http://ewan.org.uk/index/siteblog-app ewan.org.uk Blog RSS Feed en 2010-07-31T08:53:22 hourly 1 1970-01-01T00:00+00:00 http://ewan.org.uk/index/siteblog-post-action/id.9/title.new-year-new-look Today's palindrome date is 01/02/2010 and with that comes a new look to my personal website. For those of you who might have visited previously, you may notice I've not so much re-designed but re-aligned. I liked the layout of the old site, but it was lacking any real burst of colour. Hopefully I have addressed that now with a little bit more life injected into it. While being far from anywhere near a typography anorak, I admire sites that are clean, make good use of white space and rely heavily on type for presentation, which is what I've tried to achieve with this latest effort.  2010 plans to be a year of learning. I'm going to really try hit the ground running with ASP.NET which a few upcoming projects are required to be developed with, as well as investigating HTML5 and CSS3. Funds permitting, I also hope to continue with Italian lessons. I've been learning for years but haven't ever fully committed myself to studying properly. Have a great year! Ewan Design February 1st, 2010 http://ewan.org.uk/index/siteblog-post-action/id.8/title.free-software-alternatives Due to a recent computer failure, I was forced to format and reinstall the Windows operating system. Once reinstalled, I decided to try replace paid software with free (often open-source) alternatives and see how it went. Below are some of my findings. 1. Development Environment First up, I was going to need an IDE. At work I use Dreamweaver CS3. I find it efficient, easy to use and the file management side very intuitive, though I suspect this is down to using it daily for the past few years. I wanted something almost as powerful, but at no cost. Based on some recommendations, I'm currently experimenting with Aptana Studio. Aptana Studio is a complete web development environment that combines powerful authoring tools with a collection of online hosting and collaboration services that help you and your team do more. Out of the box, Aptana support development for; PHP Rails Python Mobile and desktop applications (Adobe AIR) So far, it seems simple enough, however it's always difficult to switch from an environment you are familiar with to something totally different, not to mention frustrating! 2. Firefox I've not come across any "paid" browser as yet, besides those that are included in the operating system cost (which are mostly available for free download anyways). You can't go far wrong with this stable, secure and fast web browser. Hundreds of add-ons are available to make your daily life that little bit easier! As far as development add-ons go, be sure to check out Firebug, HTTPFox, and the Web Developer toolbar - three pieces I probably couldn't live without! 3. Gimp Gimp is a graphics package which offers similar functionality to that of Photoshop, Fireworks etc. It's available on Windows, Linux, Mac OS X and more. Again, there is a bit of "pattern shifting" involved if you're used to working with Photoshop or Fireworks. Gimp is a good application, well supported and offers a range of powerful features, but I don't think I'll be using it for much more than resizing or cropping images. 4. Open Office Open Office is a package similar to that of Microsoft office. It has a word processor, a slideshow/presentation application, a spreadsheet application, even a database management application. It's capable of reading more or less every type of Microsoft office generated file, as well as being able to save down it's own files as Microsoft office readable files. I've used Open Office for a good few years and not once had any reason to recommend MS Office over this package - it's more or less capable of doing everything MS Office does, and for free. Open Office is available on Windows, Mac, Linux and more. 5. Thunderbird Thunderbird is a product of Mozilla (creators of the Firefox browser). Thunderbird is fast, stable and secure. It supports POP3, IMAP & RSS, and if you're a Gmail user, you can have your account set up in seconds. A very useful alternative to Microsoft Outlook. A range of add-ons are available, so you can customize and fine tune until your heart's content, and is available for most operating systems. 6. Media Monkey Forget iTunes, Media Monkey is what you need! Notoriously fast and simple to use, Media Monkey continues the high standard it's creators (Mozilla) are reknowned for. Media Monkey can easily syncronise with your iPod or mp3 device, without crashing or tieing up your system like iTunes. Album cover support and lyrics are available at no cost. Podcast subscriptions are a breeze, as is radio. File management is particularly easy - Media Monkey features similarly functionality to that of iTunes where you can browse by album cover. I can't sing the praises of Media Monkey high enough, so in order to get to bed tonight, I'll cut this short and direct you toward the Media Monkey homepage. Other April 15th, 2009 http://ewan.org.uk/index/siteblog-post-action/id.7/title.learn-another-language As you may have gathered from browsing this site, I have a bit of a thing for Italy and spend a large amount of my spare time learning the Italian language. In this post I'll attempt to explain why I think learning another language is something everyone should try at least once, and some tips from my experience that