Tamooka - Colin Lowry

Well hello there!

I’m finally back on tracks. And I’m glad to be back. It has been a very laid back summer so far. I have been working in a newsagents and doing freelance on the side, yes indeed I have many jobs to complete. The back log is increasing! Summer projects have included learning RoR which is coming along well, unknownst to those around me I have been doing tutorials and learning some neat tricks and good coding practices. I have also been playing around with Adobe Flex 3, now this is great fun, the possibilities are endless.

The following few weeks will see me doing some serious research into leaving-cert.net- its possibilities, design, development, etc. This is definitely our most promising and exciting project as of yet! I’m also working on developing a name as a freelance web designer for myself but at the moment I’m just trying to cram as much experience into my summer as possible. The leaving cert results are out August 13th so then I will know if I have been accepted to do my web technologies course in Dublin.

On a personal level, I went to hurricane (a German music festival) last month, it was a really brilliant and most enjoyable experience. I would love to work from Germany some time. I also have been going out way too much. Well that’s teenage life for you.

Looking forward to getting back into the swing of this! I must come up with a design and a personal website for it but for the moment I have much to much to catch up with,

Colin.

Friendly readers,

For the time being I must re-direct you to my new temporary home.

http://www.leaving-cert.net

This is where I will be writing all about my ‘depressive’ state over the following few weeks.

Thank you,

Colin.

My dearest People,

It truly has been a long holiday of over indulgence and utter madness, extending far beyond the holiday period. However, it is time to get back into a solid routine with official examinations starting only 2 months from now. I proclaim myself completely unprepared, this is very daunting as I continuously attempt to merge back into a learning environment for these final year exams, despite my lack of drive.

Other than school, right now, I am determined on planning out a promising web services agency, noting down almost every initiative that comes to mind, every suggestion and all criticism received.

One of my new projects includes a leaving cert journal, which will log my “hectic” life during the upcoming spell of intense study. This is will be found on my domain www.leaving-cert.net which I hope to activate in the coming weeks. I will work on this in conjunction with my business partner.

Our design work is going steady at the moment, and steady is how it shall go until I can finish these all important exams in June. I have just finished a design for a client and will be meeting him today to finalize the piece; this shall be end of designer Colin until July.

On a more personal note, I find myself hooked on J.J. Abrams, ‘lost’, all over again for yet another new exciting season, possibly the most addictive story-line in history of TV. Along with this, I have started watching ‘MD House’, with Hugh Laurie, the comical hero. I won’t go into it but I recommend you get a taste of it for a good laugh; this is of course if you want another additional excuse to keep you away from books and work!

Anyway I bid you farewell for another post,

Colin.

It has been an eventful Christmas season, plenty of mad outrageous parties, plenty of boozing up, and all that madness. Now a new business year begins, a very important year. A year of fame and fortune or rather painful study, so what’s to look forward to, final year exams, college, various projects… exciting?

I find myself rather unmotivated after a very lazy Christmas, I’m just finishing up on a clients website, now I must settle down to hardcore study for my final year exams. The deadline for college applications arises on February 1^st, with everyone else’s submitted I find myself giving myself a good kick, a reality check.

With a personal homepage on the way, I am rather looking forward to this personal and virtual world. And so with this lazy and unmotivated post, I propose a successful and happy year to all of us!

Colin.

The warm season of Christmas is here yet again, warm? Its bloody freezing and I’m suffering from acute viral nasopharyngitis – the common cold; Indeed, I have been told I may be a hypochondriac as I Google the symptoms of the festive virus, but whatever it takes to find the cure… its incurable; just another week and it will pass, pass onto another hundred people. Yes, it’s Christmas and with the festive week comes the school exams, weeks of promised study turns to 4 nights night’s of crammed swotting.

It’s Christmas and with it comes Jesus, but really? Do we really care about the religious side, I know I try to but it’s not easy, religion for me is slightly… boring. But I have not given up on religion, thank god for agnosticism.

Christmas is a time of love and joy… but yet it brings depression to many, I’m bloody depressed, I have a cold, exams and the funds are bloody low, has Christmas really become this materialistic?

But heck, what can I say, it is great, It’s a break where I get to see everyone, spend time with them and be stress free for at least 48 hours. It’s something we can be positive about looking forward to it every year. Don’t let anyone tell you they hate Christmas, they’re liars.

Festive greetings,

Colin.

Have you checked out the iPhone, the new Nokia, the PS3; great aren’t they, a true sign of sign of advancement in technologies, if only we knew that we’d have these 10 years ago, 5 years even 3 years ago. But did we?

