Owner: rioleo media design studios URL:http://www.rioleo.org Join Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2007 22:39:38 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: rioleo is the website of Rio Akasaka, where beautiful design meets strict standards of accessibility and valid coding. Site statistics:Click here
How to snatch a good domain without emptying your wallet 2007-07-21 17:45:45 Note: This is neither an advertisement or a paid post. I just want to provide the resources you might need in selecting a good domain
.
Let’s face it: getting a good domain name is practically impossible. When it comes to .com domain names, if you’ve thought of it and you want it, chances are it’s bought by some sleuthlike squatter-shark of a site asking you to pay half your mortgage or sell your grandmother if you want to buy it. You could be patient and wait for a domain to backorder and then pay $369 for it, but chances are it’s a bit too much to ask for, especially if you’re a college student like me and $369 could pay for a month’s rent or a lot of bottles of Coke. So what is one to do?
Where the deception begins
Being somewhat naive and full of wishful thinking, I backordered my domain at GoDaddy in the hopes of it snatching my desired domain on the day it was to drop from pendingDelete, July 19th. I was told that domains drop from pendingDelete Read more:wallet
Updates 2007-07-20 17:55:39 I’ve been under much duress lately dealing with domains (including letting a great expired domain out of my hands) and the like, but the results have been remarkably splendid, and I will write more when I have the time. In short, I have moved to GoDaddy with a three-year hosting agreement for just $82, and I will be shortly opening a web design firm targeted just for students. Look forward to it all, and sorry in advance for any bumps along the way.
Pacman Feed 2007-07-14 08:42:18 I know Mozilla and IE have somehow agreed upon using the now-ubiquitous RSS 2.0 Feed icon, no small feat in itself. But my question is always: why does it have to be that way? Hence I have a few suggestions of my own, inspired by the fact that Pacman is perhaps the best representation of ‘feeding’:
and just in case you were unsure:
Feel free to use them on your own website, but please don’t ingurgitate my bandwidth. And while you’re at it, I’m curious as to where you put it, so do let me know.
What scares me about Web 3.0 2007-07-12 21:04:12 Web 2.0 is such an over-used term that it seems almost laughable to brand a website as such. More and more websites are succumbing to it, though, as PayPal makes the inescapable transition and even the World Wide Web Consortium validator slides over. The design is nicer, cleaner, and, depending on where you look, sharper or rounder. It is undeniably 2.0.
But one can’t help but wonder what 3.0 may bring, if it ever should arrive. Like 2.0, it won’t be a revolution, but rather a slow yet evident change brought about by the unquestionable dying of certain trends and the rapid adoption and emergence of others. People will realize sooner or later that they have either the choice of jumping on the bandwagon (and risking the possibility of failure) or missing it altogether. What it will be is anyone’s best guess.
While some may claim 3.0 will be all about the semantic web, where computers read into content and decypher it just as well as we can, I surmise it’s somethin
The Inquietude of CNN 2007-07-08 21:33:24 Andy Rutledge makes a good point when he lauds the launch of CNN
’s new web design, and I agree that it makes viewing the content much easier than its predecessor, demphasizing the structure of the site in the process. It safely adheres to Eyetrack III’s test results for news websites:
1) Dominant content on upper left corner
2) Navigation at the top
3) De-emphasis on underlining
and relegates content into their own unobtrusive boxes. (And did you notice they shifted from using Yahoo search to Google? Another good step).
But being all fuzzy and excited about a website would make my writing awfully boring, and so I might venture into dangerous waters by suggesting that there are, still, many things to find at fault with this new design that, for all the brouhaha, seems to be making a step back from Web 2.0 (notice the logo no longer has the gradient, a tell-tale sign). I like that.
