The Thoughts of Poodle

2007-09-08T19:26:00.000+10:00

Meh...... this is crappy go to my new (and not finished) website.

Assessment#2 Blog Post

2007-06-13T22:25:00.000+10:00

Well, where to begin?...

**I have finished going through the check-list with no hiccups this time, so there's no point posting it!**

BLOGGER
As you can see I have made drastic changes to the layout of my blog, as told in this post and this one too.
I like my new header image! ^^^
I think the changes increases the interestingness and aesthetics of my blog, but would still be better suited if I was a girl or perhaps a girly-boy. This is the case because after editing my blog I realised that the clouds and light blue colours of my blog could be view as if it were a child's bedroom, which is not exactly what I was aiming for. However I don't believe that my blog is an eyesore, just not suited to my personality. (PS: I don't think Erin's blog is that bad).
My blog is still fully functional and I have kept most of my page elements in the same place as I believe they work best in the current positions.
I have also completed all the requirements regarding Technorati, however I still find it to be little-to-no use for me (but that's just a personal thing :P).

FLICKR

What better way to start my rant on flickr but with a picture? (and what a great picture it is!!!)
I have uploaded over the required amount of 30 photo's to flickr, but have not upload much more then that, as I would rather my pictures and flickr account be about quality, not quantity. Most of my interesting images have been "pushed" to the MPI104-2007 group
There's not that much else to say about flickr, but you should check out my favorites page (hope you like BMWs!).
Oh, and i added "notes"(the notes that appear inside the image) in some of my aesthetic related images. Like this one:

DELICIOUS
There is not much to say about my del.icio.us account, except that I have done what was required of me, incorporated it as part of my work flow, and that you should check it out if you like webcomics!

IN SUMMARY
When I started this subject I didn't update my accounts too frequently as I usually only go on the net once a week, but after getting more involved in the MPI104 class I have integrated my blog, flickr and delicious accounts into my normal study/workflow. (Instead of trying to update them all in one go!)

Well that's it! Hope I haven't forgotten anything.
Thanks for a good semester and thanks for bringing INTERESTINGNESS to our classes!!!

Lack of internet credit!!

2007-06-13T21:52:00.000+10:00

OMG I currently have -$15.90!!!!!!!!

Lets hope I don't get kicked off before I get my Assessment #2 post up!!!

Here's 28 more reasons for needing it!

pppppllllllleeeeeeaaaaasssssseeeee let me keep teh netz0rs

Tweaking...again

2007-06-11T11:45:00.000+10:00

Just Tweaked my blog again!!!

I figured the clouds in the background would be too annoying/distracting when trying to read the text.

So now I fused one template with my new one so I can have most things the same, but with different borders (that are also opaque). I've still gotta fix up the corners though......

Tweaking; HTML + Templates

2007-06-09T19:08:00.000+10:00

Wow, just finished tweaking my blog and my it's looking sexy.....well actually it looks cute :|
.......and that's not too good of a thing to have when ur a guy.... oh wells

its got a new header, a new background made up of lots of these:

it kinda makes it looks like a babies room, but thats not too bad. anyways I want my blog looking like it currently does, its kinda relaxing....

I also played around with the html a little, but mainly kept the font how it is because its readable.

Take a look around, NOW!!!

Flickr

2007-06-03T22:00:00.000+10:00

Don't forget to check out my other images.........

do it.........

NOW

Counter

2007-06-02T17:11:00.000+10:00

I am currently using the "Free Counters" counter, which is located at the VERY BOTTOM of my blog. I chose this because it was the first counter site that came up when I was looking to ad one for the first assessment.
At the time of posting this post I have had 56visits and 160hits.

I do not find having a counter to be very useful because I'm not that interested in how many people visit by blog. The only main thing that interests me is being able to compare my visits with other people doing the MPI104 subject.

About my visitors:

Here's a little table of where my visitors are referred from.
NB: The 23 visits from "Wejście bezpośrednie" is a non-existent site. (I'm assuming that it means the visitors came straight to my blog).

Top 20 Referrer:
Visits:	Referer:
23	Wejście bezpośrednie
4	http://www.google.com.au/ig?hl=en
3	http://www.blogger.com/home
2	http://ba-ma.blogspot.com/
2	http://erinhardman.blogspot.com/
2	http://www2.blogger.com/profile/117660266233696759 03
14	Other

My counter can also tell me other random pieces of information like:
What resolution my blog is being viewed at.
What operating system is being used to view my blog.
What browser is being used to view my blog.

