Spacedmonkey V5

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Today I am proud to announce the Spacedmonkey is going into version 5. I have been working on this new design for nearly 3 months now, picking at it, redesigning it and adding new features, but today I am finally happy to put this baby to bed. This new design means a new start for this blog. The original design was based on the same theme and colouring since the blog’s inception in 2005.

This is a big change for spacedmonkey, meaning lots of changes in the way the site works and the content that will be added to the site. For a start, I am going to change the site into a video/images blog, posting videos and images of stuff that I found interested around the web. The mixtures of technolgy blog and weird rants made for a mixed message on the site.  Hopefully this new improved focus will make for easy to manage and a compelling site to read.

Not only is there  a change in focus of the site, but a lots a change in technology including

  • New HTML5 and CSS3 design
    This site is now build using the latest and greatest in web technoligies, making for a clear code and a more usable site
  • WordPress 3.0
    The site now uses the latest version of wordpress and will in the future include some very clever new sections that rely on the “custom posts types” technolgy.
  • Improved commenting system
    • Threaded comments
    • WYSIWYG editor on comment fields
    • Tabbed areas to see comments and trackbacks
  • Improved navigation
  • External links now in new windows
  • Lightbox plugin for viewing images

One last note, this site is focused on pushing the boundaries of web technology,  so from this point forward I will no longer support internet explorer 6 and there will be limited support for internet explorer 7. If your viewing the site please upgrade to a browser that was released within the last 5 years. Why not give Chrome a try.

Watch this space :D

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New years resolutions for 2010

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It is that time of the year again, to set some goals for myself, keeping them quite small, but hopefully make my life better. These are not really for you readers, but for me to write down publicly. By writing these resolutions down like this, I have to be held accountable and seeing them written down like this, it motivate me to do them.

  1. Complain less and remain positive
    I think it is a very British thing to do to complain and be negative, but I think if you live your life complaining all the time, your just looking for bad things in life. Speak positive and you will be happy, at least that is the idea.
  2. Don’t hold Grudge
    Much like the first resolutions, it is a matter of remain positive and happy. Holding onto angry is not good for your soul.
  3. Get up earlier in the morning and have breakfast
  4. Go to Orange Wednesday every week
  5. Visit all of my friends at university
  6. Go on Holiday
  7. Start the process of learning to drive
  8. Don’t buy anymore games until I complete all the games I have
  9. Go swimming once a week
  10. Drink less caffeine
  11. Redesign all of the sites that I run.

What are your new years resolutions? What would add to this list?

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Last years Resoltions revisted 09

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One of the most interesting posts to write of the year for me, as it is time to look back on the resolutions I set at the start of the year. This year has been completely mad for me, it feels like everything has changed. With all this change, have I managed to resolve my resolutions?

  1. Past my third year of University
    This is quite easily the hardest thing have ever done. It took every part of me, every piece of fire in me to complete that degree. It was one of the best days of my life when I found my result.
  2. Get a full time job
    As I have previously mention on this blog, I managed to get a job with MW kellogg. But I only ended up working there for a week, when I got another job with a web design company, called Xanda. It is my dream job and I love it.
  3. Try to swear less.
    This is something that I didn’t achieve, be a mixture of stressful times or living in the port city of Portsmouth. But F*** it
  4. Find a place for important object, such as keys and wallet.
    After moving home, I managed this. I still loose things, but isn’t that just life.
  5. Make sure my phone is always charged and on me
    I did manage this one to, it was a matter of keeping a charger in the living room and bedroom, so I can charge my phone anywhere I am. I also got a AirCurve dock for my desk at work, which will charge my iPhone.
  6. Write a free application, either online or for your computer or phone that will aid the general public
    I have written a plugin for jQuery to get posts from Twitter, but I am yet to test it correctly and publish it on my portfolio. This will be completed within the next month. I am currently in the process of writing a scripts section of the portfolio, where I will open source lots of stuff I have written to date.
  7. Go on holiday
    This one was a lack of money from not having a job. I have had weekends away, going to Portsmouth for some reasons, but not a real holiday. It is on this year’s list.
  8. Closely monitor the amount of time that I spend on computers
    As I now work on computers everyday, I spend even more time in front of computers than ever. I do notice that I am doing it and do try and get away from my computer for at least 5 minutes in every hour. I also check facebook on my phone, spending less time in front of a big screen. Is that better?
  9. Use my time more efficiently
    This is something that I do feel an have achieved by completing all of the above and manage to get out to socialize. If anything, I think that I need to slow down and chill out more.
  10. Try and go out for a date-night once every two weeks.
    If you know me personally, you will understand why I do not want to dwell on this one. I will admit that I didn’t achieve this, as I was busy with number 1. Something I regret deeply.
  11. Make sure the people around me know how important they are to me!

For the most part I am extremely happy with the year. I got more done in one year, than I thought I ever could. The things I didn’t manage to do was only stopped by the fact I had to focus on getting a my degree/job. Maybe I can work on these in the new year, I know that at least one of these resolutions will make it into this years list.

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MacBook vs EEE PC

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I have been known as a bit of an Apple fan boy in the past, as I am a massive fan of the software, which I think is hands down better than anything on the Windows platform. Now I am working, I thought it was time to buy myself a new laptop, as my current Macbook has seen better days. But when I looked at the newly released Macbook, it made me think. The newly released white Macbook, has gone up from £700 to £800, which is a bold move to make as we are in the middle of a recession and seeing that average prices on laptops have gone down from £600 to £300 in recent years.

This overpricing of hardware, is known as the Apple Tax. Apple tries to make it impossible to install their OS (OSX) onto other vendor’s hardware. But there are groups that are working on hacking the software to work on any hardware. These computers are called Hackintoshes. The first main stream hackintosh device, was the Dell Mini 9, which I know friends have successfully installed Mac OSX on. Since then a number of netbooks have been hacked to run Mac OSX. In my research for this post, I found an impressively detailed compatibility chart for hackintoshs. With this number of netbooks being able to run Mac OSX, the question has to be asked, how does the Macbook shape up to other laptops. Below is a table comparing the Macbook to one of the more expensive netbooks in the compatibility charts.
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Unbored

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One of the biggest problems in life is getting your first big brake, more so than ever in these troubled times. Spending months without a job, takes it out of you. I have many friends in the same place as me, so we decided to do something for ourselves. I teamed up with Jack Clarkson, an English Lit student and friend I meet at university.  What followed was months of discussion, fighting and designing with the result being something that, exceeded both of our expectations.

Today I am very proud to announce our love child, and it is called Unbored. Unbored is a reviews, articles and videos site, written by geeks, for geeks. What is great about the site, it is by young people who write about what they love. The writers say what they really think of thinks and poke fun at things that need poking fun at. This is where you can find bright new writers find there voice. What is best about this project, is that we did it all ourselves, from the ground up. I love the site, I know you will to.
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