This rather interesting, fascinating, and constipating assignment sent me to the deep dark realm of the infamous CSS. As I enjoyed the wide variety of benefits involved in the Firefox Web Developer Tool bar (fabulous tool by the way) I began to realize that this web design jazz is not as simple as I thought it would be. In fact, CSS is downright SCARRRY! I surfed to the most loved and loathed MySpace site and hesitantly applied the View CSS option. AAAARRGGH! A list the size of the Bible appeared before me featuring headers, footer, fonts, background colors, tables, links, images, what have you. I applied the Print Preview option to receive a mediocre copy of MySpace’s page in print friendly view. I have a great respect for those geniuses who are able to apply these CSS Rules with their hands tied behind their backs. Curiously, I decided to escape the clutches of MySpace and move on the Hasbro’s My Little Pony website. I had no idea those lil ponies involved soooooo many CSS rules! Background styles, image styles, colors….. oooh the colors, links, borders, headers, margins, columns, and widgets? Excited to put a picture of this site on my wall, I applied the Print Preview option. My Little Pony’s print preview was not that bad. It did look very different from the website and the images were still available in their overly-colored glory. I have a very long road to travel before I can add up to those My Little Ponies, yet we have to start somewhere.

I stumbled upon a challenge assigned to me by my Web Design instructor to find four websites matching the four common color schemes Monochromatic, Complementary, Triad, and Analogous. I fished through the world wide web to come up with these four possibilities.

I thought Hershey’s.com was a great example for the Monochromatic color scheme. Hershey’s features a rich brown tinted with a neutral brown followed by a light gray and silver hue.

The following site features fabulous e-cards, yet the site is a bit of a headache inducer. Jacquie Lawson exhibits the Complementary color scheme with the bold blues and reds.

The Harlem Globetrotters brings out the dark yellows, blues, and reds necessary for the Triad. This scheme in particular was a tough one to follow due to it’s over exaggerated brightness.

Last but not lease and one may beg to differ, I felt the Homies World website expressed an accurate Analogous scheme. It’s bright oranges tapering off into a dark red reflected this color schemes artistic simplicity.

Exiting the world of color schemes leaves me with the wonder of possibility; how color could affect the general purpose in web design. Wow, what an experience.

Now, can I ask you a question? What kind of roads does snow create? That’s exactly right! Icey, slippery, dangerous, disgusting, snow congested, disastrous roads. Now, how do we drive on these roads? Nooooo! Not fast and crazy-like, SLOWLY. Meet one of the slow, grandma drivers of Fairbanks, you know, the one people like to flip-off when they pass at a crazy rate. Based on a few interesting experiences of my own, I have been trying to be a careful and cautious driver when it comes to winter driving. Why must we decide to drive fast in such terrible conditions. We do care about our cars and ourselves, right? Well, just remember, getting to where you need to go a few minutes late is better than not getting there at all. Accidents are a pain in the ass as well as EXTREMELY costly (I know from experience). So, if you are not familiar with driving in these conditions, please be careful, your car and your well-being will thank you for that.

I believe the key to Typography reflects upon the interest and creativity of a web page. The fonts must grab the reader and encourage them to remain enthusiastic about the website for days, months, or even years to come. One of the websites I visit alot, Realtor.com at http://www.realtor.com/ expresses clear, consistent fonts which are simple to follow and quaintly colored. The letter flow is basic expressing the simplicity of navigating throughout such a complex site involving real estate. Although the lettering in some layouts is pretty small, it is just small enough to be readable and to allow additional information to be entered, leaving no loose ends.

As I was admiring horse pics, I had come across Best Horse Photos.com at http://www.best-horse-photos.com/index.html with a puzzling font. According to the theme of the site, I didn’t feel that the font matched the site’s intentions. The script is incredibly bold and rather loud, perhaps appropriate for a gaming site. The informative paragraphs produced a congested layout that appeared rushed and drew me away from the content. I feel the author of this site could have been a little more creative regarding the site’s construction, at least linking the text to the artistic view of horse pictures. I’m not talking about Palace Script or anything fancy shmancy, perhaps a nice Lucinda Calligraphy font may have been acceptable.

Imagine we are sitting in our favorite restaurant, perhaps Denny’s. We’ve ordered the Big Ben Burger with extra cheese and mondo fries. After a reasonable wait, we receive a small whithered burger, a dollop of cheese, and a handful of fries. Well, that is the type of service Dish Network offers Alaskans. They guarantee a large package of great channels for a reasonable price, yet they gradually flake out on their promises by switching satellites and ripping us off out of our package. After being perfectly happy with the AM120 package, I am currently stuck with only 60 channels and still paying the 120 price. You see, Dish Network had decided to switch a number of channels to the satellite 110. This slight switch had robbed us from some of our desired channels. Dish Network’s suggested solution, pay $800.00 for a new 4 foot dish including installation (this, of course, had been tacked on from the previous $500.00 paid upon the original installation) in order to receive the promised 120 channels. My husband and I purchased a 4 foot dish package from Radio Shack for $450.00 and we attempted to install it ourselves. Our effort to locate the proper signal had been attempted repeatedly to no avail. After listening for 2 days to a headache-inducing beep from the signal screen to our television set, we finally gave up. I took it upon myself to speak to Dish Network’s customer service representatives and hopefully receive some support for this atrocious expense. I had requested for Dish Network to send an Installation Tech to our home and simply locate the signal for us at no extra charge. I received a flat NO from the customer service rep, a NO from the office manager, and a final NO from the office executive. The repeated, “We do not have a central office in Alaska, therefore the equipment and installation is your responsibility” prodded my brain into simple insanity. When I asked them why they had service in Alaska if they are unable to support it, I received no logical response. During further research, I contacted Direct TV to find out their policies and specials in Alaska. Direct TV had no limitations, they offered slightly higher prices to their packages, yet they did not charge for their equipment or installation. If I were to hop aboard a time machine and chose over again between Dish Network and Direct TV, it would be Direct TV for certain. Their customer service was excellent and their willingness to cover our equipment and installation was highly acceptable. Customer service is a must regarding good business, like the famous saying entails, “The customer is ALWAYS right.”

I awoke this morning with a throbbing hangover-induced headache.  I shuffled quietly to my bedroom window, drew apart my curtains, and focused upon a dismal reality, snow.  As an Alaskan, I have developed a sickness known as Gripey Pessimism, a disease every well-known Alaskan suffers from.  During the bright and glorious summers, it is much too hot and there are too many bugs.  The summer encourages vast road construction apparently bringing life to a halt. The sun blares down incessantly for 24 hours a day, robbing Alaskans of their sleep.  The fall weather is entirely cold and depressing with not enough bugs.  Spring remains unpredictable and disgustingly sloppy, again, with too many bugs.  Then, there is bloody winter, far too cold, far too dark, far too depressing, and absolutely no bugs.   When the winter months bring loads of snow, it is far too difficult to drive.  When some winters don’t bring enough snow, our houses are in lack of natural insulation.  When the whopping -40 weather rolls in, it is MUCH too cold.  If the winter has been mild and warm, it is far too icey.  We are never satisfied not matter what the weather brings us.  What’s that, is there a cure for Gripey Pessimism?  Why, yes, there is.  Just stop the whining!  Be happy and live with what the seasons bring!  Trust me, it could be WORSE.