Author Archives: Liam Walsh

Use of the World Wide Web: A brief look at standards and protocols

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Standards in particular have become frequently associated with the trend of endorsing a set of standardised best practices in recent years. Web standards are formal, non-proprietary standards and specifications that describe aspects of the web. The largest set of web standards are produced by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), an international industry consortium dedicated to “leading the Web to its full potential”. W3C develops a number of specifications to enhance the the interoperability of web-related products, including a number of very famous W3C standards, particularly for web design, such as HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript and DOM. It is almost certain that these standards, along with many others, would appear within the miXXerS website (many are already in use within the prototype website developed and talked about in earlier blogs).

Protocols govern the rules for data exchange within or between computers and are essential for many systems throughout the internet. Systems that communicate, do so via well-defined formats (protocol) for exchanging messages. There are a vast number of communication protocols which serve different requirements, some of which, like TCP/IP are very famous and widely used. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) are an organisation that are very relevant within the communication protocols world. Likewise with standards, there are a number of protocols that would be used within miXXerS, particularly if it grew to be large. These protocols are even more essential as security becomes an even bigger issue than it already should be.

Unified Modeling Language: A software design approach to miXXerS

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Although UML is normally is often used for object-orientated design, it can be worth it to create UML for other applications too. Pictured below is a ‘use case’ diagram. Use case diagrams are representations of a user’s interactions with the system. The system in this diagram is the miXXers social network. The green bubbles represent use cases, things the user could do within miXXers. The lines link actors (in this case a generic user of miXXerS) and the use cases they have access to. Lines can also occur between use cases  in order to indicate relationships between them. An extend for example, is used to indicate a use case conditionally adds steps to another use case. Although not used here, there are many other types of UML diagrams which could be used to model structures, relationships and communications.

 

miXXers

< Click to enlarge >

 

Changing times: how social media has revolutionised the music industry

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It is a matter of years since music was generally only available in various physical forms such as CDs, or online in a select few places such as Napster. We have now reached the stage where music is available in a myriad of locations across the web and social media has certainly played its part in bringing the music industry to where it is now, therefore opening up a potential market for a social network like miXXerS.

The advent of social media has opened up an entirely new platform where artists can promote their music to a wide range of people, fans and potential fans alike. Artists can link fans to new music, inform them of upcoming music as well as promote any upcoming live events they may be performing at. We are at a point where you will likely hear any news about your favourite artists on social media before you hear or see it anywhere else. Features like Twitter’s trending topics highlight any recent news that has generated a lot of talk over social media. A big announcement from a music artist is likely to end up on this list. Outside of the music they produce, artists are able to promote themselves by interacting with their fans, something which social media has enabled on a much greater scale.

Case Study: Spor

Spor, the alter-ego for UK based drum and bass producer Jon Gooch, was created in 2006, taking the electronic music industry by storm. After a lengthy hiatus, Spor returned to the scene in February, immediately announcing his new and long awaited album, and sending drum and bass fans into a frenzy all over social media. Moving away from the traditional approach of releasing an album, Spor announced that he would be first releasing the album as a ‘pay as you want bundle’, where purchasers can choose the price they pay for the album, as a torrent through the BitTorrent bundles service. Spor further promoted his return to the drum and bass scene by doing an ‘ask me anything’ thread on the message board website, Reddit. Spor’s use of social media, from announcing his comeback and new album, to his interactions with his fans over a number of social networking platforms, enabled him to generate as much publicity and hype for his new release as possible.

Roles of the users within miXXerS

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Many of the users within the miXXerS social networks will play vastly different roles. These different users could be generic music lovers, the artists/musicians themselves, promoters or even venue owners.  Each of these users aims to get something different out of the social network and these differences are presented below.

Generic User: The generic user may have a number of different reasons for using the social network. This could be simply to follow their favourite artists in order to see any new music, upcoming gigs or simply what they are getting up to in their day to day lives. They may also simply want to find new music, be it within the same genre as their favourite artists or if they are more into the live scene, any upcoming gigs within their local area or region. Thirdly, they might just want want to use miXXerS as a place to communicate with their friends or general people sharing the same interests within music.

DJs/Musicians: The aim of musicians within the social network will depend on the position they are in. Famous musicians would likely use the site to simply communicate with their fans, announce/share the release of new music and to announce any gigs they will be performing. Lesser known and independent musicians would likely use the network to release any music they may have recorded and to communicate directly with any friends/fans that are also interested in their music. Like famous musicians, they may also use the network to announce any upcoming gigs.  Stats and the ability to advertise which is available for premium users will also be useful for them.

Promoters/Party Producers: Promoters/Party Producers are likely to only use the network in order to announce any new music or upcoming gigs/concerts from their associated artists. Promoters from a specific music label for example may be there to combine all of the related news for the artists within their label, whilst gig promoters may promote any upcoming gigs occurring at their associated venues. Stats available for premium users will also be useful for them. Stats and the ability to advertise which is available for premium users will also be useful for them.