So, our Web Design class is working with Adobe Fireworks and I finally feel like my old self again.  I’m used to working with Adobe Photoshop, and this program feels pretty intuitive.  The main features and buttons are very similar and I’m looking forward to a more streamline interface between the Tapestry of Nightmares (aka Dream Weaver) and my graphics.  It’s going to be interesting to see how this actually works.

They should call this program Tapestry of Nightamares.  Even though this class is the first experience I’ve had with html; and I never got to see when web designing was “really” bad… I’m still not terribly impressed with Dream Weaver’s program. 

It’s not very intuitive, or user-friendly and seems like twenty-five different people had a say in it’s design (and each one got to include their favorite way of doing things).  This program is a prime example of how technology is moving so fast – that even computer programmers can’t keep up.

So…you want to steal my stuff, huh?  Oh, you just want to LOOK at it?  Hmmm.

No.

It’s mine and you can’t even look at it.  OK,  if you go to MY website then you can look at it (all you want).   But you can’t take it to your  website.

Copyright laws are pretty silly.  They remind me of kids in the school yard.  MINE MINE MINE!   So what if I look at your “virtual” stuff via my “virtual” place?   That’s like saying I can’t take a picture of a famous statue.  I’m not stealing the friggin’ thing… I’m just looking at it.  

Oh wait!  I remember going to the Vatican and seeing the Sistine Chapel;  they said NO PHOTOGRAPHS.  And the rule wasn’t to protect the integrity of Michelangelo’s artwork, but it was because some Japanese TV station paid for the restoration and… “In return for underwriting the costs and documenting the entire restoration project with a new cold-lighting technique that would not harm the frescoes, NTV obtained exclusive photographic, film and television rights. It has already produced at least 11 documentaries, including two in English for overseas distribution, and two coffee-table books, translated into several languages. It has not disclosed what profit it has made, if any. “ 

See http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE4D91E3AF93AA15750C0A966958260  for the full skinny.

Geeze!  This reminds me of a poem I wrote…BTW, you can use it anyway you like – and there’s NO permission necessary

*******

I never wanted money – I never wanted fame,

I never wanted to take the credit – away from your good name,

I only wanted a photograph – (digital at that),

A simple memory for my page – no feather in my hat,

The Internet and all its freedom – has brought upon my plight,

I only wish I would have seen – that little copyright,

Now all I have left to do, is sit and wait in jail…

I only hope that $%#$! Al Gore – will come and pay my bail.

Pampers’ website has a nice layout and I think their typography is easy on the eyes.  They use enough space and variety to keep it flowing and appealing – without overdoing it.

http://us.pampers.com/en_US/home/home.do

Comp USA has a monochromatic color scheme; primarily using red.

http://www.compusa.com/

Best Buy’s website is an example of a complimentary color scheme; using the colors blue & yellow.

http://www.bestbuy.com/ 

An example of an analogous color scheme is Dolce & Gabbana; they use blue, violet and purple.

http://www.dolcegabbana.it/

Oscar Meyer has a site that could be considered a triad color scheme, since they mainly use red, yellow and blue.

http://www.kraftfoods.com/om/

I have a passion for anything metaphysical; I am always in the middle of a good book about quantum physics, spiritualism, or theology.  Because of this, I have always kept an open mind about reincarnation.

For some reason, this concept has always seemed plausible to me – mainly because this teaching crosses so many different cultures, countries and continents.  I find it fascinating that so many religions believe in reincarnation.  By the way, Wikipedia does a fine job outlining various beliefs and reincarnation teachings at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reincarnation 

Well, after much consideration, I’m seeing this whole “reincarntion thing” from a different angle… and I’d like to find out what you think about it.

 Let’s start with the familiar words of Jesus: “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own.” (John 14:10)  And then there’s this one… “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (John 17:20-21)   As you may already know, there are MANY more Biblical quotes similar to these, but I think the above two passages make the point Jesus was trying to teach.  Over the millennia, many sages and mystics have been trying to get their hands around this concept, but just haven’t been able to communicate it (in its truest sense) to the masses…and I think it’s mainly because society across-the-board hasn’t been able to grasp it. 

I had an idea a while back that made me think about space/time and the physical/spiritual aspect of our higher self (our Spirit).  Quantum physics teaches, time and space are simply an illusion created by the observer (us) and the subatomic particles that tell a chair to “be” a chair is the same exact energy that tells a human that they are “solid”.   The quantum physicist, Leon Lederman, calls this subatomic particle the “God Particle”.   The movie “What the Bleep Do We Know Anyway“ explains this theory very well. 

