Going Offline

The world has become a little crazy, hasn’t it?

I have found myself writing my feelings into a traditional journal. It’s been good. It means, that I am still able to get my feelings out, but don’t seem to overthink, or procrastinate as much as I do when there is an internet connection involved.

So, I write a few pages of rambling, before bed. And it actually has been helping me sleep better. Because I am not clicking on another tab, or looking through Facebook nonsense. It’s a positive thing. And in these, very challenging, times, it’s good to try and claim any positivity we can.

‘Twas the night before Christmas, and not a creature was stirring…

..apart from the poor souls working in a call centre. *coughs* Yes, apparently I have decided I don’t need much of a Christmas holiday this year, as I am working both the 25th and 26th. I am a bit of an idiot sometimes.

But I felt I should put that creativity into something productive. And that productivity was to make it so my domain name comes up with my wordpress blog. Which I cant do, because I have apparently forgotten almost everything to do with managing my site online. Which is so handy. I think I put off looking at it for too long. Mosly because I’m scared I’ll break it.

I need to get more confident with this stuff, because its the one side of things I am unsure of, and I refuse to take up any work related to it till I have a bit more confidence in it. But that is a good thing, because it means that I won’t be doing anything that is out of my league. And untill I am completely happy with the process, I don’t think I would be able to deliver something 100%. Work in progress, I guess.

Anyways, hope everyone has a lovely Christmas.

Website-World of Spectrum

http://worldofspectrum.org

Remember the simpler days of computer games? Want to revert back to the games of the 80s and early 90s. Well visit this, offically endorsed, site dedicated to the Sinclair ZX Spectrum.

This site includes thousands of Spectrum games, that will transport any gamer back to the age where computer games were simpler. It is something that will make geeks of a certain age well-up in nostalgia.

As well as ROMs for the majority of games listed on the site, there is also a huge library of magazine and package scans. Everything, even the sites retro design takes you back in time. And if you have the time, you can also help out by collecting information for the archives. They always need people to collect instructions and scans for a variety of games.

If you have a fondness for computer games and their history, I urge you to visit this site and just enjoy it.

Blog Recommendation: Domestic Sluttery

If, like me, you are a foodie with a fondness for design blogs, check out Domestic Sluttery.

You see the name, and you may think you are being directed onto some x-rated site, I can assure you it is nothing of the sort.

Domestic Sluttery: The home and lifestyle blog for women who have better things to do.

It’s purpose is to show women they can be ‘domestic goddesses’ but can still enjoy their lives. It is a really inspirational blog, with a number of different contributors and they cover a wide variety of topics. Why I like this blog, is because I feel that it has a little bit for everybody, whether you are looking for shopping ideas or for a new food recipe. And I like that freedom the blog seems to have.

All the contributors volunteer time to do articles and reviews, and most of them contribute to other sites. And because there is more than one person writing for the site, there is different opinions and thoughts, and that collaboration makes the site seem very warm and friendly. The site itself is very simple, and inviting to people who are possibly ‘low-tech’. A friend actually recommended the blog to me, because she knows I both read and write a lot, and this was the first blog-site she had read repeatedly.

Although, I am well-aware, that this is not what people think about, especially when starting up any kind of site. But you want it to feel warm and welcoming, as that is what gets you repeated views. A lot of sites don’t have a friendly, simplistic quality, and don’t realise that this is losing them visitors. From what I understand, Domestic Sluttery, has caught a lot of people’s attention by being pretty basic in design, and actually caring about the chosen topic. You can sense their passion for everything they post.

Over-excitement

I am doing my website.
Finally.

Okay, to be honest, I have felt so jaded with anything creative over the past few months. Like I couldn’t face it at all. But today I woke up, and thought I’d do some work on my website. So I started doing it, and got so excited. I was doing something productive, and it was coming to me so easily.

I think I got so happy because, because I have really struggled over the last few mionths.

Bang goes the schedule—cheers Youtube

So….I try to do a schedule, and apparently Youtube doesn’t like that. Braw…not.

