On the construction of Websites

I think I am going for mostly 1 column pages sandwiched in between the about and the index page. I had the rules page 2 columns, but it looked silly since I could think of anything good to put into there. I do not want to desensitize people to the brilliance of my logo by seeing it too often. That's just good business sense. On the other hand, branding is vital, but I digress. I am starting to think about meta information for my page. As a library student, adherence to the Dublin core metadata standards is important even if I have little desire to have my pages indexed by the search engine robots.

Update-o-rama

Today, decided to try to work on the rules page of the Website. The basics of this task seem simple enough, but getting all the wording right is going to be somewhat difficult. I am considering organizing the page by points of argument -- a section of racking for example -- with bullets explaining different ways people are likely to argue. The every other ball theory vs. one of each on the ends for example. This might be simpler that making different sets of rules because the whole group does not really depend on any one part. A person that racks the 1 in front and one of each on the other corners, for example, does not necessarily call the 8 neutral or allow an opponent's ball in a combo.

Final web update

Nothing very exciting to report today. I edited some text on the about page and made that section longer. I edited some text on the main page and redid some links. I also spend time editing a bunch of photos that I will likely never use. I still find it amazing that Photoshop can clear up my extremely poor photography. In one photo, the pre-edit ball count was 1 (the cue) and the post edit count was about 4 more. It turns out that the flash can darken the area it does not illuminate. Who knew?

On the triumph of radical urbanism over the spectacle and other titles of minimal validity

Today, I tweaked the logo again -- the main logo that is, not the about page picture qua logo. The problem with my evaluation of my own work is that the evaluator lacks any artist sense. The guadiness factor has decreased significantly, however, or so I am guessing. Other opine-givers shall be sought with less generally recondite tastes to give the oft-lauded "second opinion."

On the rise and fall of "completed" as a laudable goal in the information age

My final web project's main page has now been updated. I word-smithed a wonderful paragraph explaining the Website with many links to the other pages and other relevant sources of information. It is unfortunate that I am considering scraping the tips and techniques pages considering that I just finished making all the links and holder pages, but I am continually frustrated by the photo element and my lack of ideas on how best to proceed. In somewhat unrelated news, I played the best night of pool in my life recently, doubtless driven by the general excitement and furor surrounding the completion of this final web project. I won 10 games in a row, lost 1 in a rematch against someone I already beat then came back to beat him and win 3 more. Ah, glory...

Thwarted again in the pursuit of artistic touches

Alas, the Photoshop add-on site was too mighty a foe for me to overcome. One might think that a library science student could coax information from any sort of search interface, but not our friend the author. The site is coming along nicely, however, despite the difficulties. I added some sample information to the glossary page and a big image holder to the tips and techniques page. Too bad it won't show up on the live web version of the page. Signaling intentionality is very vital in these trying times...."YES! I intend to conquer Photoshop and make a photo. It will be located here, I aver!"

Yet another fantastic update on my final web project

My lack of photo editing skills has continued to thwart my attempts to make a tips and techniques page on my final web site project. I figured that it would be easy to make little lines coming off the cue ball and heading out at the target on the table to show the right angle to make a shot at, but the little pencil tool makes a line that just looks goofy coming off the back of the cue. I can't figure out how to make it looks more realistic. Also, in assaying to make a target area to hit on the target ball, I learned that the oval-shape tool is a little bit cartoonish and not at all the effect I was striving toward. Mayhap the Adobe third party add-on site has the answer in the form of a target tool that can paint a mean bull's eye....

Off I go to look for such elusive quarry.

Breaking news-- updates live!

I transferred the base of the page to the 'net today. The links all appear to work correctly and the new logo I "designed" gleams with the sickly sheen of bad web art circa 1990 -- an effect I achieved with ease (thanks to my complete lack of artistic ability). In other news, the about page has its own ultra-creative logo which consists of the other logo sans cheesy Photoshop affects. Brilliant? Quite clearly.

Another exciting update!

I have the basics of the pages set up now, but the colors and overall scheme has changed nil from the template. Since I am artistically challenged this will likely be the most difficult part of the assignment. Maybe I can shanghai someone to give me design advice, hopefully a person with knowledge of more than 10 colors. On the other hand, the content outlines are looking pretty good and I successfully wrote an about page -- quite a feat for a person that values privacy very highly.

Final website update

I have started to create my final website. I am thinking about doing a section on common forms of bar rules, a glossary page and maybe some tricks and tips. The only problem that I am considering is that the tips and tricks page could get mammoth very easily. Then the problem becomes deciding what not to include.

Final Website blog

I am thinking about doing my final website on playing pool. The first of my interests that I thought of included nanotech, books and other things general difficult to capture photographically so I decided pool was the route to go.