I’d grown tired of the previous look (as I usually do when my site has had the same look for a year), so welcome to the new look Alfreido.com. Took quite a bit of time in between work and social life, so I hope the blood, sweat and tears of a somewhat introverted web designer translate to a few seconds of visual enjoyment for you.
Just a quick tip for those working with scripts that generate CSV files…
If the first 2 letters of the CSV file are ID and are capitalized (ie. your first column is an ID column), Microsoft Excel will try to read the file as an SYLK file instead of a CSV – and will sprout a couple of error messages saying the format is not what was expected and some asinine crap like that.
Quick fix: Make the ID lowercase so that it’s `id` instead, Excel will read it as a CSV once again.
Longer, more tedious fix: Petition Microsoft to get its arse into gear.
Through a freak series of circumstances, we ended up with veggie patties instead of hamburgers for dinner last night. And veggies patties taste fucking horrible!
One thing that has really annoyed me lately (among my repertoire of annoyances) is the abundance of intrusive Flash advertising found on some high-profile websites these days. I hate Flash to begin with, the proliferation of what was once a great tool that now is reduced to ugly, useless navigational bars and dressing games, sort of left a bad taste in my mouth over using Flash, so much so that I actively try and find an AJAX alternative before ever using Flash for any navigational or page animation. But these intrusive Flash ads have reached a new low…
Some Flash advertising nowadays employ a transparent background to make it seem like the advertising forms part of the site, or to create an advertisement which actually looks like it plays with the site. I’ve seen some ads where little men jump out from the supposed “Flash barrier” and breach the third wall, dancing around the site in order to grab your attention to some stupid product such as penis enlargement tablets or crappy beer. The fundamental issue I have here is that whilst this advertising technique may wow the average Internet user, web types like me notice that it defeats one of the main pillars of any website – usability.
You see, the Flash movie stretches out its invisible borders over the website in order to make it seem like it is interacting with the website. Within those borders, all normal website functionality ceases to work. You cannot click links. You cannot copy text. You cannot hover over images. Basically, its like a screenshot of the website. It looks real… but it isn’t real, kinda like the ingredients on a Domino’s Pizza.
I’m not sure if the advertising agencies actually intend for this to happen, but I wouldn’t be surprised. Forcing the person to have to hunt down a close button in order to stop the advertisement just gives the advertisement more impression before it is closed. It does seem like a dirty tactic to make Flash advertising more profitable… but it’s going to make users very annoyed when they actually want to use your site and you’ve stopped them from doing that just for a quick dollar. If you run a website and employ advertising like this, you may want to think about how many people you may be turning away from your site by killing your usability.
I must say I was rather shocked and awed by the response by my Pendulum – In Silico Review… what served as a way for me to vent about their latest album actually has turned out to be the most viewed post I have ever written. I received a fair bit of correspondence from various readers (most asking who the flying fuck I was – don’t worry, I’m not sure myself) and the fact that the post is currently idling 5th for “in silico review” and 11th for “pendulum in silico review” probably helps as well, painting me as some sort of music expert and reviewer – of which I am neither a music expert nor a professional reviewer (although I do write a couple when time permits – and listen to music when I’m bored). What really spun me out was a fly-by mention as a tailnote (check the P.S. down at the bottom) on BBC’s Chart Blog in their review for Pendulum’s latest single, “The Other Side”. Thanks a lot, Fraser McAlpine.
Speaking of Pendulum’s latest single, why The Other Side? Propane Nightmares and Granite were two singles I would’ve bought, but The Other Side just reeks of repetition and vocoder-driven madness. Incidentally, all the songs of In Silico which have some form of vocal track which extends more than a one line catch-phrase has become a single from In Silico, apart from The Tempest, which I believe would be because of its somewhat disturbed lyrics. Anyways, my thoughts from the review still stand.
Although it’s a weak hope and I doubt it would’ve happened (but hey, we can all dream yeah?), the link from BBC (which is a British publication) might’ve directed a member from Pendulum to viewing my harsh but fair words (if the Google links did not already do that). So please, take this from a true-blue fan of your (older) music, Pendulum… don’t turn your back on the people who love you. You can still make money out of drum and bass. Honest.
Lately, I’ve been watching less and less TV, probably because of my fledgling social status (echoes of bullshit reverberate from the background). I think it’s also that there just isn’t that much on lately. September shall change that however with Prison Break, Heroes and Dexter launching their new seasons. Anyways, I thought I would give a cap of what I think of the upcoming (and/or current) seasons of the TV shows I’m a fan of…
Prison Break
I must admit, even with all the praise that the latest season of the show has been getting, I wasn’t a big fan of the storyline of it. The whole break-out just didn’t have the epic-ness of the first season. I would even go so far as to say Prison Break should’ve been a one-season pony, since there’s hardly been any jail-breaking after Season 1.
To make matters worse, they decide to bring back Sara Tancredi, the love interest of Michael who loses her head, literally. I am looking forward to seeing what dead-shit reason they come up with to explain how she went from being headless and dead to brainless and alive.
