:: Monday, July 28, 2003 ::
found the accompanying utena quiz:
You're Kyouichi Saionji. The world sees you as an
aggressive, misanthropic bastard - which you
are, but there's more to it than that. You
despise change and want more than anything for
something in your life to be eternal, constant,
something you can depend on. As it is, you're
deeply paranoid and mistrustful of others.
The In-depth, Psychological Utena Male
Character Quiz
brought to you by Quizilla
ha ha!! not the most flattering of results but i suppose i couldn't be someone like miki, cause when i get mad i can't keep my mouth shut. >u< umm.. but i can see similarities between me and the above description, in that i do dislike change and also having something that's dependable is what i would consider a great find. in fact, i don't find saionji to be that bad of a guy (but he has horrible taste --> anthy XP). actually he's really fuuny *thinking of the chilli extra in the utena manga* .. although if i could pick i'd wanna be ruka. :3
the notice was sent
@ 10:30 a.m.
:: Monday, July 28, 2003 ::
web usability
remember the "trendy anime blog" article i told
you about? well the blogs that i usually visit made no mention of it, but i stumbled across two that did. the most interesting thing was how these blogs sided with the article, stating the decline of today's layouts which favour appearance over function. for example, creators are more concerned with how the font looks aesthetically in terms of size and colour than whether it's big or clear enough for the viewer to read. personally i have to say that i found the satiric "trendy anime blog" article quite amusing, and i admit i'm guilty of having several of the common characteristics cited. but the article is just making commentary of the trend it sees carried out on the net, which is fine.
i rather wish to address the points made in the blogs which followed the article, basically about usability. now it's been awhile since my english writing course that had me write a report about web usability, but i'll try to remember some of the basics. i would have to say that in terms of usability, many of the anime/manga fan sites i've seen rate kinda low. one of the greatest problems seems to lie in navigation. there have been times that in order to visit the other sections of a site, i needed to move my cursor around the screen until i stumbled across something i could click. also once the link was found, i had to wait for the alt tag to appear so that i would know what section it lead to. this is considered a no-no, since navigation should be more immediate. but truth be told, i'm not really criticizing these sites as being badly designed... just pointing out that they can be difficult to operate.
usability is more of a concern and priority for professional sites that wish to market merchandise or that provide important information. these sites aim to be as user friendly as possible since they do not wish to agitate the user who would immediately leave their site due to frustration. this would compromise the creator's goal of selling products or being relied upon as a news source (ie. a newspaper website). a fan site doesn't have to abide/conform to the user's preferences or needs, and so can afford the artistic inconveniences.
having great usability can be a very challenging task, requiring your site to be compatible with several browsers, several browser versions, several screen resolutions, those who are colour blind and so forth. recently i've read web articles that state the usability problems associated with the font tag, chromeless windows, and several common javascripts. basically it presents quite a number of limitations for the site designer. but if you're someone skilled enough to accommodate the various needs of your users without it infringing too much on your creative version, then give it a go!! in the end, the truth is making a site with great usability can be quite the challenge. or to generalize it even more, meeting everyone's needs is never easy. i think it's worth a try but if it's just a blog or a fan site don't lose sleep over it. it's almost funny, i can remember how my blog looked when i viewed it months ago using mozilla and some version of netscape (which i'm hoping was a really old one). to sum it up:
netscape: looked a mess
mozilla: looked fine but had no blog entries content
note: this entry was pretty long and knowing me may need more editing later ^u^
the notice was sent
@ 12:34 a.m.
:: Sunday, July 27, 2003 ::
You're Utena Tenjoh, beautiful gender role scofflaw
and Victor of the Duels. You're marked by a
disturbed past, an idealistic and noble nature,
and intense loyalty to your friends. Your
innocence makes you an easy target for
manipulation, but your determination and the
power of your belief in goodness overcomes all.
The In-depth, Psychological Utena Female Character Quiz
brought to you by Quizilla
i have to say i'm surprised by this result, i was predicting i'd be nanami. ^-^
the notice was sent
@ 12:01 a.m.
