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The summer’s flown by and the second year’s already begun. Looking back at how I was feeling at the end of the first year and the targets I set myself, these haven’t really changed. At this point in time I’m no longer sure how realistic the target of achieving three Merits and one Distinction really is, given that this year will be a lot tougher than the first. There’s also some major things happening in my personal life which may affect this particular target.

However, the other targets still stand. I intend to work on my creativity as well as the coding side of things and hopefully improve both areas. Though if I’m honest I didn’t spend time on either over the Summer as originally planned, which means I’ll need to work harder through assignments if I’m to improve.

I also still feel that my time management could be better, not so much in the sense of leaving things till the last minute but more in the amount of time I allow for certain tasks. Some parts of the first year assignments (such as the presentation for A6) I spent far too long on and consequently ran out of time at the end, which meant late nights before submission and a rush to get everything done.

I was a bit worried when I saw that the SMLP was our first assignment this year, thinking it may be the most difficult for me. However, I’m trying to stay positive and I feel I’m already off to a good start, having completed my plan and creative brief. It sounds like this year will be a lot harder but I’m ready for the challenge.

SMLP Resource List

PHP 5 Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach by Lee Babin, Nathan A. Good, Frank M. Kromann and Jon Stephens

This book provides solutions for the common problems coders are likely to face when using PHP. It covers all the major topics required to learn PHP, such as arrays, and variables and functions. It also covers MySQL. This book has received numerous good reviews from people who have bought it and is by all accounts a good companion for beginners.

PHP.net

This is the definitive source for PHP and has lots of information on the language, as well as many useful links to other sources for PHP. It also has some related links like MySQL and Apache which again could prove useful. There is an FAQ section which could provide answers to any problems I may have when I start learning PHP, and there are also mailing lists which I could subscribe to if I need further help and support. This will also be the best place to start for any news on PHP and to download the latest version.

http://www.php.net/

w3schools.com

This site has lots of tutorials starting from basic to more advanced PHP code, as well as tutorials on MySQL.

http://www.w3schools.com/PHP/DEfaULT.asP

phptutorial.info

As the name would suggest, this is another site with tutorials on PHP for beginners. It starts with an introduction to PHP and how to create your first PHP page and then works its way through the various functions of PHP.

http://www.phptutorial.info/

homeandlearn.co.uk

The PHP section of this site covers the basics of PHP and explains variables, etc. in layman’s terms which could be extremely helpful for a beginner such as myself, particularly when coding is not one of my stronger points.

www.homeandlearn.co.uk/php/php.html

tizag.com

Tizag has numerous PHP and MySQL tutorials as well as a forum and their own store with more books.

www.tizag.com/phpT/

Beginnersphp

This site has many useful features, such as PHP source code, tutorials, articles, links to books, downloads and online manuals.

www.beginnersphp.co.uk/

killerphp.com

Not only does this site have a PHP Blog/News section and various tutorials, it also has free online video tutorials. This will provide a different way to learn PHP than from articles and books and may help greater my understanding of PHP. It also covers MySQL.

www.killerphp.com/

freewebmasterhelp.com

This is another site with numerous tutorials which cover PHP and MySQL.

www.freewebmasterhelp.com/tutorials/php

phpfreaks

This site has tutorials, blogs, a news section and a forum which I could sign up to if I need more help and support whilst learning PHP.

www.phpfreaks.com/

Self Managed Learning Plan: PHP

For my SMLP I have chosen to learn the scripting language PHP. This will allow me to create dynamic web pages which could enhance some designs. With knowledge of PHP I will be able to add a search feature on my web pages, something I find really useful on large websites in finding the information I want quicker than nagivating my way around the site. I feel that this alone will make my designs more appealing to clients (and in turn their customers who visit the site).

To further justify my choice I have used various different job sites to search for jobs within the web design industry and the skills and qualifications required by various employers. I found that PHP was listed by most employers, and I therefore believe that being able to use the language is a must within the industry. It will certainly add to my employability, and as mentioned above should allow me to enhance some designs, which will help build a better client base.

PHP is also supposed to be fairly easy to learn, which is something that is important to consider for myself, as the coding side of things is not my strong point. Learning material and tutorials also seem to be plentiful on the Internet, which will aid me in my study of this language.

I will also need to learn MySQL alongside PHP as the two work in conjunction with each other. This should also add to my employability as it was also listed as a key skill by employers (which is to be expected when the two languages work together).

