The Architecture Student's bed - DarCHComic

If Stuff still getting cut off so click to view full size.

This was kinda hard.

JUST installed illustrator, just started testing it out so i'm mostly walking blindly in the dark .I like the program though. Vectors are powerful.

Sketch up + Illustrator.Voila

Childhood

Born in Jamaica, my parents went to England to study when I was young and thats where this post begins...

School


- I did kindergarten and nursery school in England.

Ms Eirwen :D

- I went to whittington Primary, I was the only remotely black kid in the entire school.My best friends were two siblings named Molly blonde and the dusty haired Rackster [yes, his name was Rackster]. they lived on a farm...way out in way out there. A few years back I went back to whittington and met up with them briefly twas cool meng.

- I remember the first time seeing hail and trying to taste them.Come on , it was ice and snow tasted alright and it reminded me of skittles.[In my defense: I was young] . I remember my teacher draggin me out of the imminent hailstorm, she must have been wondering 'Where this mad head boy come from?" . She's dead i heard :[

Yes, this was the uniform

- I remember white children confusing me greatly by asking me weird questions while rubbing my skin asking 'If it can come off?' and 'How I got my hair so curly?"

- I remember these two rascist kids that would have nothing to do with me.Dont worry I just played with the rest of the class.

Travels and Anti-Lulz

- I remember attempting to eat a poisonous plant in Italy....I dont know WHAT possessed me :S
- I remember trying quite earnestly to save my father from a bee sting by stupidly hitting the bee with my bare hand . Not Fun >_<
- I remember chicken pox and I remember hallucinating that my mother had horns and smiley faces were coming out of the pillow [Allergic Reaction]
- I remember going on one of those pendulum theme park rides and the safety bar locked over but I was too skinny so I literally had to brace myself or I would have fallen out and most certainly died.Damn fat americans their bellies just folded over the railing. >_<


Life

more like a snowmound
*ba dum tiss*

- I remember when daffodils came up in spring and when I made my first sorry excuse for a snowman in winter time
- I remember the suit of armor that was at the landing of the apartment and how I hated walking past it -_-
- I remember watching Sesame Street and Electric Company.
- I remember ad free english television and stuff like Star Trek and Zena Warrior Princess



- I remember having porridge for breakfast, and Potatoes or Mac n Cheese for dinner EVERY DAY [I exaggerate not] I STILL hate potatoes.
I remember my goddamn cousins Vacuuming my head. Idle bastards :P

I remember many things many incidents , countries and people in my life...too many for this post

well not really lol

Trinispeak - DarCHCOMIC

A little bit got cut off.so you can click to enlarge if you want.

Starring: T-Roy and Chin.

this was actually fun to do...took me awhile though.A couple of days work after you get the background down and the first page it really isnt that hard.

Also Ideas anyone? Drop them anywhere. In the ask me anything section, my fb page, twitter where ever.

Trini asks you something and you didnt understand? just say 'Doubles Jed Hoss' :D

Whats in a name?

The history and rationale behind my many monikers.

In Chronological order.

04

anonimi - I had just discovered 4chan and internet culture and somehow the name was just always available.
I find it absolutely annoying when you type in a bag of names and you keep getting 'Im sorry this username is taken' Problem solved.

05

The Cynic - *yuck* angsty teen years. That's what I was, wasn't fun.

06

LEON- I have no clue.

07

Mr. Leon Turpentine - The name I've settled down on. One day I said 'I need a last name'. I was actually considering Constantine for a surname but I thought that was too pretentious and chose something a bit more eccentric. I have no clue how Turpentine ended up in my head but that it did and Mr. Leon Turpentine was born.

08

Alistair Blackwater - Current appellation closest to my real name.Alistair is my middle name which I actually like.I honestly don't like my first name simply because if anyone calls it out its near inevitable that 4 people are going to look around.Blackwater is the English translation of the Gaelic Dubh Glais and that is the family I belong to.A fairly old Scottish family with a long history. The motto is 'Never Behind' :P

What's next? I don't know. I've taken quite a liking to my current nicknames.

What does your name mean?

Does your surname have a history?

Check it out you might be surprised.

