Complete work on our house

As far as the year as a whole this has been mostly successful. The house has come such a long way that I’m truly blown away with how homely it is and how much I love what the Badja and I have done to the place. Sadly we didn’t complete all the works (carpet, downstairs loo) as we run out of cash. These items are still on the list though and will certainly be being passed onto the 2010 Goals list

Give Blood

I’m an awful human being, really I am. I haven’t done this (again). This will also be being added to the 2012 list but I may up the anti somehow to make sure that this does get completed (at least once).

Slight weight loss

As per the last update I’ve actually put on a stone this year… FAIL!

Take up drawing

I made a good start to this goal and got some sketches together including this one of a manga-esq Badja. I’d really like to have done more but as you will see later some other things came up requiring more urgent attention.

Release a WordPress theme

Although I didn’t actually release a WordPress theme into the repository my Responsive TwentyTen plugin has now been mentioned across tens of WordPress blogs and was also mentioned in one of the talks at WordCamp UK 2011. I also made several other WordPress themes for bespoke projects.

Create another Android App

So I’ve been playing a fair amount with Android and have started work on an app for Forrst as well as playing with the NFC functions and more camera interaction. No app was officially released into the marketplace… so a partial success here I think.

Get listed in the next Web Designers’ Ideas book

This was always going to be a stretch goal… and sadly as at this time I think it’s out of reach.

Get drafted to Dribbble

Yup, we can tick this one off. One of the kind Dribbblers recruited me following my submission of some design work as well as some begging and pleading. You can check out my Dribbble work at http://dribbble.com/toddhalfpenny

Anything Else?

As well as all these goals I planned for myself several other things of note occurred in 2011 which should probably be mentioned here.

Launch of Designs and Such

Some time back in September whilst holidaying in Falmouth The Badja had the idea to start up an online craft business. It would focus on home-made craft items and craft kits supplying folks with designs, materials and all the other bits they need to create their own pieces. From the inception we duly started work on the business plan and all the other things needed to get this up and running.

On November 21st Designs and Such launched running on a WordPress site built by me and co-designed with The Badja.

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• Complete work on our house - Some progress has been made, which is really good news. We now have all new internal doors, a super-duper large loft hatch, we’ve redecorated the guest room (well The Badja has) and we have a new front door which we can actually open, close and lock! Still to come is some shelving in the kitchen and new carpets. The hope is to have these done by Christmas but to be frank money is somewhat tight.
• Give Blood - no progress… I’m ashamed… I really must get a move on with this.
• Slight weight loss - Well **** it! I’ve only gone and put a stone on since January! I better start concentrating on this again.
• Take up drawing - Not done much since Q1 but still doing the odd bit of practising.
• Release a WordPress theme - Although I’ve still not released a WordPress theme into the repository my Responsive TwentyTen plugin has now been mentioned across tens of WordPress blogs and was also mentioned in one of the talks at WordCamp UK 2011.
• Create another Android App - So I’ve been playing a fair amount with Android and have started work on an app for Forrst as well as playing with the NFC functions and more camera interaction.
• Get listed in the next Web Designers’ Ideas book - So I have a couple of web projects on which I’m hoping for great things from. I doubt that these are enough to get me listed but this was always a stretch goal.
• Get drafted to Dribbble - Yup, we can tick this one off. One of the kind Dribbblers recruited me following my submission of some design work as well as some begging and pleading. You can check out my Dribbble work at http://dribbble.com/toddhalfpenny

Well that’s it I think for this quarter.

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• Complete work on our house – slow progress on this one… seems that trades people can be very reluctant to turn up when they say they will. I mean, WHAT?!? Do they not want our money?
• Give Blood – no progress… I’m ashamed.
• Slight weight loss – I didn’t expect much following overdoing it at Christmas and the New Year. Currently still hovering around the same weight as the start of December
• Take up drawing – Finally some progress… I purchased a manga book and have been doodling from it.

