A small story about videos and the internet

A small story about videos and the internet

So, this week we learned about how to add videos onto our websites. It was all new… So, I was a bit confused (as always). But once I started ‘inserting’ videos to my website, I got pretty used to it and realised it was not that complicated.

Here is the link to one of the videos I have added to my website. I find it fun. Enjoy it! 

 

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Sometimes, I really feel this way about web design. I LOVE designing more than anything, but sometimes it gets on my nerves when the coding does not work or the browser does NOT support some properties for my presentation!

It’s NOT a piece of cake!

Creating a website is like baking. You need to have a recipe, and get the ingredients to bake your cake. It might not go well the first time, but you’ll definitely get better with time as you practice. However, as easy as it might seem, creating a website is definitely NOT a piece of cake.

Let me share my experience of creating my first website with you.

Check out my website, Ushee’s Vision.

Stupid questions or stupid answers?

As one of my favorite lecturer would tell us in class, “there are no stupid questions just stupid answers!”  But as you might have noticed, there is some stage in life, when you realise that stupid questions do exist.

Have a look at how I discovered the existence of stupid questions:

This is how is goes…

Architecture: When Suburbs meet Townships (digital)

Here are my pictures for my Alternate view of Cape Townproject. I am comparing architecture from Suburbs and Townships in Cape Town. My photography skills are not  good, but I like the comparison.

This is the kind of hair salon I had always seen during the one and a half year I’ve been in Cape Town. In my mind, they were all the same…

… but then, I got the opportunity to see how hair salon looked like in townships. I’ve seen these truck containers many times, but never thought it could be used as such.

Here is the picture of an internet café in Rondebosch. Huge window panes on two sides with a nice atmosphere inside.

This is the internet café I saw in Khayelitsha. I was amazed by how people could be imaginative. It does not only provide internet services, also photocopy and fax facilities, CVs, and business cards.

I found this school entrance very nice. The way the trees are arranged makes it look like you are in a fairy tale.

Now, see the entrance of a high school in Khayelitsha. Big difference.

Have a look at how well designed and big a library in the suburbs can be…

… and compare it to how the library in a Township looks like.

So, this is how different the suburbs and townships in Cape Town can be. They provide the same service with a different package.

Architecture: When Suburbs meet Townships

Architecture differs from buildings to buildings, and regions to regions. Some buildings are really well designed, showing the awesome work of architects in a country. What about the originality? Of course, each building has got to be unique in design – in the sense that they do not look alike. And, this applies everywhere (for the much I have seen). This is one of the reasons why I have decided to compare architecture, from suburbs like Rondebosch and Newlands to that of townships such as Lingelethu and Khayelitsha, for my Different Focus project.

Foreigners in Cape Town often see only one side of it – the pretty side. I can talk. I am one of them. My opinion of Cape Town, from what I have seen during my first year at the UCT was very positive (not that it has changed now). What I have seen, to mention a few, are beautiful houses, all sorts of attractive local businesses in malls, arcades or along the main road, a very well designed police station, particularly the Rondebosch Police Station, presence of technologies in nice-looking Internet cafés, multi-storage buildings and printed advertisements everywhere. This was my only notion of Cape Town.

However, year 2012 triggered an alternate view of Cape Town. I got the chance to discover how townships, I had only heard about, actually looked like. I was surprised. It seemed to me, as if I entered a different world. Do not get me wrong, though. Yes, I was taken aback – not in the sense that I felt sorry for the people for not possessing the luxuries I have been in contact with, but it was more about how imaginative and creative the people in these townships could be. They did not have the architecture I usually see in the suburbs. There were no multi-storage buildings or malls. What I saw, in my opinion, can beat these nice-looking buildings we have in suburbs.

Township people did not need much to set their businesses. They did not abstain themselves from having access to technologies – computers or the internet, for example – nor restrain themselves from being pretty and getting nice haircuts. Internet cafés, as well as, hair salons were found in those truck containers usually used to transport goods. The library was simple bricks, stacked on top of each other and covered with iron sheets. The police station was not complexly designed but was still functioning. What I liked the most was that I could not see a single printed advertisement. But publicity was indeed present as frescos on walls of buildings. This was, obviously, a very special way of setting up businesses. Architectural buildings were not necessary. They make it as attractive as possible with the available resources and this seems to work perfectly for them.