Firstly, for a large and oft-visited site as CNN’s, I would appreciate if more concern w
Central Station (1998) 2007-07-07 00:12:06 I stumbled across CentralStation
, a Brazilian film directed by Walter Salles, at the library while looking for other things to watch. The plot is relatively simple: a retired school teacher writing letters for illiterate people at Rio de Janeiro’s busiest train station, and a young, obstinate child by the name of Josué, fierce in his own way, the unlikely two united by an accidental tragedy. It is through tragedy that they find out about themselves and about each other, traveling from the bustling metropolis to the barren lands of the southeastern areas of Brazil in search of a man they must find, and perhaps more.
With rich beautiful and raw scenery, exquisite acting, and a simpleness that fleshes out the heart of the story, this tale is marvelously enacted and set, and is strongly recommended as a family movie or for those insightful thought-provoking moments that remind you of L’Uomo delle Stelle (The Starmaker). The music by Morelembaum adds further depth to the
Break, or Ode to Heath 2007-07-03 20:17:44 The sun is comfortably positioned in the sky, its invisible heat waves sinking into my blue collared shirt as I traipse my way back to work, my hour lunch break, at half an hour, a small record of sorts. At the corner, a man with a rasta hat brandishes a blue plastic shark and points it towards the sidewalk as shiny soap bubbles blow out of its mouth and drifts across, inviting smiles from passersby. My hand is holding a black plastic bag, and in it, a box of Hershey’s Heath
, brown crispy biscuit delights sandwiching toffee and other unhealthy things. My hand travels with a mind of its own into the bag and yanks at the box, then the plastic inside, and pulls out a cookie, which my mouth unwittingly, almost instinctively, devours. But it isn’t the wolfing down of a savage or of a starved vagrant of the wild desert. It’s more of an appreciative, contemplative, substantial meal, as though each bit carves away at the time I have left before I return to work. Read more:Break
It’s a blue world 2007-06-27 22:39:44 Every so often there comes a documentary that shakes the world, and redefines everything you take for granted. It doesn’t just do what every other documentary does by revealing what you don’t know already; it rebukes you for not knowing, it shames you for failing to realize the all too obvious. When it comes to that, nothing comes close to China Blue.
‘Made in China’ is a label associated with the cheap and cheaply made imitations, from the iPhone clone to the dubiously designed Dolce Gabbana, to the pirated Windows Vista available on the side of the street. Everything is shoddy, shady, and sham, or at least so it seems.
But when it comes to some other things, like your pair of jeans, it has become a common phenomenon for Western companies to rely on imports from China, primarily because of their cheapness and the relative difficulty for the common consumer to identify a ‘Made in China’ jean from one made elsewhere- all it would suffice would be to
Coney Island 2007-06-23 22:55:11 No visit or stay in New York would be complete without a trip to Coney Island
, about an hour’s subway ride away from midtown Manhattan on the N, Q, D or the F. Famous for its boardwalk, amusement rides, fun, games, and Nathan’s hot dog eating contest, Coney Island was no stranger to the throngs of people when we made the pilgrimage this afternoon. To make things even more fun, today was the day of the Mermaid Parade, an event to celebrate
the sand, the sea, the salt air and the beginning of summer, as well as the history and mythology of Coney Island, Coney Island pride, and artistic self-expression…
You can view photos I took via my Flickr album. Regardless, it took a good half an hour just from the side of the street with the subway to the side of the street with the attractions, but the crowd didn’t distract us from having a bit of fun at the arcades there. The greatest thrill came from skee ball and the coin pushers, with which I was able to reward myself
New York fortune 2007-06-20 19:32:16 Living in New York
gets you prepared for the most absurd of eventualities, though I’m sure most of this applies to any metropolis around the world.
To the subway: If you run down the stairs and race through the turnstile, the train going in the opposite direction will just be pulling in.
You will have to explain how a Metro Card vending machine works to a tourist before you can buy yours.
On a bike: A group of school children will be crossing the road the moment you reach your highest speed.
Weather: It will never rain when you have an umbrella, even if the morning forecast said so.
Taxis: When it does rain, every taxi will be occupied.
