Old site feature revisited

It's not listed in the menu, but I have a torrent tracker hosted here. It used to be used as a convenience for Ragnarok Online players to download the needed Korean RO client in order to play the many free servers that exist over the internet. That and I used to host Gunbound's installation file when it was [at first] difficult to download from Softnyx's download servers. Someone uploaded a torrent to some manga, but I never bothered to download the file to see what it really was [if it was really manga].

Well, it's back. I've upgraded the tracker to the newest version, so I've lost quite a bit of old shoutbox posts. I don't have much on the tracker, but the news update there explains it well enough. I've created and uploaded a torrent of Adobe's standalone Flash Player 9. It's the executable (no need for installation) program that views shockwave files created by flash programs.

This is a godsend for me. Some of my Graphic Design History classmates have given their presentations, but a few of them had difficulty getting their presentations to work correctly. This stems from a few problems: 1) The Mac computer they needed to use for the presentations didn't have the fonts used in their presentations. One girl was smart enough to save the fonts to her flash drive, but the installation of them to the computer was a failure. 2) Some guy had image embedding problems in Powerpoint (Despite that, the rest of his presentation went well.). 3) Some people have done their Powerpoints on a PC and not on a Mac, so we'll have to switch classrooms, where [on PCs] we can still encounter the first 2 problems. Yay.

All that being said, I'm going to try to approach this differently than everyone else. For one, I don't have Powerpoint at home on my PC; I have OpenOffice.org's Impress for slide show presentations. OOo Impress can save to Powerpoint and is mostly compatible with MS Powerpoint. A plus, but I'm not out of the woods. Secondly, the fonts I may use for my presentation may not be installed on the PC in the classroom. More than likely, converting my presentation to a flash .swf file would be ideal for cross-platform compatibility, whether it's going to be shown on PC or Mac. OOo Impress can save my file as a .swf file but without the transition effects. Not a total loss since the presentation itself doesn't get maimed in the process. But OH NOES!!! Lastly, the PC used for the presentations may or may not have the latest version of the Flash plugin...if it has any flash plugin at all.

That's where the standalone Flash Player 9 comes in. For as long as I can remember, the standalone player provided by Macromedia (and now Adobe) is the one true, always FREE, solution to SWF-to-EXE projector file conversion. Just go to File => Create projector => Save it to whatever directory you want => Done! It's as simple as 3 clicks.

Do not pay out the rear when one of the world's finest software companies gives you a great tool for free. There are software conversion tools that do the same thing, except they are created by 3rd party companies and are not free. I won't say don't buy them, but when the alternatives are shareware, and the tool that was produced by the very creators of Flash technology is and always has been free, what's the best choice? Don't be a dope, is all I have to say.

Pokemon Online

Pokemon Online - The Fan-Created MMORPG
I really liked Pokemon when I was younger. I wasn't a hardcore fan and didn't battle others much, but the thought of Pokemon going online for worldwide adventures really brings me back to the excitement of first playing the Gameboy games. Pokemon Online (POL) is still very much in development, but it looks very good.

If it is what I think it is, it was a project started by someone on an old P.O. game site (which I still had bookmarked), but then he disappeared for some reason. Whatever that reason, at least the game is in good hands now. There isn't any catching of pokemon in the game yet, but there is a lot more features to be added to this game. You can go to the site to see what the game currently offers.

A reminder to all out there: This game is NOT being created by anyone at Nintendo. However, according to some source, Nintendo hasn't ordered a cease in desist (unlike Squeenix, the bastards. I'll never forgive you for stopping the "Chrono Trigger Resurrection Project"!) and has actually permitted the current POL team to continue creating the MMO. As long as they're not making a profit off of the game, that is. That might explain the annoying ads though, but I'm sure that's to help with the cost of the servers, which the POL team is (I believe) are paying for.

If you were ever a Pokemon fan, or if you are interested in experiencing Pokemon for the first time, make sure to try out POL. And check out the new Pokemon games being released for the DS (www.nintendo.com).

