An indirect consequence of the move from the traditional, manual, analog, paper-based world into today’s digital domain, is that the cost to obtain, collect, store, analyze and disseminate private information about virtually every aspect of individual behavior has fallen dramatically. Search Engine web sites know what we search for – and retain that data. TiVo monitors and reports every aspect of our television viewing patterns and habits. Retailers use “club cards” to track us and assemble purchasing dossiers. Automated freeway toll systems know, and record (for whatever possible future use) our use of the roadways.

In this segment Leo and I are going to discuss the implications of this growing level of pervasive surveillance to examine the security implications and what people can do to mitigate any resulting risks.

This segment is a review of the Navy League Cadet Corps John A. Hamilton #166 Web site (http://www.166johnahamilton.com/).

This site was submitted ASLt (NL) Michael Erath, commanding officing of the NLCC John A. Hamilton #166 in Calgary. He tells us that the site started its life in 2000 as a place to put photos for parents, but changed a lot since then. Most recently, he redesigned the site, and he’s looking for more ways to improve the site. Lots of good stuff is already going on: the site is well-organized and clear, text is easy to read and big enough, and there’s lots of information that parents would find useful. Of course, there is always room for improvement!
Splash page with the NLCC logo. First off, splash pages are a lost opportunity for search engine ranking, as well as being annoying for folks who have been there before. On this site, however, the splash page goes by so fast that it’s never really going to be seen well. If the point is to display the crest, why not add that element to the home page?
I know it makes sense to link to the Navy League Web site, but I would recommend NOT doing so from the first paragraph of your site – it’s a little confusing since my folks could be forgiven for thinking clicking that link is what they should do to continue on into the site. (Also, the link is broken.)
Michael specifically asked about using vertical navigation systems as opposed to horizontal ones. There are plusses and minuses on both sides of that question, but for a site with much content, vertical navigation systems are the way to go, and ones that open out as this one does are really useful for visitors. One downside, as I’m sure Michael has discovered, is that they are time-consuming to maintain because every page on the site has to be updated if you add a page one of the sections. Often you end up with what I see here – links in the navigation that don’t have page content yet. You should get those out of the navigation system, disable the link, or link them to a coming soon page rather than sending folks back to the home page. Basically, let them know the problem is you, not them.
I think there is a bit of a disconnect between the hard edges of the vertical navigation and the soft gradient being used at the top of the page. I’d like to see a little more attention paid to making the page works together as a whole, even perhaps customizing the photo album and calendar pages to match.