Journal
More Downtime
14th April 2009 21:56 4 CommentsIm trying not to make a habit of this.
There has been yet more downtime on parts of the site recently because of problems with my host (it was an out of date ODBC driver). I've now moved the site over to the same host that the database sits on and everything seems to be working much better.
On another note, Delicious have altered their feed structure (again) meaning that my worth visiting links had broken. I really wish they would stop doing this, will have to see if there is a proper API available. Fixed for now anyway.
Ive checked over the site and everything seems to be working properly, but let me know if anything is broken by leaving a comment.
Read and add comments Back to topSite Downtime
30th January 2009 20:00 56 CommentsJust a quick note about the recent downtime. My host decided to up the prices on their database hosting and it would have cost me an arm and a leg (and maybe a few other limbs) to renew so I was forced to switch to another provider for databii.
Everything should be up and running again now.
Read and add comments Back to topSpiffy Looking New Site
5th June 2008 22:11 10 Comments
Its here at last. The new design has been somewhat delayed for a few months because of other projects that took precedence but I've finally had some time to site down and finish it.
There are still some aspects of the site that need a little polish so let's think of this as a public beta. For example, IE6 users may have to suffer a slightly less slick experience and the accessibility could be much improved since there is a lot of reliance on JavaScripts. I also know that the "Worth Visiting" links do not currently work, this is an issue between me and the del.icio.us API. I'll be looking into this soon.
Enough about the bad, lets hear the good. The new site design has a lot of new features besides the new look and feel. The sidebar on the journal and other pages now reads my feeds from Flickr, Del.icio.us and Last.FM using the Prototype JS library and some AJAX techniques.
These sidebar entries are more complex than they look since there is some caching going on in the background. I'm sure Last.FM wouldn't be too happy if I polled their feed a couple of hundred times every second!
The commenting feature on journal entries is much improved. I've implemented line breaks, an easier to read Captcha image and a clearer division between the articles and each comment.
The photo galleries feed now talks directly to the Flickr API, reading the photosets feed for the gallery list and the actual feed inside each gallery. I've also added a lightbox script more effectively show off each photo if you click for a larger image.
The portfolio page has been re-written from scratch to make it easier for me to maintain and add to. It's even very close to being up to date! This page also uses AJAX to fetch the portfolio entries from my database server. This was the most difficult section of the site to get right since it is also the most important section of the site. There are still some icons missing from the portfolio and I hope to get these uploaded soon.
Other changes include the mix CD section being re-done with new images which look a bit more like CD cases than the old ones used to, a search box for searching entries in the journal, and a better print stylesheet on selected pages such as my online CV.
These are early days and I'm almost sure that both you and I will find some bugs and glitches on the site. If you do, please post any comments and suggestions in the comments section of this article. Hope you like the new look!
UPDATE: The issues I was having with the Del.icio.us API have been resolved, worth visiting links on the journal page should now work.
Read and add comments Back to topSite News
18th December 2007 20:51 4 Comments
I've been working very hard the last couple of weeks (shocking isn't it?) on the new site design. This design is three years old and is beginning to looking very dated so I decided a refresh was in order.
the new design will reflect how far i've come as a designer in the last three years and will show off some ajax techniques and site integration that i've been developing for a long time.
A fresh look is also on the cards, as well as a bigger focus on design and my portfolio. I've collected all the missing pieces from my existing portfolio and trashed some of the older bits and bobs that I was not particularly proud of. I've also added sections for application design and substantially expanded the icon portfolio which I have been adding to in the last few years.
Once I've got the new site up and running (it's nearly done, just a few more pages and a bit of spit and polish), I will have more time to work on some of the projects that have been neglected recently. Namely ClubMates, iSwitcher and a couple more iPhone/iPod friendly sites. I hope to announce the launch of the new site shortly.
In other news i'd like to thank the numerous visitors showing their appreciation for the iBeeb site. The statistics for the site have gone off the chart and I'm glad you all like it. If you wish to make feature requests or just tell me how much you like (or don't like) the application, leave a comment in one of the iBeeb articles.
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Listening To
Flickr Photos
Worth Visiting
Social