Hey Meggles, we should have a Jurassic Park marathon sometime!
We revel in the trivial obsessions of the web.
Showing posts with label Photos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Photos. Show all posts
Friday, June 24, 2011
Velociraptor Free Workplace
ENTERTAINMENT - Has it really been 18 years since Jurassic Park came out in movie theatres? Twas 1993 when it first came out. Dinosaur nerds galore...
Hey Meggles, we should have a Jurassic Park marathon sometime!
Hey Meggles, we should have a Jurassic Park marathon sometime!
Show me your Nerd Love!
What do men / women really mean when they say they like quirky / nerdy people?
Nerds doing Homework
Imagine you are a teacher and your student brings you this. Totally deserves an A+ this year, right? Maybe. Or maybe they just used Google Translate and then wrote the symbols from that by hand. Either way, one smart cookie.
Saturday, August 07, 2010
Origins: Rakshasa and Yeti
The first report of a Yeti sighting by a Westerner was in 1832. B.H. Hodson, a British representative sent to Nepal, saw a creature that attacked his servants. The locals in Nepal called them "rakshas", meaning demons.
Rakshasas aren't described as being ape-like (unlike the modern myths which compares yeti to Bigfoot or Sasquatches), but instead describes the rakshasa as being more cat-like in its facial features. Rakshasa demons appear in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology and are usually evil and deceptive, known for their ability to hide or become invisible (or at very least blend in with their surroundings). They are also described to be shapechangers.
Another reliable report happened in 1925 when Greek photographer N.A. Tombazi was part of a British geological expedition in the Himalayas. He spotted a creature moving across some lower slopes who looked like a human being and was walking on two legs, but wasn't wearing any clothing. "It stopped occasionally to uproot or pull at some dwarf rhododendron bushes," he said. "It showed up dark against the snow and, as far as I could make out wore no clothes."
The British expedition later found 15 footprints in the snow. The Himalayas locals called it the "Kanchenjunga demon."
Two British mountaineers in 1951, Eric Shipton and Micheal Ward, also found and photographed footprints measuring between 13 and 18 inches long. Tracks in the snow however are difficult to interpret because the melting of the snow often makes tracks larger and misshapen.
In Dungeons and Dragons terms the yeti and rakshasa are very different... one being a mindless beast that ambushes people in the snow... the other is a demon-shapechanger with magic.
Neither is correct. The creature, based on N.A. Tombazi's description, is most likely a harmless herbivore.
Rakshasas aren't described as being ape-like (unlike the modern myths which compares yeti to Bigfoot or Sasquatches), but instead describes the rakshasa as being more cat-like in its facial features. Rakshasa demons appear in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology and are usually evil and deceptive, known for their ability to hide or become invisible (or at very least blend in with their surroundings). They are also described to be shapechangers.
Another reliable report happened in 1925 when Greek photographer N.A. Tombazi was part of a British geological expedition in the Himalayas. He spotted a creature moving across some lower slopes who looked like a human being and was walking on two legs, but wasn't wearing any clothing. "It stopped occasionally to uproot or pull at some dwarf rhododendron bushes," he said. "It showed up dark against the snow and, as far as I could make out wore no clothes."
The British expedition later found 15 footprints in the snow. The Himalayas locals called it the "Kanchenjunga demon."
Two British mountaineers in 1951, Eric Shipton and Micheal Ward, also found and photographed footprints measuring between 13 and 18 inches long. Tracks in the snow however are difficult to interpret because the melting of the snow often makes tracks larger and misshapen.
In Dungeons and Dragons terms the yeti and rakshasa are very different... one being a mindless beast that ambushes people in the snow... the other is a demon-shapechanger with magic.
Neither is correct. The creature, based on N.A. Tombazi's description, is most likely a harmless herbivore.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Photoshopped Fantasy Books = Funny
ENTERTAINMENT - I found these rather funny photoshopped fantasy books on a website. Hilarious! I especially like the Farting Sluggoth.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Heroes, Serenity and stuff
Alrighty www.dvdactive.com has provided us with a bunch of new news.
First off keeping with the theme of the earlier post, Heroes Season 1 is coming to dvd August 28.
