Touch The Internet

So, go ahead? Touch the internet. What? You don't think you can?

Most people do not consider the internet as an actual physical part of our world but the truth is it's just as physical as the hands I'm using to type up this entry. The first step to understanding this concept is not confusing your broswer with the internet. The internet is a lot of computers connected together in various ways. Your browser is a program like Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox that you can use to browse the internet.

There are many purposes for the internet, more than just the everyday websites you visit. There is FTP (File Transfer Protocol) or VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) and more. The most common use however for the internet is made possible by hyper text which is used in operating the world wide web. Hyper text is text that allows us to link data to other data. Without hyper text nothing else on the world wide web could exist. Hyper text explains the use of the "HTTP" at the beginning of web addresses. HTTP stands for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol.

That's how hyper text works but creating web pages and creating hyper text is done through using HTML. HTML is the Hyper Text Markup Language. It's a code that is made up of a series of tags that allows us to create, alter and tweak web pages to our liking. Knowledge of HTML is key to creating your own website or publishing your work onto the internet. The thing to remember out HTML is that it is just long lines of text and nothing more until it is translated and displayed properly.

In the past everything had to be done using HTML and typing up long series of tags to complete a webpage but today we have much better tools. An example of our development is the graphical interface we have now instead of just a text-based one before. Our browser translates HTML and displays what the tags are basically commanding the computer to take action as.

Now we have programs that have made creating the actual content easier, just like we've made viewing it much more enjoyable. One of these programs is Macromedia Dreamweaver which automatically creates code for any action you take on a certain area on the screen. Or you can directly create code and the box will display what your code is actually going to look like on a browser. Macromedia Dreamweaver is the most popular program for creating websites and doing HTML related work.

Final Day Of Euphoria

Today is the last day of March Break! Of course we all wish that the break would last a bit longer than it has, but the end was inevitable anyway. I don't have much to talk about that would be curriculum related but my March Break was quite enjoyable. I'll just mention some of the technology-related discoveries and parts of my March Break.

I learned how to create a gif animation with the help of a friend who gave me a crash course in the controls of the Ulead Gif Animator program. I experimented with a few things but my final result came out well and I'm proud of it. I'll be extremely happy to use this newfound knowledge and explore the program more. During this process I also realized that studying Adobe Photoshop is beneficial even if you don't plan to use it often. Being familiar with the tools in Adobe Photoshop can really help you understand tools and operations in other programs as well.

Other than that I have taken a sudden and most probably a short lived interest in pocket PC's. A Pocket PC is basically like a smaller computer, small enough to fit in your hand to be exact. Pocket PC's are continuously being improved and they can do many things that a normal Desktop PC could do. They also can be used as mobile phones in some cases. The functions of a Pocket PC, I have found, are very similar to those of a BlackBerry. However, the Pocket PC is a trademark of Microsoft and the BlackBerry was developped by a Canadian company known as RIM (Research In Motion). They are both classified as a PDA(Personal Digital Assistant).

Close to last, another part of my vacation that involved technology was expanding my knowledge of file extensions. I have listed this close to last as it gave me the most trouble! I had to ask around and even do a little bit of research myself to find out what file formats some files were in. Eventually I realized what they could all do and what program would be used to run them all, but it wasn't easy. It was also quite frustrating since I wasn't feeling very patient when I experienced this problem. At least it worked out in the end.

Now lastly, this is about the dangers of the media which I was very aware of myself near the end of my vacation. You have all probably experienced this, when you go out to a major event where many people with the same interests gather, there are bound to be pictures being taken! Many people will want to take pictures of you, or you might end up in a lot of pictures anyway. You never know what's happening to these pictures! So please always be careful of who takes a picture of you. I'm happy to say we (my sister, me and a few friends) didn't learn our lesson the hard way and steered clear of any media-related dangers on our trip! Now...weather condition related dangers...that's another story.

Well it seems like I've covered a lot of my vacation in this post, just goes to show what a big part technology is of our world!

Graphics Knowledge Exam

Today was the day we wrote our test on "Adobe Photoshop Elements". The test itself was pretty straight forward and I believe if you paid attention in class and did all the work you probably did fine. Even saying that, I'm still nervous about my own mark but that is inevitable. Below are a few things that were either on the test, mentioned in class, or are in some other way significant and related to our work on Photoshop Elements.