:: Friday, July 25, 2003 ::
mysteries solved
good news!! recently i have discovered the answer to 2 mysteries that have been plaguing me for months.
mystery the first: customized title bars for chromeless windows would open full screen instead of the usual size.
after internally blaming my brother (even though he claimed innocence... or is it more like ignorance >u<) i have now learned it's due to having IE 6 SP1. From what i can tell, Internet Explorer Service Pack 1 eliminates the ability to create a fullscreen pop-up window and then resize it to the desired smaller size. this is suppose to stop "spoofing", though i have no idea about that stuff. so i have concluded that it was unintentionally my brother's fault, thus making me right. ~u~
mystery the second: i had no clue where my precious x shitajiki (pencil board) went, but now i've found it!!! ^o^ it's kinda bent so hopefully i can straighten it out. i'm sooo pleased. although it's kinda funny that i missed it so badly when i don't even use the thing. but i really do love that x pic in particular. :3
note: i'm sure you've noticed, but especially when i'm happy i go emoticon crazy... pretty ditsy of me i'm sure ^-^
the notice was sent
@ 12:00 a.m.
:: Monday, July 14, 2003 ::
observant thoughts
lately i've been reading the recent x topics posted on a board; and since i'm not one to expose myself to criticism by placing my comments there... i'll just cowardly write them here. really though, there isn't much for me to say... mainly i've noticed that interpretation of a series or character is quite diverse. things that people believe are true to character and story for one person seem to be totally off the mark for another. that's not exactly something new to me, obviously people view things differently. it's just that the difference in interpretation is much greater than i would of expected. afterall, isn't the interpretations based on the same material? granted differences can occur due to translation and source (in other words, whether thoughts are based on the representation in manga, anime, movie or fics).
but after reading the board, i'm getting the idea that people's views on characters or relationships are sometimes more influenced by what could happen off screen rather than on.
that the possibility of what you don't see could be used to evaluate what you do see. for example, a person believes that it's possible that two characters kissed off screen and so views their relationship as a romantic one. i think it's fine to imagine what could of happened, but to use possibilities to make judgement on what's presented can stray away from what is intended. in conveying a story, a creator cannot limit what a reader envisions as possible. the only means the creator can hope to make readers see the story they wish to tell is through the specific things they do show. in other words, one shouldn't make light of what they're shown, and using what you know is fact allows for a more accurate view. whether it's a better view is something that can be contested. that's all for now... i'm tired. VuV
the notice was sent
@ 01:03 p.m.
:: Sunday, July 6, 2003 ::
You are Remus Lupin,the kind werewolf and possibly
the sweetest person in the world^^ You like to
read and love hanging around with your best
friends
Which of the marauders are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
the notice was sent
@ 12:36 a.m.
:: Friday, July 4, 2003 ::
wallpaper difficulties
i might of mentioned to you how particular i am when it comes to wallpapers. for me, a great wallpaper should be a picture that one wants to be in, which is the illusion i get when staring at the desktop as it encompasses the entire screen. it drives me crazy though cause it's kinda hard to find a picture like that. it can't be too plain where most of the screen (ie. 80% and over) is just one solid hue, and it can't be too busy since i (unlike the trend) have my desktop littered with many icons scattered throughout the screen. i also really dislike a lot of the nature shots that people like to use, and also the outerspace planetoid - starsystem pics. another problem is finding a wallpaper that my family can accept as well (so that means i can't have wallpapers like you :3)... and that's really an obstacle because they have horrible taste (ha ha!! >u<). and so i still remain in my search for nice wallpaper (sigh) u_u;;
compy heart © attack
reading your comment about someone having computer problems makes me think about how i hate it when my comp goes screwy. actually, it's worse than hating it... it kills me. i become so panicky, almost like how one might feel if they destroyed a priceless artifact at a museum (which is an imagined fear of mine). >_< gahh!!! i need a new OS. my current one loves to not work properly ;_;. knowing how i have a panic attack hoping that everything will be back to normal after rebooting (or hoping that it reboots at all), you can see the irony. u_u*
the notice was sent
@ 11:31 a.m.
:: Tuesday, July 1, 2003 ::
archiving blues
i can't archive properly (a link doesn't show up on my index page)!!
hopefully i can find a solution to this situation soon.
i don't understand why so many things go wrong when i use the computer.
more blues
looks like it'll be another month of asuka without x... i'm all for the series being around longer but this signals neglect. it seems that CLAMP is more concerned and focused on their new projects. as a consolation prize they'll release new x illustration goods (hologram phonecard and bag). hopefully they feature new artwork, or is that asking for too much? ;;;u_u;;;
the notice was sent
@ 05:19 a.m.
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