Not an End of Year Reflection

I was going to do one of my traditional “reflect on the year” thingies, but it occurred to me that there’s not much point. I have actually done very little this year that I intended to. Oh sure, I finally managed to get NinjaLinks in to a half working state, and rev.iew.me is doing really well, but these two things are a tiny fraction of what I talked myself in to. I guess this goes back to what I said in my last entry about getting on with stuff and making the most of my time. (Although you guys perhaps misunderstood me… I mean to make the best of my “coding time” so that I have MORE free time for relaxing stuff like my gaming, the pets, etc)

Anyway, instead of the yearly recap, I’m going to talk about one of my Christmas presents. Karl bought me an Acer Aspire One. I had initially wanted the Asus EEE, but having spent some time with Rachael‘s when she came down last I found myself struggling with the keyboard. The AA1 keyboard is much more similar to that of my Dell so I can switch between the two effortlessly.

The whole idea of me getting a netbook is that it’ll help with this efficiency thing. I can code stuff on the move (in otherwise useless time) as well as more frequent access to my e-mail. I hope this helps me get my inbox back down to a more manageable level, especially as the e-mails I made promises about this time last year are still at the bottom of my bloody inbox.

So… the Acer. It is the Linux version (+5 geek points), with an 8GB solid state drive (means I can chuck the thing around!) and 512MB RAM. I’ve ordered an 8GB Micro SD card which — in the M-SD to SD adapter — I can slot in to the side using the specifically made expansion slot. I can also use the card minus the adapter for my mobile phone… not that I ever actually do anything with that.

I’ve already tweaked Linpus (the OS) about, but haven’t made any major changes. I installed Firefox 3 (it’s better behaved under Linux, I’ve found), ditched the unnecessary apps to free up drive space and added a custom desktop wallpaper (this probably sounds like no big deal but I am a Windows girl and it took me a while to figure out where to go!) Those of you interested in the process of tweaking Linpus may find my acer-tagged delicious bookmarks of use.

Of course, if I get too used to Linux, this can only mean one thing for the Dell…

Posted on: December 30, 2008 · Category: Geek

New Year, New Habits

As 2009 is fast approaching, it’s time to start thinking about new years resolutions. It’s about now each year that I groan and decide that resolutions are not for me, knowing full well that any promises of exercise and healthy eating would be down the pan before the first week is out. I want to try a different approach for 2009 though. I know I’m not going to eat less chocolate, no matter how much I promise (although I have just this week cut down to 1 sugar in my coffee instead of 2), so I want to try and attack another bad habit of mine… procrastination and inefficiency.

I really need to pull my act together in the new year and finish off my todo list for rev.iew.me and the quilting bee, and I also need to finish the latest round of updates for my scripts. With this in mind, I’ve decided on the following resolutions:

  1. Complete two things before promising any one script or tutorial. No more “sure, I’ll get that done for you”, only to add yet another trouble to my to-do list.
  2. Work on my scripts. That means releasing the extra spam protection for NinjaLinks, and the collective add-on for BellaBuffs.
  3. Put a little TLC in to my website. I didn’t do much with this site in 2008, and this was reflected in both a half-broken install of WordPress and my slowly dwindling hits.
  4. Don’t be afraid to share responsibility. I’ve got a horde of staff at the quilting bee and several active members of rev.iew.me who I know would gladly help out, but I get paranoid about asking for help. I need to get over this.

I also need to start re-addressing the way I work (at work). I tend to go through ups and downs of productivity, and when I’ve got less on I check my mail and read PHP blogs and e-books. While this isn’t necessarily a waste of time, there are internal projects and dated jobs I could and should be finishing off. Likewise, better prioritisation would help me manage my time when there’s lots to do, so I need to communicate better with my boss and colleagues.

It’s all about working harder, coding faster, and making the most of my free time in 2009.

Posted on: December 27, 2008 · Category: Updates

Ho Ho Ho!

Given that for the next day or so I’ll be rushing around here, there and everywhere, I thought it right that I post today and wish everyone a very merry Christmas, and good luck in advance of 2009. May your days be filled with good food, drink (if you’re so inclined) and festive cheer.

PS. If you happen to catch my website down at any point over the hols, please shoot me an e-mail with rough times (and your timezone).. thanks :)

Posted on: December 23, 2008 · Category: Misc

uploadthingy

I came across uploadthingy.com via Hacker News last week. The idea is that you enter in your domain and a password, and it generates some HTML for you which allows visitors to upload files via your site, except the uploads are sent to uploadthingy. It basically takes away the hassle of having to deal with file uploads (no viruses for my server, thanks!)

The idea itself is intriguing, and I can see straight away where it would be useful. At work, we frequently have clients who need to send us files (such as artwork, proofs, etc) and this requires either clogging up e-mail with huge attachments, or trying to talk someone who may not be computer literate through the process of logging in to an FTP site. Almost everyone who has used the Internet has filled out a form before, and therefore this becomes the easy alternative.

Sign-up to the site was short and easy — I love short and easy — although there was a small bug with the “What’s this?” pop-up next to “Domain it will live on:” (top of the pop-up is obscured by my browser toolbars). I was able to log in and clearly see where I’d be picking files up from where I to receive any. It is clearly not by any means a complicated service to use, making it ideal for “mom and pop” sites who may not have the funds or ability to code up this functionality themselves.

Design-wise I had a few concerns. The purple links remind me too much of the default browser visited link colour, which may confuse visitors in to thinking they’d already clicked on certain things. Likewise, the navigation across the top is the same colour as the text, so it’s not clear that they’re links at all. I’m not entirely sure whether or not I like the little post-it notes everywhere either, especially as the majority of these seemed to have missing alt attributes.

On a personal level, I know I would struggle to find a use for it (and would not want to hand over a monthly fee for something I could code myself) but it’s definitely something I will be adding to my “link toolbox” for professional projects. It does make me wonder though… if we start outsourcing every component of a website, when does the website itself become redundant? ;)

Posted on: December 21, 2008 · Category: Interwebs

Furry Friday: Guest Furries

This week’s Furry Friday post is brought to you courtesy of my Mummy. These two fine specimens are her boys; both Siamese; Merlin is the silver seal tabby point, Billi the chocolate point. (I’m sure if I’ve got those wrong she’ll correct me in a comment… *hint hint*)

Merlin and Billi; siamese cats

Sure, they were expensive, but they’re not as gorgeous as mine… ;)

Posted on: December 19, 2008 · Category: Pets