scarlet sun

My “Clients from Hell”

Sun, 20 Jun 2010 13:52:00 -0600

I’ve been creating websites for more than a decade, every now and then, I get my very own versions of “clients from hell” popping up, which really annoyed me and I ended up asking someone to talk to clients. Client #1: R R sent me a list of more than 20 TV/LCD image urls of a stock photography site, and asked for my opinion of which image to use for a video she wanted in a site, she said she wants people to feel that they’re watching TV. All the images R chose were angled, except for one, which looks like a green and blue cartoon TV. So I told her it’s not possible to use the angled TV/LCD images if we’re going to insert the video in the screen and out of all the images, the cartoon TV is the only image that’ll work for what she wants. So, she purchased the image and sent it to me to work on, when she saw the page, she got mad and said it doesn’t look professional, which I honestly didn’t get, since it was her idea in the first place. Client #2: S S sent me a screenshot of their old website and said she wanted a new one using the blue and red from their logo and the (light) sand color from the screenshot. I made 6 different mock-ups and 1 text revision. After a few days she sent me a mock-up of the site she wanted for slicing and integrating; and it’s in red and white. Client #3: C C wanted and elegant website in blue and based on the photo of a woman wearing pearls which will also be the main image. After more than 20 mock-ups, it ended with a dark blue website without the photo of the woman wearing pearls. Good thing these clients pay me by the hour so I don’t feel completely ripped off. For more “Clients from Hell” stories, go to their website in which this post is based from.

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WordPress 3.0 is finally available!

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 03:42:00 -0600

The thirteenth major release of WordPress, Wordpress 3.0 “Thelonious” is now available for download or upgrade. Here’s a WordPress 3.0 video tour in HD.

You can also see my review of the new WordPress 3.0 changes here.

Rule of Three

Wed, 26 May 2010 13:11:00 -0600

What comes in threes? They are the floating cords used to play EVERY AC/DC song and most recently the deaths of well-known contributors to the metal/rock music industry. I had the chance to watch an episode of the tv show 30 rock where Tracy Jordan – a character playing as a celebrity, fears the rule of ‘celebrities dying in threes’ will claim him after two other celebrities die. Coincidence? I’m not really sure about that because I haven’t done my share of research regarding the matter and have no intention of doing so anywhere in the near future. As for saying, it’s not all the time that rock icons also die in threes…. Type O Negative recently lost their main man due to a heart condition. The band fast became popular in our country following the release of the BLACK SABBATH tribute album NATIVITY IN BLACK for which they did their own dark rendition of the original song entitled “Black Sabbath”. Although commonly viewed as a gothic metal band, Type O Negative has also incorporated elements of doom metal and thrash metal. Their lead vocalist/bassist/composer Peter Steele died of heart failure on April 14, 2010 at the age of 48. Prior to his death, Steele had been enjoying a long period of sobriety and improved health and was imminently due to begin writing and recording new music. Another loss in metal cam from Slipknot. The American heavy metal band from Des Moines, Iowa whom is known for its members wearing their own grotesque mask lost their bassist and has left the band with eight remaining members. Paul Gray, bass guitarist, has been found dead in an Iowa hotel room, US media reported Monday. He was 38 years old. Personally I wasn’t much into their music. I actually got their first CD as a gift from an old friend, I played it not more than once then just left the thing lying around. Eventually, my kids got hold of the disc and something must have caught them. They were taking turns playing the damn thing over and over again over breakfast, noon and even when I am asleep I can still hear the screams of “Wait and Bleed”. One morning I just woke up and started to realize that “hell yeah! I’m starting to like Slipknot!” From then on their stuff is always present in my playlist. Perhaps one of the biggest blows in the metal scene came in the form of losing one of its powerful pipes. Ronnie James Dio, also known simply as Dio, was an American heavy metal vocalist and songwriter. He performed with, amongst others, Black Sabbath and most notably his own band Dio. He was widely hailed as one of the most powerful singers in heavy metal, renowned for popularizing the “devil’s horns” hand gesture in metal culture which I guess we all make when we hear something “kickass”. Prior to his death, he was collaborating on a project with former Black Sabbath bandmates Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Vinny Appice. I bet it’s something to get us raise the cornuto one last time for Dio and hope they release a single or some sort. Dio died of stomach cancer on May 16, 2010.

Checking Out WordPress 3.0 Beta

Sun, 18 Apr 2010 12:43:00 -0600

Network of WordPress Sites What I like most about this new version of Wordpress is the Network of WordPress Sites. This is great if you have an existing WordPress installation and want to change it into a WordPress MU installation. All it takes is (1) a directory creation, (2) a click; and (3) a few minor php modifications.

Custom Post Types It’s terrific that the developers considered this for WordPress. It’ll be much easier to post or have different templates per post type. Imagine having a real estate website, you’ll have a different layout for your real estate posts and your normal blog posts. It really makes blogging more organized and of course, makes it easy for your clients.