Therefore, my conclusion, on local trades in townships, is they provide the same services as those in suburbs with the most obvious difference being the package.

Don’t get the wrong idea with Photoshop

Shoe laces made from scratch in photoshop
(piece of cake)

Photoshop is not only for enhancing or transforming pictures. If, like me, ‘faking’ pictures is not your thing, there are still plenty of other things you can use Photoshop for. You can create amazing compositions, posters or anything you like. You are also able to create things from scratch. Well, sometimes it requires a little bit of tutorial readings, but they are totally worthwhile.

See, that work above for example, I did it from scratch on photoshop and this was so fun. Who would have thought that designing shoe laces could be so enjoyable? You start with basic shapes, and use only some very basic functions of Photoshop – duplicating layers, applying blending options, setting transparency, flipping, using brushes and some textures. You need to work with layers, that is, every single thing in this work is on a different layer. This makes it easier to correct any mistakes or if you have a change of mind about the colours or anything like this later.

Photoshop makes life easier. It makes your work look as you wish, with all the details you want to include. It kind of makes you feel cool. So, don’t get the wrong idea with Photoshop. I know how sometimes magazines can over-use it and make their models look plastic. Just don’t forget the other fantastic things you can achieve with this amazing software.

Enjoy it!

Photoshop: Cast the spell for the magic to occur

How was your first time with Photoshop? I remember how mystified, yet excited, I was the first time I opened that Photoshop window. All those icons got me very confused. There was no other way for me to learn how to use that editing tool, than by actually using it. As they say, “practice makes perfect”, and it’s true. The more you use it, the better you get.

Photoshop is like magic. After a few trials, you know the magic spells you need to cast to transform your pictures. The best part is that they are not just for princesses. Anyone or anything can be under the spell.

During these two weeks, we have been focusing on Photoshop editing in the Interactive Media classes. It’s like the best class ever. I mean, how awesome is it to use your favorite editing software during a class? Plus, I got to know a few things about some functions I was too lazy to ‘google’. Classes really are useful!

I do not particularly enjoy editing pictures of people or faces, but the ‘air brushing’ exercises we did were awesome. I really saw the magic of Photoshop and enjoyed it so much.

I bet there is no one who can bad mouth this amazing picture editing tool. Come on, wizards! Cast your spells.

The Demon Lord’s Curse

Can you think of a day when (almost) everything goes wrong? Well, it won’t be hard for me. Last Friday was close to a horrible day. As Nana komatsu, from the manga Nana, would have said, “It must be the Demon Lord’s curse!” No, it was not a ‘Friday 13’ – only a ‘Friday 27’. Perhaps that’s why it came out to be just a bad day.

So, we had a ‘lab session’ for the interactive media class where we were to set up our website on the server. This is how my series of bad luck begins.  I was early for the class, as usual, but guess what? I was not able to access the lab. Reason – it seems that I am not on the system for the Mendi lab. So, my student card does not give me access to the lab. I don’t get it. Why does this always happen to me? A few days earlier, it was the Beattie lab, and now, Mendi. But thank god, this problem was soon (partially) solved, and I was finally in the lab. However, the Demon Lord hadn’t given up yet. We started setting up our website on the server, and I might have been the only person having trouble with the computer for every single step. Plus, my being alienated with Macs, made it worst. This was so annoying. I was still at my first class and I was already irritated! Again, after much patience, my website was finally on the server.

But it wasn’t over yet. The Demon Lord was still on my back.  Finishing early with the website exercise meant that we had the rest of the time to get to our blogs. To my surprise, (which added to my exasperation) the image I supposedly put in the header was gone, and the background image was also messed up. This was the limit. I was so close to a nervous breakdown. I think it was time for me to get away from that computer. And it worked! I didn’t lose my temper.

Take this Demon Lord!