Customizing Rainmeter Tutorial: Changing fonts,colours and more

Image via Wikipedia

So you've customized your desktop with all these cool widgets but you want more , right? Getting into the editor is nothing hard. Really.


 Inside every rainmeter widget is a .ini file.This is the control panel for each widget.What you want is to open it with Wordpad/Notepad and begin editing.Once again I assure you its nothin hard, most rainmeter developers label everything as to make it easy on normal people like you and me.


First things first, Extract your pack by putting the pack folder in the ...Rainmeter/Skins folder.
Locate the widget you want to customize. (e.g the notes widget).Open the .ini file with notepad.

Fonts and formatting
Font type
Now to change the font is simple.All you need to do is replace the current font name with the EXACT name of the font you want to change it to.
FontName=Segoe UI
FontName= Reservoir Grunge

Font colour
Now you should see a code in either 2 formats on is
Hexadecimal codes such as this colour is #38761d
RGB values is a mixture of the three  this colour is 56,118,29
Worried how your going to make these codes? Go here at this free online colour picker 
Select and substitute!

You can usually change the font height ,and formatting such as italics etc

Changing colours
Changing background colours etc is exactly same as above just selct and substitute.
BoxBG=255,255,255 <--White
BoxBG=191,144,0

Functional areas
Changing which Drive a widget redirects to?
Just substitute the desired drive to the new one you wish to monitor.

Changing drive names and other text
Other static text can usually be changed simply by changing is

Changing where your notes are stored.
First thing is to make sure you even have a file in the first place.If there is no /txt file to read from the notes widget will just be blank.So go ahead and create your .txt file in the desired location.
Now the default may be something like
C:\Path_to_rainmeter\Roomico\notes.txt
And you want it in your downloads folder just find out the path of your downloads folder.
Copy and Substitute! C:\Users\Owner\Downloads

DON'T FORGET TO SAVE!

General tip.
Be bold. Mess around with stuff. ASK QUESTIONS.
Dont be afraid to break the widget.After all you can just re download and it'll be good as new again :3

Happy tweaking.
Ask me anything pertaining to rainmeter.

Related Posts

Intro to Rainmeter

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All in one Rainmeter pack - Moxx

Indie Gaming for PC : Top indie games

Whats an Indie game?
Indie stands for independent. The little guys, not under a big game house like EA or Activision. Usually a group of friends or sometimes a single person that slaves over something to produce what is known as the indie game.

Indie games are usually small. 100 MB max. How much can one man do?
but don't let this turn you off. Size doesnt matter. Gameplay is everything and thats why theyve gained iconic status.

Puzzle

Machinarium

Completely hand drawn and rendered. Charming visuals and interestingly enough not a word is spoken.Not Free lol

A picture is worth a thousand words in this charming point-and-click adventure.8/10 at Gamespot So you cant say it hasnt caught the big-players attention

The World of Goo


A physics based puzzle type.It's gained huge success worldwide.Use your brain.Got quite popular in my class as soon as people sat down to try it.

Innovative, addictive, and delightfully weird, World of Goo is a superb puzzle game.GameSpot 9/10

Action [pew pew boom pow bang!]

Doukutsu Monotogari AKA Cave Story :3

A game of iconic status, a One man show, 8 bit run-and-gun of epic proportions.If you put Metroid, Super Mario , The Legend of Zelda and a lot of bullets together you get Cave Story.
May look old school but it is not easy, and it is not short either OH AND ITS FREE [legally]



User score of 9.5/10 from 233 votes
Game site and Free Download

Spelunky

Spelunky

Weird name I know.You are a spelunker[cave explorer] and your heading off in search of gold, fame and adventure, armed with your whip you enter the cave Indiana Jones style except your not the star of the show and you can die AND YOU WILL DIE.All the levels are randomly generated.This another of those one man shows thats taken iconic status,Is now being refreshed for a port to XBLA

A 9/10 game.It will keep you occupied. My current stats are 500+ deaths Zero Wins but im still playing

Gamesite and Free Download

Shooters

[your little ship against thousands There can only be one.]