Time: Tourists will be blocking the road whenever you’re in a hurry.
If it’s a beautiful someone you see, you will get dust particles in your eye until they disappear.
It takes the same amount of time on an elevator to go up seven floors as it does going up fifteen.
A dumpster will pass by you very slowly as you make your way to your f
On a sleepless, API code-filled night 2007-07-26 22:37:51
Will you won’t you join the dance? Normal programming resumes the 7th.
After spending the entirety of yesterday night going over the eBay Developer’s Kit, poring over the indecipherable examples and complicated code, I realized one thing, one precious tiny thing:
API Developers are very stingy with code.
Either that or there is the general assumption that everyone knows API. Most other developing languages have a selection of readily-available samples and codes to work from. The eBay developer’s area had two for Javascript. One of them didn’t work. In half-crazed despair I thought of heading over to Rentacoder.com and have myself one made for me. But then I thought to myself- it others can get it done for a good amount of money, then I should be able to do it for free.
And what was I up to, I hear you ask. Let’s just put it that I have deviated largely from my practice of ad-free websites and projects, and that I ventured into the thorny and treacherous r Read more:sleepless
Sorry, but I’m in love 2007-08-14 21:24:53
I apologize profusely for 1) the lack of substantive, enjoyable, knowledge-filled updates and 2) the broken pages dotting the blogosphere of mine. I have recently transferred my online assets from my school’s server to GoDaddy, after which I splurged and went for a deluxe account, and then finally decided to transfer my domain as well. As a result, I have had to patch up a lot of things. To add to the confusion, I now find myself in the throes of separation from the girl I love. Uh, yes. So that’s my wonderful excuse. But I have promised myself that I will post in the very near future a list of things to do and not to do when doing the things I did (confusing, yes), and in short I am forever grateful for your continued patronage.
On a sleepless, API code-filled night 2007-07-26 22:37:51
Will you won’t you join the dance? Normal programming resumes the 7th.
After spending the entirety of yesterday night going over the eBay Developer’s Kit, poring over the indecipherable examples and complicated code, I realized one thing, one precious tiny thing:
API Developers are very stingy with code.
Either that or there is the general assumption that everyone knows API. Most other developing languages have a selection of readily-available samples and codes to work from. The eBay developer’s area had two for Javascript. One of them didn’t work. In half-crazed despair I thought of heading over to Rentacoder.com and have myself one made for me. But then I thought to myself- it others can get it done for a good amount of money, then I should be able to do it for free.
And what was I up to, I hear you ask. Let’s just put it that I have deviated largely from my practice of ad-free websites and projects, and that I ventured into the thorny and treacherous r Read more:sleepless
How to snatch a good domain without emptying your wallet 2007-07-21 17:45:45 Note: This is neither an advertisement or a paid post. I just want to provide the resources you might need in selecting a good domain
.
Let’s face it: getting a good domain name is practically impossible. When it comes to .com domain names, if you’ve thought of it and you want it, chances are it’s bought by some sleuthlike squatter-shark of a site asking you to pay half your mortgage or sell your grandmother if you want to buy it. You could be patient and wait for a domain to backorder and then pay $369 for it, but chances are it’s a bit too much to ask for, especially if you’re a college student like me and $369 could pay for a month’s rent or a lot of bottles of Coke. So what is one to do?
Where the deception begins
Being somewhat naive and full of wishful thinking, I backordered my domain at GoDaddy in the hopes of it snatching my desired domain on the day it was to drop from pendingDelete, July 19th. I was told that domains drop from pendingDelete Read more:wallet
Updates 2007-07-20 17:55:39 I’ve been under much duress lately dealing with domains (including letting a great expired domain out of my hands) and the like, but the results have been remarkably splendid, and I will write more when I have the time. In short, I have moved to GoDaddy with a three-year hosting agreement for just $82, and I will be shortly opening a web design firm targeted just for students. Look forward to it all, and sorry in advance for any bumps along the way.
