Weblog
WordPress for Android
Automattic just launched Wordpress for Android. If you’re reading this on a Android-powered phone, click here to install the app: Wordpress for Android. If you’re following me on Twitter you’ll probably know by now that I’m a big fan of Android. I’ve got an HTC Hero, which is basically a Nexus One, but it runs Android 1.6 instead of 2.1. And I think HTC’s UI is nicer than Google’s.
The Wordpress for Android App is still a bit buggy (it crashed when I switched to landscape mode for example), but it’s already very useable. Latest comments, posts and pages are all easily accessible.
Some of the options available:
- Configure and manage multiple blogs
- Comment moderation including the ability to reply to comments
- Create and Edit Posts including categories, tags and photos
- Create and Edit Pages
- Get notified of new comments in the Android notification bar
The “Manage multiple Blogs” feature especially is very convenient. All your blogs one click away on your phone.
Android FTW!
Tags: android, google, google android
The Redesign, a month later..
It’s been a little over a month since I launched the third redesign of Frish.nl and the response has been absolutely amazing (and overwhelming at times). Almost everyone seems to love the new design and it’s been picked up by some of the largest design showcases in the world. To name a couple: Site of the Week at Abduzeedo, Featured at CssMania, Textures In Web Design: Examples And Best Practices at Spyre studios, Featured at DesignFlavr, Featured at DesignSnack and the list goes on and on.
I’ve also been asked to do an interview twice. Luc Arnold interviewed me for Spicy Webdesigners and you can read the interview here: Rogier Strobbe is the man behind Frish Design Studio out of the Netherlands. And fellow dutchman Edgar Leijs interviewed me for a dutch web magazine called Heeftstijl about the state of dutch webdesign. You can read the entire interview here: Klompen, tulpen, kaas en webdesign? (if you can read dutch off course).
A lot of people wanted to know what font I used for the logo. It’s actually an adaptation of Rockwell, called Sketch Rockwell.
The pageviews went through the roof and my site skyrocketed into the Alexa top 100k (even though that doesn’t really say anything, does it?). But it’ll be interesting to see if I can keep the pageviews on the same level they’re at now. I’ve got some interesting posts coming up!
Stay tuned!
New features and functionality for Adobe Browserlabs
Yesterday Adobe added new features and functionality to Adobe Browserlabs.
The New functionality:
- Save Locally: Save screenshots generated by BrowserLab in either 1-Up or 2-Up views. This lets you capture renderings of your web pages in different browsers, to save for easy reference or sharing with clients and colleagues.
- Dreamweaver Extension Update
I don’t use Dreamweaver, but the ability to save the screenshots is very nice.
If you don’t know what Browserlabs is: “Adobe BrowserLab is an online hosted service that lets you test the pages of your web site across a variety of web browsers and operating systems. The service works by taking screen shots of your web pages in different browsers, and then displaying them in the BrowserLab application window.”
Dropbox rox my sox off
Yeah, I know.. crappy title but hey.. it’s my blog. Anyway, I know I’m a bit late to the party, but Dropbox really changed the way I handle most of my files online. If you are mailing files to yourself on a daily basis, then Dropbox might also be for you.
Dropbox is an online cloud-based file storage system. What makes it great is that it syncs automatically both on the web and on every pc where the dropbox client is installed. I used to mail files to myself, so I could use them on my work pc, home pc and my laptop. But now they’re automagically synced between all those pc’s!
You’ll get 2 GB of space with the free plan, but if you use this spammy referral link, you’ll get 250 mb for free extra!
They also offer a Dropbox iPhone app. Now if only they would make an Android app, then my life would be complete.
Proudly presenting Frish.nl v3.9
So here it is, the third incarnation of Frish.nl. Wow, I can’t believe I actually finished the site. I think I started working on the design like a year and a half ago, but you know how it goes, sometimes life, work and other responsibilities get in the way. Sometimes I would work on the new site for a couple of hours, followed by months where I didn’t work on it at all. But I wanted to finish it before the year’s end, and here it is! Still needs some tweaking here and there, but overall I’m pretty satisfied with the result.
I am still running Wordpress, but I also moved all content from my Singapore-powered portfolio site to Wordpress. After all.. it’s much easier redesigning when you only have to build templates for one CMS. My portfolio is now located at http://frish.nl/work.
I tried to keep the amount of plug-ins used to a minimum and build most of the site using standard wordpress functionality (like custom frontpage and using the built-in wp functions). The plug-ins I used: Akismet (off course), Breadcrumb NavXT, Contact Form 7, Google Analytics for WordPress, Page Sidebars and Twitter Tools.
If you find any bugs, please let me now or you can tell me how much you like the new site in the comments ;)
It’s good to be back!
Top tip: When you’re interviewing designers, look at their portfolio
I’ve been in the “internet” industry for quite some time now and I am still amazed by the amount of managers who don’t even bother to look at the portfolio of the designers that are applying for a design-job.
All they do is look at the skillset and the companies these people used to work for. We all know most people lie on their resume, so why do most managers don’t even require an online portfolio and just go with a bunch of text?
Even more amazing is the fact that a lot of so-called webdesigners that are applying for a job don’t even have an online portfolio (and believe me, I have seen many of them).. Hey.. newsflash.. if you are a webdesigner and you don’t have an online portfolio don’t even bother to apply at the company I work for..
I doesn’t even have to be the world’s most stunning portfolio, just a quick overview of your work is enough. A quick way to get your portfolio up and running in no time is to use Indexhibit. Get’s the job done – and quick.
How to remove an element from an array
Soo, I’m learning more and more php these days and today I stumbled onto a problem, which I couldn’t solve myself.
How do you remove an element from an array in php?
After a quick google search I found this:
foreach($array as $key => $value) {
if($value == "" || $value == " " || is_null($value)) {
unset($array[$key]);
}
}
/*
and if you want to create a new array with the keys reordered accordingly
*/
$new_array = array_values($array);Tnx to Scriptygoddess
This works okay, but I’m wondering if this is the best/quickest way to remove an element from an array?
And isn’t there a built-in function in php that does the same thing?
On PS3, Spiderman and logo’s
While working on a Spiderman 3 graphic today, I discovered that the font used for the new Playstation 3 logo is exactly the same as the Spiderman font (for Spiderman 3 they fiddled with the font a little though).
Apparantly it was the wish of Sony Computer Entertainment’s CEO, Ken Kutaragi.
“If you really look at the PS3 contour carefully, it is rounded when viewing the console in profile. Rather than creating a typography with all the risks that entails, it was wiser to use the one from Spider-Man, for which Sony has the rights.
“It was also the wish of President Kutaragi, who insisted that I use this typography. In fact, the logo was one of the first elements he decided on and the logo may have been the motivating force behind the shape of PS3.”
For two such strong brands, the idea of using the exact same fonts is just ridiculous.
You see kids… this is why managers and CE-whatevers should stay far, far away from design.
New server update
And yet another update today!
The move to the new server seems to have went well and the upgrade from Wordpress 2.0.7 to 2.1.3 went smooth as a baby’s bottom.
I guess it’s time to create that all new *sparkling* theme for my new site.
