rawrers.org http://www.rawrers.org A place for me to vent my thoughts. Tue, 23 Mar 2010 11:23:31 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.2 en Regex for UK postcodes, NI numbers, etc http://www.rawrers.org/?p=82 http://www.rawrers.org/?p=82#comments Tue, 23 Mar 2010 11:23:31 +0000 Rukaya Programming http://www.rawrers.org/?p=82 I found an xsd defining loads of useful regular expressions on the HMRC website - http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/schemas/core-v2-0.xsd. I hope this helps someone as much as it helped me.

]]> http://www.rawrers.org/?feed=rss2&p=82 Fresh website http://www.rawrers.org/?p=81 http://www.rawrers.org/?p=81#comments Sun, 21 Feb 2010 20:07:17 +0000 Rukaya Design Programming The internet http://www.rawrers.org/?p=81 Working for a digital agency as a developer is great, it really is. I do miss stretching my design muscles though, and I do want to get to grips with javascript better, so I’ve set myself the task of creating a new portfolio website. What I want most of all is for all of the information I want to display to be immediate, but I want to try and present it will enough to not need the feeling of ‘web pages’ and navigation. After all, all that a porfolio site should have is your work, a bit of information about yourself (including any twitter/whatever feeds that are relevant) and a link to your CV. Everything needs to feel categorised and exactly in it’s right place… I’m tempted to use Drupal, which is my current favourite toy, but I don’t need anything especially complicated and I’ve got enough Drupal projects going on at work…

Well with any luck now I’ve made a blog post about it I’ll start setting myself real deadlines and get this show on the road!

]]> http://www.rawrers.org/?feed=rss2&p=81 Son of suckerfish in Drupal http://www.rawrers.org/?p=80 http://www.rawrers.org/?p=80#comments Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:10:49 +0000 Rukaya Programming The internet http://www.rawrers.org/?p=80 1. Drupal is using jquery.
2.

sfHover = function() {
$(".primary-links li").mouseover(function() {
$(this).toggleClass("sfhover");
});
$(".primary-links li").mouseout(function() {
$(this).toggleClass("sfhover");
});
}

$(document).ready(sfHover);

In the header of page.tpl.php is all you need. You have to change $(”.primary-links li”) to whatever your navigation links are though (in this case class primary-links li items).

]]> http://www.rawrers.org/?feed=rss2&p=80 Why the new bbc weather site sucks http://www.rawrers.org/?p=79 http://www.rawrers.org/?p=79#comments Sat, 28 Feb 2009 12:18:37 +0000 Rukaya Design The internet http://www.rawrers.org/?p=79 I know people are all about numbered lists with bite sized information chunks now, but I don’t seem to be able to order my thoughts enough to do it, but here is a quick summary:

Whereas previously the weather was viewable the instant you got to the page, you now have to search and then scroll down on a laptop or smaller screen to be able to see what the weather predictions are.

Ok, now why :

1. Over complicated with less crucial information and more useless information. Also, the layout just sucks. What were they thinking!

I don’t want to have to scan the page to work out what I’m trying to do, and the fact that they’ve had to put instructions right in the front goes to show exactly how bad the design is. Good design, the kind you would expect from a corp like the BBC guides you with visual cues rather than with a list of points on how to use the site. I don’t care that they’ve got a ‘don’t show me this again’ tickbox - this isn’t the kind of site you go to to interact with, this is the kind of site you go to to find out whether you need a bloody umbrella today. This is the kind of website I check on friends computers before going out, that I check on peoples phones or at an internet cafe or on wifi or whatever, I don’t want to be prompted each time.

I don’t care about forecast maps and videos or related links but they seem to be taking up an awful lot of page space. I care about the five day forecast (which is now a four day forecast) and the 24 hour forecast (which is also just four icons). Was the issue that it wasn’t very accurate or something? It was too difficult to try and predict something in that much detail? Can’t be because they have the maps showing forecast times in a much more fine-grained slider.

Why is the ‘recently viewed’ thing hidden so far down?

Why are the weather icons on the 4 day forecast and the 24 hour forecast highlighted every other time in pink? It suggests that there’s something significant about those days, why didn’t they just use a plain divider if they wanted extra visual separation?

Why is the navigation on the left hand side when it means it sacrifices so much more page space? I really liked the system they had before, they could have just expanded that by adding extra tabs for the forecast maps (which i guess are pretty useful) and whatever all the rest of the junk on the page is that’s cluttering it up and making it look so verbose.

Why haven’t they given more prominence to the search box? If they’re making people search for the weather now instead of just displaying it like they used to they might as well at least make it easy to spot and use, like google did or any other site where the first thing you do when you get to the page is to search. Admittedly the convenience of having London’s weather on the main page might only apply to people who live in London, leaving the others had to search for it anyway, but it makes sense to have the capital city the default thing to show, rather than sweet fa).

It’s perfectly possible to have a site with loads of cool useful techy content and make it easy to use and visually clear. Why haven’t they done it, why!?