Those stats are informative, but utterly useless to me, just thought I'd tell you guys :P

Webcomics are cool!!

2007-05-30T22:02:00.000+10:00

He's a couple of links to the webcomics I read:

The Dreamland Chronicles webcomic

a pretty cool webcomic, a bit childish, but I still like it :P

Alpha-Shade

this comic is made and posted in flash, which means u can zoom into the comic!

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Webcomic

This webcomic is updated daily, and it is REALLY random.......you have been warned

Gone with the Blastwave

Another good webcomic (Very random, very funny, but hardley updated)

and my favorite:

Ctrl+Alt+Del

Great webcomic with good game reviews too

(there's a couple more on my delicious account)

Technorati (I'm the master of procrastination)

2007-05-24T14:36:00.001+10:00

What is Technorati?

Technorati is a search engine focusing on "citizen media" (i.e.. Blogs, photos, videos, voting)
Technorati started as search engine for blogs however, and is still what it is mainly used for today. media.”

I believe Technorati is mainly different to Google because of the focuses of the two programs. Technorati focuses on searching for blogs and other "citizen media", whereas Google focuses on the web as a whole, with an option of searching by type (Images, Videos, Groups, News)

Rank and Authority:

My current Rank is 845,545 which is a step up from over 2,000,000!
And my authority is 6.
Rank: A Technorati Ranking relates to the number of sources that point to a particular weblog relative to other weblogs. The more sources referencing a weblog, the higher the Technorati ranking (From Technorati FAQ).
In other words, the more people that know your blog, link, to your blog or interact with your blog the higher your rank.
Authority: Technorati Authority is the number of blogs linking to a website in the last six months. The higher the number, the more Technorati Authority the blog has (From Technorati Blog). Therefore the more people that link to you the higher your Authority, (and im guessing that your rank increases too).

Technorati’s 100 most popular blogs:

Here are some notes and screenshots I made on two of Technorati's top 100 blogs

Good Aesthetics
Seth Godin's Blog - Screenshot and notes

Bad Aesthetics
Boing Boing - Screenshot and notes

Really late post

2007-05-18T21:56:00.000+10:00

As you are aware I have been posting late, again.....even though I show up to every class.

oh well, hopefully this will make up for it!!

I mean who would want to see me looking like a spastic?

Aesthetics (another late post, with more coming)

2007-05-18T14:50:00.000+10:00

Aesthetics:
Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is a branch of philosophy, a species of value theory or axiology, which is the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste. Aesthetics is closely associated with the philosophy of art. (ha! what a mouthful!!). Obviously that wasn't my own words.

My own words: Aesthetics is how pleasing something is to look at, and how well the object/image/website flows.
OMG REALLY BAD AESTHETICS

Bad Aesthetics: TV.com
(http://www.tv.com/)

The basic structure and layout out TV.com is neat and clean. However, the TV.com website appears cluttered and "busy", as shown on the screen shot of the main page. As TV.com needs to show information on the shows it reviews, it needs to represent them using images and this drastically increases the clutter on the main page. I believe the website could improve the Aesthetics if the website didn't contain so many tv shows on the main page, and instead lead the user to more pages containing the different tv show categories.

In other notes: The website functions properly and easy to navigate. The text size and placement is good. The use of many pictures (and video clips) means that users with slow internet speeds would take longer to browse TV.com.

Good Aesthetics: Seraph Inn

(http://www.seraph-inn.com/index.html)

The header and sidebar stay anchored when navigating the Seraph Inn website. The site doesn't use any real contrasting colours either, it instead uses different shades of similar colours. This doesn't affect the legibility of the website though. The character on the top left of the picture fades into the sidebar menu. The menu remains in the sidebar when browsing other pages for easy of navigation. As the website mainly uses text it would use less time loading and browsing than TV.com.

Really late XML and RSS post :S

2007-05-18T11:51:00.000+10:00

What is XML?
The American Heritage Science Dictionary defines XML as:
Short for extensible markup language. A version of SGML that allows one to design a customized markup language, used to allow for the easy interchange of documents and data on the World Wide Web or between software components.
Here's what other sites said; Wikipedia and W3C (XML website).
Basically XML is used to simply share information over the internet.

What is RSS, and why is it important?
RSS is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated digital content, such as blogs, news feeds or podcasts. (Wikipedia - RSS)
By using RSS reader, the user can subscribe to a feed by entering a link of the feed into the reader program. The RSS reader can check the user's subscribed feeds to see if any of those feeds have new content since the last time it was checked, and, if so, retrieve that content and present it to the user.

