Reblogged from Michael Dalgarno | University Blog:
For one of my assignments, I was required to create five images in the style of an art movement (I chose Surrealism) and an essay about the chosen movement. Both of these were then to be included into a website and uploaded to a web server. We were provided with a template website, although I altered this and created my design using HTML and CSS. You can see the website here.
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Image via Dry Icons
A couple of days into the new year, and I bet the majority have already fallen wayside to your new years resolutions. Come on. Admit it? Ah well, no worries, just pick yourself up and dust yourself down and start all over again when you are ready.
I really thought hard about what I want to achieve this year, and the major thing that I want to do is de-clutter. Especially, taken into account that the
Image via Manchester Metropolitan University
Yep, that old chestnut again. Although, I think you are all aware that this will be appearing as a goal until I have finished the degree.
This year is definitely a hard one for me, so I just want to finish the second year with good grades. As much as I would love to still achieve the 1st marks I received the last couple of years, I am just aiming for a 2:1 grade this year.
I am definitely not gonna try and stress out too much if I don’t achieve as high as I have previously…hopefully.
Image via the Gadget Show
For years I have been saying that I will convert all my music to mp3s, and I even started last summer but suddenly stopped. Much to the annoyance of Chris, as I have since left a CD trail of where I have been. This may not seem such a big task, but you haven’t seen my collection.
So this year I intend to finish what I started and convert all my CDs.
Image via Bad Taste Bears
Last year, after much thought I decided that I would reduce my BTB collection…drastically. And by drastically, I mean the majority of it. Having spent years trying to collect every single figurine (I was four away from completion), it meant that I amassed over 400 figurines. However, due to one thing and another, I have decided that I only want to keep the bears that I absolutely love.
So this year I am going to go through the collection and decide which ones I want to keep, and which ones I am going to sell, and claim back the spare room.
Image via Young Entrepreneur
As the years pass, you buy loads of new things for the home, but you hardly throw anything out. This means you end up living in clutter galore. We all pretend that the ‘spring clean’ will get rid of some of the junk, but someone how we fight with common sense because one day we find a use for the broken mini disc player (remember them?) that you bought. Admit it, you just read that and thought ‘Oh my god, that is so true!’?
With the block of flats that I live in getting the much needed improvements that is needed (including a facelift), this is probably the best time to look at de-cluttering the house.
Image via Real Fat Loss
This is just a simple a goal to re-join a gym. And use it of course.
I am going to wait at least until the resolution people have got bored and left before I even contemplate joining. And I am not going to overdo myself either by saying that I will go X amount of times a week. As long as I use the gym then I will be happy.
Filed under: Bad Taste Bears, Gym, Home, New Year Goals, Study | Tagged: Bad Taste Bears, Declutter, Goal, Gym, Health, Home, Music, New Year | Leave a Comment »
At the beginning of the year I set out some new year goals, that I planned to do in 2011. One of these was to take a picture a day.
Here are all the pictures from December:
All the images were edited using Instagr.am, which is a free app for the iPhone.
Filed under: New Year Goals, Photography, Today is all about... | Tagged: Instagram, Photo A Day, Photography | Leave a Comment »
It’s coming to the end of the year, and that can only mean one thing. Okay, two things! A good old knees up to celebrate the new year and the review of my previous years goals. Alright, the latter isn’t probably as exciting as you’d hope but , hey ho.
At the beginning of 2011, I set out goals that I would like to achieve throughout the year, and again like previous years…some have been more successful than others.
I am not going to lie to you, this year has definitely not been one of the hardest to deal with due to some unexpected news, which has mean that some things have been ignored.
Image via Manchester Metropolitan University
I can proudly say that this goal was met. The grades were that good I got a ‘Letter of Commendation’. Again!!!
Getting the letter of commendation for the second year running puts a lot of pressure on me to see if I can make it three years in a row. However, if I am honest, I don’t think that is going to happen. Mainly due to this year being heavily about group work. But I can only try and do my best.
Image via Earthy Cartoons
The plan was at summer to build on the portfolio, and I did start off doing this, but this was all side-lined while I dealt with other things.
Over the next year, I do intend to build on the portfolio and possibly use some of the stuff that I do as part of degree as examples of the work that I can do. After all, that is what it is there to do ain’t it?
Additionally, I do have a few friends who are interested/allowing me design a new website for them. Let’s hope that I can finish them off within the new summer.
Own image
I’ll be honest, I haven’t even looked at my website this year. In fact, at the moment it is down while I have time to sort out the new server transfer stuff.
At the moment, this is the least of my worries and I shall deal with that when I have the time.
Image via Cartoon Motivator
This is something that else that has taken a back seat this year due to one thing or another. As I have not been able to build my portfolio, it makes trying to get work experience that little bit harder.
Additionally going into my second year of my degree, having known what I wanted to do for ages career-wise has now clouded by uncertainty. To be honest, I don’t know if I have got what it takes to be a web designer. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy creating websites, but I don’t believe I have the skills to make a career out of. Saying that I would still like to have a job within that industry. What I have no idea. Looks like I have some soul searching to do over the next couple of months.
