Home Sweet Home
Current mood: accomplished

Alright, so I'm back home and I'm happy to report my trip went very well. During my limo ride to chicago international I almost missed my flight due to an Anti-Bush Parade which made me late by 30 minutes. I got a later flight and arrived in west palm around 12am. I was picked up by Dingo and Pedro and was happy to see Brandon back home. On friday, the design team had a meeting on how to become more organized and productive, due to all the revisions and redesign of layout's clients were requesting. So we need a new way of having multiple versions of a layout all in one file. Being the elite CS 2 user that I am, I knew the solution. I brought to the table the idea of using layer comps and working with non-distructive editing. So I gave a demonstration on how the feature could benefit our work flow; not only did I encourage everyone to start naming their layers and organizing them in Bins, I also urged them to upgrade to CS 2 since we were still on CS 1. So not only will we become more organized, we'll be able to take advantage of CS2's awesome new features such as Automated scripts, smart objects, and vanishing point. The following hour we ordered and installed CS 2 on all our work stations. So I will most definitely be flying back to Valparaiso. I do admit working with dave (Lead Designer) I learned some new CSS and Java Script. Adam (Lead PHP Programmer) and I had a discussion about implementing AJAX on our new websites. So soon enough I'll be coding some PHP and AJAX. I've been taking pictures here and there with my new phone, Pocket PC MDA. I'm glad to be back home in florida, hope everyone is doing okay. Ecken Signing off~


Click here to launch gallery.

2:57 PM - 2 Comments - 3 Kudos - Add Comment

My Trip (Update)
Current mood: excited

Alright. My flight to Indiana was pretty decent. Being that it was my first time flying I was pretty excited. The moment we gained altitude I felt a great pride in my heart to know the human race has gone pretty far in aviation. Anywayz. Once we landed and got our bags it was off to the Limo! The instant I stepped outside I couldn't stop shivering. I forgot to put my jacket on! This was my fist time seeing snow. So first chance I got I scooped up a big piece of soft squishy snow and throw it as far as i could. Brrrrrrr. It was about an hour drive to Valparaiso since we landed in Chicago Ohare.

Ahhh work! When we got there it was lunch time so off to Penera Bread! Mmmm. Livemercials building is very nice. The first floor is where the video editors work. Second floor is occupied by our sales team and the third floor is where the programmers and designer work. So my first day there was basically just shadowing the lead designer. Meeting everyone. The people were very friendly and polite. It was pretty interesting to know I'm the youngest one in the company. Our office space is very sweet. Bright colors and cool stuff everywhere. Very positive environment. The second and third day I cranked out some pretty nice layouts and revisions.

When the day was over It was time to check into my hotel room. Ahhhhh Courtyard Marriott. Just what I needed. A nice spacious room with soft pillows and warm air. Wi-FI cable the works baby. All expenses paid. Well its day 3 of my business trip and I'm starting to miss sunny florida. You don't realize how much a difference 2 hours can make. I toke some pictures of me here and there. Anyway everything is going real good. I hope everyone is okay and well. I'll try to take more pics. Laterz.

7:07 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Got Fired, New Job, Now Business Trip!
Current mood: ecstatic

Alright so I'm flying to Indianapolis and staying for a whole week. The new company I'm working for Livemercial, wants me to get some training and gain a better understanding on the hardcore operations they got going on. Moving forward I'll will be teaching and giving presentations on web development standards and procedures. I'll be staying at the Crown Plaza Hotel and will be back on March 10th. I'm pretty excited and will be taking lots of pics with my new phone!



So what happened to my old job at Universal Land Title? Well it's been a month since I got laid off due to low financing problems with TOUSA (ULT's partner company). Basically TOUSA hired a company called Relizon to manager and take over ULT's marketing department, which was Me, Pedro, Brandon and Lisa at one point. So we were let go before the transition and after all the expensive holiday parties those morons spent a lot of money on. They fired about 30 percent of their staff and are 3 months backed up. That's what happens when you have expensive taste. I'm actually better off, working for a REAL marketing & advertising company. So I'm now a full time web designer with a bigger pay, more exciting projects and a laid back environment. Here's some pics I toke on Friday, my starting date was this wednesday. Alright guys, never been on a plane or seen snow before, Later and take care!~



Livemercial is located at Downtown West Palm Beach, Clematis St. at The Bonds Suite.