So, I thought, if there is really no reality of time and there is no reality of space, and we do actually have the possibility of returning to this physical plane via reincarnation, then maybe – just maybe we could be born into another life that is actually in a the temporal past – instead of the temporal future?  If there are no time restrictions – then there shouldn’t be any reason why we are limited to the timeframe of which we inhabit a body.   

Then it occurred to me that if we are not restricted to “time” then we are not restricted to “space” either.  And I thought, well if we are able to spiritually transcend time and space, our true essence may very well inhabit more than one space (or body) in one time – perhaps we are multiple beings in this space/time era? 

With that being said, I realized that we ARE a single Spiritual “person”.  I Am.  You Are.  And as Spiritual teachers, over the centuries have taught, and as quantum physics verifies, we are all the same “Energy” inhabiting this physical dimension, under the illusion that we are separate beings, separate matter.    Not that “me” is in multiple places, because there is only one physical self in one physical location…and the “me” is called “Viola” but there is a greater “Me” that is “You” as well.  We are ALL the same spiritual entity (soul mates or spiritual twins, if you will) just sharing an illusion of a separate physical existence.  There is no “us”, just a ME.  So when YOU hurt – I hurt…when you laugh – I am happy… because we are ONE Being.  Our corporeal minds in this realm of “illusion”, cannot see past the physical barrier of matter, so we are essentially trapped within separate confines and cannot mentally perceive Our Oneness with our limited five physical senses.   

In Mayan tradition there is a greeting that many people working with Mayan wisdom know of.  It is In Lak’ech. We understand In Lak’ech to mean:I am another yourself …and also means I am you, and You are me.I like it. 

So it all comes full circle back to Jesus… We are One, and I can think of no higher purpose in this existence than to reach out to our many “selves” and love them.  How could we possibly want it any other way?

If this kind of stuff interests you - you have got to check out this downloadable book by Adrian Cooper, called “Our Ultimate Reality”.  It will rock your world…it did mine.

In Lak’ech,

Viola

I went to the Winter Expo at the Carlson Center the other day – and had great and “wonderful” plans to spend some serious money (after all, Nordstrom’s was there). I had planned on buying a new pair of boots, some Cutco cutlery, and maybe some other goodies like make-up or a purse.  But none of that happened; and the whole experience was quite heartbreaking (for me anyway).

So, I’m walking along minding my own business, and out of nowhere, a little voice in my ear whispers, “psst… I have a good idea…why don’t you donate some blood?  Today, right now would be the PERFECT time! You’ve never done it before and only losers don’t give blood.  Strangers all over the world need blood everyday and you’ve been so greedy, keeping ALL your blood to YOURSELF.  I bet you don’t even have your ‘organ donor’ box checked on the back of your license, blah blah blah…”

“OK! OK!”  I yell.  (Inside my head, of course – I never yell at my “little voice” in public).   Suddenly, I look over at my husband and hear my conscience say aloud, “Hey, I have an idea, I think I’m going to give some blood…I’ve never done it before and I want to do it today, right now.  I’ve had a good breakfast and some orange juice…today would be the PERFECT day.” 

I let go of his hand and marched up to the table where the nice ladies were wearing their blue paper lab coats and smiling.  I would later learn that they were smiling more out of sympathy than of approval.  

“I’d like to give some blood.”  I was beaming; my conscience was pleased and I was feeling pretty darn good.  I looked back at my husband and I was expecting him to smile and give me something like ‘two thumbs up’.  But instead he had a look in his eyes that I didn’t quite recognize.  I think it was something more like, “You’re a dumb shit.” He smiled and pointed to himself and then to the ATV’s.  I waved goodbye and followed the nice lady in the blue paper lab coat.

I filled out some paperwork verifying that I didn’t have any communicable diseases or cooties in general, then signed on the dotted line and we were off!  I climbed up onto the medical lawn furniture and awaited my fate.  By now, I was a little nervous and took comfort in the nice ladies telling me how much they appreciated my donation.  “Aw, it’s nothing…” I smiled back and pretended not to be nervous.

As the young lady tightened up my armband and tapped my vein, she said, “Good.”  Pride filled my heart; my vein was ‘good’ … Woohoo! 

