Blogskin: FTStudio V2

Did a spot of shopping today for my grad night.. But since I got home slightly earlier than expected, I had time to do some programming. First thing I did (of course) was to change my blog skin.

So the usual info:
Skin Title: FTStudio V2 (FusedThought Official v2)
Number: 6th
ID: N6-29D11M2K7Y
Customization: None

Permanent skin application URL: http://gyeojz.blogspot.com/?css=6
Reset to default: http://gyeojz.blogspot.com/?css=0

Feel free to post any comments on this new blog design... =).

Brainstorming for the school project. But still drawing blanks =(

Blogskins: FTStudio V1

So frustrated. 2 wasted days. Didn't have the heart to do anything.
Turned to changing this site skin to cool down. It may be weird for some, but quite effective for myself.

Anyway, here are the official information about the skin:

Skin Title: FTStudio V1 (FusedThought Official v1)
Number: 5th
ID: N5-03D10M2K7Y
Customization: None

Permanent skin application URL: http://gyeojz.blogspot.com/?css=5
Reset to default: http://gyeojz.blogspot.com/?css=0

Blogskins: Anime.Otaku

New Skin again.

I didn't schedule to make a new skin this time round. It was because I was feeling abit frustrated that I decided to code one to relief stress.
Guess it was my record time in creating a new skin also. 45 minutes including the graphics.
In fact the graphics took me almost 30 minutes (I aren't that good at graphic manipulation. The css coding only took 15 minutes.

The rationale behind this skin name was because, Anime Otaku is taken to mean anime fan.
Although Otaku is a fairly derogatory term in Japan. Its most commonly used to refer to excessive obsession with Anime. However, in America, the term is often a badge of honor for hard-core anime fans.

This skin include a few firsts.
These are: Opacity effects, being Anime themed, a gradual (gradient) background as well as a new skin cataloging system.
Moreover, its the first skin to use CSS3's opacity property. However, this means that opacity effects will not be shown on certain browsers. Its minimal though. In fact, almost unnoticeable.

Since I constantly add new skins, I guess I should have some detailed skin launch format from now on.
So here it goes:

Skin Title: Anime.Otaku
Number: Quarto (4th)
ID: N4-19D08M2K7Y
Customization: None

As usual, this skin can be applied to the page permanently regardless of my future layout changes using this URL: http://gyeojz.blogspot.com/?css=4

To reset, use http://gyeojz.blogspot.com/?css=0

Credits to the respective creators of the individual pictures used to make the masthead.

water.no.fall

New layout, about 1 month after the launch of my second layout which was titled: Desire Secundus.

The new layout is titled water.no.fall.
This is the more closely tied to my blog title ("Risen Against Gravity") compared to my other layouts I've done so far..
As you may have noticed, the main waterfall picture is reversed, going against the natural gravity.

I've also finally incorporated a tag cloud.

This is my Third (Terzo) XML Layout.
And that can be applied to the page permanently regardless of my future layout changes using this URL: http://gyeojz.blogspot.com/?css=3

To reset, use http://gyeojz.blogspot.com/?css=0

Last but not least, a credit..... the original picture is taken by Jessica =)

Blogskin / style switcher Version 2

In the last post (http://gyeojz.blogspot.com/2007/05/blogskin-style-switcher.html), I've announced the availability of the blogksin switcher.

After some work, I've updated it to remember the user's preferences via the use of cookies. It was some work, but finally it is ready.

For those who want to have a style switcher but are unable to use brothercake's IOTBS in Blogger or some other sites due to the same-origin policy, my style switcher may be the answer. However, it may not be suited for all, but at least it works.

---

Some good points over the usual "alternate stylesheet method";
1. It loads the styles on demand.
2. Its cross-browser compatible. (at least its tested to work in Firefox, IE6, IE 7 and Opera).
3. Its customizable to load other style required elements like javascript on demand too.
4. The file size is relatively small.

Known Issues
1. In Opera, default is alright. but some layout problems when a alternative style is used. Seems that it doesn't really support link disabled.

---

The switcher works by getting the ?css= Parameter in the URL.
index.html?css=0 resets to the default style. While other numbers corresponds to the other style types.

I'll be packaging the scripts into a zip file and releasing it under a license once I solve the Opera bug/problem.

So watch this space =)

UPDATE: Opera Problem fixed.

Blogskin / style switcher

Remember a few post ago at the release of my current blogskin, "Desire Secundus: Choosing the path to take", I was musing about the lack of support for the IOTBS switcher because of cross-domain restriction?

well, I've thought about it and came up with a solution.
Using a script from netlobo which gets url parameters, I've came up with something which emulates PHP (but less efficient) and is expandable for future blogskins/style.
It even downloads the blog styles on-demand...

