Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Center align your webpage!

I recently designed a site that was self-contained within 950px by 500px. Looked real good as a photoshop template. Converting it to html however, was a bitch. Turns out, there's native support for horizontal centering, but no code whatsover to align the entire site vertically central!

So I turned to google, the first and obvious answer to each and every question. I got a whole lot people complaining about this, and rightfully so, but no easy solution. There were a few real complicated workarounds using a mish-mash of css, javascript, and flash, but those were a headache to decipher and adapt. I was rather surprised at this roadblock, because I was sure I'd done it before.

And then, it hit me. Flash. Hah! You see, Macromedia (now Adobe) Flash has this option where you can export your file directly as an html page containing the swf. And you can center-align the file! Awesome! So all I had to do was replace that code with mine, and I had a real easy solution to the problem!

Recapping:
1) Make a document in flash, any size.
2) Go to Publish Settings, check the html option.
3) Head over to the new html tab. Keep the "flash alignment: vertical and horizontal" options to center & center.
4) Publish the file. You'll get an html page, where the swf is centrally aligned, and a .js file.
5) Open the html file in notepad or Dreamweaver, and simply replace the swf with your desired code. Voila, centre-aligned! Works with IE, Opera, and Firefox. You can safely delete the .js file and the javascript too!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Welcome to me!

KAILASH IYER dot COM is live!



No more need to send across pdfs to prospective clients. It's all on the net!

Monday, August 17, 2009

Best seats in the house? At the Front Stall!

Front Stall Pictures is a-go!

Here's a preview of the site:

Front Stall Pictures

This design is a continuation of the design I used for the visiting card, meant to convey a sense of nostalgia for days of old, when movie tickets used to be stubs.

Comics for firangi desis...

Vimanika Comics gets some press.

Selections from the article:

“The thought of putting out Indian mythology to everybody in the world and presenting our forgotten warriors and gods to them in an appealing and appeasing manner inspired me to launch Vimanika Comics,” says Mumbai-based (Karan Vir) Arora. “And that exactly is our USP.”
This sounds very much like what the recently-deceased Virgin Comics was attempting. If a powerhouse like that, backed by people like Richard Branson and Shekhar Kapoor, couldn't survive, I'm a little sceptical that a smaller publisher could keep the same concept afloat.
“We have definitely had a very positive response. People are in awe of the art, colours, and the theme. It was a refreshing change for many of the comic book readers,” (Vimanika’s Philadelphia-based director of international marketing, Kanika Choudhary) said.

“For India and the US, our sales and subscriptions are increasing at an exponential pace. Over the next year, we are expecting to increase our subscription base to 20,000 in the US, which we have already achieved in India alone.” (Karan Vir Arora)

Whoop! Now these last two quotes sound a bit dicey. 20,000 subscribers in India? I haven't seen any of their comics anywhere, nor have I read about it on any online blogs till now. They've apparently got three titles so far: the “Sixth” based on Karna from the Mahabharata, “Mokshas” based on Hanuman and Parshuram and “Dashaavatar”.

They also claim that these are widely distributed in Britain and the US. While I'm all for people getting into the comics business, I really wish they'd (a) stop pandering to the NRI audiences (if there is any such thing), as itmakes them look like the Karan Johan of the 4-color world, constantly making pulp for the firangi desis; and (b) stop beating the dead horse of Indian Mythology. Sheesh. Another retelling of the Mahabharata and Hanuman and I'm gonna puke.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

And the world got a little bit closer...

The greatest description for a song, ever:
31. Boney M – “Rasputin”

Possibly the greatest disco song that uses both Serbian and Turkish folk songs to outline the romance between a hemophiliac Russian queen and her mystic lover/advisor —who was famously murdered and castrated, and whose penis has its own Wikipedia page —by a group of Caribbean transplants living in West Germany and singing in English. Ever.

From here.