The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is the main international standards organization for the World Wide Web (abbreviated WWW or W3). It is arranged as a consortium where member organizations maintain full-time staff for the purpose of working together in the development of standards for the World Wide Web.

So what does that mean? It means that they are the organization that dictates what standards to use for web programming. But more importantly, why is it relevant? The main advantage to W3C compliancy is to ensure proper functioning code, and address accessibility concerns. For example, W3C requires you to have alternate text on all your images. That way, if a blind person visits your site, the “images” are labeled properly for their screen reader, and they can navigate the site and get a sense of what you’re protraying graphically.

There are a number of people who are all hung up on W3C compliancy with websites. I’ve been “called out” on it a few times. Most of the time, it’s from people who don’t really understand what W3C compliancy is, and more importantly, don’t understand programming and browser compatability. You see, the idea of standards compliancy is better on paper than the reality of putting it in practice. Unfortunately, Microsoft is guilty of flooding the browser market with their sub-par Internet Explorer 6. The browser is over 8 years old, and still in major use (over 40% of the browser market). The problem is that moving to full W3C compliant code on a website means making compromises to your design or functionality as a result of bad IE6 rendering.

Think of it this way: What if you were a writer who was forced to write proper English all the time? Getting across a French accent would not be “dat heasy witout da mis-spellings”. Sometimes you need to break the rules in order to make a better quality product.

Case in point: The Hotcakes New Media website is W3C compliant. In order to get my site W3C certified, I had to make changes to the functionality of the site. The main animation on the site is a Flash video. W3C states that the older Flash “object” code is not acceptable, so I’m forced to use Javascript to load the Flash elements. Now, anyone with Java disabled will not see the website properly. W3C forced me to make a decision: Show my site as intended to a large number of viewers, or comply with W3C and reduce the number of viewers.

In many cases, it is a more difficult decision. Because of how IE6 renders code so poorly, the choice becomes “hacking” the code to make my nice graphical design look right in IE6, or follow standards and degrade the graphical appeal of the site. As a designer, being forced to compromise your potential just to maintain a mostly irrelevant “certification” is a tough pill to swallow.

My personal approach with Hotcakes New Media is to strive to get W3C compliancy, but I accept a minimal level of invalid code if the benefits outweigh the negatives. Every site I design “starts out” W3C compliant; I design it for Firefox and Safari, and follow all W3C standards. The site passes certification, and is then tested in other browsers. If I need to do anything to make it work in other browsers, or I need a plugin that will significantly increase the user experience, I make the changes and test for W3C again. If it fails, I look at why. If I can get around it, I do. If not, at least I’m assured that the main reason for W3C, accessibility for the impared, is valid and taken care of.

So that’s my rant for the day. Hope you enjoyed the geekery.

A7

I promised you all something big, so here it is! I invite you to visit Hotcakes New Media, my new video production and design company. There is still a bit of organization left to do before I start taking contracts (getting a business bank account, setting up accounting, and awaiting delivery of my new lighting and chromakey kits) but everything is registered and well underway.

Today marks the official launch of Hotcakes New Media.

A7

The gears are in motion, and things are well underway. Stay tuned for more detailed news in a couple of days.

A7

But enough about that, and onto my post. As of last month, I am officially a published artist, passing yet another milestone in my career.

The illustration work I created for author Francois Kibwenge El-Esu has been printed and is now in distribution in book stores all over. The author was kind enough to send me a personalized copy of the book, with a written note thanking me for the design. I also have my name printed in the foreward of the book. It is a great feeling to see my work out there in the world.

I have acheived a lot in the past two years. I have had my first gallery show (Ann Homan Art Gallery), my first group exhibit (Nuit Blanche 2007), my first creative job (Interaction Artist), and now my first published illustration.

So what’s next for A7?

A7

Happy Bunny Invitations and Thank You Notes (8)

Looking forward to our lunch date today

Happy Birthday!!!

MUAH <3

It was interesting to see the house so bare without any of our design decisions in place yet. But you might be wondering what design decisions we made? Well here’s the list of upgrades and colour choices we made.

Our design center meetings and choices have been completed for some time now, and due to how fast it all took place, I didn’t have the time to discuss any of it on this site. I’ve been meaning to write something about it to start a discussion on our choices, so here it is!

First, it’s important to explain that the floor plan is very open concept. That’s specifically what drew me to our model of home in the first place. I really like having modular open areas that can be sectioned off without the use of walls. As such, the entrance from the front door immediately opens up into our full main floor, including the kitchen, dining room, and living room, with no walls. An island will separate the kitchen and dining room. We will be placing an airy open shelving unit (square stacked cubes) between the living and dining room. The entrance and powder room will have a rustic (rough and unevely cut) medium grey tile on the floor. The rest of the first floor will be a seemless hardwood floor (all the way into the kitchen too), finished in a slightly faded medium red oak. The modern (square) styled stair railing will be finished in the same way.