Where are all these new gadgets going… have we reached a limit with most of these technologies? I mean, take the new PS3 as an example. What is all the hype about; it’s a true failure of 2007. I hear it has wireless connectivity; peripherals include keyboards, mice, Bluetooth technologies such as remote controls and headsets. Yes, how far more can we take this, the PS3 at the moment screams at me personal computer. Can we take these crazy innovative systems any further, of course they can, and they’re always going to find a way. But I’m not fooled, these systems aren’t new exciting machines, we did have this ten years ago, maybe it’s a little smaller.

The PS3 has done nothing but grow in size since the first playstation. The newest release now has a hard drive, a 60GB one at that. It has a modest graphics card and micro-processor. It even runs the Linux operating system. I wouldn’t mind one of those personal computers in the workplace!

Lets see what else would be a favourable buy if 2007, the iPhone, no thank you, I have the latest Sony Ericson in my pocket, featuring an mp3 player with removable memory card for expandability for more space, oh and of course, calling; at half the price. I think I can send emails too! The purpose of the latest mobile compatible internet programmes was indeed for normal mobile phones, not for bestial glass green/touch screen masterpieces that belong in an art museum not our pockets.

Oh yeah, and I was in the car with a friend the other day when he stuck his phone onto the wind screen, ‘what on earth are you doing,’ I asked. Oh yes this is the new phase with Nokia, satellite navigation. Thanks but I much prefer to have my satellite navigation built in, and designed by the dedicated professionals, as my friend struggled to get it functioning. These new things have built in Wi-Fi now too, we went on Bebo on a night out in the pub, and don’t forget, we have to squash an office suite into phones these days if the companies have any intention of selling them. I welcome you to the future of antisociality, when wi-fi is introduced to all our local night clubs. Okay I agree this new phone might be very handy for a few who hold a grudge for the blackberry and are professional texters on the tiny numbered keypad. I think I got déjà vu, where have I seen this before, of course the ten year old PDA.

Are these companies doomed to come up with new inventions, its seems so as the try to create what we already have, but I’m not complaining, they’re definitely making things handier but they can only do that for so long. Out with the old, in with the new, I say.

Colin.

I have been thinking about designing my home personal home on the web, as it stands this blog is all I have; I don’t even have my own theme yet.

This will take time though, I require perfection for something as important as a personal website, especially for the reputation I hope to build on the web, will it ever happen, I hope so!

At the moment I am sketching out various plans, something that will attract the people and keep them coming, something entertaining and most importantly something to tempt potential clients… all of which will however have to go through tamooka, the business, but I do believe that a personal page from each designer (Kevin already has one), will entice them even more and give them more insight into us as designers; beyond our business website.

For this project I will need to acquire skills in flash, and continue to develop my skill in photoshop, this will have to be different, unique, innovative and certainly use new technologies for the web, I may also require a digital camera.

Wish me luck!

Colin.

Today, I find myself under pressure, a good thing in some respects.

I find myself under the pressure from clients and of course, school. I have just been given a non profit organization job, meaning I will be doing this for free, believe me I am completely content at this, but I am on a very close deadline for it, as well as another current client…. this is exciting.

Then I find myself stuck in the classroom through the day, falling asleep each period, not content in myself, I no longer want to be there, I want to be far away in a comfort zone, Dun Laoghaire indeed, college, doing what I want to do, learning what I want to know. Ironically, Getting a secure place there all depends on my school work as I approach the leaving certificate exams, what am I to do?

I must struggle on and do well in school, on the side, although I should not be, continue to work at web design and take on these small jobs. They keep me sane.

I do not want to be in one place, but in another, to get to this other place, I must declare myself in a favorable situation.

“There is no such thing as talent. There is pressure.” - Alfred Adler

I may have found my future… Yesterday I visited IADT – Institute of Art, Design and Technology. The day started off just the way I like it, 6.45am, yes I’m being sarcastic, I’m possibly the worst morning person ever, but yesterday was different I was going somewhere I wanted to be, so I eventually got up at 7am. I met up with a few friends at the bus stop, we may well have been the most irritating people to ever hit public transport our journey up with loud obnoxious comments coming from all 8 or 9 of us – the group, the people we are, well just me maybe.

