Cool Graphite is the latest in what is fast becoming a series of ‘Cool’ templates. This is a slightly more souped-up version of yesterday’s Cool Blue: Modernity.
Graphically more appealing, I think, this template is a cool new look for most simple sites which just need to be that little bit more attractive.
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If you download this template, please consider leaving your thoughts in a comment below. That way I know how best to improve future projects.
Finally, a new free template for you to start downloading and using however you please. It’s been a long time coming; I haven’t built a free template from scratch in four months.
This one’s fitting for the winter months and is an updated, modernised version of CoolBlue.
The header on this template is created using Adobe Photoshop, so you will need some Adobe image editing software to change it. Also included, though, is a way to do without it completely and use a simple type header. For you graphic-challenged simpletons out there…
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If you download this template, please consider leaving your thoughts in a comment below. That way I know how best to improve future projects.
I don’t know if you are familiar with the Your News strand on BBC News. It is a magazine-style, twenty-minute-or-so-long programme designed to showcase some of the more interesting stories sent in to the BBC via the Web and the phone. Each week the presenters are sent to a city in the UK and report on the issues affecting the people there, as well as one or two stories people from other cities have highlighted.
The concept itself is, without a doubt, a very good idea. It is an excellent way of using our BBC to vent our frustrations at the politics and everyday monotony that exists on our little island. The show even has a feature in which the bewildered residents of a city are approached and told to do a piece-to-camera about what they’d like to see more of on the news.
But, upon first look it is very clear who the target audience of Your News is. The presenter shots are ridiculously over-played. The dialogue itself is fine; there’s little sensationalism, which you’d expect in this style of programming. However, the camera work is beyond slick. It is beyond modern. It is simply awful.
The camera zooms in and out quickly in response to every comment made by the presenter. It rotates around said presenter in some sort of Matrix style clockwork. It pans around trees and lamp posts which block the presenter’s face over and over again and it slips in and out of this sloppy, wannabe-modern style of filming as it so pleases.
So after being held on the edge of your seat at the suspense, being bombarded with the opinions about the state of the news by people chosen ‘at random’, and finally feeling very sick at the sheer volume of camera movement and rotation, you don’t even have enough time to take it all in; the programme is just too short.
I did try and find a YouTube clip, but those Copyright Police have been out in force across the network so you’ll just have to make do with the BBC’s online version. Click here to watch the latest episode. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good show. But be warned: you may need a bucket.
UPDATE: As of today (9th December 2007) the YourNews video on bbc.co.uk hasn’t been updated since 3rd November so you may not be watching the most recent edition.
Torchwood had its series two press premiere yesterday and some details have been revealed about the plot of the first episode.
In case you were wondering, Torchwood is a fictional institution first mentioned in the revived Doctor Who television series. ‘Torchwood’ is in fact an anagram of ‘Doctor Who’.
Torchwood is also a spin-off show, starring John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness who also first appeared in the newly-revived Doctor Who as a rogue Time Agent.
It has been revealed that former Buffy star James Marsters will star in the first episode of Torchwood series two as Captain John Hart and that he has had a relationship with Captain Jack in the past.Gwen gets engaged to her slightly less-than-perfect boyfriend Rhys. Digital Spy reports that during the ceremony (penned for mid-series) ‘Vampires may be among the uninvited guests”.
Apparently during the press screening, the humour was noted as comparably greater and the characters seem to have grown in the TV-absence of the show.
Captain Jack wants to get back together with Ianto. That story will apparently “do a Hollyoaks” and develop across the entire series. Neil Wilkes (DS) reports that Captain Jack will enjoy many a snog during series two!
You may also be pleased to learn that the official Torchwood site was re-launched at midnight, with a new look and promising exclusive content and games, much like this Spooks site.
The first episode is called ‘Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang” and is rumoured to be broadcast on the 16th of January, or at least thereabouts. Rumours that there will be a specially-edited ‘family-friendly’ version of Torchwood were also confirmed the other day, meaning that a cut version will be broadcast at a pre-watershed time on BBC Two (the new home of Torchwood).
There now follows an official press release from the BBC: (after the jump)
Coolblue was actually the first Web template I built from scratch and I liked it so much I decided to keep it for myself, the selfish being that I am.
Well, I never got around to using it and so here it is for you to use as you please. It can be described with the title alone, it is cool and it’s blue. There are many uses for this one, and it can be customised using the links on the live preview (all three styles are included in the download).
Warning: This template uses the ability of PNG images to be transparent but in Internet Explorer 6 and below, this doesn’t render properly. That’s what comes from using Internet Explorer, I’m afraid. I did try to make an identical GIF version, but it doesn’t work nearly as well. (This template works perfectly in Internet Explorer 7+)
UPDATED: There is a new version of this template available for preview and download here.
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If you download this template, please consider leaving your thoughts in a comment below. That way I know how best to improve future projects.
I'm at MintTwist Towers. http://4sq.com/aWmeWq
Tweeted about 1 hour agoI'm at Finchley Central Station (Finchley, London). http://4sq.com/6I8FW8
Tweeted about 2 hours agoI'm at Chingford Mount. http://4sq.com/9nGHLG
Tweeted about 3 hours agoI'm at Peel Close. http://4sq.com/bvNHXT
Tweeted about 11 hours ago
Some of the albums I listen to the most in alphabetical order. Click the album to view it in the iTunes store.