Pacman Feed 2007-07-14 08:42:18 I know Mozilla and IE have somehow agreed upon using the now-ubiquitous RSS 2.0 Feed icon, no small feat in itself. But my question is always: why does it have to be that way? Hence I have a few suggestions of my own, inspired by the fact that Pacman is perhaps the best representation of ‘feeding’:
and just in case you were unsure:
Feel free to use them on your own website, but please don’t ingurgitate my bandwidth. And while you’re at it, I’m curious as to where you put it, so do let me know.
What scares me about Web 3.0 2007-07-12 21:04:12 Web 2.0 is such an over-used term that it seems almost laughable to brand a website as such. More and more websites are succumbing to it, though, as PayPal makes the inescapable transition and even the World Wide Web Consortium validator slides over. The design is nicer, cleaner, and, depending on where you look, sharper or rounder. It is undeniably 2.0.
But one can’t help but wonder what 3.0 may bring, if it ever should arrive. Like 2.0, it won’t be a revolution, but rather a slow yet evident change brought about by the unquestionable dying of certain trends and the rapid adoption and emergence of others. People will realize sooner or later that they have either the choice of jumping on the bandwagon (and risking the possibility of failure) or missing it altogether. What it will be is anyone’s best guess.
While some may claim 3.0 will be all about the semantic web, where computers read into content and decypher it just as well as we can, I surmise it’s somethin
The Inquietude of CNN 2007-07-08 21:33:24 Andy Rutledge makes a good point when he lauds the launch of CNN
’s new web design, and I agree that it makes viewing the content much easier than its predecessor, demphasizing the structure of the site in the process. It safely adheres to Eyetrack III’s test results for news websites:
1) Dominant content on upper left corner
2) Navigation at the top
3) De-emphasis on underlining
and relegates content into their own unobtrusive boxes. (And did you notice they shifted from using Yahoo search to Google? Another good step).
But being all fuzzy and excited about a website would make my writing awfully boring, and so I might venture into dangerous waters by suggesting that there are, still, many things to find at fault with this new design that, for all the brouhaha, seems to be making a step back from Web 2.0 (notice the logo no longer has the gradient, a tell-tale sign). I like that.
Firstly, for a large and oft-visited site as CNN’s, I would appreciate if more concern we
Central Station (1998) 2007-07-07 00:12:06 I stumbled across CentralStation
, a Brazilian film directed by Walter Salles, at the library while looking for other things to watch. The plot is relatively simple: a retired school teacher writing letters for illiterate people at Rio de Janeiro’s busiest train station, and a young, obstinate child by the name of Josué, fierce in his own way, the unlikely two united by an accidental tragedy. It is through tragedy that they find out about themselves and about each other, traveling from the bustling metropolis to the barren lands of the southeastern areas of Brazil in search of a man they must find, and perhaps more.
With rich beautiful and raw scenery, exquisite acting, and a simpleness that fleshes out the heart of the story, this tale is marvelously enacted and set, and is strongly recommended as a family movie or for those insightful thought-provoking moments that remind you of L’Uomo delle Stelle (The Starmaker). The music by Morelembaum adds further depth to the
Break, or Ode to Heath 2007-07-03 20:17:44 The sun is comfortably positioned in the sky, its invisible heat waves sinking into my blue collared shirt as I traipse my way back to work, my hour lunch break, at half an hour, a small record of sorts. At the corner, a man with a rasta hat brandishes a blue plastic shark and points it towards the sidewalk as shiny soap bubbles blow out of its mouth and drifts across, inviting smiles from passersby. My hand is holding a black plastic bag, and in it, a box of Hershey’s Heath
, brown crispy biscuit delights sandwiching toffee and other unhealthy things. My hand travels with a mind of its own into the bag and yanks at the box, then the plastic inside, and pulls out a cookie, which my mouth unwittingly, almost instinctively, devours. But it isn’t the wolfing down of a savage or of a starved vagrant of the wild desert. It’s more of an appreciative, contemplative, substantial meal, as though each bit carves away at the time I have left before I return to work. Read more:Break
It’s a blue world 2007-06-27 22:39:44 Every so often there comes a documentary that shakes the world, and redefines everything you take for granted. It doesn’t just do what every other documentary does by revealing what you don’t know already; it rebukes you for not knowing, it shames you for failing to realize the all too obvious. When it comes to that, nothing comes close to China Blue.
