After a good few years of sub-standard hosing, I decided to make the jump to Media Temple.
It’s all nicely set up, with everything simple to use and access, even the more advanced requirements are easy to find (unlike many others out there).
I can’t speak for the uptime or reliability yet, but I’ve already a good vibe from these guys, and I’m hopeful of a rock solid service.
Headaches, sleepless nights and unproductive days…
I’d got to the point where I really needed a week off work. Some time away from a Mac, from design, from coding. Just slip away from all that and just do nothing for a few days. Well, not nothing, but in fact the absolute opposite of what I’ll usually do in a week.
In the past week, I’ve clocked up some serious hours and miles on the bike, had the most chilled birthday I can remember, and caught up on a few all important TV shows ;-)
No Photoshop, Fireworks, Coda, Flash or, most importantly, stress in sight.
I feel all the more better for it. Refreshed and raring to go.
We seem to be in an industry that almost demands a seven day week sometimes. It’s not healthy, productive or right.
This was my first proper break all year, and boy, did I know about it. I’ll never go six months without time off again.
Keep that deadline in sight, but don’t forget to relax, rest and save some of your expensive time for yourself.
I’ve had my iPad for little over a month now and I really am surprised at the amount of use it’s getting. I thought it would fill the void between laptop and phone as many suggest. It doesn’t, it hasn’t. My MacBook is, and has been, redundant for the past 5 weeks.
My main machine is an iMac, this handles my design, development and photo editing, not to mention my music and video collections. My MacBook was always my ‘lazing around’ machine. On my lap on the sofa, reading the news at the breakfast table, maybe the odd bit of BBC iPlayer late at night.
The iPad has seamlessly stepped into the shoes of my MacBook, it now delivers the news, the tv shows, the odd bit of music I want. But at a fraction of the size and sometimes discomfort of my (now) weighty laptop.
These are all no-brainers, but… the battery life is better, it’s quicker at some everyday tasks, it’s lighter and infinitely more portable. I haven’t reached for my MacBook in weeks, but only when it comes to ‘leisure’. The death of the laptop won’t be any time soon.
The iPad just isn’t suitable for work; typing at length, editing things, saving and exporting, these aren’t simple and easy enough… yet.
If you’re thinking of getting a new laptop for your everyday use, such as browsing, photo sharing etc, should you give a tablet a second thought? Well yes and no. The limitations might be a little too much for some people, small screens, netbook speeds, software limitations. But on the other hand, if you value ease of use, simplicity and portability, then an iPad may well be for you.
Just a few short weeks ago, a new show hit British TV screens. Idris Elba, The Wire’s Stringer Bell, plays the lead role in a new drama set in modern day London.
John Luther is an unconventional, genius and as always, flawed detective. Going through a breakup with his wife and having only just returned to the force following a period of recovery after a mental breakdown, he finds himself thrust into the middle of a brutal case.
Slated for an initial run of six episodes, Luther has all the ingredients to prove a massive hit for the BBC. It has a mix of grit, intrigue, emotion and sometimes comedy. The character of John Luther is a complex one, a seemingly broken individual with similar characteristics as seen in Hugh Laurie’s portrayal of Gregory House. The ability to solve a case with only the smallest thread bringing everything together. A disregard for authority, public and sometimes his own safety adds to the sense that Luther is a man on the very edge of his sanity.
There’s a very un-English feel to it all. We have far too many stories of detectives who live in idyllic rural England, and must solve a new murder every week. Hint… it’s always the housewife! In all seriousness though Luther has a grittier feel to it; I don’t want to compare it with The Wire, but I must. It feels real, not some soapy murder mystery as we’re used to with English “Police Dramas”.
The development of the relationship amongst the main characters is excellent, with twists and turns all the way. I can’t say too much without letting slip a few spoilers, but what I will say is…
Go out of your way to watch Luther. It’s the best drama to hit the BBC in many years. We must keep actors like Idris Elba on British TV, but the only way to do that is with a role like this. Sublime acting, screenplay and production values make for a thoroughly enjoyable watch.
19eighty7 is a collection of thoughts, ramblings and the odd freebie, collated by UK based designer and developer Dale Morrell.
If you need to get in touch, I’ll be floating about in any of the usual places:
