MY STADY

First Post of 2013!

2013-01-01T00:00:00.000-05:00

That's right, jerks! Happy New Year! Eat some Black Eyed Peas or something. (I'm not even here, I robot posted this.)

Charetta: 5 YEAR5 LATER, 55 5HOT5, 5OLD OUT 5HOW*

2012-06-28T12:28:00.002-04:00

The first time I shot for Charetta was June 16, 2007. These shots were taken exactly 5 years later on June 16, 2012. COINCIDENCE? Well yeah, obviously. What was I shooting with back then? Oh right, a Canon PowerShot A640. I loved that camera. If it wasn't for its lack of hot shoe I might still be rocking it. Okay, maybe not. But really, I LOVED that camera! I wanted to do more nightlife photography but the harsh built-in flash made that impossible. I found tricks to diminish the harshness but ultimately it was time to move on.

What was I talking about again? Oh yeah, Charetta 5 years later! Great show. Great energy. Great crowd. Everybody I spoke to was so proud and happy to see how far they've come. Angelina really loves rock music. She's very passionate about it. She's on a mission to keep rock music alive. She's like a rock ambassador. Stop taking rock for granted! Buy the music, come to the shows, adopt a local band. Let's all do our part.

Right, the photos. Firstly, big shout out to Angelina and Mike for bailing me out. Once again my camera was an issue. According to Mike I should probably expect that every time from now on. There was a policy change or something? It's not a big deal, I'll just have to be diligent about getting passes in advance. I got some pix of Mike and Angelina from the after party. Those should be going up next.

And there you have it. What took so long? I took 500+ shots of them performing. Yeah, proofing was murder. Many sleepless nights—and days! Please enjoy these 55 shots of Charetta selling out. (Get it?)

Links

I linked to EVERYTHING.

*I stole this device from Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem.

Killcode @ The Gramercy Theatre

2012-06-20T17:15:00.000-04:00

Here's the shots I took of Killcode at The Gramercy Theatre last Saturday. They opened for Charetta. They're pretty rockin'! I missed out on some great shots I was dancing so much. Oh well, next time! They're on my radar now.

We weren't allowed to shoot with flash. I embraced this restriction and instead of trying to freeze the action I captured a little motion. Once again I was playing with light. I had the ISO at 500 to make things nice and grainy. I was going for an almost paint-like quality.

I could understand why they'd want us to shoot without flash. It could be distracting to the crowd behind us. The last thing I want to do is steal focus from the performers.

Bootie: Pirate Ship Mashup Party

2012-05-29T01:49:00.002-04:00

Bootie on a boat! Confession: this was my first Bootie Mashup party. What better way to pop my cherry than on a boat? It was glorious! Like any venue with multiple party rooms the upper and lower decks had different vibes. I loved it! The DJs did a great job. You gotta figure it's tougher to mix mashups. That's four tracks (minimum) competing for attention. Of course you could play devil's advocate and say once a mashup is final it has it's own identity like any other original track. Two become one, etc. I dunno man, maybe I'm over-thinking this. But I couldn't do it! When the DJ drops a sick mashup everybody goes insane! I had an amazing time.

A++++++++, will party again.

"Hey, is there a coat check on this boat?"

After I boarded I asked if there was a coat check; they said no. I felt really dumb for asking. I almost feel like it's something I should have known already. But I don't find myself on boats that often! They weren't mean or derisive about it but...man, I'm uncomfortable even typing this. Ha ha! So yeah, don't bring a coat unless you really need it. Otherwise you can do with I did and tie your belongings to a railing. I emptied the pockets first, of course. I mean, I didn't expect anyone to untie it or steal it. How would the thief get away, jump overboard and swim to shore? I wasn't worried.

"Only 100 tickets left!"

I must say Andy really pimped this event hard. When he sent out the e-blast alerting there were only 100 tix left I was like, "Oh shit!" I had nothing scheduled that day so I went for it. He may have sent one or two more blasts after that. But it's like, sometimes you need a reminder because maybe later in the week your schedule frees up. I think I would have gone anyway but I didn't want to take a chance when that second alert went out; thousands of people read the Shaw Promotion mailing list. Of the dozens of lists I'm subscribed to my favorite has always been Shaw's.

See You Next Time

Big thanks to all the party people and performers who came out that night. It was a real trip. Let's do this again, soon!

Letterist @ Cakeshop + Download "100MPH"

2012-05-19T13:48:00.001-04:00

Here's Letterist in their debut performance of 2012. The venue was Cakeshop on Ludlow street. I love the little tree lights that adorn the stage ceiling. There was much shutter dragging to be had! But some of that dragging may have been involuntary. It's hard to hold a camera steady when the rest of you is dancing. It's always the same struggle for me: capture the moment or revel in it? Solution: dance with the camera! (I saw Tré do it first. I totally stole her move. Ha ha!)

Letterist is next playing at Spike Hill in June. I think they're releasing the new album Solace and Gold that night. I'll double-check with Pamela and get back to you on that. I won't be there unfortunately; I have a prior engagement. But don't let that stop you from coming. Letterist attracts a fun crowd, be ready to dance and enjoy yourself!

Bonus Track

I never know what to expect from these kids but I'm always pleasantly surprised. What we have here is an eclectic, talented group. And this is some very convincing synthpop.

Download: "100MPH" by Letterist.

More Music

You like that track? Great! You can download another from their their bandcamp page. It's also free and off the new album Solace and Gold.

Holi Festival 2012 Music Video

2012-04-19T08:11:00.005-04:00

So yeah, the Holi Spring Festival of Colors. Arsen saw it in a movie once and was telling me about it. It's customary for celebrants to throw perfumed and colored powders at each other. Social class doesn't matter, anyone may participate. It sounded rad! Then we watched the movie together and it totally looked rad too! (That technically means he's seen the movie twice—at least. I apologize for lying.) Arsen says he'd like to go to celebrate Holi in India. So would I but I'm broke. Next best thing? Holi in New York! Arsen couldn't come with me that day because he had to work. I felt bad because he's the one who introduce me to Holi but there's always next year.