may help you learn. Why learn another language? English may be the second most spoken language in the world, but to say that English (or any language for that matter) is the international language of the world, is just a silly statement. Every country has it's English speakers, but you'll normally only find them in bigger cities and better known destinations. As soon as you leave the cities, the chances of finding these people is less. Then what do you do, when you know only English? Sign language will only get you so far! "If you speak three languages you're trilingual. If you speak one you're English". It sounds clichéd, but unfortunately the statistics bear this out. About 10% of UK workers speak a second language, while in other EU countries 56% speak two languages and 28% speak three. Source: Brainskills I know that in Scottish schools it is mandatory that you learn both German and French for at least two years. What I don't know is the take-up percentage after this - how many continue to learn a language when they are not made to do so? It is deeply disappointing to read that only 10% of UK workers speak a second language compared to our European counterparts of whom 56% can speak two. It's also a massive disadvantage to those who do not or haven't even given it a try. Learning another language opens up a world of opportunities to you. The ability to speak a second language enables you to learn about other cultures, traditions, meet new people and work abroad - just to name a few! Learning another language has helped me learn more about my mother tongue than I learned at school. My English might not be the best at times, but is certainly a whole lot better than it was before I studied a second language. I am now more aware of tenses, grammar, prepositions etc. Research has recently shown that the ability to speak another language can prevent alzheimers developing in older age. Through speaking another language you can discover new places, make new friends, create opportunities for yourself etc. There is a whole world out there waiting to be explored and try as you might, it's not going to be an easy ride of you can only speak one language! The limits of my language mean the limits of my world. Ludwig Wittgenstein Learning Advice/Tips My first visit to Italy a few years ago was for 5 days. In that short time I was amazed by their way of life, attitude, language. On the way home I told myself I was going to learn Italian. When I got back, I picked up a few books that included audio CD's and started to learn. Below are the stages I have gone through in learning a second language which may be a useful pattern for you to follow if you're thinking about learning. Books & Audio Books with accompanying audio material is great for starting out - they give you a good basic grounding of how the language works and introduce you slowly to the language. They tend to give you a lot of vocabulary to start you off and later bring in some grammar. From my experience this is a good method. It is often the case that those who want to learn a second language want to learn now. They don't have the patience to learn the stuff that in the future will be the most important. This method helps keep the learner interested from the start without boring them with the more difficult aspects of learning a language which can often scare them off altogether. I have found that these beginners books with CD's tend to focus on certain phrases, much akin to a pocket phrasebook. As I explained, it gives a good introduction, but don't spend too long learning these phrases as it's more important to learn how they are constructed. This is only my experience though, perhaps you have a better book than the ones I picked out. Tuition After you're done with learning bundles of phrases, you really need to move on and learn how to make your own phrases/sentences/stories or whatever. You can learn how to conjugate verbs, how to use each tense etc. at home with use of learning materials, but it really is better to have someone explain who can answer any questions you have and point out your mistakes. I took private Italian lessons for just over 7 months to cover what I thought were the most important aspects of learning a language. Private tuition is not cheap but it is vital that you know and understand how the language works. Focus on how the language works first and then concentrate on filling your head with vocabulary. You will find this benefits you most in the long run. Once you've got a good grasp of how the language works it's time to put it into practice. Find out if there are any language classes nearby that are teaching the language you are learning. These classes are often much cheaper than private tuition but may teach the same things you have already learned. The real benefit of these classes though is the opportunity to speak to those who are also learning the same language as you. Try not to speak to them in your mother tongue, only in the language you're all learning. Learn from your mistakes as well as others. You will make mistakes, many of them. Don't be afraid to make mistakes either. The more the better. You will only improve if you make these mistakes and are corrected, otherwise you'll end up using the same phrases and words over and over. Quick Tips Set aside two or three hours a week to learn in the evening or at the weekend. Learning is most difficult when you have to work all day