bradchoate.com Reloaded
Happy Matrix day! Oh -- you thought it was releasing on 05-15? Well, I did too, but they are showing in some areas today. As early as 10 PM. I am so there. Or will be there tonight.
So to commemorate this momentous occasion (can you tell I'm a fan?), I've restyled my site. Very few things could move me to take such action, so you know my feelings are sincere. This movie had better not suck.
"Reload" is the key word today, so reload this page a few times and take note of the randomized Matrix quotes and background graphics for the content panel (with IE, you'll have to scroll to the bottom of the page to see the background graphic. With Mozilla and Safari, it stays at the bottom of the screen like a good fixed attachment should).
Where's the navigation? It's on the upper-right side. Yes, that Flash thingy (assuming you have Flash and all that) is a mini-navigation control. I need to add some more visual cues at least, but it does work. From left to right, it reads brad, georgia, savannah, seth, the real world, archives, movies, games, the oracle and preferences. All other links and sidebar clutter have been banished from this template to keep you focused.
Once the new wears away, feel free to switch to any available style you'd like under the Preferences page (or click here to return to the previously default template).
And best of all -- and thanks to Smarty -- this redesign was done without having to press a "Rebuild" button of any kind.
Many thanks to Jesper for some CSS troubleshooting and the only person I know that has IE 5 handy. If anyone out there knows how to make the CSS even more consistent across all known browsers, please let me know.
Note: If you don't see the Matrix theme I've applied, it may be due to your existing style preference for this site. Click here to set your style to the Matrix theme.
Update: Whew, didn't suck. Except for the painfully abrupt ending. The whole theater moaned together in unison when it happened. I agree with Kottke that some of the CGI was less lifelike than advertised. You should stay after the credits roll for the Revolutions teaser. Oh and I won't be adding any tool tips to my Matrix navigation thing -- it should be cryptic looking. The font is a wee bit bigger now so it should be more readable.
Update: OK, we're back to the regular theme now. Just hop over to preferences if you prefer to keep using the Matrix theme.
Good lord Brad! Did you have some extra time on your hands? Looks neato!
I've been toying with the redesign idea for a week or so. Collected the graphics and so forth, but I finally got to it as of 3 AM today. By 8 I had it all working pretty well with a few loose CSS ends to tie. Not bad for a programmer if I do say so myself. I owe my inspiration to the Wachowskis though. The Flash piece was something I found at FlashKit and tweaked a bit to allow for URL mapping.
:) It does look good, yep.
I was a little shocked when I saw it, An nice homage, quite tasteful. As far as the movie goes, I'm a sucker for spoilers. A guy at work decided to email me the whole synopsis. I've already verbally slapped myself for reading it. Enjoy the movie.
Looks fantastic! I can't wait to go to the screening tonight at 10. I just got back from getting my ticket. The trailer looks amazing, so I really don't think this one is going to suck.
Wow... this is really clever! I hope that you enjoy the movie tonight. I myself am going to wait and (hopefully) see this tomorrow night. I can't wait!
Wow, very cool. :) I can't wait to see the movie!
sweeeeet!!
kickass layout
I blogged about your layout, but realized I neglected to mention to you how much I like it. ;)
Very tasteful. Classy. Not over the top. I love the sidebar menu. I didn't notice that it was actually words at the beginning.
Now a question... are you going to keep this up until Revolutions in November? ;)
kickass design. just saw the film tonight. will see it again i'm sure. cheers!
Sweet redesign!
I see what you mean
Couldn't this be solved with
background: #fff url(/blo/images/neo_matrix.png) bottom right no-repeat fixed;
On the div you want the image on. I may be wrong but try it anyway, hope it helps
-Db
Hey, i love the new theme. i did something similar for reloaded as well!
check out my site to see it.
tenkai
Well, that kicks the crap out of my redesign for my techlog. Excellent job.
I just noticed that your background image is randomely selected on every page...that's awesome.
nice redesign job!
Quick loading and looks marvelous on Mozilla. Nice job. :)
I have to ask: what font are you using for the navigation up there in the upper right? I used to have it, but lost it in a computer glitch along with a bunch of others and I'm trying to redownload some of my faves. That was one of them.