The 24th Annual Phagwah Parade in Richmond Hill

Of the many Holi celebrations in New York I chose to attend the Phagwah parade in Richmond Hill. After the parade everyone gathers in the park to throw colors at each other. The park is big and wide; perfect for Holi! I originally planned to go with my trusty Nikon but after looking online at past events I wasn't so sure I'd be bringing anything new to the table. Holi is celebrated all around the world and many fantastic pictures have already been taken. I didn't know what I was getting into and frankly I wanted to be free to enjoy the event. Also, my camera isn't weatherproof! What to do? Just do happens my GoPro video camera is totally weatherproof!

The GoPro camera is amazing: small, HD resolution, mounts anywhere, rugged. From indie skaters to blockbuster Hollywood filmmakers everybody uses them now. I literally see it everywhere now, it's so neat! I keep saying "now" because when I got one they hadn't yet rose to such dominance. Once you know what it is it's hard not to notice them mounted on a car for a bit on Conan. (Or mounted on the cars of every reality show ever, ha ha!) Strapping a GoPro to my chest solved all my problems: nothing to carry, capture footage of the Holi festival, no worries about powder damaging camera equipment. I was ready to go!

I'm glad I brought the camera because I'm not good at moment-by-moment recaps. I had a lot of fun. It was a new experience and environment but I felt welcome. I did a lot of dancing. The camera did affect my own behavior but others were curious. I handed out some business cards. But yeah, I had it rolling the whole time and all I have to show for it is this two-and-a-half-minute music video! Ha ha, check it out.

M.I.A. "Bucky Done Gun (Master D RMX)" — Unofficial Music Video

Well, obviously it's unofficial, obviously. Duh. Yeah, I thought it'd be fun to make a music video. I wanted a track that invoked a carnival-slash-festival feeling. Something energetic. I think DJ Master D totally nailed it. M.I.A. "Bucky Done Gun (Master D RMX)" is available on DJ Master D's SoundCloud profile. There's a lot of great tracks on there, check 'em out! What I didn't know when I was editing the video is that the original music video for M.I.A.'s "Bucky Done Gone" uses a color motif. What a happy coincidence! Oh, by the way my music video uses only a portion of the track. The entire thing is 3:48.

So, editing the video in iMovie was a real pain in the ass. There were many things I wanted to do that were simply impossible. iMovie is not for precision editing; the smallest clip you can have is 5 frames. I like the way it turned out but this wasn't my original vision. As soon as I can afford it I'm getting Final Cut X. I misspoke. I can afford Final Cut X but it'd be irresponsible of me to buy it seeing as how I'm unemployed at the moment. Yeah...

Happy Holi!

GoPro Official Website: The World's Most Versatile Camera
GoPro Chest Mount Harness for HERO Cameras(Slightly cheaper on Amazon)
DJ Master D on SoundCloud

Indecent Preposition (Tax Returns!)

2012-03-23T03:59:00.002-04:00

So I got my refund from the government or whatever it's called. (Sad that I don't know. Tax check? Social Security check?) I was so happy I emptied the first class envelope over my bed and let the check flutter out. Then I put on some Sade, stripped down to my underwear and rolled around on my check like Demi Moore from Indecent Proposal. It wasn't as exciting as it was portrayed in the movie. At the very least I wanted to feel like Uncle Scrooge taking a dip in his money bin. No dice. I felt very foolish about the whole thing.

When I went to deposit the check the bank teller saw how wrinkled it was and questioned me. (That's fair. Tax returns should be immediately deposited or cashed. There's little opportunity for those things to get wrinkled let alone folded.) I did what I usually do in such situations: I looked down at my shoes and responded in mumbled gibberish.

"What?"

"Bshhur flp-pp-pp."

"WHAT!?"

"Jshh kut. FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF."

"Why is this so WRINKLED?"

"Plplplp. Da-doink!"

"Oh forget it."

(Yes! Victory!)

Cybertron Vs Stimulate — #NYAF #NYCC Afterparty

2012-02-10T16:41:00.009-05:00

A giant thank you to one Mr. Xris Smack. Dude really came through for me. Usually when I hit the Gramercy Theatre I shoot unencumbered. But that night I was totally cumbered by the bouncers. They asked to see my press pass and I didn't have one. I didn't know I'd need one! Xris hooked me up with the pass and if it wasn't for him there'd be no evidence of that fateful night. Applaud at your monitors for Mr. SMack. Do it!

This event was the official New York Anime Comicon Festival afterparty. To me that meant cosplay at the club. I wasn't going to miss it for anything. The place was super packed. Fictional characters jumping around in a nightclub, who doesn't love that? When it's Cybertron Vs Stimulate, everybody wins!

Cybertron is a monthly NYC dance party brought to us by VampireFreaks and Audiolust
Stimulate is also a monthly NYC dance party brought to us by Mindswerve Studios and studio founder, Xris SMack

#nytmSOS NYC #PIPA #SOPA Protest

2012-01-19T13:21:00.006-05:00

I took these photos yesterday at New York Tech Meetup group's #SOPA, #PIPA protest rally. I couldn't believe how many people showed up. There was easily over a thousand people there. The police kept having to widen the barricade. People were standing on sewer grates we were so far into the street! The speakers were excellent. Intelligent people making intelligent points.

Morning of the Blackouts, Protest

Was it weird to see people on my Facebook wall suddenly giving a shit about SOPA and PIPA? Very yes. Was I a little ticked off about it? Yeah, my first thoughts were, "Where were you guys in September? I've been telling you about this for MONTHS! Now you care? Now you show concern?" It seemed disingenuous. But that was the little hipster inside me talking. The moment didn't last long and frankly I'm glad more people are aware of this. Perhaps despite my constant yammering I didn't convey the urgency of the situation enough.

