Re: It’s here, and it’s better than ever. Team 56 2008 best website since 1997 – Chec
 

No, you probably wont go to jail, but you could be subjected to a pretty hefty lawsuit. Dont put your team through it- remove the copyrighted material. Just to let you know, not following copyright law can get you removed from judgment for the website award.

Also, that is a moot argument. Yes, im sure some people do download things from the internet, and some of that may be less-than-legal. This doesnt make it right though- our law system defines illegal as illegal and not what the population thinks (until its appealed but dont get into that). Another problem is that people who download this material have it for themselves- you are broadcasting it for the world to see and in a sense are making the creators of the material lose money. You could be sued for a lot of money by doing that.

could be


alright guys, i dont think it is in the spirit of gracious professionalism to do any more of this against him... he put a lot of work into the site, and is proud of it. he has a few flaws to fix, but its nothing to get into a flame war over.

Re: It’s here, and it’s better than ever. Team 56 2008 best website since 1997 – Chec
 

You know what, if I know how to lock this topic I would have done already because it’s sad to see how ungracious and unprofessional this topic shifted to.

I started out by saying, hey guys – well you see we worked so hard on this website and I want you guys to check it out. And all of the sudden I get these posts that are saying… omg I can’t see anything ,the graphics are killing my eyes. Where is the content? Oh no, you can’t use music, u going to get sued. There is no need for the intro, it’s bulky. And Ryo going all technical teaching us how to make a website.

I think we should stop now before it gets any worse which is not the spirit of FIRST.

If you guys wanted to help us out, you should have posted how we could improve it instead of criticizing it.

Also, I am not including all the posts because I think you guys can tell the difference.

I am ending the topic because I don't want it to be a flaming topic. -_-

Re: It’s here, and it’s better than ever. Team 56 2008 best website since 1997 – Chec
 

We gave you exactly what you asked for. Our comments were in no way in direct attacks of you, rather issues we saw that may be improved upon for this and future iterations of your website. We offered constructive criticism, and raised some potentially significant issues dealing with the legality of some of the content of your site. Many of us even said that we liked the overall theme and/or artwork of your site despite some of the issues. I'm sorry you took such offense to our comments. Constructive criticism does not violate the spirit of gracious professionalism, especially given that some of our suggestions can help you avoid legal and rules troubles.

Re: It’s here, and it’s better than ever. Team 56 2008 best website since 1997 – Chec
 

Nono, it's all right, stay for a bit. I'm going to try to make this post not be offensive, but I mgiht come off as such. So please, I don't mean harm.

As a web designer it's important to be able to take every form of criticism, both constructive, unconstructive, and turn it around to be a suggestion. And you gotta do this all without being offended or letting pride get in the way. That's really what all criticism is underneath, an angry or inefficient way to ask someone to change something. It doesn't make their underlying request invalid, it just means it's not presented well.

For example, if someone says they don't understand the point of something, you can effectively turn it around to say: how can I clarify the purpose? Notable example is the complaint about the bulky intro and it's text, which resulted in you explaining to Ryo the reason behind putting it. Rather than explain it to him, why not think of a way to make your website explain it for you? Obviously, somewhere along the line, Ryo didn't find that part of your website had a purpose, and decided to tell you (this is reasonable behaviour). If you did mean the intro to convey a purpose, then his crticism suggests you should think of ways to make your purpose clearer. Perhaps putting the treasure chest ON the map, as the ship moves towards it. It's not his job to think of ways to improve it (that's just a bonus), it's yours.

The claims of copyright infringement should also be taken in the same way. Perhaps read up a bit more on copyright to see if what people are saying about your site is right. The people who state that 'Sandstorm' is breaking copyright are simply trying to help make sure that your website doesn't get disqualified. There, sounds a bit less evil doesn't it?

Anyway, I hope I gave some insight. If I offended you anyway... well, I tried not to didn't I. We're all here to help you! Wish you best of luck in the competition.