The Ghost Kept Me Awake
08 Mar 2011 3 Comments
by jilliansavage in Stories
Some children are afraid of what hides under their beds, in the shadows of their closets or creeping in the dark hall outside their doors. To this day I cannot sleep with my door opened and my apple nightlight must always be on. This is what happens when you live out your childhood with some unconventional roommates. I grew up being told that spirits are not naturally violent and most tend to be illusive, hiding themselves from human eyes. The ghosts that crept around after the lights went out in my home were actually very quiet.
It was when they played music at 4am in the morning that I had a problem with.
My home was located in the farm country of Northwestern Ohio. To give you an idea of how far into the boonies I lived: my neighbors consisted of corn and bean fields. We did have a cranky old couple who lived “next door” who basically ignored my families existence. When I say next door I do mean right next to us, not down the road like our other neighbors, but I figure they don’t really count as I only saw them once in a blue moon. So when the soft music began to play at 3:30am I was very sure the couple was fast asleep next door.
It was not loud music, it bordered classical and at times hinted jazz. Usually it was a lone piano piece or a duet of two instruments. Which two instruments changed. Sometimes it was a piano and a type of xylophone, small bell type sounds mixing with a slow piano backdrop. Others it sounded like a low brass horn and a drum beat.
In fact, it was very hard to hear. Each time it began to play the sound was just shy of being heard on a normal range. In truth I do think that was the real reason the noise woke me up each time. If I am trying to go to sleep and a mosquito keeps buzzing around it becomes annoying. If there is a song that keeps playing over and over again and I cannot properly hear it the tune it becomes annoying. Lucky for me, my Mother also heard our mysterious ghost. My father always sleeps so deeply he never heard the soft music. He is also has a hard time hearing on a low octave range so even if he was awake I don’t think he would have picked it up.
Sadly I have never been able to place the exact melody the Music Ghost(s) constantly played. There are a few that my mother and I agree hit fairly close to the real thing.
Is it strange that I have never been afraid of my unseen house guests? He (or she) never physically manifested in front of me. There were no glowing balls of light or black shadows looming into sight. Only music being softly played and very light footsteps walking up and down the stairs. So why do I keep my door shut tight and a nightlight glowing even today? Simply put I am afraid of what may be lurking outside my door.I would rather be safe than sorry, so my door will remain closed.I realize it is only a silly attempt to keep myself apart from what I perceive as the spirits that live around me.
The Music Ghost(s) were left in Ohio when my family moved. He or she shares my childhood alongside my parents and I like to think whoever it was still plays music deep into the night.
Shorts of a Different Kind
15 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
by jilliansavage in Stories
It wasn’t as if she wanted to get in trouble, oh no, she was a good kid. Ate all her veggies when asked and hid the rest of daddy’s plate when momma wasn’t looking. But really, she was a good kid. So she shouldn’t get in a lot of trouble when she decided to walk back to daycare.
After all, everyone there liked her. Ms. Spencer would surely know that she, Jamie B. Fethers, was not to blame. It was the bus driver who should be blamed. The redheaded woman was a terror, blowing her whistle when anyone talked and yelling threats all the way back to the tiny daycare center.
A kindergartner could only take so much. She was gonna be like Harriet the Spy, sneaking all the way back to the daycare under the cover of the park. Her daddy would be proud of her, he was a Marine.
Yeah, really quiet like.
She managed to get past the crossing guard, the smelly old dog on the corner and hid when the actual bus passed her.
Oh yeah, she was a Marine.
Plots of an Interesting Nature
08 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
by jilliansavage in Stories
I’ll admit that I prefer fine arts to writing any day, its just far to much fun to doodle in my sketch books when I should be writing that five page essay. However, when I am left to my own devices I tend to imagine little stories and plot lines that run helter skelter through my mind. So, for my weekly blogs I’ve decided to write small short stories. Will they make absolute sense? No, they probably will not. But I like it better that way.
So, here we go.
Isaac wasn’t use to battle, he was actually use to asking children if they needed a lollypop and taking appointment dates from patients. He had never actually worked on another human, nor had he managed to dissect any animals in grad school. In fact, Isaac was told by his professor that he should just give up, that he was a lost cause and many other discouraging things that made him sink into his chair.
It wasn’t for lack of trying. Oh no, Isaac was nothing if not determined. Mind you, graduation had taken him twice as long to get to than his peers. But who was counting? He had his degree in hand and a whole world to visit. Sadly, that world just had to be at war and he was dragged away to “do his part” with much horror followed by denial.
