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13/09
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Alpha-Lite Productions

Alpha-Lite Productions

The main website has now been updated and revamped with the name of ‘Alpha-Lite Productions’. It is still not 100% complete but it is pretty much there now, just a few things to finish off and iron out (such as finishing the portfolio). If you do find any bugs or other errors, please contact me. This is a much more professional approach than I had previously; ensuring that all information is now easily accessible and easy to find.

Alpha-Lite Productions is ran solely by Jamie Oliver who offers freelance multimedia solutions including web design, graphic/publication design, still photography and moving image production.

Update: I have now updated my portfolio and tweaked the website to run smoother. I have also added some steps to reduce pesky spam messages being sent though my contact form.

Please spread the word and help Alpha-Lite Productions to flourish. Thanks.

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29/07
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Promotional Video

Here is a promotional video that I produced in After Effects to show of what kind of work I do and to advertise my website. It was actually a good chance to try out some different techniques and learn more about editing in After Effects. Here is the end result:

What do you guys think?

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17/05
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“Search for…”

Why have TV advertisers insisted on adding “Search for <product name>” instead of the URL of their website on the bottom of TV adverts? I’m not complaining, I was just wondering why this trend is becoming popular? I assume it is so the user can find the relevant page on their website quickly, but depending on the search engine that the user uses, might not turn up the results that they were looking for. Surely they would want to ensure that the user ends up on their own website, where they can portray a biased view on that product; not what other websites have to say about it. Or maybe the company is so confident in their product, the user will only find raving reviews regarding it? I still think that just including their URL would be more beneficial to be honest.

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25/03
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Myspace copying Facebook?

I went onto my Myspace profile today (first time in ages, I never use it anymore, it has turned into a load of crap), and I noticed a few updates. Why exactly has Myspace had to resort to copying Facebook in every way possible? Firstly, the MyspaceIM web bar thingy, which is a crappier, buggier version of the Facebook bar. And now they have added features such as ‘people you might know’ and allowing people to view past status updates – erm, hello Facebook? Not that this really bothers me in the slightest, I just can’t see why Myspace can’t come up with some ideas of its own, instead of blatantly trying to steal features; and hence attempt to steal their market share. Facebook is much better in every sense – no annoying profiles with flashing text, enough glittery images to sink a ship; no people with obscure and stupid names (such as xXxhotbabe51xXx). It is down to earth, just a simple clean interface allowing people to talk to each other. I think it is a much personal approach, and they handle privacy much better.

But to be fair, the latest Facebook GUI/layout update didn’t have a great reception; including myself, I think they have taken a step backwards personally.

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22/03
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Flash Websites – Why?

Why exactly do ‘web designers’ choose to make their websites completely in flash? Especially when they don’t supply a HTML version? Flash looks all well and good, when used in moderation, but isn’t very accessible. True, pretty much everyone has Flash installed nowadays and people use it all the time, but if you find that one of your users doesn’t have it installed, or use an old browser that doesn’t support it; they can no longer see your content. And if you are like me and use flash blocking plugins (to disable adverts, etc), the user will have to take additional steps in adding websites to the plugin’s white-list. Flash for menus is a no-no for me, because if someone doesn’t have flash installed/enabled, they cannot navigate through your site at all, leaving them stuck on your homepage. I don’t see the trouble in using plain old simple HTML, and adding flash elements around it when needed – not to static images. I suppose you could say the same for client side scripting such as Javascript, which again a non-Javascript version should be applied also.

</rant>

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20/03
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Internet Explorer 8 Released

The new version of Internet Explorer has been released today. It now finally fully supports CSS 2.1 and some elements of CSS3 (how many years late?), meaning that web developers should have less trouble and less workarounds will be needed. Plus, I can now use :hover on all elements, woo. The GUI is much similar to IE7, with a slightly more polished design; but I find that it is somewhat all over the place by default. I have never been a large fan of the GUI in IE7, it is almost they are trying too hard. I haven’t noticed any improvements in page loading to be honest, and I found that opening new tabs to be somewhat slow (having to wait a few seconds before they became ready). I also encountered a problem with ‘squashed’ fonts in Explorer and other applications after installing IE8, which I managed to fix by disabling ‘Use ClearType for HTML’ and restarting my computer – a pain.

In summary, I don’t see a large improvement over the previous versions, and most of their ‘claim to fame’ features have been around in Firefox, Opera and Chrome for some time. The increase support for CSS is most helpful however, it is about time that they caught up instead of being stubborn about it.

Anyway, I am still sticking with Firefox, and will be doing for some time. What do you think of it?

Do you like IE8?

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