The Touhou Project - All 12 games

This is a old school shootmup except it falls in a special category known as bullet hell shmups. How can I say this...just look at the picture. You are that little red girl at the the bottom left.Dodge all the bullets coming at you, while shooting the boss.Yes there is a boss.Look closely lol


All free.All insanely hard, All fun
Game Site and Downloads Full Set (TPB)

Sub CategoryMusic [yes music]

Beat Hazard

Beat Hazard

This game takes YOUR music, analyses it and generates a level based off it. Heavy visuals.If you have epilepsy, I dont suggest you play this game.Seriously. Its pretty and fast paced and its interesting to see how your songs play out

Main Site

Geometry Wars Audiosurf

Have fun.Support the little guys.
Indie game-sites and Indie databases
http://www.destructoid.com/
http://db.tigsource.com/
http://www.tigsource.com/

Where all my stuff runs off to - DarCH Comic

CLICK THE PICTURE TO VIEW HI-RESOLUTION

Where all my stolen lost runs off to overnight. Right guys?
How I like to think of it
An Exodus of sorts

Starring Pedro ,Guardian Tribal KEn
Bob Senior the Knife , Blacks the mouse , PoNahl the Vanilla Flavoured glue and others

My hopes for 3rd year studio

Another year of studio another year of seeing all your studio mates again.

Dont wait till February to turn over a new leaf, there are things to fix.

Group Work.

1. Dont be a dick.Come and help.
2. This is for the stubborn people, you know yourselves.
Everyone cannot be head honcho at the same time.There are those that lead and those that follow.The ones who follow want to see a PLAN. All of you cant have your way at the same time.Relax your ego.

And to those who follow, Even if the leaders dont quite have it right.Come.Pitch in.Dont use the lack of a plan as an excuse to cop out of work.

And please dont walk in and criticize if you didnt help.Really.

3. Girls. You and I know you all have that one girl that you...would rather not be around...to put it lightly. What I ask you is when it is time for work both you and your enemy cut the crap and work. In fact I ask you for an even greater feat. Cut the crap all together.


4.Lastly.Its group work.Work in studio.As a group. That is all.


Desks

Now that we all ACTUALLY have a desk to ourselves are we really going to fight over which desk has been claimed by whoever...
Either way when the squabbling is done.Ill just find a desk.

Study Tour

1.Please dont go over there and make a fool of yourselves.You are C.S.A students and representatives of your Country(and we dont exactly have the best image to begin with)
Dont get piss drunk.Alcoholics know yourselves.Thats for kids.

Just dont do anything stupid eh?

2.Those who walk in the hot sun drawing and taking photos.Your work is considerable and you are given credit for it. Those who stay inside and compile the pages upon pages of documentation do not forget that their work is considerable also give them the credit they deserve.Its basically group work, no squabbling allowed.

Pavilion
Pavilion...That is all.


Footnotes: For those who are sayin in their minds "but ah who him how him fi ah seh bout and him nuh XYZ nani nani boo boo" I am in no part perfect but if something needs to be said I will say it.Im not attacking anybody.As you noticed no names were posted.I just want people to read it and know themselves.

Frank Gehry thinks Green building is bogus -My response

Green building practices are apparently not a concern to Frank Gehry, the architect who designed such famous buildings as the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. At the opening of the Pritzker Pavilion from the Art Institute of Chicago last week, he was quite candid when asked about the role of green architecture in global warming. “I think the issue is finally a political one,” he replied. Gehry explained that the rating systems used by LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) contain a lot of superficial requirements — like bike racks — stating bluntly that “a lot of LEED is given for bogus stuff.”

Gehry went on to explain that the cost of meeting LEED green building standards are “enormous” and that “they don’t pay back in your lifetime.”

Even though architects such as Lord Norman Foster have designed impressive structures like the Swiss Re London headquarters that have passive heating and cooling features, Gehry made it clear that such criteria are not considerations in the architectural plans that he creates on a computer program used to design airplanes. So basically, Frank Gehry believes green building is bogus.  Do you think many traditional architects would agree with him? Original Article

The DarCH Response

I most certainly don't agree.i know LEED is strict but there are steps that one must take to reduce our effect on the the world around us. I think Mr. Gehry some what feels a bit at a loss after making his interesting yet heat intensifying Titanium plated masses.Fun Fact:These had to be sand blasted to decrease their effect on buildings around them.