[Custom Post Types screenshots from kovshenin.com] Another thing, you don’t have to upgrade your 2.xx WordPress themes, it can easily be installed in your WordPress 3.0 installation.

“You don’t have permission to view this blog. Please contact the system administrator.”

Sun, 04 Apr 2010 04:24:00 -0600

That was the error message our users get when logging on to their blog. Our Wordpress MU installation was more than a year old that time and because of spam we have more than 10,000 users and blogs; and more than 5GB of database. And because of the size of the database, I can’t view the database via phpMyAdmin. What I’ve noticed though, through the admin panel, was that all of the blogs don’t have any users attached or vice versa. I’ve deleted wp-config.php and .htaccess to re-install Wordpress MU; and removed all the plugins as per suggestions from websites and forums. The only thing that worked was exporting the wp_usermeta table, then on the meta_key column, look for wp_(id no.)capabilities, meta value should be a:1:{s:13:”administrator”;b:1;} and also wp(id no.)_user_level, meta value should be 10. After changing the meta values, I imported the table and, voila, it works!

You can now upgrade to Wordpress 2.9

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:36:00 -0700

Good News! Wordpress 2.9 “Carmen” is now available. The new release has new cool features like:

Global undo/”trash” feature Built-in image editor Batch plugin update and compatibility checking Easier video embeds

And here are also some of the improvements:

support for canonical urls upgraded the TinyMCE WYSIWYG editor and Simplepie automatic database optimization support sidebar descriptions improved Press This bookmarklet and a lot more

Read the official release post here.

Which blogging platform is for you?

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 05:46:00 -0700

So you’ve finally decided to start a web blog and decided what to blog about, the question is where will you host it? Hosted vs standalone (self-hosted) Hosted blogs are those that run under blogger.com, livejournal.com, wordpress.com, multiply.com, etc.

Pros

It’s FREE! You don’t have to worry about updating the blog application since the administrators/moderators do it for you Some of these hosted blogs have a social networking feature which will alert or inform the other users once you’ve updated your blog

Cons

These hosted blogs can not be fully customized. You and about 50 more others will have the same theme/template as you, unless you have a bit of CSS, HTML or PHP knowledge. You get a http://yourname.thehostedblog.com url. Some services also places ad in your website.

Standalone

Standalone blogs are those that are hosted under your own web server, and the application is usually installed by you. Most web hosting control panel has an automated web applications installer like Fantastico for cPanel, etc. which can be used to easily install and upgrade a web application.

Pros

A http://www.yourname.com domain gives a more professional/personal feel. Since the application is in your web server, it’s easier to customize it; you can choose which plugins and themes to use. It has SEO advantages. You can create backups as much as you like.

Cons

If you don’t have much knowledge and isn’t willing to learn a few html, css, php, database, etc. then this isn’t the one for you.

If you’re on a tight budget, then a hosted blog is the one for you. Although you can shell out about $10/year for a domain and point it to your hosted blog (yes, some hosted blogs allows it). If you’re planning to blog in the long run, then get a domain and web hosting service. Whatever blog application you choose, make sure you choose the right one that will fit your budget and won’t give you headaches in the future.

How to create an email account

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:36:00 -0600

A few of my clients have been asking me to teach them to create an email account via cPanel. Here’s a step-by-step tutorial in creating one: Login to your cPanel (http://yourdomain.com/cpanel or http://yourdomain.com:2082)

Go to Mail

In the Mail Manager Main Menu, click on Add/Remove/Manage Accounts

Go to Add Account

Enter your desired email, password and inbox quota

And, it’s done!

"… who loves me when I am at my most dark and helps me light a candle when it all grows too black to..."

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 13:28:00 -0700

“… who loves me when I am at my most dark and helps me light a candle when it all grows too black to endure.” - Laurell K. Hamilton

Fortune Cookie

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 13:28:00 -0700

Fortune Cookie

Inked

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:27:00 -0600

Inked

Meet Seras.

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:22:00 -0600

Meet Seras.

Photo

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:59:00 -0600

This is love.

Thu, 08 May 2008 08:02:00 -0600

This is love.

"No, I want to not know, I want to live in blessed ignorance"

Tue, 06 May 2008 03:45:00 -0600

“No, I want to not know, I want to live in blessed ignorance” - Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter

get high on this…

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 02:50:00 -0700

Bjork Volta (2007) Bjork may be back to using instruments on her albums, but the human voice is still the highlight of the Icelandic artist’s “Volta” via One Little Indian/Atlantic. The 10-track album features a decidedly minimalist and meditative approach to its arrangements, including contributions from a brass section and tight drum patterns. Beats produced by Timbaland are prominently featured on three tracks: the intense opener “Earth Intruders”, the space-age “Innocence” and “Hope.” The latter lyrically alludes to the quandary of terrorism, with Bjork singing, “What’s the lesser of two evils? / If a suicide bomber made to look pregnant / Manages to kill her target or not? / If she kills them or dies in vain? / Nature has fixed no limits on our hopes.” Antony Hegarty’s quivering voice is a significant presence on the love song “Dull Flame of Desire,” trading off with Bjork’s floating melody over layers of brass. He is also heard on “My Juvenile,” a track about motherhood. “I See Who You Are” features a contribution by Min Xiao-Fen on the pipa, a Chinese flute. Thematically, “Volta” sways between paranoia, defiance and alienation to love, introspection and hope. Tracks like “Earth Intruders,” “Vertebrae by Vertebrae” and “Declare Independence” are the most aggressive, her voice reaching feverish pitches amid eerie, glitchy arrangements. Balance is restored with several slow cuts, such as “Pneumonia” and “Dull Flame of Desire.” Here is the track list for “Volta”: “Earth Intruders” “Wanderlust” “Dull Flame of Desire” “Innocence” “I See Who You Are” “Vertebrae by Vertebrae” “Pnuemonia” “Hope” “Declare Independence” “My Juvenile”

Who???

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:38:00 -0700

Jim Morrison (of the 60’s rock group The Doors) was the first rock star to be arrested on stage. Michael Jackson won the most Grammy’s ever with a total of eight.

Ol’ skul / new stuff gotta have

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:37:00 -0700

Helmet Monochrome [Warcon; 2006] The most noticeable thing in the first few moments of Monochrome, is that– after a few misguided comeback records– Helmet v.2 now sounds a lot like the original model. The kudos for this return to sonic form go to engineer Wharton Tiers, the guy that midwifed the creation of Helmet’s first two albums, Strap It On and Meantime. It helps, of course, that Page Hamilton has his hands all over the guitars on this album. Second guitarist Chris Traynor strapped on the bass for these studio sessions, bridging the gap between Frank Bello’s exodus to rejoin Anthrax and former Jets of Brazil member Jeremy Chatelain finishing up other commitments. There’s also a new drummer, the second since Helmet reconvened. That this new rhythm section fails to gel as well with the front of the group as the original pairing of John Stanier and Henry Bogdan is a sad fact, but ultimately immaterial. What matters most is, with Monochrome, Helmet is back to doing what they do best. Caveats still apply, of course. For one, Hamilton sounds an awful lot like a 46-year-old on this record. His bark (available for your listening pleasure on “Swallowing Everything” and “Bury Me”) used to be part drill sergeant, part drunk frat bro, and part Ozzy (pre-Rhoads). Nowadays, it’s hoarse, shrill, and, worst of all, weak. That said, it does the job in the right situation, especially when he goes for (hopefully intentional) chuckles on “Brand New”, screaming “Now I need! Somebody! Just like you! Somebody! I can talk to!” like a MySpace stalker. Hamilton’s other limited modes of vocal expression are also used effectively– his bored moan is a perfect fit for the title track, while his regular singing voice (nasal, sneering) works well on snotty know-it-all songs like “Money Shot” (about you-know-what) and “On Your Way Down” (also self-explanatory). Couplets like “Up to Venus, Mars, and Jupiter/ Man, your feet don’t even touch the earth” also show that Hamilton’s penchant for slappy lyrics remains intact. Of course, basking in the glow of Hamilton’s poetic muse takes a distant back seat to basking in the glow of that gorgeous guitar tone, the distinct razor-sharp sheen that made him a guitar gear god. It can’t save a turgid overlong stinker like “Almost Out of Sight” from nearly ruining the record, but it goes a long way toward making this album more enjoyable than it has any right to be. Whatever magic Tiers worked in these sessions could probably be sold at medicine shows for a tidy profit. This album covers a fair amount of ground– ranging from the pseudo-balladry of “Monochromatic” to “Howl”, a skronky 40-second instrumental that lets Hamilton exorcise his inner Van Halen (or Derek Bailey)– but still manages to cohere without sounding like a patchwork mess (like 2004’s Size Matters). Some might take the title of the final track– “Goodbye”– to be a not-so-veiled hint that this is the end. However, with a new label footing the bill, an upcoming stint as the headliners for this year’s Warped Tour, and a new album that revisit the group’s glory days without resorting to crass nostalgia, there’s a good chance that Hamilton could be getting his second wind.

Under the influence……

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:34:00 -0700

METALLICA, ANTHRAX Guitarists Get Matching ‘666′ Tattoos – Oct. 13, 2007 Legendary rock photographer Ross Halfin revealed on his web site that he took pictures of METALLICA in the Los Angeles area on Friday, October 12, presumably while the band was in the studio recording its new album. According to Halfin, “the highlight [of the session was] Kirk Hammett [METALLICA guitarist] insisting I photograph ‘666′ which he’d had tattooed on his bottom after drinking ‘Jack’ with David Lee Roth. Kirk told me his hero, Scott Ian [ANTHRAX], has got the same on his bottom. ‘We did it together!’ He was extremely proud of this…”