ok. so, most recently, I've been working on the site, got some more music pages done, worked on my MGS parody film (which I still have to pitch the idea to my "co-star", if she aggrees *crosses fingers*), and worked some on the project itself. I've been quite busy, with working on that, the site, an idea for DevArt, and making a customisation guide for a dropdown-menu bar for my ex. I've also been trying to brush up on my video-skills with some new programs, which sometimes require serials, registration, and I've been trying to download new programs to use.

I had run into a bit of writer's block on my film project (is trying so hard not to jymx it), and I have to keep reminding myself that my website wasn't built in a day; It took me almost five years to get together! and it's been literally eating my brain. The bunnies. Will. Not. Leave. Me. Alone. (but I love it.) It's been just amazing all the encouragement that keeps coming from different places. I keep trying to figure out different things, different problems that need to be overcome. And one by one, they are being overcome.

I don't know how to write this without being either consise or extremely long-winded. So I'll just put it this way.

There's a group of independent filmmakers (I'd call them amateur filmmakers, but it would be an insult). I had writer's block, I asked one of the group's actors for some advice. (I had thought my comment might be ignored. Social networking sites sometimes loose stuff/it gets shoved to the bottom of the page cause people get so many comments). He not only replied promptly, but I found it really encouraging, and I need to remember to just have fun. :-) (is very happy now).

I had also left a message on the group's facebook page about micrphones and story writing. (what kind of mic to use). I just checked today and I got a reply. (again, this is me very thankful facebook didn't loose my comment). They have some good advice! XD. I didn't think "Modern Gear Warfare" was ad-lib. It was just too good to be unscripted. hee. Well, it was! This is just great. I'm so happy. I CAN TOO make a movie without having to have a script! (just a few lines to make sure the storyline goes where it's supposed to). Tch. That's just how I'd want to do things, but I wasn't sure if anyone had done that. That's just awesome.

Anyway, I need to go download the video link I got (in the reply), on creativity. I wanted to get it friday, but didn't get the chance.

I also gotta find some software/serial numbers and register a couple vid pgms. More soon!

Remember how I said I'll never use a program to make a webpage, and how I think they're so totally unreliable? haha. I just did a bunch of hover-images for my website. Using a program.

Although, I keep telling myself it only inserted a bit of code on the pages. It wouldn't even display my page in viewer mode, and threw a hissyfit over my font ending tags. Too bad. I need those. I also need the end-underline tags, thank you so much. hur hur.

The image-hover thing uses javascript, you see. And that's something I can't program by hand. It basically consists of two images, layered one over the other. one image displays until you hover your mouse, then it displays the other one. This is an especially cool effect if your second image just so happens to be an animated GIF. *grin*

I have a combination of images that change when you hover and images that animate when you hover. There's one that's dizzying though, (tech specs) and I may remove it. Other than that, I'm so totally in happy-land right now with my little programming... er- program. lol.

I'l probably eventually go to either switching OR animating images on the index page, though.

The reason I have such a problem with usingg a program is because when I first started trying to make Transfancentral way back when (yeah, way back in the stone age. ha ha.) just kidding. But anyway, back when my *knowledge* of html was in the... oh, you know what, nevermind when it was. Anyway, I had worked for hours and hours on my site, using a beautiful drag-and-drop program, and even had all my stuff loaded into the user folder of the program for easy reach.

Unfortunately, the program made webpages that loaded items out of that folder instead of saving them to the same place as my webpage. And it had this mile-long name somewhere inside a nested folder on the C drive of my computer. I unfortunately dfidn't know this either, as I had remotely added the files to that folder using the import function of the program. I also didn't know that when I uploaded my site (never use the automatic upload button!!!!!) it not only failed the first time, but when I finally uploaded it by hand, one file at a time, I went to my site for the first time.... and got a bank page. except for the text. Not A SINGLE ELEMENT WAS UPLOADED!!!!!! not even the background!

worse, when I went to reopen the file in the program, it hadn't auto-saved it. It hadn't even asked me about saving it the first time! it couldn't find the images (even though they were RIGHT. THERE. in the user folder!) I had to go through every page and redo every. single. element. and. image. I had about twenty pages of this. And at about, oh 10 to 15 elements to a page (the basic ones!), this got very old VERY fast.

That was the last time I EVER used a program. If I had to edit a webpage, I did it on a text editor, and opened the page in an internet explorer window to preview it. I learned a lot using that method. I can program a page top to bottom without even looking at it. I learned every html tag by hand. I actually credit a lot of my learning to that awful mishap. I still haven't forgotten it. I swore I would never use another design program.

