Headless Hollow posts, categorised for your convenience and enjoyment. On this page you’ll find all the posts vaguely related to Site news.
Warning: geeky programming content follows!
This blog started on Blogger, then moved to Movable Type, and now, with the release of MT4, it’s time to move again. I’ve had it with Movable Type. In this day and age of visual communcaition, Movable Type persists in being the most complex and user-unfriendly content management system I have yet to come across. It may be venerable, it may be powerful, but the company can’t seem to get a decent set of tutorials together, leaving 90% designer/10% programmer types like me floundering in an ocean of wikis, messy documentation, and articles that assume so much knowledge on the part of the reader that it’s virtually impossible to get anywhere.
In start contrast, there’s Expression Engine. I’ve only just started going through the tutorials and already it’s starting to make perfect sense.
Take note companies—if you’re trying to sell to the public, then you have to put as much effort into communicating to them how to use the product as you put into your product itself. MT may be the best content management system in the world, but if I can’t find clear, easy-to-understand documentation on how to use it, how will I ever know?
Things may get a little messy round here as I change it all around to the new system. Bear with me readers!
Ships—pirates—masts! Brilliant!
A revamp to the masthead to brighten up the front page a little. Bought a great Dover clip book/CD-ROM of pirate imagery and this wonderful illustration by Howard Pyle (1853-1911), an American illustrator, just cried out to introduce my site—“So the Treasure Was Divided”, 1905, Harper’s Monthly.
Yeah, I know the quote is from Ben Hur. Somehow it all works for me.
Hmm, it’s getting a bit dusty around here. Looks like I’ve been working too hard again and neglecting the place. I must get the cleaners in.
Oh, by the way, sorry the comment links have disappeared off the Diversion posts. Some bizarre technical glitch I haven’t been able to fix yet. I’ll get them back as soon as I can. In the meantime, if you really have something important to say about a Diversions link, click the Archives button at the end of the list. Thanks.
Still here folks, just moved into our new house/studio, unpacking boxes, getting the ADSL up and running, shifting large heavy objects … back soon!
A friend of mine has always wanted me to add the ability to make comments on items in my Diversions list—well Mr Miller, I had an idle moment late at night and now you have your wish. Bear with me while I fine tune the templates that go with this deceptively complex addition to the Hollow. No doubt I have now opened the floodgates to spam galore!
PS Click the little little number link to view or add comments.
PPS By the way, this is as good a place as any to reveal there’s little personal effort involved in snaring these online diversionary nuggets. They’re supplied by friends, stolen from blogs often more interesting than mine (eg Boing Boing) and occasionally stumbled upon by yours truly. But you knew that, didn’t you?
Yes, well, it’s all about work at the moment isn’t it? Sorry about the silence around here. But when you’re simultaneously doing four websites, one packaging job, a corporate identity, some Flash banners and any number of other bits and pieces, there isn’t much time to squeeze in blogging. Not to mention the fact you’re not doing anything interesting enough to talk about.
Still, I can’t complain about the amount of work Universal Head has been getting lately. I’ve just forgotten what it’s like to take one of those holidays where you actually have the time to completely get out of work mode … sigh. In a few months maybe.
In the meantime, I’ll keep the Diversions column changing, even if this main column may be a little maudlin for a week or two. Right, Head down …
After a horrifying week and a half on dial-up, I’m finally back on broadband. It’s interesting to experience how geared the web—and my business—is to broadband these days. Working on a 56K modem was like crawling through a vat of molasses. Anyway, for those of you looking for a good service provider in Australia, I can tell you my experience with iiNet has been excellent. They were fast, efficient and friendly, and the support people were great. Since they’re taking care of my phone line too, I can potentially reach download speeds of up to 12,000kbps! (Already, at 1,500, it’s faster than any connection I’ve had before.) Rockin’ good news!
No updates for a couple of weeks folks—I’m off to Heron Island for a holiday, and I don’t intend to come within a bull’s roar of the internet, but instead commune with fishes under the sea on the Great Barrier Reef and relax until my head falls off and my body melts into the sand. More Headless Hollow fun when I return, hopefully fully refreshed and revitalised!
You may have already noticed, but Headless Hollow is beginning to finally develop into the blog I always wanted it to be. Finally, the Photos section is up and running, and I’ll be posting new pictures there everytime I feel like procrastinating my work (which is quite a lot). Also, look to your left and you’ll see a link to a new Freebie page chock-full of professionally designed reference sheets for your favourite boardgames. Granted, you may not play boardgames as a rule, but those of you who do are excited right now I bet!
To all my readers, the very happiest and healthiest of Christmases. Thanks for visiting—and I hope you continue to find my little blog of interest in the coming year.
What? New pages with nothing in them? Different layouts? What’s happening to my beloved Headless Hollow? I know, I know. I’m going through some changes here. Sit back and enjoy the sight of a blog in transition, changing before your very eyes … All for you, my pretties, mwha ahaa …
I know, I know, there are problems … but bear with me a little longer while it’s messy around here as I bring the old style back. Installing Movable Type was quick and easy—because I paid them to do it; it’s the restyling with new tags that’s a little tricky. If by some chance you, like me, need to transfer your blog content from Blogger to Movable Type, you will need this essential tutorial, plus this note on saving comments.
Headless Hollow is here to stay, kids.
Oh no! How will you get by without your regular dose of Headless Hollow!?
Never fear, they’ll just be some confusion for a few days as we upgrade this whole blog to Movable Type. I’m having it installed so who know what madness will result. Stay tuned for a better, bigger, feature-packed headless Hollow in the coming weeks!
Thank for visiting …
I’ve been thinking, in the occasional moment I have to spare when I’m not working, about this blog. It’s actually the site I most enjoy updating, despite the fact that probably about three people read it and I get virtually no feedback. I would like to develop it a bit further, so I plan to try and tunnel my way through the mountain of learning Movable Type when work eases off a bit, so I can add some more functionality to this site.
So I ask, my very small and select audience, what would you like to see on Headless Hollow? What kind of content would make you coming back to check a blog for updates every couple of days? Now’s your chance to influence a little corner of the web—from your thoughts to my graphic designing and coding hands …
You can now email your nearest and dearest your favourite posts from Headless Hollow by clicking the little envelope icon at the end of each post. Go ahead, make their day.
This morning Headless Hollow has been mentioned on Todd Dominey’s What Do I Know site. Since he designed the original Blogger template for this site and I have a great deal of respect for his work, this is exciting news. Thanks Todd!
In the coming weeks I’ll be adding some new sections to this site, including free downloads eg. a nicely designed Filemaker database system for databasing your CDs, books, software and hardware which overly organised people like me should enjoy. (Sad? Well yeah, a bit, but then you’ll have the last laugh when the house burns down and the insurance people try to question your claim!). If you like what you see and read, bookmark Headless Hollow and come back now and again. I’ll endeavour to give you something interesting with which to pass the time while enjoying your coffee.
