Taking SlideShowPro a step further, DomineyDesign just released SlideShowPro Director, a browser-based application that let’s you manage slideshows. It installs on any Linux server with PHP/MySQL, has an intuitive Ajax-driven user interface for managing all your photos, creates thumbnails in a snap, plus a whole lot more. The demo is quite impressive. I hope compatibility with Windows servers comes soon. I’d love to incorporate it into a few projects I have coming through the pipeline.
Year: 2006
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SlideShowPro Director
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Live Redesign
Nevermind the mess. I’ll be updating the look and feel of the site live over the coming weeks. I’ve been toying with a few concepts in Photoshop, and have finally decided on a direction to take. I had hoped to just unveil a new design, and I certainly still could… but I feel like this route is the saner way for me to go. (Plus, it fits into my schedule better, which is entirely too hectic sometimes.)
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Cork’d
Cork’d is a delightfully refreshing niche site devoted to reviewing and sharing experiences with wine. Developed by Dan Cederholm (SimpleBits) and Dan Benjamin (Hivelogic), Cork’d allows you to rate the wines you’ve tasted, keep track of the wine you own, and shop for the wines you’d like to buy.
I’m going to be honest here: I don’t drink a whole lot of wine these days, but I will enjoy a glass or two on special occasions. I don’t think you have to be a hardcore wine afficianado in order to use Cork’d. Quite the contrary, actually. I think this is going to be the perfect site for people who have been a little afraid to try out new wines, because they didn’t know what to expect of them. (I’d tell you about the time I first sampled a Pinot Grigio, but I’ll refrain. It’s just too painful a memory.)I have bought wine in the past that I truly enjoyed, and forgotten what it was. I have bought wine, based on the design of a label, or the uniqueness of a bottle… only to be completely and utterly disappointed by the taste. Now, I can see what others think about wines, before I bite the bullet and buy a bottle.
If you sign up, add me (cdharrison) as one of your “Drinking Buddies”!
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MacBook, Whoa.
So, let me get this straight, Apple… It’s $1299 for the top-end white MacBook, and it’s $1499 for the black MacBook, and the only differences being the enclosure color and 20Gb extra hard drive space? You’re not serious, right? Should we expect black to cost more in the future on all Mac products?
Sure, one could argue their supply of black MacBook’s will be in higher demand, hence the higher price… but it couldn’t be that much more to produce … Certainly not $200 more to produce. What’s the deal here??? -
Change is Coming
Inspired by the amazing redesigns of Bryan Veloso (AvalonStar) and Jeff Croft I am more motivated than ever to do something about my site. I had hoped to have something ready in time for the Spring CSS Reboot, but the May 1st deadline came and went. So now, I’m being a little more realistic and I’m giving myself more time to plan and execute something new and different.
Goals for the Redesign
- Improve overall organization of the site.
- Better showcase my design and coding capabilities.
- Give people a reason to come back.
Personal Goals for the Site
- Post on a more regular schedule.
- Improve the quality of posts.
Color Palette
This is the new color palette I am considering, but the final design may deviate from it somewhat:
So, stay tuned…
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Invisible Children
Got this today via email, and I thought I’d pass it on…
From Scott V.: Tonight the Documentary “Invisible Children”, about how the lives of children in Uganda are effected by the civil war, is playing for FREE at the Imperial Theater [in Augusta, GA], all you have to do is show up. It starts at 6:30pm, the filmmakers will be on hand to speak after the film, pretty cool. Learn more at http://www.invisiblechildren.com/
I’m doubtful I’ll be able to go, but checking out the website really has piqued my interest. Let me know if you end up going. I’d love to hear what you thought about the movie, and the reality of life in Uganda it discusses…
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Reboot
Not yet. Maybe not for several days. Not enough time over the past few days… I’ll keep ya posted.
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What Have I Become?
I never thought I would hear myself utter the words,"’I sound like my parents." But it happened. When I said it, I did so in a half-joking manner, but now that I think about it more, I don’t think I was joking. Let me explain…
We’re staying at the Crowne Plaza Hotel here in Macon, GA where Kim is attending a two-day seminar on teen substance abuse. In addition to having this event for mental health professionals, there’s been some sort of event for high school FFA clubs going on. Not a big deal, right? Wrong.
Our end of the hall probably has around five or six rooms of teenagers. I was made aware of this fact by the increase of traffic in the stairwell next to our room and in the hallway outside of our room. For a better part of the day, I could hear kids walking from room to room, slamming doors here and there. I could hear kids stomping their feet up and down the stairwell. (I joked to Kim that it sounded like they "brought their cows with 'em". She didn’t get it right away.) Anyway, until about midnight I "tolerated" these inconsiderate kids as they galavanted up and down the hallway and stairwell. At midnight, I did what my parents would have done: I called the front desk and complained.
Typically, I wouldn't care. I’m a heavy sleeper. Noise doesn't bother me. Now that I have a fourth-and-a-half month old, though, noise has to be a concern for me.
So, back to the realization that Kim and I had in the car… We are becoming our parents, because we are parents. So, if we sound like our parents… maybe that’s not such a bad thing.
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Seven
Microsoft just released Windows Internet Explorer 7, Beta 2.
I’ve had some issues with past releases, so I am going to approach this latest release with a bit more caution… I can’t really get away with a statement like that without clarifying, can I?
I installed IE7, Beta 1 and a subsequent candidate release… It worked great, for the most part. My problems with it started when Network Neighborhood in XP started to crash every time I launched it. Then other things tied in with the browser started acting buggy… xml rendering, printing, etc. I finally decided to remove it. Had a heck of a time doing so. After two unsuccessful uninstallation attempts I was able to get it off of my machine. I’ve still had some issues with my system ever since IE7 left its mark… but it’s at least been more stable.
So, as I said earlier, I’ll approach this new release with some degree of caution. Beta software means not ready for primetime. I gotta remember that :)
I am certainly intrigued by what’s being offered now… Microsoft has setup a site devoted to IE7 Add-Ons, with plugins galore to help you extend Internet Explorer. CSS rendering was improved in the last release candidate… but that enhancement should be present in this latest release – and probable refined even further. Add to that tabbed browsing, web search right from the toolbar, advanced printing, easy discovery, reading and subscription to RSS feeds, and much more and IE7 is quickly becoming the browser most of us had hoped it would become five years ago.
I won’t bash Microsoft (much) for slacking off of IE development for as long as they have. I’m sure they had their reasons. I’m glad they’ve decided to refocus their efforts and truly make IE7 a better product than its predecessor.
Will I switch back to IE from Firefox? I dunno. Not any time soon. (And definitely not on my Mac.) But I can sleep better at night knowing that IE7 is going to be better for all of us.