Aspects:
-Resolution: This is the pixel to inch ratio, or how many dots per inch are in your image. 300 for print images, 72 for internet purposes
-Canvas Size: This refers to the width and height of your canvas, the most common print size is 4 x 6 (inches).
-Hexadecimal Codes: The values used to represent all of the 16.7 million hues available to work with.

Tools:
-Marquee Tool: Either retangular or elliptical, used for selection.
-Paintbrush: Used to paint directly on to the canvas with varying brush sizes.
-Lasso: Freeform selection tool.
-Dodge/Burn: Used to darken or lighten an image, name comes from actual chemical processes that were used in the past.
-Sharpen/Blur: Used to blur or sharpen an image.
-Crop: Cut or clip your image to the desired part and discard the rest of the image.
-Gradient: Used to spread from the background colour to the foreground colour. (Acheives a faded effect with one colour blending into the next.)
-Smudge: Does exactly what it's called, smudges.
-Eraser: Again, no brainer, erases.
-Clone Stamp: Clones from a source. Takes one part of an image and duplicates to another part of the image.
-Horizontal/Vertical Type Tool: Adds text either flowing horizontally or vertically to the image.
-Eyedropper: Selects a colour in the image and sets it to the foreground colour. Handy when identifying or narrowing down colours in an image.
-Magic Wand: Used to select parts of a picture, determined by the hexadecimal code fo a colour and controlled by the tolerance setting.

Palettes:
-Layers: Displays all your layers, their visibility and all the effects that have been applied to them.
-Navigator: Shows you an overview of your picture, the percentage your viewing it at and allows you to move around the image.
-History: Records and shows you previous actions that have been taken.
-Layer Styles: Lists and allows you to apply the different layer styles available.
-Swatches: Shows you different basic colours you can use.
-File Browser: Allows you to navigate through your files and open them.

Current Status: Stable

Lately we've all been concentrating on completing our digital paintings. I've polished mine off and I'm pretty sure that I'm done with it. If you would like to take a look please refer to me previous post "...From Scratch!" We haven't had a new assignment since then aside from working on the wiki and I have already contributed three articles to that and hope to do more.

I've also decided to try and produce a new banner for our wiki. I don't have many ideas as of yet but I'm aiming to make a better one than the current, which once again can be found at http://woodbinejhs.ca/btt/wiki.

That's all for now, now it's time for me to get back to work!

...From Scratch!

Lately in class we've been working with Adobe Photoshop Elements as I have mentioned in my previous posts. We've already learned how to correct and edit existing images. The next step in our Photoshop Path Of Wisdom is creating our very own image...from scratch!

The kind of work we're doing, by creating our own image on Photoshop, is considered and known as 'digital painting'. This term makes good sense if you think about it. Digital because of the use of technology and painting because we are, just like an artist, painting on our own blank canvas (just that ours is on a monitor and not a wooden stand!). The idea is pretty simple but composing an image can be quite tough when you're not familiar with the program you are using! I strongly suggest for everyone to try out their techniques before they work on their final product! Using a lot of layers is a very beneficial idea, that way you can just delete parts of your picture that you aren't happy with without affecting the rest of your work.

If you'd like to see what I've done so far on this assignment, please take a look at our Wiki Gallery. There are some other great images to check out there as well. This is all for now!

Ha! In your face Wikipedia!

In today's class we were made aware of our very own wiki! It has been created specially for the people taking the course. For those of you who don't know wiki comes from the hawaiian word which means something close to community. A wiki is basically a community which allows its users to contribute information that would be beneficial to other users of the wiki.

Wiki-type of communities are growing increasingly popular. They are proving to be a very productive way of learning and gaining knowledge. They are used for teaching courses to business purposes! Wikis compile different concepts or ideas related to a subject. The best part is that wikis are "By The People For The People!"

Wikipedia is a good example of a wiki since all the information is inputted by the users. The information is monitored by administrative staff to keep out useless garbage, of course!