Universal Home Video has sent over very early details on the first season of Heroes which stars Hayden Panettiere. This Tim Kring created series will be available to own from the 28th August, and should retail at around $59.98. The seven-disc package will include all 23 episodes - presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen, along with English Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Extras will include audio commentaries, the original un-aired pilot episode with optional commentary, deleted scenes, a making of featurette, a special effects featurette, and a stunts featurette. A HD DVD release will also be available for $99.98. This will include all of the above, along with additional material (PIP video commentaries, a Genetic Abilities test, and more). We've attached some sales artwork below - the retail artwork may differ slightly.
The specs for that Serenity dvd are now out and it's pretty much the Region 4 set.
And finnally my favorite movie of the year so far 300 is coming out in single and double disc sets July 31.
Warner has announced single ($28.98) and double-disc ($34.99) editions of 300 which stars Gerard Butler, David Wenham, and Dominic West. The film will be presented in 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen, along with an English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround track. The only extra material on the single-disc wil be an audio commentary with director Zack Snyder, Writer Kurt Johnstad and Director of Photography Larry Fong. The two-disc collector's edition will include that, along with deleted scenes with a director's intro, a The 300- Fact or Fiction? featurette, a Who Were The Spartans: The Warriors of 300 featurette, a Frank Miller Tapes featurette, webisodes that go behind the scenes on the set of 300, and a photo gallery. HD DVD/DVD Combo and Blu-ray releases will be available seperately for $39.99 and $34.99 respectively
And now a fake 300/Halo 3 trailer
First off keeping with the theme of the earlier post, Heroes Season 1 is coming to dvd August 28.
Universal Home Video has sent over very early details on the first season of Heroes which stars Hayden Panettiere. This Tim Kring created series will be available to own from the 28th August, and should retail at around $59.98. The seven-disc package will include all 23 episodes - presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen, along with English Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Extras will include audio commentaries, the original un-aired pilot episode with optional commentary, deleted scenes, a making of featurette, a special effects featurette, and a stunts featurette. A HD DVD release will also be available for $99.98. This will include all of the above, along with additional material (PIP video commentaries, a Genetic Abilities test, and more). We've attached some sales artwork below - the retail artwork may differ slightly.
The specs for that Serenity dvd are now out and it's pretty much the Region 4 set.
And finnally my favorite movie of the year so far 300 is coming out in single and double disc sets July 31.
Warner has announced single ($28.98) and double-disc ($34.99) editions of 300 which stars Gerard Butler, David Wenham, and Dominic West. The film will be presented in 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen, along with an English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround track. The only extra material on the single-disc wil be an audio commentary with director Zack Snyder, Writer Kurt Johnstad and Director of Photography Larry Fong. The two-disc collector's edition will include that, along with deleted scenes with a director's intro, a The 300- Fact or Fiction? featurette, a Who Were The Spartans: The Warriors of 300 featurette, a Frank Miller Tapes featurette, webisodes that go behind the scenes on the set of 300, and a photo gallery. HD DVD/DVD Combo and Blu-ray releases will be available seperately for $39.99 and $34.99 respectively
And now a fake 300/Halo 3 trailer
Monday, May 14, 2007
Alan Moore got married
Comic book legend Alan Moore married his long time companion Melinda Gibbie over the weekend.
Other comic book legend, Neil Gaiman was kind enough to take photos.
While I know this sounds like somewhat boring geek news, Alan Moore had the best wedding suit ever.
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Webcam Box Experiment, Revisited
This is a reprint of a reply I made to some comments:
My logic at the time was that I could keep the same code in the siderail, but replace the picture by renaming a different picture each time to the filename in the code. I've heard of doing this before. UNFORTUNATELY, the way I remote-linked in my little 'test' wouldn't work for that, because of the way Flickr stores their photos. If I had an FTP link to something, I suppose that would be a different story, but right now I haven't figured out how to do it with Flickr.
I had also considered stealing the code from my Yahoo webcam page, but I couldn't figure out how to do that, either.
Ah well, it's a learning process, right? I'm just messin' around.
My logic at the time was that I could keep the same code in the siderail, but replace the picture by renaming a different picture each time to the filename in the code. I've heard of doing this before. UNFORTUNATELY, the way I remote-linked in my little 'test' wouldn't work for that, because of the way Flickr stores their photos. If I had an FTP link to something, I suppose that would be a different story, but right now I haven't figured out how to do it with Flickr.
I had also considered stealing the code from my Yahoo webcam page, but I couldn't figure out how to do that, either.