However, there is one limitation. The user preferences aren't remembered and the only way is for the user to visit the site using the appropriate URL parameters to view the skin.

Probably the user preference will come at a later date.
For now, enjoy the switcher (located in the sidebar or somewhere in the page depending on the blogskin/style).

The GET URL parameter script is copyright to the respective programmer.
For now, the switcher is copyrighted to me. I may decide to release it under another license at a later date. For now, it is still undergoing some tests.

So enjoy!

(p.s. For those who haven't read the news on the closure of Yahoo photos, you can read an article about it at my tech blog.)

Blogskins: Desire Secundus

As you may have noticed, a new layout/blogskin is out. my old layout is still in use at my tech blog: http://tech-no-borders.blogspot.com.

This layout/blogskin is titled: Desires Secundus: Choosing the path to take.

Any comments on the blogskin/layout please do so.
Hope I've broken the "corporate look".

Wanted to incorporate a layout changer though... but (surprise surprise), it works in Firefox but not Internet Explorer (IE).
Even IE7 can't use it because of some cross-domain restriction that the browser places on JavaScript. So no choice. Had to take it out.

EDIT (22 May 2007): An update to a new style/blogskin/layout changer (which works in IE) at http://gyeojz.blogspot.com/2007/05/blogskin-style-switcher.html

New Layout

I guess this is obvious. After a day's work, (time slightly wasted), I've finally rolled out a new layout for this blog and will soon port it over to my technology blog http://tech-no-borders.blogspot.com.

This is my first Layout for the new Blogger. It is a full eXtensible Markup Language (XML) template.

There are still some features like tagboard which aren't up yet. I still need to do some fine tuning. so for now please post any comments you have at the respective comments link in the posts. Non-article related comments are also welcomed. Cheers.

And to all my friends, thanks for the concern. I should be going back to school tomorrow.

Cheers!

Blog Layout and Singapore Idol

yup.. changed layout.. so happy with this new one...

For the first time it is a fully fluid layout. Its still standards compliant as usual, although I am still having problems with the blogger inserted codes as they aren't standards compliant rendering my site uncompliant with stricter doctypes..

Couldn't migrate fully from iframes also because browsers have restrictions on cross domain XmlHttpRequest. Thus I have to use back and iframe for the tagbaord...

Any comments welcome... whether its on the improvements of the site or the layout, or the accessiblity... Thanks.

OK.. enough tech stuff.

Singapore Idol!!! Finals!!

Yup Singapore Idol 2 finals result show is now shoing... wonder who will win... This time round its a bit hard to determine...

Oh well... off to watch it...

Birthday celebration and blog

Went out today to celebrate my friend's birthday.

Watched Pirates of the Carribean.
Looks like there is going to be the 3rd instalment of the show, judging by the type of ending they had... And the short part after the credits was lame. We sat through the whole credit just to see a dog biting a bone... -_-"

At lunch at around 4pm. LOLx.
The train ride home was crowded as there was disruptions in the North-East Line.
Phew! Long wait too.

Oh man... looks like fileden is down...
The graphics for this blog as well as the bowling blog is out.

Had to create a temporary layout for this blog and take away the other stylesheets for the time being. good also.. Time for me to revamp the whole base coding.
After doing the bowling blog, I figured that my current coding for this site isn't as semantic as i thought it would be. it would do with some further improvements. After trial runs with the style layout changer, I am contemplating whether to take it off in lieu with the current problem of over-dependence on a host for the css layout.
Though there are benefits of having an external stylesheets, I think an internal stylesheet for a blog is more practical.

DNA spiral layout

Yup... new layout again.
This time its titled "Spiral of Life: DNA".

Because of the slight tweak to the javacript, the the layout the user may have selected before is not reflected.

Thus if you like any of the previous layout, you can switch back using the style changer on the right.

Avaliable styles are:
Stepping Stone
Simplicity
Bleach Theme: Zangetsu-Ichigo
Spiral of Life: DNA

Layouts (and ONLY the Layout, i.e. ONLY the positioning of the content and NOT the content itself) are all licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License

Oh and Youth Day coming too!! Its this Monday. Thus, Monday is a School Holiday. Yeah!!!

New Skins / Layouts (Bleach, Simplicity and Stepping Stones)

Took my blog a step further...

I've introduced new Skins / layouts.
On top of this current "Stepping Stones" Skin / Layout, I've added "Simp-1-city" and "Bleach (Anime)" Skin / Layout.

The layouts can be accessed via the sidebar. Take a look and pick your favourite. The user's preference will be "saved" so that the next time you visit, the layout will be used.

Check that section often as I will be adding more layouts after my examinations are over. For now, enjoy this 3.

