection to revealing my email address, but will cancel my PN subscription if any geolocalization project is undertaken that includes me.

 

Perhaps an "opt-in" solution is best. Then those of us who do not wish to participate are not forced to opt out.

 

My $0.02 worth

 

<Chas>

I have to agree with those, especially Trevor, who makes a lot of sense. Don't want my

personal info available and easy tracable from a post. I understand the desire to do it, as a

community feature, but I think you have to consider the sub text of the action is actually

pretty dangerous. Just an opinoin.

Cheers.