The RSS technology creates a quick and easy way for a user to view the updated/new information their subscribed feeds (seleceted websites). This means the user doesnt have to browse through their favorite sites looking for new

RSS Reader Account
I choose Google Reader over BlogLines because I think that having another account branching off Google will make things easier for me, as signing into GMail will mean im signed into other accounts. This means i wont need to remember more account names/passwords.

Assessment#1 Blog Post

2007-05-03T01:33:00.000+10:00

In this post it will list the the fifty items, with note to points I wish to discuss.

☑ is present at assessment (hope so)
☑ has emailed katrina.flaskas@gmail.com/ with their blogger delicious and flickr account details
☑ has emailed me a working link to the assessment#1 blog post (will do)

Flicker:
☑ has uploaded pictures
☑ has progressively uploaded more pictures
I have uploaded many pictures of my friends from home, and some from Uni and by using Sets I'm able to group them simply, however more than three sets being available would help.
☑ pictures have titles
☑ pictures have descriptions
☑ pictures have MPI104-2007 tag
☑ pictures have tags other than MPI104-2007
My picture tags include: pirates, friends, puppy, cat, dog, sister, bmw and car
☑ user has joined MPI104-2007 group
☑ user has pushed picture/s to MPI104-2007 group
I pushed some of my favourite pictures like my sisters puppy and my car in an attempt to “raise the quality” as I believe that most people in the MPI104-2007 group are merely adding pictures for the sake of it, and not showcasing their best work or their favourites.

☑ user has contacts
☑ user has joined other groups
I joined the Cars Cars Cars group and the BMW Enthusiasts group, as I (obviously) have a interest in cars. An amusing picture I found in the BMW Enthusiasts group was of a BMW Isetta, honestly the strangest car out.
☑ user has nominated favorites
I have a few favourites, three being pictures of an Isetta and some of friends, one being Meg’s very animated face!
☑ user has commented on other user’s pictures
☑ user has profile
☑ user has flickr post on their blog
☑ user has posted working link to this post (or flickr account) on metablog

Summary:
I found Flickr to be a useful tool to add and share photos on the internet and I know I have not used it to its full potential.
I will continue to use Flickr long after I finish the MPI104 subject.
The option of adding Groups is a great idea, as this makes it easier to view similar images, and also get your picture noticed by the desired target market. i.e. pushing images of a hotted up BMW M3 in a BMW related group.
Obviously Contacts help to keep in touch with our friends and their new images.
The disappointing about the Sets option is that on a free account, you are only able to add three, which I personally found annoying.

del.icio.us
☑ has saved bookmarks
☑ has progressively saved more bookmarks
Unfortunately I lost all my old bookmarks when I reformatted my computer, so I am slow adding more sites as I come across them. So obviously this site will prevent a similar incident.
☑ user has integrated delicious into their workflow as a tool
I am beginning to use delicious more and more. I have stopped adding favourites to Internet Explorer and Firefox and now only add them delicious. I also have delicious as my homepage so I can easily navigate to wherever I want. I can also use delicious to search for whatever I want using the tags that people have used.
☑ bookmarks have descriptions
☑ bookmarks have tags
☑ user has bundled tags
☑ user has subscribed to tags
☑ appropriate bookmarks have MPI104-2007 tag
❑ user has joined a network
I don’t completely understand this point. Have I join a network by adding contacts? (If so then yes) or is there a specific option to join a network.
☑ user has saved links for others
☑ user has bookmarked their flickr home page
☑ user has bookmarked their blog home page
☑ user has delicious post in their blog
☑ user has posted working link to this post (or delicious account) on metablog
☑ user has included link roll (or rss feed) on their blog

Summary:
Delicious has a great potential to help me a lot when browsing the web, as I can easily save internet addresses or use it to search for whatever I want. The searching could prove to be better than Google (if used correctly) as I will find website that people often use and trust.

Blogger
☑ user has links in sidebar
I added links for my accounts (del.icio.us, Flickr and MySpace) I also added links to some people from the MPI104 class.
☑ user has more than the minimum posts
As you can tell from my BlogSpot I'm not much of a writer and not very used to writing blogs. In the future I will attempt to write lengthier blogs with more interesting subject choices. I was think of posting reviews about movies, games, TV shows and the like, as well as updates on my life in general.
☑ user has links in posts
☑ user has commented on other people’s posts
☑ user has updated profile
☑ user has uploaded picture for profile
☑ user has experimented with templates
I have switched between a few templates until I found a favourite. I have tweaked it slightly to my taste as I prefer it to be clean, clear and simple. I didn’t want to make my blog too “busy”.
☑ user has experimented with fonts
☑ user has experimented with colours
☑ user has picture/s in post/s
☑ posts have titles
☑ blog has description
☑ has added a list or other page element to their blog
I added a “Slide” to my blog to add bit of life to it, and also added pictures down the side of blog page.
☑ has listed on technorati or similar service
I'm not sure about the necessity of this, but I have done as requested and am sure you will explain :)
☑ has counter
Unfortunately I've only recently added my counter and wanting to be true to you I started the counter at zero, meaning that it appears (and is probably true) that very few people have visited my blog.