Don't Chastise Your Friends

My one passive-aggressive tweet aside, I'm actually overjoyed at yesterday's turnout! I salute everyone who participated in yesterday's big awareness campaigns: the online blackouts and protests, the New York protest. Don't chastise your friends for only finding out about SOPA yesterday. The truth is it's not their fault! Here's a two paragraph quote from that Media Matters article *I tweeted and posted on my Facebook wall in early January that you totally ignored.

The legislation also has powerful supporters. As Carr laid out in his article, "Virtually every traditional media company in the United States loudly and enthusiastically supports SOPA." This includes the parent companies of the TV news outlets now ignoring the fury over the bill during their primetime broadcasts, as well as two of the channels themselves.
ABC and CBS are listed as supporters of the bill on the House Judiciary Committee website, along with Comcast/NBCUniversal (which owns MSNBC and NBC News), Viacom (CBS), News Corporation (Fox News), and Time Warner (CNN). Disney Publishing Worldwide, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Corporation, which owns ABC, is also listed as a supporter, as are other Disney properties such as ESPN and Hyperion publishing.

You can't tell people to "follow the news" if it's something that was never discussed on the news, you dig? No, don't chastise. Don't give in to your inner hipster traits. Instead welcome them into the fold. Remember how alarmed you were when you first found out about this? Their reaction is the same. There's no honer in knowing about this before anybody else because obviously we couldn't fight it on our own. #SOPA and #PIPA are still looming! There is much work to be done and the more people we have fighting this cause the better. It really wasn't their fault, despite your efforts to raise awareness. Google and Facebook was the nuclear option and despite our small efforts we were no match for them.

* Okay, that's my second passive-aggressive statement. I might be a little bitter. Though I really shouldn't be!

Easy Splash Pages in Blogger Sans JavaScript or CSS

2012-01-06T02:42:00.007-05:00

Remember splash pages? They were really popular in the 90s. These days, not so much. SEO freaks advise against them, and for good reason. When was the last time you let a 'Flash intro fully load? How many websites do you have bookmarked past the splash page? Out of the thousands of websites I've visited in my lifetime there's maybe ten splash pages I can recall that didn't annoy me. With that said, this guide will show you how easy it is to give your Blogger blog a splash page! No JavaScript, no CSS tricks, just pure Blogger markup. Get excited!

The Code Snippet

I'm switching things up today. First I’ll show you the code snippet. Then I’ll explain what it does and how it works.

<b:if cond='data:blog.url == &quot;http://example.com/&quot;'>
<a href='http://example.com/?m=0'>GO TO HOMEPAGE</a>
</b:if>

What It Does

Visitors of example.com or example.com/index.html will see the “GO TO HOMEPAGE” hyperlink and be directed to example.com/?m=0 where the hyperlink won't be displayed. All hyperlinks will be appended with the m=0 query parameter.

How It Works

You may have noticed the m=1 query parameter appended to every link on a mobile template. (I’m guessing the "m" stands for Michigan?) In mobile view you have the option to “View web version.” Doing so changes 1 to 0. This effectively gives you three different ways to style any given page of your blog. You could make up your own query parameters but m= is special because Blogger’s back end does all the work.

Caveats

When you leave a comment in web view the query parameter doesn’t carry over to the next page. Thus any links to the homepage are links back to your splash page. It’s a vicious cycle! Interestingly, this doesn’t happen when m=1. It might be a bug but I’m not so sure Blogger sees it that way. I mean, if you leave a comment on a page without query parameters it’s the same as when m=0, right?

UPDATE (1.10.12): Brett Morgan sent the following tip on the Blogger Developer Group.

One of the guys on the team had a good look at your tutorial, and came up with the suggestion of possibly using either HTML5 localStorage or cookies instead of overwriting the mobile param. =)

So yeah, for this to work 100% you're kind of forced to use JavaScript. Damn, we were so close! Or wait, just disable comments. Or maybe use a 3rd-party comment system instead—which would require Javascript. Double damn! How badly do you want this?

Closing Thoughts

If you don’t care about SEO then go for it, I guess. I was looking into archiving an old website using Blogger. An old website with a splash page, also frames. (Gasp!) I don’t plan on it being visible to search engines so anything goes I suppose. I just want to see if it’s possible. Maybe you’ll find a better use for this code snippet than splash pages. If you do, share your findings in the comments.

Change Your Name Back After Connecting Blogger to Google+

2011-12-14T13:48:00.014-05:00

Let's get one thing straight, Google Plus' "common name" policy is a misnomer. By forcing everyone to go by their birth name it leaves out those of us who are commonly known by our nicknames, pseudonyms, first names or last names. Now, I appreciate what Google is trying to do. I feel Internet handles are a relic of the past. I go by my first name online. And yet the Google+ common name policy still found a way to bite me in the ass!

See, after connecting my Google+ profile (Alain-Christianon) to Blogger my display name was changed to my full name. It's not like I'm trying to hide my last name but my first name is my brand. As of this writing the top nine Google search results for Alain-Christian are me. I didn't like seeing my full name on Blogger; it dilutes my brand! So yeah, even someone who goes by their real name online can be adversely affected by the Google+ common name policy. How to amend this?

Limitations

This tweak will only affect your blog. All we're doing is editing the template. Your "Common Name" will remain as is on Google+ services and other people's Blogger Blogs.

There are two places where your name might show up in the blog: author byline and comments.

Author Byline

First we'll find the the byline. Search the Blog1 widget for "<data:*.author/>". post and data are common strings in place of the (*) wildcard. Personal blog? Simply replace this tag with plain-text. Team blog? The best way to handle this is with a b:includable that does the name swapping.

<b:includable id='AuthorTweak' var='data'>
<b:if cond='data:data.authorUrl == "http://www.blogger.com/profile/xxxxxx"'>
Team Member Uno
<b:else/>
<b:if cond='data:data.authorUrl == "http://www.blogger.com/profile/xxxxxx"'>
Team Member Dos
<b:else/>
<data:data.author/></b:if></b:if></b:includable>

Remember: only include the names of members who need their names tweaked. The last line of this snippet ensures the remaining team names are displayed regardless. Code efficiently! By the way, *.authorUrl is a new data tag. It was originally exclusive to the comments section. I don't know when it was added but if I had to guess I'd say it was after Blogger's debut of dynamic templates.

