My Blog

Playing With JavaScript

2012-02-04T16:16:00.001-08:00

So after searching the Internet, I couldn't find anything to help me fix my rollover issue. I resorted to breaking the code down and playing with it myself. By working it out myself it meant I was able to understand the code a lot more and was able to fix it. I was so happy to finally pull it off after so much work I literally jumped out of my seat. This meant I was able to stick to my original plan for my website. When Shaun said that I should give up on the idea as I only had a week to finish it, rather than making me give up, it just made me more determined to succeed which I have!

Website... A Week To Go

2012-02-03T02:58:00.001-08:00

I don't post on here nearly enough so I might as well start here. A big problem I've come across is with the navigation bar. A big idea for my website is to have a different rollover colour for each button. After searching everywhere I found out this isn't possible using lists and CSS so the solution is to use images as buttons and use JavaScript. After being told that with only a week to go that I should give up on the idea but I can't help but feel that it's quite vital to my idea as each page has a different colour theme so I decided t give myself the weekend to try and work out how to do it myself. When I got home from uni last night I found a tutorial for a JavaScript navigation bar which I followed but for a reason I can't work out doesn't work. All the comments on the tutorial suggest that it works but I feel I have copied it exactly. I'm giving myself 3 days to fix this code before I give up on the idea and resort to modifying the colour scheme to the whole website. It will be disappointing if I have to do this so fingers crossed I pull it off!

Just My Luck

2012-01-31T01:32:00.001-08:00

The first time I play football since coming to uni and this happens. A lovely sprain to make life difficult!

Think Outside The Box

2011-11-20T10:22:00.001-08:00

You are driving along in your car on a wild, stormy night, it’s raining
heavily, when suddenly you pass by a bus stop, and you see three people
waiting for a bus:
An old lady who looks as if she is about to die. An old friend who once
saved your life. The perfect partner you have been dreaming about.
Which one would you choose to offer a ride to, knowing very well that
there could only be one passenger in your car?

This is a moral/ethical dilemma that was once actually used as part of a
job application.
* You could pick up the old lady, because she is going to die, and thus
you should save her first;
* or you could take the old friend because he once saved your life, and
this would be the perfect chance to ! pay him back.
* However, you may never be able to find your perfect mate again.
The candidate who was hired (out of 200 applicants) had no trouble
coming up with his answer. Guess what was his answer?
He simply answered:
"I would give the car keys to my Old friend and let him take the lady to
the hospital. I would stay behind and wait for the bus with the partner
of my dreams."
Sometimes, we gain more if we are able to give up our stubborn thought
limitations. Never forget to "Think Outside of the Box."

Mario Balotelli - Why Always Me?

2011-11-08T08:54:00.000-08:00

Mario Balotelli is a man that never ceases to amaze me. A professional footballer who's off-field (and sometimes on-field) behaviour is so ridiculous that you can't be surprised by any of his actions. He is arrogant, cocky, inconsiderate and in some cases dangerous so why is it he is liked so much?

His opinion on of his abilities as a footballer somewhat differ to the opinion of the majority that have seen him. Numerous times he has claimed he is the best player in the world but has only ever backed that up in short bursts. He has proven his potential but never really lived up to it. To reach the level he believes he can he will significantly need to change his off-field behaviour but I (and I know many others) really do not want this to happen. It's his personality that has made his more to England such a phenomenon.

When moving to a new club, surely you want to make a good first impression. His first public statement about his move to Manchester was how much he hates the place. This was just the beginning of the obscure behaviour we were all to see. After around 2 weeks in England he crashes his Audi R8. The police were particularly keen to know why he had £5000 in his back pocket only to be baffled by his response... "Because I am rich". This not being his first meeting with the police a year earlier when he was arrested for strolling round a women's prison. He told the police that curiosity got the better of him and he "just fancied having a look". Who in there right mind would do this?

This is not even the most insane of his behaviour. Surely professional football is not the career for you when you are allergic to grass? The conditions were -6C and many suggested that he just didn't fancy playing the 2nd half in such cold conditions so claiming an allergy to grass seems the logical excuse. The video above is of him attempting to put a bib on. Words can not describe this video. There is no excuse for anyone over the age of 5 to do this.

This is the same man that was fined £100,000 for throwing darts at youth team players from the training ground window. The same man that swore in live television when asked if it was the best performance of his season. He replied with the words, "my whole season was s**t. Can I say that?". The same man that went on dates with a porn star whilst his girlfriend was away modelling.

When earning £100,000 a week, you will obviously be able to afford a nice house. And most people would look after a house that costs such a great deal, not Mario. The photograph on the right is a picture of his back garden. This garden is the envy to a lot of the population. Balotelli has a love for quad bikes and felt that this garden was the perfect place to turn into a dirt track to race round. This will make his garden really fit in with it's countryside surroundings.

