emchi.co.uk

As some of you may know I work with web technologies.  At the moment specifically I’m looking at a massive intranet re-development.  So part of what I do, is to look at usability and accessibility.  Most of the sites I’ve looked at have had to try and comply with WAI standards.  So one of the biggest websites that I always follow for changes is BBC.  They seem to be one of the few organisations that spends a lot of time and effort (read money) in developing websites that are of a really high standard.  They take the time to combine current trends with accessibility.

So I was reasonably surprised to be presented with a new BBC home page a few weeks ago, being a div, I haven’t really had a chance to look at the site until today.  It would appear at the moment it’s only the home page that has undergone a massive update, but even so you have to look at it for it’s revolutionary approach to delivering content.

When I say revolutionary, I mean look for the navigation.  Breaking with a massive norm, the main navigation is at the bottom of the page, below the fold.  To do something like this, and not have people shouting “you can’t do that” is quite an achievement.  I suspect not many people have noticed though, because what you’re presented with is an eye catching diversion from the norm.

At first glance the page does appear a bit cluttered, but if you stop for a moment and click your way around it’s very well thought out.  Whilst they have taken the time to include bright promo panels, they don’t flash and move around distracting you from the content.  OK so they don’t have to have advertising on the site, but you have to ask why so many companies need to cram in as much junk as possible.  There is no need for it, a well thought out advertising policy, that’s controlled by the site owners and not by the advertising agencies that buy the space is important.  Anyway, I feel that even if BBC had to have advertising content on the site, they would approach the problem with good thought and the users of the site in mind.

The customisation abilities of the page on their own are quite impressive.  You can control you location in individual components or select a page wide change to your location.  So if you want to keep an eye on the weather in one part of the country, but the news in another, it lets you do that.  Quite clever.

As for the seemless changes to the colour when you click on the bottom tabs of the promo box on the right of the screen, completely effortless. Smooth transition without juddering effects.  It’s a really well presented page.  I hear on the grapevine that the news and sports pages are due for release next week, I’m looking forward to seeing what changes they have made here, as it’s always been one of my favourite websites.  Let’s hope they’ve moved into the middle of the page and lost the big chunk of whitespace down the right of the screen.

Now for website nightmares… go check out the Sky Showbiz news website.  What they were thinking? I have no idea, but with lack of decent navigation, page weighting, structure or sense of direction, it’s a wonder anyone uses the site any more.  With all the money they have, and all the design agencies in London, they end up with something that’s akin to Heathrow Terminal 5, i.e. a complete disaster.

So I finally got some webspace for my other domain… I’ve got some major uploading and tweakage to go on but I’m aiming on using it for creating different websites (I’m learning). I’m moving my photos onto that site (what few I actually have that I took that is) as I’ve already got coppermine installed as the hosting company I went for (reccomended) uses auto installer scripts to get the applications installed. The only downside is MT isn’t on the list so I’m going to have to do a vanilla install of the new version… EEEK!! well I guess it’s not that bad really as it means I can get it installed then at some point have an add on domain to my site and relocate this over to the new hosting company.

I’m contemplating learning some flash design… as I said, I’m bored.

I’ve seen a few blogs where people like to discuss the food they like to cook and their good finds on the internet (my buddy BNUG being the most notable), but I’ve really never thought that much about it.

I will admit to having a stack of cookery books, but they’re now hidden down the side of the sofa. The reason for this being the hell that is my kitchen. If you were to swing a cat, you’d break the poor things neck. We have a. no storage, b. no work top and c. no gas hob (I hate cooking on electricity). So I don’t get to flex the full use of the two griddle pans I’ve got, a full range of le cruset saucepans, some decent knives and a blender that never gets used. I love to cook, but I really can’t do it in a poor kitchen, I run out of space and I just get in a tizzy.

Anyway, I am digressing (as usual), I wanted to say that I love Mexican food. I simply adore it, if TOH and I go out for dinner it’s normally to this lush little mexican in Maidstone called Mexa Mexa. They make THE best mushroom burritos I’ve ever had and superb value for money. The problem here is that I’d love to cook the stuff myself, but do you think I can find a recipe for something mexican? hardly, inless it comes out a jar, or box, which I find a little too flavourless and over spiced… I can make a mean salsa, a pretty good nachos and ok Fajitas. But I long for a recipe book. So imagine my surprise when I found 3 websites with the kind of recipes I’ve been after whilst looking at The Whole Ten Yards website. I’m in awe, my mouth is watering and I even now know what a Po’ Boy is (I read a lot of american books and I’ve wanted to know what things like Po’ Boys, grits and biscuits are). I’ve got the following to drool over, Fat Free (which includes a lot of Vegan Recipes for those of you interested), New Orleans cooking and chili bob’s (who seems to have a recipes for different sauces). I’m off to find more and drool lots and lots…

To an internet browser near you… my new and improved website (yes I know it’s mark 3). However as I like using MT so much at the moment and my laziness in the evenings to sit down and do work on this site, I kinda figured it would be a lot easier if I had the whole site done in MT. So it’s coming soon with new sections that I can update on a regular basis. These will include
Reviews - for film and books
IT Support - for those tid bits of information that only experienced professionals tend to keep to themselves, I will, for the princely sum, of absoloutly nothing share these things with you.
Girlie Stuff - for those chicks out there that lurve to shop and girlie gossip. I will share with you some of the greatest websites I’ve found for e-tailing and general useful stuff.

I may of course add to this over time but for now I think this should keep me more than occupied.

Ah good news I’ve recieved! The website I’m going to be writing for, finally looks to be going live next month (production issues etc), so I’ve been trying to get myself into it a bit more and will be writing news stuff for the site. Really looking forward to it. So those of you who’ve not seen my link on the right, go have a look at Hecklerspray.

Anyway I found another one of those “what kind of person are you” websites again. Apparently I’m

What Classic Movie Are You?

Reasonably amusing none the less!

Ok so the hell that can be described as christmas is over and done with. I am proud to annouce I got 1 christmas present (and it was what I wanted… WOO HOO!!). I did nothing at all, and I’m sure that I can’t possibly imagine what’s worse, having beef and ale pie for Christmas dinner (which I’ll have you know was yummy), not getting dressed for 5 days or watching so much TV that you get bored with it… *YAWN* anyway I’m back at work this week and I seem to be struck down with a cold which has resulted in a loss of voice (much to everyone’s amusement I’ll add).

I’ve finally been getting my internet groove thang going and been reading loads of websites. I found a great one yesterday, you can find it here it’s great! someone has gone to the length and trouble of finding out if those “tall tales” you get by e-mail are real or lies. ‘Bout time someone did this I have to add. Although the only bad thing I’d have to add is the schmultzy americanism of it all… I’d had my fill by the time I got home yesterday. But there were some interesting facts on there that greatly interested me.

Also following on from my note about dreams the other day I’ve now found this place which is a lot better than it was before. I’ve been having wierd dreams again. Although according to the interpritation that I’ve found it turns out the weak legged dream means I’m facing an emotional weakness (like Dur), but I’m glad I know what it means now.

Anyway, not much else going on, I’m bored as you can imagine, and I’m stuck at work, when I’d much rather be stuck at home asleep. Oh well c’est la vie!