Personal Development 2

Getting a Job in the area of Digital Media / Social Media is something I have been thinking a lot about recently. How will I "break in" is the question I constantly find I keep ask myself.

Getting my first job in Digital Media is something I greatly desire. Although I have been trying to network a lot, and over the course of this month I have spoken to many people who are involved in areas that I have a specialist interest in, I still feel confused as to what it takes to gain your first job.

While networking this has allowed me to gather lots of info for Personal Development.

Here are a list of companies I would love to work for


MGImedia

MGImedia is owned by Amber MacArthur host of CommandN

MGImedia specialize in

Web Usability and User Experience Consulting

Video Production & Post-Production

Web Design & Branding

Social Media Consulting & Web 2.0 Technologies

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Smash Face

SmashFace was founded by Zadi Diaz and Steve Woolf

SmashFace describe them selves as a "production company 2.0." We develop original online video content, create co-productions with traditional media, build and cultivate online communities, and provide interactive consulting services. We build singular brands and execute large-scale immersive entertainment experiences that cross multiple forms of media.

Zadi Diaz and Steve Woolf, say "We know the web and we know how to use the technology available to craft new kinds of storytelling experiences that shatter the boundaries between audience and filmmaker."

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For Your Imagination

For Your Imagination is a leading online media studio which develops, markets and distributes high-quality original Internet TV and web video series The studio works with brands and content creators to develop their online video content, offering them the opportunity to reach a targeted advertiser-friendly audience effectively and monetizing quickly.

For Your Imagination’s talented team writes, produces and markets entertaining videos for online distribution and monetization through advertising, sponsorships, merchandising and licensing

The team at For Your Imagination is built upon the experience of industry veterans whose combined expertise include web development, major television and movie production, national marketing campaigns and technology.

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Bright Young Things

Bright Young Things are a communications consultancy, who produce low cost video content for social networks.

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Looking at these four companies has helped me identify that I really want to work creating video for the web, but I also want to be able to create and manage online communities, as well as having the skills to communicate with these communities

I already believe I have the skills to communicate with a large number of people in a wide range of locations using the many web 2.0 tools that are freely accessible.

I also have the physical tools (computer, video camera, video editing software) (I need to invest some of my money in to a good microphone) to be able to make and produce video content

The only thing left for me to do is develop my production skills. Anyone who works in the online world will know that Content is King

Naming Your Web Start-Up

I recently found this video and thought I would share it

Being interested in the Internet and all of the current start ups that are appearing I found this video to be of great interest



I have recently started to collaborate regularly with 6 other bloggers and deciding upon our name was the hardest part

I am also interested in starting a regular screen-cast reviewing up and coming web 2.0 apps, I am currently finding it really difficult to think of a name

I need to find a name for the screen-cast that is emotional rather than descriptive, this will allow me to be felxable with what I review. I am currently struggling to find something that fits the bill

If you have any ideas or thoughts please leave me some feedback

.tel Domains

On Wednesday, companies and organizations can register Web addresses with a new top-level domain, .tel

A .tel domain name links to the contact information of businesses, organizations and individuals. Information can include telephone numbers; links to Web sites, including a Facebook or MySpace page; e-mail addresses; instant messaging names, and, if you wish, identities for virtual games such as Xbox Live or Second Life.

nytimes.com/2008/12/02

I would really like to register a .tel domain and put all my contact details online. If .tel becomes a standard in finding peoples contact details I would rather be part of it now rather than later (In the last year or so I have come to find being at the cutting edge is what gets you noticed in the online / digital world)

I currently agree with web transparency, using your really name etc. In the grand scheme of things I am quite happy to put my contact details online.

I am sure there will be many people who read this with shock horror! As we are often told not put any information such as contact details online

I believe I am web-savy enough to put my details online in a way that does not put me at "risk"

I have never put my phone number online, but if at some point I chose to do that I would almost certainly use a second phone, with a completely different number to my personal phone number.

The Internet Generation / Grown up Digital

I have recently started to watch RocketBoom (and plan to add it to my iTunes podcast library)

The episode below looks at how technology to young people is just a part of their daily lives, and how this is affecting their development




Although when I was born there was no public access to the Internet and mobile phones were not widely owned by the general public, I do identify myself as one of these "technology kids"

I can often be found at home

TV on

Sending text messages

E-mailing

IM-ing

Consuming News (Video or On screen text)

Creating digital content

all at the same time.

I have heard this practice referred to as media stacking. I guess this means growing up using the Internet has given me really good switching abilities!

I can relate really well to "Dilbert INC" I much prefer working in a collaborative group of people, especially when I am using collaboration tools that are freely available online. I find working in a collaborative group allows me to pool resources ideas and information.

Happy Birthday Gary Vaynerchuck

As you may or may not know the November 14 marked Gary Vaynerchuck's Birthday

Gary is well know on the Internet for his high energy style used when presenting his show, Wine Library TV

I was invited this weekend by Derek who is the Community Leader at Viddler to be part of a collabrative video to celebrate Garys birthday

My Perfect University

I really wish I could embed this video but the option is currently disabled

I think we all have periods of time where we visit certain website.

My current website addiction is YouTube

CLICK THE LINK http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=MAsI7mmM4eQ

Interactive Pathway

I am still a little undecided about which brief I am going to choose

If I had to make a decision on the spot I would opt for the Viral Flash brief,

How ever I am still very interested in learning HTML and CSS as I want to be able to create websites so I can show case any viral content that I do create!

As I write this and think further about the briefs, I don't really know a lot about Blues & Jazz music or the culture that surounds it, perhaps I will opt to make make a Flash space-invaders space style game as mentioned in the previous post, and embed it in to an elegantly created CSS website.