‘Made in China’ is a label associated with the cheap and cheaply made imitations, from the iPhone clone to the dubiously designed Dolce Gabbana, to the pirated Windows Vista available on the side of the street. Everything is shoddy, shady, and sham, or at least so it seems.
But when it comes to some other things, like your pair of jeans, it has become a common phenomenon for Western companies to rely on imports from China, primarily because of their cheapness and the relative difficulty for the common consumer to identify a ‘Made in China’ jean from one made elsewhere- all it would suffice would be to b
On a sleepless, API code-filled night 2007-07-26 22:37:51
Will you won’t you join the dance? Normal programming resumes the 7th.
After spending the entirety of yesterday night going over the eBay Developer’s Kit, poring over the indecipherable examples and complicated code, I realized one thing, one precious tiny thing:
API Developers are very stingy with code.
Either that or there is the general assumption that everyone knows API. Most other developing languages have a selection of readily-available samples and codes to work from. The eBay developer’s area had two for Javascript. One of them didn’t work. In half-crazed despair I thought of heading over to Rentacoder.com and have myself one made for me. But then I thought to myself- it others can get it done for a good amount of money, then I should be able to do it for free.
And what was I up to, I hear you ask. Let’s just put it that I have deviated largely from my practice of ad-free websites and projects, and that I ventured into the thorny and treacherous r Read more:sleepless
Updates 2007-07-20 17:55:39 I’ve been under much duress lately dealing with domains (including letting a great expired domain out of my hands) and the like, but the results have been remarkably splendid, and I will write more when I have the time. In short, I have moved to GoDaddy with a three-year hosting agreement for just $82, and I will be shortly opening a web design firm targeted just for students. Look forward to it all, and sorry in advance for any bumps along the way.
Pacman Feed 2007-07-14 08:42:18 I know Mozilla and IE have somehow agreed upon using the now-ubiquitous RSS 2.0 Feed icon, no small feat in itself. But my question is always: why does it have to be that way? Hence I have a few suggestions of my own, inspired by the fact that Pacman is perhaps the best representation of ‘feeding’:
and just in case you were unsure:
Feel free to use them on your own website, but please don’t ingurgitate my bandwidth. And while you’re at it, I’m curious as to where you put it, so do let me know.
What scares me about Web 3.0 2007-07-12 21:04:12 Web 2.0 is such an over-used term that it seems almost laughable to brand a website as such. More and more websites are succumbing to it, though, as PayPal makes the inescapable transition and even the World Wide Web Consortium validator slides over. The design is nicer, cleaner, and, depending on where you look, sharper or rounder. It is undeniably 2.0.
But one can’t help but wonder what 3.0 may bring, if it ever should arrive. Like 2.0, it won’t be a revolution, but rather a slow yet evident change brought about by the unquestionable dying of certain trends and the rapid adoption and emergence of others. People will realize sooner or later that they have either the choice of jumping on the bandwagon (and risking the possibility of failure) or missing it altogether. What it will be is anyone’s best guess.
While some may claim 3.0 will be all about the semantic web, where computers read into content and decypher it just as well as we can, I surmise it’s somethin
The Inquietude of CNN 2007-07-08 21:33:24 Andy Rutledge makes a good point when he lauds the launch of CNN
’s new web design, and I agree that it makes viewing the content much easier than its predecessor, demphasizing the structure of the site in the process. It safely adheres to Eyetrack III’s test results for news websites:
1) Dominant content on upper left corner
2) Navigation at the top
3) De-emphasis on underlining
and relegates content into their own unobtrusive boxes. (And did you notice they shifted from using Yahoo search to Google? Another good step).