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Blogcast Episode 1
Current mood: geeky

Alright tuesday, feburary 14 200


Happy Valentines day.





Wiki word of the day. Thought I'd check out the roots and origin of this holiday. I use to believe Hall Mark (the greeting card company) invented the holiday to make people spend millions on sweets, cards, and flowers. Well it turns out that the holiday can be tracked back to middle ages in catholic churches on feast day, in hour off Saint Valentine. The day's associations with love and romance concept hasn't changed much to today but its interesting other cultures have adopted this holiday. Japan, Korea, China, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and even Finland (they call it Ystvnpiv" which transalates into Friend's day).


The Tattooed Banana.





Very interesting blog features a gallery of banana art. It appears the designs and drawing are carved into the banana. Clever, like pumpkin carving without the mess. Just to name some of the art, ninjas, swirls, faces, some sponge bob ones, Check it out.


Dick Cheney in Nintendo's Duck Hunt Game.


Apparently Dick Cheney shoot a man while hunting quails in texas. This was big news on monday. The media had a field day. David Letterman, did a top tep excuses for Dick Cheney, heres on "..3. I thought the guy was trying to go gay cowboy on me". Al franklin said "it's like christmas for the democrats". so what the hell was Cheney thinking? Heres a handy identification chart Cheney should have had on him.





Non-photorealistic Camera: Imagine having photoshop filters built-in your camera?



Very cool article on Depth Edge Detection and Highlighting cameras using a Multi-Flash Technique. Short Movie, pretty cool image gallery comparisons. Check the article out.


3D Painted Rooms





Very cool collection of rooms that are painted so when looked at in the right angle, optical illusions appear. Side by Side images. Heres the link


The Best Flash Interactive Games.


Found this on bfws, these are very intuitive puzzle strategy type games, very clever interaction, visually stunning and great stories.




Well Thats it for this weeks blogcast. Make sure to check out the links and let me know what you guys think. Thanks! Noe

6:35 AM - 2 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

My Friday the 13th
Current mood: drained
Category: Blogging

I had an unlucky day. Everything started normal, work as usual. That day I was laminating name tags and was cropping them with an x-acto knife. After about cutting 50 or so I was getting impatient and starting putting more pressure to get the job done quicker. Well I should have taken my time because I added to much pressure, slipped the knife on the metal ruler and sliced my index finger in half, threw the nail. As soon as I lifted my hand blood dripped all over the place. I quickly went grabbed some paper towels, got my manager and she applied pressure on my finger with the towels. The paramedics were called and around 5 minutes they were looking at the cut and telling me I was going to need stitches. One guy was telling me my skin was inflated and wouldn't attach itself without stitches. So I was asked If I could drive myself to the hospital, I said no and tried to milk the situation for all it was worth, not mentioning I lost a lot of blood and was shaking uncontrollably. Once we were at the first floor, one of the paramedics asked me if i was going to faint, i told him no and way, he told me a story. He said he knew what it was like to faint, and his first time was at a hockey game. He toke a puck the chain, tried to play it off with the tuff guy attitude. Looked at the icey floor covered in blood. He went to the bathroom, checked out his chain, could see the bone of his chain, threw up and passed out. One hell of a story i thought. So Michelle Gunn, (companies administrator) drive me to my personal doctor, instead of the hospital, only find out their insurance doesn't cover me at a clinic. My mum came, michelle and lisa left back to the office, and I went to JFK hospital. After 4 hours of waiting in the ER room, I was treated by the lovely nurse Tina Dochniak. Basically what she did was numb my finger by injecting it with a needle full of anesthetics. It hurt like hell but she was real careful with me. She let it sit for a few minutes, to make sure it was completely numb. Alright, now the healing begins. Tina started to stitch me while I turned and looked away, my mum witnessed the whole operation. During the procedure I asked what type of needle she was using, told me it was a curved 4 gage, and that the color of the sutures were black, to match my awesome shirt of course. To tell the truth i didnt feel anything during the operation. Its like to get no pain to need more pain. After she was done, she perscribed me vicodin codeine, and some anti-biotics to prevent infection. My finger was all patched up by 7pm and had Papa John's pizza when I got home. Was a pretty weird day. Friday the 13th, Oh and I got 7 stitches. Werid huh? Even did the podcast that night. heh, By the way, new song is called Smooth Session, got Raket and Jed on the track freestylin. Made the beat & melodies in two days. w00t, iight well its sunday, I have to go to hospital and have them check out my finger, to see if there is any infection. Iight guys, keepin u locked, peace.