Comments

Search for "<data:*.author/>" in the comments code like you did for the byline. Whether you run a personal blog or a team blog the solution is the same. See that code snippet up there? Reuse it! That's right, the same code works for comments, isn't that great? Now, you personal bloggers might be thinking, "Why not use this code snippet for the byline?" And it's true, you can do that. But I figure your name in plaintext is less characters than a b:include tag. Every byte helps!

Closing Thoughts

And there you have it. It's a simple code snippet. Use it as the foundation for your profile name changes. You know, it could even help you highlight author comments. We use a slightly more advanced variation of this code for MY STADY. You can see it here on GitHub. The great thing about GitHub is I'm able to leave very detailed comments. The first place I post information like this is the GitHub page. And some coding tips won't ever reach the blog because it's not broad enough. You don't need to sign up for GitHub to track the code changes, just follow MY STADY on Twitter, Facebook or Google Plus for updates.

As always, let me know in the comments if anything needs clarification. Happy coding!

Integrate Your Twitter Brand With Blogger's Share Button

2011-11-29T12:48:00.027-05:00

Before I start the tutorial I wanted to give a heads up to all our RSS and e-mail subscribers. MY STADY is now available on Google+, Facebook and Twitter. We'll be doing more than just your typical blog syndication so follow on your social network of choice to make sure you don't miss out on our bonus content. Our new social networking links can be found on the right of the page.

Speaking of social networks today we're going to work on integrating your blog with twitter. If you don't have twitter then you might want to skip this—or continue reading and see how having a twitter account can work to your advantage.

Problem

Blogger's share buttons are a great way for visitors to share your content but the Twitter button doesn't take full advantage of the API. Using the API to its fullest will lead to better discovery and conversion. You're missing out on that right now. Let's fix it!

Solution

Search for sb-twitter in your template. This class name is used by blogger to style the tweet button. The code might look something like the example below. I say 'might' because I've made some changes and I don't remember what the stock implementation looked like. And besides, you may have changed some layout aspects yourself. I trust you know what you're doing. So here's what our code used to look like.

<a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-twitter' expr:href='data:post.sharePostUrl + &quot;&amp;target=twitter&quot;' expr:title='data:top.shareToTwitterMsg' target='_blank'><span class='share-button-link-text'><data:top.shareToTwitterMsg/></span></a>

We're going to change the href attribute so that:

Future tweets from your blog are branded with your twitter profile.
Visitors will be offered the opportunity to follow you if they aren't already.

At this point I'll defer to twitter's superior tweet button documentation. I suggest you use your blog's twitter account for the via= parameter. If you don't have one make one! Keep your blog and your personal stuff separate. If your blog is ABOUT personal stuff I guess you ARE the brand. In that case forget everything I just said. Ha Ha! If you have a big staff add them all to the related= parameter. Why not? It's like a checklist: they're introduced to users they haven't followed yet with every tweet. Think about the order though. If you have a staffer who tweets never—like Arsen!—it's probably best to put them last.

Below is what our code looks like today. Well, as of this writing. I'm only showing the href attribute because that's all that needs changing. Also it's long! But if you'd like to see our template in it's entirety you can always take at gander at the Github repository.

expr:href='"https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=" + data:post.url + "&amp;via=mystady&amp;text=" + data:post.title + "&amp;related=AlainChristian&amp;counturl=" + data:post.url' expr:title='data:top.shareToTwitterMsg'

And there you have it! I'd say the only thing missing is bit.ly custom URL shortening. That would be cool, right? It would definitely help with branding. But a long URL is not the end of the world and twitter shortens it for you anyway. Let me know if you have any questions.

If you want to see the twitter button in action by all means use ours. It's right below this line.

Cybertron 9.9.11

2011-10-19T00:46:00.011-04:00

Cybertron: a monthly party brought to us by the twisted deviants at VampireFreaks.com. Never been? You best remedy that next time! Or not. Like I said, the parties are monthly. Plenty of time to make up for it I suppose. But you never know, you might miss something really cool. Like, oh I don't know, a performance from Android Lust? Yeah, I got pictures of the performance. Those will go up soon enough. But first, the party people!

To keep tabs on VampireFreaks follow them on Twitter. Or Facebook!

Add Links to Blogger Page List Widget & Mobile Template

2011-09-27T21:02:00.011-04:00

If you dislike Blogger's new interface as much as I do, chances are you overlooked the one thing it has over the classic interface: an ability to add web addresses to the Page List widget. I don't know if it was always there or if it was something they recently added but I made the discovery over the weekend. I was asked to give some feedback about the new interface and so I went over every UI element in fine detail. It was during my review that I discovered this.

Follow these directions to add links to the Page List Widget.

Go to Pages.
Click on New page.
Select Web address.

Simple, right? I checked and unfortunately this new feature is only available in Blogger's updated dashboard interface. I something tells me they won't be adding it to the classic interface. I have nothing to base this on but I'm guessing new features will appear in the updated interface from now on.

By the way, I notice we're now allowed to have 20 unique pages. In the beginning you were only allowed 10.

How This Affects The Mobile Template

Web addresses also appear in the mobile template as part of the Page List widget. This right now is probably the only way to make something appear in mobile view but not in desktop view. To do so you would have to add the web address to the Page List widget but block it from appearing in your template. Since Blogger ignores your template when generating the mobile view the link will not be blocked.

Dynamic Views

Blogger's Dynamic Views does not display web addresses. I've sent feedback about this and expect it to be fixed eventually. It wouldn't hurt if you also sent them feedback. Squeaky wheel gets the grease!

We've Published Our Blogger Template to GitHub!

2011-08-28T13:44:00.008-04:00

I've discovered a lot of neat tricks when it comes to Blogger. Unfortunately I don't have time to publish them all. It is my hope that by making the code public other Blogger developers will learn from it.