Image via B4 Partnership
At the beginning of the year my organisation started to take shape, and I felt like I had things under control, but come the summer and things all went to pot again. In fact coming back to university I feel more disorganised it’s unbelievable.
Going into the new year, I have great expectations that I may get this organisation stuff sorted. I have bought myself a diary (sometimes paper beats electronic) and I am going to use it to keep track of stuff that I need to do among other things.
Fingers crossed this will help sort out my organisation skills.
Image via icanhascheezburger
I have this love/hate relationship with the gym. I liked going…as long as I have got an idea what I am doing. If I just go, then I hate it. And I really need to be in the mood to go. Plus, a lot of the time I couldn’t be bothered with doing the 20 odd minute walk to get to the gym.
However, attendance did provide some positive results. For starters, I was starting to get called ‘buff’.
Although, due to everything that is going on at the moment (as well as lack of funds), I cancelled my gym membership. Although, I do plan to rejoin a gym that is nearer to home sometime next year.
I wouldn’t say that the fitness thing was a total failure. I feel better in myself, and I don’t feel unfit. Well I don’t until I go back to the gym that is.
Image cia Candidos
If you ever want to set yourself a challenge, then I suggest that you do a project like this. What made it difficult for me was trying to think of an image that emulates what happened that day, and actually thinking of something to photograph when there isn’t anything to report about. However, succeeding with this project has gave me something that I didn’t contemplate when I decided to do it…a diary of the year.
I am probably going to keep the ‘Today is all about…’ theme continuing into 2012, but probably not as strict as a picture a day. However, I may do another picture a day project but on a different theme.
To see all the images from this year, then you can see the blogs here
Filed under: Gym, Health, New Year Goals, Photography, Study, Today is all about... | Tagged: Goal setting, New Year, New Year's resolution | Leave a Comment »
At the beginning of the year I set out some new year goals, that I planned to do in 2011. One of these was to take a picture a day.
Here are all the pictures from November:
All the images were edited using Instagr.am, which is a free app for the iPhone.
Filed under: New Year Goals, Photography, Today is all about... | Tagged: Instagram, Photo A Day, Photography | Leave a Comment »
At the beginning of the year I set out some new year goals, that I planned to do in 2011. One of these was to take a picture a day.
Here are all the pictures from October:
All the images were edited using Instagr.am, which is a free app for the iPhone.
Filed under: New Year Goals, Photography, Today is all about... | Tagged: Instagram, Photo A Day, Photography | Leave a Comment »
At the beginning of the year I set out some new year goals, that I planned to do in 2011. One of these was to take a picture a day.
Here are all the pictures from September:
All the images were edited using Instagr.am, which is a free app for the iPhone.
Filed under: New Year Goals, Photography, Today is all about... | Tagged: Instagram, Photo A Day, Photography | Leave a Comment »
Within Google+, a small group of people have got together as part of a photography project. As a photographer (not that I am, but bear with me), you are normally behind the lens, so this project is designed to put you in front for a change. Every alternative Sunday, people submit a self-portrait to the project.
The majority of the people within the project are professionals, and I did feel a little daunted in joining the group, let alone submitting something, but I did and I am already thinking of something to do for the next photo.
This Selfy Sunday just creeped up on me, that I didn’t really have much time to think of something to do, so at the last minute I took this image.
This is this fortnight’s entry:
Happiness
Please let me know what you think of the photo. All constructive comments are much appreciated.
If you interested in seeing the other entrants into the project, they you can view them all here: Selfy Sunday – 9th October 2011 [opens in a new window].
For those that want to see my last entry, you can view it here
Unlike last week, I am not going to do a breakdown on the image. This is because I did it last minute and didn’t keep all the stages separate. However, with the next project being Halloween themed (so will be three weeks away instead of two), I know that there will be a number of layers to create the image I have in my mind…so will try and do the breakdown next time.
For those that are interested in joining the Selfy Sunday, then speak to me on Google+ and I shall will let you know how.
Filed under: Photography, Selfy Sunday | Tagged: Google+, Photography, Photoshop, Self Portrait | Leave a Comment »
Within Google+, a small group of people have got together as part of a photography project. As a photographer (not that I am, but bear with me), you are normally behind the lens, so this project is designed to put you in front for a change. Every alternative Sunday, people submit a self-portrait to the project.
The majority of the people within the project are professionals, and I did feel a little daunted in joining the group, let alone submitting something, but I did and I am already thinking of something to do for the next photo.
This is this fortnight’s entry:
Fierce
Well as you can probably see, this photo is not exactly natural, and has been Photoshopped. However, I do hope it doesn’t look too overdone. For those interested, here are the steps that I followed:
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Please let me know what you think of the photo (preferably within the comment section below and not on a social networking site – just because I feel the comments section within my blog is not used as much as I would like 
). All constructive comments are much appreciated.