That way I get the best of both worlds, I can use skills that I am confident in (using flash software) as well as improving my abilities that I am not so good at (CSS and HTML)

I would also like to learn about using API's so maybe a could feature that in to my website some how. (Google map API showing local Stores that sell tomato ketchup)

I am not sure how acceptable it is blending two briefs together. I will consult Mike and Annabeth before I develop this idea any further.

Optional Path Way

Today is the first lesson of our "Optional Pathway" Module

We can either specialise in Interactive Media or Moving Image

Being a massive Internet nerd! I thought it only appropriate to take the interactive media pathway.

(However Mike did mention that there is a cross over between the two and that creating video that can be streamed, broadcast and uploaded online can be part of the interactive module which pleased me quite a lot, as recently I have become less interested in creating websites and more interested in webisodes and web-series)

Here are the briefs that I am able to chose from for the interactive pathway

Flash Banners -

"To create a range of interactive / animated Flash banners" to promote "In Game," an online games magazine"

"To create a range of interactive / animated Flash banners to promote " 'In Game' a new online games magazine that will use to targeted marketing on Facebook, Myspace and other Social Networking sites"

I feel I have the skills to easily be able to produce a range of flash banners. If I were to undertake this brief, I would put all my efforts in to making the banners have a professional edge. Spending time giving it the polish I often feel my work sometimes lacks

HTML / CSS -

"To create a website template layout and CSS stylesheet for Coltrane and Hancock's Music Emporium, a specialist jazz and blues music on Brick Lane, London"

I would really like to undertake this project as website design is a career path I would be interested in pursuing.

The idea of using the GoogleMap API I also like. I do not have a full understanding of API's. I do however know there are a whole host of useful API's out there that can be embeded and manipulated into websites

Although recently I am starting to find other areas in digital media that interest me. There are often times when I require a website. Currently my skills in HTML and CSS are somewhat lack luster and I feel developing these skills would benefit me somewhat.

However I feel my lack of knowledge in HTML and CSS may hinder me from producing a profesional product.

If I was to under take this brief it would be for the experience of leaning HTML and CSS. I would hope that I can make up marks that I may not gain in the construction of the website in the evaluation.

I would hope to clearly evaluate all that I have learnt and achieved.

Interactive Flash -

"Produce an interactive flash website that promotes Heinz Ketchups"

"To create an exciting flash-based web experience promoting awareness of the HEINZ Tomato Ketchup and the different varieties avalible

This is an Open Brief in terms of online deliverables, so feel free to be as left field as you want. This could be a flash game, viral advert or fun fact site"

This brief I feel has the right mix of elements that I am interested in. I know I am capable of producing a flash web site. I would be able to develop my skills in action script. (Something I want and need to do to make me a better flash designer/developer)

I also have an interest in creating viral video. So creating a viral video that is supported by a flash website would be quite and interesting avenue to take. I could also throw in a couple of Flash games. Maybe a Space Invaders style game with a selection of tomato sauce bottles as your space craft. Instead of lazers as your weapons the "space craft" bottle fires tomatos. It could be quite a graphical game, with images created in illustrator or photoshop and imported in to flash to be animated.


I now need to further evaluate which brief to tackle, and carefully consider what I can gain and learn from each brief

Wednesday: Day Three

Today was slightly more entertaining than the last couple of days, While waiting for my girlfriend to get back from lectures I surfed youtube and last.fm to keep myself occupied. When she got back it was time to watch a little O.C again, (I am atually starting to get in to the O.C now!)

Then we had to go out to do a little halloween shopping, as this friday everyone at her house is having a halloween party. I'm not a big fan of shopping with girls it takes too long :( Eventually when everyone had finally chosen their outfits we went to Coffee Trader for hot chocolate




Then it was back home for a nap (It had to be done all these early dark nights are making me sleepy)

Later that evening we went for our dinner at Lau's Buffet King



I finished the meal with my absolute favourite of all time (I only discovered how much I love this when my girlfriend first took me to eat at a Chinese Restaurant a few years ago)




Nothing beats ice cream and jelly FACT! Especially chocolate ice cream!!!

The Student Life Style Continues

Today was pretty similar to yesterday nothing of great importance to report

I went to town this morning, and picked up a few clothes from every students favourite, Primark

Had lunch in Northumbria Student Union bar named Habita, then caught up on some O.C and One Tree Hill (I don't ordinarily watch these programs but felt obliged as everyone here seems to LOVE them!)

It was fish and chips for tea. My friend who lives here too opted for donna meat and garlic sauce! I genuinely can't think of anything more disgusting

The night was rounded of with a few pints down the local pub where we watched Newcastle United beat West Brom 2 - 1

Rather Uneventful

Today was rather uneventful had a typical student day of sitting in and watching TV

Managed to catch all the student favorites, OC, One Tree Hill, blah blah blah!!!! I was meant to be going to The Baltic I am hoping I will get to do that later in the week!

One thing I did notice was the size of the GIANT Plasma TV that sits in my girlfriends front living room, aren't student meant to be poor? I know I certainly am!!!!



Look it it sat there with two GIANT floor standing speakers sat next to it!!!

This picture does it no justice, I promise it is sooo much bigger in real life!

This week ......

This week I am going to try to update this blog once a day. I will be using it as a digital scrap book

I am spending the week visiting my girlfriend in Newcastle and I just thought it would be a fun to chronicle what I have done with the week.

I am not sure how appropriate it is to use this blog to post things that I do out side of college, but I don't want to set up a forth blog as I don't think I would post regularly enough to it.

Again I don't think what I post on here over the next week will be of great interest to anyone, so I am sorry if you find it boring :(

I just want to test out how good I am at taking out my phone capturing some media (photos and videos) and editing it together into a blog post

It will all be back to college and technology posts after the half term

So with out further a do

My first day of half term .......

I set of mid evening to Leeds city train station.