and have other responsibilities. It's hard to motivate yourself. Make a plan and stick to it. Make "flash-cards" with the English word on one side and the translation on the other. Keep testing yourself until you get it right. In my flat I've put sticky notes on nearly everything to help me learn, for example - "il tavolo" on the kitchen table! Using Skype and The Mixxer you can search for a language exchange partner. With some Italian friends, I speak in Italian and they reply in English. It's a good way for both parties to learn. Speak speak speak! The only way you'll ever be able to speak a language is by using it at every opportunity. Don't be scared to make mistakes. Learn from them! Italy December 15th, 2008 http://ewan.org.uk/index/siteblog-post-action/id.6/title.learn-a-language-with-skype Today I used Skype for the first time ever. Now I'm asking myself why I never bothered to find out more about it earlier! I heard about Skype, probably the most famous VoIP (Voice over IP) service about a year or two ago, but never really knew of anyone who used it on a daily basis, or even tried it for that matter. In the past, though very rarely, I would have used MSN messenger to hold voice conversations with friends. I didn't think I had a need to use something like Skype, until my Italian teacher suggested last week different methods to improve my learning. Read the news in Italian, watch Italian TV, listen to the radio in Italian, talk with people in Italian. Talking with people in Italian is a bit of a problem when you live in Scotland. There are not many Italians here, and if they don't want or need to learn English, then they have no real reason to be interested in listening to you speak very broken Italian. That is where Skype came to my rescue! After creating an account, wiring up my microphone and such devices, I was easily connected. A quick search on Google for "language exchange on Skype" turned up The Mixxer. 5 minutes later, I was speaking with an Italian from Rome, whose English was about the same standard as my Italian. He spoke in English, I replied in Italian. And vice-versa, correcting each other (and there were many!) of any mistakes. Ok, so knowing how old someone is, where they are from or what they do isn't the most advanced topics of discussion, but you have to start somewhere! We spoke for about 2 hours, only in the languages we are both learning. A benefit of Skype is that you can text-chat while holding a voice conversation. In this instance it was particularly beneficial to be able to see how words are spelt. While it's probably easier for the Italian in Rome to meet English speaking people, it's not quite so easy to find willing Italians in Stonehaven! After the conversation tonight, I can definitely see how this will help improve my language skills. It's all very well being able to read and write, but if you can't speak it, what use is it? Some information about Mixxer language exchange via Skype. The Mixxer is a social network for language exchanges. The first thing to do is find people for a language exchange. You can do a search for other language learners then contact and add them as your friend. Once you have made a few friends, practice your writing by submitting a document and asking for help from native speakers. In exchange, help others who are asking for help correcting a document in your native language. You may also receive invitations from teachers seaking language partners for their students at certain times. Sign-up if you're interested. All language exchanges should give time for each person to practice the language they are learning. Italy October 10th, 2008 http://ewan.org.uk/index/siteblog-post-action/id.4/title.10-key-website-management-tips Managing a website takes time, effort and commitment. Quite simply, if you don't have these three, you won't go very far on the web. Follow these 10 tips below for the path to successful website management. 1/ K.I.S.S - "Keep It Simple Stupid" This should be seen as the golden rule when managing your website. Website visitors come to your site because they want to find out information about your product or service - is that flashing, spinning image really necessary? Avoid anything that distracts the user from the reason they first visited your site. 2/ Jargon Sure, you may know what XHTML means, but does your visitor? Be aware to define such jargon or abbreviations to visitors and potential customers/clients. You want to attract them, not scare them! 3/ Usability Usability is a key factor to a successful website. If the visitor can't find what they're looking for, they'll simply find another site which provides a similar service, at a click of the mouse. Don't make browsing harder than it should be - make sure everything is obvious and easy to find. 4/ Update Update Update Nothing puts a user off more than visiting a page which was last updated 2 years ago. Keep your website up to date with latest services, news, articles etc. Your visitors will return, and this will also benefit you in the search engines, too. 5/ Copywriting The W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) accessibility guidelines state "Use the clearest and simplest language appropriate for a site's content", and rightfully so - after all, your visitor wants to find out about you, and not become agitated that he cannot understand the text written on your website. 