Neil Merton

Website Updated to 2.3.2

After running this website on Wordpress 2.0.1 I’ve finally got round to updating it to the latest version (2.3.2). This means I can now incorporate tags to the posts - and also it includes a few additional security updates (no that I had any problems running 2.0.1).

Whilst doing the update I decided to reorder and tweak the sidebar for the home page. This now also includes any updates I may do via Twitter.

Also, I’ve implemented a plugin called Comment Timeout as I was getting a lot of spam (most being caught by Aksimet) on older posts. To find out more about the plugins imlpemented on the site please visit the About page.

Any comments are more than welcome.

Happy Festive Greetings

Hi all,

Just a quick post to wish all the visitors to my website a very Merry Christmas!

I hope that you all have a great festive season, and to ensure that you get into the correct frame of mind I’ve included a song for you to enjoy.

Thanks for all your support and encouragement with the Web2.0* theme.

Warmest wishes,

Neil Merton

South African E-Commerce Awards

Most people won’t have alot of interest in South African websites but I thought I would share the following - it’s a link to a to the 2006 South African E-Commerce Awards website.

I would be curious to hear what the general public think to some of the websites on the list.

New Year New Job

Well, the end of this week will see the end of my time at the Sytner Group. After 4 years I’ve gone from a traditional table-based website designer to a full blown Accessible ColdFusion Developer and the time has come for me to move onto pastures full of more development.

On the 8th of January I will start my new job as the Senior ColdFusion Developer for a company called Hostlogic plc - based on the outskirts of Hinckley. The job will be a challenge, but one that I’m really looking forward to.

I hope you all had a wonderful and safe New Years!

Festive Greetings

Soon it’s going to be time for eating too much food, opening presents and spending time with the family (there’s a good chance this will include a game of Poker).

So, to all who visit may I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

I’ll be back in the New Year with exciting news.

Making Me Smile

Last night I ordered a CD from a website in the States and this morning I received the following confirmation email:

Your CD has been gently taken from our CD Baby shelves with sterilized contamination-free gloves and placed onto a satin pillow.

A team of 50 employees inspected your CD and polished it to make sure it was in the best possible condition before mailing.

Our packing specialist from Japan lit a candle and a hush fell over the crowd as he put your CD into the finest gold-lined box that money can buy.

We all had a wonderful celebration afterwards and the whole party marched down the street to the post office where the entire town of Portland waved ‘Bon Voyage!’ to your package, on its way to you, in our private CD Baby jet on this day, Tuesday, December 19th.

I hope you had a wonderful time shopping at CD Baby. We sure did. Your picture is on our wall as ‘Customer of the Year’. We’re all exhausted but can’t wait for you to come back to CDBABY.COM!!

Will I be using CDBaby.com again? Hell yes!

Move Now Complete

Apologies for the lack of posts recently, but I’ve moved and have only just got broadband at the new place.

I’ll be doing some final checks on my Web2.0 Wordpress theme over the next week and will then be releasing it into the public domain.

If all goes well it should be out there by this time next week.

Keeping Developers Happy

I came across this article from the CSS Beauty website and thought I’d share it with other developers (and hopefully those managing developers). The main points that stand out to me are:

• Environment - if it’s neat and quiet then the developer will be able to concerntrate. This is too true!
• Equipment - top of the line computers and decent LCD monitors. I recently went from a laptop screen to a 20″ LCD monitor and it has made a world of difference.
• Books - allow developers to buy relevant books easily. Having good reference material is essential.
• Technology - encourage the exploration of new technologies. At work I’m always trying to see how the latest tricks might help improve the websites.
• Salary - keep it fair. Most developers will be happy as long as the above is adhered to - if the salary is above the going rate that’s an added bonus.

I urge you to read the article - and if you’re in full-time employment and feel brave - email it to your boss.

If you’re the boss; how many can you happily say you are implementing?