If you interested in seeing the other entrants into the project, they you can view them all here: Selfy Sunday – 11th September 2011 [opens in a new window]
For those that want to see my last entry, you can view it here
For those that are interested in joining Google+ it is now open to the public, so feel free to come and join me.
Filed under: Photography, Selfy Sunday | Tagged: Google+, Photography, Photoshop, Self Portrait | 2 Comments »
Image via Facebook
If you have been on Facebook over the last couple of days, you may will have noticed a few changes that have been made to the social network. However you are more than likely have noticed the gripes and groans about the changes…well get ready for a load more moans to head your way over the next couple of weeks, as Facebook is getting a major overhaul. But before talking about what is coming, I think it’s best to start with what has already been implemented.
There have been a couple of changes that have been made to the Facebook site already, which have gone down like a lead balloon for a lot of people. This overview is not trying to be a technical look, but just a quick overview of the new functions.
The four main changes that I think are important are:
Facebook Lists
This is not entirely new on Facebook, however they have never been used to their full potential until now…maybe it was Google+ and its circles function that gave it a kick up the backside to make more use of it. Who cares; let’s embrace it.
So what are lists? In a nutshell, it is how you group your Facebook friends, because let’s be honest they are not all friends. You have family, close friends, acquaintances etc. Facebook have created a couple of useful lists, but this doesn’t stop you from creating more. Additionally, people can be in more than one group so your posts can be targeted relevantly.
Once your friends are in groups, then you can alter who can view the post, because sometimes you don’t want everyone to know what’s going on. An example could be if you wanted to share some personal information with just family and close friends…then old school friends can’t see it (unless they are a close friend obviously). Or, you could set up a list for people who play games, and any of the notifications/requests for games can only be viewed by them and this prevents non-games users getting frustrated by posts overloads.
As a Google+ user I have seen the benefits it can give via their Circles function so this is something that I really like and will be using within Facebook (actually I already am).
However, this new function could also cause a number of problems:
Subscribe options
Think Twitter, and that is basically what the subscribe function is about. You can now follow someone without having to be a friend. I should note that they will only be able to see what you post publicly. You can turn this off, so people who are not friends can’t subscribe (you can do this via Privacy settings)
A good tool is that you can amend what you subscribe to for your ‘friends’. Otherwise known as ‘muting someone because they bore the hell out of you and can’t be arsed dealing with the confrontation on why you de-friended them’! You will still be able to view their information on their profile, but it won’t hog up your wall or the new ticker box on the right hand side.
Another way to amend your subscribe option is to look at the lists you have created. While in the list, you can amend what you can view via the ‘Manage List’ option. So if you don’t want to see any of the subscriptions for anyone in your ‘Weirdos from school’ list, then just untick all the options.
However, there is still a concern on how you appear in other people’s Facebook profiles, especially those who you are not friends with. The only thing I can suggest is privacy. Amend your privacy settings so only your friends can see what you post. Use the lists function wisely. This will protect you. If you can see friends of friends posts…then that is their issue…not yours.
Before the recent update, Facebook used to show what they believed to be ‘Top Stories’. Which was questionable because their ‘top stories’ never were! But there was always the ‘Recent Stories’ option if that tickled your fancy.
This has now been aesthetically changed. Both are still there, but laid out slightly differently. So no need to panic! In fact it won’t be long until you get used to it and then will be complaining about the next update they do later on with that section.
A new tool that has been added to the wall post is that you can let Facebook know what you think is a top story, so as time goes on the top stories should become more relevant to you as a user.
Ticker box
This appears to be the biggest issue for everyone. The ticker box is the box on the right hand side (that follows you everywhere) and tells you everything that your friends are doing. Yep, you have always wanted to know what your friend is saying to some random stranger. Basically, you are being given permission to stalk your friends…and they don’t like it.
People feel that this is an invasion of privacy, and in a way it is. You are being shown stuff that you would more of likely have missed prior to the changes. However I see it more as showing the flaws in people and how they see their private information. I shall say it again (just to bore you); Facebook wants you to let everyone know what you are doing, so make your profile as public as possible. It’s your responsibility (and a ball-ache) to amend it to private as you seem fit.
If you follow, the suggestions above under the subscription section, this should hopefully make the information that appears in the ticker a little more relevant to you.
So there you go, these are the new functions within Facebook. Let me know what you think of the new functions? Good and bad? Personally, I can see the good and bad in the updates. The problem arises that with over 800 million users not everyone will want to use Facebook the way that the developers want you to. Some use it for entertainment and don’t share personal information while some use it as a blog providing followers friends with an update of what is happening in their life. Some use it occasionally and will find the updates time-consuming, while others use it regularly and see the changes as extremely useful. So although everyone wont share the same view, they are relevant.
Look out for my next blog in relation to the new functions as announced at the F8 conference. If your not that bored already, then share the blog. Muchas gracias!!!
Filed under: Facebook, Tech | Tagged: Circles, F8 conference, Facebook, Friends, Google+, Lists, privacy settings, Social Networking, Subscribe, Subscription, Ticker box, Twitter, Updates | 2 Comments »
