Thursday, July 9, 2009
New Ryan Kopf Website
I finished a really nice design for a new Ryan Kopf website. It features a little about me, links to some of my projects, news updates, and more.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Titles Are Hard To Think Of
Randomly writing. UpcomingCons.com seems to be growing at a healthy rate so far. I've optimized the on-page titles and started getting links from convention websites, so I should see Google search visitors increasing at a regular rate. I need to get a lot of visitors to my websites (I have so many) so that I don't have to work so much. I guess I'll stick to adding conventions and writing articles for now, then build up some more PR. Also getting lots of incoming links is definately good. Anime News Network gets 190,000 hits daily, x $3.00 CPM is $570 daily. I would be happy with that amount monthly. In other news, I should prepare some hotel sharing for AFO 10, and calculate all our costs, plus prepare questions for our Anime Festival Orlando news articles. Lots to do.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Anime Conventions - Anime Cons Site
I've been very busy working on my latest and currently favorite project, a listing of upcoming anime, science-fiction, comic, and game conventions throughout the world. I currently have nearly 200 conventions listed, and I continue adding more daily. Seeing, and anticipating more of, traffic rising is exciting and very suspenseful. I am consistently doing more and more to attract immediate attention to the project, slowly but steadily, while also keeping pace with adding more information to the listings database. So far I've emailed several convention organizers and got links back to the website from theirs, and recently tested a new image gallery, which looks very nice.
Every day traffic has increased more and more (except for the couple of times my server went down for an hour because I uploaded a feature too soon, haha). I'm looking forward to the times when we have tens of thousands of visitors every month. My current goal is to position the website so that it has more upcoming conventions listed than anywhere, a lofty goal, so that anyone can find the anime conventions or sci-fi cons, etc, that are near them.
We've already scheduled our first official convention to cover, Anime Festival Orlando 10. We're flying to Florida on Allegiant Air on Thursday, with hopes to arrive at the convention in plenty of time to get some analysis done right away. Plans are to cover the entire event, along with as many sub-events as possible, building up content for the website. Hopefully you'll follow our live coverage when the time comes.
I hadn't really paid much attention to the fact that there are so many conventions. My hopes are that by finally utilizing my technology to it's fullest, my company will be much more effective and I will get to promote and enhance fandom at the same time.
Every day traffic has increased more and more (except for the couple of times my server went down for an hour because I uploaded a feature too soon, haha). I'm looking forward to the times when we have tens of thousands of visitors every month. My current goal is to position the website so that it has more upcoming conventions listed than anywhere, a lofty goal, so that anyone can find the anime conventions or sci-fi cons, etc, that are near them.
We've already scheduled our first official convention to cover, Anime Festival Orlando 10. We're flying to Florida on Allegiant Air on Thursday, with hopes to arrive at the convention in plenty of time to get some analysis done right away. Plans are to cover the entire event, along with as many sub-events as possible, building up content for the website. Hopefully you'll follow our live coverage when the time comes.
I hadn't really paid much attention to the fact that there are so many conventions. My hopes are that by finally utilizing my technology to it's fullest, my company will be much more effective and I will get to promote and enhance fandom at the same time.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Anime Conventions - Empire Building - Etc
I am BUSY. Yes, busy! I need to figure out a way to properly utilize all my time right now, considering the vast amount of work that I could potentially do in relativity to the amount of work that I must do. Back to the more concrete, right now I am working on:
Now to start getting things fully finished to cross them off the list....
- A new Anime Convention website
- A new UISG website
- My twitter programs
- Mindbridge Event Registration Software Database
- Other Misc. Stuff Like Always
Now to start getting things fully finished to cross them off the list....
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
How To Make A Personal Cooling Suit (Vest)
If you don't follow me all the time, you might not know about me attending several anime conventions as Sephiroth (from Final Fantasy VII). The outfit, which is all black vinyl, can get very warm: here's a picture below.
As you can see, I have to get hot very quickly, and with no way to cool down I can't wear it for more than an hour at a time. That's why I decided to build my own water-based personal cooling system! Although getting the materials was tricky, and some creative genius was involved, it was actually fairly straightforward. Let me share what you'll need.
Materials
Alright, starting with the tubing. You can find this easily at Lowe's in the plumbing department. Get the clear kind that is easy to bend and flex. Anything bigger than 1/4" will probably be too big. Next you'll need an old shirt or some kind of vest to sew the tubing onto (very loose fitting). What you're going to do is pinch together parts of the shirt, sew, and then run the tubing through them. I'll provide more details on this part later when I can provide more pictures.
Then you'll need something to pump the water through the tubes. Finding a battery operated rotary pump was, I thought, impossible. But then I stumbled by the fishing section of Wal-Mart and found a device that was meant for helping keep bait alive by pushing air into water through such a pump. I'll give more details on the name/brand so you can try to find it later.
Next you need to put the tubing through the shirt you've sewn, and then have the two ends both come out one side. You're going to put them, with the pump, and ice packs (this cools the water) in a belt-pack or fanny-pack together. Use your pump to fill your tubes with cold water, then attach everything together, put the ends on the pump, in the pack with ice (you'll want to coil a few feet of tubing in the pack so that the water is exposed to the ice for a longer period of time).
Here are some pictures of my beta version (higher resolution will come when I find my good camera).