List of Layouts / Skins:
Stepping Stone
Simplicity
Bleach (Anime)

The Picture used in the Stepping Stones layout is taken by me.
As for the Bleach and Simplicity, the pictures were obtained from bleachexile and google search repectively. However, they have been edited and enhanced using GIMP and Photoshop. A few new elements were added to the Bleach picture.

Please feel free to give your comments via the tagboard. If something doesn't work, please inform me also.

Enjoy!

More Copyright Laws

Here are more Copyright laws governing what we put in our blogs. Rates stated are said to be "competitive".

But seriously, paying $1000 a year (the amount you have to pay to put 10 songs or less) to put background music on your blog is ridiculous especially when majority of the bloggers who would actually put music on their blogs would be students. And they are expecting students to pay for it too.

Ok, you can say $1000 a year, which translates to about $84 a month is reasonable, but most casual student bloggers would not be able to find the money to pay for it. I think the easier way out for students would be to get it off their blogs.

Ultimately, the decision lies with the bloggers themselves.

Below is the a Channel News Asia Article taken from their website
(for bloggers take note of those in bold)

The Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (COMPASS) has set up a one-stop centre to license music works for digital distribution.

COMPASS helps to protect and promote the copyright interests of composers, lyricists and publishers of musical works.

The move is seen as yet another move to reduce the spread of illegal music downloads.

To provide songs for downloads, a company like SoundBuzz needs to first clear the copyrights for them.

Previously, it had to obtain separate licences from nine different music publishers.

The new one-stop centre, up since beginning of the year, allows the company to just apply for a single licence.

But bloggers need to take note.


Dr Edmund Lam, CEO and Director of Composers and Authors Society of Singapore, said: "Currently, the trend is that we see an increasing number of bloggers that copy music into their web pages without obtaining the legitimate corporate licenses.


"We would encourage such bloggers to come to the one-stop centre to apply for the necessary licence. We are charging a rate of $1,000 for bloggers that does not exceed the usage of 10 songs."


(p.s. The following values are quoted from the January 12, 2006 The Straits Times, Home Section, page H7:
$5000 for 11 to 49 songs. $10000 for over 50 songs.

COMPASS plans to introduce two new technologies to identify illegal music websites in about six months.

One technology is called the webcrawler where it will go through the net and search for sites that have exploited musical works.

The other technology is called fingerprinting. What it does is it identifies the type of music that has been downloaded, and checks if the musical works have the appropriate copyright licences. - CNA/de

At version 7 already

Wow. This blog has just reached its 1st anniversary not long ago and has already gone thorugh 7 major revisions to the Layout. Currently the layout is at version 7.2.

Been learning eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT), after I had familiarized myself with XHTML and CSS standards by creating this site. Although can say XSLT technology has been introduced quite some time ago.

I'm taking some time off to create a database for my contacts using XML and XSLT. My contact list is currently in a mess, with most of it stored in my handphone. Must make a hardcopy one of these days.

Yea!! finally the Government's website decides to embrace RSS. Been waiting for a year. Suggested long time ago for them to use it. Finally I can get reports easily using thunderbird instead of getting emails containing links to the site almost daily from them.

Also after a long 2 week wait. Bleach ep. 63 and 64 is out. Still waiting for DB or Bleach-Society to get it subbed. Wish I could understand Japanese, then no need to have to wait even longer. Its almost 10 hours after the airing. Should be out soon....

Warnings Not Heeded

I've deleted/edited the tags and warned time and time again, NOT to post any commercial advertising in my tagboard BUT my warnings were not heeded at all.

Well, that leaves me with no choice.

"Congratulations" to the IP address 85.64.110.102 for being the first to be entered into my Tagboard's Ban IP list.

WHOIS information on 85.64.110.102
IP location: United States - New York - New York - Provider Local Registry
Reverse IP: No websites hosted using this IP address.
Blacklist Status: Currently listed in the 'Spam and Open Relay Blocking System' database

Mis-used

Someone or some auto-generating comment spam system has been misusing my tagboard.

First was the "Phentermine" tag...
Then there was another which was even more straight-forward in its marketing.

Had to delete the tags. Had to disable the blogger comments system the last time (till now) because of all these spam-marketing related comments and now they are targeting tagboards???

ばかもの

Maybe I should start putting IP bans on those who misuse.

Happy New Year

Yepz!! Its the 1st day of the 1st month of the New Year!! In other words Happy New Year to everyone out there!!!

Oh boy... New Year, New Start, New Resolutions... Nope.. I won't say whats mine.. Let me keep it a secret! =)

Wonder who is Phentermine.. Thanks for tagging my tagboard and the compliment. Although I guess I will never know who that is as it seems like one of those auto generated comment adverts/spam.

Anyway.. very busy clearing stuff now that I have started..

Happy New Year to all again!!