The kitchen is where most of the upgrades came in because it is one of the most important areas for me. You all know I love to cook, so I wanted this to be a dream kitchen. The cupboards and pantry are going to be finished in a flat biscuit (off-white) laminate with straight and simple stainless steel handles. This is complimented with the upgraded black Quartz countertop. The Quartz countertop in black will provide a deep rich shine and gloss, as well as a unique modern squared edge. The sink will also be clad in black, and undermounted with a single-hole faucet to compliment the simple and elegant look. The backsplash has been completely removed so we can paint it a deep red. The island, also finished with the Quartz countertop, has large pot drawers, and is flanked by speakers built into the ceiling. Finally, the crowning jewel are the Floating Glass appliances from Jenn-Air; The appliances (fridge, stove, dishwasher) are black, with a full slightly curved tempered glass covering the entire front. This creates a stunning deep gloss and mirror-like finish. The side-by-side fridge features a water and ice dispenser. The dishwasher features a dirt-sensing mechanism that automatically sets the appropriate cleaning options. And the piece-de-resistance, the slide-in dual-fuel range, features a gas cooktop with built in grill for indoor BBQ year round.

Upstairs, the master bedroom also has speakers in the ceiling. It also has an ensuite with clear glass shower, and a roman tub surrounded by an earthy rustic tile. The counter is white with black flakes, and the doors are a flat medium brown wood. The main bathroom has a dark blue countertop and the shower is surrounded by a very light blue tile with a bamboo texture.

That just about describes all the main design decisions to date. It will be really interesting to see all these choices come together in real life. Have any comments? Let me know.

A7

(bonus picture… the inside of the house under construction)

UPDATE (Sept 29):

Here’s the latest picture of the house.

Just thought I would let you all know that the article I wrote for CONFRONT Magazine is now live. Click here to read the article (with pictures).

I thought that I would post about a few really good bands that I discovered while surfing on the net. It all started when I googled The Crow Soundtrack. You see, I have always really liked the song “Burn” from The Cure. I have always been a fan of dark movies and themes with a fascination in things “goth.” But don’t get me wrong, I don’t like “elements” of the goth culture that you see on the streets nor do I like the various subcultures perpetuated by popular media that define themselves with their own sensational spin-off themes like S&M, Deathrock (you know, the kind with lyrics of teen suicide), satanic worship, mutilation, etc.

What I do like and what kind of goth am I talking about? Think the style of dress from the Renaissance and Victoria era, not so much the punk and deathrock stream. Think medieval romances, gothic revival architecture and yes, even the horror genre with ghosts, vampires, graveyards and old country castles.

What surprised me, however, was when I started looking up “Goth Rock” bands, I came up with some surprisingly mellow and very emotionally charged music. So lately, I’ve been expanding my repertoire of music reflecting that taste. Once I got “Burn” from The Cure on my Youtube playlist, on a list of related videos, I came across these great songs from a Finnish Band called Entwine. Well, 4 hours later of exploring, I discovered this great band along with others that fall under the “Goth Rock” label including Lacuna Coil and H.I.M.. And now a lot of their music makes up my very best list for songs from the late 90s to now. So I am including links to the songs that I like most. These songs move me. They make me feel something. Not a lot of bands do that for me anymore.

If you are interested, check out the links. Regrettably, not all of them have a video per se, but some do include the lyrics which is nice…

Here is a list of songs from the band Entwine…

Entwine

• Learn to Let Go
• Closer (My Love)
• Lost Within
• Time Of Despair
• Nothing Left To Say
• Nothing’s Forever
• Frozen By the Sun
• Hearts of Frozen Stone

And 2 from Lacuna Coil

• Entwined
• Falling Again

And 2 from H.I.M.

• Join Me in Death
• Gone With the Sin

If you went to these links, I would really like to know what you think.

Tina

This past Tuesday, I headed out to most of the tattoo shops on Rideau street to get some quotes and look for the artist who will be doing my tattoo. Every shop I went to commented on how much they liked my designs, so that’s a good sign. The two top artists I found, Pandy from Future Skin and Rich from Silverline Tattoo, both made the same recommendation. They suggested I use some of the purple from design #4 and incorporate it into design #3. Since both these artists’ portfolios were amazing, I valued their opinion and went back to the drawing board. The end result is a tattoo that has all the elements I was looking for. I am extremely pleased with the results. Here is the final design I will be getting shortly:

And in case you want to know what it’s going to look like on me, here’s a Photoshop example of what it’s going to look like. (please ignore the really sleepy look I have… it was the only photo I had from that angle with my arm exposed. )

Now I’m stuck deciding between two great artists to do my work. Pandy is clearly the best tattoo artist in Ottawa, but he also charges the most. Rich had a fantastic portfolio or work and drawings, and a great personality, but not much tribal work in his portfolio (though his level of detail is amazing, so I don’t doubt he could do it).

Decisions, decisions, decisions…

A7

There are a few features missing from the application, like the ability to add my “read more” link, but overall I am very impressed. Now next time I travel I can post pictures and messages as it happens.

Stay tuned for a review of the new iPhone and a comparison with the older model.

A7