mama_soap

Kitty, Welcome! That's one very interesting bio I agree to the dot about the medical profession -- although I haven't really had to go to a doc yet (touchwood), I am sure the job takes a lot. Have you seen Patch Adams? I saw it only recently (about a month ago), and I loved it... I think Robin Williams was really cute I'm sure you'll have fun here - especially if you're designing your site for the first time (that's always a good experience) and you like music, painting, and chatting Looking forward to more from you Cheers!

I think I like the layout very much, and the content is nice as well - interactive and interesting. That's pretty much all you need to keep your visitors coming back I looked for a discussion group, or something of the sort, but I didn't find one. Am I missing it, or is it that you didn't want to have one? Usually, having forums is supposed to be one way of hanging on to your visitors - particularly if they are packed with (the so-called) advanced features such as sending e-mail digests, and so on and so forth.Of course, adding that gmail login was very cool indeed. I'm still trying to figure out how you managed However - on a side note - I would suggest that you put up a privacy policy or something, to tell your users that the data being transmitted is safe, blah, blah. Users don't want to be left feeling that someone could be stealing their password I did check it out, and I think it's a wonderful feature. It will be really sad if it isn't used fully!Things I like about the design -- the dotted underline for hyperlinks, the layout.Things about the design that do not appeal as much -- the color combination. Although you might be successful at bringing a "matrix"ish feel to the site, I've noticed that a lot of users prefer the light backgrounds to the darker ones. There was an article coupled with stats that supported this theory - I will post the link if I can locate it. If, however, you're not using an external stylesheet, maybe you should stick to what you have.Good luck with the site, and I am sure I will check back soon!

That will be very useful info indeed - the contest sure will motivate me into learning some stuff. I don't think I know enough programming to get into professional s/w development, but I might try anyway; for the fun of it. TopCoder practice rooms keeping me busy for the moment, but I think I can find time to kill. And a t-shirt will be perfect I think I know a few people who will find this very interesting. Thanks!

dr1v3r,Thanks for your comments, very encouraging indeed Now, at the risk of sounding completely foolish, I must say that I constructed this page (and the remaining ones of my site) using a text editor. Bare bones HTML, CSS and JS - and java in some instances - is what I rely on. This is more out of lack of choice than anything else, I use Fedora and my BlueFish won't install properly Btw, [probably off topic] I'm working on a tutorial for implementing double image mouseover effects and making the buttons look 'pressable' at the same time. It's not too bad, you need to feel at home with j/s [basically - I can do it, so anyone can] and of course, have a j/s enabled browser. Perhaps - if it gets approval - you can have a look sometime and it may help, I'm not sure.Anyway, thanks a ton again Good luck with your web development too!Cheers

fireofgoths,Thank you so much for having a look. I have been a little worried about the blank space myself, I'll probably try adding a light background. The only problem with backgrounds [in my context] is that a non-tiling background can be very difficult to manage when you want to ensure cross-browser functunality, and people use all kinds of resolutions and I don't plan to create three different versions of the same site. And I'm not fond of tiling backgrounds in general, and I haven't found anything that suits this setup in particular Maybe I'll insert a good graphic with z-index set to minus one! Thanks again for your feedback, it really helps :lol:fffanatics,Thanks! I'm glad you liked the navigation, there'll be something more straigtforward in the footers of content pages, but I wanted the front page to be navigation-only. The mouseover content will actually replace the picture in the left - the contents of the board will simply change from "Welcome to..." to the relevant message So I still have the whitespace problem to deal with. I might just try my hand at conjuring some graphics for it... thank you again for the feedback!rvalkass,Glad you liked the design. It helps to know it might not be too crappy after all And thanks for pointing out the font thingy - I was just modifying a ready-made javascript to suit the page and paid no attention to formatting the HTML. Will sort that out, thanks again

Hello folks, I've nearly completed designing my site, and I am - among others - awaiting approval of my hosting request here. In the meantime, I was wondering if anyone could have a quick look at the screenshot of the opening page of my website below, and tell me if it looks all right (I've posted a thumbnail, clicking will take you to the full-size image - sorry if it takes a while to load). Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated, All the buttons are 'pressable', and the image on the left changes to a description of the link on mouseover in the real page. Thank you and cheers!