Actually buildings need not pay back in your life time.There are other things to think about other than just profit and loss.I am most definitely disappointed by Mr. Gehry.

I am currently reading the LEED and USGBC guidelines so expect this post to expand.

In Short : Stop Drinking Haterade Frank Gehry. The LEED protocol has its weaknesses but Eco-Friendliness and Sustainability are the only step forward for the planet. LEED, although it is not perfect, its core aspirations are the movement of the times. Get with it or get overtaken.

From Constructivism to Modernism

Abstract 

This article stands as a defense of the statement ‘Modernism nearly exclusively defined architecture of the 20th Century ‘It shows how modern architecture was the major shift in the architectural world which carried on for the years to come. A history of how modernism culminated to become what it it today has been is outlined. The forefather of modernism which is explored is the Russian constructivists. They played a considerable role in modernism and its ideals. After finally coming together with other avant-garde artist movements namely Bauhaus and De Stijl a new style was born. 

Keywords: Russian Constructivism, Modernism, 20th Century Architecture

From Constructivism to Modernsim

A developement of Modern Architecture

Modernism is the expression of forward thought that draws on many different sources for the inspiration of what is to be.
Modernism in architecture is generally accepted to be a simplification of the buildings form and creating ornament not through flourishes and acanthus but from the simplified form. Other characteristics includes the mantra of form following function and emphasis of horizontal and vertical lines.

Modernism is not culture specific, it has been developing and spreading across countries and continents and it has many fathers. Some will say the Bauhaus, Some say the Russians, some will say De Stijl .I say all of them but the movement being explored here is the Russian Constructivists.

History of Constructivism.

Constructivist architecture began from the movement of constructivist art. This art movement had several factions. The purists on one spectrum such as Naum Gabo and those who followed his realist manifesto and the more socialist oriented artists who wanted the art to be integrated in production and industrialism-The productivists led by Vladimir Tatlin .Additionaly there were those moved by Naum Gabo’s Realistic Manifesto.

The main ideas of Naums Manifesto are that it should define space by using space and kinetic rhythm. The art style was a rejection of naturalism which is the school of art interested in depicting real objects in a real setting Hence we can see why constructivist art was its antipode. It depicted unreal objects or sometimes experiences or even the absence of object in an abstract manner. Major artists of the genre are Naum Gabo,Kasmir Malech, Vladimir Tatlin and Antoine Pevsner. 

However not everyone agreed with the purer aesthetics of Gabo and they were accused of ‘formalism’ , being ‘elitist’ and creating art that had no relation to socialist.Submitting would have forced the anti-naturalists to turn their backs on their ideals. At this point there was schism, Tatlin and Malech remained, conforming to Marxist ‘guidelines’ while Pevsner and Gabo left Russia as outlaw artists after their license was revoked.

Eventually constructivism was ousted completely in favour of the more socialist art, and the constructivists were forced to emigrate to various parts of Europe and the U.S where some joined with prominent De Stijl artists and Bauhaus artists worldwide. They were not shunned as an idea even if their style died out.

The shift

Constructivist architectureIt makes common use of angular lines, .Oorthogonal planes and kinetic trails in the articulation of elements. A geometric shape in relation to certain colours was also a common practice hinting at some relation to cubism. It was spawned from the belief that the machine could reform the lives of the people and how the machine could push mother Russia to new heights. Art and architecture wedas to be for the people .The machine aesthetic is the most identifiable characteristic of this constructivist movement as stated by H. Read “We cannot continue making inventing machines, constructing machines , using machines without in some degree being mentally affected by machines” and it is this effect seen in constructivism

Some of the tangible works of constructivism are the Schukov Tower - a hyperboloid broadcasting tower, Tatlin’s Tower – Scaled Replica (Above) and The Zuyev Workers Club

The medium in constructivism was to be steel and any other material that was the current technological development similar to modernism.

This architectural style began ended in the mid 1930’s but lingered on as a composite style known as post-constructivism.

