Maya's Blog!!

Helpful HTML Stuff

2008-05-20T02:36:00.000-07:00

Just a bunch of useful links that i have found over the last month in regards to html code etc. You may find something here if need be!

1. http://www.hotscripts.com/JavaScript/Scripts_and_Programs/index.html2. http://www.killersites.com/HTML_CODES/index.jsp
3. http://www.webmonkey.com/webmonkey/reference/html_cheatsheet/
4. http://www.webmonkey.com/webmonkey/reference/javascript_code_library/dhtml/?tw=reference
5. http://www.webmonkey.com/webmonkey/reference/stylesheet_guide/
6. http://www.andrewwooldridge.com/dreamweaver/objects.html
7. http://slackerhtml.tripod.com/stylesheets/
8. http://reference.sitepoint.com/html/elements-image-media

A bit of humour

2008-05-15T09:32:00.000-07:00

Cocaine Cowboys

2008-05-14T03:55:00.000-07:00

Interesting documentary to watch if you have some free time kids! (maybe in the holidays)

A bit of silly stuff!

2008-05-14T03:46:00.000-07:00

Fake Rich Guys! Some of the coolest millionaires don't actually exist.

Here are the top 5:

Thurston Howell III

Without the blue-blood attitude that Thurston brought with him, life on that deserted island just wouldn't have been the same. Estimated worth: $5.7B14.

Forrest GumpYeah,

he lucked into money and can only be tolerated in small doses, but he spreads his wealth around. That, friends, is a good reason to list him here. Estimated worth: $15M13.

Dr. Evil

Thanks to Number Two's investments, the bad doctor had a bankroll big enough to pay for a high-tech lair and a miniature replica of himself. Estimated worth: $500M12.

Dylan McKay

He inherited a fortune, cruised around on a motorcycle, had the hottest chicks in Beverly Hills and rocked the world's greatest sideburns. Works for us. Estimated worth: $10M11.

Mr. Drummond

Not only did the president of Trans Allied Inc. adopt his dying housekeeper's two sons, but his penthouse had two staircases.Estimated worth: $33M

Keyser Soze

You've got to respect any small-time drug dealer who has the chutzpah to make it big, especially when he has to kill his own family and take on the Hungarian mafia to do it.Estimated worth: $91M

Fact or Fiction?!

2008-05-14T03:13:00.000-07:00

Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
45
Longest word in a major dictionary

Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism
30
Longest word in a major dictionary

Honorificabilitudinitatibus
27
Longest word in Shakespeare's works

Figure this out!

2008-05-13T02:41:00.001-07:00

There is a bus,
on the bus there are 7 girls
each girl had 7 bags
In each bag there are 7 big cats
Each big cat has 7 little cats
each cat 4 legs
how many legs are on the bus?...

Good luck :)

Emotion sensor 'detects boredom'

2008-05-07T03:21:00.000-07:00

Scientists are developing an "emotion sensor" to show if someone is finding your conversation interesting or not. It is being developed to help people with autism, who tend to be less skilled at interacting with others. New Scientist magazine reports researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed the headset.

A camera on a pair of glasses is linked to a hand-held computer which "reads" the emotional reactions of a listener. The device uses image recognition software and emotion-reading software to decode the images. If the wearer appears not to be engaging with their listener, the software makes the computer in their hand vibrate.

Previous research by the team has shown the device could detect if someone was agreeing, disagreeing, concentrating, thinking, unsure or interested from just a few seconds of film.
Previous computer programmes have only been able to detect six basic states of happiness, sadness, anger, surprise and disgust.

To read more visit: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4856050.stm

Theories theories theories...which one to believe???

2008-05-04T01:25:00.000-07:00

The below diagrams is an illustration as to how we all perceive things in our own way, as suggested by the theories of Jung and Freud.

Image A :What do you see? Some of you may see 2 green faces; other may see a white chalice. This all depends on your initial perception of the diagram. You may find that when you look again, you may see the alternate picture within the diagram.

Image B: what do you see? Some of you may see sloping lines; others may see horizontal parallel lines or some of you may see something COMPLETELY different…who knows only you do!