As you can see, I have to get hot very quickly, and with no way to cool down I can't wear it for more than an hour at a time. That's why I decided to build my own water-based personal cooling system! Although getting the materials was tricky, and some creative genius was involved, it was actually fairly straightforward. Let me share what you'll need.
Materials
- 1/4" tubing - water will run through this tubing around your body
- An old shirt to sew the tubing onto
- Some kind of battery operated rotary pump
- A side belt-pack for the pump and ice
Alright, starting with the tubing. You can find this easily at Lowe's in the plumbing department. Get the clear kind that is easy to bend and flex. Anything bigger than 1/4" will probably be too big. Next you'll need an old shirt or some kind of vest to sew the tubing onto (very loose fitting). What you're going to do is pinch together parts of the shirt, sew, and then run the tubing through them. I'll provide more details on this part later when I can provide more pictures.
Then you'll need something to pump the water through the tubes. Finding a battery operated rotary pump was, I thought, impossible. But then I stumbled by the fishing section of Wal-Mart and found a device that was meant for helping keep bait alive by pushing air into water through such a pump. I'll give more details on the name/brand so you can try to find it later.
Next you need to put the tubing through the shirt you've sewn, and then have the two ends both come out one side. You're going to put them, with the pump, and ice packs (this cools the water) in a belt-pack or fanny-pack together. Use your pump to fill your tubes with cold water, then attach everything together, put the ends on the pump, in the pack with ice (you'll want to coil a few feet of tubing in the pack so that the water is exposed to the ice for a longer period of time).
Here are some pictures of my beta version (higher resolution will come when I find my good camera).
Saturday, April 25, 2009
5 reasons why OpenOffice.org is better than Microsoft Office
We all love lists. They're fast, we all love sometimes just skimming titles, and they're fun. Here are the top five reasons Open Office is better than MS Office.
1. Free - Like, Forever
OpenOffice.org is usable completely free of charge. The cost is zero as long as you have the internet, but that is nothing in comparison with what Microsoft wants for its products. All updates and new versions of OpenOffice.org are also free of charge. You don’t pay to upgrade, just download them free. New releases of OpenOffice.org appear once in several months, while Microsoft’s updates are issued once in two or three years.
Note that you have to include the '.org' in the name OpenOffice.org because OpenOffice is a trademark to someone else.
2. Open Source
OpenOffice.org is open source software, both free as in free beer but free as in you can do what you want with it. That also means that lots of folks around the world are constantly improving the software. Releases then happen when the several of improvements is done, not when the marketers decide that the'll make the most money.
3. Use Anywhere, Freely (Cross-Platform and Portable)
OpenOffice.org runs on both Windows and Linux and Mac OS. Download the right version and enjoy the same great functionality on any platform or operating system you like to use most. OOo always saves in the same, portable format that is open and free.
4. Fast, Friendly Interface
OpenOffice.org has a simple, user-friendly and fast menu interface with a high performance. You don't have to hunt around for the features you want - they are in the most logical location. You shouldn't have to wait several seconds to open multipage document or large size file also. OpenOffice.org also consumes less PC resources, allowing its applications run faster and more effectively.
5. Efficient Calculations
OpenOffice.org Calc (the alternative to Microsoft Excel) is faster, simpler to use and less demanding in terms of memory and disk space. It excels in its calculation functions, and in its flexibility in fine-tuning of diagrams is also great. Calc also has plenty of very useful and convenient filtering features like Excel, which makes it a good and balanced choice for anyone who wants to use a reliable and flexible spreadsheet.
OpenOffice.org is usable completely free of charge. The cost is zero as long as you have the internet, but that is nothing in comparison with what Microsoft wants for its products. All updates and new versions of OpenOffice.org are also free of charge. You don’t pay to upgrade, just download them free. New releases of OpenOffice.org appear once in several months, while Microsoft’s updates are issued once in two or three years.
Note that you have to include the '.org' in the name OpenOffice.org because OpenOffice is a trademark to someone else.
OpenOffice.org is open source software, both free as in free beer but free as in you can do what you want with it. That also means that lots of folks around the world are constantly improving the software. Releases then happen when the several of improvements is done, not when the marketers decide that the'll make the most money.
OpenOffice.org runs on both Windows and Linux and Mac OS. Download the right version and enjoy the same great functionality on any platform or operating system you like to use most. OOo always saves in the same, portable format that is open and free.
OpenOffice.org has a simple, user-friendly and fast menu interface with a high performance. You don't have to hunt around for the features you want - they are in the most logical location. You shouldn't have to wait several seconds to open multipage document or large size file also. OpenOffice.org also consumes less PC resources, allowing its applications run faster and more effectively.
OpenOffice.org Calc (the alternative to Microsoft Excel) is faster, simpler to use and less demanding in terms of memory and disk space. It excels in its calculation functions, and in its flexibility in fine-tuning of diagrams is also great. Calc also has plenty of very useful and convenient filtering features like Excel, which makes it a good and balanced choice for anyone who wants to use a reliable and flexible spreadsheet.
Friday, April 24, 2009
UISG Election
The UISG election is over, and Go! Party won in the end. I hope they take some of our many ideas into account. We had a great run, meeting many people and impressing plenty with our ideas and energy. There will be a lot to do. Sorry for not updating too much, I've been very busy. Need to catch up on homework, sleep, studying, et cetera.
- Keep Tuition As Low As Possible
- Improve Safety With Subsidized Cab Service
- Make UISG more connected with students
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