A few weeks ago I made a sudden switch in the project I spend my personal time working on. For no specific reason I took a few months off of working on CT. Stepping away from CT allowed me to pick it back up with a refreshed sense of clarity on where the site was and where it needed to be.
A few years ago, my partner on this project and I spent a very long time planning out the foundation of the site. We thought on a big scale when we laid out exactly how a site of this manor needed to be designed, at least from a database perspective at that point in the process. We knew that we wouldn't immediately have time to build the vast majority of functionality we envisioned, but we could at least build the database in a way to support that functionality as we had time to add it.
After the database foundation was laid we started building core site functionality, the functions that would populate all those database tables we had planned out and built. Next we started building the functions to take all that data a few steps further. Step by step we were getting close to completing a circle of functionality, one in which every step a person needed to take to use the site was in place and connected.
So we get to a point where every step in the aforementioned circle is complete, at least pretty much complete, a point where we can start building out secondary functionality, the stuff that will add value to users lives. This part of the development process was interesting, because we had spent so much time working on all the things that users will take for granted, we now have to start building the things that people will actually look at and critique.
We started divvying up some of the new functionality and proceeded on tackling it, but we quickly found ourselves at a point where it wasn't immediately clear how all the new functions where going to talk to each other, the database, and the user. We had some good conversations regarding what approach we were going to take and laid out a pseudo road map of the framework we believed would work on the next phase of the site.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago, I picked up that pseudo road map and started building it out. I was lucky that part of the functionality we would need for building this framework was already pretty far along the way in development for this site, my home site, with the rest of it needing to be built from scratch. One of the main concepts of the new framework is an approach neither of us was completely convinced was the best one, but one we both agreed would be a good one. The whole "six of one, a half dozen of the other" saying comes to mind when I think about what the best approach for anything is. It comes down to a point where you've gone through the nitty gritty of what you want and don't want and just need to implement it, so I did.
The new framework provides a clear direction for how new functionality should start and provides no ceiling for where it should end. Having it in place allows new functions to be written without the huge burden of jumping through a bunch of hoops just to get it off the ground.
I am very excited for what we have accomplished and what is still to come. The status of the site is very strong and I look forward to writing more detailed descriptions of what is going on with it as well as for the time when I can post the link and invite people to use it.
the short list
December 30, 2009 - 16:38
- Christmas - Cooperstown - Cuse - web dev - LOST
Lets make some bullets of the bast few weeks, in no particular order:
-Christmas was great. My Dad's side of the family came over Christmas Eve, it's always great seeing my older and younger cousins. We spent Christmas Day with some family friends which was very nice. Both days were filled with a seemingly unlimited supply of amazing food. My mom is hands down the best cook I know.
-2010 is right around the corner! I am fortunate to have local plans with some local and out of town friends. I am glad I do not have to travel far this year to be with good friends.
-2009 was a good year. I accomplished a few personal goals that I am pleased about. I feel like I have a good grasp on what I would like to accomplish in 2010. Expect to hear much more chatter about CT, it is on 2010's front burner. Phase 1 of the project is so close to being done, I wouldn't be surprised if it was wrapped up by the end of the 1st quarter.
-Recently I've been spending many hours tightening up the blog code for this site. My progress is currently in the sandbox, ideally I can make the updates live in the next week or two. Please excuse any 'test' blog posts that I have made or will make, sometimes I need to post random things or extreme scenarios for testing purposes.
-LOST! The sixth and final season starts 2/2/10, I am incredibly excited. I've been re-watching the past seasons. I got through Season 3 two weeks ago and am almost done with Season 1, after which I will watch the remaining seasons in their respective orders.
-This year marked my third annual Christmas [post]card. Again, I was late starting them and I believe almost everyone on the list received theirs after Christmas, but I am happy I was able to send one out. Here is a picture of my setup for taking the picture I used for the card: [DIV_IMG style='float:none ; width:400px' ][IMG src='/up/s9blog_fileUpload/165.jpg' width='400' height='300' /][CAPTION]set up for 2009 Christmas Card cover [/CAPTION][/DIV_IMG]
-"The 'Cuse is in the House", OMG, OMG. The Orange have been having a great season thus far, I really hope they continue winning. I was able to watch them play my Alma Mater two weeks ago. It was a win win night, with 'Cuse winning and me getting to see a lot of old friends.
Alright. From the inside, out, see ya next year!
Hooked 'em
January 5, 2009 - 11:8
- SBU - OSU - Texas - Shockwave - web dev
I'm currently watching OSU vs Texas in the Fiesta Bowl, it took me a while to realize it, but I've been to the campuses of both of these schools. During my senior year of college I made an unsolicited offer to be the assistant manager of the our schools girl lacrosse team. I was friends with some of the girls on the team and I was looking for an extra curricular activity to fill the void that was left by not being in student government anymore. Student government was a really fun but time consuming activity. I was bestowed the privilege of being my classes president for my first three years of school, that position allowed me to do many exciting things including but not limited to attending several free meals each semester. It didn't however allow me to visit OSU in Columbus, for that I needed the lacrosse team. The two games that we had in Ohio were second only to a few nights we spent at UNC as the farthest destination I traveled with the team. During our stay in Ohio the team practiced in the OSU football teams indoor facility, which was a semi interesting experience.
In regards to The University of Texas, a few years ago I spent a few months in Austin. In addition to several nights out downtown on 6th Street, there were many nights friends and I would walk around the U of T campus. It was a very impressive campus that was delightful to walk around even at night. I liked the city of Austin more than Columbus, and therefore say "Hook 'em Horns" for tonight's game.
I hope everyone had a great New Years Eve. I stayed local and enjoyed a calm night watching the ball drop at a good friends house with his family. I think one of the tricks to a successful New Years Eve is finding a good balance between effort and return. From incredibly crazy events in the past to calms ones like this year, I've historically been fortunate to have had enjoyable nights.
I've recently been spending some time creating and implementing Shockwave animations for the web. I want to be able to use some JavaScript onmouseover events to trigger the swapping of a few different animations. An alternative approach that I've chosen in the past is the use of animated GIFs. I am unsure if Shockwave will ultimately be used in the end, but the prospect of being able to export quality animated web site elements directly from After Effects is very appealing and worth the time I am spending on it now. Some of the initial hurdles I am facing include file sizes a tad too large for the animation to instantly start playing as well as browser incompatibilities.
The second session of indoor soccer starts this Thursday at 10pm, I am excited for another session but am nervous that the games may interfere with the quickly approaching premiere of LOST Season 5 and the episodes to follow. We will see what happens.
Well, Texas just won the game and in honor of that I am going to post a YouTube video I found. I unfortunately do not know the background story behind it, but I imagine with a little research or by talking to someone from Texas I would.
Good night.
Splash 6.620
November 19, 2006 - 0:0
- web dev - splash
Splash 6.620 -to do:
-correct date/time output
-enable user login
-link tags to corresponding tag results
-create new picture page(s)
-create blog page(s)
-enable blog entry file upload
-modified/new:
-created "tag cloud" in very beta form
-updated add comments section, still needs work
Splash 6.615
November 18, 2006 - 0:0
- web dev - splash
All posts will continue to be deleted until testing is complete.
Splash 6.615 - 3 active databases for blogs: entry, comments, tags
- blog posting is getting close to complete, but file uploading still needs to be resolved, as does the comment post/display interface
-no user login is currently enabled
- photo album is still in legacy status, photo links need to
be worked on
- more sidebar content needs to be developed including possible "tag cloud", ability to browse blogs (as splash will only display recent posts in future revisions), ability to browse all photo albums (still need to narrow down interface design)