Karnataka Tourism minister G Janardhan Reddy seems to be in a hole. His company – Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) – has been accused of illegal mining activities in Karnataka and across the border in Andhra.
Obama seems to be appeasing China on many fronts on his latest visit to Beijing. Apparently, he reiterates that ‘Tibet is a part of China’, China should play an important role in monitoring Indo-Pak relationships, and that US & China ‘ties have never been more important to our collective future.’
Could this possibly have anything to do with the $800 billion dollars that China holds in US treasury bills?
A shift in global power – Enter the not-so hidding dragon, bye bye crouching US tiger.
Second Edition of The Lines of India: The battle between Sachin Tendulkar and Bal Thackeray. Read the article from TOI below.
For those who haven’t read today’s newspaper, here’s the article straight from the Times of India.
MUMBAI/DELHI: Ageing Shiv Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray on Monday alienated himself from millions of Indians when he attacked the country’s icon and Maharashtra’s most loved son, Sachin Tendulkar, for saying that “Mumbai belonged to all Indians”. In an editorial in the Sena mouthpiece, Saamna, Thackeray, warned Sachin to “keep off the political pitch” for his own well-being. Or else, he would have “run out” from Marathi minds…. Read the rest at TOI.
Was reading The Times of India today – and came to realise how utterly boring the news is. And how much more interesting RK Laxman is. So here is my RK Laxman inspired first edition of The Lines of India. Can’t decide what to call it. Almost daily editions will be coming up from tomorrow- so watch out for this space!
All tapo-ed information, collected here.
From here: http://semanticstudios.com/publications/semantics/000029.php
Web Credibility Research from Standford: http://credibility.stanford.edu/research.html
Evaluation Strategies
What exactly do users take into account when deciding what to believe on the Web? Do they really notice that privacy policy or read that detailed fact-checking procedure? When and how might information seekers attempt to verify what they find online? How do they integrate past experience and general assumptions about information on the Web with what they see and read on a specific site to make a decision about credibility?
Design
We find that a broad range of design decisions — ranging from visual elements to information architecture to the use of advertisements — can powerfully influence whether visitors are likely to find a site credible. Like human communicators, Web sites benefit (or suffer) based upon their appearance. Part of the goal of our project is to understand which design elements have an impact on credibility.
Individual Factors
When and why might individual differences amongst site visitors tend to dominate whether they accept or reject what they read? Does everyone respond to errors, typos, or poor design with the same level of incredulity? Expertise, for example — whether it be general fluency with the Internet or knowledge in a particular domain such as health — can impact how people decide what to believe on the Web.
Context and Content
Whether an information seeker is motivated to find credible information, how important the information is to her, whether she has the time and resources to devote to diligently evaluating what she does find, and the content domain of the information (e.g., health, news, entertainment, etc.) are all examples of important contextual factors in credibility evaluations made on the Web. We seek out exceptions — often driven by unique contextual factors — to the general rules of Web credibility evaluation discovered in our research.
Stanford Guidelines for Web Credibility
http://credibility.stanford.edu/guidelines/index.html
How can you boost your web site’s credibility?
We have compiled 10 guidelines for building the credibility of a web site. These guidelines are based on three years of research that included over 4,500 people.
| Guideline | Additional Comments | Supporting Research from our lab | ||
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You can build web site credibility by providing third-party support (citations, references, source material) for information you present, especially if you link to this evidence. Even if people don’t follow these links, you’ve shown confidence in your material. | chi00, chi01a, ptl02, unp | ||
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Showing that your web site is for a legitimate organization will boost the site’s credibility. The easiest way to do this is by listing a physical address. Other features can also help, such as posting a photo of your offices or listing a membership with the chamber of commerce. | chi00, chi01a, chi01b, ptl02 | ||
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Do you have experts on your team? Are your contributors or service providers authorities? Be sure to give their credentials. Are you affiliated with a respected organization? Make that clear. Conversely, don’t link to outside sites that are not credible. Your site becomes less credible by association. | acm99, chi99, chi00, chi01a, chi01b, ptl02, unp | ||
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The first part of this guideline is to show there are real people behind the site and in the organization. Next, find a way to convey their trustworthiness through images or text. For example, some sites post employee bios that tell about family or hobbies. | chi99, chi01b, unp | ||
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A simple way to boost your site’s credibility is by making your contact information clear: phone number, physical address, and email address. | chi00, chi01a, ptl02, unp | ||
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We find that people quickly evaluate a site by visual design alone. When designing your site, pay attention to layout, typography, images, consistency issues, and more. Of course, not all sites gain credibility by looking like IBM.com. The visual design should match the site’s purpose. | chi99, chi00, chi01a, ptl02, unp | ||
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We’re squeezing two guidelines into one here. Our research shows that sites win credibility points by being both easy to use and useful. Some site operators forget about users when they cater to their own company’s ego or try to show the dazzling things they can do with web technology. | acm99, chi99, chi00, chi01a, ptl02, unp | ||
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People assign more credibility to sites that show they have been recently updated or reviewed. | chi00, chi01a, ptl02, unp | ||
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If possible, avoid having ads on your site. If you must have ads, clearly distinguish the sponsored content from your own. Avoid pop-up ads, unless you don’t mind annoying users and losing credibility. As for writing style, try to be clear, direct, and sincere. | chi00, chi01a, chi01b, ptl02, unp | ||
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Typographical errors and broken links hurt a site’s credibility more than most people imagine. It’s also important to keep your site up and running. |