Website

Brushing Up My Skills

Web DesignI’ve spent the past few days buried in HTML code, PHP, Javascript and doing a whole mess of Image Manipulation.  I’ve done over 40 different websites and themes for WordPress.  Either recreating them from scratch or updating and modifying them.

I’ve been tinkering with website design since 1997 and started putting my skills to use when I first put CastleRain online in 1999.  Since then, I’ve built and rebuilt this website numerous times over.

Up until a couple of years ago, I never really took my web design skills very seriously.  Even then, it took getting better tools and perfecting my skills with tools I’ve been using for a long time, to get to where I am now.  I’m kicking some incredible ass!!

Just to show off what I’ve been doing:

To top it off, all the work I’ve done and everything is now mobile friendly!

I’m seriously considering doing this full time.  It’s a blast and I don’t have to teach people things.  They just give me a place to upload the files and databases.  Maybe I will start getting into web development, but one thing at a time for now.

Check all my stuff out and tell me what you think!

Life’s Little Evil Grins

Sometimes I get just enough satisfaction out of the stupid decisions people make.  Take today’s case.  A customer who has had their website hosted with us for many years, but decided a few years ago they wanted someone else to handle the email.  Due too their lack of making themselves aware of their decisions then, the decision they made today has interrupted their business.   All because they didn’t think through the consequences of their actions.  This is especially satisfying when they send me a snarky email from the domain in which we happen to control.

I’ll try to help explain what happened using a simplified chart (click for larger image), as many of you also don’t know how web hosting works either.  However, I want you to see why my grin is so evil.  See, the customer bought a domain name and got hosting with us some time ago.  A few years ago, they decided they wanted a different company to host their domain email, but keep their website with us.  In order to do this they did the following:

  • First they pointed their domain to our servers.  This makes it so our servers answer for any requests for a website or email.
  • When they wanted to have another company handle their email, they asked us to point all mail to a different server.  This means all email requests come to us, but are redirected to a different server that we don’t control.

Today I get a nasty little email stating they stopped using us nearly a month ago and that they insist we cancel their service.  The email came from their domain.

Doing my job as I do.  I check to see if their domain is still pointed to our servers.  It is.  So once I stop the service, all services will stop as well.  Which means I can’t reply to their email as it won’t work.  Even though their email is with a different company, all requests have to go through us to get to the other company.  So now, none of their email works.  I’m sitting here waiting for the call asking why their email doesn’t work.  When they do, I will simply refer to the nasty email stating that they stopped using us nearly a month ago, and then point out I guess they still were using our services after all.  I’ll also ask if they would like to continue service, or give them the option to go to wherever they got their domain from, and work out the DNS there.  However, that option will take a few hours for it to fix their broken email.  All because they didn’t think before they got snotty with me.

Ah.. Justice :twisted:

Back Under One Roof

Metaphorically speaking that is.  I don’t know why I love to torture myself so.  This website is enormous as it is.  Why I keep wanting to flirt with other websites is beyond me.  It’s just more code I need to update, more content I need to come up with to keep the sites somewhat fresh.  Honestly, you’d think I would’ve learned by now that one is enough for one person.  I can publish my updates to all the hot social networks from one place and just keep it simple.

With that thought, I’ve moved everything back to CastleRain.com, and if my sanity lasts, it should stay.  I like working on websites and designing new themes.  I just need to do that for other people.  All that’s left is the tweaking.  It’s always been my online blog, journal or diary.  Whichever you prefer to call it.

Besides, I’m not as much of a gamer as I once was.  Now that all I come home to is the dog, I really crave social interaction.  Need to make me a small circle of real life friends and go chill with them.  Get away from the endless hours of pixel filled fun.  I love my games, but I need conversation and interaction more.  The walking is helping that too.  Managed to find a new friend just by saving her from a flat tire :)

With that, my Gamers Den site is closed.  Back to my beloved Castle.  Whatever I decide to do from here will keep all my friends and family up to date in one easy to remember location :)

CastleRain is now Gamers Den

Welcome to the new Gamers Den.  As mentioned before, CastleRain is coming to a close.  This is one of the final steps.  It’s time to move on and take my life in a bit of a new direction.  Over the next few months I will close out all of the CastleRain domains.  As with any move, things can become lost, bent or broken.  So if you see anything that looks out of place or you encounter some sort of error with the website, please do not hesitate to contact me and let me know so I can fix it as soon as possible.  I take a lot of pride in my work on websites and this is quite possibly the best design yet.  (Yeah it’s a bit heavy but damn it, it’s so cool!)

