Community

The thing I like most about the Etsy community is the visual representation of it.

The website connects users to each other through their favourite sellers and items, and represents it as a a spiral of pictures (above) radiating out from the item. Users can find others in the community with similar interests, or connect to sellers with items of interest.

Web2.0

Some of the web2.0 and interactive tools utilized by Etsy include a blog, video and online tutorials, forums, and even a section similar to a magazine: “The Storque“. The Storque consists of news, spotlights on sellers, events, columns, and comments from users. Etsy makes use of these tools in functional and interesting ways, connecting users to each other and to the content.

The site describes themselves as “a community of creatives, design lovers, and trendsetters – where .org serves as the studio bulletin board gone digital – each image and caption brings you to a place worth visiting. It’s about sharing what inspires you. Bookmarks, del.icio.us, digg, blogrolls, etc. make you read, search and think. This is the PICTUREBOOK to their novel.”

The site is based entirely on posts sent by readers/community members. All posts include a short blurb/caption by the submitter, links to the original site, and allow the user to state whether they love it or loathe it. The founder of the site has a Masters in User Experience Design, so it’s not surprising that the site is so interactive. The links sometimes take you to a product site, or sometimes to another site with commentary on the item (for example: Hermit Crab Prefab).

Who wouldn’t love a site that leads you to find something awesome like this?!

Image by flickr user Catsper

Where’s the beef?

Several years ago, I made the decision to go vegetarian. The choice was not difficult, as I disliked the taste and texture of red meat and had already mostly removed beef and pork from my diet. The difficulty lay in learning to eat in an entirely new way, to get my protein from other sources, and to ensure I was getting the nutrients my body needed. When delving into a lifestyle change such as this, we often try to make minimal changes in our diet, and end up sacrificing necessary nutrients.

I made the decision to consult a nutritionist when I removed meat and poultry from my diet so that I could develop a meal plan to supplement the protein and essential nutrients I was losing. I have also been to a naturopath, one who took me off dairy (a frequent problem for sinus sufferers), in order to augment my diet with alternative health medicines. In fact, I recommend consulting an expert – be it a nutritionist, naturopath, or doctor – when embarking on any major diet changes, that way you can be sure you are getting everything you need, and in case anything goes wrong.

Thus began my trek towards wellness, a road littered with dietary changes with a promise to improve overall health. I joke that I am a yo-yo dieter, trying anything that may improve my health, but I have tried many of these diets: lacto-ovo vegetarian, lactose-free, the candida diet, among others; and I have taken all kinds of supplements to try to replace the necessary nutrients in the foods I cut out. Through my experiences, I have learned what works, what doesn’t, and what tools are needed to ensure you are maintaining proper nutrition.

Image from flickr user hoveringdog

Go Veg!

Eating vegetarian has never been so easy! There are so many options in the grocer’s freezer or on the menu. There are not only vegan and vegetarian restaurants (Fresh, Fressen), but most fast food and family restaurants offer vegetarian options or substitutes (my sister orders the Big Mac at McDonald’s without the beef patty). Vegetarian foods are no longer restricted to specialty and health food stores, tofu and other meat substitutes (Yves Veggie Bologna is one of my favourites!) are available in most grocery stores, and there are more and more meat-free frozen dinners for your convenience.

Some of my favourite meatless meals:
Yves veggie ground round, veggie hot dogs, and veggie bologna
Veggie Patch Falafel balls, meatless meatballs, and garlic portabella burgers
It’s All Good lightly seasoned veggie chick’n strips

The most important thing to remember when going vegetarian is to make sure you are getting enough protein and fat in your diet, and careful not to go overboard on carbs such as breads and pasta.

