exactly relative sizes

Friday, 6 June, 2008 at 1:08 am

Down to business. I’m forcing myself to write those reviews. Which doesn’t seem all that logical, because I keep this blog for myself, and why do it if I have to force myself? But oh well. I’ll try to write these in the order they came to mind.

This one’s from last quarter, around January or February. Hah! I learned in my CSS class to use em measurements for font sizes. (Or we could have used percentages. But I went with ems because of that whole GrC student thing I’ve got going.)

I never liked using relative sizing before, because I was used to applying sizes to practially each and every tag and all divs. So everything was shrinking relatively down from whatever size I’d set Body to. Grr, argh.

But in my CSS class I learned that you have to set the default in Body for the em to relate to, and that the default size for one em in all browsers (or just most?) is 16 pixels. Then my teacher taught us that each browser rounds off pixels differently, so to make your design look as similar as possible in different browsers, that we should go four decimal places when figuring em sizes. So to get ten point type, which is the same as 13 pixels (at least on my computers?), you’d have to use 0.8125 ems of the base 1 em, or 16 pixels. That way browsers aren’t randomly rounding up or down to the nearest whole pixel.

That isn’t what I want to talk about though. I always used point sizes because I thought they were relative to a real, absolute measurement: an inch. (A point is 1/72 of an inch.) And it seemed to prove true to me on all the computers I used. 10 point type on my 1024×768, 15″ laptop screen was pretty much the same size as on my 1152×864 17″. It was also a comfortable size on Mac’s 1600×whatever 20″ monitor — not sure if it was the same as my displays though.

But now, now the type on my websites shrink on the more robust monitors! Mac monitors, with their HD display and pixels equating to a fraction of an inch, show my type as barely more than piddly ant scratchings! Incredibly painful for me to read. I don’t know how other people stand it. I always seem to increase the size of type in browsers on bigger monitors. *meep* I’m an old granny at the age of early 20s. (Well okay, I’ve probably got the eyesight of a 90-year-old.)

I guess I should feel satisfied though; at least I know for certain that any and all browsers can increase my type size to the viewer’s liking.

nearly impossible

Tuesday, 3 June, 2008 at 11:15 pm

Darn, I keep running out of time to write here. Mrr. Maybe I should watch less Clean House every day … ? *gasp* Nevar!

Oh well. Notes to self: gas, facial regime, reviews.

Just to make this more of an entry, and less of … something junky that I’ll want to delete in a few months …

After about half a year (more?) of regularly watching Clean House on weekdays, I’ve decided to “take a big girl pill” and am getting rid of two childhood dolls! The reason I was keeping them was because … they were from my childhood.

Well, the pink doll I kept because I found while viewing a home video that I got it for my first Christmas. (Still having reservations about getting rid of it, but I have to look at it when I get home.) The purple doll I kept because I thought Mum told me one of my aunts bought it specially for me, and it was handmade. I had to rethink that when I saw a JCPenney tag printed on it. (JCPenney didn’t print tags on socks, right? This doll was made from sock-ish material.)

Now that summer’s here (or at least a week or two for me, then it’s work for the rest of the summer), I’ve got free time for my annual cleaning out and reorganizing of my closet, and I will more mercilessly look at the things I’m keeping and try to free up some dearly needed space.

Then my room can show off how I am now becoming an adult! (Another line from the show, excuse me, I have Clean House fever…)

get me a Kindle!

Friday, 30 May, 2008 at 12:36 am

I am avoiding reading the paper my teacher wrote and assigned us to read in lieu of class and lab this week—it’s on estimating and “job costing,” whatever that is. 39 lovely pages on guessing how much it’ll cost to print something!

Instead my mind keeps wandering to Amazon’s Kindle. (I’m reading 39 pages in PDF format on an LCD laptop screen, is that such a surprise?)

*insert vinyl record scratching sound here*

Okay so this draft has been sitting here since April 27. Figured I should either do something with it or trash it, since it’s not going to improve with age or anything. April 27th … that was one hot weekend, very uncomfortable (85° in the shade, anyone?), otherwise I probably would have finished this. Or not started it at all. Oh well.

When I first heard of this Kindle thing (from Neil Gaiman’s blog) I was not interested at all. I’m not into reading books on screen. (Lately I’m having trouble reading lots of things on screen, and it’s not just poorly styled text on sites … I’m getting old. Or I need new glasses. Going way off topic here.)