Just a week earlier, the fire brigade had to call the police to restrict Mario from going back into his burning house. He claimed there was a lot of money in there that needed saving. Trying to go into a burning building is one thing but the reason it was burning is even more outragous. Balotelli and friends were setting off fireworks in his bathroom which ended badly. The only thing that leaves me more speechless than this is the fact that just days later, he was revealed to be fronting the firework safety campaign in Manchester for this year.

After all of this all you can say is that he is just a big kid and nothing suggests that more than this final story. After consultations with his cleaner, His mum had sent him to John Lewis to buy a list of supplies including an iron, a mop and a hoover. A few hours later, his car pulled up with a van behind - which promptly unloaded a giant trampoline, 2 Vespa scooters and no cleaning products what so ever.

Any football fans enjoy football for one reason, it's entertaining. It may not be for his footballing abilities, but in the English leagues, as an entertainer, there are none greater than Mario Balotelli.

My Multimedia

2011-11-08T03:23:00.000-08:00

With the recent release of the iPhone 4S, this task has prompted me to think about the development of mobile phones.

The iPhone (or any other smart phone) is now so much more than just a mobile phone. The original purpose for a mobile phone was to simply be able to have a phone conversation anywhere. At the point this was made possible, it was a huge step forward. If you ask someone now the value of being able to talk to someone anywhere in the world, it is certainly not considered a luxury as it once was. This is simply because of the development of these devices. If you are now able to speak to someone anywhere then why just stop at speaking?

The iPhone now is more of a portable computer than a phone. With the millions of applications available for it, you can use it for practically anything. Using it's camera, listening to music, watching videos, seeing where you are on a worldwide map or seeing what the weather is like in any country are all just the default applications for this device. You can now download apps to see what's happening in the news, play games, access your bank account or access your favourite social networking site. Once you step back and stop taking modern day technology for granted, you can see what an incredible device this is. Not only can these phones match what you can do on your laptop/desktop at home but in most cases it can better it!

Nowadays though, it's not all about the technology that makes these gadgets so desirable but the design. In today's world, a gadget that can do anything is not worth anything if it isn't visually appealing. What was once a huge block that weighed a ton is now a sleek, simplistic piece of art. Your mobile phone is now an accessory to who you are, this means the aesthetics have to be perfect. We live in a world where art and design is everywhere and everything. Don't get me wrong, I am grateful for this and how visually pleasing practically all technology is these days but we shouldn't let it take anything away from how incredible this technology is. With this standard of technology everywhere, it is difficult to not take it for granted. We should all once in a while take a step back and see just how advance we have become. At the same time though, it is this naivety that has let us develop this technology in the way we have. It's human nature to attempt to better anything that isn't brilliant so if we consider something that is amazing as average then this technology will keep developing at such a rapid rate for years to come.

Zero

2011-11-08T02:35:00.000-08:00

In our personal tutorial session we were discussing briefs and how this year they are quite specific in what we need to do. We were talking about how in our 2nd year, we would be given a 1 word brief and would have to create a piece of work to fit that 1 word brief. In preparation for this, we were given a small task to create a piece of work that would fit a 1 word brief. For this task our brief was 'Zero'.

This was the piece I created for that brief. When I thought of 'zero', the first thing that sprung to mind was nothing. This was a good starting point for me as it made me think of a lot of optical illusions that are very repetitive throughout the image, leaving nothing to stand out within the image especially. The image I have created is simply numerous circles decreasing in size and being positioned in a way to give a tunnel-like effect. By changing the positioning with each circle, I was able to give the impression that the tunnel was swerving of towards the bottom left hand corner. I have created an illusion here as it looks as if it is one spiral but in fact they are all separate circles.

I feel this piece of work fits the brief in various ways. There is essentially nothing in this image but black and white circles. It is simply the positioning that gives the viewer any interest in this image. By using black and white, there is no colour to draw your attention but the contrast of the two compliment each other in a way that allows this illusion to work. The focal point of this image is the smallest circle which appears to be at the end of the tunnel. This is because this spiral effect gives the feel that everything is going towards that one point. In reality though, there is no difference between the smallest circle and any of the other circles except size and positioning.

The purpose of this exercise was to see how successfully I was able to create a piece of work to a 1 word brief. I am very happy with the outcome as I feel it fits the criteria as I perceive it in a few different ways. On a side note, practising working to a 1 word brief was not the only outcome to this small project. Whilst creating this piece of work I realised the importance of size and positioning in any piece of work. As there is literally nothing in this image other than black and white circles, You can clearly see how much of an impact the size and positioning makes. If either of them are off then this illusion would simply not work.