Minushi - an online animated movie

Minushi is a feature length motion picture sci-fi fantasy action adventure full of suspense and mystery - the flash cartoon animation is reminiscent of japanese anime movies and american saturday morning television but with a unique style for all ages presented in 19 online episodes by tyler gibb of boneland.com

Just as the link says. I've been watching Tyler Gibb's Minushi since its debut, and I still think it's a wonderfully done Flash-based movie. The creator even revisited the earlier "chapters" of the film in order to change or update parts of the animation. The last time I remember anyone doing a [pretty much] one-man show was a Japanese animator who created a film on his mac, and just like the creator of Minushi, he toiled over his dream feature for over 3 years. I can't remember the Japanese man's name, but his work has been distributed on DVD format in Japan and, at least from what I know, in the U.S.

Even though the method of animation used for Minushi doesn't compete with the fluid and digitally hand-drawn (with some 3D in the mix) anime feature that was created, it is still a huge deal in the Flash animation industry. What takes large animation studios to do in the same amount of time, it took one man and his small posse of associates to accomplish. Gibb took to publicly promoting his movie by releasing chapters of it on the internet via sites like Newgrounds.com, YouTube, and Revver. While Minushi has already been completed, half the movie is readily available online for viewing. Pretty generous if you ask me. Tyler Gibb is still looking for a suitable company to distribute the movie.

Whether anyone else thinks Minushi is worth buying, that's up to the beholder. As for me, I'll continue checking the site for future releases should there be anymore.

I'm feeling a bit accomplished today

Just a tad. I finally made the necessary tweaks to my old poster design in order for it to become a t-shirt design. Not only that, but I've went ahead with the Cafepress idea too. I now have a store ready for selling t-shirts and art prints. I don't have any art prints yet; I'm still searching for ways to make suitable reproductions of my work.

Nevertheless, I've created t-shirts with my design on them, and they're ready for purchase. It's a t-shirt geared toward gamers, especially those who appreciate Nintendo. If you know any gamers that like to buy gamer stuff, please refer them to my store. There's a link to it in the web site menu now, along with a link to it in the Atom feed. I don't have much in the store to offer, but thanks for giving it a quick look. And a special thanks to anyone who would buy my work.

Chaos? In my poster?

So I goofed up doing my poster, which is supposed to be influenced by the Postmodern graphic style. As far as the postmodernism goes, the design went south.Don't get me wrong, I think my poster is cool. But not only does it not have the strong characteristics of postmodernism, it doesn't fit the game it's mock-advertising well. The game is "Meteos". The poster is retro-looking. Meteos is contemporary and cute. Not necessarily a good combination, but I gave it a try. What is graphic design without a little trial and error? :P

Anyway, the poster needs to be done over. Not all the way over, but some significant changes are in the new poster. The old poster is uploaded to the Gallery nonetheless. It's still good design, and I'm pleased with it. I think it'll even make a nice pop art t-shirt. Not the bottom half with the text and screen shots, just the top half. Any feedback on whether I make it a t-shirt or not will be greatly appreciated! It would be nice to wear something that I designed myself.

I also uploaded an old design I did for an assignment given back in 2004. Someone must have saw my design and decided to take it a step further, putting great detail in the coffee mug and adding books. Whoever the show-off is, I'm still jealous. T_T

Eva's Blog of Terror: Todd "Goliath" Goldman is an art thief

Eva's Blog of Terror: Todd "Goliath" Goldman is an art thief

Add one Sirkowski to the "Get Todd Goldman!" bandwagon. :) I definitely want to buy Shmorky's t-shirt that was created as a counter to Todd's thievery. Oh ho ho ho, that Todd bitch is going down!

T-Shirt Artists and Painters making money off of your hard work? Expose the hacks now!

Click the picture to see the forum thread that basically started it all. Read the rest of my post for a summary.

Dave Kelly, the creator of the webcomic "Purple Pussy" and one hell of an artist, had his work noticably stolen by Goldman. Not only did the bastard traced Kelly's well known work, he had it in a LA art gallery not long ago. Someone who is familiar with Dave Kelly's work emailed him to alert him about the theft. Now everyone who's knows about it and has webspace to spare is posting about this injustice, making sure to get the word out.

