Plan B - When Your Clients Don't Pay

So, last month I reported my new plan to get my delinquent clients to pay, well, it didn't work. I didn't even get a response from them.

So I send them phase 2, and the email was a bit more dramatic:

All you owe me is $375.00. (I've attached the invoices)

And if you pay me now, my kids will have food on the table and maybe some presents for Christmas.

You can pay with a credit card online by going here: http://www.goycodesign.com and clicking on the paypal pay now button.

Have a wonderful day. And remember, just $375.00. That's nothing for you, but it's my electric, phone and water bill for this month.

jorge

This picture is the picture I attached to the email. This actually got a response. They thought it was cute, and the boss would talk to the accountant. And why wouldn't it get a response...she's so cute. I actually couldn't get her to make a sad face...even her sad face looked like a smile.

Well, it's been a couple of weeks, and still no check in the mail. So I've sent Phase 3. I'll report on that soon. Still haven't figured out what Phase 4 will look like...maybe a flash game. Hmm.

Hope your clients are paying.

jorge

Crazy Animals Flash Game

I've just finished a little Flash game and posted it on my website. It's an easy game...well, it starts out easy, then gets more difficult.

You choose an animal from either a pig, a chicken or a bee, and you keep your cursor away from them. Ever 5 seconds, another animal is added to the field. Like I said, it gets harder pretty quick.

The pig is the slowest, and the bee is fast.

I've had the idea for a game like this one for a while now, but finally found the solution I needed. I needed to be able to have the animals appear in a random place on the field so that they would not all follow the same path. Otherwise, they just bounce off the walls and floor.

There is one problem in that I don't know how to check for where the mouse is and them offset the placement of the next animal. If you play this enough, you'll see that every once in a while the next animal will appear right on top of your cursor and it will end the game...sorry.

I had some trouble with the animals not going away once the game finished, but I got that figured out with a simple:

removeMovieClip(ball);

The original animal instance name on each level is called "ball".

I always learn new things with every game. This one was no exception. At the end, notice where the final "timer" number is displayed, well, I wanted to display how many animals (score) were on the field when you "lost".

So I took the "timer" variable (_root.timer), and I needed to divide that by 5 (remember that every five seconds a new animal appears). Well, I got that working with this:

score = Math.floor(_root.timer/5+1);

Oh, the "Math.floor" thing is ActionScript for "Round Down". The score was displaying with a decimal (like 8.3 or 2.7) and I needed it to display a round number. (thanks to flashkit forums for help with that!)

Also, you'll notice that I needed to add "1". I had to do this because when you start the game, one animal is on the field, which means that there is not animal accounted for in the 1st 4 seconds.

The animal noises on the title screen were made by my 2 year old boy.

I drew these cute little animals in Flash, and you'll be seeing them again soon.

The title font is "Loki Cola"

Enjoy the game: [Play Crazy Animals]

jorge

Lightbox, Pitching and Coffee

Lightbox is a simple, unobtrusive script used to overlay images on the current page. It's a snap to setup and works on all modern browsers.

That's what the Lokesh Khadar website say about it. Lokesh Khadar is the author of the project.

You've probably seen the effect: You click on a thumbnail and the window goes black with a little white box in the middle of it. Then the box spreads tall and then wide and...BING...there's the large version of the thumbnail you just clicked on.

Well, it's free, and you can download it at the huddletogether.com site.

I just updated the dogonawall.com website (fine art pet portraits) with it and I think it looks great.

In fact, you don't have to do it to just one image...you can make a slideshow of sorts, you know, the kind you click through. I think it's perfect for portfolios.

It was very easy to set up. The download on the project page includes everything you need as far as explanations and files.

Wordpress.com uses it (or something like it) to preview themes, so do many other sites. In fact, it could become one of those things that gets overused and users get tired of, but in the meantime, I am digging it.