Although, now I know how to fix faulty pages, so if my editor FUBARs my pages, I could fix them *fingers crossed*.
I'm not messing with that source code till I figure out how it works. But that's just my method, I suppose. I'd rather hand-edit source code than loose all my hard work. *waves fist at old program*. The funny thing is, I don't even remember what it's called now. heh. It was html-preschool stuff anyway. *shrugs* that was.... geez. years ago, now. I suppose it's time to put down my axe, huh?

although, I think I'll keep the miniature hatchet in my back pocket.
yes, hatchet.
No, not the one in my headspace. Yeah, I heard you think that just now. ha ha. I don't mean headpace CMO-of-doom (sorry, random moment *swerves back on track*) I know, I'm a tf nut. I can just hear someone who's never read my journal till now going "what's a tf nut? is that like a Macadamia?" tch. :-D

sorry, it's 2:31 in the morning. I think I need to sleep now and sitework later. ermmmm..... yeah.
Goodnight!

Oh, ps. I forgot, I had two instances of program-misbehavory mentioned, didn't I? the second was when I tried to build a site for my then-husband, only to be "given an assistant programmer" who prettymuch wanted to do everything with a program, move the site, and though that since he has a program to make webpages with knows eberything there is to know about html and making webpages. Not saying this guy doesn't know a lot, we just didn't get along at first. I think it may have been the website thing. I'm a little posessive about my sitework. Sorry. I'm just VERY picky about my stuff (call me a control freak. I make no denial of it.) And I apologise for that, cause I need to let go on some occasions and not be so uptight. I suppose my previous site misfortunes with my own site have made me paranoid about things getting messed up. It seems I'm never happy if one little element or link doesn't work properly. I've allready commented on that in the past, and how I need to just "let it go". I mother-hen my own site like you wouldn't believe. I freak out over one spam post on my forum (or TWENTY LAST MONTH! WHAT THE BLOODY BLUE SLAG-SUCKING FRAGGING SMEG WAS THAT!!??)
*FLAIL!*
*closes eyes and takes deep breaths*
see... see what I mean?
well, anyway, I was supposed to be in charge of building a site that had to be constantly updated and virtually redone and wasn't getting paid then got sidekicked (or as I put it: fired)

and did I mention my computer has a sick and *twisted* sense of humor? here I am ranting about... stuff, and it put on the song "This is Love" by Toby Lightman on the media player. *waves fist playfully at computer*. I swear, this computer has such a ...sarcastic sense of humor as I do. or... something.

Okay, now I'm loosing my train of thoguht. And rambling.
Alrighty. This is me going to bed for the night. And it's 2:40.

Goodnight.
*shakes head at computer*
funny, it's true! it is love! I love website-stuff!

*squees*

I found a website today that has registration codes for any program you want to name. See, I have a book called "creating web pages for dummies", which came with a disk of applications. I installed the programs, but unfortunately couldn't find a use for them. They were only trials, 30 days long. So my Dreamweaver program expired before I even got to use it. Today, I went to that site and got the code, and it works!

I've been working on a way to make an image change when you hover your mouse over it. I knew it was a "OnMouseOver" command, but couldn't figure out the rest of it. I've been driving myself absolutely nuts, scouring over my "learn CSS" E-books and my Webpages for dummies book, which doesn't have the source code, but does have instructions on how to do it in Dreamweaver. Well, my Dreamweaver program now works! and I DEEEEEED EEEEEET! *squee!*

It's going to look GREAT on the site. See, I had been pulling my hair out for the last month on how to create a drop-down menu, and the only one I could make was one huge one that would drop down from the very top of the page. It was big and bulky and next to no use on the site at all. I should mention I did figure this out about three weeks ago or so, though. But anyway, it made a great concealed-menu where you could click on the site's banner and get a menu. Heh. But no bar-of-drop-down-menus.

I found a webpage that broke it down and made a bar menu that could be placed anywhere on the page, with each link as a ddm (drop-down menu).
How does this tie into today's work?
1. I learned a heck of a lot more css thanks to it, and
2. I could make the image change on mouseover, but it had to be the same image (or pair thereof) on every single link/ddm on the bar. I did create a really cute set of ddms/bar ddm last night featuring an Autobot symbol that goes to Decepticon, but still no way of making individually changing links.

well, now I can!

aaaand, I can make animated links to begin with, but wioth this new bit of programming, I can make links that when you hover, it changes to an animated image from a still! W00 H00000!

I'm off to see what other tricks Dreamweaver can conjure up for me.
I'll have to try to upload my bar-ddm with the Botcon symbol. I'll try to figure out a way to use it on the site, but I just don't know. I had throught about putting all the site sections on the bar ddm, but come to think of it, I wouldn't need the ddm part of it, LOL.

Oh well. I guess the next step is going from still to animated. hee. More soon!

---------------
10:15 pm -

Well, I got the links modified so it goes from a still image that when you hover your mouse over it, it animates. *Glee!*
I figured it's be easy. But now comes the hard part. Making the bar links into individually-changing images. *nibbles nails and goes to take the plunge*

10:30 pm - GOT IT! HEEE!