Hehe... you have a point there. I used to play minesweeper when the teacher wasn't looking back in school, but that was admittedly because I didn't really have a choice. I did grow fond of it, though, and I still look at it as a vaguely interesting strategy game. You have to trust your luck on the fist few clicks, and you can really increase your chances of going on till the end if you co ordinate your eyes and your brains properly thereafter (although I'm sure that holds for most games, lol).

Gawd that can be so irritating. It's creepy, because sometimes some of the data I have on web servers isn't backed up anywhere, so if you're going to delete it without warning... *looks around* ok, ok, it will be partly - or largely - my fault, but it is annoying all the same. Especially in non-community oriented forums, where you aren't touch with the staff every other day, I think it makes sense to send a polite note that says, ok buddy, the deal's over. Ahem. I know this isn't the vent area, so let's just say horray for Xisto and stop there, lol.

Well, hello again I am glad you found the feedback useful. I would just like to let you know, again, that your song is entirely yours, so if you're convinced about something, I'd suggest you give the conviction more priority than anything else. Unfortunately, like I said earlier, I'm not into either songwriting or western music, so my thoughts may be way off the mark, and you'll have to bear with that. Ok, here goes then: I'd change the 'into' to 'in'. The second line could read 'And weep my life away' for what I imagine would be more accuracy. Maybe you can give this a stronger beginning? There is a lot of self-pity here, perhaps you could include illustrations of the failure that is huting so much , so that the person listening can 'see' what's going on, instead of being 'told' about it? Unfortunately, the phrase about the rain hitting your face is a bit cliche. The state 'afraid' in line 4 is a bit ambiguous, who/what is afraid? You, or the empty space? This might need some rephrasing. This is the second time you're using the word 'seem' in the song. Try to see if you like it better without the words 'seem to', unless you really want it there. Again, some explaination might help - patience, following every word, these are vaugue notions. Something more specific and concrete? What really happened? On a side note, since I've been going on about abstract/concrete, I was thinking that you might find this discussion useful. I like the basic point and idea, and I also feel that its simplicity is one of its strong points. Just saying that messing around a bit can't hurt too much I do hope this makes its way into being a wonderful song. I'm sure I look forward to it. All the best *sneaks off to look for other songs by lordofthesabbath* Regards, Neel

Again, assuming that kvarner-express.com is the site we're looking at, I think the top frame actually looks all right. Well, I'm using Opera - I don't see either a white space or a disabled scrollbar. Most people I know want to know how to get rid of scroll bars. Are you sure you'd like them visible? I mean, if you're never going to need them, isn't it better to keep them invisible? If you like, I can post a screenshot of what it's looking like in my browser. Cheers!

Hey brainless [that's a bit of an ironic id, how did you come up with it? lol]The OLMUN conference looks very cool. I do hope you have fun Actually, schools not having ECA might actually be a good thing. I felt that making music compulsory in school was pure torture, especially since you had to sing to the class in the final exam - and my voice is something of a cross between a croak and the sound of thunder. Or something like that, it's terrible Anyway, I'm sure you'll have fun, irrespective of what your school's agenda is... keep going!Cheers

I also like the very dark and very light shades in general, without really knowing why. I react to colors differently in different contexts, I'd probably be startled by a blue leaf and disgusted with a green sun - although can't be sure till I see one I like blue, again in a vague sort of way, for no particular reason. Of course, there's my name, Neeldhara, and the 'neel' means blue in Hindi, so maybe that catches my fancy, lol.