I do have the Vlog ready and waiting, but after 4 attempts I have given up with Youtube, and will try again tomorrow. I can sense everyone is disappointed.

But, in my attempt to kinda keep my word, I am still going to recommend a website, and the vlog will be uploaded whenever I can get YouTube to behave.

So the first website is….Fearne Cotton’s website. For the uneducated, Fearne is a UK television and radio presenter. Her current projects include BBC Radio 1’s morning/afternoon show (Live Lounge), Sky One’s Must Be The Music and ITV’s Celeb Juice. She is a very busy girl, who I have grown up watching her over the last 13/14 years.

Other than being a person I kind of admire, I also really love her website. Fearne seems like a really artistic and that comes across on her website. I think that is a major highlight of this site, that it does seem to really show her personality. It’s the little unique touches that makes the site nice, like the small patterns and sketchy parts, which makes the site seem more ‘hand-made’. Which sounds stupid now I think about it.


I really love the drawing around the comment box.

The whole idea of showing personality through a site, is why I like this site so much.

Techwaffle

Like tech/mobile phone news delivered to you with a comedic twist?

Well check out Jon Quatchi’s Techwaffle site.

Jon used to do Vlogs for Tehkseven, a popular phone site which gave away free themes, and such. He has recently left the successful Tehkseven to start of his own project, Techwaffle. Here he still does his vlogs on mobile news, but he also does things like humourous cartoons.

The Best Way To Combat iPhone 4 Reception Woes

I came across Jon when he did his Phonage vlogs for Tehkseven, and loved his style. Although you’d think that talking about phone specs and software releases may seem pretty boring, Jon has a way of keep the information interesting and fun. It is obvious that all his videos are planned out, with him using various techniques to get a lot of laughs.

Visit Jon on http://techwaffle.net

Angst

I have already said how I had to bail the course and my reasons for doing so.

Well, today I had to explain to one of my tutors why I was doing it. He was alright actually, but I hated telling him. It felt horrible.

But I did manage to get my website sorted a bit. That’s right, I know own the domain, http://riot-graphics.co.uk. At the moment there is nothing on line, because the server is being sorted out so I can add my files for the site.

This has made me so happy. Its like after all this planning something is getting me somewhere. I am building my base page, and should get that finished tonight. 🙂 And it will be uploaded to the service tomorrow. This feels like I am achieving something.

Website designing, or should that be attempting?

Nobody seems to appreciate the amount of planning that goes into making a webpage for anything. Its all coding and very complicated, well complicate till you learn how the coding works.

Anywho, finished my website planning today. Which is nice to have that done and dusted, though I know for a fact its not as good as it should be, because I started rushing. And trust me, it wasn’t for lack of trying, that the work wasn’t done. I mean, I sat in front of the computer for about 8 hours trying to work, and getting nowhere cause I was sick. *sigh*

From having a look at a lot of websites, it seems that a lot of them are written in a ‘blog’ format. I think that this is because it makes the site easy to use, and everybody and their dog seems to have some kind of blogging site these days. *Me, I have like 6 blogs from blog sites and that’s not including Myspace, Twitter, etc*

Website has switched back to Riot Graphics, instead of Phsychobabble. I was put off because there was another site on Myspace called Riot Graphics *:( <—-my face at finding that out*. Well, last night I eventually had the guts to check it out and see what my competition is. It was a site for Paramore graphics and photos. A site which has not been accessed in almost 2 years. You have no idea how relieved that makes me. 🙂 I have talked to a lot of bands through Myspace, as a matter of getting work, and to think that another company had the same name as mine, made me want to cry.

But, all is good on that front, so I decided to go back to Riot Graphics, and used Psychobabble for a project when I get things sorted a bit.

I have been using Riot Graphics for about 3 years now, and I like it. I can even think of how I got the name. Hmmm *thinks*

Anyways, I got to go to the job that is paying for my bills right now 😦

So toodles. xx 😛