She then proceeded to poke my ‘good’ vein with some kind of hollow spike conveniently attached to a small water hose.  She smiled and asked if I was ok.  “Yep…doin’ fine”, I said.  My little voice whispered, “See… not so bad, huh?”  I repeated the words aloud, “Not so bad…”

The nice lady smiled and made a joke that I don’t remember.

As the small water hose filled itself with my warm blood, I objectively considered its decent to the empty pouch next to my chair.  That was blood dripping out of a living and breathing cardiovascular system.  I couldn’t help but think, “This can’t be good for me.”   I immediately reassured myself that people donate blood all the time and they’re fine.  “Fine…” I whisper under by breath. 

I looked around at the people passing by.  Some of them looked at me with a twinge of pain and others looked on with inspiration.  But now that I think about it, they all looked a little worried.  I guess that’s human nature though…the whole “blood thing”; or more accurately, the whole “loss of blood thing”.  It’s just not natural.  Noble…yes.  Natural…no.  

But I bide my time in the chair and feel relieved when the nice lady tells me that I’m over half-way “there”…wherever “there” is.  I smile weakly.

The man next to me finishes up and they unfasten him.  I look down at my arm and wonder how much time I have left until they disconnect me.   He thanks everyone and walks away.  The blue paper lab coat turns to me, and smiles again, asking me how I feel.  “Great.” I say.  I wanted to tell her that I wasn’t wild about the whole idea of the spike and water hose scenario, but instead, I bit my tongue and listened to my little voice whisper words like “charitable” and “humanitarian”… I’m such a push-over.

As the nurse-lady-person pinches off the tube and cuts it, I feel slightly violated.  But then she smiles again and makes me feel better.  After which, she slides the hollow spike from my arm – reminding me of Neo getting wrenched from the Matrix.  Ouch.

But I was still alive… I made it!  Woohoo!  I had donated blood!  I told myself that I could do this again.  It wasn’t so bad.

Then I stood up, thanked everyone and listened to them tell me how much they appreciated my donation.  Not so bad.  I walked around the corner to find my husband… then, it happened.

My knees started to feel a little weak and I was getting warm.  “Hmm…strange feeling for a person whose doing as fine as me,” I thought. 

The room started closing in on me and I knew that if I didn’t sit down right away, I would be waking up in the middle of an isle surrounded by very concerned strangers.  

And what kind of message would that send to all the other people thinking about giving blood?  “Oh yeah, I’m going to run right over there and let them suck the life out of me, so I can fall over half-dead just like her.”  I had to find a chair.

I looked around and spotted an empty chair next to the admission booth.  I was still coherent enough to smile at the attendant who I sat down next to, and say, “I just gave blood and I’m feeling a little weak.”   She knew what to do; at once, she went across the isle to the Blood Donation Booth and grabbed some cookies.   I called my husband and whispered, “I’m feeling a little lightheaded and I don’t know if I can stand up.”  He was on his way. 

The room got darker and hotter and I tried to eat a cookie, but my mouth was so dry it just wasn’t working out. The next thing I know my husband was directly in front of me.  He braced my arm and led me back to the medical lawn furniture.  My hero.

The smiling ladies weren’t smiling anymore; their faces were wrapped in concern.  They gave me juice and icepacks and elevated my feet.  They said this kind of thing happens all the time, and that I shouldn’t worry.  Right. 

After a few minutes, I was feeling much better and decided that I had made enough of a fuss and should be on my way. 

When I was ready to go, I gingerly moved my feet to the side of the chair and found the floor.  So far…so good.  I stood (much slower this time) and felt my husband’s arm keeping me steady.  I took a step and once again, felt a wave of heat and nausea come over me.  “Nope, not yet.”  I sat back down and told my husband that I was sorry.  He just smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

I had a Capri Sun and waited a few more minutes.   I stood up again and actually felt much better.  The blue paper lab coats assured me that I would be fine and that I can come right back if I needed a few more minutes.  I said, “Thank you”, and we walked away. 

We stopped by the Cutco Cutlery booth, but I wasn’t interested in getting any knives.  A new purse didn’t even cross my mind, and winter boots sounded so heavy.  I turned to my husband and said, “I just want to go home.”

“Are you serious?” He asked.  “Alright!  Now I know what to do next time you go shopping.  Beforehand, we’ll just pop on into a blood bank…”  Very funny.  He’s a comedian.

All the way home my little voice was quiet.  I think that it knew if it tried to talk, I wouldn’t listen to it anyway.

