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WeAreChangeDC.org BETA up!

6/30/10

So recently I have launched the BETA version of WeAreChangeDC.org after starting on the project waaaaaaay back in January. Why the delay? Well, I have been doing a lot of work with Artist Web Builders and have not had to much time to devote to the site. Also the first half of 2010 has been filled with many ups and downs. Im glad I have at least been able to devote more of my time to doing art this year.

Also coinciding with the launch of WeAreChangeDC.org , I have been working with the group to hold a protest of the Federal Reserve on July 3rd, in Washington DC, us locals call the place to District of Criminals. For those who are not in the know about the Fed I would encourage you watch the movie below. With that I thank you for reading and wish you a merry day.

Video no longer hosted @ http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-1656880303867390173&hl=en&fs=true

Jordan

6/5/10
I have lost close friend and lover recently. It astounding how much you realise you care for some one when you can never tell them that again. The best way I was able to cope with this experiance was to honor her memory with art.


I will put up the picture after i have it profesionally scanned. View the finished version on my Illustration page.

Grendel Babies

5/13/10

A nice young lady I had meet in my pottery lab is a member of a band by the name of Grendle Babies. I remember first hearing the name and expressing my thoughts on the ineptitude of Grendel and his short comings. In my opinion these three ladies are not inept, nay, they're a great force of music and entertainment. They deliver a truly unique live show with clever banter between songs. I was sort of close with said young lady and offered my (free) services to design a hand out for their show.

First off, I must say designing for bands is simply more enjoyable than designing for government or some of the other clients I have worked for. I had quite a good time designing this as there really was no pressure and I just sat about drinking wine and listening to their music. They seemed to be rather happy with the result of my 2.5 hrs and bottle of wine, they even asked if they could use the logo I sketched up for them as their band logo.

Rambling aside, if you are ever in the DC metro area and you want to take in a truly unique live show check Grendle Babies.
VIDEO! check it.

Video no longer hosted @ http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=8128903&server=vimeo.com

Grendel Babies play The Birth of a Beheader from David Vollrath on Vimeo.

SamMenkmeller.com is GO

4/13/10

Sites are no longer active

Over the weekend I managed put the finishing touches on SamMenkmeller.com. Once again aligning with the folks at Artist Web Builders, we have joined forces to make a web site that is both pretty and user friendly.

Now it is full focus on something that I have wanted to do for some time. Finish off WeAreChangeDC.org and restore the web site for We Are Change Virginia. Unfortunately for WACVA the web name WeAreChangeVirginia.org is lost, however yours truly owns the names WeAreChangeVA.com, WeAreChangeVA.org, and even WeAreChangeVirginia.com. I'm building both web sites off of the same engine I used for this site, so hopefully that can save me some time as I have the basic designs for both sites completed already. Wish me luck and GODSPEED!

Prince of the Pavement

4/3/10

Sites are no longer active

In the busy hustle of life I have almost forgotten to share with you (my readers and friends) the joyous news that your Donovan was actually featured on a music CD! Now it's nothing major, just a brief sampling of a guitar riff I came up with while hanging out with friend and multi-talented sound producer Mike Logic of Doom City Audio, but still was something I was very happy to get to be a part of.

Take a listen :)

Speed cooking for 100

3/26/10

So recently I donated some time and food to a local soup kitchen. I had to have all of my food ready to serve before I got there. The kicker was that I only had a half hour to stop at home and prepare the food after work. Good thing I have had some experience in big kitchens and had all my ingredients at the ready. I felt like an action hero preparing such amounts of food in my tiny kitchen in less than a half hour. Did I mention I snapped a couple of photos through out the whole process too? Yep, and made an illustrated recipe guide as well.

AS3 to Clipboard to JAVA Communication

2/26/10
Java and Flash icons connected conected by circuts.

After having trouble finding a good example of how to pass information between an ActionScript module and JAVA module I came up with the fallowing solution; Instead of using direct communication (which I was having all kinds of problems with) I simply used the clipboard as a median between the two modules.

