Archive for Design
Written in Design, Wordpress | 3 Comments »
I have just upgraded to WP2.5 and bar a few minor mishaps
Maintanence Mode
I used Maintenance Mode in order to have a temporary splash page, this worked fine until all the new files were copied over and then I was unable to gain access to wp admin to upgrade. I renamed the MM plugin, ran the upgrade and all was then aok.
NexGen Gallery
NexGen Gallery required an upgrade which was a nice and simple one click operation as well as a number of other plugins all of which went well. I re-implemented the mods I made in NexGen and another hurdle was jumped.
Plugins
Finally a few of the plugins I had been using would no longer work e.g. advanced-admin-menus
.. apart from that the upgrade was seemless ..
Check back soon for my thoughts on WP2.5 but your comments are also more than welcome
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Written in CSS, Design, Standards | 1 Comment »
Microsoft has reversed its decision to make IE8 behave like IE7 unless specifically requested and will interpret web content in the most standards compliant way by default.
Background
Microsoft were to use a new site versioning feature in IE8; a meta tag which would be used to define which version of the IE rendering engine should be used:
<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=8" />
This caused an outrage in standards groups because this statement stated IE7’s rendering engine would be used by default. This meant that IE7s poor rendering engine would be used unless the above meta tag was included in your web page.
Now Microsoft have done a U-turn and have stated;
There is a concrete benefit to Web designers if all vendors give priority to interoperability around commonly accepted standards as they evolve
It seems Microsoft have taken on what the developer community have been saying / shouting which is a complete turn around compared to their usual strategy to ignore. Even there long term goals are now going in the right direction
Long term, we believe this is the right thing for the web. Shorter term, leading up not just to IE8’s release but broader IE8 adoption, this choice creates a clear call to action to site developers to make sure their web content works well in IE.
Hopefully this new strategy will filter down to other Microsoft products and a standardisation harmony will follow ..
You can read more in the following press release entitled Microsoft’s Interoperability Principles and IE8 and more on the reason for the change - Microsoft Expands Support for Web Standards
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Written in Design | 1 Comment »
The latest Guinness Advertisment is yet another masterpiece,
Dot is the latest ad for Guinness in Ireland and tells the story of a little dot with a huge imagination. The advertisement was created by Irish advertising agency, Irish International BBDO which is great as I believe Guinness’s marketing was outsourced to the UK. New York based, Psyop worked on the animation
Lets just say it is Alive Inside - what do you think?
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Written in Apple, Design | No Comments »
MacBook Air is ultrathin, ultraportable, and ultra unlike anything else. But you don’t lose inches and pounds overnight. It’s the result of rethinking conventions. Of multiple wireless innovations. And of breakthrough design. With MacBook Air, mobile computing suddenly has a new standard.”
This is seriously thin and beautiful but have Apple lost a little too much?
Some of the new feautures are fantastic such as the iPhone/iPod Touch style touchpad where you can pinch, pull, push and pretty much manipulate as you like.
Hidden USB, Headphone Jack and DVI port, nice but who in this day and age only uses 1 usb port!?
MacBook Air is the notebook that allows for a fully wireless lifestyle. It all starts with the fastest-available, next-generation 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR built in. And that’s just the beginning of the unprecedented wireless capabilities of MacBook Air.
No Superdrive. Though still as easy as 1, 2, 3 with Time Capsule. I like the idea of wirelessly stealing (I mean borrowing) someone elses CD/DVD drive for a few minutes though what if your on the move which is the whole point of a laptop, do you walk up to the closest person on the train and ask Sorry Sir, do you mind if I borrow your CD Rom / Superdrive for a few minutes oh and by the way could you just install this bit of software to enable me to do this wirelessly.
In conclusion, some really nice ideas but for the price and the areas it lacks in I think I will stick with my MacBook and look to the future and may purchase a PowerBook. Well done to Apple though once again the leaders in “New” and “Thinking Outside the Box”
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Written in CSS, Design | No Comments »
Well, I’m very happy with how the site is looking since the re-design, no major issues to note as of yet (fingers crossed). I’ve given the stylesheet a bit of a festive flare with some Christmas trees and a few decorations thanks to the kind people at www.icondrawer.com
A very happy Christmas to all my visitors
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