Create a rotating banner / image header for Blogger

So I wanted to create my own jazzed up header after The Sibling said that the blog layout was boring. I tweaked around some websites, found a bunch of pictures and went overboard with Paint, Snipping Tool, Picasa and Picnik. I intend to keep creating new banner images and have a 'dynamic' header of sorts for a cheery, fresh look. But my troubles had only just begun.

I am no technology whizkid. My eyes glaze over when I come across HTML code. But what I wanted was a steady feed of pictures that would keep the banner refreshed and this endeavour demanded additional effort towards HTML/Javascript/CSS editing since Blogger has no straightforward solution. It took me the better part of a day to figure out how to do this and hopefully others will also benefit from it. I know it is long winded but this is what finally worked for me.

Challenge 1 : Content

I wanted a header/banner that was 1100 pix wide and 200 pix high. So I created my images according to these dimensions. By default, all Blogger images are stored on Picasa Googleweb in a folder named after the blog. I uploaded my images into this folder.

Challenge 2: Identifying the location of the image

I have a separate post on this.

Challenge 3 : Generating code for a rotating banner

Goto http://www.htmlbasix.com/banner.shtml

Banner Code Generator

Put in the required details. I have 3 images that I want to use, so I input those details into the generator. In case the image doesn’t load I should like the blog name to show up, hence the ‘alt text’.

You can play around with the other options. The settings here will produce a banner that is 1100 x 200 pix in size and that will refresh every 15 seconds with one of the 3 images provided.

Hit the ‘Generate’ button at the bottom of the form and copy the code that appears into Notepad.

Challenge 4: Where should this be uploaded on the Blogger page.

In Blogger-> Design->Page Elements, add an HTML/Javascript gadget under the Header.

Add HTML/Javascript Gadget to Blogger Layout

Click ‘Edit’ for the HTML Gadget and paste the code you just generated into the large box.

Paste the banner code into the gadget configuration box

Challenge 5 : Removing margin for HTML/Javascript

By default, the template will include a margin for all gadgets. This will make the HTML Gadget overflow the blog width and look wonky like so. Here, the red banner is the default Blogger Header and the box below it with the seven little girls is the HTML gadget.

HTML gadget overflowing the blog width due to margin

A simple CSS edit will fix this.
In the Advanced potion of the Template Designer, put in the following code in the box

#HTML1{
margin-left: 0px
}

This will align the HTML Gadget properly.

Properly aligned banner with no margin

Since I wanted just this banner on my blog, I removed the ‘Lithium Ribbon (Header)’ box from the Blogger Design.

The End

Now one would think that this could be achieved by using a Picasa feed for the header and playing around with code on the Blogger layout. There are some solutions for using RSS feeds from Picasa, Flickr, Photobucket etc. The Picasa one didnt work for me as all the images appeared horribly pixelated. This is because, the script was referencing the Thumbnail versions of the images and then scaling the Thumbnails.

The same happened when I tried the Slideshow Gadget and I lost patience when faced with the prospect of trawling through the HTML code of the Gadget and editing it. I couldn't figure out how to do that either.

Good Luck with whatever solution you choose to implement.

Casual Games 2 : Galaxy Ace

I am pretty confident that there is research to show that gamers are better equipped to handle pressures of life due to the possession of superior decision making skills – finely honed while constantly striving to better our game scores. Well, even if there isn’t any evidence of the sort, you couldn’t get me to stop playing and I'd rather have sore fingers than a sour personality just because a little delay somewhere set me off on a bad mood. Some of my current favorites for the Android platform include:

Cooking Dash

The game’s title card calls it ‘Restaurant Cook’. This is a fun time management/dash game with two modes Casual & Time. In Casual mode, you have to prepare and serve your patrons’ dishes of choice within a reasonable time. Some dishes need to be cooked while others (bread) can just be served on a plate. You need to take care that your customers don’t lose patience and that your dishes don’t burn while on the stove. 

Casual Mode

Time Mode

Time mode is unlocked after a few levels are completed in Casual mode and this is my preferred variant. You get to serve an array of precooked dishes to customers within a time frame of 2 minutes. So you constantly keep trying to beat your scores while figuring out where on the screen the required item is.

