Sunday, October 30, 2005
My (not so) new domain name
It's taken me about 6 or so years, but I've finally secured my name's domain - www.joeldixon.com.
My search for this domain began in my first year of university. Although I had heard of the Internet in high school - I had never actually been "online" until I started at Swinburne. We discovered the Internet and related protocols (pr0n) in the Computer Systems subject - which is when I also first learned about domain names. Even though I don't really like my name, the first domain name I searched for was joeldixon.com - but alas, I was too late.
After pointing my trusty browser to the address I was presented with some guy's (probably Joel Dixon's) odd website. I think he was trying to get volunteers for a social experiment (details are hazy, it was a while ago). Regardless, I thought it was a complete waste of the domain.
I was somewhat upset that my domain name of choice was taken, and figured I'd check it again in a few years (I didn't know how to lookup the expiry date back then - or even whois information).
The next time I checked was during my first year of employment - but I was too late again. This time Republican Joel Dixon had registered the domain name in hope of securing a place on the Clayton County's Board of Education, District 6. See here for a historical view of his site.
By this time I knew how to check domain name expiry dates, and I saw that the name would expire towards the end of 2005. I was reminded of all of this about a month ago when my brother registered his own domain name - and here I stand.
I haven't really made any good use of my site yet - I've drawn a favicon that sucks:
but the most useful thing I've done so far is create a hockey scores page so I can view the latest Penguin's loss from my mobile (very useful in meetings):
My search for this domain began in my first year of university. Although I had heard of the Internet in high school - I had never actually been "online" until I started at Swinburne. We discovered the Internet and related protocols (pr0n) in the Computer Systems subject - which is when I also first learned about domain names. Even though I don't really like my name, the first domain name I searched for was joeldixon.com - but alas, I was too late.
After pointing my trusty browser to the address I was presented with some guy's (probably Joel Dixon's) odd website. I think he was trying to get volunteers for a social experiment (details are hazy, it was a while ago). Regardless, I thought it was a complete waste of the domain.
I was somewhat upset that my domain name of choice was taken, and figured I'd check it again in a few years (I didn't know how to lookup the expiry date back then - or even whois information).
The next time I checked was during my first year of employment - but I was too late again. This time Republican Joel Dixon had registered the domain name in hope of securing a place on the Clayton County's Board of Education, District 6. See here for a historical view of his site.
By this time I knew how to check domain name expiry dates, and I saw that the name would expire towards the end of 2005. I was reminded of all of this about a month ago when my brother registered his own domain name - and here I stand.
I haven't really made any good use of my site yet - I've drawn a favicon that sucks:
but the most useful thing I've done so far is create a hockey scores page so I can view the latest Penguin's loss from my mobile (very useful in meetings):
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
It's a Tommy Gun!
Just downloaded my photos from my phone onto the PC - and have to share my first attempt at the creation of a balloon animal:
I shall call him Necky
While I was browsing my phone photos I also found these:
I walked onto the train - and it looked to me like this guy was talking into his banana-phone (his actual mobile was in his other hand)
This is what it looks like when a small Care Bear is doused with metho, lit and kicked around a backyard for a while
I shall call him Necky
While I was browsing my phone photos I also found these:
I walked onto the train - and it looked to me like this guy was talking into his banana-phone (his actual mobile was in his other hand)
This is what it looks like when a small Care Bear is doused with metho, lit and kicked around a backyard for a while
Saturday, October 08, 2005
It's all about the pixels
I've always been a big fan of pixels, and pixel art. I think the fascination with picture elements came from many, many hours of Commodore 64 game play as a youngster. Not only did we play awesome 8-bit games such as these:
(click for full-size version - level bonus to the first person to name all of the games)
but I also had my first experience with pixel-pr0n with the lovely Sam Fox:
(I just played Samantha Fox's Strip Poker for close to an hour to get that screenshot! Heaps more great C64 ROM files can be found here)
Towards the end of Primary School - the family got a Sega Master System and once again I was exposed to some great pixel gaming:
(click for full size - Chaos Emerald to whomever can guess each title)
It was around this time that I tried my own hand at computer assisted blocky creations, using Windows Paintbrush. I wasn't very good at this at all - although I did create one or two nice looking NHL logos (in my opinion). As all of these were created on the old 486 I don't have the amusing examples. All I do have is a Penguins logo that I drew with my calculator one boring train ride:
My love for pixels was rekindled a few years ago when I saw the film clip to Junior Senior's "Move Your Feet" single. Created by UK design group Shynola it's a pixel-art animation involving a squirrel. It's fun to watch - and still available to download from their website.
The reason I bring up this topic is Mini Pops. There was an excel spreadsheet being emailed around last year with tiny little pixelated pop-artits, and you had to type in the name of each one. Here's an example of some of the easier ones:
(From Left: The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Kiss, Guns 'N' Roses, Spiderman)
I don't have the excel quiz handy for download (look out for them - they're fun) - but I can point you to the source of all of the Mini Pop characters - Flip Flop Flyin' Mini Pops. He's also got a book out with 128 pages of Mini Pop goodness.
I also enjoy ASCII art - such as Star Wars Asciimation - but that's another post for another day.
(click for full-size version - level bonus to the first person to name all of the games)
but I also had my first experience with pixel-pr0n with the lovely Sam Fox:
(I just played Samantha Fox's Strip Poker for close to an hour to get that screenshot! Heaps more great C64 ROM files can be found here)
Towards the end of Primary School - the family got a Sega Master System and once again I was exposed to some great pixel gaming:
(click for full size - Chaos Emerald to whomever can guess each title)
It was around this time that I tried my own hand at computer assisted blocky creations, using Windows Paintbrush. I wasn't very good at this at all - although I did create one or two nice looking NHL logos (in my opinion). As all of these were created on the old 486 I don't have the amusing examples. All I do have is a Penguins logo that I drew with my calculator one boring train ride:
My love for pixels was rekindled a few years ago when I saw the film clip to Junior Senior's "Move Your Feet" single. Created by UK design group Shynola it's a pixel-art animation involving a squirrel. It's fun to watch - and still available to download from their website.
The reason I bring up this topic is Mini Pops. There was an excel spreadsheet being emailed around last year with tiny little pixelated pop-artits, and you had to type in the name of each one. Here's an example of some of the easier ones:
(From Left: The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Kiss, Guns 'N' Roses, Spiderman)
I don't have the excel quiz handy for download (look out for them - they're fun) - but I can point you to the source of all of the Mini Pop characters - Flip Flop Flyin' Mini Pops. He's also got a book out with 128 pages of Mini Pop goodness.
I also enjoy ASCII art - such as Star Wars Asciimation - but that's another post for another day.