To find a poorly designed website is a dangerous proposal; to actually enter into that site can very well turn one’s mind into cyber-mush.

And it’s with this knowledge, I tread carefully.  I slowly open my Internet browser as I would my brother-in-law’s refrigerator.  Yuck…what’s that smell?

As I peruse the electronic shelves for the leftovers of our society’s virtual sustenance, I guard my brainwaves as I would my 7-year-old son in heavy traffic; lest they be trampled by the confusion and disorder that many of these long-lost sites can lead one into.

I fear for my psyche, but press forward.   After looking into one webhole after another, I finally find a site that I feel confident enough to enter.    (I’ve heard of people stumbling into one of these mega-byte cracks and never backing out again).  I pray that I will not be one of these unfortunate souls.

The site I unearthed was called “CATS” …  and if you dare to brave this dangerous domain, you can enter it via http://www.cat-domain.com/   For those of you who are adrenalin junkies, you may want to turn the volume up on your computer.  I only hope that you too can live to tell about your experience.  I bid you god-speed.

The first thing that comes to mind when I open the page is OMG these colors are obnoxious.  The bright and unstable text spelling “CATS” flashes in the middle of the screen.   Then the music starts….  I think it’s a piece of 1970’s music still in wrapped in tinfoil somewhere on the left side of the back shelf.  Arrgh! 

But I am brave, so I hold my breath and move my mouse – all the while running from the “CATS ARE COOL!” words chasing behind me.

The black landscape has me disoriented, but I find my way to the next page with a link called “Site Menu” and a small drop-down menu box appears…I choose “Main Page” and it’s worse than I thought. 

Still surrounded by blackness, I see a picture of a Black Panther and the music “Eye of the Tiger” comes out of nowhere, reminding me of the true danger I’m in.  I move my mouse and thank God that nothing chases me. 

For some reason the creator of this site feels compelled to tell me that they’re “Proud to be an American” and they wave a flag in my face.   I duck just in time… Whew! 

I see large yellow words with the heading “What are Cats? ”.  Hypnotized by the rhythm of the music, I place my mouse over the picture of the panther.  I am instantly rewarded by a dismal cartoon of a cat playing with a roll of toilet paper.   I dare to click my mouse…. To my delirious delight, I am immediately teleported to the website “Action Cat… free postcards”.  This new site offers the visitor a dizzying array of animated animals doing stupid stuff.  As soon as I get my bearings, I back out fast and return to the panther page, again it’s playing “Eye of the Tiger”.  I cringe.

I catch my breath and click back into the first page from which I entered, and again I’m chased by the “CATS ARE COOL!”… but I don’t panic this time – after all, I’m a seasoned Vet.  I go back over to the “Site Menu” and choose “Long Hair Breeds”… and it’s a whole new mess.

I won’t bore you with each demon I encountered in this dark and wretched abyss, but I will tell-tale of the pitfalls one should avoid.

• The colors on this site are awful.  The dark background with the red or blue text is very hard on the eyes and makes it almost impossible to read through.  

• The information is not easily accessible.  You have to keep scrolling and scrolling and scrolling to read the rest of the information and once you’re into the page you have nowhere to go…except down.  

• The subject matter doesn’t match the setting; it should be light and fun, but instead, it has a dark and disturbing feel to it.

• The music automatically plays (and it’s awful)…  together with the fact that there’s no choice to “skip intro” it’s maddening.

• The banner across the top OF EACH PAGE tells, in bright glowing letters, who hosts the site… and we care, why?

• Overall, this site is a scrolling, blinking and flashing mess…step with caution.

New Shoes: $175
Freaky Outfit: $350
Club Cover-charge: $200
Common Sense: Priceless

Yes, it does seem that common sense is a rare commodity in our society these days.   We are bombarded with advertisements, news and even news of advertisements.  Somewhere along the line, people have placed their ability to think for themselves up on a shelf in the garage (maybe next to the box of cell phones and TV remote controls).  

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a “right-wing-god-and-guns” Conservative… and I certainly don’t believe in forcing my point-of-view onto the masses.  (I’m very aware that my ideals are simply an opinion – and nothing more).  Actually, I take a lot of comfort in that bit of knowledge, and until I wear a white lab coat and mix volatile chemicals somewhere far from home (preferably Sweden) – I intend to remain quite humble.   

One Person is smart…an assembly of People is dense; and the way we venerate the American Media only confirms such a thought.