Noe~

1:54 PM - 2 Comments - 3 Kudos - Add Comment

A Day at the Office
Current mood: productive

Figured I'd post what happens on a normal day at the office. Every night I go to bed at 1am, wake up at 7am, get my shit ready, and before I can open my eyes all the way I'm already driving to work. I like parking underground in A1 where no ones likes to park and stomp my way to the giant glass doors. Its always windy for some reason which is very cool, would make an awesome slow motion scene. Work my way to the lobby and push the shinny button for an elevator. I work on the 5th floor which is 11 floors below the very top floor. At first, going up and down made my stomach churn, but you get use to it so I don't notice it anymore. Once I get to the 5th I greet the usuals, the michelle's, Jamie, Ana, and Steve. Very nice people would make me smile through out the day. My office space is probably one of the biggest ones, and only two people running the marketing department gets you up there with the administration. At first (2 months ago) we worked in a wharehouse / office on South Dixie, that lasted about 4 months. I have a few pics of me, dingo and pedro working with me there. But back to the new office. The space is about 4 work stations in size, we have cubical walls blocking anyone from seeing us, a wall between me and my manager, a giant toshiba laser printer, and 4 powermac G4's. The smallest thing there is probably our entry, its like a doggy door, i'll post some pics later this week. So for the first 5 hours of work are checking emails, processing orders, checking news, and shipping out due orders. Ahhh 12pm at last its lunch time! The first month I didn't like eating in the cafeteria due to my shy behavior, I'd use to eat at my desk(and still do when im totally swamped with work)So I would take my G4 tower, flip it face down, (so the heat exhausted is facing up) take my sandwich and set it on top so it can warm up. (It works like a charm) Other then that I go to the cafeteria and talk to the usual's. The Bathrooms... This is the first place i worked at which use key pad locks on the doors which require a four digit password. At first glance it looks very modern and techie, but once I went in there it's just like any other bathroom. No matter how many times I flush the urinal it always comes back yellow! There's always paper towels on the floor and water, I dunno why they try keeping people out, i guess cuz to disguise it or something. (Oh and btw, the password is 2,4,6,8) The next 4 or 5 hours is more work, maybe a nap for 10 minutes (my manager likes taking her sweet time on breaks) and when it's 5 I get my shit ready, pack up and write my notes for tomorrow. I left out of details out because its kinda boring. But ill tell you i do more then a Graphic Designer, I'm a marketing assistant, I write purchase orders, bid jobs out to printers, make phone calls to venders and our representative to follow up on orders, blah blah right? Eh I enjoy it in the end. Sure im not doing video production or web design, but thats where ecken comes into play. This is a great stepping stone for experience. I wonder how long ill be working for them. Only time will tell. Anyway thats pretty much a normal day at the office.

12:56 PM - 1 Comments - 1 Kudos - Add Comment

First Blog
Current mood: rejuvenated
Category: Blogging

Alright, my first blog... News years day was pretty interesting, the hard drive in my computer died and almost lost all of my art & music. websites, portfolio, the whole sha banga bang. I kept meh cool, toke it out and plugged in into my extneral enclosure. PHEW, it worked after 10 restarts but I managed to salvage my recent artwork & music. Good ol' Maxtor drives, fucking pos. They all die sometimes i guess... anyway wanna announced a Pod Cast (radio show) im in, check it out Here. , if you don't use iTunes, i encourage you to download it.. or just download the mp3 http://msallc.net/spacecast.mp3 (But you won't get the ehanaced podcast features like images)
Besides that, Happy New Year Everybody.

11:07 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment