Category Archives: Web

FOWD 2009

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Future of Web Design over with for another year then and I have to say my first conference was an overwhelming success. Started well, with meeting @boagworld, @stanton, @ryanhavoc, @mikestickler, @anna_debenham, @nofont, @BHardcastle and @dkirk (twitter usernames of course) in the Prince of Teck at Earl’s Court, unfortunately had to bail to finish the current Virgin Insider build, but alas it was still fun. Except the getting stick for not having an iPhone, however after the next couple of days I definitely want one. I just upgraded on Orange. Bugger.

Molly Holzschlag on stage at FOWD 2009 - Flickr image from user: vectorfunk

Molly Holzschlag on stage at FOWD 2009 - Flickr image from user: vectorfunk

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The long quiet

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Since my last blog I travelled by bicycle from London to Amsterdam to Brussels. I also started competitive triathlon. I was promoted. I found a few awesome web applications.

It might have been a few months since I blogged, as I was rebuilding my site from the ground up, however I recently decided to maintain WordPress as my blogging platform – so I can add blogs without having to re-build the databases later… leaving about 5 months of blogging to do.
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Slash, sponsorship and .net

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Slash!

It has been a fun few weeks! Last week I went to see Velvet Revolver, the super group made up of members from Stone Temple Pilots, Guns ‘n’ Roses and Wasted Youth, and afterwards in the private bar met Slash and Scott Weiland. Both seemed bloody nice chaps, although Weiland appeared to be the only person in the UK allowed to smoke indoors at the gig. Now that’s power.

I was extremely disappointed that while writing this I found that Velvet Revolver have parted company with Scott Weiland, Slash citing his “increasingly erratic behaviour” as the reason! Well I never!

Slash was a bloody nice chap too. And my f**king God was he good on guitar! Unbelievable in fact.

The Friday after the gig was my first sponsorship deadline, which I just about reached, with the rest on its way. Great news – I am definitely cycling to Amsterdam and Brussels in June then!! Hoorah! Speaking of which I did my first training ride on Saturday – only 20 miles, but it’s a start. This weekend I will do 40 miles and then the following weekend I will try all the way to Deal to see mother and Grandad!

The final update is possibly the best bit – for me anyway. Up there with meeting Slash! I was in .net magazine! Now it was only readers sites, but the site Griff designed for www.challengebee.org, that I built over a couple of nights a few months ago is one of the sites featured on page 18. Nice screen shot, blurb that I wrote and picture of me and the Griff. I am proud! Next up is writing a decent article for the mag, which I am sure I could do!! I’ll scan and upload to this post asap! Probably tomorrow!

At least Microsoft know Outlook 2007 isn’t very good…

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Microsoft disclaimer!

So just after receiving an email asking why a complicated HTML email didn’t work in Outlook 2007 and explaining that since it uses Word to render HTML it was never going to display everything right. Obviously some people just don’t understand this.

However with almost perfect timing I got an email from xBox Live (Microsoft run) with the disclaimer above shown right at the top! Yes, Microsoft themselves are suggesting you read the HTML email in a browser rather than their own email client!

“Read this issue online if you can’t see the images or are using Outlook 2007″

Now I accept that Microsoft may be correct in that HTML should not have been used for emails at all, emails should be plain text, end of. However if you are then going to support HTML partially, whilst using HTML emails in your own marketing, with a disclaimer against your own product, something is very wrong somewhere! Anyway, all the clients I work for won’t pay for plain text emails, therefore HTML emails kind of keep me in a job!

Anyway, I found this amusing, hope you do too.

Proud! Yet disappointed…

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Hello magazine. That is the reason I have just felt a moment of pride for where I work and what I do. Yes I enjoy doing my work, love where I work and when the two combine and a website where I did all the front end and had some influence in the functionality and design (Griff, as normal, was awesome) is a great feeling. Although it would have been nice if it hadn’t taken me getting all the way back to Durham to mention possibly being in Hello magazine, only to find out my mother has a copy with a Gyro ad in it, and I didn’t even know for sure we were in! It was Hello for God’s sake. I have had emails saying we are on fecking petrol pump, so tell us properly when my work shall be in one of the best sellers!! Apart from that rant I am quite proud that a website I built the front end for has been featured in Hello magazine (even without sign off, eh Barnaby!!). I also asked for 4 weeks, not the 2 and a bit I got (with luck) so well done me on getting the job done anyway, God knows I don’t have time to go back and improve it! Unfortunately.

Other news includes that CodeIgnitor is awesome, still. TotSocks are gonna be big, hopefully.

Stephen Fry and Boris Johnson are my heroes and I wish I could be either of them!!

I have also found that Hot Shots: Part Deux has ruined any possible chance of me enjoying either Rambo 2 or 3 without giggling at the slightest hint of a Charlie Sheen joke. Or any other joke in that film, to be fair!!

And finally, in the top of Division 3 (Hackney and Leyton league) clash, Hospital Tavern (my current team) overcame the favourites for the league Highstone FC in a 3-2 victory. What a great result, and it must mean that we can go on to challenge for both the league and the last remaining cup. Although if being picked up on one error in that game means I get dropped for the quarter final cup game, I will be so disappointed, I’m not sure I could handle it!! Here’s to the slim chance of us winning the league!!