You see, Isaac had one tiny problem. He had a bad case of hemophobia.
Copyright
01 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
by jilliansavage in College Related
Generally, the idea is this:
I’ve created something, let’s say I created a drawing in photoshop, once that image is drawn I own the rights to it.
That is the basic idea of copyright. Whatever you design belongs to you and no one else may copy it or use it without your permission. Now, if you only have an idea for something the “thought” is not considered copyrighted. After all, everyone can have ideas, not everyone can create those ideas into the physical realm.
I have noticed, because I use DeviantArt from time to time, that tracing work has become popular. By tracing I mean the outlines of the characters or works, no details above the body positioning. Features are left off as well, though eyes are usually left but no hair of clothing. The issue has been and always will be a problem within the DeviantArt community. However the moderators have given this as their final say (so far) in the conflict between their users.
Not Everyone is the Same
18 Jan 2011 Leave a Comment
by jilliansavage in College Related
The web is a vast place, it houses so much information that helps people function as they haven’t before. Health care sites give medical information, banks use it to keep your account accessible and clothing companies allow you to purchase things online. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. Yet people who do not have a handicap rarely ponder how those who do access the internet. Colorblindness for example is not a horribly debilitating problem. However, a website has the ability to overlook such issues and make the user experience extremely complicated.
There are actually a few different kinds of colorblindness, not just monochromasy which is seeing only blacks, grays and whites. The types could be, protanopia, deutanopia, tritanopia, or deutanomaly just to name a few. Some are the absence of red cones, others are missing the green cones. Some have simple low one functioning cones.
So what if you have a website that relies heavily on shades of blue and a colorblind person happens upon your page. Or if you have a page with light font and a slightly darker backdrop? Depending on the level of colorblindness the person may not be able to properly make out the information presented. Good web design is taking into consideration all levels of user handicaps and striving to accommodate everyone equally.
Repeat Repeat
03 Dec 2010 Leave a Comment
by jilliansavage in Uncategorized
It is funny how complex things like setting a background image to repeat or not to repeat looks so basic on screen. I know after experimenting with the CSS and HTML for a while I found it quite fun to change the image’s position. Usually you don’t want to repeat the image if you position it. However, you can repeat it if you decide not to position it. I found it kinda fun trying both at the same time. Though all that happen is the repeating position is moved slightly.
I admit it is hard to work with the images as a background if you want to put text over them. Without a counter color text can easily be lost alone the way.
Bad Semantics in HTML
03 Dec 2010 Leave a Comment
by jilliansavage in Uncategorized
I hate finding broken links on websites, it feels like I’m missing some big part of a site when I cannot go any further. The worst thing that can happen with bad semantics in HTML is your paragraphs can be all over the page. Which can mess up your entire layout and put off many potential viewers. After all, who wants to look at a messy page when there are so many clean sites elsewhere. If you don’t have the heading correct search engines like google cannot find your site anyway.
However, all this can be avoided if you just clean up your code. If you wouldn’t look at a page with code issues then why would you expect someone else to?
John Allsopp
03 Dec 2010 Leave a Comment
by jilliansavage in College Related
A few months ago our class had the pleasure of visiting with John Allsopp, who was here for Amped! in Atlanta on the 25th. He spoke to our class for about an hour. He is the author of Developing With Web Standards, and a CSS3 & HTML5 specialist. He does live all the way in Australia so it was a real treat to meet him face to face.
His inspirations come from what he sees, on the web and in his travels. When he talked to our class there were a few things he shared that were very interesting. He has a basic list of how the web drives him and how technology will also move us.
His first one was interoperability, where people are able to interact with each other over the web, like on facebook. Adaptability, when technology is adapting to the your needs, growing as you grow. He also hit on accessibility and how the web is for everyone. Which means anyone, be they color blind or disabled, has a right to use the web to its fullest. Internationalization, using the technology to help get over language barriers. he ended with the idea of openness, that the web has an economic value. The web is basically unbeatable and everyone shares in its technology.
Writing for the web
03 Dec 2010 Leave a Comment
by jilliansavage in College Related
Basically, think of all the different types of words and symbols a person encounters each and every day. It isn’t even the same types of fonts, for instance the ads you see driving are vastly different from those you read in a newspaper. Or Game informer magazine isn’t going to be the same as a American Girl magazine. The information is different, and the content, along with images, also causes differences. It isn’t something I was consciously aware of but now that I sit down and look through a few things I have come to realize how many different things feed my brain each day.