My teacher mentioned in class (talking while we were working — common thing — I love random knowledge my teachers add) that the Kindle wasn’t a backlit screen, that it acted more like paper does, reflecting light. That piqued my interest, so I looked more into this Kindle thing. Watched Neil’s interview thing on Amazon. Recall isn’t that great, and I’m too lazy to rewatch it, so the only comment I have now is that I really love reading books, those bound things of paper and ink.

I love holding the books (or laying them out in my lap/on the table/on the bed if they’re big enough), I love turning the pages, I love using my pinky to hold the next page so I can quickly turn the page and not break into the action too much.

I pay entirely too much attention to where I am on a screen, how far from the top or bottom the line I’m reading is, how much farther until I scroll down. That’s a part of my personality though, I think. A bit too Monk-ish. (From the tv show…) I know fairly accurately how far the screen will scroll down if I hit the page down button, if I use the down arrow button, or if I click the scrollbar down a page. I know where the line I’m currently reading will end up (hidden or right at the top of the screen). I’m aware of where the paragraph breaks are, how to manipulate the two buttons and the scrollbar to make the paragraph break end up at the very bottom of the page.

I’m aware of where my arrow cursor is in relation to the paragraphs and the breaks. I will scroll up or down so that the arrow is at the same level as a paragraph. (Draw horizontal lines out from the top and bottom of paragraphs, and my arrow will fit within them.)

So I think Neil is wrong there. I will always be aware that I’m reading a book on a screen. (Yes, all that weirdness had a point. I didn’t just go off into gonzo space.) I don’t know if I could be comfortable holding the Kindle for long periods of time.

Despite all that, I’d like a Kindle to play with. Just because it’s new technology and I want to try it out. :3 I’m such a brat.

But then later I heard of another e-reader thing, made by iRex Technologies. This one has 16 levels of grey (versus Kindle’s 4), Wacom technology, and can read PDFs (although Neil surmises that the Kindle was having problems dealing with PDF during testing and they took the capability out until it could be fixed…). Ooh, I want, I want!

But Amazon’s wireless ebook store is tempting … I’m not quite sure how other e-readers get the books. Go dumbing down of technology!

more comment spam, and comments on words

Sunday, 25 May, 2008 at 12:56 am

I now have 16 more spam added to my Akismet hold. I forgot to delete the ones that were there when I wrote my last entry…

But I’m moving on!

My site has now been declared lucky by one comment spammer. Is that lucky for spammers, or lucky for me? Or lucky for visitors? (I think that would be the best way to increase traffic, don’t you? “Visit my site! Click three times and your wish will be granted, guaranteed!”)

Another comment read “what percent of people born here are illegal and legal”

I can answer that right here: none! That’s because you can’t be both at the same time. The comment should have read “What percent of people born here are illegal, and what percent are legal?” Break up the classifications of legal and illegal. Even “What percent of people born here are illegal or legal?” would have made a bit more sense. People just can’t be “illegal and legal”!

Argh, typos and grammatical errors. It’s getting harder and harder to be a closet grammar nazi.

The first shocking instance I saw was a local political print ad using a newspaper headline with a typo. I don’t remember the typo. Something involving an apostrophe. I just thought it was sad that not only did the newspaper editor miss it, but the political ad designer missed it as well — or saw it but decided to use it anyway, which I find even more sad.

Then I saw a typo in a storefront. I don’t suppose this should have shocked me much; people can’t spell nowadays and your average minimum wage worker isn’t exempt. Can’t remember what it was … argh. It’s probably better for my blood pressure that my mind is nice enough to wash away memories of typos.

After that I read a comment somewhere on songmeanings.net … which I can’t find. Probably for the best. But oh man, was it painful to read! It seemed like the author was purposely mangling the English language. It wasn’t even “leet speak”! (Sorry, won’t use the numbers.) Shouldn’t it be obvious that if you want to communicate, you do it so that the intended audience can understand you? (Or maybe it was, and the intended audience was himself.)

The final kicker was an improper use of it’s/its (can’t remember which one) in one of those links that appears on top of Gmail. Noooo! Even Google is infected! The world is doomed! Dooomed, I tell you!

