Why a web site?
Before returning to graduate school, I spent several years working in the web design business, mostly doing consulting for companies that needed to make their web sites easier for people to use. I've helped build a number of sites for other people, so I decided it was time to have one for myself. I also realized that it would be useful to have my work online so potential employers and collaborators could have easy access to resources that I choose to house here.
What's the "Scholar-Warrior" thing all about?
Choosing an appropriate domain name that isn't already taken, and still captures something of (at least, personal) significance is tougher work than I thought it would be! After some soul-searching, hounding of friends and colleagues for ideas, and many rejected ideas, Scholar-Warrior was born.
For a long time, I have had a fascination with a phenomenon I see recurring in a number of cultural histories – the scholar-warrior. Many cultures believed that both the body and mind were deserving of exceptional development. Working with only half of human potential is inherently imbalanced. This is why the elite warriors in many cultures were also expected to be advanced scholars – samurai, Native American warriors become elders, Viking-kings, and so on. I have adopted the personal philosophy that the path of the Scholar-Warrior is one to pursue for a lifetime. This is why I work out. This is why I study and research. This is why I chose Scholar-Warrior as my domain, both in life and online.
Why .info?
Given that my doctoral work is in Information Science, and that I am at a School of Information, it seemed appropriate and more personalized to have a .info domain.
Did you design this site?
Actually, no...I didn't...at least not the visual part. Although I'm fairly expert in usability evaluation, accessibility, information architecture, and designing site structures, as well as markup, I know my limitations. Graphic design is not one of my talents. Instead, I turned to a great friend and brilliant graphic artist/computer engineer. Steve Cotterill is one of the most gifted web designers I've ever run across (and I've worked with a lot of them.) He has generously lent his talents, and those of his company Shayc Studio to produce this site. If you have a need for web consulting, and prefer to work with someone professional, talented, and educated in computer science and human-computer interaction, I can't recommend him enough.
A note about accessibility
During my web design years, I focused heavily on web and software accessibility – making technology more available to all users, especially those with limitations. Following this philosophy, I have endeavored to make Scholar-Warrior.info conform with the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0).
Thoughts on browser compatibility
This site has been designed and built to meet very specific requirements. It is meant to be usable, accessible, functional, and beautiful. To achieve all of these goals, this site complies with the World Wide Web Consortium XHTML, CSS, and accessibility standards, and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. 794d).
Unfortunately, not every web browser complies with these standards. The following web browsers are known to display this website correctly:
You may have noticed that Internet Explorer is missing from this list. Internet Explorer 6 should display this website, but it won't display it correctly. Internet Explorer 5 is known to not work. Naturally, the latest official versions of each web browser are preferred over older versions. If you are currently using IE, please take a moment to consider the argument for switching to a better browser. Other browsers are more secure, standards compliant, and up-to-date with the latest web technologies.
