"Build Me Up, Buttercup": Final Project Update, Vol. 2

If you haven't guessed yet, I've started building my website. Google Sites, thus far, is really simple to use. I'm using new sites instead of classic because of the storage capabilities (new sites teams up with Google Docs for storage, whereas classic has rather small storage limits). There isn't a ton of design options--again, very simple--though it does offer an auto-contrast feature for text over images that maximizes readability that I'm very impressed with. Overall, I'm okay with limited design features because I want the site to be straightforward and professional with simple navigation.

The pages and the headers have already been set up (the above snippet is from the homepage); most of the header images are ones I've taken or someone else has taken and given to me. There is no link because there is no actual content in the website, yet. That's the next phase.

Speaking of content, that brings us to the more substantial aspect of my work this past week. I have finished (at least for the time being) the content for the portfolio. This included writing the last of the course descriptions, doing some editing, and identifying the documents to be hyperlinked for each course.

For the time being, I have decided not to include an introductory video of myself on the homepage, though I will probably select a few pictures to include throughout the site. I have also decided not to write a research statement at this time. After doing some research on research statements, and reading a couple of excellent examples from computer science (a related though different field), I determined I am not at a point where it would be worthwhile to write one. The two examples I found actually made me feel a bit like this, to be honest:

This isn't because I don't feel capable of writing one--and I did debate it for some time. It's because I don't have a clear research direction figured out yet. It's rather difficult to write about future directions when that path is still completely shrouded in fog. I have worked on a couple of promising projects that would lead in different directions, and I'm starting a literature review for a third possible path; as of right now, though, I'm still figuring it out. I'm okay with that, but it does mean my research statement would probably be very light and not very cohesive. As such, I'll list my ongoing research and conference publication; once I've identified a niche in which to generate a stream of research, I will write the research statement to include in my portfolio.

In closing, it's building and formatting for the next week (and the presentation...still need to figure out how I'm approaching that). It'll get done...it has to.