Image from flickr user tifotter

Candida Diet

I embarked on this diet in a quest to wean myself off prescription meds and rid myself of headaches. However, I ended up being allergic to some of the supplements recommended for this cleanse, and added another medication to my list in the process. This is why it’s so important to consult an expert when trying any diet plan.
The main premise of this diet is to rid your system of a harmful fungus. Removing yeast and sugar from the diet is required, as is taking supplements to speed recovery.
There are many great resources on the web to aid in this process:
http://www.candida-cure-recipes.com/index.html
Another great website that offers sugar-free versions of your favourite dessert recipes:
http://www.sweetsavvy.com/recipes/index.php

Books I find useful:

Total Renewal by Frank Lipman
The Thrive Diet by Brendan Brazier
The Yeast Connection by William G. Crook
Fresh at Home and Refresh by Ruth Tal Brown and Jennifer Houston

Drop me a line

These are just a few of my tips from my experiences. I always love to hear about how others have made changes to their diet and how they have managed. Are there diets out there any other diets out there that you have tried? Have you tried any of the diets mentioned with different results?

Vogue

Style.com is the online home of Vogue magazine. As well as providing links to features and stories in the print magazine, style.com offers many web2.0 features: forums, RSS feeds and bookmarking, videos, blogs, and widgets such as voting polls and slideshows. These features allow the user to view fresh magazine (fashion) content everyday, and to share this content with others. I have noticed links to this webpage on many fashion blogs from all over the world, proving this site to be an important resource in the fashion world, just as Vogue magazine is considered. The site functions as an interactive, audio/visual counterpart to the print magazine, allowing the editors and publishers to prove how current their magazine is by posting videos and images of up-to-the-minute fashion shows and trends. This site, being a hub of the fashion world and shared by those within it, also allows advertisers to reach their specific markets.

Craft: Magazine

The website for this magazine features: blogs, podcasts, forums, RSS feeds and bookmarking tools, and video. These kinds of social sharing tools are especially useful in the crafting community because of the nature of this market, being a close-knit group of people from all walks of life. The podcasts, forums and videos are also useful because they provide lessons and patterns for crafts for the user. These tools are useful to the editors and publishers because they allow them to reach more of their market – this magazine is also linked to many craft blogs and sites. In this case, the website might even be more popular than the print magazine, therefore the site also benefits the advertisers.

Nylon

This website features: blogs, RSS feeds, links to magazine stories, video, and a digital version of the print magazine. Nylon magazine is always showcasing new talent in music, fashion, and culture, therefore the site allows them to keep up to date. The site also links to many cultural websites and fashion shopping sites, adding to the eclectic mix of inspiration. The snippets of articles and behind-the-scenes looks at photo shoots and videos, etc. work in connection with the print magazine. The editors and publisher use the website and interactive tools as a way to create interest in the print magazine. The site also allows users to share opinions on products and stories, featuring particular products and linking to the manufacturer’s websites, which proves to be a useful tool for advertising.

Neet Magazine

In terms of online magazines, Neet magazine certainly fits the bill. The website allows users to view the magazine as they would a print mag., with page turns, front and back covers, and a table of contents. However, the website also boasts the unique features of hyperlinks to advertiser pages and links within the magazine.

I realize that many people still prefer to flip through a print magazine rather than stare at a computer screen, but I love this technology. I am an incessant ‘inter-linker’, throw me a link to another blog/webpage/product I may like, and I jump right on it (which is why I love tabbed browsing so much). I love being able to check things out on another site, peruse other items from the same store, access pages or bloggers with similar interests, all in the click of a button.

This technology makes so much sense for the particular market of Neet readers because they aim at indie fashion, crafters, and web-savvy readers. This particular group of the market is already web-ready and probably ‘inter-linking’ maniacs, much like myself, so it makes sense that the site caters to this quality in its viewers. Also, this kind of magazine reading is very beneficial to the advertisers (most of which are indie fashion, eco-friendly, homemade products), however, I will say that this feature is most useful if the advertiser has a good website- one with many products available online and eye-catching navigation.

Personally, I hope to see more magazines taking this initiative in the future, what with e-books and the like, who’s to say we won’t be viewing more magazines this way – it’s a great way to cut costs, and to save trees!

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