A Shot in the Dark

Remember that photography site I was thinking about making? Yeah, I made it. It was one of those things that I start and can’t stop until it is finished. It has actually been “done” for about a week now, but there was some stuff that I wanted to fix/update. I decided today that it is good enough for now.

As I am way too lazy to design my own stuff now, I decided to go with 3formed’s Clean Grey. I then used Zenphoto as my photo backend. I didn’t like the way Zenphoto displayed each image on a separate page, so I wrote a theme for Zenphoto using LightboxEx, which is a modified version of Lightbox 2 that includes slideshow functionality.  I am pretty happy with how it turned out. Hopefully, you feel the same.

Check it out at http://www.ashotinthedark.ca

Tidbits

No, not Timbits, but I would like some of those. I haven’t had those in a while, in fact, I haven’t had Tim Horton’s anything in a while. I think I might go on Monday. The only problem is that the Tim Horton’s at the University is always busy, like really busy. The line stretches across Mac Hall most times. I don’t think I’ll go to that one.

In other news, police surrounded a convenience store today, where a sasquatch was attempting to buy Haagen Dazs.

I bought a new domain name, ashotinthedark.ca. I was hoping to get just shotinthedark.com/ca but that was, as I thought it probably would be, taken. I think I am going to create a photography website for myself there. I’m not sure though and if I do, it won’t be coming anytime soon. I was also thinking about redesigning this site. I’ve always known that it doesn’t display correctly in browsers using the Webkit engine, like Safari and now Google Chrome. I have never figured out why though. My code is 100% standards compliant (minus the YouTube embed code and the Lightbox JS CSS, which isn’t my code).  Those exceptions are not the problem though. It hasn’t ever displayed properly and I didn’t have an embedded video or Lightbox originally. I haven’t really cared before because it isn’t a very big difference and I don’t have many visitors from Safari and gang.

However, lately the design and the fact that it doesn’t display properly in some browsers has started to bother me. I think it is time for a change. It will probably take a while though, so don’t get excited. I’ve also decided that I’m done with doing websites for other people. That means that in the redesign, the portfolio will probably be gone. I’m also thinking that I am going to redirect all traffic from mapledesign.ca to here too. I hate that site. I threw it together quite quickly using a design from OpenWebDesign.org and always meant to change it. Well, I never did and I don’t like it.

I spent $10 USD on glowsticks today at the dollar store. I got quite a bit, which was awesome. I got four four packs, two six packs, three individual ones and one lantern thing. The lantern was really cool. I think I got a pretty good deal. They were well worth the $10.

As for my schooling this year, I changed my major. Well okay, not technically. I didn’t submit an application in time last year and am, therefore, still a computer science major. I am, however, not taking any computer science courses. I am taking courses that will go toward a geology degree. I am pretty excited and happy so far. All the courses that I took last year transfer over nicely, so that’s pretty awesome.

Well, I think that is about that I have to share right now. Sorry for not posting in a long time. Hopefully my next post won’t be in a couple months. Oh, for those that were wondering, or even if you weren’t, the Canadian copyright legislation (Bill C-61) is dead. Since we are having an election in a month, the Parliament has been dissolved and that legislation, along with a few others, died. That doesn’t mean that copyright reform won’t take place, it just means that particular attempt failed. Copyright reform will come back though, regardless of who wins the election. This is what Michael Geist had to say a few days before the election call:

“Raising the profile of copyright has required thousands of Canadians to pro-actively contact their elected representatives. Starting next week, those same representatives (and would-be representatives) will be seeking you out.  They will be knocking on doors, making phone calls, attending all-candidates meetings, and generally doing their best to convince voters that they will best represent their interests. I believe that this presents an exceptional opportunity to ask the question – where do you stand on important digital issues such as C-61 and Canadian copyright reform?  Does your local Conservative candidate support the reintroduction of Bill C-61 or would they work toward amendments before it returns?  Is your local Liberal candidate willing to commit to public consultations before the introduction of any new copyright bill?  Is your NDP or Green candidate firmly against the approach in C-61?  These are the questions (along with positions on net neutrality, telecom competition, broadband access, and privacy) that need to be asked again and again and again this fall.  Bill C-61 may be about to die, but the prospect of Canadian DMCA-like legislation remains very much alive.”