[comments closed to, ironically, combat spam on this entry]

current state, a review

Friday, 23 May, 2008 at 12:48 pm

I feel like my blog has become some review site for random things. Mostly books, though.

All the entry ideas sitting in my head (or on my desktop in a Sticky): 3Musketeers Mint review, Burt’s Beeswax lip balm review, Across the Wall review, pixel size vs. point size vs. em size, Scarlett Johansson’s new album review…

Even as I list the topics I find it hard to call them “reviews” because, well, I’m no professional critic (yay for that), and a lot of the things I comment on probably never even crossed people’s minds. I don’t talk about writing style (in books) or acting ability (in movies or on television) or storyline or anything.

I guess it’s not that bad, since I’m really not interested in those things. If I like something, I like it. I don’t … argh, stupid brain, that word where you inspect why you like it or not, what are good and bad parts, like in literature classes … which I generally can’t stand, by the way. But anyway! Getting off track.

If I were to not post reviews, then there would be virtually nothing new on this blog. And if I were to scrap the posts that contained vitriol (not the sulfate. *blink* word dork popping out again), then there would be literally nothing new here!

I could go back to recording my life daily, like I did a year and a half ago. But nothing interesting goes on in my life at the moment. Today: went to lecture, had an impromptu critique of our sketches for newspaper design, and took a class photo for the cover of our magazine. Am now considering a nap, but should really be working on my newspaper (uuuugh, even less interested in than magazine) and washing the dishes.

Yesterday, went to class, had a lecture about happiness (in an Estimating class *grin*), went to other lecture, learned about the Manhattan Project and saw a video on the uber secretive pilots who flew the bomb to Hiroshima. (Why doesn’t the History Channel, etc./Discovery Channel, etc./TLC show cool history shows like that anymore? Well, I guess the History channel is going through a Hitler phase right now.)

Most interesting thing from the video that I remember now: the B29s (planes) made regular flights to test dropping one bomb, solo or in a group of three (planes), so the Japanese grew accustomed to seeing them. :O Although now that I think about it, Laurence Yep wrote in Hiroshima that planes were not an uncommon sight. Scary.

Some other things I remember: the group of pilots (forgot the military term XO troop? division?) that was training for this mission didn’t know what they were training for. I think only one official there knew what was going on. They were told often, if you don’t want to live under all this mysteriousness and secrecy, you’re free to leave. Also the other pilots on Tinian would make fun of that group, because all they did was fly short missions to drop one bomb (versus the many, many bombs that others dropped), and it was thought that the other B29 pilots were carrying a much heavier workload to make up for what the special group wasn’t accomplishing.

Um. Back to original thought. If I can remember it … I think I was going to quickly review what I listed. But this entry is quite long as it is (history is so interesting!), and you should know that I can never write short entries no matter how hard I try. So I might write another entry. Maybe.

Oh, now I remember. I wanted to comment on spam that I’m getting on this blog. The other day I deleted 600-plus comments from Akismet’s hold. Today I’ve got 34 in there, and since there were so few I decided to read through them. These aren’t as bad as they used to be, with dozens of links to porn or sex pills. I have two or three comments pushing those, but there are only a couple links.

Most of the comments are on my entry where I complained about mixing paints. A lot of the comments say, “Great site!” Oh yeah? If you really think so, wouldn’t you comment on the latest entry, not a really mundane, old one?

Some comments add stuff like “Keep up this great resource.” and “…a lot of useful information” and “Found invaluable information. Just what I was looking for :-)” (Oh look, a smiley face! They must be really earnest!!!) So … paint mixing is a hot topic nowadays, is it? It’s replacing all those knitting and crocheting sites out there? To think, I got in on this trend from the get-go! And don’t forget, Yellow-Green should never be mixed with Magenta-Purple, because they’re not exact complements! lololol!

One comment read, “I would love to hear more about this …” So, an update. Since I wrote how I felt about the results in the entry following that one, I’ll show some pictures. Here’s a photo of a towel I used to clean off my brush while working on some project. And here’s a photo of my brush after one project. Then here’s a photo of all the masking tape I pulled off of one part of the last project. And finally, the project.

Now can I stop getting spam on that entry? Or at least write a real, constructive comment. I have no problem with allowing real comments even if they are just writing to get a link to their site. My blog doesn’t have any sort of Google pagerank to ruin, much less a substantial one.