I can't express enough about how disgusted I am for seeing thieves like t-shirt artists get away with copying someone's work, not crediting or even contacting the original artist(s) for permission, and making money off of the artists' hard work. Not to mention getting the recognition for the work too. Everyone who creates anything is at one time or another influenced by another artist. There's nothing wrong with that. It's hard to be completely original. But I'll be damned if it isn't obvious when someone's work is being ripped off.

I found out this bit of news at Zap in Space, a webcomic I regularly read. Don't ignore art thieves. Doing so lets them believe that they can get away with it. Doing so lets them make money off of work that was never their's to begin with. Do as I have and help spread the word! Come on, y'all! Let's blackball this bastard until he learns his lesson.

Added another one!

Added another piece to the Color Gallery. This one is an illustration done for my Illustration 1 class; medium used is an acrylic wash over white acrylic gesso.The project was to creat an illustration for a game DVD jewel case cover. My illustration was based on GUNZ Online, a 3rd/1st person online shooter that is now being published and hosted in North America by ijji.com. I enjoyed the mayhem experienced playing that game at the time, so that was my decided game.

While she doesn't resemble my past GUNZ Online character, she (much to my happiness) resembles the model used for my photo reference. The girl actually has large eyes, and her lashes were very long. I didn't get the lashes into my character's facial features, but I like the eyes. The model got to see my illustration and was very pleased, exclaiming "Wow! That's me!". Even my teacher, who isn't one for the anime style, liked my illustration. With a bit more contrast, this could've been a much better piece.

You can't see it, but she also has a sword strapped to her waist. In GUNZ Online, a player can use both swords and guns. I didn't manage to get the entire picture in, because I was using a 2 megapixel Kodak camera for "scanning" it into my computer. Aaah, the things I improvise with, eh? On that note, I'm out of here. I'm on my way to my sister's and then to the movies to see Grindhouse. Seriously, that movie looks like fun. :D

Gallerie Update

I updated the Color Gallery 2 days ago, but didn't have the time to post about it. I added two paintings, both from my last semesters Painting 1 class. They're both the last paintings I've ever done for that class and some of the best paintings I've ever done. If anyone thinks I can make some nice quality prints with any of the paintings I have listed, please don't hesistate to give your opinion.

I'm not looking to do any high quality prints like professional painters, just a solution that will look great on anyone's wall. I was thinking CafePress. The company provides good printing services and can provide me a way to make a bit of money while I look for work in my field, which is illustration. Also, I'm looking for an inexpensive way for me to take photos/transparencies of work.

Speaking of photography, I updated the Photography Gallery too. Just one photo this time. I believe it's the best and simplest black and white photo I've ever done. It was a class exercise in foreground and background. I Thought it made an interesting enough piece to add to my photography portfolio at the time; the composition works really well. I think I'll call it "Frenching the Fountain". :P

Digging up the old and shameful...

I found my old flash animations in case anyone who's never seen them can see what I was able to do when I first dabbled in Flash animation. I used the animation application called "Koolmoves", which is the inexpensive alternative to Macromedia's/Adobe's Flash. Great interface, and it was easy to learn how to do everything that can be done with the program. Ok enough plugging. Click here to view my old Flash section. There's lots of tweening, as I never did catch onto doing frame-by-frame animation. I'm pretty sure I could now, now that I'm a better drawer overall. Maybe I'll have the time to re-do some of my old stuff and continue what I started. Someday.

The animations cannot be viewed in Firefox, but they can be viewed in Internet Explorer. If you have the IE Tab plugin for Firefox, just click the browser icon in the lower right-hand corner of the browser's window. It will then switch the window/tab to an IE window/tab without you having to open IE at all. It is required that you do have Internet Explorer installed on your computer to use the IE Tab plugin for Firefox (duh!).

Testing Expandable Post Summaries Using WLW

Ok, so the Expandable Post Summaries hack does indeed work using Windows Live Writer. You just can't put this part: "<span class="fullpost">" inside of "<p></p>" tags. Putting the span tag within the paragraph tags breaks the CSS that splits the post and creates the summary. It's recommended that the span tag comes after the "</p>" tag of the first paragraph. Not only that, you must add the span tags in HTML CODE mode ONLY. Don't bother adding tags in any other writing mode in Windows Live Writer; it'll only reformat the tags to show up in your post.