If anything take the time to vote in the latest poll.  (lower right side of site)

CastleRain Theme 2011

Well it’s just about 2011, and as with the new year I give to you my new look.  I think I’m getting pretty good at WordPress theme design.  If you’d like a custom Website or WordPress theme, you can hire me for it.  My prices are extremely reasonable in comparison to others found on the web and locally.

This theme is a bit more work than to maintain than others, but that’s because the background changes using pictures of my favorite things.  Much like the header does.  Though not used as a focal point.

This site has a load of themes I threw together and some examples of my HTML sites are located here and here.  It also shows off some of the custom graphic work I can do :)

Lies!! It’s all Lies!!

Teenagers are a peculiar bunch.  But when can you believe them?  I’ve had to deal with two teenage daughters in my life.  Even though you tell them everything you can in hopes to make them unique, outgoing and safe, even using content intended to scare them from doing wrong….  It’s like it goes in one ear, then processes into an audible answer that you want to hear, then when the opportunity presents itself, they do the exact opposite.  It’s almost as if they never heard your warnings.  Yet were capable of telling you that they did.

My case-in-point being my youngest.  Who for lack of better terminology, simply stabbed daggers right through my heart over a brand new “smart” phone her sister bought her.  Nearly the exact same thing her older sister did to me a few years ago.

I thought I had taught them to avoid internet predators.  How, not to do everything their friends did as it would likely end badly.  How to keep personal information sacred when using the world wide web so they can avoid identity theft and stalkers.  How social networking sites are not good for young children to use.

And they agreed with me, or so they told me they did.  Then I found the older one maintained a MySpace from anywhere she could because we blocked it at home.  Even though I gave her a hard worked, home made website she could do all the same things on but I could ensure the security of her data.  That didn’t matter, because her friends did it, she had to do it too.

This weekend, the youngest followed in her older sisters footsteps almost exactly.  I warned her of the dangers of the internet and skillfully crafted her a very nice website that she even stood over me and helped me design.  We talked at great length about how MySpace and Facebook were just sink-holes of societal lemmings all trying to “be cool“.  That her personal information can be taken even if she locks it down.

She’d even then make comments about her mom using Facebook because the family did.  But how she loved her website I made her.  She’d even do stories similar to ones I’ve written.

It was all lies.  Why would I ever even think I’ve gotten through to a teenager.

So her sister got her a phone, and it has Facebook and all that on it.  Immediately, “Mom? Can I have a Facebook?”.

I was speechless.  Hurt to say the least.  Why do I bother?  She never appreciated it.  She can do everything on her website that she can do on Facebook.  Without the worry of identity theft or that mess.  Post and share pictures.  Put all of her wonderful writings on it (oddly she never has and she’s a damn good writer).  Write her heart out if she likes.  But oh no, she’s gotta do it on Facebook because that’s what everyone else does.  Why bother being unique when you can be another lemming?

I guess it’s millions of people really.  They all do it.  They did it on Geocities back in the 90′s, MySpace 5 years ago and Facebook now.  Nothing like being apart of a fad rather than being your own person with your own look and style.

I’ll still fight the masses.  I refuse to be dominated by some corporate child or any of his future successors.  Facebook won’t last forever.  The internet most likely will remain long after they are dead and gone.

Reorganized

Sorry for all the mayhem lately.  I’ve decided to get a bit more organized.  I’ve moved my sites around and I’m sure that’s messed some of you up.  Reason being, rather than have my personal site loaded with business and gaming too, I’ve split them all up.  Now the blog is just my personal space, the gaming has it’s own place.  My Web Design work has it’s dedicated spot and I moved the old guild/gaming site that I no longer maintain to a new spot for someone else to take over or let die (which looks like may be the case).

I tried to be as thorough as possible, but I may have broken something in all that mess.  If you find something wrong, don’t hesitate to let me know.

New Year, New Look

It’s the beginning of a new decade.  I figured since I’ve honed my website design/theme making skills, I’d go for an overhaul of all my sites starting with my home.

Interested in my doing some work for you?  Take a look and get in touch with me.

Dumasaphobia.com back in action

I’ve opened up dumasaphobia.com again.  This time it won’t be all me bitching, it will be able to accept submissions.  Right now it’s open submissions, I may dumb it down (pardon the pun), so that I may review submissions first.  I’m sure this is what will end up happening, but we’ll see.

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