Also, using Git will make it easier for me to log and track code changes over time. And the way Git saves snapshots of files instead of a list of changes follows my own coding practices. Git just makes the process easier for me; I no longer have to manually copy and archive my file versions.

Just a note, this isn't your typical Blogger template release. It's not formatted for easy integration into your own Blog. This release is to help developers. It's a way to share my knowledge and technology. Also, I think I mentioned how much i hate writing tutorials. Sharing my code and commenting on it via Github is a lazy way for me to share some coding knowledge. I'll post some tutorials but now that my code is public most of you don't need to wait for me to do that. :p

Please, enjoy the code, fork it, comment, do whatever.

Alain-Christian/MY-STADY-Blogger-Template - GitHub

Fanservice Friday AMV: Grenadier Vs. Equilibrium

2011-08-12T14:17:00.018-04:00

We're doing things a little different this week. Instead of a clip you got a brand new AMV to watch! This concept came to me when I noticed how similar a gunfight in Grenadier was to a gunfight in Equilibrium. Yeah, if you haven't watched Equilibrium this AMV contains spoilers. This won't spoil much if you've never seen Grenadier. At first I was just going to make a straight comparison of the two scenes but I thought that wasn't interesting enough so I added music and turned it into an AMV project.

Grenadier Vs. Equilibrium

Critique

Here's what Arsen had to say after watching it:

I saw it and I personally thought it wasn't as synced as I'd liked it to be... like there are frames that delay transition between movie and anime and make it very difficult to "link" the two katas. You should make it more flowing so that it shows the katas in motion from anime to movie and back... also use more than 1 scene from each =P no one makes an AMV from 1 scene from each movie/anime... aside from that the catch on the kata play is awesome

In my defense, the anime doesn't copy Equilibrium exactly. The scene is more of an homage. Well, at least it appears to be. It's never been confirmed if this was intentional. It'd match up better if they directly copied Equilibrium but that's not the case. And this is the only scene that plays out like a gunfight from Equilibrium so it's not like I had much to work with.

I was going to going to address some of Arsen's points and edit the AMV some more but I wanted to move on to something else so I just left it as-is.

Credits

Anime Footage – Grenadier: Complete Colleciton LiteBox
Live Action Footage – Equilibrium
Music – "Matzcore" by goreshit

Hulu Anime Tracker

2011-07-12T15:30:00.019-04:00

If you're looking for free and legal anime to watch over the Internet I highly recommend Hulu. These days it's where I get all my anime. That's right, took a break from fansubs. Too busy to chase after the newest shows. Hey man, if it's on Hulu and I haven't seen it then it's new to me! I used to update the blog whenever a new show was added but I had to stop; the rate of Hulu's anime acquisitions kept increasing at a rate I couldn't keep up. So then I did what I always do such situations: I automated the process.

The Hulu Anime Tracker

A simple bot with a simple job: to alert you of new anime content on Hulu. It's not perfect. Sometimes you'll get alerts on non-anime-related content. But for the most part it's solid. Hulu doesn't have an API so the best I could do was leverage their RSS feeds. It's such a pain in the ass though! Hulu's content organization and RSS setup leave a lot to be desired. Anime is sometimes posted in the cartoons section and vice versa. At last count the bot was monitoring over 10 RSS feeds just to make it all work. The feeds are limited to 25 entries so I have to draw from many sources to make sure I don't miss anything.

Flood Protection

The Hulu Anime Tracker has built-in flood protection. When Hulu acquires a show that's already aired the episodes are posted in a batch. The batch may include the entire run of the show or a number of seasons; either way it's a lot of episodes. The flood protection works by taking only ONE episode from the batch–the oldest one–and dropping the rest. There's an indication to let you know if the episode was part of a batch and how many episodes were in it. The Tracker selects the oldest episode because, hey, if you're seeing this show for the first time then doesn't it make sense to start from episode one? Of course it does!

Tracking Methods

The Hulu Anime Tracker is available via email, RSS feeds and Twitter. The email alerts and RSS feeds are basically the same thing. I find the email updates most convenient. The twitter alerts are kinda buggy, it tends to miss things. I blame that on twitterfeed. I often have to log-in to twitterfeed and force it to update. It's really annoying. If you don't want to miss anything the best way to go about it is to sign up for email alerts. That's what I use.

One thing you get with the twitter account that you won't get from the RSS or email subscriptions are updates from the Hulu Blog. Sometimes Hulu posts about anime so I just thought I'd throw that in there. It didn't seem necessary for RSS and email. But if you think I should include it let me know in the comments. By the way, Hulu has a profile on twitter for their anime content. it leaves much to be desired but I'll link to it anyway.

Subscription Options

Hulu Anime Tracker: New Shows – RSS email
Hulu Anime Tracker: New Episodes – RSS email
Hulu Anime Tracker: New Clips – RSS email
Hulu Anime Tracker: New Movies – RSS email

Twitter Accounts

You can watch hulu videos on twitter. Click on the filmstrip icon and enjoy the show!

Follow @AnimeOnHulu

You can get twitter updates by following @AnimeOnHulu. Multiple episodes from the same show are combined ensuring we won't spam your timeline. Also you get anime-related posts from Hulu's Blog on there.

Follow @hulu_anime

Hulu also has a twitter account for anime @hulu_anime. It doesn't hurt to follow both, right? It seems to be just be a copy of their RSS feed. Problem with that–as I mentioned before–is anime doesn't always get posted in the anime feed. You miss out on a lot.

Hulu Blog

Occasionally they post about anime so you might want to keep an eye on the Hulu Blog. They don't offer email subscriptions though. If there's demand for it I could whip up an email subscription so you only get their anime posts. Let me know if it's something you'd want.

Any Questions?

As always your opinions and suggestions are welcome. I hope you enjoy the Hulu Anime Tracker, I put a lot of work into it. ^___^

S.I.R. Listeners, Ahoy!