Some may think that the retina is responsible for interpreting visual stimulus such as the picture above others believe that the eye is simply a physiological process that does not actually process the signals it receives instead the job is left to the brain, for individual interpretation…
So why do humans have a sense of perception? And why is my perception different to others? I see what’s in front of me, but is it really what I see or have I just become accustomed to it through societies influence and/or my own preconceived ideas? This is what we as humans find asking ourselves on a regular basis.

The word perception means "receiving, collecting, and action of taking possession, apprehension with the mind or senses.

Psychologists are divided between two theories on perception. Some believe that perception relies directly on the information present to the stimulus whilst others believe that the perception process are dependent on the perceivers expectations and previous knowledge as well as the information available in the stimulus itself.
These two theories are seen as Active (Gregory) and Passive (Gibson)
Active: dynamic relationship between description (in the brain) ↔ senses ↔ surrounding.
Example: Gregory believes that prior knowledge and past experience, are crucial in perception. When we look at something, we develop a perceptual hypothesis, which is based on prior knowledge. The hypotheses we develop are nearly always correct. However, on rare occasions, perceptual hypotheses can be disconfirmed by the data we perceive.

Passive: surrounding → input (senses) → processing (brain) → output (re-action).
Example: Gibson argues that there is enough information in our environment to make sense of the world in a direct way. Sensation is perception: what you see if what you get. There is no need for processing (interpretation) as the information we receive about size, shape and distance etc is sufficiently detailed for us to interact directly with the environment.

...yet we have grown accustomed to our environment and our surroundings so therefore anything that we see, hear or touch we would already have preconceived ideas about...it would be natural for the brain to associate the matter with past experiences or knowledge...would it not? But what if this wasn’t the case...And so this is what our teams aims to discover.

Illuminati...conspiracy theory!

2008-05-01T04:11:00.000-07:00

Ok for those who dont know who the illuminati's are have a read of Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. Don't really like Dan Brown as an author but i am fasinated by this group called the "illuminati's" (a secret society against the catholic church).
Some believe it to be true, others won't....its just another one of those "things".

Waking Life

2008-04-22T01:56:00.000-07:00

Ive heard from a few people that this movie is a good one...maybe when i have a bit of "spare" time ill have a squiz!

Apparently this movie is a computer-animated, dreamlike film about a guy who floats in and out of a series of philosophical discussions and ethereal experiences, meeting interesting characters along the way. Each character that this dude meets engages him in an deep, thought provoking discussion. He listens, observes and occasionally responds but then glumly shuffles off to his next encounter. At times, he wakes up in his bed and rubs his eyes, appearing to start a new day. But eventually viewers learn that he is dreaming throughout the film, and is trying to learn to control his dreams and accomplish lucid dreaming, or simply wake up....hmmm sounds all a bit confusing to me, but it must be good.

motion graphics

2008-04-19T00:47:00.000-07:00

Ive been researching lots of motion graphic artist lately to see how this art form has evolved over time into what we believe or see it to be now. Here are some of the more 'famously known' motion graphic artists.

Norman McLaren
Len Lye
Oskar Fischinger
Saul Bass
Maurice Binder
Kyle Cooper
Pablo Ferro

Titles and Motion Graphic Design
"When title designers started experimenting with animation, it marked an important step in the emergence of a new design discipline: motion graphic design. When animation entered the field of film title design, it opened the path for title sequence design to evolve into the art form it is today. Animation introduced new dimensions to film title design such as speed, timing and transformation. Experimenting became a part of the design process, opening up a universe of new possibilities. And even today, there's still a lot left to explore. Few will disagree that Saul Bass's landmark main title designs (Vertigo, Psycho) are among the best examples of the artistic potential of motion graphic design."
sourced:http://www.submarinechannel.com/titlesequences/index.jsp?collection=23005

debut art

2008-04-14T00:27:00.000-07:00

Christina Koutsospyrou- freehand artist

debut art

2008-04-14T00:16:00.000-07:00

Vault 49-3D photo assemblage

debut art

2008-04-13T23:59:00.000-07:00

Sarah Howell-computer assisted photo illustration.

wayde robson

2008-04-13T00:21:00.001-07:00

power commerical!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0nRpFI4hvc

2007 motion graphics show reel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YY3f-4yH7Q

motion graphic piece using typography

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVPfTlpCKaw

HRAFF

2008-03-30T02:59:00.000-07:00

This is my poster for the human rights arts and film festival!

