tools, professional development
The beginning of a new year is probably a good time to reflect on an experience that demanded I leave the past behind and take advantage of new developments. When I started working freelance in web design, development and content from a home office back in 2001, I quickly realised I would have to build …
I thought it might be worth sharing the tools that changed the way I worked in 2012. I use the word ‘tools’ because it allows me to include just about anything I use to get work done: software, hardware, products, services … whatever gets me through the day (and, too often, night). Last year, there …
Bookings are now open for the ARIA and HTML 5 workshops in Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Brisbane. Perth bookings will be available in the near future. You can make bookings on the WIPA site. Seeing as it’s only $60 for WIPA and AWIA members ($90 non-members) for three and a half hours with Steve Faulkner …
I feel very fortunate to work in an industry where art and science, creativity and technology, form and function come together in the way they do. The web industry, in turn, is fortunate to have people like Andy Clarke, Mark Boulton and Elliot Jay Stocks to inspire us to seek and achieve beauty in our …
At last year’s Web Directions South conference, there was a session presented by Lachlan Hardy on The Open Web, a topic that until then had seemed to me impossibly esoteric and arcane. Could have been the name that threw me, I dunno. Anyway, Lachlan made perfect sense of it all by explaining it logically and …
I’ve had the pleasure of reorganising our home library over the last few days. By library I mean our total collection of books, rather than a purpose-specific room to house them. That comes later. The 2,600+ books we have are in fact spread across our house: living room, office, rumpus room, kitchen and bedrooms. They …
I’ve just had a look at Google‘s new Chrome browser and there is quite a lot to like: it’s slick, unfussy, fast-loading, and it mostly displays sites as I would expect it to. I’m sympathetic to the exercise, and I like the idea of a browser that integrates even more closely the various Google apps …
Last year, I was elected to the Committee of Web Industry Professionals Association. WIPA is an organisation that brings Australian web professionals together to exchange ideas, participate in debate, advance education and promote ethical practice. One of WIPA’s activities is holding or assisting events like this one that will help achieve positive outcomes for the …
There is definitely good reason to be careful when using Facebook – and it’s not limited to that social networking application by any means. Sharing information like your mother’s maiden name (commonly used by banks etc as extra security questions) with even your close friends online is asking for trouble. And Facebook does make it …
In the course of redeveloping a website for an industrial peak body over the last few weeks, I needed to identify a good content management system. I needed an end-user friendly system that would allow my client’s non-tech savvy staff and members to log in to separate areas to update information as well as provide …