September 4, 2007
Over the last few months, I’ve found it increasingly difficult to summon up the motivation to write any blog posts. It wasn’t as though there was nothing to write about; I just felt that I had nothing of value to add to the conversation that wasn’t being said elsewhere. I think it comes down to the fact that this blog was too narrowly focused on games, gadgets and technology, and the only way to give my blogging the kick up the arse it needs is to broaden the horizon.
So, first things first - out with the old and in with the new. It was a tough decision to ditch the Cordobo theme, which I’ve used since moving this blog over to Wordpress, but I needed to do something positive to get myself back in the driving seat. I spent what felt like an age looking something fresh, light and clean and, after filtering out the search results for “ladies unmentionables”, I came across this theme by Adam Walker Cleaveland, which immediately pressed all the right buttons for me.
For the header image, I’ve used a picture that I took at the harbour in Nantucket while waiting for the ferry back to Hyannis, which I then cropped and flipped. I’m not sure about the font for the header text, though; it feels a little too clunky. Perhaps I need to add it directly to the image and use something with less weight? For the favicon, I cropped the header image still further, and used HTMLKit’s favicon service.
To display my Twitters in the sidebar, I’ve used Alex King’s Twitter Tools plugin; I also use another of Alex’s plugins - Share This - which provides an elegant and unobtrusive way for readers to add a post to a number of social networking/bookmarking sites.
I’m far from finished though; there are still some further tweaks that I will make over the coming days:
I need to revise and consolidate my categories.
When I started this blog, I didn’t take the time to understand the difference between categories, keywords and tags (oh, my!); consequently I have a bunch of random/orphaned categories that need tidying up. I figure I can use a SQL query to rename them, but I wonder how that affects incoming links and indexes?
The categories list is dull.
The alphabetical list of categories isn’t as engaging as the tag-cloud I used to have; that needs to be put right.
I need to fix the sidebar and footer presentation on the static pages.
If you take a look at my Link Blog or Contact Me pages, you’ll see that the side bars and footer aren’t being rendered.
I want to change the sidebar widgets that present the RSS Feeds.
The default on the widgets doesn’t include the RSS icon; a small thing, I know, but it’s a daft omission.
I need to change the Search function.
I felt that the Search box provided by the theme interfered too much with the header image; on the other hand, the Wordpress-provided Search widget is too “blah”. I need something that fits better with the crispness of the theme.
The presentation of the Technorati tags needs changing.
Like the Search box, the way these are presented now looks like an afterthought.
I’ve listed these things here because I remember reading a blog post some weeks back about publishing stuff that you want to get done; once it’s out there, it’s harder to procrastinate and put them off. (If anyone can help me out with that link, I’ll update this post.)
So, here’s the new look at andrewterry.com - this will be the catalyst for me writing about things other than tech stuff; stuff I want to get off my chest; stuff that I can share; stuff that I hope more people can engage with.
How do you like it?
Posted in blog, blogging, design, wordpress 
No Comments »
August 12, 2007
As a regular Splashblog user, I was disappointed to receive an email today from them saying that the service will be terminated in early September. It seems that having acquired Splashdata last year, Six Apart now want to kill off Splashblog and shift that community over to Vox.
I use Splashblog on my Windows Smartphone, but the mobile client started out as a Palm application and so the news of Splashblog’s passing has, for once, united Palm and Windows Mobile users who are equally sad to see the end of such a great service.
So, where now for mobile photoblogging? I keep a few photos online at Sharpcast, because the client app makes uploading and synching a) as easy as pie and b) slicker than Flickr (fancy a new tagline, Sharpcast?). Sharpcast have released a mobile client, but I haven’t played with it yet. With Splashblog closing down, I guess that’s the obvious choice.
What do you use for moblogging?
Posted in applications, blogging, smartphone 1 Comment »
August 8, 2007
I took this test, thinking, “I’m not really that nerdy, am I? Am I?” Apparently, I am.
Someone, please, shoot me now…
Technorati Tags:
nerd score,
geek,
test Posted in fun 2 Comments »
July 25, 2007
Cell-phone and general gadgety-goodness retailer, devicewire.co.uk, has got the 4gb and 8gb versions of the iPhone listed on their website. No pricing or availability details, but both are listed as SIM-free:
I thought that, as in the US, Apple would be making it very difficult to get a SIM-free iPhone, which is why UK and European airtime providers were
fighting it out. It’ll be interesting to see how much the SIM-free version costs - going by the $600 price-tag that US consumers have to pay for a
provider-subsidised handset
with a two-year lock in, a SIM-free iPhone in the UK could end up costing more than an mid-level laptop.
Technorati Tags: Apple, iPhone, mobile, cellphones
Posted in communication, gadgets, supplier No Comments »
June 13, 2007
Back in November, I posted about GooSync, which is a nifty application for just about any Windows Mobile, Nokia or Palm device that syncs your Google Calendar to your handset.
I’d had a bit of a problem with email reminders, which I posted to the GooSync Google group. Within an hour or so, Stuart from GooSync had posted a reply to say that the feature I was asking about wasn’t available in the free subscription, but was available in the paid subscription.
About an hour after that, this appeared in my Inbox:
Dear Andrew Terry
*********************
Special GooSync Offer
*********************
For this month ONLY the GooSync team are giving you 24 months subscription for the price of 12, that’s a full 2 years worth of GooSyncing for an amazing £19.95. Don’t delay order TODAY, offer ends 30th June 2007.
If you think your FREE GooSync account is good check out the list of the great addtional features available in our paid subscription service:
- Configurable Sync Window: You can select +- 365 days, allowing you to sync any events that fall within this sync window.
- Multi Calendar Support: Allows you to select and sync events from any of your Google calendars.
- Attendees: Allows you to know who’s coming to that meeting by syncing any confirmed attendees to your device.
- Additional Sync Modes: Supports all SyncML sync modes.
To take advantage of this rare offer and get all these great features visit: http://www.goosync.com/Subscription.aspx
Do not hesitate to contact us if you require any further information or assistance.
Thank you,
Kindest Regards,
The GooSync Team.
***************************
The timing is too perfect for this to be coincidence and I have to applaud GooSync for being so on the ball; what better time to wave a special offer under someone’s nose than when they’ve just been told that the feature they want is available by subscription only? That is smart, targeted marketing.
Posted in smartphone, software No Comments »
June 3, 2007
I like Twitter. It’s cathartic and voyeuristic at the same time; it’s like passing notes at the back of class, but ”all growed-up”.
Even so, it’s not easy to find people that you want to follow and engage with. Something I would like to have with Twitter is the ability to subscribe to “drive-by Twitterings” - so, every 24 hours, you would get the tweets from a different, yet totally random person added to your message queue. If you dig someone’s tweets, you add ‘em. Simple.
In the meantime, I’ll stick to using tools like Dave Troy’s excellent Twitter search to find like-minded individuals who would feel no shame standing up, and saying, “my name is <your name here>, and I Tweet!”.
Posted in blogging, web2.0 No Comments »
content rss
Recent Comments