Why do most of us assume that the guy on the news, reading the teleprompter is intelligent, and the beautiful woman next him has the “inside scoop” to our world’s current events?  Come to think of it, why are we so sure that these news anchors even care about our plea for accurate information?   You can safely wager that they’re more concerned about their hair than the integrity of their newscast….  “According to Whitehouse sources, 1500 people were killed in Iraq today… and we’ll be right back after these messages…”.  Smiles on cue and tousels her hair.

Then I tell myself that, “Clearly we can turn to our leaders for assurance that these mass generated forms of information are correct”.   One would hope that our “superior” judicial system would have regulations in place that compels broadcasting networks to follow the moral map of the American people.  They MUST.  

So, I dug around the Internet to find out exactly what the legal guidelines are for these so-called networks.  What I found was very disappointing.

I started my search in Google with the key words “Truth in News” and I immediately came across an account describing a group calling themselves “Students for Responsible Journalism”.  These college students had arranged a peaceful rally and protest in 2005 in front of Fox’s Denver regional media facility; the students spoke out at the rally about media bias and Fox News’ “openly deceptive coverage” of the Iraq war.

That same editorial referenced a phrase that suddenly peaked my interest… the “Truth in Broadcasting Act”.  So, naturally… I Googled.

The Free Press website,  http://www.freepress.net/press/release.php?id=100 had this to say,

“WASHINGTON — Free Press and the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) today applauded the Senate Commerce Committee’s unanimous passage of the Truth in Broadcasting Act as a first step toward ensuring the public’s right to know about the origins of audio and video news releases. While the two groups urged the full Congress to pass the bill, they cautioned that the legislation only covers a small fraction of FAKE NEWS.”

FAKE NEWS?!  WTF?

As you can imagine, I had to look deeper into this Act S 967…subsequently,  I came across the Center for Media and Democracy’s website, http://www.prwatch.org/node/3636, which explained,

“The bill does not require disclaimers from broadcasters. The disclaimer would not be required for reports from government-supported news agencies like PBS and NPR, or for international broadcasts, “since the U.S. government has no prohibition on exporting propaganda.”

The fact that there is fake news out there doesn’t surprise me.  After-all, that’s what propaganda is… the little flyers distributed to the “enemy” telling them how wonderful we are.  But the fact that it’s so prevalent (and targeted at our own nation) that Congress actually has it labeled makes me a little queasy.

After I got up off the floor …  I proceeded to convince myself that at least our government is conscientious enough to realize the need to monitor the distribution of fabricated news. When I came across an actual copy of the Truth Act at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:S.+967: , my hope of a benign “conscientious” government was all but crushed.  

After reading the Act that was initially submitted for approval, versus the Act that was actually approved, it becomes clear that any significant points defining the primary objectives are “struck out” and are replaced with typical white-washed jargon; language that’s so watered down – it becomes nothing more that an enormous waste of time (for the writers and –in this case – the readers). 

So much was changed and/or removed, that the committee was forced to change the title from “Truth in Broadcasting” to “Prepackaged News Story Announcement Act of 2005”.  Yuck …  How disappointing.

So, once again the US government feels compelled to protect us from ourselves.   But hey, maybe this time we actually need that protection… After all, a greater percentage of our population is more concerned about a celebrity’s weight loss and gain than they are about their own Constitutional Rights.

With that being said, I’m still very thankful for our nation’s Freedom of Speech.  Even if it means that “spreading the news” doesn’t always advocate “spreading the truth”.

http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/

The address says it all… Web Pages That Suck.

This site is the BOMB.  If you’re wanting to create a site that doesn’t frustrate the viewer, or one that’s overkill…you have to visit this link!  This site is brutally honest and also technologically correct (and slightly politically incorrect).  

It calls out common fatal flaws within different web pages – whether the designing method is in vogue or not.  Vincent Flander points out that the most popular designs may not be the most functional (and certainly not the easiest to navigate through).  

This man holds nothing back when he critiques a mixture of sites around the net, using words like “crap” and phrases like “mystery meat” and “flash sucks”…. validating the “brutal” portion of “brutally honest”.

Vincent’s website is super-easy to walk through and his side-bars are very simple and to-the-point.  They’re also deliciously tantalizing to click into, as it appeals to that part of the human psyche which desires to read the juicy tabloid headlines in the grocery store.

Check it out… It really sucks! Hah!