columnbreak in Japanese

Thanks to Yang’s translating skills, I’ve finally created a Japanese version for this website. Since there are only about five pages to visit, it was fairly easy, except for the JavaScript part. Just remember to turn off “Western European” when creating a JavaScript file that needs UTF-8 encoding instead of Unicode. In Dreamweaver, you can do that through the Preferences option when you’re looking at new templates to use.

Um, that’s it for now. :)

Been busy with everyday life happenings lately

Been pretty busy with a variety of things going on in life these days, so sorry for the lack of posting to this blog.

Here’s what I’ve been working on for the past month or so:

• Working
• Attending social media events
• Messing around with Windows 7
• Refreshing the columnbreak website and brand.
• Generally getting out of the apartment with Yang more often.

So, yup, that’s about it lately. Oh, I’ve also made myself discoverable on Facebook, so feel free to add me. Who knows? Maybe I’ll accept the request. ;)

Welcome the newest update to the Web site

Introducing… the long-overdue Projects feature! I know, I know… it’s been a long time coming. Check it out on pretty much any page, except for this one. In case you don’t know what I mean, follow this link (www.columnbreak.com/japan/joso.html), click the glossy-looking button titled “Stuff,” and click “Projects.”

Voila! Now you know what I work on outside of my 9am–5pm (or 8am–4pm in the summertime) job.

Now, let’s see how long it takes for me to update the “Favorites” link…

Updates to the home page

If you haven’t noticed, I made a significant change on the home page; the videos should now be viewable in Mozilla Firefox 3. I originally created it in Microsoft Silverlight, but I had a few issues with that:

• I wasn’t sure when Microsoft Expression Blend (the program that I used to customize the video player) would no longer be available as a free trial.
• There’s less of a developer circle for Silverlight.
• Adobe Flash already has a solid user base and is installed on most computers.

Let me know if you experience any problems with the new video player. Enjoy!

A formal e-apology

I didn’t know that the video on the ColumnBreak home page was not in service until I started using Mozilla Firefox regularly… and that kind of irks me. Sorry for not finding it out earlier. Hopefully it hasn’t deterred the steadily growing 20 percent of Firefox users.

Because of that, I’ve now got a new project where I have to convert the Microsoft Silverlight Web component to Adobe Flash, which requires me to learn Flash. Maybe it’s my calling… I started working with Flash, but then I found Silverlight, which seemed to be a more interactive, rich Web experience. Unfortunately, it hasn’t really caught on as much as I thought it would.

Flash and Flash Lite truly provide a lot more opportunities across multiple platforms and browsers, so for marketing purposes, that would be the way to go.

And since I didn’t make this Web site to sell oatmeal cookies, it looks like I might be busy learning more Web technologies for awhile…

Wedding planning

You might have noticed that I've been a little absent from blogging lately. Well, lucky for you (and me, too), I've got two good reasons for being busy.

The first is that Yang and I are getting married on December 7 (fairly soon, huh?) and have been planning and coordinating things like crazy. Fortunately, we've have had a ton of help from my mom, who called around to various places to set up the essentials. Last Saturday, we went cake tasting, courtesy of Jacqui's Cakes. If you live in King County or Pierce County, I suggest Jacqui; her knowledge of cake styles and taste combinations really helped Yang and I, who are novice cake eaters. For more details, visit her Web site: www.jacquiscakes.com.

The second is, if you haven't noticed, the new Web site. Yup. After three redesigns that will never have the light of day because they're lost forever in PC Recycle Bin land, I've created a design and structure that I really like. It's simple, and I can make updates to it fairly easily. And, I've come to terms with not having to do so much when I know only a handful of people visit this Web site daily.

That's all for now. Yang and I still have quite a bit to do until we can call it good on getting prepared for our wedding day.

A couple of setbacks won't set me back from this Saturday

In less than 48 hours, I'll be revealing the new ColumnBreak Web site. Not only will it be nicer for my audience in terms on visuals and content, but it'll also be much more convenient for me to make updates. I won't have to be near my computer to make HTML changes; instead, sometimes I'll be able to make changes directly from my phone or from an application on my computer.

More details to come on Saturday when I've posted it.

Ooops, my bad

I found out why the username and password prompt kept popping up; I'd linked to something in a private folder that I set up awhile ago. Ooops. It shouldn't show up anymore, now.

Changes to the Web site

I think it's time to narrow the focus of what the ColumnBreak Web site is supposed to be, since it's been up for almost a year. When I first started this site, I had this idea that I'd update a bunch of sections fairly often, which turned out to be too demanding. Here's what I'd like to do within the next month:

• Delete the News page
• Delete the Technology News page
• Redo the Japan landing page—just the page with the map of Japan
• Redo the ColumnBreak Mobile site
• Add new videos to the video player on the main page
• Start a new ad campaign through CitySearch
• End the ad campaign on Microsoft AdCenter
• End the ad campaign on Facebook

Guess I better get to mapping my plans to make these updates.