Summary:
Although I have nothing to compare it to; Blogger seems to be a powerful enough tool for blogging and has been simple enough to learn. I am unsure if I will continue to use Blogger after I complete MPI104, but I would be a good outlet for unspoken opions and possible something to use when avoiding assignments.

fin.

Spiderman 3 Advanced Screening

2007-05-03T00:40:00.000+10:00

Well well well, guess who got to see Spiderman 3 tonite?
As some of you know the Animation and Visual Effects class was invited to the premier of Spiderman 3.
Included in that group was Erin, Dave and Meg.

I baiscally posted this blog to say hahah beat ya to it!!

On another note, i was very impressed with the eyecandy action scenes and visual effects and a little dissapionted with the over use of emotions in the characters. (I might do a review in the future on it.)All in all i thought it was a good movie, but maybe too much happening in one movie, but don't let me talk you out of it! See it yourselves ya stingy bums!!!

Naruto

2007-04-30T16:00:00.000+10:00

For those of you who don't know the greatness that is Naruto let me enlighten you.

Naruto is a Japanese anime(cartoon) series that is based around the life of Uzumaki Naruto and his dream to be come the Hokage (the best Ninja in the city). Naruto starts off as a prankster with not many talents, but developes physicaly and emotionaly throughout the series. He never gives up hope and is also refered to as being the #1 Ninja at suprising people. Naruto has past the 200th episode mark, but is still a great series as a whole.

If anyone wants to watch Naruto or talk about it I have every episode + the 3 movies.
I would like to hear if anyone else has a series too.

More picys

2007-04-30T09:40:00.000+10:00

Now that ive got the net back up uploaded HEAPS more pictures, mainly of my friends back home! (Like this one)

My 5th post (well it was)

2007-04-29T20:50:00.000+10:00

I figure I haven't really said much since starting my blog so I might as well start now.

Here’s the story so far:
• My name is Nicholas Moores (otherwise known as Nik, Niku or Poodle); I'm from Tweed Heads, NSW (5mins from the Gold Coast).
• I finished my HSC in 2006 and got accepted into Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga. My course is Bachelor of Arts (Animation and Visual Effects).
• I Live on-campus in Stewards C, room 1, call me.
• I own a red 1992 BMW 318is, and no, it’s not my dad’s.
• The purpose of this blog is to keep my Multimedia teacher happy, and hopefully make many friends so there will be much rejoicing.

fin.

I’ve got Teh nets again!

2007-04-29T20:35:00.000+10:00

As you know.... its a little hard to post blogs without the internet........
This blog is the blog i was gonna post when i had my brothers net working for 10mins, which happened to be over a week ago:

Hey kids! I finally get the internet again. I haven't been on since the end of term. There are several reasons for this.
- I live 15hrs from uni (two days drive each way)
- Yes, i did have the net for the first week, but...
- I'm fairly lazy
- I have a life (believe it or not)
- I REALLY lazy....
Anyways..... I've got the net now, obviously.

On another note I promised a certain someone (Erin) that I would do a quick tut to help her with the walkcycle.

I did create a tut for you, but seeing that we're back at Uni i might as well just so u in person.

My Flickr Account

2007-03-29T22:06:00.001+10:00

My BMW
Originally uploaded by poodle..

I just created my flickr account, but it only contain a pic of my car atm. will update when i get around to adding more piccys.

Flickr seem alright atm, but i havent dived too deep into it yet. ill start exploring more when i have some more pictures to upload.

My del.icio.us account

2007-03-29T14:41:00.000+10:00

i finally created my del.icio.us account and here it is!

I swear i'll start post more in the following weeks. and each post will contain alot more excitingness.

that is all....

Another post

2007-03-15T13:50:00.000+11:00

G'day ya'll.
I figured it was time to type another post. This contains about the same amount of information as the first one. One day ill get around to introducting myself properly.

Until that time.....

I am Poodle

2007-03-06T00:02:00.000+11:00

That is all.

How's that for an eventful first post?