But being all fuzzy and excited about a website would make my writing awfully boring, and so I might venture into dangerous waters by suggesting that there are, still, many things to find at fault with this new design that, for all the brouhaha, seems to be making a step back from Web 2.0 (notice the logo no longer has the gradient, a tell-tale sign). I like that.
Firstly, for a large and oft-visited site as CNN’s, I would appreciate if more concern we
Central Station (1998) 2007-07-07 00:12:06 I stumbled across CentralStation
, a Brazilian film directed by Walter Salles, at the library while looking for other things to watch. The plot is relatively simple: a retired school teacher writing letters for illiterate people at Rio de Janeiro’s busiest train station, and a young, obstinate child by the name of Josué, fierce in his own way, the unlikely two united by an accidental tragedy. It is through tragedy that they find out about themselves and about each other, traveling from the bustling metropolis to the barren lands of the southeastern areas of Brazil in search of a man they must find, and perhaps more.
With rich beautiful and raw scenery, exquisite acting, and a simpleness that fleshes out the heart of the story, this tale is marvelously enacted and set, and is strongly recommended as a family movie or for those insightful thought-provoking moments that remind you of L’Uomo delle Stelle (The Starmaker). The music by Morelembaum adds further depth to the
What a world we live in 2007-08-25 16:05:31 It’s 86°F outside but it feels much hotter. I’m on 40th street, Brian Adams streaming into my ears, and the Fifth Avenue crowd is eager to walk into the stores to escape the devilish heat.
On the sidewalk a relatively nodescript pretzel stand is parked, and it doesn’t seem to be getting a lot of customers today. Oh, but there is one guy- bedgralled, his hair gray and askew, he holds a white Duane Reade bag, most likely homeless - who’s getting two diet Coke’s and two straws to go along, the water dripping from the outside testament to their chilled state. I doubt he paid for it, considering the grin on his face and his attire, but the smile on the stand owner’s face is priceless. It makes me almost want to give $2.00 to him so that next time another guy comes along he won’t feel pressed.
I walk along, a small smile on mine.
42nd street. Another pretzel stand. A guy walks up with a wad of notes and asks for a bottle of water, as I stand by
PayPal Security Key 2007-10-27 21:32:38
As an avid eBayer and a frequent user of PayPal
, online security is often on my mind, what with scammers and phishers become more and more intelligent and craftier with their techniques in trying to dupe your everyday user to give up their credit card numbers (and for others, like myself, who continue to get random emails in their inbox with emails not destined to them, but some of which actually contain valid credit card information). So when PayPal came up with their Security Key (which apparently was new back in January but I didn’t really know), I decided, with little hesitation, to purchase the $5.00 RSA SecurID encrypted key. In short, the internal algorithm generates a new 6-digit number every 30 seconds, which is connected to your account and must be entered in conjunction with your username and password.
It turns out PayPal is losing money each time they sell one (VeriSign sells them for $30.00 apiece). And as it is, it can be used for any site that uses VeriSign Identi
Step by step 2007-10-24 23:14:41 I am currently entertaining and actively pursuing the thought of conducting a pilot course in web design next semester at my college. Entitled ‘Introduction to Web Design’, the rubric, which needs to be approved by the Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility who will fund the project, will consist of two one-and-a-half hour sessions. The first half of the semester will deal with actual HTML and PHP coding, while the second will go in-depth into actual graphic design, using Photoshop and focusing on colors, fonts, and accessibility. It’s fueled in large part by the requests I have received from students who are keen on learning about web design but either have no time or the resources available to learn… I’m hoping it’ll turn out nicely and I’ll be able to get funds.
My future seems unclear, but I guess I’m going to have to take everything one step at a time. Just so long as my next step is on a solid stone, right?
Recommend Site To A Friend
