Entries with tag "photo_gallery"

Version 1.0 of the Ruby-based web development framework, Ruby On Rails, was released last week, which prompted me to revisit it. I'm very happy — they seem to have eliminated most of the complaints I had with it (mostly things like instability and inefficiency), and it now appears to be a perfectly usable development platform. Last time I tried it, back around version 0.12.1, it had some issues like deadlocking with 100% CPU usage when it encountered a syntax error in your code, and doing redundant things like saving all your objects in the database with every page load even if they weren't changed. Both of those are fixed now, along with pretty much all the other more minor gripes I had with it, so I think I'm ready to embrace it on BinRock.

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I spent pretty much every waking hour this weekend reworking the photo gallery. What a sad way to spend my time off — doing exactly what I do every day when I am working.

It's interesting — even as I checked my watch and realized I had been sitting on my bed in front of a computer for 12 hours straight, it didn't feel like work. It was actually kind of exciting, and what kept me going was the desire to see the result. Perhaps it's pretentious, but it really did feel just like a sculptor must feel as he works. It was very satisfying to start with something rough and ugly and steadily refine it, seeing it take shape in your hands, and watching it slowly come to resemble what you have in your head.

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For the last month or two I've been toying with Ruby On Rails, a web application framework based on the Ruby programming language. It seems like a very cool way to build web applications; coding is much easier and actually fun, and maintenance should be simpler. It's cool enough that I'm actually considering rewriting the blog and photo gallery in Rails.

Originally I figured I'd just reimplement the existing setup so that, aside from some possible URL changes, most visitors wouldn't even notice the difference. But as long as I'm rewriting things from scratch, I'm considering rethinking the photo gallery's layout.

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I finally got around to implementing the feature in the photo gallery software where you can click the left half of a photo to go to the one before it, or the right half to go to the one after. If you have JavaScript enabled, it should also underline the corresponding links above and below the photo to give you a bit more visual feedback about the new behavior.

Also, if you don't feel like moving your hands to the mouse, there are now two ways to navigate with the keyboard. Details inside.

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Last month a guy from England named Chris Rustage sent me an email saying he liked my photo gallery software and would like a copy to use on his own site. I haven't really prepared it for public distribution, and told him so, but he still felt it was his best option, so I cleaned it up a bit and sent it to him.

Anyway, we were talking about photography yesterday and he mentioned he's got the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L lens I've been longing for since I got my first Canon (although of course what I really want is the version with Image Stabilization). I asked him how he liked it and the bastard showed me all these incredible photos he has taken with it (Kids by the fire, Sunset at the beach, Pelican, Swinging, Seagull in flight, Tiff Needell). It's incredible how sharp the photos come out, even handheld in such low light. How am I supposed to be mature and save my money responsibly when faced with temptation such as this?! Jerk. :) Fortunately, I can't currently afford that lens even if I were to spend all the money in my bank account PLUS max out my credit card. So I'm safe for now, phew.