2. Sucky icon design
The other icons might have been a tad ugly, but there was no mistaking at a glance that they meant cloudy or rainy or whatever. For me and for a lot of others this site is not about visual aesthetics but about utilitarianism.

Anyway in conclusion I’m really annoyed about the whole thing and I don’t understand why most people seem to like it. If you’ve found my ranty post with it’s poorly set out points and you disagree, please get in touch and let me know why I’m wrong.

]]> http://www.rawrers.org/?feed=rss2&p=79 Transparent & semi-transparent dropdown menus in Son of Suckerfish http://www.rawrers.org/?p=78 http://www.rawrers.org/?p=78#comments Wed, 04 Feb 2009 11:28:21 +0000 Rukaya Design Programming http://www.rawrers.org/?p=78 Note to remind myself that in the end what seems to work best is for IE6 to use a gif and set the div’s opacity, and in the rest just use a png. The AlphaImageLoader doesn’t let you position backgrounds so there’s no point trying to cram it all in. Fixed width stuff too, but doesn’t really matter if there are only 2 dropdowns.

]]> http://www.rawrers.org/?feed=rss2&p=78 New job, Coldplay, London, Cambridge and Reiters Syndrome http://www.rawrers.org/?p=77 http://www.rawrers.org/?p=77#comments Mon, 15 Dec 2008 21:44:03 +0000 Rukaya Art Design Programming Travel http://www.rawrers.org/?p=77 Actually after trying to think up that title I feel too drained to actually type anything.

]]> http://www.rawrers.org/?feed=rss2&p=77 Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua http://www.rawrers.org/?p=76 http://www.rawrers.org/?p=76#comments Sun, 19 Oct 2008 03:20:20 +0000 Rukaya Travel http://www.rawrers.org/?p=76 Well, a lot has happened, but here´s a quick rundown:
I realised quite early on that I couldn´t afford to do the TEFL course in Costa Rica as everything was much MUCH more expensive than I thought it would be, so instead I did 2 weeks in a spanish language school and then I set off for Nicaragua with a friend I had made in the school - Anna, a german girl.

In Nicaragua I visited a few places, but I enjoyed Grenada and Leon the most. In Leon I got to sandboard down a live volcano and in Grenada the hostel I stayed in really was something special.

Anna and I headed back down through Costa Rica along the Caribbean coast to Panama, where we stayed in Bocas del Toro for a few nights. We went to David after that, and stayed in a little town in the mountains near there called Boquete (or something, I might be spelling it wrong).

Anna headed to Panama City after that but I went to a turtle liberation instead with an Israeli guy called Tom who we had made friends with and travelled with for a short while. After that I headed back to CR.

I´m currently in San Jose waiting for Gavin and Verity! I guess the only reason I have actually bothered making this post is that I am pretty bored and want to distract myself! It hardly seems necessary anyway as all my friends know what I am doing already and have seen the pictures, so I suppose this is in essence just a record for anybody from the industry interested in what I did in the 3 months I took off post-graduation to travel.

One of the coolest things on my trip so far, helping those little baby turtles off on their way to the sea!

]]> http://www.rawrers.org/?feed=rss2&p=76 The Europeans http://www.rawrers.org/?p=75 http://www.rawrers.org/?p=75#comments Sun, 17 Aug 2008 22:21:01 +0000 Rukaya Books and Language http://www.rawrers.org/?p=75 You guys! I have a new author I can add to my list of ‘Authors I really like’! I read the Europeans by Henry James over the weekend and I really loved the multi-layered character sketches he gave for his heroine and hero, the brother and sister.

]]> http://www.rawrers.org/?feed=rss2&p=75 Working and Costa Rica http://www.rawrers.org/?p=74 http://www.rawrers.org/?p=74#comments Thu, 14 Aug 2008 09:43:46 +0000 Rukaya Design Programming http://www.rawrers.org/?p=74 I am currently working for a company called 33above in london near liverpool street as a sort of general all purpose designer. I’ve been mocking up screenshots of a skin for their cms (which would be used by clients as well as themselves) and writing an xsl-fo parser in actionscript 3. It’s been very exciting. I’m also going to Costa Rica in a few weeks till December in a mad rush to avoid growing up and getting a permanent job - also to teach english as a foreign language and learn to surf and speak spanish.

Oh, and I miss living with my friends. <3 8 Church Close! The new soul calibur is pretty good though.

]]> http://www.rawrers.org/?feed=rss2&p=74 New Designers and Made in Brunel http://www.rawrers.org/?p=73 http://www.rawrers.org/?p=73#comments Mon, 14 Jul 2008 09:58:05 +0000 Rukaya University Design Year 3 Main Project http://www.rawrers.org/?p=73 Quick note to remind myself I was exhibiting at these two shows recently and I should really get a move on finishing my portfolio.

]]> http://www.rawrers.org/?feed=rss2&p=73