Magazines – When I read a magazine it is usually when I am waiting for an appointment in an office or reading my Game Informer, which is the only magazine I read front to back. I am interested in the next video game that is set to come out or reading reviews from the editors. I do not sit there and read forever, usually I sit for about 30 minutes, put it down and come back to it later.
Websites – When I go online I am usually not looking for vast information. I visit certain sites and then find a good story to read. I can spend hours reading fanfiction, fiction, poetry and looking for new and interesting quotes. On the off chance that I go anywhere for information is it usually to look up a good cheat for a game or a walkthrough because I’m stuck. Most of my day can be spent on the internet but it is easy enough to put it down and do other things.
Brochures – I vary rarely look at these. The only information I usually want when I do pick one up is for two things. One, for coupons. And two, for information. Mainly directions or for what may be going on. This only happens when I am traveling and have nothing else to occupy my time.
Billboards – A billboard needs to tell me certain things. Mainly, where is a good place to stop for a restroom break and where to get some good food. Or if you traveling with my parents, where the closest Bob Evans is. Usually I look at them because I am bored, but ones that catch my eye usually have very few words or bright pictures.
Books - I read so many books there is no room on all three of my book shelves to stack them. I have all my childhood books in storage and that equals around five crates in the basement. Books, to catch my attention, must have an eye catching cover or really interesting font on their spines. It also helps when their titles are embossed, so when I run my hand along the shelves one just jumps out at me.
I cannot stand really cheesy adds, be it on television or on a poster. If you have a horrible image and terrible font faces then I am turned away. I know some people go for the “catch your interest” take but if my interest is caught and I don’t like what I see then there is a problem. I haven’t gone to movies because the posters look hideous. Don’t get me started on annoying “it’s my money and I need it now” ads.
Info Architecture Writmaps-What you need to know…
03 Dec 2010 Leave a Comment
by jilliansavage in College Related
First, you need to define your project requirements, its important to know what your boundaries are from the beginning.
Second, conduct your research and analysis. If you don’t have enough information you can always get more. Having too much is far better than having too little.
Develop the design after that, not before. Because after you begin to develop you are able to move into building phase. Which can be a revolving door if you are not careful. Which is where testing comes in. There are no dead horses to beat here, so keep fixing something and re-testing it over and over. Only when you are completely sure everything is ready do you deploy. After that, make sure everything stays maintained. You don’t want something to happen after the finished product is out.
Basically the plan is: Start, Plan, Build, Test, and Close. It’s a fairly simple process that keeps everything rolling.
Another way to look at it is: You start-planning/testing/building rotate back and forth until everything can be wrapped in a nice red bow and closed. The “I’ll just think it up as I go along” plan isn’t recommended. In fact, just don’t do it and you’ll be alright.
There are project rolls as well. I’ll list them to make it a bit easier.
- Project Manager-contact for the client
- Information Architect- analyzes/organizes/labels information on the web
- Usability analyst- creates a testing plan for usability and tests them.
- Visual Designer-develops design options based on knowledge for design principles.
- Developer-builds the front end and back end. (HTML, CCS, Javascrip, Database)
- Quality Tester-creates a realistic testing plan and conducts those tests.
Information Architecture Responsibilities
Ask yourself these questions or follow these ideas:
Primary audience goals-who is the target? How do they use the site? What are their goals?
Persona(s)-make a fictional character to represent an audience.
Current Content Inventory-What content is available? Make sure you review text/images/media.
Competitive Analysis-identify other sites like yours, find some things that will give you’re an edge over the competition.
Content strategy-How to stay focused on your audience’s needs? What writing style is best to use? Make sure you have a summary for the purpose of the content, with key themes/major topics/ tone and search engine optimization goals.
Content Outline-What content will be available to the users? Create a list to help with what you will need.
Content Gap Analysis-What needs to be revised? Make a list, check it twice. Basically, fill in your gaps.
Also, make sure you have a site diagram. Its basically a high level blueprint of what you want and how it will turn out. Next to that you need a page description diagram, it is basically the site diagram in a written format. Which lists high priority items to low priority. In the end you will have a wireframe, a simple layout composing content, text and frames. You can also break things into a spreadsheet, which allows for more information to be shared. So long as you have a grasp of how to use these different options everything should run fairly smoothly.