Our wiki can be found at www.woodbinejhs.ca/btt/wiki

(*Note: Wiki is exclusive to students taking the BTT course)

Playful Customization

In today's class we looked at different things we can add or change about an existing picture. We've already learned how to make a picture look better so this class was focussed on making a picture look like something it actually wasn't!

The picture we were experimenting with can be considered a landscape picture (deliberately not a good one, since we wanted to 'fix' it!). We were shown how to change and add things to the sky (e.g.: moon, lightning etc.). We messed around with a few other aspects of the picture but the possibilities are left quite broad. Now it is up to our imaginations and our knowledge of photoshop to create a more interesting image out of our boring piles of snow!

Sliding Into Perfection

When you take pictures you often only judge the content of the picture. We usually only evaluate the colours, quality and such only sparingly in the pictures we take. They are, however, an important aspect of any photograph or image. Sadly, a lot of pictures and images you may find on the internet, or just pictures you've taken yourself, might be very poor in these areas. Fortunately for us we can easily fix or edit these parts of our pictures using proper knowledge of Adobe Photoshop Elements. So let's look at a few common problems in images and how to fix them.

Colours:
Often a pictures colours may not have come out right, or look strange to you. To fix this problem using Photoshop Elements you alter the levels of RGB in your picture. You can do this by going to enhace>brightness/contrast>levels. From there you will be directed to a pop up screen. That will show a graphic representation of the over all RGB levels in your image and sliders that can help you alter them. You can move those around to lighten or darken your image to your heart's content, but there is also a drop down menu that let's you control the individual levels of the colours red, green and blue in your picture. Just move around some sliders and there you have it!

Image Quality:
Image quality is an entirely different issue. The quality of an image depends on its resolution. The resolution determines how many pixels there are per inch of the image. Pixel is short for picture element. Each pixel is like one dot of colour in an image, the more of these dots there are per inch the sharper, better quality you get in a picture. So when you're creating an image to print remember to always keep your resolution at 300, to get the best results. If you're just putting an image on the internet 72 is the suggested resolution so it doesn't take as much time to load and use up large amounts of bandwidth. It's hard to increase the resolution of an image once it has already been taken. Since the computer sees everything as a mathematical equation, it can only see the number of dots per inch and their hexadecimal codes. If you ask it to add more information (add more pixels), it can only stretch o ut the information it already has. The computer can only make a guess for you and thus the resolution can only be fixed slightly.

If your picture, for some reason, is too dull, bright or blurry, you can use the dodge, burn and sharpen tools to help you out.

Sharpen: The sharpen tool can sharpen parts of an image, but don't expect great results. If you have a blurry picture, sorry, you should just hold the camera still!

Dodge/Burn: The dodge and burn tools affect how light or dark the colours in your image are. If you use the dodge tool over an area the colours become brighter. If you use the burn tool the colours become darker, as if they had become "burnt", thus the name of the tool. Both of these were originally techniques used by manual developpers in the past.

So these are some ways to make your pictures look better using Adobe Photoshop Elements. Similar tools can be found in other photo-editing software so it's always good to know some basics. Now everything can look picture perfect!

Behind The Camera Lens

We have all dealt with pictures throughout the course of our lifetimes. We've either been in pictures or taken them or simply viewed them as they fill the world around us. Pictures are a timeless record of an emotion, idea or message. They are ideal for expressing views, making memories or simply having fun. So you may think, "Pictures? What's the big deal? I've been working with those since I was a child!" But the truth is that not many people get a chance to look at things from the photographer's perspective, the artist's angle or through the image composer's eyes.

Images and pictures that you see in the media on a normal basis are A LOT more than they seem. They may actually be manipulating your thoughts in a certain way and you don't have a clue about it! In truth, the construction of media is a lot more than just taking a random picture and sticking a slogan on it. The presenter has to carefully evaluate their audience and think of a catchy way to promote or convey their message or idea. There are many techniques followed in the world behind the camera lens, and I believe it is important for you to familiarize yourself with them!

The Rules Of Composition:

I will mention here a few of the rules of composition and how they work towards the final product. There are many other rules of composition that you can find but these are quite major.