Reading list 

Colquhoun, A. (2002). Modern Architecture. Oxford Press. 
Habermas, J. (1987). Critical Theory and Public Life : Modern and Postmodern Architecture. MIT Press. 
Read, H. (1945). Five European Sculptors. New York: Arno Press. 
Overy, P. (1991). De Stijl , Thames and Read 
Gold, J. R. (1997) The experience of modernism , E & FN SPON Press 
Ray S.(2005) The Wright Architecture 
Read H. (2002) Skyscrapers 
Steele, J. (2001) Architecture Today , Phaidon Press 
Ccurtis, W. (2002) , Architecture since 1900 , Phaidon Press

Naum Gabo Presentation

www.quazen.com - Suprematism vs Constructivism

The paths to design.

How do we design and what generates our architecture?

Questions to get your mind working.

• First off...

WHAT are you designing? Don't forget.

• Context

What does the site look like? The design in your head nearly never fits exactly to your sites specifications.
How will your design relate to buildings and places around it? Is it Centrifugal, Centripetal
Context means a lot in design. Environmental factors, Neighbours, Noises, Crime , All the multiplicity of things that can and will affect daily like come into play.

• Character

Most of the time there is a faint idea buzzing in your head.Vague and newborn .
You ask how will it look? What is it's scale? Will it be intimate, Neutral or Grand in sizing? Does it have a precedent?
Some start with plans.Some start with sections. Sorting out how spaces relate to each other is another important phase in the building where you, the architect begin to rationalize the building in an attempt to create a unique whole.

WHAT are you designing? Don't forget.

• Organization

Really begin getting into how the spaces relate to each other? Circulation is always a big issue, Horizontal and Vertical Circulation Which spaces are more important than others? How does Inside relate to outside? Is the building accepting or rejecting its outer environment? Remember to work to scale.

• Technologies

Materials? Those mundane yet oh-so necessary services that a building mus t accommodate.

HOW.DOES.IT.STAND.UP.

Tensile or Static? Is the structure expressed or suppressed?

The Roof. The fenestration.The Facades and envelope. All need to be given careful consideration.

WHAT are you designing? Don't forget.

• Sustainability

Will it be green?(I dearly hope so) How can you reduce energy usage? What passive strategies can you apply to absorb energy costs? What is the carbon footprint of the materials you are using? Research alternatives and new ways of being responsible designers.

Now this is no where close to the full list of questions an architect could ask his or herself when designing.If I were to write them all the list would continue ad infinitum.All I hope is to get your mind whirring.

Loosely adapted from the Architecture Design Notebook by A. Peter Fawcett
All pictures are S. Alistair Douglas' own work.Do not use without permission

If Starcraft was made in the 80's

This is awesome...lol

Rainmeter picture viewers -

Rainmeter picture viewers so you can look at your wallpapers or girlfriend or edward cullen or something.

'Yet another' Picture viewer for Rainmeter by moshi
Comes in three sizes. Changes every five minutes
Download




Klottz picture viewer - by moshi
Simple frame.
Also a part of the klotz pack

Download

 Enigma FramePicture viewer by chrislangle


Customizable to display static images or loop/cycle through a number of directories.
White picture viewer and Black skins available
Download








Flickr Slide show - by jxns66
Simple App to display pictures through flickrs feed
Download








Also Check out the HUD vision picture viewer Here

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Intro to Rainmeter

Top rainmeter Apps

All in one Rainmeter pack - Moxx

Architecture Student Resources - Tips and Websites

architecture

The Cool Hunter
Architecture pictures

Archdaily
Architecture floor plans and sections everyday all year round

Plataforma Arquitectura
Arkinetia
Spanish architecture sites...Well theres always google translate.Or just look at the pretty pictures :P

Architonic
Everything architecture.Highly Recommended.

Daily Tonic

Archtizer

Furniture & Design

Furniture Store Blog

Design Spotter Good stuff

Kids modern Design

Photography

http://www.outdoor-photos.com/

Architecture Layouts

www.arquitectum.com - Look at the competition winners and learn.

Student Tips

• Find a senior student to be your mentor. Us old timers, have been around the block a time or two

• Get to know your School of Architecture and the people in it. You will be spending a lot of time here and you may just need someone's help one night when no one else is around.

• "Work smart, not hard."