Once I had board the train. I whipped out my MacBook and killed the time of the hour and a half journey watching Children of Men





My journey took me through York, Darlington, Durham

I caught a couple of pictures of The Yorkshire Wheel as I passed through York






Arriving at my final destination Newcastle




As I said not the most interesting of post! :)

The Miracle that is Adobe After Effects

I think Adobe After Effect may be my new favourite program.

I followed a tutorial on youtube to produce the video below




It was very simple to make once I got over a few hick-ups of working out which side to mask and which video each layer was on.

I plan on following some more youtube tutorials to develop my skills in after effects look out for more videos

More Advertising Uncut

(Nice after effects opening titles :)

Another day off from college and I mannaged to catch another Episode of Adverting Uncut on Channel Four

The was the last episode in the series and looked at what tactics advertisers use to make an advert successful, and it seems making people laugh is the best way to get them to like your product

They showed a whole host of clips on the show



Budweiser - Wazzzz up;
Was a very successful ad campaign, it even appealed to people (teenagers) who were not legal allowed to buy the product. The term "Wazzzz Up" even out lived the advert it self with people still using Waaaaz Up even when the advert was no longer running



Virgin Media - Wyclef
Another successful (and funny) ad campaign this time highlighting that Virgin Mobile do not tie you to a contract.



Virgin Media - Kate Moss
Virgin ran this ad at the time Kate Moss had been dropped from some of her high profile contracts. The advert was only ran for a very short amount of time, but it brought Virgin a lot of press.



Sony Bravia - Paint
The Sony Bravia ad was a another very popular and thus successful advert. This advert was produced using no special effects or post production. All the exploding paint you see actually happened. Some one who worked creating the advert commented that it used more semtex than the film Saving Private Ryan



The Honda Hate advert took a complete new approach to advertising a car. While most car advert used shots of beautiful cars cruising down wide open roads, this advert appeals more to the Internet savvy consumer who is looking to see something new and fresh. While most advertiser are wanting you to love their product this advert dares to use the word hate! Something very rarely seen in the advertising world

This advert aims to make the diesel engine seem as though it is fluffy and cuddle, almost something you would be happy to give to your family

A "Brand Vampire" was something I had never heard of till watching this program. I learnt that a brand vampire is something that becomes bigger than the brand its self. A great example of this is Monkey from the ITV Digital Campaign. The monkey became more popular than the ITV Digital brand. A brand vampire is damaging to a brand!



Also featured was the banned Xbox - Cradle to Grave advert



Some one on the program commented they were surprised this advert made it passed the advertising board. People had complained about it as the thought the baby crashing out of the window and the man crashing in to the grave was to violent, however these type of adverts gain cult status and once band people will go out of there way to see them, which in this day and age with video sharing website it is easy to view them if you so wish

Some further research has led me to believe that maybe getting adverts is just a tactic Xbox use to gain them further press. This is another of Xbox's banned adverts



I hope at some point I get to see the rest of this series.

Advertising and Viral Marketing

This morning I woke up and flicked on the TV only to be greeted by a program called "Advertising Uncut"



Advertising and marketing has always interested me (it's another reason why i am studying digital media, I would love to be part of a high profile successful advert campaign)

"A revealing, informative and entertaining anatomy of the world of marketing and advertising. This episode goes behind the scenes to reveal the astonishing attention to detail that lies behind the glamour of an advertising shoot. The programme also discovers the tricks of the trade from computer technology to photoshopping."

http://uk-tv-guide.com/programme-details/Channel+4/2+October+2008/09%3A00/Advertising+Uncut/Documentary/

The episode I watched was episode 3

PROGRAMME 3: THE CAMPAIGN

"This programme focuses on the techniques used by advertisers when developing a campaign. We learn tricks for getting the media and the public interested in a new product, and we see new and exciting ways of advertising, both on the streets and via the computer.

PROGRAMME AIMS

This programme aims to give an overview of advertising campaigns including:

the money involved in buying advertising space
Public Relations (PR)
product placement
the future of advertising (including viral and buzz advertising)"

http://www.4learning.co.uk/support/programmenotes/micro/advertisinguncut/prog3.html

I found the program to be interesting and engaging. I learnt

1. how advertise pay more money for an advert on the right hand page of a magazine as that is where peoples eyes tend to fall first
   
   
2. Advertisers pay more money to feature a advert next to a article that may relate to its product i.e a skin care product advert next to a skin care article
   
   
3. How advertisers use the allure of "celebrity" to give the products an image and "cool" factor
   
   
4. How advertisers can use product placement with in a TV program. The example they used was Hyunda had give one of their cars to the character of a wealthy business man in the TV program Emmerdale in the hope that people would associate that car with success and luxury living (a very clever technique i thought!)
   

I also learnt about some non orthodox methods of advertising.

Student brand managers are something I had never heard of until watching this program. In Advertising Uncut the example they showed involved a Sheffield student getting local bands to come and play gigs outside the Three Mobile Phone Store, then he had to invite as many people down to the gig as he could. Three hoped that this would link them to being promoters of new music and would therefore attract the young trendy crowd of people who like to listen to new music to buy there products

CLICK HERE for more on studnet brand managers

I would really like to have a go at being a student brand manager and with the giant list of social networks I belong to i'm sure I could generate quite a big crowd or reach a vast number of people world wide, electronically via the internet. (If you read this and have any openings as a student brand manager or know some one who does please leave me a comment or click my e-mail link at the top of this blog)

The program also covered buzz marketing. This is the kind of thing that creates a buzz and makes the advertisers message get passed on via word of mouth.

Examples included

1. Sending out actors into the street dressed as 118 charecters.
   
   
2. Locking two graffiti artist in a glass box with a Nissan car for 48 hours while they decorated the box.
   

But my personal favourite was a viral video created for a swivel mobile phone that was released on youtube. The people who made the advert discussed the video saying that the video looks as though it could have been crearted by a genuine youtube user which is part of what makes it so successful.

Word of mouth success for this video can been seen in this forum HERE where people are discussing the video as a piece of user generated content rather than an advert

They also commented that you need to be careful with this kind of thing as much as they are using youtube to there advantage, if the users of youtube did not like it they have exactly the same power (of using the internet) to express that view and it could be very damaging to the brand or product!

Just to prove that buzz marketing does work and is successful I have embed the clip below for you. Leave me some comments and let me know what you think to it



As I am at college for the rest of the week I don't think I will be able to catch any more episodes in this series, but if any one knows where I can find them online, or if it is possible to order them from Channel 4 as an education piece let me know I would really really like to see the rest of them!

iDent Research

**I NEED TO ADJUST IMAGE SIZES OF THIS BLOG POST**

Last Friday (26th Sept 08) I took a trip down Rossington Street Library to pick up a few books on the recommended reading list.

I could not find "Motion Design: Moving Graphics for Television, Music Video, Cinema and Digital Interfaces"

But I did find a very similar book "Motion Gaphics: Graphic Design for Broadcast and Film"

I also went to pick "Type in Motion 2" which I was unable to locate. I opted to take out a similar book "Type for the Internet and other Digital Media"

This weekend I have been looking through "Motion Graphics: Graphic Design for Broadcast and Film. The book has provide me with a lot of inspiration for avenues I could take when developing this idea

The image above is from the "Motion Graphics: Graphic Design for Broadcast and Film"

It particularly caught my attention due to the bright colours and 3D lettering something that I believe would engage my target audience if making an iDent for "Custard"

The image above is again form"Motion Graphics; Graphic Design for Broadcast and Film"

This particular image caught my eye and interest. Colours could be adapted to make it more suite able for a "Custard" iDent. The third squares from the left with the red circles in inspired me to think that the circles could be animated to follow a path and finally spelling out the word Custard

I still need to research in to typography. I also need to further research in to my target market, I have already collected some links here that will help me do that

Round Up of Today's Events

Well unfortunately our 3G usb dongles had been forgot so I must apologize to anyone who was hoping to follow me throughout the day.

But here is a brief run down of my day

After arriving at the stadium I met with my host and fellow bloggers. They were David Poole who owns and writes http://thegroundhog.wordpress.com and Stuart Moss a lecturer of entertainment management at Leeds Met University who owns and writes http://entplanet.blogspot.com

We were given a quick briefing, our job was to be citizen journalists for the day. We were required to capture footage that an ordinary TV crew may not capture

We were handed miniDV cameras and Nokia N95 mobile phones and told to go off and capture the game as well as fans, players and managers reactions

We had unlimited access and could go anywhere within the ground

The Journey Begins

If you follow any of my other blogs you will know I today I am blogging with ITV-Local covering the FA Cup 1st Round ......

Just about to catch the bus in to Leeds City Centre. Then get the train to Guiseley (Nevermoor Park)

I meet my hosts for the day at 1.30pm and from there we get our briefing on sports journalism and reporting tips (I am hoping to be able to live cast that meeting on blogtv.com/people/lukeb3000)

From there we are handed over the cameras and start to capture the match

More updates through out the day

Blogging With The Big Boys!

I am proud to announce that I have been selected by ITV-Local to go and cover the FA Cup 1st round. Guiseley vs Garforth

How did this come about I am sure you are asking.

Well a chain of events led to this fantastic opportunity

You may remember me posting the iJustine Apple Store Tour 2008 video on a multitude of blogs I own.

Jack who writes for http://blogs.itvlocal.com/yorkshire saw this video and got in contact with via e-mail

So here is what I will be doing on Saturday 27th September (This coming Saturday)

13.30 Meet at the ground for meet and greet.

13.45 Introduction to sports journalism, reporting tips, and other good practices. Creation of the reporting teams and quick reporting briefing. Handover of camera.

15:00 Kick off

15:45 Half time: refreshments (Food & Drink) and first opportunity to capture the reaction of fans

16:00 2nd half kick off

16:45 Full time: capture of fans post game reactions

17:00 Interviews with players and managers

18:00 Drinks at a local pub: Discussions and final thoughts.

19:00 End

I have been told that I should bring my laptop and a camera so I am going to be packing my MacBook (wish it was a MacBook Air now) and My N95 as I can take both Pictures and Video's to capture what I get up to.

I am tempted to take my MiniDV camera too just so I can capture a bit of video to edit up and put online at a later date

I have also been told that at appropriate times throughout the day (or whenever desired) I will be provided with a broadband dongle so I can get online.

I am not sure if there is a limit on how much bandwidth I can use but I have a few ideas on what I may use it for but I need your help

What would you like to see my cover when I am there?

I should imagine if I am only provide with a broadband dongle at certain times Twittering wont be very effective.

I am tempted to use my blogTV.com account to stream some live video. (But this depends on how much bandwidth and time I have)

I am going to try and upload pictures as they day progresses (They will be going on my Blogger Account, and any written work will be posted on my Tumblr Account)

But what do you want to see me do. What would be the most effective way for me to communicate to you what I am doing. It's times like these I wish I had an iPhone as I would use the qik app to stream the whole day! That would be the most ultimate way for me to blog my whole day!

So leave me comments and tell me how you want me to communicate my day. Live stream? Upload photos? Write things up as I go along. If i do live stream I will try to twitter when I am casting

One More Thing

Post match I get the opportunity to interview the players and manager. If you have anything you want me to ask them, again I ask you to leave your questions in the comments and I will do my very best to get you some answers

Keep an eye on this blog and I will try to keep you updated with my preparations for covering the match!

Proudly Introducing ....

For a while I have been trying to encourage my brother to start blogging

He is in year 13 (upper 6th) and is wanting to study for a degree in journalism.

For about 6 months or so I have been trying to tell him that blogging would be a good way to practice writing for an audience, as well as a way to show people at interviews that he is taking an active interest in journalism.

You can visit his blog at joelbeaumont.blogspot.com I am sure he would appreciate some comments too

Leeds Photography

7am starts are not something I usually enjoy but as I walked to work at 6.45 there was a beautiful sunrise to cheer up my morning

Being the technology g33k that I am I had my N95 in my pocket and managed to capture these shots for you to enjoy

iJustine Apple Store Tour 2008 MashUp

It is believed iJustine is embarking on an Apple Store Tour.
She likes to visit these stores and say the magic words "Apple Store".

Here is the stores she has visited so far.
I hope you enjoy watching this video as much as I enjoyed making it

If you enjoyed this video please digg it

A Video Project

Kate Nash, Foundations - Parody from lukeb3000 on Vimeo.

As much as I enjoy creating graphics and interactive stuff, I also have an interest in internet video, this is my 1st attempt at creating an internet video.

Please feel free to comment!

Hi From Work!

Before the summer break from college i submitted a picture of myself to hifromwork.com




As my work is studing; the picture is taken in the quite study rooms at Leeds College of Art and Design

The picture was taken using PhotoBooth on my MacBook

I submitted it in hope that it would drive more people (from across the world) to read my blog posts

Here is a link to me on the hifromwork.com blog

Lost Phone Update

I want to start by saying thanks to everyone who helped out by texting and spreading the word.

Special Thanks go to

RoCkBiGdAvE - who posted on the digimods forum the response from there was huge

and also a BIG Thank You to

Sarah Austin of Pop17 who spread the word to over 300 people world wide and let me broadcast my problem on her lifecast channel

To update you all; Unfortunately I did not get the phone back and it is now been blacked listed from being used on all networks, so if anyone offers to sell you an LG Viewty down t'market for £5.99 dont buy it :)

Here are a few pictures to show you how bigger response i got

The spike in the graph is the day I 1st posted and then the decline :(

This map shows hits from across the globe I am pleasantly surprised how densely populated the map is and very surprised that my message reached places such as India Turkey and Thailand

The current hit total stands at 282 visitors and this is still slowly rising as i write this blog post.

THANKS EVERYONE and as always comments are welcome below :)

Help Me Find My Lost Mobile Phone

Using the power of the internet you can help me locate my lost mobile phone.

Back Ground Info

I lost my phone on Saturday, looking at my online account I can see that the phone made a number of calls on Tuesday (this is not a problem I have free minutes and text)

This morning i called the handset and it was answered by “Jeff” who said he had bought the phone “from a lad” Jeff said he was in town and I should call him back to arrange to pick it up.

I have called back and the phone is now switched off

To get my fone back I need your help

Here is a list of the dates times and numbers that my phone has called since it was lost

08/07/08 12:34 Talk 07796067681 00:00:01 0.000

08/07/08 12:34 Talk 07796067681 00:00:46 0.000

08/07/08 18:30 Talk 07796067681 00:01:43 0.000

08/07/08 18:38 Talk 07527269497 00:01:48 0.000

08/07/08 19:39 Text 447765513019 - 0.000

08/07/08 19:47 Talk 07765513019 00:00:13 0.000

08/07/08 19:59 Talk 07767376869 00:00:57 0.000

08/07/08 19:59 Talk 07767376869 00:01:09 0.000

08/07/08 20:52 Talk 07796067681 00:00:55 0.000

08/07/08 21:05 Talk 07796067681 00:00:12 0.000

08/07/08 21:25 Talk 07516867094 00:00:10 0.000

The Plan

Here are the four numbers in order of frequency phoned, the top number has been phoned the most so target that number if you like

+447796067681

+447767376869

+447527269497

+447516867094

To help me find my phone I need you to bombard these phone numbers with calls and text and voice mail messages

Simply call, text and leave voice mail to the above numbers. There is no need to be offensive if everybody just leaves the message below

“Your friend has called this phone with a stolen number. Luke would like his LG Viewty back please tell you friend to get in contact with him”

Ultimately calling these numbers would be most effective, if you dont want to do that just use this fee text service and send them a message for me

FREE TEXT MESSAGES HERE

Get More People Involved

For this idea to truly work as many people as possible need to contact these numbers. You can make more people aware of my problem in the following ways

The best thing you could do is E-Mail this link to all your contacts

http://lukeb3000.tumblr.com/post/41754566

and ask them to forward it to all their contacts

Second best thing would be join my facebook group and get as many people to join as you can to join too

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=18935782127&ref=mf

Update your status on facebook to

“Help Luke Find His Mobile Phone http://lukeb3000.tumblr.com/post/41754566”

Post a bulletin on Myspace sending people to

“Help Luke Find His Mobile Phone http://lukeb3000.tumblr.com/post/41754566”

Post a Twitter message telling people

If you do one thing today PLEASE READ THIS http://lukeb3000.tumblr.com/post/41754566

Post this link on any forums you visit

http://lukeb3000.tumblr.com/post/41754566

Make a funny video about my problem and post it on video sharing sites such as youtube. Make sure you tell them to visit this blog post for more info

Post on your blog about my problem and link it to here

The more people that phone and text these people the more chance I have of getting my phone back.

LETS MAKE THIS THING GLOBAL

You will now either do two things, think this is a funny story and go visit another website

or

Click this link FREE TEXT MESSAGES HERE and text these numbers

+447796067681


+447767376869


+447527269497


+447516867094


I will leave it up to you which you wish to do

One Final Thing

If you phone, text or leave voice mail to these numbers leave a comment on the bottom of this post

If you link to this post again leave a comment telling me when you have posted it

Thank You and with a little bit of luck i will be getting my phone back in no time

:)

GeekUp Leeds

Last week (Wednesday the 18th June) I went to a social meet up of local leeds people who had an interest in all things digital and Internet related.

There were two short presentations

Colin May talked on "Scaling your site - things to consider now and in the future that'll make your life a lot easier when your site takes off"

Next was Tim Waters talking about "Alternate Reality Games".

After the Alternative Reality Gaming talk we went out side and played a mini ARG which was quite fun and entertaining (I think there is a video of it floating about the Internet as someone was filming us on a Nokia N95 but don't know if it was upload to the internet or not. If i find the video I will post it up on one of my blogs)

The video above I will explain as you are probably just confused after watching it. The idea was to create a human maze, to guide the person in the middle you had to hum and they were meant to follow the humming noise. CLICK HERE for a little help understanding what I am talking about

Afterwards there was beer and cake (it was GeekUp's 1st Birthday) while talking to people afterwards I learnt about Open Mapping and Geo caching all things that sounded interesting but I have never heard of before, no doubt be reading up on them

Also found out there is a PhotoCamp due to be held in Leeds that I am hoping to attend.

I managed to live blog the event via the use of twitter and my iPod touch, (live blogging the event just makes me want a 3G iphone even more. I mean you can't always have a wifi connection with an iPod touch I just got lucky that time but what happens next time if im at an event with out a wifi connection and i want to live blog?)

All in all it was good to get involved with and speak to other people who are interested and work in the same field that I am interested in.

Hopefully I will be attending next month :)

In the mean time there are some pictures of me over on my other blog at this Junes GeekUp

CLICK HERE to see the pictures

Animation Resubmission

New scene to show shock on charecters face when he realisese a block is about to fall on him


to create blinking effect >>> motion tween a circle covering eyes >>> selected animated frames >>> right click on timeline >>> copy fames >>> right click on timeline paste frames >>> right click on timeline reverse frames

Ideally i would of made this a movie clip and dragged both eyes from the library, but i am not 100% confident with movie clips, i understand how they work and how to utilize them but I dont have time to fiddle around with them so stuck to what i know (tween animation) but i am fully aware a movie clip would have been better and more efficent.

Leeds Skylines

As i was walking home from the shops this evening (around 8.30pm - 9.00pm) the sun was casting some beautiful shadows on the clouds.

Its was really striking so i took the opportunity to whip out my camera phone. After a little messing about with the settings i captured the images below

I would recommend you to click on the images to see them full size

I have a trail at being a pro blogger

Ever since starting my college blog I feel compelled to try and take things further and further. I think blogging is an amazing platform to get your name out there, not only as a way for industry professionals to see your work, but also it seems a great way of building your work into a brand

I have also been lucky enough to talk to many influential people who are well know through out the blogosphere such as ijustine, Brookers, DJSteen, Myles Dyer, and Sarah Meyers

Blogging has just become something that I love. Recently I have wanted to take my blogging and writing to a more professional level (and use it as a way to earn a bit of extra cash over the summer) Recently I sent off a few e-mails to some technology websites to see if they had any spaces for someone to blog for them.

Here is the e-mail i sent

"I am a student studing for a BA (Hons) Design for Digital Media at Leeds College of Art and Design

If you look at my personal blog you will www.lukeb3000.blogspot.com you will see that it is my university blog but there are also a lot of technology related post.

Technology is something i have had an interest in since being very young.

Growing up I was really into games consoles and was always blown away when the next gen consoles were released.

As i have become older (and now have my own income to spend) my interest in technology has not diminished. As well as buying and reading technology on a regular basis I am also a regular reader of many technology sites such as digg.com, ars technica,the register, reg hardware, infosyncworld and many more.

Since buying both a MacBook and iPod touch last year i have also started listening to both technology video and pod casts on a regular basis.

Friends often consider me to be the technology geek of the group,they are sometimes perplexed by the terms i use and the things i talk about, which is often the latest piece of technology yet to hit the stores.

I have been an avid fan of mobile phone technology since the 90's. My first phone was a Nokia 5110, and have enjoyed watching the industries advances over the years

Since then i have owned a vast array of different handsets many of them Nokia's and Sony Ericssons. All my recent handsets have been smartphones, as being a technology enthusiast i love the extra features they have to offer

Not to jump on the iPhones bandwagon but i think that the touch screen interface is the future and thought this when i owned a Sony Ericsson P900

My current mobile phone is a Nokia N80 I had my eyes firmly on this phone well before Nokia had officially announced it. I decided to get this phone as at the time 3 megapixel was the highest avalible on any mobile phone, i also loved the fact that wi-fi was built right in (i didn't have an ipod touch back then,) so having a mobile device that i could take round the house to browse the internet was a big factor in buying this phone

I am soon due to upgrade and realistically i am considering two phones either;

the LG Viewty for its 5.1 Megapixel camera
flash with Schneider-Kreuznach lens and ability to shoot video at 120 fps and touchscreen interface

or the Nokia N95 for its GPS abilities and 5 megapixel camera.

I am most likely going to opt for the LG viewty as although it crams in less technology my experience of the Nokia N80 was that it needed to be charged everyday, and when a phones battery is dead (which after a long phone call was often the case with the N80) the technology residing inside that phone can no longer be utilized. Also i am mostly a texter and a full screen touch keyboard is a big draw for me i am also able to dispense of needing wifi built into my phone as i now use my ipod touch as my primary mobile internet device

unrealistically i would opt for an iPhone (i cant afford one of these at the moment) or the Nokia N96, simply for the amount of technology packed into it

or my current favorite of my unrealistic wish list would be the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1. This phone looks to be shaping up to be a very nice device for some who likes who is likes technology packed phones. The keypad would be great for me with all the texts i like to send. Although i like to have the best camera possible on my mobile phone of choice i know that the 3.1 megapixels that the Xperia X1 has to offer will be adequate for achieving a presentable picture.

