Blog

How to Update Your Drupal Install Using Subversion • September 9, 2010

If you use Subversion to manage code updates to your Drupal-based site, then chances are that whenever an update to the Drupal core comes out, it's really annoying to use. You don't want to go copying your sites/ directory from the old version to the new, since all your .svn directories are in the old version. It's just a big headache. Luckily, there's basically one command you have to run to painlessly update Drupal (with just a little bit of set up). Here's how: read more »

Lessons Learned from 3 Weeks of Using KISSinsights • September 7, 2010

A few weeks ago, I decided to give KISSinsights a try on the Coffeeshopped website; I had recently read Neil Patel's article "What I learned about you through KISSinsights", and it convinced me that there's probably a lot I can learn from asking my readers a few questions. I have the free account with them, so I wasn't able to make up my own questions, but they have some built-in questions that seemed appropriate. So, over 3 weeks, I tried 3 different surveys... here are the results. read more »

What's in Store for Sphericle 3.0? • August 31, 2010

I've been working on the concepts and design for Sphericle 3.0 lately, and I want to share some of what I have so far. The past versions of Sphericle have not been designed nearly as well as they could have; I rushed into development too early, and the game suffered for it. This time around, I want to make it very pretty, more intuitive, and more fun! Here's some of what I'm working on: read more »

Photoshop: Create an iPhone Google Map-style Shadow for Icons • August 23, 2010

While working on the next release of Sphericle (which is going to be awesome), I've had to create new map icons for the Search screen in the app. I want these icons to have the same style of shadow as the Google Map pins do on the iPhone. So, after some experimentation, I found a pretty easy and accurate way to do that. Here's what we're starting with:

Icon without shadow

On the left, you can see the typical pin. On the right is an icon I'm working on, showing a player's profile picture. This is the icon we'll make a shadow for.

Duplicate and Merge Your Shadowed Object

First off, you want to create a flat copy of whatever you're making a shadow for. In this example, the icon is actually made up of several layers grouped together, so I select the Group, then "Duplicate Group", then "Merge Group". read more »

Coffeeshopped on The ATX Web Show • July 26, 2010

atx_web_show.jpg Today, Dave Rupert released the 17th episode of The ATX Web Show podcast, and I'm pleased to announce that it features me! His podcast is a great rounding up of what's going on in the Austin web scene, and I'm honored to be a guest. Check it out!

Cafe Bedouins • July 2, 2010

This past Tuesday I attended my first Cafe Bedouins meeting, which usually takes place at a coffeeshop, but this one was at Cospace. Cafe Bedouins is basically an open weekly space for tech people to work on their side projects... it's supposed to provide a kind of regular space for projects that otherwise might never get those spare hours they need. It was also my first time going to any web/tech social event, at all.

Having freelanced for several years now, and having friends who are mostly not tech people, an event like this was a really refreshing experience for me. Going to Cafe Bedouins, I was surrounded by a bunch of people with whom I could talk about web application frameworks, the latest is database server trends, and whatever else the big geek in me thinks about for several hours every day; something I needed more than I realized, perhaps.

So, this is to say, I'm going to be doing more of this! If any of you readers have other Austin tech meetups you know about, please let me know. It's time for Coffeeshopped to get more social. read more »

Rocket Adventure: Our Next iPhone App • June 30, 2010

One of the next Coffeeshopped projects is a game for the iPhone and iPod Touch, and it's a collaboration with my brother, Fredrick Wood! The game is still in its early stages of design and development, but here's a sketch (by Fred, the Art Director) to whet your appetites.

Rocket Adventure Sketch

HourPatch: Now with Invoicing • June 10, 2010

Today I completed the release of the next version of HourPatch, which now includes the ability to create invoices. To go with it, I revamped the promo materials on the HourPatch website.

The tag line now is "Proactive Time Tracking", which I think nicely sums up what HourPatch is about: planning out your project schedules ahead of time, which simplifies time tracking and invoicing while also getting your self-employed life a little more in order. Here are the main points of what HourPatch is about:

  • Tracking your work hours
  • Keeping notes of what you did
  • Knowing your availability, both this week and months in the future
  • Generating invoices based on your hourly rate(s)
  • Balancing work with the rest of your life
  • Setting aside enough time for each project

So, take a look at all my hard work.

Summer is Here: Where Do I Work? • May 21, 2010

It's still May, but temperature-wise, summer is just about here in Austin. It's hot, and I now find myself trying to figure out where I should spend my laptop hours.

For the past couple of months, I've kept a steady schedule of either working full days at home, or working mornings at home, until the afternoon heat comes, at which point I go to a coffeeshop. But now it's getting to where even the mornings are getting pretty warm, and my wonderful duplex apartment just isn't the best-insulated. As much as I like spending hours at Thunderbird and Cherrywood Coffeehouse, last summer it started feeling like I practically lived at those places. So as this summer approaches, I'm trying to come up with new alternatives.

First off, how about the library? The Carver Branch of the Austin Public Library is closest to me, and it looks like they have wi-fi, so I'm going to try that out soon. It's probably pretty quiet there, which is a plus, and it'll be a new experience for starters. read more »

Glory Math 2 in the App Store • April 21, 2010

Glory Math 2 now available

My new iPhone App "Glory Math 2" is now available on the iTunes App Store. Check out the Glory Math Home Page for more details on the app itself (including a short video featuring William the cat). Excitement!

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