Just the Index page (Funnily enough the most important one)
If you want a CV, links to my portfolio use the new message box in the sidebar and I'll get back to you ASAP.
xHTML & CSS with Kieran Bowler
Kieran came in to teach us as much CSS and xHTML as possible. So I've done a bit of CSS and xHTML before, but it was really good to have someone who works for a company (or corporation) who does it everyday.
It was a great lesson in best practice, cross browser and tips and tricks. I've already done lots of xHTML and CSS but it was still very informative and I learnt a great deal in a very short space of time.
Now I have so much work to do that I have to crack on.
It was a great lesson in best practice, cross browser and tips and tricks. I've already done lots of xHTML and CSS but it was still very informative and I learnt a great deal in a very short space of time.
Now I have so much work to do that I have to crack on.
This weeks Twitter links
All the links I've posted to Twitter this week in one place.
Ten things Google has found to be true (from Google.com)
Googles philosophy in 10 easy steps. Very informative, a good read for everyone.
Adobe Flash bringing more widgets to TVs (from Crave.cnet.co.uk)
News of Adobes announcement that they plan to bring widgets to TVs, set top boxes and just about anything else you hook up to your TV. Personally, I'm not sold. For me it's all about the second screen. Let my TV display video content. If I want to find out the time, weather, sports scores then I have a laptop, phone, ipod touch. My one hope is that Android has been touted to be the OS of choice for set top box makers, hopefully we'll get flash on Android before too long.
Widget Squidget (from iptvtimes.blogspot.com)
Iolo Jones (of Brightcove & Vid Zapper fame) agrees with me on the widgets.
Dog Malfunction (from todaysbigthing.com)
Broken dog, bit of a frivolous link but it made me laugh.
Tim Berners-Lee on Web 3.0 (from bbc.co.uk)
Very insightful look into how he sees the next iteration of web services working. Terms of Service on social networking and media sites has long been a contentious issue, if I upload my photos and videos then who owns it? Why do I have to upload to lots of different sites 1 by 1?. Sir Tim's ideas on "Silos" sounds fantastic to me. If it will happen or not is another story.
Pirate Bay lawyer calls for a retail (from thelocal.se)
Tomas Norström, the judge who sentenced the Pirate Bay 4 to 1 year in prison and a huge fine seems to have a slight conflict of interest. Ok, by slight I mean massive. He's a member of the same copyright protection organisations as several of the main entertainment industry representatives in the case. He say's there is no conflict of interest, I don't know why, maybe he is retarded.
Pirate Bay Judge Exposed as Member of Pro-Copyright Groups (from Wired.com)
Same story, this time from Wired.
Modern History (from joshpoehlein.com)
Josh Poehlein makes collages from screen grabs of Youtube videos depicting modern historical events. Good idea, I can't seem to get the high resolution versions to work though.
Playing For Change | Song Around The World "Stand By Me" (from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.com)
It may be 4 months old, I missed it until today. Great idea, made me smile. I love it! I'm going to show everyone I see this weekend.
Playing For Change | Song Around The World "Stand By Me" from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.
Ten things Google has found to be true (from Google.com)
Googles philosophy in 10 easy steps. Very informative, a good read for everyone.
Adobe Flash bringing more widgets to TVs (from Crave.cnet.co.uk)
News of Adobes announcement that they plan to bring widgets to TVs, set top boxes and just about anything else you hook up to your TV. Personally, I'm not sold. For me it's all about the second screen. Let my TV display video content. If I want to find out the time, weather, sports scores then I have a laptop, phone, ipod touch. My one hope is that Android has been touted to be the OS of choice for set top box makers, hopefully we'll get flash on Android before too long.
Widget Squidget (from iptvtimes.blogspot.com)
Iolo Jones (of Brightcove & Vid Zapper fame) agrees with me on the widgets.
Dog Malfunction (from todaysbigthing.com)
Broken dog, bit of a frivolous link but it made me laugh.
Tim Berners-Lee on Web 3.0 (from bbc.co.uk)
Very insightful look into how he sees the next iteration of web services working. Terms of Service on social networking and media sites has long been a contentious issue, if I upload my photos and videos then who owns it? Why do I have to upload to lots of different sites 1 by 1?. Sir Tim's ideas on "Silos" sounds fantastic to me. If it will happen or not is another story.
Pirate Bay lawyer calls for a retail (from thelocal.se)
Tomas Norström, the judge who sentenced the Pirate Bay 4 to 1 year in prison and a huge fine seems to have a slight conflict of interest. Ok, by slight I mean massive. He's a member of the same copyright protection organisations as several of the main entertainment industry representatives in the case. He say's there is no conflict of interest, I don't know why, maybe he is retarded.
Pirate Bay Judge Exposed as Member of Pro-Copyright Groups (from Wired.com)
Same story, this time from Wired.
Modern History (from joshpoehlein.com)
Josh Poehlein makes collages from screen grabs of Youtube videos depicting modern historical events. Good idea, I can't seem to get the high resolution versions to work though.
Playing For Change | Song Around The World "Stand By Me" (from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.com)
It may be 4 months old, I missed it until today. Great idea, made me smile. I love it! I'm going to show everyone I see this weekend.
Playing For Change | Song Around The World "Stand By Me" from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.
Pecha Kucha
I did a Pecha Kucha presentation on Douglas Engelbart. Figured I'd share it with you. It's a bit sucky without me talking over it but those of you who know me will probably find it a relief.
So the slides will automatically switch every 20 seconds in true Pecha Kucha style, you have no control!
So the slides will automatically switch every 20 seconds in true Pecha Kucha style, you have no control!
Cyfle MPDTV
Ok, I'm going to start by saying that this post will probably get moved somewhere else in a few days. I feel the need to sort out my online presence to make it a little more coherent (Probably by including this blog more into alexreynish.com). Until then, this will sit here.
I started training at Cyfle last Monday on the Multi Platform Development for TV scheme. They want me to blog about it, which I was going to end up doing at some point anyway, so here goes.
Week 1 was great. Not just because it was my birthday on the Thursday and everyone brought me cake. I got to speak to far more industry people than during my degree. I've been use to having presentations and Q & As but they were usually in large groups. Having only the 6 of us we get far better contact and space to ask our own questions.
I've always loved working on quick fire briefs. It looks like I'll be working on plenty more while I'm here. I did want to write something about why I love them in a bit more depth but I need to let the thought settle and take root. Maybe next week.
Seems as I don't really have that much else to say I'll leave you with a picture of my fellow training buddies eating pizza. I promise I'll do better this week in updating this as I go.
Obviously I'm not in it, I'm taking the picture
I started training at Cyfle last Monday on the Multi Platform Development for TV scheme. They want me to blog about it, which I was going to end up doing at some point anyway, so here goes.
Week 1 was great. Not just because it was my birthday on the Thursday and everyone brought me cake. I got to speak to far more industry people than during my degree. I've been use to having presentations and Q & As but they were usually in large groups. Having only the 6 of us we get far better contact and space to ask our own questions.
I've always loved working on quick fire briefs. It looks like I'll be working on plenty more while I'm here. I did want to write something about why I love them in a bit more depth but I need to let the thought settle and take root. Maybe next week.
Seems as I don't really have that much else to say I'll leave you with a picture of my fellow training buddies eating pizza. I promise I'll do better this week in updating this as I go.
Obviously I'm not in it, I'm taking the picture
Android - First Impressions
My choices for a new phone were basically G1 or iPhone. I got the G1 so I could check it out before making the decision to drop £160 for an iPhone. So after using both what do I think? (NOTE: I've never owned an iPhone myself but I've used them a fair bit. I've got an iPod touch too)
The iPhone OS is very slick, Android can't really compete on slickness but it brings some very interesting features to the table. The status bar at the top which shows a list of the phones latest events can be dragged down by a finger to reveal more details. Things like received SMS and email details, downloads status, Google Talk messages are all listed. This is also the spot to switch between your background apps. I use Twidroid as my twitter client, when running I have it setup to post my @replies and direct messages to my status bar. It's like a little time line of what happened since you last checked your phone, I love it!