2011-06-17T20:31:00.009-04:00

Today we advertised our website on Smodcast Internet Radio. To hear the ad go to the Plus One Per Diem page and download the episode for Friday, June 17, 2011. Yeah, we could totally extract the ad and copy it here but the show is worth listening to if you haven't. Go listen!

Okay, so our advertisement had nine bullet points in the form of questions. No doubt you're looking for the content we alluded to in the ad. Don't worry, we're not gonna make you look for it. Here they are, the nine questions–answered.

What does Japan think of Death Metal?: Drugs, violence and having sex at people without their permission.
Like cosplay, S&M, or zombies?: We got pictures of that.
Is your blogger looking stale?: Spruce it up!
A song mixed to a woman having an orgasm?: Whoa, really?
You like crazy vampire boobs?: So do we!
What's fashion designer Etienne Aigner's secret?: It isn't pretty...
Need an idea for your next ringtone?: Bam!
Why does World of Warcraft suck?: So many reasons...
What does MY STADY mean?: Systery Molved!

So there you go. If you're new to MY STADY I hope you like it. We have plenty to offer with more on the way.

How Sony's 3D Split-screen-free Multiplayer TV Works

2011-06-06T21:18:00.014-04:00

During their E3 press conference Sony said two players will be able to experience a multiplayer game on the same screen without splitscreen. You will require 3D glasses to experience it. So far all the gaming blogs are reporting the TV is what makes this possible. It's not... Well it is and it isn't. The real trick is in the glasses. I just wanted to make a quick post to stop the spread of misinformation out there.

I Think You Know This Part Already

Okay, so ordinarily what you're watching on a 3D TV is 3D content. That is, each eye is fed content filmed from a slightly different angle to emulate depth perception. Thus, your TV needs to be capable of showing two different images simultaneously. 3D televisions already do this, it's built in. What the glasses do is filter the content so that the left eye sees one image and the right eye sees another. This is done with polarization and there's quantum physics involved but I won't get into that. It's not important.

The Really Simple Explanation

Instead of polarizing the glasses for two different eyes, you polarize them for two different players. Thus, player one's glasses are both polarized one way and see one image, player two's glasses are polarized the other way and sees the other image. Essentially, player one and player two only get to see a 2D image but in return they get to play from the entire width of the screen.

Sony Tax

What I don't understand is why Sony is charging so much ($69) for extra glasses. Polarized lenses are cheap! Maybe it's the tech that allows the lenses to change polarization that costs so much... No, that's also cheap. You're paying Sony Tax for those glasses. If I had a Sony 3D TV and needed new 3D glasses I'd just make my own from those you get at the movies. These ThinkGeek De-3D Cinema Glasses sound like a real bargain at 14.99. They only sell them polarized for the right eye though. Perhaps if the TV takes off they'll consider left polarized versions.

Do I Need a New TV?

Highly doubt that. Any 3D TV already on the market can do this. But the glasses that came with it are probably polarized in only one way like the ones you get at the theaters. Nobody anticipated a need for the ability to change polarization. Again, you can just make your own pair from the cheap glasses they give out at 3D movies.

It's a rather brilliant use of a 3D display, actually. And hindsight being what it is I now wonder why it took so long for us to get this.

Play With Bull Testicle Pie on The Sims Social!

2011-06-06T16:53:00.009-04:00

PLAY WITH BULL TESTICLE PIE just about sums up my feeling for all these social games on Facebook. If you watch the video you'll find those very words embedded in EA's E3 2011 trailer for The Sims Social. Who says there's no truth in advertising?

Seriously though, you should probably avoid those games. They're a huge security risk. Every month Facebook changes their security policies to get advertisers back in your face. It's a cat and mouse game. The fucked up part is WE'RE the mice! Why am I still on Facebook? I need to delete that thing.

The Sims Social - PLAY WITH BULL TESTICLE PIE

(10 Minutes Later)

Shit! I just thought about it again. THEY PUT THAT PHRASE IN THERE ON PUPOSE TO GET US TO TALK ABOUT THEIR CRAPPY GAME! Damnit! I've just became a part of the marketing machine. There's NO WAY that went through without scrutiny. They knew what they were doing. I'm so stupid. Oh well, I guess that game can use all the publicity it can get. I'll leave this entry up, out of pity. I pity you, Electronic Arts!

7 Blogger Page Types: Analysis, Code Snippets, Data Matrix

2011-05-22T22:22:00.024-04:00

If you're only using the pageType tag to identify the Page Type this guide is for you. The pageType tag only identifies four of the seven Page Types. This guide will show you how to identify all seven Blogger Page Types. I know it sounds confusing, just refer to the glossary. If that still doesn't help leave comments. I understand the terminology in this document could be confusing at first.

This data was collected in part using blogger2ools.

Glossary

Page Type: The type of a page. For example, Search Page Type. This term does not always end with Type. For example, terms like Search Page and Search Page Type mean the same thing and are used interchangeably in this document.
pageType tag: Note uppercase T and no space in between page and Type. Globally available layout date tag. The pageType tag returns a value of: item, static_page, archive or index.

Item Page Type

You must have Post Pages enabled. To quote the Blogger Dashboard, Post Pages give each of your posts their own unique web page. Post Pages are called item page types because the value of the pageType tag on Post Pages is "item".

The following code snippet works only for item page types:

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'>
<!--Item Page-->
</b:if>

Static Page Type

Last year Blogger added the ability to publish content as stand-alone pages. Static page types are identified as "static_page" by the pageType tag.

The following code snippet works only for static page types:

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "static_page"'>
<!--Static Page-->
</b:if>

Archive Page Type

Ideally, any link you click from the Blog Archive widget would take you to an archive page type but that's not the way it works. The pageType tag will only return a value of archive for pages whose filename ends in "archive.html". (See also What is an archive filename on Blogger Help.) Most links generated by the Blog Archive widget follow this format. The remainder use query parameters. Any page formatted that way has a pageType value of index.

This affects Blog Archive widgets using the "Hierarchy" style because some of the links it generates are search queries. In general search queries (when the URL is your homepage followed by "search?" or "search/"), return a pageType value of index.

