One year, Eight months.
1 and 2/3 rotations of the Sun. 166 billion stars born and lain to rest. Duke Nukem Forever, released.
These are just some of the events that have transpired since handing in my last notice and traversing the seas of full-time self-employment. Those of you who have made the jump (of your own choice), and those of you who are looking to, have probably all acquired the same nuggets of advice: “Build up a small base of clients”, “Save X number of months worth of salary”, etc… Well, that advice? Is exactly what I didn’t do. And I’m not ashamed to admit, I’ve been winging it ever since. If my business acumen were plotted on a graph, there just wouldn’t be a damned graph.
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About 3 weeks have passed on a pure primal diet. Sure, there have been a few cheat meals, where life and situation left me without many options, but I’ve stuck to it as best I could. The beauty of this lifestyle is that it isn’t about being strict. It’s about the general enjoyment of life itself. Don’t let it hold you back from simply going out and having fun. The closer you can stick to the food types, the better off you’ll be. And should you go off course a bit, you can be safe in the knowledge that your body will recover faster. Read the rest of this entry »
What we have here folks, is a cheat. Plain and simple. But it’s a good one, so please, read on…
What happens when you’ve put your heart and soul into the perfect CSS3 button, only to then be told it must look the same in IE? Personally, I used to go into a corner and have a little cry. But not anymore! With this super swell tip, from yours truly, you can CSS3 until your heart literally explodes with joy, yet still retain that delicious Mac rendering goodness on the dastardly IE 8 and below. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve recently started this diet and so it features heavily on my mind at the moment, which has led me to gush about it a bit. And I apologise. Fear not though! It’ll calm down soon enough. But at least I managed to get several of you intrigued, and so some folk asked me to maybe share my experiences as I make the switch.
There I was consuming the vast knowledge chasm of Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin’s Back to Work podcast, when the conversation turns to Dan’s diet: Paleo Nutrition. Dan has already written a brief primer on the subject with some very good links for us noobs to get started. From there I was on track to begin digesting the vast quantities of information necessary to begin on my path to extreme healthification. Read the rest of this entry »
A quick introduction: A friend of mine, Nathan Staines, wanted to pick my brains regarding this mythical beast known as ‘Version Control’. His company had requested its staff to install Dreamweaver for the check-in/check-out feature. Nathan, being wise beyond his years, knew there was an alternative. A better alternative. He pitched me a few questions and I’ve tried my best to answer them. Read the rest of this entry »
Reading one of Christian Heilmann’s excellent blog posts caused a great revelation upon my meagre mind (they have a tendency to do that). Imagine, if you will, a website. Not just any website; one that has been created by slicing up a Photoshop document. It’s for a small – medium business, so it’s entirely localised to the country from which it originates. This website needed to get out the door quickly so no extra effort was made during the construction. Read the rest of this entry »
I’m still alive. Let’s call that a win. The morning is primarily spent in the local Starbucks, writing the previous two day’s blogs. Nothing’s planned by any of the remaining Builders (why didn’t I use that name before?) and you can definitely feel everything winding down.
There are 2 final fringe events, one of which is a photo walk round Belfast. Luckily the weather, though cold, has delivered in spades; blue skies and minimal wind. 5 of us group up by the Waterfront and Andy arrives to show us the way. We don’t even make it 10 minutes before we’ve stopped off for some lunch, where we’re joined by one of my design heroes, Sam Brown (@sambrown) and his wife. Read the rest of this entry »
With the main events having reached their zenith, we’re left with stonking great hangovers and a few more fringe events for us hardcore conference goers to enjoy for the remainder of the week. A number of us convene for the obligatory fry up, a little worse-for-wear, tired, hungover, but ultimately happy.
There was a ‘fr00tball’ tournament taking place around midday for those who signed up. Not all it’s participants managed to turn up on time, and others… not at all. Several of us wiser folk made our way to the Malmaison’s cafe instead for coffee, chats and a bit of work. Gradually our numbers dwindled as they began to head off to catch their respective flights. Ultimately, our brains had given up, so we were happy enough to simply vegetate. Read the rest of this entry »
Yeah, so… the drinking. It’s like a week of pure pub-crawl. It’s a small miracle that we’ve made it on time. Though, the morning’s tweets have indicated several of today’s participants flew in only mere hours ago. The fools. Christopher Murphy (@fehler) does us proud by swaggering in, arms raised, proclaiming his fragile state. We all feel better.
And so, we have survived (in a manner of speaking), and this is the day we’ve been waiting for. Now that all the attendees are here, it’s good catching up with other speakers and folk whom you’ve met at other conferences. Or Maybe that’s just me. I’m as inevitable to conferences as the post-conference hangover. There’s free coffee and tea, but, oddly, no free water. Then there’s the schwag. Buttons, badges, pens and pencils, notepads, stickers and the like, adorn table tops for us to cherry pick. And, pulling out all the stops, there’s free pick ‘n mix! Build branded Hoodies and Shirts are available shortly during the first break for us to purchase. Read the rest of this entry »
The previous day’s drinking makes itself known. Recovering as best I can I decide to finish up the blog from yesterday’s antics. I pay £5 for an hour of the hotel’s wifi only to squander the whole hour writing the post itself. I take a moment to have a little cry. Upon realising I’m close enough to spit on the venue where the day’s workshops are taking place from my room, I do. Then I go and say hi to Andy and steal their wifi instead.
A short consultation with Andy and I’m armed with the knowledge of good places for lunch. And with that, I take to the streets. This conference-turned-festival, after all, isn’t just about the events. Read the rest of this entry »