If you have a lot to say, try to keep the first paragraph of the post short and to the point. That's what I try to do to keep vertical scrolling to a minimum. I suppose cutting the main page's post count to 1 or 2 posts will help too. I've already removed comments from the main page. To view the comments of an article, just click "Read More!" to view the article in its entirety.

GRRRR!!! ARGH!!!

I'm sorry, but even for a FTP user, Blogger is getting more frustrating to use by the day. I use Windows Live Writer to write my blog drafts and publish them straight to my web site. Unfortunately, it outputs in HTML, so using Blogger's "expanding articles" workaround doesn't work properly when publishing from WLW. I went to edit the last post so that it wouldn't take up so much space on the page, and Blogger just timed out when republishing the entry. As a matter of fact, Blogger's publishing has been doing that A LOT lately (which is weird, because WLW publishes my blog entries as soon as I press the "publish" button). It's so bad that many people post numerous topics on the Blogger Help Group and bump them repeatedly hoping for Blogger techies to read their cries for help. It's disappointing that FTP users don't get to use the nifty widgets that help create the new layout pages offered with Blogspot hosting, or even dynamic publishing (that's reasonably not supported for non-Blogspot hosts), but it's worse that we can't use the service that's offered to us by default. We can work around using old web site templates, but we as Blogger members that opted to be hosted elsewhere shouldn't have to put up with not being able to publish to our own servers. We don't get all of the glitches and migration problems that Blogspot users get, but if we can't even simply publish our blogs, then what is the point of using this system? Blogger is great when it can actually manage to publish my writing. But I may have to look elsewhere for a blogging solution. CutePHP is looking really good right about now.

I hope you guys didn't mind.

Har har har, April Fool's Day is over. Telling from the hitcounter at the bottom of the page, I'd say my AFD joke worked. I had something much better in mind, but was too lazy to execute it in time. So I made up the "Google stole my web site" page as a quicky. It fooled at least a few people I'm sure. As for the joke I wanted to do, I'm not going to say what it is. Should I remember what it is by time of next year, I'll do it then. It has something to do with the blooper that is my site's domain name. When I first paid for web hosting and opened my site under it's own domain 4 years ago, I had a bit of frustration keeping a certain group of people out of my site. That's all the hint you get to next year's AFD joke.

Time certainly flies. My site's been operating on the hosting solution Onedollarhost.net for a little more than 4 years now, but my site's technically been around since 2001 (when I was using AOL hometown as my site's host, bleh). Come May, Lexi's Lounge will have been on the internet for 6 years. Go, me! It's been through lots of changes, from content to layout to hosting solutions (free hosting solutions). I believe this current layout should be version 8 or 9 by now. I've learned quite a bit about web site design since my first time trying to learn HTML years ago. I still prefer simple over busy-looking designs. I spent a year with my site on hiatus, because I was planning on how I wanted to present the newest version of Lexi's Lounge.

I wanted for it to still be "my personal space" where I can blog about whatever I want and post whatever art or design I can come up with no matter how risque some people may judge it (half-naked womyns, lol). But I also want it to be a place where I can promote myself to potential clients/employers, showcasing what I can do when it comes to design, art, and communication. I want to be me; I want my site to present me as who I am today and what my abilities are as a graphic designer, illustrator, and general fine artist. Admittedly, I've worked more on getting my site to work than updating my art galleries, but they're updated little by little. Eventually, everything that I want in my offline portfolio will be online for viewing by companies that view my online job profiles.

Speaking of my online job profiles, I hope someone will get back to me soon on the jobs I applied to. Only one employer has, so that means people are at least looking at my resume. It's a shame most job sites only upload Word doc-formatted resumes. I'm planning a nicely designed printed version and would like to upload it in Word format if the software used will recognize the images and type used within it. PDF would be even better, but I guess I can keep that for my own site. I have a lot I want to say, as usual, but I'll save the thoughts for later. What's the point of blogging when you jot everything down in one entry? :P