iMech

(Adapted from a post originally posted on Applied Mechanics News on 14 July 2006)

by Daniel C. Suo, Teng Li and Zhigang Suo

First, please check the size and dimension of your photo before you upload. The maximum size is 30kb and the maximum dimension is 85x85 pixel. Usually, your photo is much larger than this requirement.

Second, use some software to resize your photo to the required dimension, e.g. ACDsee. Then you can upload your phote in your acount and your photo will appear in every entry you put in iMechanica.

Welcome to iMechanica and see you there.

iMechanica runs on Drupal, an open-source content manage system, and is hosted on a server at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (HSEAS).

What is RSS feed?
Really Simple Syndication, better known as RSS feed, updates posts and comments on your computer. To read RSS feeds, you will need to set up a feed reader, such as Google Reader.

Sample iMechanica feeds:

• Front page, rss.xml
• All comments, crss

You can also create your own feeds of iMechanica.

Other useful feeds:

A tag is a keyword or a phrase associated with a post as a means of classification. In each post, the tags appear as a list between the title and the text of the post. If you click any tag in such a list, all posts in iMechanica with the same tag will show up. In effect, tags classify posts in iMech into channels.

When you write a post, you have the option to assign the post with one of the featured tags, which are listed in the header: research, education, mechanicians, opinions, industries, conferences, jobs, and tips.

iMechanica runs as a multiblog, and aims to be the web of mechanics and mechanicians.

A blog (short for weblog) is a web site on which an individual or a small group of individuals can post entries in a chonological order, with the most recent entry appearing on the top. Each entry has a unique URL, so that it can be linked to as an individual unit. This granularity, perhaps more than anything else, is responsible for the popularity of blogs as a means for communication.

All blogs on the Internet are collectively known as the blogshpere. Blog entries interact with one another by hyperlinks. If each blog entry were an atom, the blogsphere would be a condensed matter. Its collective behavior may as well be a subject of academic study.

Once you join iMechanica, you will have your blog. Posting a blog entry is similar as sending an email. All you need is a title and a body. You can also add images and and attach files. iMechanica provides an easy platform, so that you can focus on content rather than the technologies of server, database, PHP and XML.

iMechanica aims to use the Internet to enhance communication in the international community of Applied Mechanics.

Once you join iMechanica, you have your own blog, where you can share opinions, report recent research news, announce a conference or a job ad, or post anything of interest of Applied Mechanics community. In your posts, you can use hyperlinks, insert images, and attach files (pdf, doc, etc.).

You can also comment on other's (and even your own) posts, through which mechanicians can interact with each other.