Tag: Web Dev

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My New Music Site

Ladies and Germs, introducing ChathamMusic.com.

I finally took what used to be http://music.www.willchatham.com and created a separate site just for it. Now that it has its own space to live, I will hopefully be able to generate more traffic for it, and I will be able to keep it better organized. Since it is running atop WordPress, it will be a lot easier to update as well.

I figured that with the generic Chatham Music name, the new site could server for any of the Chathams who decide to record music in the future. For now though, you will find the usual Crain, Cerebellum, Undermine, Second String, The Modlins, The Merle, and music history stuff that has been there for a while. Hopefully I will have more to add soon.

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Links For You

An update for Firefox was released today, bringing it to version 1.5.0.4. I suggest you go get it if you don’t use Firefox, or use the auto-update feature (Help > Check For Updates) in Firefox if you do.

Harvest is a really frigging cool web-based time tracking application. I have been toying with the free demo account and am going to set up a full account when I am done writing this. If you do any sort of freelancing you should check it out.

Today I launched a site I have been working on for a publisher called Enlightened Ink. Glad to see it get out of the starting gate.

After seeing my golf balls slice off to the right every time I hit them last week, I started wondering about The Perfect Swing: Reality or Myth?. Check out all the links to tips at the bottom of the page.

Former AFCCC co-worker Jason seems to have latched onto the wonderful world of blogging quite nicely, putting together a great site for his family.

For you web developers, Vitamin seems to be coming along quite nicely, with great articles from some of the web’s leading minds. And it looks cool too.

Dell has started shipping their higher resolution laptops using a default 120dpi setting for the display. While this helps the readability of text on these systems, it makes an awful bug in Internet Explorer 6 rear its head. What happens is that IE tries to upscale gif images in addition to fonts, thus rendering them very pixellated and jagged. This frustrated me for about a week recently, until I learned the reasoning. If you want to remain at 120dpi but not have the problem, there is a registry hack you can use.

Man, oh man, I want one of these USB turntables so I can finally convert my record collection to digital format. Actually, just to be able to hear some of my old records on a nice system would be great in and of itself.

Adios.

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Sites

Been working on a lot of sites the last few weeks.

Recently launched HeidiClare.com for Heidi Clare, fiddler extraordinaire of the Reeltime Travelers. Be sure to check out the MP3 samples.

Also on the old-time fiddler front comes the launch of BruceGreene.net. Bruce’s site has several very good articles and stories relating to old time music, fiddlers he studies under, and a lot of general lore about Kentucky old-time music. Pretty interesting stuff.

Almost done is a site for a book publisher, which I cannot disclose just yet. Looking forward to seeing it go live.

My new job starts tomorrow. Technically, I am going to be doing this through my existing business, Asheville Technologies, so I guess I can say I am working for myself full time now, which is really pretty darn neat.

I am eager to get this transitional period over with – it’s been a few weeks since I stopped working at AFCCC, and I am finding out that I really like having a predictable schedule. Not that I haven’t enjoyed all the time I’ve spent with the family, but I start feeling edgy when I don’t have a regimine. I must be getting old.

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My Favorite Web Apps

These are some applications (free and not free) that I have been using a lot, and that I would now consider myself unable to live without. All of them are web-based in that they are accessible from the internet and can be logged into from anywhere. This makes working from home, from the office, and from the coffee shop a breeze.

Backpack – http://backpackit.com/
This application is excellent for anyone doing any sort of project management, freelancing, or collaboration. I was skeptical at first when I signed up for the free trial, but then I realized the power after using it for a few weeks. I was hooked when they lowered the price of the mid-level package.

Backpack allows you to set up projects (Pages, as they call them) for each of your projects. Each of these Pages has to-do lists, Notes, file uploads, the ability to share this content with someone, Writeboards, and more.

One of my favorite features is the Reminder feature, which will send you an email and/or a text message on your phone when an event is about to occure. Also, there is the ability to send an email to Backpack and have it be added to a Page automatically. Pretty darn cool.

TimeTracker v2.0 – http://www.formassembly.com/time-tracker/
After trying numerous time-tracking apps that run off my PC, I landed at the TimeTracker web site. I can now set up projects and keep track of how much time I have spent on each. Slices of time can have notes appended to them so I can keep track of what I did during any given time. This makes billing clients for work I have done a breeze. Oh, and it’s free!

ForPerfect CInvoicer – http://www.forperfect.com/seo/cinvoice.php
This is an online billing/invoice system that you have to download and install on a web site yourself, but it does everything I need it to do, albeit a little confusing. I wanted a tool to keep track of client invoices, send out reminders, send out recurring bills automatically, integrate with Paypal and 2checkout, and be reasonably easy to use for clients. This does it all. Configuring it to look and act like I wanted took a little time, but once it was done everything is running smoothly.

It costs $39.95 and requires a little MySQL knowledge to install it. There is a live demo on their web site (linked above).

HipCal – http://www.hipcal.com/
I have talked about HipCal before, and I still love it. It is more feature-rich than any of the other online calendars I have toyed with. For a while I thought 30Boxes was going to trump HipCal, but when their developers showed a lack of interest (if not a defiant stance) in enhancing the repeatability of events, I gave up on them. They are shooting themselves in the foot if you ask me, but I digress…

HipCal rocks, and after their first couple of rocky months (bugs, server issues), things seem to have stabilized and I am enjoying the free calendar a lot. It will send me reminders of events, and has a simple to-do list on the side.