• Work in studio (not at home): your classmates are great for advice, crits, inspiration, and supplies.

• Your best friends are those who can be brutally honest about your work.

• Take plenty of breaks; how much time can you lose in 15 minutes anyway?

• Remember, asking for help is a strength, not a weakness.

• Put your name on all your supplies--they tend to walk away.

• When it comes to technology (computers, printers, scanners), if it can go wrong it will, so expect the unexpected.

• Your assignment may seem irrelevant now, but stick with them because eventually you will realize that it is from these early projects that you learn the most.

What's DCH about?

The DCH Blog

Hey I said Dont Come Here! lol im just kidding.

Glad your here.

Whats this blog about? 
Well its an architecture blog but I write on a number of topics so it may veer off even into random.Not randomly useless but a jack of all trades kind of blog. However I especially like to get and share resources for architecture students and provide info for classmates.

Who are you?Im S. Alistair Blackwater  left :D Im an architecture student at the University of Technology, Jamaica .Im a eclectic jester - a strange but fairly accurate way to describe me.

Do you post your own work?

Well i dont plagiarize, I only post my own work after I can be sure no ones going to plagiarize me :P So expect a time delay after projects

Dizining - The Site to showcase your digital portfolio

Architecture Student Resource.A site that shows a lot of promise.Dizining is a place where you can showcase your portfolio.It is geared towards students ,so dont be afraid to show off your sketchbook scribbles failed proejcts and the like

I think greater intra user interaction would be a plus.Letting people comment, like , share project information on social platforms would definately put the site out there on the net.
So far I love it, a great tool for students freshmen to graduates to showcase their work.

In fact I may just write an article at my blog :P [guess what I did]

Also this is my first Sidewiki article

"Creating opporttunites and Erasing boundaries"
- Dizining - Creating Opportunities and Erasing Boundaries (view on Google Sidewiki)

Expository Introspection

I enjoy simple. I enjoy the unadorned. Never overtly expressing.Just hints.
Subtle hints.

Thats it.

Subtlety. I enjoy it. In everything. The parts of life you have to relax your mind for a while. Slow down, Still your heart beat and look closely to appreciate it.Thats what I like.

Simple pleasures keep me happy.

My senses have not been so dulled that I require a grand stimuli before I am aware of changes in that which I observe.
Those, They must have something to engorge their mind at the cost of drowning out their own thoughts.

Less really is more.
Use your imagination.I assure you, however rusty it is it is better than the world you live in.

DCHDigest - Holograms The Printer that prints sculptures, Holograms and more

DCHBlog - DCH Digest

Biofuel sweating organisms

Little bacteria that just sit on their solar lounge chairs and sweat out diesel.Awesome right?This isn't wholly new but is a major improvement over the old way of doing things where the poor bacteria had to be squashed to get out the precious fuel.Now we can skip all that.

Full article


The Printer that prints sculptures.

What architecture students dream about.The D-Shape prototype printer.This printer could print your model in a considerably shorter time than you sit slaving over it with an X-acto knife.Super shortcut sadly is gonna  cost super cash >_&lt: It works by starting with a layer of sand after which the model is built up layer by layer.Technology :3    Full article



Reverse Graffiti?

Graffiti :3 This is graffiti that isn't illegal and actually is doing something good for the city.These guys walk around looking for grungy walls.Armed with soap and other dirt combatants they scrub off the grime to create murals at scales worthy of praise. Full article



Heavy Reading: The concrete Desk/Bookcase-in-1

I love bookcases, especially when they're full of books.Now why not have a cool table with just as amny books in it to go with it?
I really love this desk.It would be hell to move though :P Full Article


Reversed Volumes. Plates and Bowls

Ceramics cast out of fruits and vegetables.
I for one would NOT eat out of that. Period.
Worse when it gets dirty!...how in the world do you clean that?



Full Article




The microwave for Geeks
This sleek device scans the end of the fork with each of these Brainwave compatible meals and automatically adjusts the temperature.And when your done you can turn it upwards and use it as a notice board.I hope for further advances in this for semi-chefs like myself.Soon it will scan everything! like poptarts and Chef Boyardee


Full Article

DCH Blog
Alistair Blackwater