Wild Dingo.Net

Client: The K-9 Clinic
Services: Web host implemetation, Web Design, Web development, Web site training using Word Press, continued programming and online-marketing maintenance.

Last fall, shortly after I started attending group classes at The K-9 Clinic, the owner casually asked me what I did for a living one day, and I said, “Web sites.”  The rest is history.

Wild Dingo officially lauched this site in January, however, put off announcing it because there were still outstanding features that needed to be implemented, namely, the rotating banner. After fooling around with a Flash animation for too long, I ended up using simple Javascript code and I think it came out fairly well! The site is programmed entirely in Word Press so one or two of the staff can update pages quickly without my assistance. However, for new programming or art features, Wild Dingo will continue to provide service. They also wanted a calendar to display all of the clinic’s upcoming classes. Word Press developers have THE coolest calendar Plugin around so it was pretty easy to implement. And while I was at it, I installed the NextGen photo gallery plugin which makes it easy for the clinic to take photos and add them to the Web site for owners to browse through and remember their good times!

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It’s been raining all week, which means not so much outside play time for the terrible twosome. So they busied themselves in “other ways.” I walked into my office the other day to find this:

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Client: YogaSource, Los Gatos Ok, so I’m a little late in the game in announcing this since it actually launched in December. Gosh, I’ve known the owner of this studio as long as she’s had her studio and have been designing and programming the site upgrades since 2005. The owner is the sweetest thing since my secret recipe for holiday fudge and it’s always a pleasure working on her site. The studio rocks. It’s my om away from home, if you know what I mean. And it’s where I got my own RYT for instructing too. Each year the studio gets bigger and the site gets bigger and more complex. Last year, the studio moved and trippled in size and it’s web site trippled as well. This year we got “flashy” and gave the site a proper face lift. It’s om-a-lishious baby! I don’t maintain the site, so if you see any blatent boo-boo’s, talk to the management. They may give you some zen chants to get over it . Oh and check out the site I designed and maintain for the sister studio in Palo Alto.

WordPress 2.7 Rocks!  I just upgraded to 2.7. I’d rather swallow swords than upgrade my WordPress software. Even though the fabulous developers at WordPress outline the easy steps, it always scares the living bejesus out of me whenever I have to take down files and rewrite new ones. So I don’t make a practice of upgrading more than once per year,  which is around this time when Wild Dingo is on semi-shut down. It’s a good time to do it too, because Mr. Wild Dingo is home thwarting any effort I have to get any work done for clients with interruptions such as “can you help me carry this piece of sheetrock” or “I need you to hand me that screw that’s three inches from my finger tips” or “is my go-tee shaped evenly?”

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Ooooo  I’m steaming mad at Google! I just found out they ran political ads in my ad sense bar. I try very hard to stay out of politics mainly because it’s fueling so much anger these days and it has no place on a Web site with content about doggies and the Internet. Ugh. So to have Google push a political ad on my site without any content related to politics or the topic it was pushing (an ad for yes on prop 8 ) is infuriating! Shame on you Google! For the record, I’m a firm NO on prop 8. I’m not ashamed of my politics but I’m furious that it was driven on my site with no related content about politics.

I’ve been criticized from friends who work at Google for being too hard on Google because it’s such a “cool place to work” and the “people are nice”  and they really are about not doing evil. Ya right. Google, I didn’t think it was possible, but you’ve sunk to new lows.

You have to hand it to them. They sure are “thinkers!” Exercising while working at your desk. Ya. They may even suggest texting while in yoga. Ever wonder why a “healthy” person suddenly drops dead? Probably because they’re multi-tasking. Or perhaps, multi-stressing. Why bother doing anything if you can’t be 100% present while doing it? Where’s the value? One reason why you should go to the gym or go outside and do your exercise away from work is to be away from one thing and doing another that gives you pleasure or relief from another stressor. If you don’t like exercise, there are plenty of options for staying healthy and fit other than piling it on to your multi-task routine.

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Sometimes I wonder why I work on the Internet. There is so much drek on the ‘Net these days that I inevitably find myself consumed with it. Not only does the Internet completely consume my work day in terms of design and programming (only for useful and informative sites of course, I have some standards you know), but most days, when trying to use the ‘Net for function only, I stumble upon sites that inevitably lead me to a huge time-sink. Sometimes, I get to the end of the day, my to-do list remains untouched and I feel like I’m no smarter than if I had just read a Star magazine. Is the vacuous information on the ‘Net outgrowing useful information?

If you’re reading this blog, I’m sorry for you. It’s not all that entertaining and sadly, contributes to the vacuous. For a web developer, it took me an embarrassingly long time to join the blog world. But I suppose that’s because I refuse to join any organization that would have me as a member.

Still, there are some sites that are extremely informative yet, considerably, a huge time-sink. Here’s a site that looks promisingly informative:

I could get lost at looking all the “stuff” on this site. Read the rest of this entry »

Client: YogaSource Palo Alto

Oh completing this site was a sheer zen joy. The owner gave her studio a new color face lift and wanted to do the same for the site. I just love it when clients know exactly what they want. She sent me the colors, asked for a clean look and boom, I just popped out this classical HTML/CSS web site for her that we update every week. The beauty of the site is its sheer simplicity. People want the basics: class times, schedule changes, new events, who’s teaching, a few fun photos.  And that’s what this site gives them. The owner is diligent about updating the content on her home page weekly and I just love having another yoga client! I wish I lived closer because I’d be going more often. The instructors are awesome. They’re knowledgable and fun.  If you’re in the Palo Alto area, bring your mat and leave the cell in the car.

Google to Store Patients’ Health Records

Hey, how about this? How about we individuals take a wee bit accountability for our own health and maintain our own health records? Maybe, just maybe, we’ll get a little bit better healthcare when we trust ourselves instead of “the system.” It’s not hard. Every time you visit your doctor or get a test done, ask for a copy. Scan it at home if you want to keep it digitized. But for dog’s sakes…don’t trust the “system.”

You have to love how the article ends with:

“It’s not clear how Google intends to make money from its health service. The company sometimes introduces new products without ads just to give people more reason to visit its Web site, betting the increased traffic will boost its profits in the long run.”

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Privacy. It’s such a simple thing. Seems like something that everyone ought to have without having to fight for it or heck even ask for it. But sadly, each day, this very right is slipping through our fingertips. As a web developer, I enjoy all the “neat” things you can do on the web. But I draw the line at compromising even a smidge of my privacy.

Today’s social networking tools are the worst offenders.  A few years ago, I reluctantly joined LinkedIn, as a client required me to do in order to complete a work assignment. I was very careful not to list anything too personal other than what was required: school and industry and my web site. That information seemed benign enough.  Over the years, I never use the service, as I prefer to network with people in person, yet each day I keep getting requests to join someone’s network on Linked In. Like that’s where the cool kids are.  And each time I get one of these invitations I reluctantly agree to join their network so not to offend anyone.  Read the rest of this entry »