While graphics could certainly do with some brightening up (cute-ning, cut-yfying?), for a free game this provides plenty of entertainment.

Sushi Bar

This is similar to Cooking Dash but focuses on Sushi. The graphics are cleaner and the gameplay is slightly more sophisticated. The objective is to serve up different types of sushi to customers in a limited time. When you run out of ingredients, you need to order more and replenish your inventory. All the while, customers’ patience needs to be monitored and angry patrons can have their frayed nerves soothed with free drinks. You get to open sushi bars in many different locations and each location brings in new recipes and increasing revenue targets. 

Customer Order

Recipe flippin'

I learnt about sushi and different animals used in preparation from this one. A pleasant way to kill time.

Block Puzzle

  

This is a tangram puzzle with Tetris blocks. I needn’t say anymore. There are plenty of free Tangram variants for the Android, but this one seemed a little easier on the eye. This is also a little easier to play since the blocks are already constrained as they cannot be rotated.The game can definitely get a little frustrating if you don’t arrive at the solution very quickly, but it provides a good mental workout and is definitely a better option than getting frustrated while in a queue.

All three games are free to download and play. So, let fun be had by all.

Movie Review : Choejongbyungki Hwal / War of the Arrows (2011)

Already a massive blockbuster in its native South Korea, this is a gripping, super-entertaining movie that should be played worldwide for more people to enjoy. The script is tight, the performances are very good and the action scenes are highly engaging.

The movie is slotted into the historical action movie genre although I found the historical portions to be incidental. This is a movie about warriors playing cat and mouse with each other, with the hunter and the hunted exchanging roles at every turn. This scenario is played out against the background of the second Manchu Invasion of Korea in 1636.

Nam-yi is fiercely protective of his sister Ja-in and when, on her wedding day, she is captured by the invading Manchu army, he will stop at nothing to save her. Nam-Yi is an accomplished archer and must use his entire arsenal of wits and skills to battle the equally powerful enemy, single-handedly.

Hae-il Park plays Nam-Yi, the heroic archer. Over the course of the movie he transforms from an aimless youth into the liberator of his village from the Manchu oppressors. Although a skilled archer and master tactician, this is not a man who enjoys killing and the anguish and uncertainty in his eyes when he is forced to do so elevates him from a mere warrior to the status of a true hero. It is an insightful and delightful interpretation of an action hero.

Seung-yong Ryoo is a scene stealer as Jyu Shin-Ta, the general of the Manchu forces. He is a cool, restrained, calculating commander who is struggling to maintain his composure as Nam-yi is chipping away his elite warriors (and family members) one by one. This is a marvelous portrayal of a man who is thrilled to have met his match and yet is reaching the end of his tether, frustrated by his inability to do away with the enemy.

Moon Chae-Won puts in a competent performance as the feisty and loyal Ja-in. It is a small role and she doesn’t really have much to do except ‘be there’, although the character acts as the catalyst to the plot. Min-seo Jeon plays the younger Ja-in aged about 7 years. She is utterly adorable.

Mu-Yeol Kim is Seo-Goon, Ja-in’s husband. He is extremely cute as the bumbling, love-struck lad who graduates from goofiness to glory as he leads the villagers into an uprising against the Manchus.

Gi-woong Park is Prince Doreukon, the evil Manchu invader. He has a manic grin and a delighted gleam in his eye as he bubbles over with joy while his forces sweep across Korea to victory. It is a small part, but he makes an impression. The rest of the cast is also very good.

The action scenes are the highlight of the movie. They are superbly shot and suitably thrilling and each time Nam-yi strikes bull’s-eye or escapes the enemy, you want to punch your fist in the air in joy and relief. The conflicts are brutal and often bordering on savage. The animal (death) count is high – deer, dogs, horses and tiger.

Well worth your time and money and highly recommended.

Movie Review : My Kingdom (2011)

My Kingdom a.k.a Silly men with floppy hair hamming it up.

I did not like this movie. Barring the intricate costumes nearly everything else is wrong with it. The script is sub-par, the leads can’t perform to save their lives and every scene gets into melodrama overload. Neither is it a satisfactory look into the Chinese opera culture nor a compelling saga on revenge and redemption. This is a shame because the eye popping visuals could have elevated even a poor script to something watchable if not enjoyable.

