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© James Whinfrey 2007—2012. All rights reserved.
After reading PC Pro magazine issues 159 and 160, I was surprised to find them recommending Webfusion for those wishing to become a web host themselves. My disbelief was due to my own experiences. I wouldn’t argue with their observations on this providers reliability, but the main problem with Webfusion, or their parent Pipex, arises [...]
I’ve been working on a website for the Northamptonshire Bird Club which nominated committee members could easily manage themselves. I decided that a Content Management System would be be best way to achieve this, and being a fan of open source I finally settled on Drupal. I liked the modular approach to the software and [...]
I went over to the Apple Centre in Solihull, that’s in the UK, to pick up my newly repaired MacBook Pro this Monday. I thought I’d wait a bit before posting the results to make sure that the fix actually worked. I can’t fault the service I received from the Apple Centre, but the quality [...]
Back in the System 6 era, Apple Macs were niche products; well made, often expensive and largely found in academic circles. I always felt the problem was that Apple had a clearly superior product, but were just plain rubbish at marketing themselves. Wow, times sure change! My first Apple was back in the days of [...]
I’m an Apple user that recently I splashed out on a 15 inch, 2.2 GHz MacBook Pro. So why am I having to write this on my old Mac mini? The day came and I received my MacBook Pro; beautifully presented in carefully designed and executed packaging. I opened it up and was immediately impressed [...]
I always like to find and use the tools that best fit my objective. When you manage this life becomes both more interesting and more fun. I’m not happy with the web hosting package I currently use. I mean, does Fedora Core 2 sound good to you? OK, I know, it depends what I’m trying [...]
This is a short and simple article about the way a website is put together. The diagram below shows three components that are necessary to build a functioning website. The domain name. First you need an address at which your users can find your website. Your domain is your identity on the Web, so it’s [...]
As I’m get busier the point has come where I need to get a grip of my workflow. I seem to spend more time working around problems than actually doing any work. The background. I’ve tried using the web server function of my NAS to test PHP and HTML based code and keep the load [...]
The anonymous nature of the Web has been one of the main factors in promoting its growth. The perception that you can go anywhere; do and say anything; is enormously attractive to many. I like to think of it as a similar attitude to that people adopt when in their cars. Sadly, this analogy stretches [...]
The commitment has been made and development can begin, but what exactly are we developing? Guess what — more questions. Who’s going to control the website? Projects need a single point of contact to operate efficiently. Decision by committee, whilst the most democratic approach, rarely provides the reliable and rapid response needed during a development [...]
Asking a few simple and relatively obvious questions at the beginning of a project can save a lot of wasted time and effort. In web development the first, and most important, question: Do I need a website? It seems a simple question doesn’t it, but it’s not as simple as it first appears. There are [...]
I’ve just decided to use this blog to manage some of the content for my new business website — cyberstruction.co.uk. Cyberstruction is implemented using the Cocoon framework, but I think I’ve mentioned this before. Cocoon is especially good at aggregating data from different sources and WordPress is designed to provide both easy publishing and RSS [...]
Would you believe it! Just when I think I’ve nearly, I mean just about, sort of made my mind up, Synology bring out a new product line. I’ve noticed that they’ve introduced a two drive NAS, with RAID 1 and iTunes server. It’s called the DS-207 and it’d be compatible with my existing DS-101g+ for [...]
Recently I’ve been building a website using Cocoon 2.1.9, a Java based publishing framework. I chose this platform largely for the experience with Java and, in a few weeks time, native XML databases. I’ve worked with XML before, often in the form of RSS, and have found this way of structuring documents fairly logical. But [...]
I’m a worried man… I know it’s hard to believe, but I am. What are you worried about I hear you say. My electronic data or course. I’ve recently realised just how much data there is and how important it’s become. I’ve got data relating to work, finance, friends, family, music and images all of [...]
After recent conversations on spam and malware with friends in a Chinese restaurant and my Father by email, it occurred to me that my response might be worth posting. It’s a conversation I’ve had quite frequently over the last few years, and whilst what follows is old news to seasoned campaigners, or those in danger [...]
For me the use of web standards is about two things, each of which are very broad topics. Communication The Web is about communication first, foremost and only. If I can find a way to broaden access and enable new ways to use the information out there, I’ll use it. Good presentation makes information easier [...]
It’s always been the case and never more so than now. Once the quality of your writing was all that could differentiate you from the competition. Adding images lead to download times certain to lose the interest of even your greatest fans. Time and the Web have moved on and broadband makes a full multimedia [...]
I was listening to the latest .NET podcast this morning. The perennial question of accessibility and it’s importance came up. It was suggested that this topic isn’t a stand alone issue, but all part of the basic ability to design and construct effective websites and… you guessed it, best practice. But what is it and [...]
Data, data everywhere. The availability and manipulation of information is a key factor in the development of society. The modern era has seen significant advances, with technologies such as printing, radio and television providing access to ever increasing amounts of data. The mass adoption of the internet has increased the rate at which data can [...]
Hosting by Memset Dedicated Servers
Constructed by Conceptric to be Powered by WordPress.
© James Whinfrey 2007—2012. All rights reserved.