6/ Writing for Search Engines When writing for the web, you have to consider key words and key terms, so that you can be found for those terms in search engines. However, too many key words and terms within main content is an annoyance for the user. Try to balance key words in your content so that it is still easily read by the user, though not apparent that certain features are for search engine purposes. 7/ Links Back in the days when the web was young, link directories (commonly known as "farms") were popular among webmasters for website promotion. There are now alternative means to optimising your website, other than submitting to these directories. Links to your website are important, though many website owners believe that a long list of links on their site to other websites benefits them - wrong! Links only benefit you, as a website owner, if they are linking to your website, not from. 8/ User Interaction Browsing the web is exactly that - browsing. Nowadays though, new technologies allow developers to build interactive applications, which let the visitor play their part on the website. An example perhaps, is to allow users to sign up to your website, and create their own profile where they can communicate with other members. 9/ Consistency Inconsistent websites are a pain to browse. Keep your navigation structure and page layout consistent throughout the site and avoid causing the user having to shift their eye to other positions between pages. This keeps the visitor focused and allows easier browsing. 10/ Marketing The web provides a great marketplace to sell your product or service. However, don't think because it's online, you have to stick to internet marketing. Feature your website address where possible offline, such as on business cards or brochures, company cars and signs etc Development October 10th, 2008 http://ewan.org.uk/index/siteblog-post-action/id.5/title.italy-itinerary So, I'm off to Italy for the third time this year. At what point does it officially become an obsession? Last year I went for a fortnight, exploring the North of the country and taking in some of the most beautiful lakes Italy has to offer. It was my first experience travelling solo, as I've normally been with friends on jaunts across seas. I have to admit to feeling a bit homesick the first night I checked into a youth hostel in Genoa. I had never stayed in a youth hostel before, and was a bit wary of sharing a room with seven people whom I had never met before and all who spoke different languages to me. However, after settling in, I was soon speaking to people from all over the world, who had many interesting stories to tell. In total I stayed in three youth hostels throughout my trip and looking back I wouldn't have it any other way. It was a fantastic experience. Looking forward to my third trip this year in a few weeks I'll not be wasting any more time visiting Milan again, perhaps only passing through to catch a train. I think I have seen everything there is to see in Milan. First I'll start in Bergamo, where my Ryanair (it's not as bad as most make it out to be, honestly) flight arrives. The next day I hope to visit Varenna, a traditional Italian fishing village on Lake Como. As an avid fan of Sampdoria, I'll take in Atalanta vs Sampdoria in Bergamo the next day and use the opportunity to catch up with some friends from Genova. The next day I'll be up bright and early to catch a train to Florence. I've never ventured very far to the south of Italy, so I intend to this time. I'm not particularly looking forward to spending four hours on a train but it'll be a good chance to read up on some books I've been meaning to get through. I'm spending two days in Florence and hope to visit Fiesole to experience the authentic Tuscan way of life. I can't wait to taste the local dishes and sample the famous wines from the local vineyards Tuscany is reknowned for. Only a five-day trip this time round, but I'm going to make the most of it. I doubt I'll be able to go again this year (unfortunately!). On another note I'm starting Italian classes again next week at Aberdeen college. I've lost my touch a bit after having to stop 6 months ago or so. It's hard to motivate yourself to study a language at home, so hopefully being around other students is what I need to get me going again. Italy September 21st, 2008 http://ewan.org.uk/index/siteblog-post-action/id.3/title.firefox-scrollbar-jump Working on a project today, I encountered a problem which has bugged me for ages when developing layouts using CSS for Firefox browser. In Firefox, the scroll-bar only displays if the content takes up more than 100% of the browser window height. This proves a problem when switching between pages that do not take up 100% and pages which do - it causes the page to appear to 'jump', as Firefox adds the vertical scroll-bar to the right. This is not a problem using IE, because the scrollbar is always visible, whether it is in use or not. To overcome this problem is quite simple. We add an html rule to our CSS document as below; html { overflow: -moz-scrollbars-vertical; } This tidy little one liner will now display the scroll-bar in FF whether it is in use or not, preventing the page from giving the 'jump' effect. Alternatively you can apply the following; html { height: 101%; } This tricks Firefox into reading that there is 1% more vertical space at the bottom of the page and therefore will display the vertical scroll-bar. Development September 5th, 2008