I would also like this phone as my experience with Sony Ericssons has always been positive and i find the user interfaces on their phones to be more, friendly and intuitive to use.

I will no doubt be following what Sony Ericsson do with the Xperia range with avid interest.

You can find out more about what other Digital Media projects i am involved in by visiting http://www.lukebeaumont.co.uk

I hope to hear back from you soon

Regards

Luke Beaumont"

For over a month i did not hear anything back, but just thought to myself, the idea of blogging as a professional is a nice idea and blogging on a topic i like would be amazing, but just thought who is going to employ a uni student, who can not prove they have a track record of being able to post on a regular basis

Today I got a reply from one of the companies I e-mailed offering me a trail blogging for them

See the pictures below





So i am really REALLY happy about being given this opportunity, i'm also really nervous writing for your self is easy, as you can just say what is on your mind, where as with this I have to produce a certain amount of post by a certain time. Im sure once i get into the swing of things i will be fine and hopefully it will fine tune my skills to improve my personal blog posts.

Im also secretly hoping that i can climb the blogging ladder, to the point that I can develop my name into my brand, and people will send me new tech to review, but no doubt that will be in the very distant future, if at all. Its a nice thought and i think its good to have goals.

Registering this blog with technorati

you may have seen this post over on my other blog

Well i am now registering this blog with technorati in the hope of attracting new visitors

Technorati Profile

I wish i knew more HTML

For a long while now, i have had some hyperlinked text at the top of my page named Link1 Link2 Link3 Link4

I first made them hyper link to various search engines, this was just a way of testing that it was possible to have hyperlink able text at the top of my page

I next went on to make them link to pages of my blog that i have back dated

Today i final decided to full integrate them into my blog by giving them the appropriate titles, however I have come across a problem

THEY ARE NOT SPACED OUT ENOUGH, and therefore are are totally unreadable, thus rendering them useless!

I was at one point using this piece of HTML code & n b s p ; which acts as a tab, however this leave and unsightly line between the words ( i still have it attached to "Link 4" at the top as a demo, go hover your mouse curse over "Link 4" to see what i mean)

I should imagine it is achievable to have these links spaced maybe by the way of using cell spacing or some kind of table

While writing this post I have now discovered the HTML code < p r e> < / p r e > which allows for pre formated text "Link 4" no longer has & n b s p ; attached to it so you can not demo it,

However as you can see now the font has gone wrong

This blog post is a plea for any HTML geniuses to help me out, if you know how have the links at the top spaced out, with ordinary text formating them please drop me a comment on this post

if this helps this is the HTML code that they use

<pre>



<center><h3><a href="http://lukeb3000.blogspot.com/2005/01/contact-me.html"><span style="color:teal;">Contact Me</span></a> <a href="http://lukeb3000.blogspot.com/2005/01/work-with-me.html"><span style="color:teal;">Work With Me</span></a> <a href="http://lukeb3000.blogspot.com/2005/01/hire-me.html"><span style="color:teal;">Hire Me</span></a> <a href="http://www.google.com/"><span style="color:lime;">Link 4</span></a>

</h3></center>





</pre>

More Blog Posts Please !

On Wednesday i took a trip to Argos to buy this



(to see the image above properly click on it, as it has been horrendously squashed to fit on this blog, i promise you it doesn't look that ugly in real life!)

I've been considering picking up a scanner and a printer for some time now and this one was half price. Originally it was supposed to be £80 and it was down to £40. Im not sure how true that is but £40 for a printer scanner combo seemed reasonable enough to me.

I have mainly bought this product for the use of the scanning facility, as I am hoping it will aid me to blog from other sources than websites.

I often find articles in magazines or papers that i find interesting and wish to post on my blog about them. If i need to scan anything i usually do it at college, often it either slips my mind to scan the article and by the time i remember I feel that i am to late to post as it no longer seems relevent.

Hopeful by having a scanner at home i can find some time at the end of the day (when i am back from uni) to scan and post anything I find interesting, hopefully this will help me post on a wider range of topics.

Also I am hoping that having a scanner will encourage me to use my sketchbook a little more to develop my ideas, as i will now have the option to instantly scan things in my sketch book into my blogs

The fact that it has a printer option too is a bonus although I read some reviews about it being a little greedy when using the ink

One final observation (and thing that has annoyed me) it did not come with a printer cable to attach it to my MacBook, so now I have to go out and buy a USB cable before i can even use it :(

Aesop's Fable : Video Content Capture

For my fable i used video as part of the interactive content.

When I started this project, i had intentions of using college HD cameras and booking out a studio, unfortunately I was given notice to quit my current property while doing this project, and finding somewhere else to live took main priority.

This left me with less time than I had originally anticipated to complete the project, meaning I had to work around some of my original intentions.

Capturing video using one of colleges cameras is one things i ran out of time to do. In order to work around this I used my mini dv video camera, hooked it up to my MacBook and used PhotoBooth as the capture program.

Not the most professional way to do things, but under the circumstances it was the only way I could get things done, also goes to show with the right tools and knowledge most things are possible

Take a look at the pictures below to see my set-up

Free Sat Launched Today

You may or may not remember that in February I posted about a free-view non subscription High-Definition Satellite service that was due to launch in the U.K

You can see that blog post by clicking HERE

Well today the service launched.

"The new Service will carry 80 digital TV and radio channels, including free high definition programmes, with that number due to rise to 200 by the end of 2008.

Users will make a one-off payment for a dish, set-top box and installation, but will not pay a monthly subscription.
The price of a box will start at £49, rising to £120 for a high-definition (HD) version. The cost of installation, including the satellite dish, will be a further £80."

bbc.co.uk

£200 compared to a normal freeview box (which can be picked up for around £30, such as HERE) seems to be a little expensive, however if you consider what you are actually getting and bearing in mind that by 2009 you will be getting around 200 HD channels it seems a pretty reasonable offer.