Guan Yi Long and Meng Er Kui are gifted opera performers who must avenge their Master’s humiliation and reclaim the title of “The Mightiest Warrior” from his old adversary. Er Kui is also obsessed with avenging the death of his family at the hands of the former Prince Regent. The lads must fend for themselves as they forge their way through Shanghai. But their desires may lead them on separate ways and ultimately destroy their careers and even their friendship.

The casting is a let down. Chun Wu as Guan Yi Long and Geng Han as Meng Er Kui struggle REALLY hard, but both are completely unsuited to the job. Geng Han seems to continuously channel Tony Leung. It’s an admirable yet poor effort but he is still better than Chun Wu who simply cannot act. He should stick to modeling or whatever his regular job is.

The hair and makeup department appear to have been a free hand in this movie. Both actors are generously caked in greasepaint and that’s not even when they are performing as opera artists. It cannot bode well for a film if you are watching a scene where brothers are warring and you are more concerned about their tears wiping away the thick layers of yellow makeup on their face than the fact that one of them has just broken a leg. Their hair styles are also particularly distracting. I am no expert but I wouldn’t associate the current pop idol flat-ironed styles with Shanghai in the 1920s. The movie attempts to bring in a ‘period’ look but somehow all the sets look very contrived - though extremely beautiful - and more suited to a vintage-themed photo shoot for a decorating magazine than an authentic setting for this movie.

The super-awesome Yuen Biao and Yu Rongguang redeem the movie a little bit. Both veterans have more talent in their pinky fingers than the main leads and it shows. Their presence in the first half promises some hope for the movie. But once Yu Rongguang leaves, the script disintegrates spectacularly and makes for a horrible second half.

Louis Liu is very interesting as General Lu. With his ‘emo’ styling, he appears to have traveled back in time from the 2000s to early 20^th century Shanghai. His military-chic clothing, big hair and affected gestures are puzzling and he isn’t physically suited to the role of a police officer either. But he is very intriguing - whether by choice or by chance one really cannot say. It feels like there was something more to the character but the writer/director/editor lost interest and did away with the scenes.

Barbie Hsu is the saving grace of the movie. As the beautiful object of everyone’s desires, she is suitably conflicted, conniving and cool. Yet when she starts shrieking and screeching in her action scenes towards the end of the movie, one has simply had enough.

Mercifully it is a short-ish film and if you can be happy with aesthetics, you shouldn’t suffer too much but you could still avoid it.

Review : Where's My Water

Where's My Water is a Disney Mobile puzzle game for the Android platform. It involves diverting the flow of water through a bunch of obstacles so that it reaches an alligator's shower-bath, an alligator that is desperate to take a bath and will whine and bang the tub if the water doesn't flow out on time.

WMW - Title Screen

WMW - one of the levels

Obviously there is a water stream, constrained by gravity, time, pipes, bombs and sand formations. We encounter moss that absorbs the water, pink acid that will turn the water into acid and green slime that will melt into the water. These also have other interesting reactions with each other and the objective of the game is to figure out the correct tool to build the  path. Each level also has 3 duckies that need to be dunked in order to score maximum points. 

While sometimes you need to take care about having the water flow at particular angles, you don't have to be a physics ace to play this game. Mainly requiring the application of common sense, EVERYONE will enjoy it since it is simple enough to adapt to and complex enough to give you a sense of satisfaction at completing the level. Where Angry Birds regularly builds up the complexity to near-frustrating levels, Where's My Water never compromises on the playability. The graphics are cheerful and bright, music is alright and the game runs smoothly on the Galaxy Ace.

WMW - Levels

Treasures and Bonus levels

I haven't played any other games from the Disney stable previously, always slotting them into the cutesy, kiddy category and was pleasantly taken aback at the quality of this game. With over 120 levels and bonus levels for finding hidden treasures, there is tremendous re-play value. I finished the entire game over two days. Yet, I could still play it all over again to beat my previous scores and not feel the tiniest bit jaded. 

I tend to descend into extra-lavish praise of content that really excites me. And since I am unique (just like everyone else!), this means that many of my personal preferences don't often fall into the popular or even mainstream categories. The ratings for this game have consistently been high on Amazon and the Android Market. It retails for $1, delivering excellent value for your money. 

Highly recommended.