Good job Lokesh Dhakar. Keep it up. Looking forward to your "secret projects" (especially the rediculous ones). Check out his blog to find stuff like Baseball Pitch Diagrams and Coffee Drinks Illustrated.

Hope this helps.

Jorge

Destroy my Website

NetDisaster.com is a fun little toy you can use to destroy the website you love to hate.

Here's a link to destroy my website. (using ants)

You can type in whatever website URL you want and choose whatever method of destruction you want (spill coffee, nuke, meteors, flood, ants, etc.) and watch it go.

This reminds me of some old screensavers on the mac.

They even have an FAQ, a wallpapers section, a way for you to put a netdisaster toolbar on your browser, and even add a javascript code to your website so visitors can destroy your site.

The FAQ is actually pretty funny, check out an excerpt:

Does it really destroy websites? If I do attack a site, does it show up when people go on it?
Of course not. When you choose a page to be destroyed by Netdisaster, the actual page is neither altered, nor harmed or even stored by Netdisaster. Only you see a modified version on your side. The only way to make your disaster public is to give its URL (such as http://www.netdisaster.com/ go.php?url=www.site-cible.com&etc...) by e-mail or a link on a site.

I've attacked a few sites, that's pretty cool, but now, how can I have them back to their normal state?!
Imagine that you're wearing rose-tainted glasses. You're looking at the Eiffel Tower through them, and say: "Oh God, the Eiffel Tower is pink! How can I restore its original color?!" Actually, all you have to do is take off your glasses and look at the Eiffel Tower directly, without filter, and realize that the Tower is unchanged. Nobody else noticed any change, but you.

Now, say you've built a replica of the Eiffel Tower, painted it in pink, and set it up at the Place de la Concorde. Passers-by are shocked that the Eiffel Tower has changed its colour. It's just that the actual Eiffel Tower is at the Champ de Mars. The one at the Place de la Concorde is a fake! All they have to do to see an unchanged Eiffel Tower is go to its actual location.

It's pretty much the same with Netdisaster.

If the address (in your browser's address bar) starts with http://www.netdisaster.com? go.php&mode=etc..., then you are not currently browsing the actual site, but its filtered replica. To browse the original target-site, all you have to do is go to its real address, e.g. http://www.yahoo.com. The "original site" button in Netdisaster's option bar is meant for that very purpose.

By the way, think about it: if you'd try to actually change the color (or size) of the actual Eiffel Tower, this would be a tough job, and they wouldn't give you a chance to do it! Well, it's the same with Netdisaster.

It's funny that they had to put up these explinations.

Enjoy

jorge

How to Start a Graphic Design Business

Well, although the title of this post sounds like I know all the answers, I don't. But I know what worked for me, and it was not difficult.

This post assumes you have clients and a computer and some graphic design skills. Oh, and that you are not starting a graphic design business in College Station, Texas (where I live). If so, there are already quite a few graphic designers in town, so you are free to give it a shot, but there's quite a bit of competition.

First thing you'll need to do is pick a business name and go to your local courthouse and register your "Assumed Name" or DBA (Doing Business As). Your DBA makes it so that you can legally do business under a "fictitious" name (other than your own name) and receive payments and represent yourself using this name.

This will cost somewhere around $10.00 to $50.00 depending on your state and county. Some states require that you publish your DBA in the local newspaper.

You'll need this to open a business bank account at your bank. You'll want a business bank account so you can receive payments from company checks made out to you business name.

Once you've done this, you'll need to go to your local State Comptroller and register with them. Tax requirements vary from state to state. Some states do not require payment of sales tax on "services" or "consulting" but require it on "products". Texas for example requires I pay sales tax on %100 of services done for print, and only %80 of services rendered for Web (classified under "Data Processing Services"). And I only charge sales tax on Texas residents. Also, I don't charge Non-Profits and when I'm being hired on by another agency as contract (they pay the sales tax).

You can set up with the Comptroller when you will pay your sales tax; monthly, quarterly, etc.

That's about it.

Hope this helps

Jorge