1) Rule Of Thirds: This rule focuses on the positioning of the main object or concept in your image. To understand it please look at the picture below:

Source: http://www.picturecorrect.com/photographytips/composition.htm

The idea here is to divide your picture into 9 sections as depicted above. Instead of placing your focal point in the dead center of the image you should aim to place it on one of the points circled in red above. This gives a more interesting angle to your image and draws the consumer in.

2) Simplicity: You should always try to keep your image simple. A simple more clean way of presenting the image will make a more striking point and avoid any distractions. A good way of doing this is trying not to have any lines or other elements leading away from your focal point and keeping a fairly subtle background.

3) Framing: Even if you don't know anything about photography, you probably do know that putting a frame around a picture is a good thing to do. This works for focal points in images as well except its purpose is not to hold the image up. Framing while composing in image refers to having the surroundings of your focal point placed around it so that they frame it. But you have to be careful with this and make sure that your focal point is what stays dominant and that the way you frame your focal point doesn't take away from it.

4) Texture: Involving texture in your image is effective. Texture makes the human mind wander and think about how the objects in the picture feel. It concentrates the mind's energy and draws the consumer's interest. When using texture, make sure that all the shadows play out properly in the picture and that its features are highlighted and darkened accordingly. Lighting is key for texture!

5) Leading Lines: This is rule of composition that you can have a bit of fun with. It is very versatile as well as useful. Leading lines can be used to guide the eye around the image and make it look at things that you want to be looked at. Leading lines can be almost anything and they allow the composer of the image to make sure that the viewer receives the right idea of the image.

6) Colour: Colour, this is a no-brainer, you may think. Colours can change the way a picture makes a person feel and how they react to it. So keep your colour combinations in mind when you compose an image. It is important to use colours that are appropriate to your subject, cause and situation. A little slip could give the wrong message! Use combinations that are pleasing to the eyes (or unpleasant if that's the idea you're going for, but that's a different kind of statement).

So now you know what the experts think about before they present their work. These are all things you should think about to before you create, consume or be part of a picture yourself!

*Note: We'll be using Adobe Photoshop Elements to experiment with these rules and other ideas that apply to image composition. If you'd like to learn more about photoshop, I'd suggest you look at an introductory tutorial.

lamicedaxeH?

Now...you're probably wondering what I'm talking about if you've read the title. Well the truth is that even I'm not quite sure what I'm talking about. Here let me fix that

lamicedaxeH-------->Hexadecimal

Yes, we're learning about Hexadecimal, the base 16 number system. As you all know we follow the base 10 number system and we have already explored binary the base 2 number system (Refer to "Computers? Those are ancient!" for more information.

This is how Hexadecimal works:

-Place values increase by multiplying by 16 (E.G. 1, 16, 32, etc.)
-We can place numbers up to "9" in place value columns
-Letters (A-F) are used after 9

A=10
B=11
C=12
D=13
E=14
F=15

And after F(15) you would naturally move to the next column, since Hexadecimal is the base 16 number system. To understand this concept better lets look at an example. Let's say you want to represent the number 17 using Hexadecimal, it would be done like so:

So the number 17 would be represented as "11" using Hexadecimal. Since we have 16(x1) and 1(x1).

The most common use of Hexadecimal, which we discussed in class is used to define values of RGB(Red, Green, Blue). Different values of the colours red, green and blue are what allow our computer monitors to display the wide range of colours that they do today. Different values of red, green and blue are applied to make these colours and Hexadecimal is what defines these values. The most vital piece of information that you need to know is that there are 255 levels of each colour, red, green and blue.

Another example can be used here to make this idea clear. If you want the colour pure red you would use the Hexadecimal code:

FF0000

The FF symbolizes all 255 levels of red. The first two zeros symbolize zero values of green and the last two zeros symbolize 0 values of blue. Leaving you with pure red. Using Hexadecimal you can go from 00 to FF for red green and blue. You need the right amount of each colour to create the right shade.

Since we have 255 levels of each colour. In total we have the possibility of 16.7 million colours, that's a lot to work with. Hexadecimal codes help us assign a specific code to each one of these colours making them much easier to use.

To sum all that up...Hexadecimal is just another thing that makes our already complicated lives slightly simpler!