There's a similar problem with the navigation links generated by the Blog widget on archive pages. Instead of linking to other archive pages (pages that end in "archive.html"), they link to search queries. And once again, these search queries are the index page type. Thus, any customizations you have for archive page types are lost by the next page, and your visitors will have an inconsistent experience. This problem affects all three Blog Archive widget styles. Also, the search queries themselves are malformed half the time which leads to posts getting skipped or repeated.

I haven't solved that problem yet but I've been thinking of a workaround. First, only use the "Flat List" and "Dropdown Menu" styles when configuring the Blog Archive Widget. Second, omit navigation links from Archive page types. Third, add another Blog Archive widget (that only appears on archive page types), in place of the navigation links. And finally, modify the widget so it looks like it belongs there.

The following code snippet works only for archive page types:

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "archive"'>
<!--Archive Page-->
</b:if>

Home Page Type

(I usually write homepage as one word but to stay consistent with this document I'm writing it as two words.) The home page is the default URL of your blog. You can find it under Setting > Publishing in the Blogger dashboard. The blog.homepageUrl global tag returns the value of your blog's home page.

The following code snippet works only for home page types:

<b:if cond='data:blog.url == data:blog.homepageUrl'>
<!--Homepage-->
</b:if>

Search Page Type

The search page type displays the results of a search performed using Blogger's original built-in search form. (Not to be confused with the Search Box gadget.)

You should know that the built-in search is extremely limited: it only searches from a pool of the most recent posts, older posts are ignored and labels are ignored. In the future I might transition to the search box gadget but I'm still exploring my options.

The blog.searchQuery global tag returns the value of the search query.

The following code snippet works only for search page types:

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "index"'>
<b:if cond='data:blog.searchQuery'>
<!--Search Page-->
</b:if>
</b:if>

Label Page Type

Label Pages are generated by the labels widget. You may only view one label at a time. There is no way to combine multiple labels for viewing, unfortunately. There is a minor bug with the labels widget which you can read more about on the Labels Widget section at blogger2ools. I've also posted a fix for it.

The blog.searchLabel global tag returns the value of the label name.

The RSS feed for a label is formatted as follows:
(home page URL)feeds/posts/default/-/(label name)

The following code snippet works only for label page types:

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "index"'>
<b:if cond='data:blog.searchLabel'>
<!--Label Page-->
</b:if>
</b:if>

Index Page Type

By order of elimination we are left with the index page type. As I stated back in the Archive Page Type section when a Blogger page is generated using query parameters the pageType tag returns a value of index. So basically anything that isn't one of the six previously mentioned page types we'll consider to be an index page.

The following code snippet works only for index page types:

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "index"'>
<b:if cond='data:blog.searchQuery == ""'>
<b:if cond='data:blog.searchLabel == ""'>
<b:if cond='data:blog.url != data:blog.homepageUrl'>
<!--Index Page-->
</b:if>
</b:if>
</b:if>
</b:if>

Putting It All Together

The following code snippet comes directly from our own template here at MY STADY. Use this snippet as a guide for when customizing multiple or even all seven Blogger Page Types. If you're SEO-obsessed this is probably what you're looking for. We use this snippet in the header and Blog Widget portion of our template code. For other sections it's not as important to customize seven different views.

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "archive"'>
<!--Archive Page-->
</b:if>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "index"'>
<b:if cond='data:blog.searchQuery'>
<!--Search Page-->
</b:if>
<b:if cond='data:blog.searchLabel'>
<!--Label Page-->
</b:if>
<b:if cond='data:blog.searchQuery == ""'>
<b:if cond='data:blog.searchLabel == ""'>
<b:if cond='data:blog.url == data:blog.homepageUrl'>
<!--Homepage-->
<b:else/>
<!--Index Page-->
</b:if>
</b:if>
</b:if>
</b:if>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'>
<!--Item Page-->
</b:if>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "static_page"'>
<!--Static Page-->
</b:if>

Closing Thoughts

First, an apology. I started drafting this blog post April 23, 2010 at 9:45PM. Everything you just read I could have told you about a year earlier. I had it all in my head! I dunno, I just found it really difficult to put all this information into words. But now that it's finally out there I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

Please let me know if you find any of this confusing or if you need clarification or even if there are typos. Thank you.

Halloween 2008 + TRASH! Costume Party

2011-05-16T22:04:00.007-04:00

I don't often say this of my own work: I'm really proud of this set. Taken back in 2008 these shots are from a TRASH! Halloween costume party. Back when the parties were thrown Club 40C. I loved that venue. It was so small and cozy. The ceiling was just the right height to bounce my flash. The place was always crowded. Maybe that's why they moved TRASH! to Webster Hall, it just got to big for the venue. Do they still throw parties at 40C? I'd love to know.

Looking back on these photos I'm reminded that the 28mm is a great lens. I don't know why but lately I've not been using it. Sometimes I take it with me but it just stays in the camera bag. I prefer the 50mm because it's really ideal in low light conditions. But that's kinda stupid considering this club shots are done in near darkness with me controlling all the light. The 50mm is basically a crutch now, I think. Well enough of that! Next time I go out I'm leaving the 50mm at home at shooting with the 28mm exclusively. Seriously, these 28mm shots are really good! I'm a fool for not taking advantage of it.

Index of SModcast Internet Radio (S.I.R.) Listener Ads

2011-05-11T03:01:00.031-04:00

Kevin Smith is all about giving back to his fans. So to kickoff his new media venture (is that the right expression for this?), he offered to sell on-air advertising for the low rate of $200 bux. That's crazy right? Of course we had to get in on this. We're not selling anything but we thought it'd be fun to hear the guy riff on us in a live read. Only time will tell if it was worth not paying the electric bill. Probably was.

In the meantime we thought it would be interesting to compile a list of SModcast Internet Radio (S.I.R.) listener advertisements. Also, not everyone will be able to browse the Internet when they hear the ads. If we make a list then nobody has an excuse for not clicking. Come on, these people helped fund the thing you're listening to. Lend them your eyeballs!

