Some general observations (or rants). I write about whatever captures my attention - and also post a few useful tips and PHP scripts for webmasters, too, as I learn from my mistakes, requirements or other people's experiences.

The magic of Paul Scholes won Man Utd a match which has sent them to the Champions League Final for the first time in nine years. A match which is set to be an exciting all English affair as United will face either Liverpool or Chelsea (this will be decided tomorrow - 30/04/2008).

Although Barcelona largely dominated the match, Manchester United’s defending was excellent and it was on that 14th minute Paul Scholes made an amazing 25 yard curving drive. The match winner and a spectacular one too. For all of Barcelona’s endeavour, they could not muster up one the outstanding Paul Scoles did: a goal. United deserved to win the match. Barcelona may want to claim differently, but if they can’t finish then they don’t deserve it. Their attacking players could learn something by watching Scholesy.

Here’s the video of his magnificent goal!

One of the biggest pains when designing a website is ensuring cross-browser compatibility. When it comes to HTML this is not too much of a problem, however javascript and CSS are. The layout in one browser may look completely different in another. Unfortunately, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer is not very CSS compliant, so it is always a good idea to test a design in as many websites as possible.

However, this is not always so easy if a web browser, in particular Internet Explorer, is unavailable for the operating system you use, which is the case for users of Linux, BSD and any other non-Windows OS.

Fortunately, though, for Linux users there is a solution:

Read more…

… but I ended up neglecting my blog again.

A new project is on the horizon. After a lot of experimentation with drupal, I finally found what works for my forthcoming site. Drupal has a wide range of modules available, some with similar functionality, but sometimes just the “one” which fits perfectly. I highly recommend it as a content management system (really it is a framework for content management systems). It’s straightforward to install, configure and has awesome modules such as Content Construction Kit which allows the construction of custom content types. It really helps to make drupal even more capable, especially when porting a website (especially a custom-scripted one) to it.

I also finally found a graphic designer - no only one who’s good but is also reliable. She also has the ability to understand the requirements, a website idea and produce exactly what’s needed. This does not always happen when hiring a third party to produce work. I’ve got her producing a few images for the website. I also have one script left to finish writing and then of course the obligatory testing, so I aim to launch on 29 February.

Is Canadian TV show Intelligence going to be axed? A post on The Tyee certainly seems to suggest so. It would be a shame if CBC did axe it as it is a quality show. The acting is great, the storyline is one of the best I’ve come across and it all combines to keep you impatient for the next episode.

For those of you not in the know, Intelligence is a Vancouver-based crime drama about an Organised Crime boss (Jimmy Reardon - played by Ian Tracey) turned informant for the Organised Crime Unit (OCU) - specifically a CI for Vancouver OCU Directory Mary Spalding (played by Klea Scott). Some of you may think of The Sopranos when watching it, but for sure it’s better. Like The Sopranos, there’s a strip club, but throw in a biker gang out to take Jimmy’s business, an OCU assistant director gunning for Maria’s job, major weed deals, a brother who can get out of control and a crazy ex-wife… you’ve got a hit show full of twists and turns.

The show is also in that cool Canadian style (in the same way Trailer Park Boys is too) which only helps to put it head and shoulders above similar American shows. A bit less action (it’s not a negative though) and a bit more story than American offerings too, so it definitely has longevity.

If you haven’t checked it out yet then for sure you should - you won’t be disappointed.

EDIT: There was a petition but it was closed down… a new one has been started up, so if you like the show and want to see a third season then sign the Save CBC’s Intelligence Petition.

As a webdeveloper, albeit a hobbyist one, I’ve found Firefox standards-compliance to be a valuable asset when writing HTML, CSS and javascript. Adding a few extensions makes Firefox even more useful to a webdeveloper/webmaster. My three favourite extensions are:

Firebug - a great way for analysing a page and all the parts that make it up; javascript, images, CSS, HTML, page load times, file sizes and even edit a page in real-time. It will even find errors in your code. It’s absolutely essential, even for the webmaster who outsource their webdevelopment so they can analyse pages and determine if there are too many "hits" per page (e.g. 10 javascript files and 60 images, when it could be a lot less) which will cause slow loading speed or to easily change the colour of a page themselves and see in real time how it will look.

Read more…