In summary, I feel PHP is a good choice for my SMLP because:

• It will allow me to create dynamic web pages
• This language seems to be deemed as a key skill by most employers
• It shouldn’t be too hard to learn
• There are numerous tutorials on the Internet to help me learn this language
• It works in conjunction with MySQL, another language deemed as a key skill by employers

Past Mistakes

As the end of the first year draws to a close I’m feeling mostly satisfied with my progression through the course so far, though there’s room for improvement. I’m also relieved that all the assignments are done with for now, after all the work and late nights I’ve had to put in recently.

Looking back over my other entries and remembering how I felt at the start of the year, it seems like ages ago. In my very first post I said I was hoping this would be the final stage of my education before employment and I still feel the same. 

After 4 years of FE and a year of HE (not to mention another year to come) I’m ready to get a job. While I’m motivated and will continue to do the best I can and put all my effort into assignments, I grow tired of forever doing coursework. I’m just looking forward to employment now when at least I’ll get paid for all the work!

As noted in the second post, the step from FE to HE was bigger than anticipated but I feel I’m working at the level required, though I can push myself to do better. At the time I was struggling to annotate inspirational pieces, something that came much easier as the weeks went by. Word counts were frustrating at first and while at times I felt they were ridiculously low for the level of detail I thought was needed, I’ve adjusted to them. However, sometimes it can take a while to edit a piece of work down to the word count, which still leads to frustration.

A2: A Journey of 1000 Miles... was probably the easiest assignment for me, and it’s a shame we weren’t given the chance to achieve anything higher than a Pass as I feel I could have at least got a Merit for that one. Still, it was a good assignment to ease us into the course and it was probably the least stressful one, even with the move and everything else that was happening at the time. Achieving a straight Pass was also a major confidence booster.

A3: Sounds Like a Plan could’ve been considerably less stressful if my time management had been better, as noted at the time. Having no internet connection at home didn’t help matters, but I could have done more earlier on in the assignment to avoid working over Christmas.

I was also struggling to meet my 16 hours a week throughout Semester One, which I’ve also learnt from. Had I pushed myself to do a bit more each week there’d have been no late nights.

A4: Typecast went smoothly for the most part, though there was some stress meeting some of the shorter mini-deadlines. This was mostly because the ideas generation took so long, but I feel I’ve improved on this and now take a little less time to get my ideas down.

A5: Builder was one of the more difficult assignments for me, as it took a while to get my head round some of the code. I intend to practice on XHTML and CSS over the Summer break and am confident I will soon be able to build websites with ease. I got there in the end, with a little help from John, and still achieved a Pass.

A6: The Big Picture was probably the most stressful assignment. Everything was just so time consuming and I underestimated how long everything would take. I think I’m still recovering from this one, hence why I’m looking forward to the Summer break so much. I was determined not to make the same mistakes as for A3 so I pushed myself to get as much done possible each week, but even so I still struggled towards the end.

However, the fact that I managed to do so much every week perhaps highlights how I’ve progressed over the months. At school I used to get straight on with my homework and would typically not take a break until it was finished.

When it came to the first year of college I started to slip and became lazy, leaving work until the last minute and not putting as much effort in (which cost me some higher grades on the animal course).

On the GCE I was much the same and, again, my grades suffered. It wasn’t until Semester Two of the HND that I got out of this habit and really started to get on with work again. It was with the start of A6 that I began doing the 16 hours a week or more.

I think my main problem with A6 was spending too long on some tasks (such as the presentation), and not starting the other tasks sooner. This is something I will try and be more aware of in future.

A7: Rasterised I’ve mostly enjoyed, and it’s been good to have some time to myself for the duration of this one. Towards the end I had to put a lot of hours in though, especially as A1: SketchBlog was also due in the same day. This meant ensuring my sketchbook was complete. The holding page also took a lot of time to code and I still need to practice this. The last two weeks were stressful and I’m relieved to have handed it in, and confident that I’ll at least achieve a Pass.

So, I will take from this year the knowledge that I’m on the right tracks, as I’ve passed every assignment. However, I know I can achieve better grades and next year I’m going to really try harder to pull these up to Merits and possibly Distinctions.

I’ll also try to manage my time better and set some time aside for myself as well as work. I’m thinking of taking some leave off work which will leave me free to concentrate on my studies and thus allow me to get a more challenging job in my chosen industry.

I also think my level of creativity could still improve so I’ll spend some time over the Summer working on this. I intend to look for more inspiration and become more creative in my own designs.

Next year I want to learn more code, despite a few difficulties this year. I’m thinking I would like to learn JavaScript at this point in time, as it would be useful to allow me to build better sites.

Action Plan:

• Better time management

• Higher grades: 4 Passes, 3 Merits and at least one Distinction

• Be more creative

• Better developer

Time's Mooving On

We are well underway with A7 and I have to say that for me it's gone a lot smoother than the last two assignments. I'm nearly there with this one and I'm confident I can get everything finished well before the deadline to allow plenty of time for any last minute changes and avoid more late nights!

