I created a neat CMS with audio uploads and multiple jplayer HTML5 audio players on a page (as opposed to a playlist) all seemed well until the user started uploading m4a files – my logic has presumed mp3 only and I had hardcoded mp3 into my player script for each file – after changing this to be dynamic and actually respect the original extension, I was still baffled why jPlayer refused to play the m4a files in Firefox (worked fine in Chrome) – then the penny dropped about relative paths to the media files! I had been using these without problem on the mp3s but m4a files need an absolute path or url to work in Firefox (and probably other browsers). Hope this helps other head scratchers out there….
Nov
25
Using Windows hosts file to browse a site in development before domain is pointed.
As a good way to test a site on a production server I have been using my Windows hosts file to allow me to browse with the actual domain name before it is switched to point at the server.
This allows me to test and configure the site using the correct base url as it awaits domain propagation.
To set your hosts file I recommend the following steps:
- On a Windows machine click the Start button and in the Accessories folder find Notepad – but don’t left click it open, instead right click for a menu that includes the option to “Run as administrator” – select this and Notepad will open
- Use the File menu in Notepad to select Open… then browse to C:\Windows\System 32\drivers\etc – you will probably see a blank folder and this is because by default Notepad is set to look for files of type .txt – so using the drop down there select All Files (*.*) which will reveal the files without extensions, you should now see a file called “hosts” – open this file
- At the bottom of the file insert your hosts directive which has the format of IP-address space domain-name, for example:
23.23.253.12 domain.com
(do *not* use www. in your domain name!) once you have inserted this line click Save and close Notepad.
Now when you enter this domain name, without the www. part, in any of your browsers it will direct your request to the IP address you specified. To view the actual website the domain is pointing to before you switch it to the new server just use the www. in front of the domain e.g. www.domain.com – this will bypass your hosts directive.
It should be noted that the domain name must have an account on the IP address to begin with!
Nov
10
Facebook Like buttons and bribery
It seems like I am receiving email incentives to Like some company every day. This surely shatters the integrity of the term ‘Like’ and the intrinsic value of these clicks…
What I mean is they are witholding their discounts or special offers until you ‘Like’ them, for example today’s bribe was from Travel Republic – they say if enough people click their Facebook Like button then they will donate £25k to the charity Children in Need. My gut insinct is that if they just gave Children in Need £25k then I would be more likely to ‘Like’ them, it would be genuine.
Get it the right way round!
Nov
03
Who needs a movie?
morbid fascination I’m afraid….. there are quite a few examples of cringeworthy websites I am aware of – I will post a few more in time… but this one is one of the best http://fredandsharonsmovies.com/
Nov
02
CKFinder integration – blocked file browser solved!
So after much hair shedding and googling I couldn’t find a straight answer to my problem when trying to launch CKFinder, it suddenly struck me that as I was using a session variable, $_SESSION['editor'], to authenticate the user that maybe perhaps a session ought to be started by the config.php file!
Simply adding session_start(); at the top of config.php unlocked it for me – somehow I had presumed that as these files were all being included that the session would be carried over – but not the case, I am guessing the config.php file is probably called in a standalone mode via ajax meaning the session needs to be injected. I couldn’t find this answer anywhere so I thought I would post it to help others who come across the CKFinder browser being blocked for security reasons when they are sure they have completed the authentication method correctly.
Oct
27
Spam Spam Spam Egg Bacon and Spam
got to chuckle at the irony of the comment thread on this http://www.youtube.com/comment_servlet?all_comments=1&v=anwy2MPT5RE
Oct
13
YouTube playlist mixing
This is fun! Mix YouTube music videos and create playlists, go to http://www.muziic.com/dj/ and start loading in YouTube video links – there are tools there to search YouTube and find the links within the mixing interface – good for parties!
Oct
13
Miniature NYC
I love this technique, known as tilt and shift it involves shifting focus (as a post edit – e.g. Photoshop layer mask) on each frame to create the illusion of everything being small – it works a treat and this is perhaps the best example I have seen from Sam O’Hare (brother of one of the Brighton New Media bods)
Oct
13
A practical application of Yellowbird!
Nice to see a practical application of Yellowbird – this is a scene from BBC’s IDEAL with Johnny Vegas – we can scan around the room and point the camera where we want – one good example of YB in action – I want more….
Oct
13
Home-made space movie of real space…
Now I have gone to the lengths of seeking out the ultimate paper aeroplane design instructions and spent the best part of a morning making them for my kids, but this takes the biscuit….