If I had £200 laying around spare I would be off to by myself a free sat box

Lets just hope it doesnt go the same way as British Satellite Broadcasting

Come to think of it does anyone remeber the "Sqarials"



I can just remember being quite young and seeing these things bolted to the sides of houses, but i had no clue what they did, i just thought they looked cool and wanted my house to have one!

You can read more about free-sat by clicking HERE

And keep checking back to my blog for more announcements of future up and coming tech

Thank You

As you may have noticed I have added a donation button to my blog, as a way for people to support my blogging endeavors

I recently received my first donation



I would like to say a big thank you to iphelim who is a fellow blogger, you can check out his blog by clicking HERE

If anyone else wishes to support this blog in the way of a small donation, you can click the Donate button over in the right hand column, all donations are gratefully received.

As way of saying thanks I will post a thank you, screen shot and link to your blog or website.

Aesop's Fable : Video Up Date

I like documenting the progression of my work. I always find it interesting when finished to look back and see how the piece progressed.

I have used an app called ScreenFlow in order to record the videos below. The video below details me creating my audio button and my next scene button

Audio Button Creation




Next Scene Button Creation

I was mentioned on Pop17

One of my blog posts over on my Tumblr blog has been reposted and linked back to me




I am hoping that this re-post will drive more traffic to my blog and in turn give me more exposure as a digital designer

Pop17 are also following me on various other 2.0 social sites, I would encourage them if they are reading this to get in-contact with me as I would be happy to work with them in any way, shape or form.

Maybe this is the start of a very bright future (or maybe not lol :) )

Mobile Phone Upgrade

I just upgraded my mobile phone. Im up grading from a Nokia N80 (great phone awful battery life) to a LG Viewty (I have no experience of LG Phones, I hope i havent picked a heap of junk)

I opted for the LG Viewty for a few reasons

1. I am a technology g33k and this phone fits the bill with lots of cool features, touchscreen UI, 5 MP camera, 120fps video recording and more

2. I can afford an iPhone (as much as I would like one)

3. I always buy mobile phones with the best camera available for 2 reasons

I cant justify buying a new digital camera

If i was to buy a digital camera i would not take it everywhere with me where as a mobile phone i will, meaning i am able to capture more with the mobile phone camera

4. Being someone who text quite alot I like the touch screen qwerty keyboad it has to offer

Here are some links to video i chopped up from youtube videos

Keyboard Mode

Handwriting Mode

Customization

The above videos were edited from this source

http://youtube.com/watch?v=GkuOC1kSQ-o

Now i know with iPhones (once they are jail broken) are capable of mobile blogging through the likes of twitter clients, being able to upload pictures and being able to surf the internet.

I also opted take advantage of a months free trial of the mobile internet, I opted to trial as I want to evaluate wether it will facilitate me to be able to blog on the move. I am considering setting new youtube blogger and flickr test accounts so i can see how good the Viewty is at blogging on the move.

There have been situations in the past when something has caught my eye and i have wanted to blog it there and then, (like when the flight were playing a free gig in the middle of Newcastle city centre, i had my N80 with me at the time so shot some video, by the time i had uploaded it to my mac and edited it (24 hours later) it seemed a bit pointless posting it as the moment had passed

(A bit of topic but HERE is that video)

Perhaps another good point to make about that video is it was recorded on my Nokia N80 as i hadn't taken my Mini DV camera out with me as I really wasn't expecting to see this.

Anyway I looking forward to receiving my new phone, and will be hoping to write up a follow up post detailing what i think to the handset and also commenting on if I found mobile internet for the use of blogging on the move ne use

Aesops Fable Further Research : Brainstorming and Ideas Development

Today i decided that to push my work forward with the Aesop's Fable Brief

I need to have a solid idea of what direction I was planning on taking the interactive book.

For weeks (since we got the breif,) I have been racking my brain trying to think of a good idea of how and why i may create an interactive book

The only think that keeps springing in to my brain is; to create an iteractive reading aid (not very imaginative i know, but i know i will be able to work with that idea)

Working along the lines of "interactive reading aid" i began to brain storm what interactive elements i could include



Taking the three ideas of Video, Sound, and Animation I began to further investigate how i could include these elements into an "interactive reading aid"

1.) Story teller mode (Video)

The "Story Teller Mode" utilizes video. The picture below explains what I am aiming for in more detail



2.) Read With Me (Audio)

The "Read With Me Mode" utilizes audio. The picture below explains what I am aiming for in more detail



3.) Unassisted (Animation)

The "Unassisted Mode" utilizes animation. The picture below explains what I am aiming for in more detail



After quickly making the above notes in my sketchbook/notepad I knew I had a solid idea that would meet the criteria for the brief. I liked the idea so to develop it further i created a PowerPoint demo to enable me to get a better feel of what i am thinking about achiveing

Below is the PowerPoint Presentation I created

Read this doc on Scribd: Proposal for Aesops Fable Breif

_{*Note Clicking the square in the top right hand corner of the embedded powerpoint will take you into fullscreen mode so you can see more clearly*,}

Finally I talked to Annabeth, showing her my PowerPoint presentation and talking her through the direction in which i plan on taking this brief.

She told me that taking the brief in this direction is a good approach to take. Annabeth told me to see more examples of this kind of work I should head over to the Cbeebies Website

While on the cbeebies website i noted a few web addresses that i plan on revisiting or that maybe useful for me to learn from



My aims for the next time I approach this breif are;

Short Term Goal

1) Continue researching how the Cbeebies website present there interactive stories what interactive elements are they using to engage the user with the stories being told?

Mid Term Goals

2) Create some characters in illustrator that I can import into flash

3. Create a "test" Scene in Flash using the characters created in illustrator. Make sure they are suitable for animating