I must admit I’m not exactly pining to find out how Michael takes down “The Company” as well, because I think it will be a long, drawn out process and I can only imagine the task will be never-ending, as “The Company” are everywhere. I’m more interested in the storyline of Sucre and how he deals with a prison which is run by T-Bag (who Robert Knepper never ceases to impress with this intimidating and downright evil character).
24
I’m really excited for the next season of 24 to be honest, and am willing to let the bad taste that Season 6 left in my mouth slide, but it’s got REALLY high expectations to live up to now. It has had a whole 2 years to build up a really powerful storyline, so if they stuff this up, FOX might as well throw the show in the bin and call it a day.
Since this season is what the creators are calling a “reboot of the franchise”, it’ll be interesting just how different they take it this season. I am definitely looking forward to it, mainly to see why Tony Almeida has seemingly taken a leap to the dark side, but also to see Jack Bauer front up for his crime of being a merciless, blood-thirsty psycho for the last 6 seasons. Can’t wait, but also can’t let my guard down if it’s shit.
Heroes
This is another show I’m looking forward to. Just like Empire Strikes Back from the Star Wars saga, this upcoming season of Heroes should show us the bad guys making an insurgence into the series. Considering it’s been mostly Sylar up until now, to see some more bad guys is a welcome change of pace, not to mention the tantilising idea of good characters going bad. Hopefully not Peter, cos he would blow up the entire world.
Dexter
Thoughts of Dexter’s upcoming series will be posted when I’ve finished Season Two. So far, it’s looking promising however… 
While I am looking forward to seeing The Dark Knight as much as the next person (the next person being my brother, who loves Batman Begins to death)… I’m disappointed that most of the attention seems to be around Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker. Yes, I know the fella tragically passed away some time ago, and this movie is the final movie he completed. But that should not stop the movie from being scrutinized with a fine tooth comb, especially considering all the hype that is generated.
Once again, I am worried about these perfect scores being thrown about. IGN gave it 5 stars for example. I’m not so certain if it’s because they got themselves an early review, 2 weeks before the movie hits the public cinemas, and hence they had to repay the honour by giving it a good score, or because of the genuine fact that the film is the next coming of Christ. That’s why I read reviews. To get both the good and the bad and make an informed decision based on the beliefs of others. To do this, you put certain trust in the reviewer that he will point out the mistakes and downfalls of a certain movie, or game, or show.
Reviewers should not be afraid to bag out Heath Ledger’s acting if it is warranted. I do believe Heath would’ve found it perfectly acceptable for people to give their opinion of his performance, since it would’ve been the only way he could improve. Just because he died, doesn’t mean he should be given a gold star out by default. My words might sound cruel, but just think, if he had still been alive, would the movie be riding on as much hype as it currently has been? Would people have applauded his acting as much? I am only pre-empting all these thoughts and giving myself a clear concious before going in. I don’t want to build up this beatiful thought of this movie and have it all come crashing down when I see it.
With all that being said, I still can’t wait to see it!
EDIT: After seeing it, I can safely say it’s worth the hype.
I blame you, iTunes!
Here I was, searching through the dance albums on iTunes when, whilst looking at another album (which incidentally also sucked), iTunes gleefully alerted me that listeners had also bought 24 Carat Gold by a German dance band called Scooter. I quickly Wikipedia’d the band and had a look at their discography. Funnily enough, I came across Ramp (The Logical Song), a song I used to enjoy listening to on the radio during my high school days (although the high-pitched voice grinded my insides like a sandpaper sandwich). I though I would give them a chance and proceeded to buy the album.
Boy, did I make a mistake or what?
I don’t know if it’s just what the Germans are into… repeticious, loud and overbearing music that automatically send you into a frenzy of finding the first object to rip your ears off with. Hell, Rammstein sound like they are trying to scream out a huge hairball caught in their throats in nearly 90% of the songs they have released. So maybe Scooter are just following proper German procedures when developing a record. But Scooter bring to the table a whole set of new annoyances as well.
You see, a typical Scooter includes the folllowing traits:
There are some songs that stand out as the penultimate of mediocrity in Scooter’s repitoire (I will admit, there were 2 or 3 songs I did enjoy, but out of 20 or 30 singles that Scooter have released, that’s hardly a great batting average). The Age of Love is almost a proverbial turkey slap to the face of James Cameron (some would argue he deserves it, though) and shows that using a sample of the theme from The Terminator is not going to make your song better. Rebel Yell lives up to the stereotype that techno remixes just don’t work, especially when sourcing from rock music. Nessaja has an irritating chorus that you can barely understand, and the beat is sub-standard with pathetic synth. And H.P. Baxxter has the audacity to call this tripe drum and bass. Clearly he has no idea what constitutes a drum and bass song because It certainly doesn’t involve squeeky choruses and repetitous rubbish.
I’m honest, if I ever catch someone listening to this crap, I’ll turn their speakers/headphones off, I don’t care if I get smashed because of it.
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