The status bar in action
The status bar sits atop the screen in most places, except for some full screen games and camera apps. Most of the time it will be the cherry on top of your home screen cake. Better home screen management is something that has been desperately lacking on the iPhone OS since the App Store hit. Android has the upper hand here. You get 3 pages on which to arrange your shortcuts. Apps will sit happily alongside widgets and bookmarks. Even contacts, folders, Gmail labels and a Google search bar can be added. You always get a pullout tab which when swiped will show you all of your apps in alphabetical order. Yup, it's good and it's even better with a nice custom background.
Know your alphabet? Then you know where your apps are.
Google integration is great. Where it excels, it goes far beyond what I expected, while in a few places (not many) it's lacking. I expected more from the YouTube app, Why can't I log into my account so I can get to my favourites and recently watched list? Gmail is one place where it does excel. Contacts, labels, spam reporting, it's all there. I hate the term "power user" but those of you stretching Gmail to it's limit will love it.
One thing that slowly creeps up on you is how open it all is. Start adding some applications and all of a sudden when you hit the share button up pops a list of all the apps you can use. In the web or media browsers you'll get the typical send via Email option but it can be joined by post to Delicious, send via IM, Tweet and my current favourite Pixel Pipe will let me post to a huge list of blog software, social media and networking sites (not quite all of them but all the good ones.
Sharing is so easy
At present the Marketplace works well, but it has no where near the amount of apps as App Store. There are apps to cover most of the things you want to do, just not the choice. I've had a few problems with a few apps force closing but I've had those on iPhone OS too and I don't seem to be alone (Video Recorder I'm looking at you)
It's impossible to pick a winner between them, both have their good and bad points. But considering I got my G1 for free and a 16gb card for a little over £30 and I get a far better deal on my T-Mobile contract (700 mins, Unlimited Text, Unlimited data which is 3gb as opposed to 02's 250mb) then maybe the budget choice isn't quite so budget after all. I'm certainly enjoying using it and the whole Linux thing means that it will just get better and better over time.
I've honestly barely scratched the surface, I might do a follow up with my 10 favourite features next week.
Mixcloud looks fun UPDATED
I got a mixcloud invite, so I thought I'd mix some classics and upload it.
Tracklist is here
Mr Fingers - Can you feel it
Home Wreckers - Jackin'
Fallout - The Morning After
Adonis - House Nation
Kevin Irving - Ride the rhythm
Farley Jackmaster Funk - Love can't turn around
2 in a Room - Wiggle It (Dave Morales Mix)
Maurice - This is Acid
Marshall Jefferson - Move your body
28th Street Crew - All I need is a rhythm
Mixcloud is invite only so I've stuck it on Rapidshare for you :)
http://rapidshare.com/files/213784605/Jackin__Funk_Acid_Classics.mp3
If your on Mixcloud I'll post the link here as soon as it's done uploading.
UPDATE:
http://www.mixcloud.com/mixedape/jackinfunkacidclassics/
I've had some time to explore mixcloud and it looks like a great service. Allowing users to be creative with copyright content while allowing artists to get paid is a much needed step in the right direction.
Tracklist is here
Mr Fingers - Can you feel it
Home Wreckers - Jackin'
Fallout - The Morning After
Adonis - House Nation
Kevin Irving - Ride the rhythm
Farley Jackmaster Funk - Love can't turn around
2 in a Room - Wiggle It (Dave Morales Mix)
Maurice - This is Acid
Marshall Jefferson - Move your body
28th Street Crew - All I need is a rhythm
Mixcloud is invite only so I've stuck it on Rapidshare for you :)
http://rapidshare.com/files/213784605/Jackin__Funk_Acid_Classics.mp3
If your on Mixcloud I'll post the link here as soon as it's done uploading.
UPDATE:
http://www.mixcloud.com/mixedape/jackinfunkacidclassics/
I've had some time to explore mixcloud and it looks like a great service. Allowing users to be creative with copyright content while allowing artists to get paid is a much needed step in the right direction.
Negative Space (Less of a discovery, more of a realisation)
My biggest influence on the way I draw was my mother, who is an artist. She taught me to look at negative space. The lesson came one day when I was frustrated that my drawings of trees never really looked like trees. They just looked like a bunch of lines. I could not get a feel of the shape or structure of a tree. She taught me to draw the shapes between the branches instead of the branches themselves. When you do that, you quickly come a lot closer to actually drawing something that resembles a tree. When I am drawing letters I use the same approach. I am drawing the white shapes, not the black strokes. So the relationship between the white shapes on the inside of the character and the outside of the character is something I am very interested in. Cyrus Highsmith, Type Designer
Ladies and Gentleman, negative space is my new favourite thing in the world. Even more then turtles.