In good time we were in the heart of Dublin city, what could we do but go for a good Irish breakfast. We promptly headed for the complex inner city transport system, somehow making it to Dun Laoghaire, we at least somewhere in the area, we hopped off the bus enthusiastically, and walked in the direction of what we thought would be the institute, having gotten nowhere after a good 15 minute walk. I took the map off my wise friend, indeed, we were going on the completely opposite direction of our destination, to be honest, I hadn’t a clue of where we were on this map either, walking in the direction we came, we miraculously made it to this accumulation of 3 buildings, in one way not what I was expecting, 3 rather ordinary buildings, far from my past experiences of a third level institution. Don’t get me wrong though, I was very impressed, it was not normal, it was unique, and it appeared small and personal, which I later confirmed. We walked down this promenade of trees, autumn trees, beautiful in way, other than this first impression, the area was surrounded in ‘artists’, creative looking beings, I was excited.

I entered the doors, and found myself surrounded by people, visited a few stalls, picked up a few leaflets, and “went on the stroll”. I found myself surrounded in art, all forms of art, photography, sculpture, painting, lots of art. It was time to find my course, DL143- BSc honours in Computing in Multimedia/ Web Engineering. I asked this nice looking mature lady where i can get info on this course only to be sent back to the main building, here I met a man who sent me back into the place I was, however we went beyond the smiling lady to find ourselves in a lab of students, doing just what I’m interesting, each monitor representing students work, I must say i was impressed, I interrogated a student on the course, I had found what I had been looking for, in the middle of nowhere- Dun Laoghaire. Yes, this was my course, Kevin was with me on this one, he also had a profound interest in it, and we were in it together, to be here in Dun Laoghaire in September.

We met up with the others, I don’t think they were as enlightened as Kevin and I by this place, we headed back into the city, yes, we found our way back. In Dublin city we did our usual, eat, look in some shops as one does, buy nothing and head off to the closest pub; Our excuse for being there, the freezing weather outdoors… After a while we headed to our bus stop, on the bus, a friend told me how he knew the bus driver from a previous experience, yes, he’s apparently a complete psycho, out of the cold we found ourselves in excruciating heat, the complete opposite of the feeling during our random walking. After a good two hours, the sweating and constant remarks on the heat lost its comical quality. “It’s okay we’ll be home soon”, To help this I really had to use the bus toilet, not a great idea, they generally overflow a lot and completely smell, this one was no different, back in my seat we discover the incident of and unfortunate accident on the road home, we would have to detour, through the back end of nowhere, the type of roads where the cars had to stop and pull in to let us pass, yes the heat was still unbearable. But somehow, I made it back to my good old town. Ironically, back in the open air, completely freezing, with nowhere else to go and not ready for home, we ended up in yet another pub. Within an hour I was home.

Looking back over my material and the day, I have found something to give me willpower again, something to aspire to, something inspirational, college; and of course my career to follow. I have found something to push me again. For now I must keep on studying and research the college course, area, accommodation, etc. I must say, I do like the feeling of having found something, the feeling of belonging, the feeling of place… the feeling of positivity.

I find myself a little bored and not very motivated at the moment, not good for someone in their final year of exams and working with two clients! So right now I’m tyring to find something to amuse me, have been listening to a few new artists, and I bought the new Jimmy Page and Alison Krauss album which is pretty amazing, been working on a new painting which has a lot of meaning to me, as it incorporates all of my friends, to keep the creativity alive I’ve been writing some new songs also.

Really though I am completely bored and thrive on the new, I can’t wait for the summer when I may travel Europe and possibly further, after the is adventurous excursion I will be in a completely new and exciting environment, one of freedom and hope, this is of course I being in college doing the course that will mould my future, well so they say, but where will I go? I have absolutely no idea, I have been considering Limerick, Cork, Galway, Dun Laoighre, Dublin city or even further a field to the city of Dundee, where I can do a very advanced course on web development and design, exactly what I am craving for, but maybe I should settle in Ireland for the time being, develop something nationally before internationally.

Whats happened over the last few weeks?

Well, I’ve started a new design for a client, I’m trying something original with it, very modern, abstract yet to the point and accessible. I had been working with a band since march and we broke up due to differences about our future, this can be said to a relief in a way, it means I can move on with other more prospective musical projects, which I have plans for. Other than this I’ve really just been focusing on studying, learning, teaching myself new skills, not just in technology and coding but musically, artistically and academically…

Whats been happening in the office?

Myself and Kevin continue to discuss the future of Tamooka, its projects, it possibilities, etc. We have been discussing the office and have looked over office plans for a new development which is very appealing, for the moment we must keep our skills up to date and continue to learn as the most important thing for us at the moment is to find the right college course, not so much so we can learn what we may already know but to gain other peoples thoughts on the current web design trend, to open our minds to all possibilities, to make contacts with other designers and developers, and to gain experience in an environment of like minded individuals.

For the moment I shall continue to ‘browse’ for inspiration,

Colin.