This list will be updated periodically until the promotion ends. I listen to the episodes out of order so there's also that...

UPDATE: On May 23 Ming began keeping a list of ads featured on S.I.R. As of this writing I still haven't listened to all the shows prior to the 23rd. I listen to a lot of podcasts. Perhaps too many. But as I get to them I'll continue to list the ads featured on S.I.R. prior to the 23.

If you would like to advertise on S.I.R. send an email to this address.

Jay and Silent Bob Get Jobs: May 19, 2011

Plus One Per Diem: May 13, 2011

Blossom Bluff Orchards
Albuquerque Comic Expo
Writers Gone Wild
LOGORIDE.COM - Listen to podcast for promo code. Promo expires in 7 days.
Big Boss BBQ Sauce - Promo code in the podcast.
Keenspot: The Spot For Comics

Plus One Per Diem: May 11, 2011

Jay and Silent Bob Get Jobs: May 9, 2011

Killer Robots and the Battle for the Cosmic Potato
Gamerdrome
Ninjas vs. Vampires
Haphazard Cartoon on Youtube
Dear Cousin Muscles
Feline Friendz in Nebraska (Misread as Female Friends of Nebraska)
enigmaREMEDY / eR (Misread as Enigma Ready)

Plus One Per Diem: May 9, 2011

Big House Comics
Modern Eden Gallery
VEGAS.com (Listen to the pod for a promo code)
Public Service Announcement by Dr. Christine Stewart: See your local audiologist!
Rasmus Auctioneers
THE KEY
Whatcha lookin at? - Blog of Kidnapping Kevin Smith author Chad Blakely
Traverse Legal - Attorneys & Advisors

STIMULATE - TRON LEGACY

2011-05-07T17:50:00.007-04:00

The dress code: anything to do with Tron. Many people came out to support the release of Tron Legacy. And everybody was down to have a good time. Before you lies the 16 greatest shots I took that night. Only 16? Okay, not a big haul but it's not about the quantity, you knew that.

Christine O'Donnell Caught Masturbating!

2011-05-04T18:56:00.008-04:00

It happens all the time. ALL THE TIME. You have these political figures that rally and campaign against something and then they eventually (EVENTUALLY) get caught red-handed doing the very something they rallied against! The following headline says it all:

Anti-porn Indonesian MP watches porn, resigns - CBS News

Come on! Are we even surprised by this stuff anymore? All the time you have these anti-gay dudes getting caught with boys on the side. I don't get that anti-gay sentiment either. Is that a case of protesting to much or do they think hating on gay people is what will win them the election? Yo, and what if you're that boy on the side? You shouldn't be supporting that, man! Or maybe you're both closeted in that case I can see that side of it.

What's Christine O'Donnell Got To do with it?

Nothing angers Christine O'Donnell more than the thought of you masturbating. Or so she claimed in this 1996 MTV interview. Can you believe that shit? She formed an organization against jerking off? How much effort does it take to do something like that? I bet you she's masturbating RIGHT NOW. And it's only a matter of time before she gets caught. I just wanted to be the first to say it. I wanted to get the SCOOP before everyone else! So there you go, ripped from the headlines of 20XX: Christine O'Donnell Caught Masturbating!

(No, I'm not going to get into all the dumb shit Christine O'Donnell has said. You could easily lose an hour to YouTube just pouring through all that archived footage of her being a dummy.)

MY STADY

First Post of 2013!

Charetta: 5 YEAR5 LATER, 55 5HOT5, 5OLD OUT 5HOW*

Links

Killcode @ The Gramercy Theatre

Links

Bootie: Pirate Ship Mashup Party

"Hey, is there a coat check on this boat?"

"Only 100 tickets left!"

See You Next Time

Links

Letterist @ Cakeshop + Download "100MPH"

Bonus Track

More Music

Links

Holi Festival 2012 Music Video

The 24th Annual Phagwah Parade in Richmond Hill

M.I.A. "Bucky Done Gun (Master D RMX)" — Unofficial Music Video

Indecent Preposition (Tax Returns!)

Cybertron Vs Stimulate — #NYAF #NYCC Afterparty

#nytmSOS NYC #PIPA #SOPA Protest

Morning of the Blackouts, Protest

Don't Chastise Your Friends

Easy Splash Pages in Blogger Sans JavaScript or CSS

The Code Snippet

What It Does

How It Works

Caveats

Closing Thoughts

Change Your Name Back After Connecting Blogger to Google+

Limitations

Author Byline

Comments

Closing Thoughts

Integrate Your Twitter Brand With Blogger's Share Button

Problem

Solution

Cybertron 9.9.11

Add Links to Blogger Page List Widget & Mobile Template

How This Affects The Mobile Template

Dynamic Views

We've Published Our Blogger Template to GitHub!

Fanservice Friday AMV: Grenadier Vs. Equilibrium

Grenadier Vs. Equilibrium

Critique

Credits

Hulu Anime Tracker

The Hulu Anime Tracker

Flood Protection

Tracking Methods

Subscription Options

Twitter Accounts

Hulu Blog

Any Questions?

S.I.R. Listeners, Ahoy!

How Sony's 3D Split-screen-free Multiplayer TV Works

I Think You Know This Part Already

The Really Simple Explanation

Sony Tax

Do I Need a New TV?

Play With Bull Testicle Pie on The Sims Social!

The Sims Social - PLAY WITH BULL TESTICLE PIE

(10 Minutes Later)

7 Blogger Page Types: Analysis, Code Snippets, Data Matrix

Contents

Glossary

Item Page Type

Static Page Type

Archive Page Type

Home Page Type

Search Page Type

Label Page Type

Index Page Type

Putting It All Together

Closing Thoughts

Halloween 2008 + TRASH! Costume Party

Index of SModcast Internet Radio (S.I.R.) Listener Ads

STIMULATE - TRON LEGACY

Christine O'Donnell Caught Masturbating!

What's Christine O'Donnell Got To do with it?