It's funny how these things happen. I read the above quote, from the My Fonts Creative Charachters mailout, on Sunday afternoon in work. It's not that negative space is new to me, just until now I haven't really explored it. It's always been there, but it has never been my focus.
Then today I got this tweet
I Googled the song and found this.....
and in the comments.....
11albinogiraffes I agree. Negative space rocks.
Then I remembered an interview I saw with Benga.
Jump to 1:42 for the quote
I try to create a lot of space in my music. I'm always low cutting things... hi passing things..... that's how I create space in my music Benga, Dub Step Artist
All of a sudden I'm surrounded by negative space, I see it everywhere. I'm off to explore!
Skitch is awesome!
Been playing with Skitch. It allows you to snap pics of your desktop or from your cam and draw on them (or if you want just start from scratch).
Upload straight to Skitch server and share, upload to flickr or just drag it to another app. So simple, so much fun.
Mixed Ape - War is Sick
AV Mashup of Solid Groove's "this is sick" with Edwin Starr's "War".
Mixed live using Ableton Live, Isadora & Plogue Bidule.
hope you like!
Happy Accident
I was tinkering with a patch I made to animate circles. While attempting to re-create it with a Particle Generator I made this, by accident.
AV React Particle Circles v1 from Mixed Ape on Vimeo.
AV React Particle Circles v1 from Mixed Ape on Vimeo.
Live + Isadora + User Interaction part 2
So the last video was audio generating video, now we're on video affecting audio. Pretty Basic atm. Although I reckon I need some more practice in playing it.
Audio channel is turned on in Live when movement is detected. I'm also tracking movement along X to fine tune the oscillator frequency in Operator. All video processing is done in Isadora.
Response time between movement and Live receiving the MIDI is good. There is some lag but when your interacting it's not noticeable. The most lag is between movement stopping and the audio turning off. This is due to the delay I had to put on the off trigger to stop a problem I had of it sending offs to regularly. Now it waits for a fraction of a second to see if another on is coming before switching it off.
Unfortunately I'm no Ableton Live god. What I'd really like is someone to donate me an Operator instrument that I can hook this upto. If your that person then message me.
AV React 3 Bassline from Mixed Ape on Vimeo.
And for those of you with an iPhone or iPod Touch here's a version you can enjoy too. Courtesy of Blip.tv (Come on Vimeo, how can you charge money and not support iPhone playback)
Audio channel is turned on in Live when movement is detected. I'm also tracking movement along X to fine tune the oscillator frequency in Operator. All video processing is done in Isadora.
Response time between movement and Live receiving the MIDI is good. There is some lag but when your interacting it's not noticeable. The most lag is between movement stopping and the audio turning off. This is due to the delay I had to put on the off trigger to stop a problem I had of it sending offs to regularly. Now it waits for a fraction of a second to see if another on is coming before switching it off.
Unfortunately I'm no Ableton Live god. What I'd really like is someone to donate me an Operator instrument that I can hook this upto. If your that person then message me.
AV React 3 Bassline from Mixed Ape on Vimeo.
And for those of you with an iPhone or iPod Touch here's a version you can enjoy too. Courtesy of Blip.tv (Come on Vimeo, how can you charge money and not support iPhone playback)
Live + Isadora + Plogue Bidule part 1
Audio React 2 from Mixed Ape on Vimeo.
I've just been doing some playing, I'll update with more details when I've done some more.
Lols @thepast
I mashed together 2 ideas I had to create one super idea.
Lols @thepast is a twitter based project that allows anybody to post a lol. The results are pulled together using Quartz Composer to create a live screensaver that anybody can contribute to.
More details over on the blog...
http://lolsatthepast.blogspot.com
Lols @thepast is a twitter based project that allows anybody to post a lol. The results are pulled together using Quartz Composer to create a live screensaver that anybody can contribute to.
More details over on the blog...
http://lolsatthepast.blogspot.com
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