Welcome to my Web Dev & Creative Blog. I'm a web developer interested in technology, design and photography.
This gallery contains 46 photos.
I found these screen dumps last week whilst trying to free up some space on the old Think Pad. I used a combination of Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator to create the graphics, I can’t remember which versions but almost certainly … Continue reading
So I’ve now tried three different online back up solutions for my home data. They’ve all worked but all have had the same flaw, they can’t deal with external drives. Backup for the PCs internal drive structure has always worked, … Continue reading
Every time I come to write an SQL query that uses the current time against a time stamp in a record, someone always seems to suggest a different way of solving the problem. That in itself isn’t an issue, there’s … Continue reading
Now here’s a cool app. Strava, available for Android, iPhone and Garmin devices. Basically it tracks your journey and allows you to compare your results with other app users that may have completed the same route. It goes further still … Continue reading
Here’s the scenario. In 1998 I registered a domain with the American company Register.com, I don’t know why I used this particular registrar, they probably came out on top on Hotbot or Lycos. The years went by and I’d annually fork out … Continue reading
I’m still trying to get my head round Microsoft’s crisitism of our comapny website this week. Yes, Microsoft. The comapny that revolutionised the web with Internet Explorer, the Firebrands that changed the face of search with Bing and bossed development … Continue reading
I came across this issue after kicking off an automatic upgrade to WordPress 3.3. The visual tool-bar disappears and it’s no longer possible to swap to code view. After a little searching about I found this solution. You’ll probably need … Continue reading
I’d only ever played around with JavaScript as a way of achieving something within a development environment. I’d given little thought to object orientation and code reuse- ability, focusing more on write once, use once and move on as soon as the thing was working. … Continue reading
I’ve been looking at content management today. We need to upgrade our current CMS as the front end isn’t giving us the flexibility we need. There are a million CMS products available, all offering more simplicity than the next, the … Continue reading
So now I can update my blog by using the fantastic WordPress Android app. Brilliant, why has this taken so long? WordPress, Android and HTC, what a fantastic combination.
Last month Joyent ceased to support their Connector suite of applications, the combined email, contacts and calendar app, next month they’ll be stopping the service completely. The Ruby on Rails app is several years old now and can’t really keep … Continue reading
We run a dynamic website that retrieves information from a relational database. There’s lots of content involved across loads of domains and in several languages, this makes the site fairly heavy. Performance is as important as ever and it’s only … Continue reading
One of the most attractive aspects for WordPress has to be the method of upgrade. A simple message appears on the dashboard in the manner of desktop software and you’re one click away from all the latest goodies. For me, … Continue reading
The 5oth anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s journey into space seemed like an appropriate time to talk about Russian graphic design I’ve always liked the simplicity of Russian design. The heroics of the people, the sweeping blocks of colour and style. … Continue reading
I’ve been working on a project over the last week that involves fairly heavy use of Stored Procedures. It’s not a new technology and we’re not that new to it either, it’s just that during the development cycle the logic … Continue reading
I’ve been working with cookies for the last couple of days, also known as a web cookie, browser cookie, and HTTP cookie (got that from Wikipedia). For some reason I always end up getting confused about what cookie is written … Continue reading
I’ve been using WordPress to blog in various places for a number of years now, but it’s only recently that it’s started to live up to what it should have been. WordPress seems to be converging at point where all … Continue reading
Amid much fanfare Firefox 4 was released today. I watched and listened to the event live on the web, and heard the download count increase in its hundreds of thousands to whooping and applause. It sounds boring, a load of … Continue reading
So we get broadband installed with our new Sky package and it’s advertised at a fairly respectable 20 Mbps. Start the machine up and everything connects fine, the wireless password works and the router is doing the business, wicked. Or … Continue reading
I’ve been using Google Analytics a lot recently and at work it’s become an invaluable tool that guides all our online activity. The wealth and sheer depth of information available is staggering, as is the functionality afforded the user courtesy … Continue reading
As the spring sun shone through our office window this morning I came across a couple of great things online that made the already great day even better. The first is an online code editing app from Mozilla Labs called … Continue reading
I have a couple of great additions to my world of web development that are worthy of a mention. The first is the discovery of WebDevRadio, a site based around a set of regularly updated podcasts on web development issues. … Continue reading
I’ve been working on the same project for several months now so haven’t really had the opportunity to mess around with new web page layout ideas. After looking around at what’s going on in the more visual fields of web … Continue reading
2008s project at work will be the next step in our re branding exercise, the development of an in house application to manage our content, otherwise known as a CMS. The technology will come courtesy of Microsoft’s .NET framework, that … Continue reading
When I first built my website things where different, the web was still very much a media to look at and navigate, rather than to interact with like it is now. Initially I hand built HTML pages to show my … Continue reading
I wrote earlier this week about the rebranding process we’re going through at work, and the problems that have surfaced regarding static legacy pages. The curse of the WYSIWYG has reeked havoc amongst the ranks, the files now stand in … Continue reading
There are busy times ahead. The company I work for as a web developer is changing its name, brand and identity. It is, to say the least, a task that involves an incredible amount of commitment and organisation from every … Continue reading
Photoshop Elements, a fantastic product and a piece of marketing genius. A stripped down version of the fully fledged software install, with all the functionality you’re likely to need unless you work in Hoxton or drink Latte Coffee or wear … Continue reading
I think I’m okay when it comes to technology, not like a geeky genius or anything, but able to have at least a limited grasp of how digital devices work and interact with each other. There are times however when … Continue reading
Okay, the 2012 logo, I like it. All too often with these things we end up with a fairly predictable corporate logo that looks like something that fronts a local council recycling initiative. What we have been presented with is … Continue reading