Ah well, it's a learning process, right? I'm just messin' around.
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Recommendations for Riverdaleshare.com
Five things to add:
- a history page
- a mission statement page (almost like what they have already), but not quite
- photo gallery
- a counter (one that counts unique users)
- a guestbook or a small forum, to get feedback
Five things to get rid of, or change:
- anchors- try to use them as little as possible, if at all
- don't need to have the date/time of the event on every page
- put names IN the stars on the performers page
- linked sponsors should have clickable logos
- Main page- put the title and info BELOW the navigation bar
Sunday, January 09, 2005
I think I'm supposed to blog this, but I'm not sure...
Christmas, 1982
By Megan Swaine
(Imagine a photograph of a little girl, no more than two years old, in a yellow one-piece pajama sprawled in a doll’s cradle in front of a Christmas tree, a big grin on her face)
Hard times. Two words that my parents know the meaning of, in many ways. They both grew up in families that were by no means well-off: my father grew up on a Nova Scotia fishing town whose industry was diminishing year by year, and my mother grew up in a small, rural area known as Upper Musquodoboit, (which is almost in the exact geographic center of Nova Scotia), with 11 other siblings.
My mother has worked various jobs, and my father is a sheet-metal worker by trade. His trade is a sketchy one- sometimes the work is more plentiful in the summer, when new buildings are being built, or in the fall when people need heat. His work has often suffered from the same booms and periods of stagnation as construction, and as such I have seen him laid off many times.
One of these times was when I was only a year old. My parents hit harder times than usual; my father couldn’t find more work, so they decided to live with my mother’s parents for while.
Obviously I don’t remember much, given my age, but when Christmas came, it was tough. My mother’s only consolation was that we were in the house she had grown up in, and hence she had the luxury of pillaging the attic for relic toys.
One of these was an old doll cradle and a doll. The doll wasn’t much- soft body with a plastic head, and blonde hair that stuck out in every direction (my mother nicknamed her “Phyllis” because she looked like Phyllis Diller), but the cradle was in good shape.
So my father painted it up and gave it to me for Christmas- and lo and behold, like I hadn’t outgrown my infant years, and tried to sit in it. I broke the bottom out of it, of course (a cradle that had survived possibly 30 years up until this moment) and my father had to mend it again later. I cannot remember how many times I broke the bottom of that cradle, only that eventually my mother cleverly threaded it tightly with yarn instead, so that only the dolls could lay in it.
The point, of course, is not that I broke the cradle (although I’m sure that can have some sort of weird metaphorical meaning), the point is that this is a photo of a happy child. I don’t remember much about that year, or that Christmas, so I can’t vouch for how ‘hard’ that time was on me, but I do have a photograph to verify the fact that I was enjoying myself. I loved that cradle, and I did like the doll, THAT I can remember.
Both of my parents grew up poor, but neither of them really felt it- at least not the way some families do. My mother can remember homeless neighbours that used to camp on her family’s property, and hence she cannot recall as a child ever feeling ‘poor’, because she realized that she had more than they did. She had a house, she had food, and she had a family to love, and a mother that could make-due.
Consequently, even at points when my parents had practically nothing- and looking back now, I know there were a couple of times they were in real financial trouble- they always had something to give. It was never empty under the Christmas tree, even if the gifts came from the local dime store, and there was always food on the table, and heat in the house. I never felt as though my childhood was lacking. And most importantly- they have made family togetherness essential, which is the greatest thing they have brought out of their childhood and into mine.
This is a picture of a happy child.
By Megan Swaine
(Imagine a photograph of a little girl, no more than two years old, in a yellow one-piece pajama sprawled in a doll’s cradle in front of a Christmas tree, a big grin on her face)
Hard times. Two words that my parents know the meaning of, in many ways. They both grew up in families that were by no means well-off: my father grew up on a Nova Scotia fishing town whose industry was diminishing year by year, and my mother grew up in a small, rural area known as Upper Musquodoboit, (which is almost in the exact geographic center of Nova Scotia), with 11 other siblings.
My mother has worked various jobs, and my father is a sheet-metal worker by trade. His trade is a sketchy one- sometimes the work is more plentiful in the summer, when new buildings are being built, or in the fall when people need heat. His work has often suffered from the same booms and periods of stagnation as construction, and as such I have seen him laid off many times.
