Rob's Blog

Reinventing the wheel
21st Sep 2006 11:09

Am I really alone? Am I the only stupid sucker that still doesn't listen to heartfelt recommendations and open his eyes to what everyone else is doing around him? I don't think I am, but that doesn't make me feel any less silly. People 'in the know' use Flickr. Eric Meyer, Jeffery Zeldman, heck I reckon if anybody showed Jakob Nielsen what a 'photograph' was he'd probably use Flickr. Although admittedly Nielsen would subsequently explain that the 'perfect' photograph would either be pure black or plain white. How else could the medium communicate effectively to everyone? He'd also no-doubt hypothesise that the ink used to attain pure black should be made from black-holes and that the white should be gleaned from virgin Angel wings. Otherwise you're not really attaining the 'perfect' shade of black or white and the whole concept of a photograph is thus null, void, and should be replaced with a 1000-word description written in a manner befitting an 8 year old child. Where was I? Oh yes. Flickr. Can't believe I've ignored it this long. Brilliant isn't it? Please do have a look at the newly revised 'snaps' or 'art' sections at the top of the page. Gone are my carefully crafted PHP scripts. Hello Flickr API. Right click on a folder in Windows and select 'Upload to Flickr'. It really is that easy. In four clicks from my mobile phone I can upload a photo to Flickr, and have Flickr set that photo as a Wordpress post. That's not a wheel, that's a frigging Ferrari! (All those using Blogs that I have set up should probably start using Flickr. Just go to Flickr.com. Sign up for a free account. Upload your photos using the 'Flickr Uploader' which literally means you can drag and drop them from your desktop, and then drop me a mail and I'll add the plugin to your site for you.)

Nostalgia
15th Sep 2006 08:09

I didn't grow up in this room. In this new office of mine. It's rather new to me. I've only worked in it for 4 days. I've slept in this room at most two dozen times since my parents moved here. But I'm trying to settle in and it's damn hard not to feel nostalgic and a little bit odd. I've got so much of my life either in the bags that I've brought with me, or hidden in the boxes, drawers and even the furniture that this place was already crammed with. I don't have a very good office chair. It's one of the old wooden chairs from the kitchen in Acton. I think we've had them since I was born. It's odd to sit here in front of my new laptop, with my 'certificate of incorporation' for Fuelled on Coffee Limited hanging on the wall in front of me, and my bum perched firmly on what may very well be the same chair I ate dinner sitting at every day of the week for the first eighteen years of my life. In fact, odd doesn't even begin to cover it! I remember getting this desk when I started high school (yes, Hazel, 'high school' not secondary school ;)). It's downright bizarre, and that was before I opened the desk drawers. Memories of years gone by literally just sitting on top. Christ, I've got love letters from Jenny in here! I was 13! These desk drawers contain, amongst many other things, the following trinkets from the past: a national record of achievement, a sealed scouts 'survival' kit (in a Dunhill tobacco tin), the self-laminating cards I once used to fake a college ID so I could buy cigarettes, my brothers lock knife which I remember accidentally cutting myself with when I was about 10, a Sega GameGear, my first (and only) BB gun, the calculator I used for my GCSE's... and oh so many other bizarre trinkets from the past. It made me realize that rather than moving on, I just turned my back to it and closed my eyes. I just upped and left and went to University never to think of it again. I left the old me scattered around the old house, and somehow I didn't expect the remnants of that old life to ever return. Needless to say that despite the ever growing list of work to be completed by the end of the month there's a significant amount of time which is going to have to be devoted to clearing away my youth once and for all!

The Old Rectory
11th Sep 2006 22:09

As of this week I now live and work in an Old Rectory.? That's 'old' both because it's a Rectory that is a Rectory no more, and because it's a building in which all the floors are wonky. Myself, and Fulled on Coffee Limited with me, are now located in Sampford Brett.? A tiny Somerset village, near the slightly larger Williton.? The nearest proper town is Taunton.? But it's 'near' in much the same way that London is 'near' to Brighton. I share the house with two black cats, one confused leopard gecko, both my parents, and all of the spiders in the United Kingdom.? I kid you not.? All of them.? They might well visit other areas in the country every now and again on arachnid holidays, but this is where they call home. I have a spacious office, several desks (both of which are currently at? such haphazard angles that it's literally impossible to have a messy desk and a tidy floor), and quite an impressive rank of computers and related peripherals making this place look like the fully functioning office that it is. Theres a couple of acres of well tended garden outside, a nice pool, and (as soon as I get the vacuum cleaner on to the spiders) a perfectly good sauna.? Ah, this is going to be a relaxing life!? Pictures will follow as soon as I can work out which one of the six crates of wires that pesky little USB cable for my camera ended up in. Oh. But then there's the job list.? The to do list that takes up an entire wall at the moment.? It's rather intimidating, but equally exciting! Anyway, I'm going to get an early night as there's a vast amount of 'stuff' to sort out with the bank and various other services tomorrow morning.? The fun I have!!

The original blogger blogs again
03rd Sep 2006 14:09

There has been a recent trend, both online and in the pub, to comment on the lack of blogging activity on RobSwan.com.? In my defence I’ve been very busy building the secret army of mechanical chimpanzees that I will use to thwart Google with from my new underground base.

I find all insinuation to the contrary to be highly inflammatory, and once the chimpanzees have finished with Larry and Sergey they will be chasing you down.? You know who you are.? Yes.? You.

But on a more serious note (what could be more serious than an army of mechanical chimpanzees I hear you cry!) I’m moving.

I’m leaving Brighton.? Yup.? Dot Com has left the vicinity.? The (extended) University years are well and truly over, and the time has come to expand the business empire ever onwards and upwards.

In essence the cause for the move is that in expanding Fuelled on Coffee Ltd. there’s now a need for a new base of operations.? So now Fuelled on Coffee now has a lovely office, with plenty of space, a few acres outside… oh, and an in-house sauna.? Mmmmmm… nothing quite like stepping out of the office into a sauna after a long hard day is there? ;)

In the very near future I’ll set a web cam up by the window so you can all gasp at the truly stunning views.

There’s a whole stack of work lined up and some very exciting projects in the pipeline.? Almost none of which I can really talk about online I’m afraid.? At least, not yet.? Still, I promise that I will dedicated more time to discussing the amusing events of my life online.

In the meantime, please feel free to peruse my recent attempt at ‘arty’ photo manipulation.? I rather like them.

Fly Monkey, fly!!