In fact I think the hardest task was listening to the music! Otherwise I've quite enjoyed A7, and I'm just glad things haven't taken nearly as much time as they were doing for A6. It's been considerably less stressful and I've had time for me as well as work.

However, there was some stress involved last week when Steve told us he wanted to see all the CD artwork in Seminar the next day. At first I thought I would never have it done in time, but as it turned out I finished well ahead of the deadline - much to my relief.

I have to say I was also somewhat disappointed at the client's feedback after pitching my logo ideas, and was left with two designs to develop over the Easter holidays. Typically I came up with a better idea almost straight after the meeting, and was disappointed when Steve said to stick to the two the client had requested; though I can see his point. However I'm happy with the finished result.

I'm also pleased with my CD artwork. It's being sent to Moo for print as I write, and I'm hoping it will look good on the postcards when it comes back.

And so as the end of the first year draws near I'm pleased with my progress and looking forward to the second year; although I'm ready for the Summer break first!

All Work and No Play

It's been a while since my last post and a lot's happened. With the completion of A5 and A6 there comes relief, but also some disappointment.

I thought I’d enjoy A6, which I did in a sense but due to the sheer workload there was stress too. I feel as if I’ve been doing nothing but work and coursework throughout the duration of the last two assignments. I even had to miss things I’d usually watch on TV because there wasn't enough time in the week for anything but coursework, and it still wasn't enough time in the end!

As the deadline drew closer panic set in when I realised just how much still needed doing, and everything was taking forever. The most frustrating thing about this was that I hadn't left everything until the last minute like last time, and I had to work all through the night on the Sunday just before deadline as it needed to be mostly done before making the trek to Wakefield on Monday. Yet still I struggled to complete it; I even forked out for a taxi to Pontefract just to give myself two extra hours. And I was still forced to finish at college!

With all the work and effort I put in I was hoping for higher marks, so I’m slightly disappointed, but I'm relieved at the same time that I passed. My creativity still isn't up to scratch so I need to work on this.

As for A5, I had some trouble with CSS so I need to work on this too, but I'm glad I passed first time.

And now work’s begun on A7 I'm going to try and give more thought to things such as the PARC principles in my designs and hopefully get up to a merit.

A7: Promotional Review

Signal’s Robotron is quite unlike anything I’ve ever heard before. I think it could be classed as Intelligent Dance Music (IDM), as well as psychedelic and experimental electronic.

Robotron puts me in mind of, as the name suggests, robots and machines. Each song has a beat to it with other noises in the background at different levels, underlying the beat. Some of these make me think of a machine or robot carrying out its commands, while others make me think of a signal being sent out – much like the band ‘Signal’.

There are few pauses in this album from start to finish, which I think fits really well with the robotic theme because, like a machine, it never pauses until it’s shut down. The brief pauses that do occur at the end of certain songs indicate to me either the end of the signal or the machine/robot carrying out its last command and awaiting a new one. Some are also quite sudden as if someone pulled the plug, or shut the robot/machine down before it could finish its task.

The introduction sets the theme, sounding almost like static in parts and almost like a helicopter in others. This quickly runs into Ermafa which at first made me think of a machine starting up, or perhaps this has already occurred in the introduction and now the machine/robot is carrying out its function.

The repetitive nature of most of the songs fits perfectly with this theme of a machine, as they carry out the same tasks repeatedly until they either finish or get switched off. Ermafa is no exception to this.

Naplafa has more than one robotic noise going on which repeat throughout, like a machine performing different tasks simultaneously.

Robotron, Malimo and Wismut all put me in mind of a signal being sent out through my speakers, almost like morse code. There is a lot of static present here which fits with the signal theme. The static fades out at the end of Wismut and the machine (or signal) continues into Rawema.

The sudden end to Rawema could indicate either the end of the signal, or the machine being shut down before it could finish, as mentioned previously. For me Rawema is more like a machine, but it could be argued it’s a new variation on the signal being sent during Robotron, Malimo and Wismut.

Datasette again sounds like a signal akin to morse code, while Sporett and Epriex Motor put me in mind of machines again. The latter two also have sudden ends.

And finally the album finishes with Wismut (Version) which is similar to Wismut in some ways, though there is less static and it has a slightly different sound. This too ends suddenly as if the plug has been pulled on the machine.

Robotron is an interesting album and fans of the genre should definitely check it out. Though it may not be particularly melodic, it has a beat you can dance to and its experimental nature makes it stand out from so many other dance tracks. This is definitely an album best appreciated from start to finish, so be sure to set some time aside when you get your copy, and prepare to experience the Robotron!