One of these times was when I was only a year old. My parents hit harder times than usual; my father couldn’t find more work, so they decided to live with my mother’s parents for while.
Obviously I don’t remember much, given my age, but when Christmas came, it was tough. My mother’s only consolation was that we were in the house she had grown up in, and hence she had the luxury of pillaging the attic for relic toys.
One of these was an old doll cradle and a doll. The doll wasn’t much- soft body with a plastic head, and blonde hair that stuck out in every direction (my mother nicknamed her “Phyllis” because she looked like Phyllis Diller), but the cradle was in good shape.
So my father painted it up and gave it to me for Christmas- and lo and behold, like I hadn’t outgrown my infant years, and tried to sit in it. I broke the bottom out of it, of course (a cradle that had survived possibly 30 years up until this moment) and my father had to mend it again later. I cannot remember how many times I broke the bottom of that cradle, only that eventually my mother cleverly threaded it tightly with yarn instead, so that only the dolls could lay in it.
The point, of course, is not that I broke the cradle (although I’m sure that can have some sort of weird metaphorical meaning), the point is that this is a photo of a happy child. I don’t remember much about that year, or that Christmas, so I can’t vouch for how ‘hard’ that time was on me, but I do have a photograph to verify the fact that I was enjoying myself. I loved that cradle, and I did like the doll, THAT I can remember.
Both of my parents grew up poor, but neither of them really felt it- at least not the way some families do. My mother can remember homeless neighbours that used to camp on her family’s property, and hence she cannot recall as a child ever feeling ‘poor’, because she realized that she had more than they did. She had a house, she had food, and she had a family to love, and a mother that could make-due.
Consequently, even at points when my parents had practically nothing- and looking back now, I know there were a couple of times they were in real financial trouble- they always had something to give. It was never empty under the Christmas tree, even if the gifts came from the local dime store, and there was always food on the table, and heat in the house. I never felt as though my childhood was lacking. And most importantly- they have made family togetherness essential, which is the greatest thing they have brought out of their childhood and into mine.
This is a picture of a happy child.
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Warning: This story is completely true
I don't ALWAYS write about death, this is a complete coincidence of what this photo reminded me of. Sometimes the truth is just as heartbreaking as fiction. I apologize for the length.
-----------------------------------------------------
Northumberland Forest - Ganaraska Conservation Authority
A couple of kilometers on Hwy 45, out of Baltimore, the second and third growth forest of Ganaraska flash by monotonously- row after row after row of trees. Until there is a sudden break in the tree line and a large driveway appears, with a sign- "Ganaraska Scout Camp". For an instant in the car you might catch a glimpse of an immense and well-preserved open area of small rolling hills, with a few buildings decorating the landscape, and a giant tower in the distance.
The Scout Camp is actually a small, renovated ski-resort, in which the chalet and the bunk house were kept. A flag pole sits in the centre of the main field, with a campfire pit about thirty feet behind it. There's also a dining shelter off to the far side.
The geography of this place is more or less etched in my memory (with some distortions, of course) as a place I have been to many, many times. My father was a Scout leader with Quinte region, along with several other individuals who had a passion for making scouting the best it could be.
Unlike some other scout camps, this one was incredibly useful for winter camping. For the Beavers and Cubs, the small hills provided great sledding opportunities, and the well-worn trails of Ganaraska forest were good even in winter for the Scouts and Ventures to hike through, and in a few small sites, camp in.
The steepest of these hills, the one with the tower on it, was blocked off. Ever since I can remember, we would eye the scraggly wooden fence at the bottom, contemplating how we could climb over it with relative ease. From there our eyes would trace the eroded groove up its centre, littered with broken branches and harsh stones, to the abandoned tower at the top. This hill was a lot less than a 45 degree angle, and very, very scary.
When co-ed scouting was finally started in our area, my father and any other leaders who had daughters immediately rejoiced. Because of this, I attended Scouts with two other girls I had grown up with in the scouting community who had leaders for parents- Debbie and Lindsay.
Debbie's father ended up being the main leader and the hiking professional for our camps (my father has always had bad knees and would often stay behind at the chalet to do other things).
One memorable year, for an indoor winter camp (meaning we stayed in the chalet- all other activities were outside) we went on the longest hike we had ever taken. Debbie and Lindsay and I were nearing the end of our scouting experience, and would shortly be coming up for our Chief Scout Award.
We wound up and up and up the highest trails. Huffing and puffing, but keeping up a steady flow of conversation. The boys chattered behind us as we laughed and giggled, dragging our sleds (Debbie's father had insisted we bring them) behind us. When we finally reached the top, we had a breathtaking view of the whole county. Every peak and valley laid out before us, it was a moment of pure poetry. We made our way back from slightly the other side, ending up on the hill with the tower.
It was less impressive looking close-up; the bottom of it being a tangle of old metal and things that had been ripped out. There were great cement slabs that remained, warmed by the sun. We all lay down on them and looked up- up through the trees, in a different direction this time. Baking in our winter parkas, and speaking softly about philosophy we wouldn't fully understand until we were older.
As we finally rose and turned to leave, Scouter Dave finally told us what he meant to do. He pointed to the snowy trail we had come from- worn by our own feet. It wound down into the forest.
"Wanna sled?"
I think Debbie and Lindsay, who were on one sled, dived into the snowdrifts at least five times. Those who were able to negotiate the turns remarked that it was like bobsledding through the forest. Me, I only crashed once, but I cannot begin to describe the exhilaration of the winter wind whipping past my face and the delighted laughter of my comrades further down the trail.
This story is probably a conflated version of more than one event that happened to the three of us- or perhaps it is on the nose. I would need collaboration for that.
In any case, Debbie and I have never had much common in personality, but have many wonderful memories on which to feed. This memory is one of our favourites, perhaps because of its simplicity and complexity at the same time.
In the year of 2000, Lindsay was diagnosed with bone cancer and had to have her leg amputated. She had, in fact, been beating the odds associated with her disease, but unfortunately a blood clot formed by the operation went to her heart, and we never had the chance to find out.
There is no telling what sort of events will affect us for the rest of our lives, or what memories we'll recall from the other side of those events, like the reflection in the water of a river.
-----------------------------------------------------
Northumberland Forest - Ganaraska Conservation Authority
A couple of kilometers on Hwy 45, out of Baltimore, the second and third growth forest of Ganaraska flash by monotonously- row after row after row of trees. Until there is a sudden break in the tree line and a large driveway appears, with a sign- "Ganaraska Scout Camp". For an instant in the car you might catch a glimpse of an immense and well-preserved open area of small rolling hills, with a few buildings decorating the landscape, and a giant tower in the distance.
The Scout Camp is actually a small, renovated ski-resort, in which the chalet and the bunk house were kept. A flag pole sits in the centre of the main field, with a campfire pit about thirty feet behind it. There's also a dining shelter off to the far side.
The geography of this place is more or less etched in my memory (with some distortions, of course) as a place I have been to many, many times. My father was a Scout leader with Quinte region, along with several other individuals who had a passion for making scouting the best it could be.
Unlike some other scout camps, this one was incredibly useful for winter camping. For the Beavers and Cubs, the small hills provided great sledding opportunities, and the well-worn trails of Ganaraska forest were good even in winter for the Scouts and Ventures to hike through, and in a few small sites, camp in.
The steepest of these hills, the one with the tower on it, was blocked off. Ever since I can remember, we would eye the scraggly wooden fence at the bottom, contemplating how we could climb over it with relative ease. From there our eyes would trace the eroded groove up its centre, littered with broken branches and harsh stones, to the abandoned tower at the top. This hill was a lot less than a 45 degree angle, and very, very scary.
When co-ed scouting was finally started in our area, my father and any other leaders who had daughters immediately rejoiced. Because of this, I attended Scouts with two other girls I had grown up with in the scouting community who had leaders for parents- Debbie and Lindsay.
Debbie's father ended up being the main leader and the hiking professional for our camps (my father has always had bad knees and would often stay behind at the chalet to do other things).
One memorable year, for an indoor winter camp (meaning we stayed in the chalet- all other activities were outside) we went on the longest hike we had ever taken. Debbie and Lindsay and I were nearing the end of our scouting experience, and would shortly be coming up for our Chief Scout Award.
We wound up and up and up the highest trails. Huffing and puffing, but keeping up a steady flow of conversation. The boys chattered behind us as we laughed and giggled, dragging our sleds (Debbie's father had insisted we bring them) behind us. When we finally reached the top, we had a breathtaking view of the whole county. Every peak and valley laid out before us, it was a moment of pure poetry. We made our way back from slightly the other side, ending up on the hill with the tower.
It was less impressive looking close-up; the bottom of it being a tangle of old metal and things that had been ripped out. There were great cement slabs that remained, warmed by the sun. We all lay down on them and looked up- up through the trees, in a different direction this time. Baking in our winter parkas, and speaking softly about philosophy we wouldn't fully understand until we were older.
As we finally rose and turned to leave, Scouter Dave finally told us what he meant to do. He pointed to the snowy trail we had come from- worn by our own feet. It wound down into the forest.
"Wanna sled?"
I think Debbie and Lindsay, who were on one sled, dived into the snowdrifts at least five times. Those who were able to negotiate the turns remarked that it was like bobsledding through the forest. Me, I only crashed once, but I cannot begin to describe the exhilaration of the winter wind whipping past my face and the delighted laughter of my comrades further down the trail.
This story is probably a conflated version of more than one event that happened to the three of us- or perhaps it is on the nose. I would need collaboration for that.
In any case, Debbie and I have never had much common in personality, but have many wonderful memories on which to feed. This memory is one of our favourites, perhaps because of its simplicity and complexity at the same time.
In the year of 2000, Lindsay was diagnosed with bone cancer and had to have her leg amputated. She had, in fact, been beating the odds associated with her disease, but unfortunately a blood clot formed by the operation went to her heart, and we never had the chance to find out.
There is no telling what sort of events will affect us for the rest of our lives, or what memories we'll recall from the other side of those events, like the reflection in the water of a river.
Monday, November 22, 2004
Warning: The following story is completely fictional
Every year since as a far back as I can remember, my folks and I would hop in the car on the first day of August and make the nine hour drive to New Brunswick to visit my grandparents. Both of my parents grew up there- my mother in Freddericton, my father in St. Andrews, but they met in Ontario and got married. And ever since then, they've made the effort to return to the east coast every year.
Freddericton is a place of quaint, turn-of-the-century houses and many sloping streets, making pedestrian travel a bother. Despite this fact, being that we were from Southern Ontario, we would stubbornly huff and puff our way up and down the neighbourhoods, seeing what there was to see.
One year, we passed by a small gift shop up at the far end of High street. I was intrigued by the sign, which I had seen several times throughout our travels (it was in fact, part of an arts & crafts initiative on the part of the New Brunswick government) and carefully crossed the street to the other side.
My mother, on the other hand, had seen something in the middle of the road.
It must have been a piece of someone's craft, gone astray. Something with a red bow. In any case, when she stooped to pick it up, the trucker coming up the hill chose that moment to glance in my direction on the sidewalk. I was too busy taking the photo to notice what was happening.
Her bag landed in front of me mere seconds after.
Monday, November 01, 2004
Fotorgrafs
I tried Angelfire's new 'gallery' feature. It's....well, it's a start. Actually, it kind of blows. I don't need an automated interface to make a basic gallery page with a bunch of thumbnails on it. The currently viewed picture would be in larger size, but every time I clicked on another thumbnail, the page would reload. I HATE photo galleries like that. To think of the hours I spent trying to get my javascript album to work, such that the user can flip through pictures easily with minimal load time of the pictures and NO load time for the page....jeez. I never dressed it up, but I think I like that one better.
My pictures-with-a-story gallery, on the other hand, is easy as...well, you know. Basic HTML skills and a blog. The logistics of my site idea will DEFINETELY not follow in Angelfire's footsteps.
Speaking of which, I'm just STARTING to get my head around some of this stuff. I really don't know much about marketing, and delegating has a lot to do with the technical stuff, and of the technical stuff I have only the most basic of knowledge. I guess I don't have to reinvent the wheel, but.... well, I've never really done something like this before. I am businessly-challenged. Profit? What's that? I'm a moron. ;)
My pictures-with-a-story gallery, on the other hand, is easy as...well, you know. Basic HTML skills and a blog. The logistics of my site idea will DEFINETELY not follow in Angelfire's footsteps.
Speaking of which, I'm just STARTING to get my head around some of this stuff. I really don't know much about marketing, and delegating has a lot to do with the technical stuff, and of the technical stuff I have only the most basic of knowledge. I guess I don't have to reinvent the wheel, but.... well, I've never really done something like this before. I am businessly-challenged. Profit? What's that? I'm a moron. ;)
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Class Site Proposal
Class Site Proposal
Worth a Thousand Words (working title only)
By Megan Swaine
Everyone has one sitting on their mantle- some of them are self-explanatory, but some of them are not. Some of them have a story that only the person who owns it can tell. But through sheer ties of emotion, the impact of a photo can be so much more.
So what if, everyone could share those stories? They can encourage each other to more closely reconsider the moment in time which a photograph captures.
I propose a site where anyone and everyone can share their favourite photograph and the story behind it. They can explain why a specific photo is unique, or what makes it particularly special to them. The emphasis of this site will be the stories- we can’t stop people from spinning yarns, but in the tradition of storytelling, if the story is good, it won’t matter. In many cases though, truth is stranger than fiction, so people need not invent to have a good story to go with a picture.
Audience
My target market is mature, serious individuals that have a story to tell with a picture. There will be a section for more humourous or crudely-minded individuals, but generally the reading level doesn't matter so long as the story is told in the best way the storyteller can. It’ll be the sort of site that people can just browse into to look at, or register and start uploading pictures themselves. Users can register to the site, create an account, and log on every time they want to upload photos and stories. I would like to see a comments feature and a rating option for each photo, so we can keep track of the most popular pictures. I would also like to have web forums that can discuss various aspects of the site or photos that they’ve seen on the site or anywhere else, for that matter. The audience of this site is defined by a common interest in stories.
Content
This site is about pictures (photos) that have a story behind them, or relating to them. Therefore, the bulk of the content will be photos with accompanied text. The newest ones will be linked on the main page, with ratings and any warnings about sensitive content. The rest of the photos will be stored in the 'archive', to be organized by date, category or rank (these options will probably be in small drop-down menus at the top of the page). There will also be unique sections – Fiction, 18+, etc. that will be organized in the same way. It will all be displayed as regular text and images using HTML, with a little bit of javascript where necessary, and whatever coding is required to do uploading, posting comments, etc.
Layout
The site will be organized with a standard top nav interface, and some very subdued colours like browns and beiges. I want to give the look and feel of a classic photo album, but in a way that is still very casual. The user will navigate the site in a standard way via mouse on the top-nav menu, which will link to the main sections of the site. Hopefully there will be background graphics that reflect the theme, but will be passive enough to not make the site look 'tacky'. For instance, maybe if the background was parchment texture, and the pictures had little photo corners.
Architecture
The main sections of the site will be, the main page, the archive (which will be divided into three parts), the members section, the message board, and a contact page for the administrators.
The main page will have the top nav, 'photo of the month', newest pics and a small 'updates' sidebar on the right. All photos will have a maximum size allowance, and will automatically be placed on the left in the centre space of the page, with the corresponding text (maximum of 1000 words) on the right. The archive page will have the top nav, as well as an additional menu to navigate through the different photo sections. All of them will have a small drop-down menu to organize the photos by date, rank or name. Since the site is not hugely complex, it would be most convenient for the user to be able to access a large percentage of the site from any given page.
All of the members' profiles will also allow users to see a list of all photos a specific person has posted.
The site will be made using HTML, and javascript or whatever is necessary for uploading pictures, posting comments, etc.
Maintenance
The site will be kept live by users constantly adding new stories/pictures which will appear on the main page. There will be necessary moderation of the message boards, as well as troubleshooting any 'bugs' that there might be in the website (there will likely be a section on the message board pertaining to this), as well as taking suggestions. The site will exist as long as people keep posting, and if that stops then it will hold no purpose. Topics will probably remain more or less constant, but will only change with historic context.
Marketing
A good marketing strategy for this sort of site would be to find a prominent ('branded') camera or photo-related company to link to. This would vastly increase the options available for advertising. We could also do simple/basic advertising like posters and word-of-mouth. Similar types of sites are photo-logs (kind of like a blog and a photo album combined) like fotopages.com. These are often used by people who travel, and want to exhibit pictures they've taken, or people that just generally want pictures to go with their text in a journal (or want more pictures than text). Another similar site is foundmagazine.com, which is a site/magazine focusing on found items like photos or notes that are interesting or could have a story behind them. It uses random items and turns them into art. This proposed site would differ from the photo-logs mainly by focusing on the story aspect, and the idea of it being a comprehensive photo-album, rather than a journal. It would also differ drastically from foundmagazine.com for the reason that it is not strictly art based. Tie-ins would be possible for either one of these, but mostly as a linked site with similar subject matter. Again, finding a large, photo-based, but specifically family-oriented company would also be useful in promoting their online presence.