And the beautiful thing is, Dreamweaver changed the html file, successfully marrying the mouseover command of the ddm (mouseover-expand) with the mouseover image change, instead of requiring that I change the CSS file (and cries of "YAAAY! can be heard in the background here) *does the cabbage patch*.
I also learned how to do comment tags in css (snicker). html is <!-- with comment --> (I don't know if you can see that, let me put spaces between the bracket and inside < !-- and the end is -- > now CSS is different, however. And I learned this from that very kind css website that showed me how to make the beautiful ddm that I have. /* css comments go here */ I just wish I could upload and list all the different versions I've done. But there are so many I go through to get where I'm going. I've allready done five versions (that are complete and will work) today and late last night alone. That's my latest work-session.

I'm sorry for being boring, but I'm passionate about website design. And though I don't do it anymore for other people (I tried to do a free one for someone and they wanted a site where they could add their own stuff, then last time I tried to do a paid site for someone, they wanted constant updates, redos, and I still haven't gotten paid for the 90% I have gotten done on it. You know about my ex-husband's site, right? He's still trying to promise me more money for more work on his site, but it requires a very specific design program which is expensive and tyhe ex still hasn't provided (among other stuff he hasn't provided).

Buuuut.... He has told me (first) he didn't know how to do an image-preview link... or was the ddm first? I forget. Anyway, he wanted a link that would have a popup image with a random image every time. So I wore myself out trying to design the random image hover... I know I posted that epic html-Phail to my livejournal. :-/

Then it was the drop-down menu. Which i tried so hard to revamp (aka the site-title hide-a-menu). But I'm not holding anything at all against the ex for the ddm thing. It has led me to all this. I'm not sure whether to be irked that he's convinced me to do all this work and research on possible site applications for free. It was supposed to be a business arangement. I DID try to make his site for free because he was my husband. But let's just say that occasion was actually worse. I'm not going to go into it, though. I think I'm still researching site applications (the ddms, random hover-image, etc.) because I truly do love doing that kind of thing. I've gotten to the point where if you can draw it on ms paint or whatever, I can turn it into an actual webpage. and when I reached that point, it seemed like there was nothing more to learn. so I turned to learning applications (I'm sorry, I know that's wrong. they're not apps, but rather tricks and programming bits).
Dreamweaver has now taken things to a whole new level. It combines html, css, and javascript (which looks like a foreign language to me. But then, so did html when I first started, and so did css when I first started). So I'm going to shut up and go play with Dreamweaver, and flip through my css books. (I'm gonna have to print some of them out or something. heh.)

more soon.
later!

I don't know if I've mentioned this before or not here on my personal journal. I don't know why if I didn't. This is so much fun for me. I'm actually collaborating with an artist on DevArt to make a TF magazine. A very...fun TF magazine.

You see, I have seen mock-covers for Playbot Magazine over on DevArt for quite a while now. Well, a couple of weeks ago, I finally got tired of constantly seeing only the cover (and wondering about the articles listed on it), and wondered if someone would want to put together an actual magazine. (the artist, mind you. Not me *cackle*.) Well, I opened my big mouth *grin* and said something.

I'll admit, I was half-tempted to ask the artist if I could just do something with her cover.
I got invited to do a collab.
I justabout squeed when she said that. (Hee!)
 So, Fera-Feueragian and I got a group started on deviantart, for people who want to contribute to the first ever ACTUAL Playbot magazine!!!
http://playbot.deviantart.com
I'm working on some articles right now, but I really suck when it comes to smutty stuff. So I wanted to ask if anyone has any art, fiction, or any stuff they can help out with?

And, I also wanted to post because I have one article I really need help with, and I think people will really like it. It's called "Dear So-and-so!" (letters of annoyance/passion/whatever)

The whole thing is a bunch of annonymous notes sent to an autobot from another autobot. Ermm.... here's some examples.

"Dear yellow idiot:
the hallway is not your personal runway. Stick a side and STAY THERE!
~sick of looking at your rear fender

Dear stick-up-the-aft:
grow up! it was only silly string
~young at heart

--------------
The first note is from ...someone to sunstreaker. The second is a note from Sideswipe to Prowl.
Notes should be short, annonymous, and free of swear words.

Have at it! Please!

yeah, cut for potential spoilers.

I downloaded the latest TF prime episode. From the way the review reads, it may just be another one of "thoseepisodes", the kind that seem altogether too short. I'm almost tempted to wait till monday to download the next episode and watch them one right after the other.
...okay, I'm not gonna do that. I my or may not wait till the end of the episode to write a review, I dunno.

I am so full of squee right now. Prime as a Decepticon. Every fangirl's secret dream. snerkSnerkSnerk! Hee!
*watches more*