Thought of the day

2008-03-26T21:52:00.000-07:00

A very wise person once said something along the lines of "the best thing about the web is that every one can become a publisher and the worst thing about the web is that everyone can become a publisher...” hmmm thought provoking words!

marching powder

2008-03-26T20:55:00.000-07:00

Been reading this AWESOME book by rusty young "marching powder" For those of you who havent read it...its a must! Its about this dude called thomas mcfadden (a drug smugler from england) who got caught and sent to San Pedro prision in bolivia for the duration of his sentence.
It a true story and an interesting one too.
Rusty young the writter, went to bolivia and spent time in this prision with thomas. If you pay the guards enough money you can stay in the prision over night and see what reallly happens! In order to write this book, rusty had to smuggle tape records etc into the prision and bribe alot of guards to keep quiet. Since the book was published the prision has closed down due to the publicity it gained from the book (it was a corrupt prision to say the least).
i wont give away too much but its one of those books that u dont want to put down. First 100 pages are slow, but once you get to San Pedro the good stuff begins!!!!

Mr. Banksy

2008-03-24T03:58:00.000-07:00

You shouldn't mess with graffiti writers.

"The longest recorded piece of graffiti was painted by a student in the toilets of his college at Changsha, China in 1915. It consisted of over 4000 characters criticising his teachers and the state of Chinese society. After completing this masterpiece the student handed himself in and was paraded in fron of the school and threatened with expulsion. The student was a 22 year old Chairman Mao. A graffiti artists who later founded the People's Repbulic of china and was responsible for the deaths of over 30 million people."

-sourced at http://www.banksy.co.uk/

One of my favourite artists:

Banksy is a well known english graffiti/stencil artist. His artworks often focused on politics, culture and ethics.

Thought provoking work; gives you inspiration even though it may have NOTHING to do with any of your current assignments!

"I use whatever it takes. Sometimes that just means drawing a moustache on a girl's face on some billboard, sometimes that means sweating for days over an intricate drawing. Efficiency is the key". Quoted by banksy

To see some more of this stuff go to http://www.banksy.co.uk/

browsing the web

2008-03-22T04:27:00.001-07:00

an interesting site to check out:

go to:http://wwwwwwwww.jodi.org/then when u get there keep clicking different parts of the screen.... warning.... it goes on foreverrrrrrrrrrr!!and depending on where u click it will be different each time :S

dont ask how i found it...either

oh and another lol

http://www.shibumi.org/eoti.htm

something funny

2008-03-16T04:52:00.001-07:00

Something from XKCD...have a squiz

Random

2008-03-11T01:32:00.000-07:00

something random i found on my research journey....

Further concept development

2008-03-09T22:41:00.000-07:00

Whilst on my mission to research different illustration styles i came across this really cute and funny comic/cartoon called bunny suicide!
There are hundreds of these illustrations, so if u want to see more just check it out via google.
Here are 3 examples!

Colour schemes

2008-03-05T01:24:00.000-08:00

Over the last few days, ive spent some time looking at different colour schemes to go with the HRAFF site. I've found a few good ones, but my main aim is to find colours that are asethically pleasing and contribute a positive vibe to the users experience.

Below are a few examples of what i have found:

Research and concept development

2008-03-02T22:26:00.000-08:00

Between the 25th Feb-3rd march i worked on 3 concept designs. I started by exploring the current HRAFF website to get an idea of the amount of content that is used and the areas that they have covered. I also researched HRAFF's vision to get an idea of what they are about and how they like to be seen:
-For everyone to take responsibilty to promote and protect human rights at home and aboard.
-To create an event that engages and entertains people.
-Held around the world
-There wanting creative responses to contemporary human rights issues.
-To create an education through art and film.

After having a basis to work with, i beagn sketching a few ideas;
1.Screen concept (people can see the human rights issues that surround us in our country and aboard, ie:they watch the problem occur/evolve and get worse or better but how often do they get involved?) Thus my concept started from this thought and evolved to using 16 screens connected all together.

2.Note pad concept (when thinking of human rights i associate it with letters and speechs) Thus i wanted to base the site on a note pad with icons surrounding it that reflect HRAFF.

3.Clear blue day concept (http://www.clearblueday.com.au/ and then select creative tab) This site is very fun and playful and user friendly as it allows the user to be involved constantly, thus adding to their experience.
sketch to be shown with additional information.