Last year, I wrote a PHP, GD, and MYSQL powered hockey title generator. It reads data from a MYSQL database containing player info and stats, pulls logos and portraits from my hard drive, and spits out a .tga file that’s ready to be loaded into our video switcher’s title memory. I’ve been making constant improvements ever since.

Coming in to the 2009-2010 Hockey Season, I decided to give the RPI TV Hockey Titles a makeover. Sure, they looked a lot better, but the 45-degree-rotated-right-angle look didn’t match with the rest of the RPI TV titles. I also made the switch from Franklin Gothic Demi Cond font to Gotham Bold, which had readability improvements but created space issues.

So now, I’ve gone back and combined elements of the 2009 titles with the 2008 style edges-with-a-slope-of-2 and white-gradient-fading-upward design into one glorious bastard child. Gotham Bold goes on a diet to become Gotham Narrow Bold. Font size increases due to the new found horizontal space.

Here’s all the various iterations of my PHP-generated titles below.

2008 version (160 pixels tall, takes up twice as much memory in the video mixer’s memory):

2009 Rev 00:

2009 Rev 01

I just finished the registration process for Spring 2010. Five of the classes I was interested in taking were full, but I still ended up with a schedule I’m satisfied with.

I have absolutely no idea what “E-COMM, SOC. NETS, COLL INTEL” is, as it’s not in the course catalog. I assume it stands for something like “E-Commerce, Social Networks, and Collective Intelligence”, which sounds like something quite interesting. I’m worried though, as Das is teaching it, and Das was the culprit in my DSA shenanigans last Spring.

EDIT: Found the description for CSCI 4963, sounds awesome!

CSCI-4963/01 / 6963/01 E-Commerce, Social Networks, and Collective Intelligence CRNs 53143/53144
The internet has transformed how people interact with each other, lowering the cost of communication, and enabling us to rapidly both discover and pass on new information. This transformation has had major impacts in how we conduct market transactions (think of eBay, Orbitz, or Amazon), how we maintain our social personae (Facebook, Twitter), and how we accumulate and produce knowledge for consumption (Wikipedia, Yelp). This course will cover theoretical foundations of e-commerce and social networks, as well as focusing on practical aspects of understanding how the design of online venues affects the interactions of participants and the success of the venue.