• Release a WordPress theme – I really tried hard to make headway here… I even had a theme in mind, the Responsive TwentyTen one I had made as a child theme. Sadly the WordPress.org theme repository doesn’t take child themes (at the time of writing) so I just recreated the base TwentyTen theme with an additional CSS file to add the responsiveness. Twice this was rejected by the repository moderators. Not one to give up though I found a new way to skin the cat and released the Responsive TwentyTen plugin which basically enables a child theme without actually being a theme. So, this is some progress though not strictly what I was after.
• Create another Android App – More success! Based on the Asssist application which is an Android client for Dribbble I released the Asssist Widget. If you’re an Android users and fan of design then I suggest you go and check them out. Asssist App + Asssist Widget
• Get listed in the next Web Designers’ Ideas book – Lord knows how this is going… poorly I would think from the small amount of web work I’ve been doing.
• Get drafted to Dribbble – No progress on this one either. I have been updating my 3 Pointers page though with new work in the hope that this will aid the cause. On a fairly similar note though I have been invited onto Forrst, which runs along the same lines as Dribbble but also includes more for the developer-types… perhaps a better suiting for me? You can view my Forrst profile here.

So, there we are… a real mixed bag of “failure”, “mixed fortune” and “success”… couldn’t really ask for more I say.

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After reading about Jon Hicks implementation of media queries on his site to make it more responsive to user’s browsing context and the release of the (highly recommended) latest WordPress build I thought it was time to get my feet wet with Responsive site design.

After toying with the idea of implementing this on one of my client sites I thought “Hey! hold on I’m using WordPress 3.0 default theme on my blog… why not extend this?”. And so that’s exactly what I’ve done. I’ve created a child theme for TwentyTen which not only makes it fluid (up to 940px) but also makes it more responsive at smaller sizes. As well as these I’ve added some extra CSS to make it handle iphone and android browsers too thanks to some interesting articles by The CSS Ninja and riklaunim

The result of this the current 0.1 version of the Responsive Twenty Ten WordPress theme. It should be noted that this is a current work in progress which is one of the reasons that I’ve not published it to the WordPress.org themes directory just yet. There are a few known issues still too;

• IE fluidity is not implemented – seemed to cause issue with the CSS introduced to pick up mobile resolutions (portrait and landscape).
• Mobile (read Android and iPhone) have some issues dealing with the orientation. Still looking into this. Update – fixed
• Requires use of some JS for IE (though I’ve disabled this at the moment.]
• Not got round to validating the CSS yet (naughty naughty, yes I know). Update – fixed

The theme is essentially a fluid version of the default Twenty Ten theme with a fixed maximum width. The extra “responsive” magic comes in when the browser viewport width drops below 661px. What then happens is that the primary and secondary sidebars drop below the main content and appear just above the footer. Some tiny extra rules come into play for iphone and android browsers too to make the page layout flow better.

By all means download the theme in it’s alpha state and let me know your views. Of course you can just have a play with this site as I’m using it at present too.

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Android Cupcake

The update took no more than 10 minutes during which my phone was unusable. There was, however, good visual feedback letting me know at least that something was going on. Straight after the G1 had rebooted I clicked on the ‘ToggleBlu’ application icon to switch the Bluetooth off (it is on by default… I’m not sure as to why but perhaps I’m in the minority here) and sadly it failed. I started to dread that the update would break all my downloaded apps… things were not looking too bright. So I started playing with the other Market downloads to see just how they’d react to the new release of the OS.

From that point on everything seemed a great change; all the other applications whether installed by default (contacts, gmail, etc) or third party software all seemed to run fine… and some with some nice new features.

Here is a list of just a few of the key things that I’ve noticed.