New Site

I am pleased to present to you, my fine readers, my latest web development project. Over the last little while I have been working on a redesign for my sister’s Music for Children business website. Without further ado, here it is:

The design is based on one of my favourite OSWD designs, Pat Heard’s lazydays. I love the original design and I love our modified design. I did a lot of the graphical work for our design, which isn’t something I normally do. I got some new software, as you are probably aware from my last post, which made it really easy to do. The one thing that was surprising hard was making the grass. It took a long time, but in the end it was worth it.

I am really happy with the way this website turned out. Just as before, it is powered by WordPress. I love WordPress, I use it for everything I can. If you haven’t tried it, I’d give it a shot.

If you want to check out the site for reals, you can find it at http://www.musicforchildren.ca.

IE Problems Fixed

Well, I finally got around to fixing the IE problems. It didn’t take very long, I just didn’t really ever feel like doing it until today.

Also, the domain is now http://www.maplesfortunes.com. joelsteeves.com should still work, as will maplesfortunes.ca.

New Design

Well, as you have probably noticed I finished the new design. There is still some bugs to work out, but I’ll hopefully get those all fixed with in the next couple days. If you notice something unusual please do tell. I already know about how the navigation on the right is longer than the rest of the page on some pages.

Oh, and I haven’t switched over the domain yet. I’ll do that once I get all the bugs worked out. And I would like to know what you think. I spent a lot of time on this and I value your feedback. That means you Alex. I know you’re reading this, so you really should comment.

EDIT: I’ve got the right navigation acting the way it should. The only thing I can find now is the portfolio page. I’m working on that.

Hosting at Site5

Okay, so here is the deal. I’m currently being hosted at Site5. I love it. I have never had any problems with them, unlike my other crappy hosting company. They have this wicked awesome back end they call Backstage and it is so easy to use. It looks awesome too. They are also very nicely priced. You get so much for so little.

Basically, what I am trying to say is that if you need web hosting, Site5 is where it’s at. I’m not going to lie, I do make money off of each person I get to sign up. I wouldn’t be doing this, however, if I didn’t actually like Site5. I absolutely love it, I wouldn’t recommend any other place. So, if you do decide Site5, please click on one of the links above so I do get money, because I need it. Thanks!
On another note, I bought two new domains. Look for those in the next few days.

Neglect/A Web Developer’s Plea

This site has been neglected. I do apologize for that, but I have been busy working on many other projects. I finished the Blue Ridge Outfitters site, finally. I’m also working on a site for a photographer and her business, Precious Portrait. I am also redoing the SCHS site, cause the last one sucked, big time. This time, I’m doing it without them saying what they want, because what they want just doesn’t work. Like hover dropdown menus. Yeah, I can do it, but it is annoying for the end user (and me!). I am also working on a Maple Design revamp, because lets be honest, the current design sucks. I also finished a new version of the Kodaly Music for Children site. I’m also working on a site that has stuff for sale, so that when we put an ad in the paper, we can just put the website. Then people can go look at pictures, and get more details etc.
Now, for the plea. If any of you reading this are using Internet Explorer, please stop. Go get yourself a real browser, such as Firefox. I am sick and tired of having to rewrite code, and add special stylesheets for stupid IE. So please, do a web developer a favour and switch browsers. Please! IE also has many problems besides not being standards compliant, oh such as security. So it is in your best interest (and mine) for you to switch over to something else. Visit StopIE for more info.

Server Crash and Move

Okay, so heres the scoop. Yesterday, my MySQL database corrupted. My backup was also corrupted. Anywho, after that my server crashed, and now I am being hosted through site5. So far they are really good. As you can probably notice, the design is gone. I am working on that. I also lost the post data, but thanks to Google Cache, I should be able to repost everything, then just edit the timestamps. It did allow me to upgrade though, so I am now running the lastest version of wordpress.

New Design

Well, as you have probably noticed, I changed the design and layout of the site. I didn’t actually technically design this myself, I got it from Open Source Web Design. I was too lazy to do it myself. I still had to make it work with WordPress though. That took like 6 hours or so, I know its a long time just to take something that is already made and apply it, but there was so many small details and such. Anyways, its all done now, or at least I think it is. If you encounter any problems, or strange things, please do report them. Thanks, I hope you like it.

New Design

I went ahead and created a new design. So far, I’m liking it. I made the header image in GIMP. I actually made it for my wallpaper (which I am still using it for). Then it gave me inspiration for my blog. I had always wanted to redesign it, as I really didn’t want to use the default theme that anyone who installs WordPress has. If you notice something not working properly, or something, please tell me. I need to know these things. Also, I would appriecate feedback on the design. Well, thats about all for now.