It is rather wierd. I am not sure if it's a good idea for professional forums of a serious nature, or any forum that has paranoid members. I'd probably freak out if I got admin properties a day after joining - could be a little risky, hehe. Not that it isn't fun, though, as long as you use it sparingly

LOL! I'm sure I know that feeling... when I knew, after my tenth grade, that I'd never have to do history for exams again, I felt like I'd lost a few pounds. I do watch the history channel now and then, but to know that I won't ever have to by heart it from a text book, it was an ultra-cool feeling. I still don't like doing math for exams and tests, it tends to get boring. I'm already enjoying my stay, and I am sure I'm not leaving (unless someone has to push me out ).

Hello, AbstracT -Thank you very much for looking at the poem, it's very nice of you to take the time to write back. I think I sort of see what you're asking me to do, even if I'm not quite sure how I may go about doing it. I think I was just trying to say that if one misses out on the small joys and principles of life, then it means you're not seeing things right, it's like being blind while your eyesight is fine, it's deliberately closing your eyes. I guess the fact that I had to work around the title was a bit of a limitation, and hence the cut-offness of the last stanza. I'll see what I can do about it Thanks again for looking, I am sure I'll be here as often as I can - looking forward to all the future interaction!Neo,Thank you for reading and your idea. I'll think about how I can change the last lines to make the poem flow better; I am sure using a part of the first stanza is a good idea except I have to tweak a little to get it right. I'm glad you liked the beginning Thanks again for reading, hope to see you around.Cheers!

This was something I wrote for a local intra-college competition. We're usually given a set of titles and a few hours to make something of it. This was my attempt. My spontaneous poetry is pretty bad, but if you still have the time to have a look at this, then any feedback will be greatly appreciated When you close your eyes When a mosquito Disturbs your dreams, You murder it And go back to sleep. When the palette Of the morning sky Calls out loud, You squirm in bed Wondering why The alarm didn’t ring. When the rain Wets your carpet You curse the maid And slam the windows. When conscience Taps your shoulder Asking you to live You shout and claim That you’re still alive. When you close your eyes And get addicted to the dark, When you shrug at clouds and Shudder at filth, It must be because You are basically blind.

Ah... couldn't agree more. Both the books are absolutely wonderful, my favorites too. I liked 84 too, I thought it was a powerful satire more than a hard core SF book. It had elements of SF, obviously, and considering 1984 was written in 1948, it makes you get the creepy feeling Orwell could 'see' far ahead of his time I just finished reading Animal Farm, it's more F [fantasy], and hardly SF - but if you like Orwell, I think it's a very good read. Especially if you like political satires. I don't have 'a' favorite book, there are a lot of books I have liked very much, and I owe them all a lot - they've grown on me, become - in some cases - a part of who I am (which is not much yet, but never mind that, lol). Most memorable would probably be Kafka's Metamorphosis and Sartre's No Exit. (I even managed to write columns on these books, and they're published online. Not sure if including a link would be ok or not, so I'll just skip it for the moment.) Cheers!

I'm sure there are plenty of big issues out there, and it would probably be theoritically impossible to prioritize them. For instance, enviornmental problems and financial problems (poverty et al) each demand a lot of concern in their own right. As a matter of opinion, I would think discrimination is a pretty big issue. If the general social mindset could change so that nobody discriminated on the basis of caste, creed, nationality, gender and so on, a lot of things would probably be much nicer. I have never been a particularly patriotic person because I think some of that philosophy sounds synonymus to discrimination of the grounds of nationality. Although I'm sure things are much more complicated than that, I still believe that everyone - to the extent possible under his/her circumstances - should try and be a citizen of the world and follow the 'religion' of humanity. It probably sounds cliche, but this is something I stand by. Apart from that, I quite agree that the environmental issues seem to be getting out of hand and are a big concern. I would also be very worried about the quality of education if I was the government. Poverty is an issue that may never be sorted out, but perhaps there is hope in the sense that financial status is not the only way to feel good about life. I am an optimist, and I like to imagine that happiness is an inherent part of our system, and can be independent of surroundings and circumstances if we try hard enough. Well, maybe that was a tad too optimistic