• Faster scrolling – perhaps it’s because I’m excited but I do seem to notice an improvement in the scrolling.
• Batch options in Gmail – you are now able to bulk archive, set labels, etc,
• Auto rotate – without any additional software the orientation of the screen can be automated
• Screen animations – some nice ice candy when moving between screens
• Calendar – more control over events and a better “agenda” view
• Improved Camera capture – seems much quicker and has a better interface/interaction with gallery
• Video playback/capture support – I have only played with this briefly but seems pretty good and also supports audio.
• Browser – 1 click zoom to 1:1 option, a “most visited” tab in the bookmarks page
• On screen keyboard – although I really love having a “proper” qwerty keyboard I think for quick SMS creation this may come in useful.

All in all I have to say I’m pleased so far… I’m also excited about the coming of 3rd party widgets too so to sum up… my phone just keeps improving!

UPDATE (08/05/09): Kudos to  Andrew Schwimmer who had a fix for the ToogleBlu app out yesterday. Also just noticed a nifty “double tap to unlock” feature when on a call. Looks like “Shake Awake” is no longer needed.

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A lovely winter's spiderweb

Photo was taken with my G1 which explains why it’s not the best.

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The St Albans blog does not just publish reviews on pubs and eateries but also covers local events, has some wonderful photos and even has an extremely useful guide to establishments which offer free wifi.

Please, follow the link and have a poke around

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Houses of_Parliament

Those involved in the site have told me that they hope to have the functionality where a user can un-enrol and then re-enrol sometime next year. Anne replied (be letter… how old SkOol) mentioning that she has “written to the Government” on my behalf and says she’ll get back to me when she has a response.

So, no real progression for me and my VAT return… looks like I’ll be filling it in by hand this year. I will, of course, post any update on this.

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No way in

Basically I’d forgotten my password and so went to look for a “reset button”. This actually isn’t on the main page but instead linked to from a deeper page (I infact had to pretend that I was wanting to apply for a new driving license!!!). Once I’d found the link I had to enter some basic personal information and was then prompted for 3 (yes 3) pieces of memorable information… these were a name a place and a date. Now maybe it’s just me (I hope it’s not) but there are a few choices available to me for all these items. I’ve tried all the combinations I can think of but to no avail.

Hope was not lost at first though as there’s a telephone number to call if you’ve forgotten all the information. I called that I got through to a lovely understanding lady who sadly told me that they cannot reset my password either unless I gave them the same information… they have no greater power (i.e. telling me which pieces I might have got right) than the website! I asked what I could do next and was told “nothing”, “there’s no more that you can do”. The lady did mention that there was talk of a “fix” being put in place to fill this ‘gap’ but that proabably won’t be in place until next year at the earliest and that’s if they do anything at all.

I can’t believe I’m the only one in this boat so please please fill in the feedback form on their site asking for this feature to be added.

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The History

Some years ago I noticed a lump on my upper gum though seeing as it didn’t hurt I did not take any action. However a while ago I noticed it became painful and lots of awful puss was coming out… it was at this point I went to the dentist and was told that this lump was actually an abscess. By this point I noticed my tooth was also becoming loose. Something had to be done!

It’s not what you know, it’s who you know

Thankfully my brother Wayne is actually a Maxilofacial surgeon… and even luckier practices in the hospitals in North London around where I live. I got a referral to him and he recommended the best way forward was to have an Apicectomy to remover the Cyst. Even more luck for me is that this procedure is classed as surgery and not dentistry (I think that’s the split) which meant that it was covered on my health insurance at work.

I was going to post an image here of what the procedure may entail but I thought I’d better not as it’s quite graphic. A photo can be seen on my Wayne’s website for his Oral Facial Surgery . Instead here’s a photo of my brother instead.

Wayne Halfpenny - Oral Facial Surgeon and all-round good guy

Wayne is my eldest brother and fortunately for him he seems to have taken the entire quota of brain cells that were allocated for me and the Halfpenny siblings.

* I should say that Wayne is unlike the rest of my brothers so this only applies to him

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