    You will need the fallowing:
  1. Something that can compile ActionScript as .exe applications. I'll be using Adobe Flash CS4.
  2. Something that can compile .jar applications. I'll be using NetBeans.
  3. YOUR BRAIN! I had to use mine :)

What we will do:
We are going to build a simple AS3 application that sends data to the clipboard and then runs a .bat file. This .bat file executes a .jar file that grabs clipboard data and tries to make a file out of it.

Ok, let's get started. First thing, lets build our flash interface. I'll be naming the flash module AStoBatch. Make two input text boxes, call one _file and the other _content. Make sure _file is set for single line only, otherwise it sends some funk to the clipboard that will confuse our JAVA app later. Make a MovieClip (this will be our button to send the data) and name it _build. Ok, now lets add our functionality, put this in you main class package:

Snipt.net is dead. Replace link to "http://snipt.net/embed/8083620d18ef18c98238730d6fc0bf40"

Now we need to export our flash module to an .exe, using Flash CS4 all you need to do is check the box in your Publish Settings and then Publish the project. Why do we have to make it an .exe? Well the AVM will not let .swf files execute/run our important fscommand. This can only be done from .exe for security reasons. Sweet! Let us move on to building our simple .bat file. Now the important thing to know here is, any call from an AS3 module to fscommand must reffer to a relative folder called fscommand. So in the same folder you just published your AS3 app to, make a folder called fscommand. Ok, now make a new text file in our fscommand folder and rename the file to RunJar.bat. For those of you unfamiliar with .bat(batch) files, they are terminal files (command prompt) that execute a series of commands. In our RunJar.bat file drop this line.

java -jar "../dist/BuildFromCBD.jar"

Ok, so all we are saying there is: go back to the root folder, go to the dist folder (will be made later) and execute the BuildFromCBD.jar (will be made later). Now is that time to make our .jar file. Open NetBeans (freeware) or what ever your pleasure for JAVA scripting is. Make a new project called BuildFromCBD. And drop this code in your main project file:

Snipt.net is dead. Replace link to "http://snipt.net/embed/69fe6937b5d950359a47f8685043f0ff"

Now compile the .jar and you will have (if using NetBeans) a folder called dist (the one our .bat file points to) and in it will be the BuildFromCBD.jar file. Super sweet! Now I'm not going to explain every piece of code for you, but If you would like, DOWNLOAD THE EXAMPLE PACKAGE and there you will find the proper files all commented for your understanding.

Lighten Up - Time Lapse

1/21/10

So for the first time I decided to try my hand at a time lapse video of me making some art. Hope you enjoy :)

AmbieMac.com is Up

1/5/10

Sites are no longer active

YAR! I just put the finishing touches on the functionality for AmbieMac.com and I am quite pleased with how the site turned out. This was actually one of the more stress free freelance projects I have worked on and yet one of the more feature packed. I would like to thank the folks at Artist Web Builders for acting as an intermediary and also for handling the general page content while I built all the other goodies for the site. So go check out Ambie's page and all the cool functionality, oh yeah, and AWB did rather well on the design.

Happy 22!

1/1/10

WOW, 2009, that was a heck of a year no? Happy 22!

After a friend posted the date on facebook I mistook it for binary. She posted the date as 010110 or (1/1/10), that was a rather neat concept I had not concidered, after all how often do we have binary days (10110 = 22, neat yes?), ha, well not since 2001 I say.

Normally I am not the type to assign new years resolutions for my self, but as things have taken a chaotic turn in my life many opportunities have arisen to change. If nothing else I want to adventure more. I had spent way to much of 2009 in my office making all sorts of programmy and designish things. Then again knowing my self even if I am not working on a paid side project I'll be doing something interesting with my box of electric currents (Skate-er-Guy 2?). Non-the less to make it easier I have a nice fresh new laptop that will make traveling and working easier.

Another thing that I'm forcing myself to do is, I want to make a piece of art at least once a month. Last year was a horrible year as far as me expanding my artistic range. I made some half decent pottery, but nothing like I used to do when I was fresh out of college. So even if it's just photo realistic drawing, I gotta get back in it.

In general my new years resolution is to do that which makes me feel young again. Im going to do all those fun things I regret not making time for in 2009, so here is to it, HAPPY 22!