Ew... ew... this reminds me - apparently Mr Hitler had a fancy with fingernails - he actually had them pulled out as a form of punishment*. Wonder how he always came up with the most pathetic ideas... it feels much more gross when you think it was perhaps a reality for some people. Anyway, don't want to go political here, just a passing thought. I don't think it's possible to scoop out an eye with a spoon, although I'm not trying In short, I am sure I don't want to think about this. And yes, I think it's much worse to be married to someone you don't love as opposed to remaining single. I think there is enough to do without worrying about having a partner. I think it's always possible to keep yourself busy if you want to - it's an axiom of life, if you ask me *Well, I only heard this from someone, and I certainly hope it's a rumor. Never felt inclined to check if it was true.

I used - and I still use Firefox to a large extent, and it's definitely my preference over IE, because I use tabbed browsing a lot, and I'm not particularly picky about a few pages not showing up properly. Once I switched to Linux, I didn't have much of a choice. Although I use Opera more than I use Firefox - partly because there is a skin I have fallen in love with, and partly because I like the way the mail client is integrated into the browser - Firefox is very cool, and I'd vote for it, especially against IE.

I am a very indoorish person, so when I have nothing to do I read, sketch, or listen to music. At school, I remember that debating and theatre was all I could do outside the regular activities. I failed miserably in sports, and now, I'm afraid, the only thing I enjoy 'outdoors' is a good long walk.

Oh yes, those earphones can be quite painful. I still prefer speakers because I spend 80% of the time I'm not sleeping in my study, trying to read and write - and the speakers work out wonderfully for me.I do use headphones occasionally, particularly when someone in a 5-meter radius does not want to be disturbed. But even the documentation that came with my headphones warned me that one is not supposed to use them excessively, it can damage hearing. I do get mild headaches when I listen to music on the headphone constantly, so as a matter of principle, I only listen to instrumental music - the violin or the piano - on a headphone, on a painfully low volume How about adding a poll to this post, which will perhaps look like this -What do'y prefer:headphones speakers I don't listen to musicHuh?

I think it'd help if you mentioned the url of your web site. I'm not entirely sure about the overflow:hidden property, because if I'm not mistaken, that tends to hide the scrollbar even when you do need it, which is something you certainly do not want. You could add some <br> tags at the end of your frame, that would increase the height and the scroll bar would be visible all the time, if you're sure that is what you want. Again, I'd feel more comfortable if I could have a look at the page. Or can you show us the code? Either way

Oh dear... I know what a bad teacher can do - sometimes they really spoil it for you. It's partly why I gave up on physics, although I think I must share the blame in the name of fairness On the bright side, I'm having loads of fun juggling between studying algorithms and analysis and I'm not complaining... Five languages? I think any company would be impressed with that I'm sure you'll find yourself a job that'll mean a lot of fun and hopefully good money too. And Calculus isn't too bad, I'm still getting on with it - a good deal of it is finding the right book and a good mentor. A lot of online study groups help in making it more fun, especially if your local classroom environment isn't entincing enough. Feel free to let me know if you think I can help in any way. :lol:I'm already having great fun here. It's so happening, it's an extremely pleasant break from work for me...Regards,Neel

I had to quote that. It's exactly what I was going to say Mediocrity rocks, yeah! I'd like to be a writer - the only little problem being that I'm not good at it. I write columns for an e-zine; but I'd really love to do some non-trivial creative writing... in particular, I'd like to write something like The Plant Kingdom along the lines of Animal Farm... I hope this is just about dream jobs! If I were to dream on... web design - any kind of design job is cool in my opinion, filmmaker, mathematician - all of that's on the agenda. All this is stuff I imagine I'd enjoy doing. (In total agreement with the general feeling that the fun factor overrules the money factor, as long as one is not starved.) As a matter of [dry] fact, I'm already loving the mathematics and web design.