During the last year, javascript effects have become more and more used on various websites. Though the effects look nice and make the website feel more responsive (just like AJAX – the greatest buzzword in the world), they have to be used with care. In my opinion, the effects may steal focus from the most important part of the website – the content. Content is the absolutely most important factor in the success of any website – it is the content which makes the visitors visit the website again and again, but access to the content – also known as usability – is the second most important factor for success.
Javascript effects are able to improve usability if used wisely, but if used too extensively and in improper places, the effects may also make the user confused – which is very bad in terms of usability. I think that javascript effects (and also AJAX) should only be used (in commercial applications that is – I also like browsing personal home pages to see what can be achieved with the new technologies) if it is of direct benefit to the user.
Well – it was quite an obvious statement, but the one thing which must be considered when designing applications is the user – what do the user expect, want and/or appreciate? That really is the questions one must ask in any design phase.
Posted in Technology, Web | August 22nd, 2006 |
In the beginning, peecee.dk was hosted at b-one.dk, but as the site grew more space and traffic was needed – because of this, a change of hosting partner was needed. EUshells.com made a great offer, and I was hosted at their server for a while – but I did not have full control over the server, and had no rights to install my own programs or manage the server myself. This bothered me a little, and because of this, I decided last winter to have my own dedicated server – I looked around on the net and found that dedicated servers are quite expensive (well – they go for as low as €29 these days, but they usually contain crappy hardware at that price).
I still wanted to have full control over my server but was not willing to pay the price, so what was the solution to this problem? I found a type of hosting known as a virtual dedicated server at jakobjp.com and signed up almost immediately – and the server worked nicely. However, I was informed shortly after the sign-up that jakobjp.com was just reselling servers from hexonet.de but at a much higher price – so I cancelled my jakobjp.com account and signed up for a virtual dedicated server at hexonet.de which I used as the host for my domains in around half a year. The server was configured with debian and the swsoft confixx controlpanel and I was happy with the server the time I was with hexonet.
I have recently developed an interest in ASP.NET and is looking forward to develop web sites in that language, but for these web sites to be published the server have run Windows 2003 – so a month ago I changed server again – this time I ordered the largest RootDS server from keyweb.de. Until yesterday the server ran perfectly, but last night I experienced problems (which should be completely resolved by now). The RootDS server is extremily cheap, and it is fast enough to suit my needs. It is configured with Windows 2003 standard and the Plesk 7.5 controlpanel which enable me to run websites written in both ASP.NET and PHP.
For anyone running a web site of a considerable size or wanting to have full control over their hosting but who do not want to pay the price of a dedicated server (which are pretty expensive if Windows is demanded – they go for no less than €50 a month), i can highly recommend a virtual dedicated server – the performance/cost ratio is very good (well, for me anyway).
Posted in Technology, Web | August 18th, 2006 |
Ok, so I just discovered why Wordpress is so used by bloggers all around today. First of all, the admin system is amazingly easy to use, almost inviting the user to manage the blog whenever one have a minute of sparetime. Secondly, an immense number of plugins and themes exist – right now I am using the Akismet plugin to avoid spam, Widgets to administer the sidebar on the blog, WP Lightbox 2 to show full-sized overlay images from thumbnails and fGallery to administer the gallery (which do not exist at this time :)).
I have just been surfing around for usable Wordpress plugins and have also found a plugin for managing images easy – it is called Imagemanager 2.
Posted in Misc | August 16th, 2006 |
In order for me to train my English writing skills I am going to only blog in English from now onwards. This was not a hard decision to make, since I doubt that anyone will ever read what I write on these pages – but I still think that it is a great opportunity for me to get used to express myself in English, since I am going to use that skill the next few years on the university.
The rest of the content on this website will also be translated to English.
Posted in Misc | August 16th, 2006 |
Jeg har netop modtaget en ny Dell D620 bærbar, som jeg planlægger at bruge til mit studie. Det er nu engang en lille lækker maskine – lille, let og lækker kvalitet. Jeg valgte netop denne Dell fordi den opfyldt mine krav (som jo altid er højere end de egentlig burde være):
- 14″ skærm med højere opløsning end 1024×768
- Lille og let (under 2½ kg)
- Intel Core Duo og dedikeret grafikkort
- Fornuftig pris
Anywho – med det begrænsede antal mennesker der læser denne blog gider jeg ikke at uddybe mere, det er alligevel ikke overdrevet interessant :).
Posted in Technology | August 15th, 2006 |