A week with the iPad (part 1) – my iPads and accessories

My iPad and my catLast week I took the plunge finally and bought and iPad. Actually I bought two, one for me and one for my fiancee, but nontheless, I took the plunge. Unlike my iPod Touch purchase, this was a bit more of a gamble, purely because it is a lot more money for something that is “just a larger iPod”. Minutes after ordering it from the Apple online store I wondered: “will I enjoy the purchase? Will I make the most of it? and What if not?”

Well, last week the iPad arrived, together with a number of accessories (which I will discuss in more detail below), and I spent the last week looking at apps, reading up reviews and testing them to make the most of my day-to-day activities as a web designer, project leader and information architect.

So, read on for my thoughts on the iPad and accessory reviews…

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Golakes.co.uk redesign is live!

The new website of Go Lakes has just been put live.

The website features a lot of new content and is based on New Vision Group‘s new modular CMS Pro and features a number of great new additions such as:

  • Dynamic tabbers
  • Custom-built header slideshows
  • Integration with My Recommendations
  • Social media mashup block
  • Flickr, Twitter and Facebook widgets (including on DMS pages)
  • Content-managed CRM templates
  • A custom DMS icon set
  • …and more!

Click here to go to GoLakes.co.uk

VisitOxfordandOxfordshire.com is live!

The new website of Visit Oxford and Oxfordshire has just been put live.

The website features a lot of new content and is based on New Vision Group‘s new modular CMS Pro and features a host of new options and modules to maintain and update the site, from Flickr, YouTube and Facebook integration over to the brand-new EA (Events and Attractions) browse pages and live availability information.

Click here to go to Visit Oxford and Oxfordshire.

Happy days! 😀

Video demo of the new GoLeicestershire website

The new Go Leicestershire website went live last month, and already it has been very successful!

If you haven’t had a chance to look at it yet (click here to visit the website), the site features a range of new features such as:

  • New Vision’s brand new Modular CMS Pro
  • A host of new social networking integration options, from Twitter to YouTube, Flickr and more
  • Mapping using GPIN technology and a custom icon-set
  • A wealth of dynamic sliders and carousels (all content-managed!)
  • Content-managed forms, tying directly into the in-house CRM system
  • Integration with ePersonalisation and My Recommendations
  • TripAdvisor Integration on a DMS details level (both for accommodation and non-accommodation)

…and a lot more!

Read on for more screenshots and a video demonstration of the live site (by yours truly)…
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Go Skimming iPhone app is live!

Go skimming iphone app is live - whatwasithinkingGoSkimming, the new iPhone app by Cumbria Tourism has been released on the iTunes App Store last week. This the first iPhone app I have worked on with New Vision Group and Buzz Interactive. And best of all – its free!

About the app:

Stone skimming is a worldwide pastime, although depending on where you come from it could be called skipping rocks, baking pancakes, letting the frogs out, letting the ducks out or making white-caps. Whatever you might call it, the rules and fun factor are the same wherever you’re playing… and now that could be anywhere with the Golakes Go Skimming app.

The aim of the game is to choose the right stone and throw it across the water. Your iPhone / iPod Touch becomes your stone – the trick is in the action you use to swing your device to get the most hops.

Features:

  • Four lakes for you to choose from: Windermere, Ullswater, Derwentwater and Wastwater (voted Britain’s best view) with high resolution water effects
  • Unique skimming mechanic for both left- and right-handed players
  • Music by the Cumbrian musician Jamie Sims

Read on for the storyboard design and the download link! Keep Reading

WordPress 2.8.5 – a hardening security release

The brilliant minds behind WordPress have released version 2.8.5 last night, dealing mostly with security issues.

The main fixes of WordPress 2.8.5 are:

  • Trackback Denial-of-Service attack fix
  • Removal of areas within the code where php code in variables was evaluated
  • Switched the file upload functionality to be whitelisted for all users including Admins
  • Retiring of the two importers of Tag data from old plugins

It is strongly recommended to upgrade as soon as you can, either via your WP admin panel or download WordPress 2.8.5 directly from here.

Adobe releases Coldfusion 9 betas

ColdFusion 9 beta released - WhatwasithinkingA couple of weeks ago, the brilliant minds behing Adobe released beta versions of ColdFusion and ColdFusion Builder to its Adobe Labs members. This latest version of ColdFusion features a greater integration with the popular Flash platform, including AIR, Flex (and Flex Builder) and Flash Media Server, making it easier for developers to create rich user interfaces for (web) applications. Not only that, ColdFusion 9 accelerates the development cycle by reducing complex code and the ability to access data from existing infrastructures based on enterprise solutions such as MS Office, Sharepoint and other standards.

Since the integration of the Flash and PDF ( since ColdFusion 8 ) platforms, more and more developers are flocking towards ColdFusion again, and it is seen as a great alternative to meet business needs quickly and effectively, and more and more businesses are hiring ColdFusion developers because of that.

Read more about ColdFusion 9’s key features and download links… Keep Reading

FireFox 3.6 Alpha – visual tab previews and faster start-up times

firefox 3.6 alpha released - whatwasithinking.co.ukMozilla Labs has just released the first alpha of Firefox 3.6, code-named Namoroka, built on top of Mozilla’s Gecko 1.9.2 layout engine. With it, Mozilla promises JavaScript improvements, startup time speed-ups, visual tab previews and behavior tweaks, capability for additional CSS3 properties, among the most notable changes.

The startup time and JS speed improvements are noticeable and welcome, and the visual tab previews are finally here and worth the wait.

By default, the new visual tabs are currently hidden in the FF3.6 alpha build, you can easily access them via an about:config tweak. Read on to learn how to add these… Keep Reading