Netvibes – http://www.netvibes.com/
Netvibes keeps getting cooler and cooler. It’s a ‘start page’ of sorts that allows you to customize the layout and content to your liking. You can add your favorite RSS feeds, widgets, email interfaces, and more. They just launched a major upgrade that has a ton of great features. I have tried other similar start pages, but they all suck and are clunky compared to Netvibes.

Summary
That about wraps it up.

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Blogging An Event Apart

I am currently at An Event Apart in Atlanta. It’s almost noon, and I am finally online. The storms that ripped through here last night wreaked a little havoc on the network here at Turner Field, but thanks to some dude sitting at my table, I am currently accessing the Web through an SSH tunnel running off his server somewhere. Everyone else here, crouched by their laptops, keep eyeballing us enviously, wondering how we did this.

I haven’t gotten to meet Eric Meyer yet.

Anyway, the day is half over and so far has been quite interesting. Eric Meyer started off this morning talking about the impending release of Internet Explorer 7 and what it means to web designers. Specifically, he spoke about CSS, bugs, and things that will be fixed. Generally, the news is all good.

Still haven’t gotten to meet Eric Meyer.

Following that, Jeffrey Zeldman got up and walked us through how he created branding narratives. This was especially helpful for me since I am venturing into the world of working for myself (as of today!). There was a lot of good discussion about client relationships, conducting business, and the flow of a project.

After a short break, Jason Santa Maria got up and walked us through his process of redesigning the A List Apart web site. Eric is currently up there talking about how he took Jason’s design, and converted it to a CSS layout.

Haven’t met Eric Meyer yet.

This is great! Check back later for an afternoon update.

Afternoon Update – 3 PM
Zeldman is ripping into the copy on LuLu.com as an example of how one can improve the writing on a web site. Pretty funny stuff.

Still haven’t met Eric Meyer.

3:50 PM
Todd Dominey is speaking in regards to starting your own business, attracting and keeping customers, making things work smoothly, and keeping things in order. He is using his freelance business and the Flash-based photo gallery he created to illustrate these points.

And no, I haven’t met Eric Meyer yet.

4:15
Woohoo! I just met Eric Meyer and got him to sign my copy of Eric Meyer on CSS for me. He commended me on my choice of the Sharpie Ultra-Fine Black pen.

Final Update
Made it back home at 10:30 pm. Whew! It was quite an Event, and I am glad we made the trek. I’m sure I will have more to say about it here soon.

Others who are liveblogging this event:
CSS Insider
Flickr Group for An Event Apart
Jeremy Flint

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Introducing Dump Worthy

While sitting on the toilet reading the lates issue of e-Week today, I had a brilliant stroke of genius. You see, I get all these free magazine subscriptions due to the industry I work in, and I am often amazed at the complete worthlessness of most of them. It took me 6.5 minutes to scan through e-Week, read the articles that looked remotely interesting, then toss the thing in the waste basket.

That is when I found myself saying, “there ought to be a web site that will tell you what magazines are worthy of reading while on the toilet”.

I am proud to present DumpWorthy.com!

I am assembling a crackpot team of writers for the web site now. If you are interested, send the editor an email: editor at dumpworthy.com

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Assorted Stuff

A buddy from one of my favorite online geek hangouts, the Broadband Reports Web Developer board, has been collecting VW commercials on his site for VW lovers. I’ve always been partial to VW’s, having learned to drive in a ’67 Beetle, and their commercials area good reflection of their uniqueness in the auto industry.

This is my last week at my current job, and I am excited. The future is wide open and I am looking forward to trying to make it on my own. I have been working hard at drumming up some web design business, and have 6 sites I am currently working on. I also have a few other irons in the fire, and will write more about those as they (if they?) develop.

Next week is the big week: An Event Apart is on Monday (though I am waiting to find out if I still get to go since I won’t be an official RSIS employee anymore, even though it has been paid for), and Dinosaur Jr. is on Friday. Been looking forward to this for a loooong time.

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More Pics, Other News

I just added the pictures from February to the Ye Olde Photo Gallery. I still have one hour and 12 minutes left before March starts. How you like them timely apples?

I figured I better go ahead and get them up there as I am about to get slammed with a bunch of side projects. That is a good thing though. They all seem to come at once, and really haven’t let up much since October or so.

At my day job I finally got Apache 2 talking to Tomcat via the mod_jk connector. It has been a problem that has had me befuddled for the last couple of weeks. Turned out to be not anywhere near as simplistic as it was in the Apache class I attended a few weeks ago. I found it odd that not until I was a week into this did I learn that mod_jk2 is depricated, and that mod_jk is what I should have been dealing with all along. Seems like they would have mentioned that in the class. The silver lining in the cloud is that I am now much more familiar and confident with both Apache and Tomcat now.

TTFN

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An Event Apart

So the first week in April is going to be one of the best weeks in history. As I have mentioned before, Dinosaur Jr is playing at the Orange Peel. Now I will also be attending An Event Apart in Atlanta!

I got my registration all set up yesterday, and I will be going with Chris, thanks to the education funding provided by our employer. This event will be stellar, as it is given by two of the web design world’s leading coolios: Eric Meyer and Jeffrey Zeldman. As you may know, Eric pretty much cleared the pathway through Cascading Style Sheets, and Zeldman wrote the excellent “Designing With Web Standards“. Additionally, the guest speakers will include Jason Santa Maria and Todd Dominey.

Needless to say, I am stoked as stoked can be!

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