Overnight, this strange event has occured. You can’t escape it! Everyone is now using the ‘fail’ phrase for just about everything! And strangely I’m hooked on it too!

If you’re not aware of what I mean, then let me briefly explain. Think of a scenario where someone has done something which has resulted in a bad outcome, or perhaps they’ve asked a silly question. The response these days is ‘FAIL’. It’s somehow incredibly satisfying! Try it… You’ll like it, and people will laugh once they get it, and start using it too.

For added effect, go onto Google images and search for ‘FAIL‘ and ‘EPIC FAIL‘. You getting the drift? In our office it’s spread like wildfire. Everybody’s saying it! And it’s nearly always funny!

If you haven’t tried using it yet, do yourself a favour and give it a go! You’ll never look back!

I was tagged by Cheb 2.0 to write 8 little things about me. The meme is basically defined with the following rules: Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules. At the end of your blog, you need to choose people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Following on from my recent post, My concerns about Web Developer’s skill sets since asp.NET came to be, I thought I would justify why I think developers need to know more than just how to code a part of a website.

Lets start with coding itself. A lot of back end (ASP.NET for example) developers don’t care about front-end (presentation layer) code because they believe it is below them for some reason. Unfortunately, what they fail to understand is that knowing the basic principals of how to code the presentation layer can actually be influenced how you do certain things on the back end. It’s OK to rely on the built in controls, they work, that’s why Microsoft put them in, but they also put a lot in to give you that choice and flexibility!

Think about that for a second. Is there a chance that they are too generic and slightly bulky? Is there a chance that one may be quicker to implement, but another will actually give you far more control over the aesthetics of the site (the presentation layer). If you can control that, it will allow the designer to express themselves better, and the client to be more impressed.

The same goes for front-end code. Would making an element a user control or list speed things up, or frustrate the developer that’s got to plug-in the code that will integrate the presentation code with the CMS back end?

But, why stop there? Why not think about how those objects will then affect the performance of the site in terms of speed, longevity and marketing (SEO, SEM, analytics, campaigns, viral, RSS, etc.). If you construct a page in a certain way, you can maximise how Bots for example, index the site. If you build forms and databases in a certain way, you can collect data in a way that makes utilising it for profiling and targeting emails.

OK, so the data collection bit comes under a different area of the process, but it’s a very useful skill to know! If you look at a site, and see a missed opportunity, how good will that make you look? That idea to collect an additional piece of data, or make the user profiling module that bit more flexible suddenly opens the site up to a whole new world of selling back into the client, and in turn, maximising their return, and future spend! You’ve made you company money with an idea, that will hopefully ultimately see you rewarded!

Then there’s SEO and analytics. 2 very broad topics that I will only touch on, but 2 very important ones! If you have some down time, go and have a look at the stats, and see if you can spot anything unusual or useful. Perhaps a page isn’t appearing that you’re sure should be there. Has something happened that could be making that page less favourable to the search engines? Is there a page or particular area of a page that’s performing better than expected? Is there an opportunity to leverage that to drive more people to key information?

And one that amazes me, is how many people in the web industry still don’t know what a blog is, and how an RSS feed should actually work including ‘pinging’. For anyone that wants to work for me, there’s a very good hint as to one of my favourite interview questions!

You can see that there’s more to just coding a website for it to work. It is an area the web is still learning, and it’s only those web site developers that go to the effort of learning above and beyond one area of code, that will ever be a true legend on the web and let them make a name for themselves.

Updated in response to Stu’s article.

Since I wrote this article, I have learnt a lot about .NET and indeed it is a framework – Stu and some of the many talented .NET developers I have worked with demonstrate this concept brilliantly. My original point was that since people have been working in the associated language – C# and VB.NET for example – they have had an ignorance of the what is going on around it and instead relied on it providing everything they need. This often leads to the solution being created not being over complicated and as a result, affecting the end-user experience.

That was merely my point. No-one can be a master of everything, and shouldn’t expect to be. But to ignore what’s going around you is foolish, especially given how complex websites are these days.

Sorry if anyone took this the wrong way, it was never my intention.

OK, so a slightly long winded title, but I have to express a concern of mine. Recently I’ve been trying to hire web developers for my team to build web site, but I’m hitting a continual brick wall… Most of them actually don’t know how to build a web site!

These people know .NET, which is obviously a good thing, but they don’t seem to have any awareness of the other elements of the website. If it’s not in .NET code, and if it’s not a built in .NET control, then why should they need to know it? That’s the way it comes across to me.

When I started learning web development, I tool the approach of learning HTML mark-up first, then moving to server-side code in the form of Coldfusion. It seemed logical to do it that way, as ultimately what the end user sees is HTML. When CSS came along, I jumped on that bandwagon, and loved it. It helped me breath new life into my code. Then I changed from Coldfusion to Classic ASP and Microsoft SQL. All this enabled me to take a Photoshop file and deliver a complete website with a database driven back-end – incidentally built using the CMS systems I have developed over the years.

Recently, I started learning .NET and I’ve realised what a lazy language it is. Everything about it is geared to not really needing to think about anything! Everything is done for you, to the extent where you just need to start typing and Intellisense kicks in and tells you what you probably meant – and most of the time it’s right. I think that should be a good thing as it gives you more time to focus on the HTML, CSS and JavaScript side of things, delivering a great looking, functional website which validates if possible.

This also gives you more time to ensure the other elements of the site are more polished and included, perhaps affording you time to improve your RSS feed to include the most up to date information. Looking at a new technique such as integrating the Open Search for people’s toolbar or including microformats. Carrying out those last checks such as ensuring the Google Analytics and sitemap code is included and working.

However, that’s not how it works now. Apparently, people that know .NET are exempt from knowing anything outside of .NET when it comes to building a website, which to my mind makes them an Application Developer, not a web developer. Recently, we had an intern in who said he was good at html and CSS, but when you say that’s good and can he turn this PSD into a site, he says know, that’s someone else’s job as if he’s more important than that because he knows .NET.

Why has this happened? It’s a single language, so why do these people place so much value on this one skill over the other, in my opinion more important, elements of the site? I think it’s the banks. Think about it. Banks have recently built massive systems and brought everything online over a period, paying people lots of money for that period and then letting them all go once that task was completed, flooding the market with people who thought they understood the web. It’s a shame, but it affects smaller companies the most ultimately.

Add to that that they don’t seem to understand the idea of a good user experience, and are happy if what they build works. They don’t care if it works well, and don’t even seem to notice if something doesn’t work as well as it could. If a page is slow, doesn’t matter, it loads. If a page is hard to use, doesn’t matter as it works doesn’t it? I find that a strange attitude.

We’ve been talking internally, and are hopeful that a change is afoot and that the days of the true web developer will return again. The developers I place highest value on can be given a PSD and produce an entire website, optimised and including all the elements that make a website great! And I really hope that hope comes true.

Anyone with an XBox 360 or PS3 not played this yet? If not why not? OK, so maybe I’m being a little pushy in pushing my opinions on people, but I’ve loved the GTA games ever since playing the original ones on an old mac running Virtual PC (Yes, I’m a mac head).

But what is it about these games that keeps me coming back? I’ll be honest with you here. GTA 3, in my opinion, was the best of the GTA 3 series. There was something about it that was so good, and something that Vice City and San Andreas never managed to capture. There was something about this living, breathing city that is Liberty City. You could drive any car, do pretty much anything and the city was laid out in a fun way. The ones since have been bigger, with more to do, but somehow, they never captured that magazine.

And with GTA IV, I think Rockstar Games may have re-captured that original magic! Why? Liberty City is once again resurrected, but this time it’s got a lot more depth, a life of it own and feels like it might actually be based on something real! Cruising the streets, there’s people wandering the streets, and cars driving by, But now the people mingle and react to one another and you. Car drivers go about their business and crash into each other occasionally and apologise. There’s a real feeling of purpose and history to this place!

Liberty City feels like it’s been around for a long time and grown to what it is now. Some neighbourhoods are run down with graffiti and burnt out cars, with only a few cops to guard the streets. Other areas are very affluent, with nice modern cars, cobbled streets and lots of protection. There’s industry that might actually support the residents of the city. And the story covers a range of topics, letting you into bits of the city, and give you a hint at what’s happened to them over the years.

Weather is prominent too. On a sunny day, the streets are dry and cars handle well. Then the heavens open and cars start slipping and sliding, and – this is a simple but impressive touch – the people get their umbrellas out and put raincoats on. It’s such a little touch, but it really makes a difference. And one thing that impressed me no more was a thunderstorm! A thunderstorm that feels real! A crack of lighting illuminates the screen casting some amazing shadows, then the thunder comes making the controller rattle as if you were in the game with the character. I’m struggling to do how impressive this looks and feels but trust me, you’ll know it when you see it!

Then you move onto the vehicles. Lots of vehicles! And every one of them feels unique! That’s no mean feat. Jump in an American Hot Rod and your good for high speed in a straight line, but try to corner and you’ll struggle as the suspension wallows. Drive a big 4 x 4 and nothing gets in your way, but it’s a little slow but you can real feel the power. Jump in a sports car and it’ll weave through traffic. Fancy driving a lorry? Their slow, but somehow so much fun! And bikes… Well, they’re a struggle I find, but I’m sure some people love them.

Performing on foot has been improved immensely! I used to struggle with the old controls, but now it feels almost as good as Halo (nothing’s beaten that yet though). And the targeting system is improved through the simple act of letting you lock on fully (trigger depressed fully) or part-depress it, and you get free aim. It’s a simple thing but works so well! And combine that with the new duck and cover button, and you can’t go wrong.

What else can they do to improve the experience? Well… There’s the new physics engine that brings everything to life – knock the garbage bins over and they roll along and down hills. The graphics are a lot more comic book like – gone are the old simple textures of the old one. And the character animation is amazing! Some of the details you almost don’t notice, but crash your car and anyone in the car lurches. Corner too fast and their head rolls to the side. Jump out of a moving vehicle and your character – Nico – rolls along the street just like the movies.

Any faults? Well, sadly yes. Cover gets a little confused at times, but that I think is something very hard to get right. Even Gears of War got it wrong occasionally, and that’s an amazing game for the duck and cover idea! And being in Australia – and this is really upsetting – the game is censored. Come on Australia, WAKE UP!!! There’s no rating above 15 here, so the language has to be toned down. One example being how Nico thinks that Michelle is a “really good listener”, after he’s “Talk to me! Talk to me” in a rather enthusiastic way. It’s a little sad really.

But, that’s it. That game is simply amazing and damn near perfect in my eyes! The one thing that I’m concerned about is what happens when I’ve completed it… Just have to try and complete the myriad of micro-tasks within the game.

If you don’t have it, get it now!!! Why are you still reading… Get down the shops and buy it now!

So, this is the 2nd year I’ve been in Australia for Anzac day, and this year, I decided to do it properly. For those that don’t know about ANZAC day, I suggest you read the article on Wikipedia. In summary, it was the first major military action in the first world war by the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps, and this day celebrates the pride of these countries in this corp. It’s celebrated all over the country, and the services start as early as 4am.

One of the games that was invented by them was 2-up and the only day you can legally play it in Australia is on Anzac day. The principal behind it is to flip 3 coins off a wooden paddle, and whichever 2 sides match is the winner, hence “two-up“. There are some rules though: You have to get a good flip on the coins – if they don’t spin enough when you through them up, it’s a no-throw. Likewise, they have to get a good height – but not too high or hit the ceiling. And on hitting the ground, they have to all stay with the defined boundaries.

Now that sounds pretty dull in essence, but it’s a actually a blast! The reason being that you bet other people in the audience, and everyone – I mean everyone – gets involved. You can shout out a bet of say $10 on heads, and someone will say I’ll call you tails. The person who calls heads looks after the bet until the result is known. Then if they win, they keep it, and if they lose – tails – they give the money to the other person. You’d think people would try to cheat the system, but they don’t. The spirit is absolutely amazing! Everybody has great fun and chats and laughs and you just can’t imagine how much fun it is. It’s just a shame that it only happens once a year.

We spent an impressive 5 hours in the Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel that afternoon, but not playing that all day. All in all it was a great day, and next year I’ll make sure I’m up for the dawn service.

So I now live in Sydney. I’m originally from Essex in England, so I’m used to fairly cold weather. Went winter rolled in, the jumpers and jackets would roll out. After all, the great North-South divide declares us as Southern Softies.

But, “Up North” – you have to say that with your best Geordie accent – it’s a different story. My friend is from Newcastle and we have the running joke’s about the differences between the North and South of England. And today, as the temperature drops to the point where I’m considering wearing a jumper – yes, it does get cold in Sydney despite the myths – I was reminded of a classic joke… The Geordie Thermometer.

It’s so true. I’ve never been up there, but I have friends from there, and they just don’t seem to feel the chill. It’s a strange thing. And that joke cracks me up every time!

One thing it has made me realise is that I really want to go there! I can’t believe I’ve never been. I went to Uni in the Midlands, and Newcastle’s not that far from it.

And yes, I just mentioned it. I actually have a selection of Winter clothes here in preparation for the Sydney Winter. It last for around 2 months, but thankfully doesn’t get as cold as home – gloves are not needed. But one thing I do wish is that they didn’t make manhole covers out of the slipperiest material known to man! I’m serious. The other day, it rained, and you can see all of Sydney’s working population carefully avoiding them like some kind of hop-scotch game. Those fool hardy enough to venture onto them, usually ended up doing some kind of impromptu dance routine with all the coordination of burning confetti in a tornado!

But, I do kind of like the rain. Reminds me a little of home. It’s rarely the same kind of drizzle you get in London – which is a good thing – but it is kind of comforting to know there are similarities with Sydney. Roll on deepest Winter… I’ve got my jacket ready.

I love reading about what’s happening and as a result, have subscribed to a lot of RSS Feeds. Be it about Web Development, or around the World News. Some are focused on SEO, some on marketing. There’s ones that are fun such as Dilbert. Several about one of my passions, cars and photography.

But, I have far too many. I’ve recently swapped over to NewsGator’s tools for both mac and PC, and one of them has a curious feature, and one I’ve found myself using far too much. A “Panic Button“. What does it do? Well, when you have too many unread articles, it offers to go through and mark anything that is more than 48hrs old, and unread as read.

It sounds like a trivial thing, but it made me realise that I’d accumulated so many feeds over the years that I rally needed to do some house cleaning. I think in doing that, I’ve probably removed about half the sites I was subscribed to.

Am I sad about doing that? Not really. I think in the long run, the feeds I have left are much more focused, and given time, I’ll probably thin them out a little more.

If, like me, you find you have too many to read, do this little exercise and I think you’ll feel much better about yourself – and be able to find much more time to read them.

In a future blog I’ll be outlining some of my 10 favourite RSS Feeds and why I think they are som

I’m relatively new to using Wordpress to completely manage my site, but I have found a few plugins of particular use in getting my site to a point where I feel it is really usable and enjoyable for everyone that visits. In this blog, you’ll find the 5 I’ve found most useful to help me do that. I have more but they’re for a different purpose and a different blog.

Flexi Pages Widget
If like me you’re using Wordpress as a CMS (Content Management System) to manage other pages about you, then you’ll quickly come to realise the standard side menu doesn’t work so well because it shows everything all the time. The plug in gives you a large degree of customisation, allowing you to make your menu behave like the one on my site, with everything collapsed until you go into that section.

NextGEN Gallery
I love taking photos, and have explored a few options in this area. There’s several that integrate with services such as flickr, and one that works off you Facebook account. But none of them were quite what I was after. The NextGEN gallery allows you to manage galleries within your site’s folders rather than using a 3rd party. I find this approach more appealing as it means my site is almost completely self contained.

Redirection
The site you’re looking at used to be www.gregorybrine.com. That had a lot of links, and folders within it, each with a pagerank and some valuable traffic. You can do a simple URL re-pointing, but you risk loosing this traffic. Instead, you should do a 301 redirect for all key URLs on your site. This plugin has allowed me to control all traffic to the new www.gregory-brine.com URL, as well as some some of my original URLs that were valuable but of no use in the current site such as my old Personal Blog and Travel Around the World URL – thanks to Cheb for pointing me to this one.

WordPress.com Stats
It’s always good to know how much traffic your blog is getting, and this tool allows you to get some basic information back about who’s reading what on your site, and where they are coming from.

Google XML Sitemaps
You’ve gone to all the effort of writing fresh content for your site, and the pinging service within Wordpress goes a long way to spreading the word, but a Google sitemap takes it one step further, which is especially useful for those using the CMS features of Wordpress.

I’ve been a bit late on watching this. I read the summaries, but didn’t watch the presentation. So, what was I missing?

It turns out a great deal! Now I know the iPhone can do a lot already thanks to Apple’s work and 3rd party developers, but what they showed off in that presentation makes you realise how much it’s capable of!

First off, the new business features are kick-ass and will really make it a phone for business users. The new Cisco VPN is something I’m very keen on as most of our clients use Cisco equipement. But the Exchange server stuff was really something else, especially given as it’s new software from Microsoft. It looks like Apple’s gone and integrated the Exchange software better than anyone else has been able to.

But then when Scott Forstall came on and started talking about the APIs built into the iPhone, you suddenly realise that Apple’s been holding back! It’s got full 3D technology built in yet nothing uses it yet. The accelerometer is 3 dimensional – and incredibly sensitive, install Labyrinth and you’ll see how sensitive!

Demonstrations by EA Games and Sega showed game controlled by tilting the iPhone, and the control and graphics were so clear and so precise. And with major game developers like these developing for the phone, things can only get better.

The business applications will also turn the iPhone into more than just a toy. It will become a tool for businesses. The CRM software shown by salesforce.com opens up a host of opportunities. Imagine the possibilities… That piece of software worked so seamlessly, and was so easy to make, how long will it be until we see other main stream tools coming to the platform?

I think it’s an exciting time to own an iPhone, and it’s only going to get better!