Roles
To build this site, somebody with general experience in HTML can do most of the coding , but someone with more complex know-how will have to design (or employ) the code for registration, image/story submission, the message board, and the ratings system.
Someone would have to design the visuals- background images, colour co-ordination, etc.. There will also have to be people to handle Moderating, troubleshooting, money (for bandwidth and webspace and such) and marketing. For marketing someone will have to design flyers and find a photo company that might like our idea.
Example
This whole idea sprouted from the redesign of my personal photo gallery at: http://phinuxfoto.blogspot.com/
Saturday, October 16, 2004
Photo Gallery
I created a 'gallery blog' lastnight- it's basically all of my favourite pictures that have some sort of story behind them. I just think that looking at pictures is one thing...but it's way more interesting to understand the moment in time that the picture captures.
Michelle's considering doing one as well, and we've sort of come to a draw concerning pictures that we both own (especially pictures that have both of us in them)- we'll do our own individual interpretations of the pictures. It could be dangerous, but in any case it should be telling. I'll stay away from pictures that have stories that are uniquely hers.
I'm so friggin' TIRED. I had the world's worst case of insomnia lastnight. It's stupid, because I was pretty sleepy, too. Stress? Maybe. But usually it has to be pretty bad to keep me awake. Must be one of those lunar position things or something. My horoscope this morning said that Mercury was moving into Scorpio...whatever the hell that means. In any case, Phil couldn't sleep either, but that's really nothing new. *yawn* I'll just try to do my film readings. That should put me right out.
Just kidding!
Michelle's considering doing one as well, and we've sort of come to a draw concerning pictures that we both own (especially pictures that have both of us in them)- we'll do our own individual interpretations of the pictures. It could be dangerous, but in any case it should be telling. I'll stay away from pictures that have stories that are uniquely hers.
I'm so friggin' TIRED. I had the world's worst case of insomnia lastnight. It's stupid, because I was pretty sleepy, too. Stress? Maybe. But usually it has to be pretty bad to keep me awake. Must be one of those lunar position things or something. My horoscope this morning said that Mercury was moving into Scorpio...whatever the hell that means. In any case, Phil couldn't sleep either, but that's really nothing new. *yawn* I'll just try to do my film readings. That should put me right out.
Just kidding!
Monday, October 04, 2004
I haven't posted in over a week...
That's funny, I seem to remember posting since then, ah well. I suppose I'm getting things confused.
I added the little mario icon last week, so that's good. I'm going to mess with the sidebar next, since I've noticed that the sidebar graphics mess up sometimes, possibly because of screen resolution or because I added a photo to my blog. I'll see if I can make it a bit simpler.
Finished my article for saturday...it was about the Sam 'n Max cancelation. It should have been better. Note to self: No more leaving it that long. I know that's probably a futile gesture, but I did pretty good in only the space of 24 hours, imagine what I could have done with more time. I even learned some interesting things: a few of the former LucasArts employees that got laid off have started their own adventure game company and they're going to be posting jobs soon. I don't really feel like moving to California, but a girl can dream.... One of the head guys said in an interview that they were looking for good storytellers. *gush* It's unlikely I would ever work at such a place, but I'll do everything I can to get as close as possible.
One more week 'til thanksgiving! I can't wait. Haven't seen my parents in a dog's age.
Toodles
I added the little mario icon last week, so that's good. I'm going to mess with the sidebar next, since I've noticed that the sidebar graphics mess up sometimes, possibly because of screen resolution or because I added a photo to my blog. I'll see if I can make it a bit simpler.
Finished my article for saturday...it was about the Sam 'n Max cancelation. It should have been better. Note to self: No more leaving it that long. I know that's probably a futile gesture, but I did pretty good in only the space of 24 hours, imagine what I could have done with more time. I even learned some interesting things: a few of the former LucasArts employees that got laid off have started their own adventure game company and they're going to be posting jobs soon. I don't really feel like moving to California, but a girl can dream.... One of the head guys said in an interview that they were looking for good storytellers. *gush* It's unlikely I would ever work at such a place, but I'll do everything I can to get as close as possible.
One more week 'til thanksgiving! I can't wait. Haven't seen my parents in a dog's age.
Toodles
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