Charanjit Chana's Blog

gCount, a Google Code counter

Thu, 1 Apr 2010 08:41:59

As part of the Nike+PHP project, I wanted to display the download count for the project. Mainly as a badge of pride, but also as a tool I can use to gauge the popularity of the project.

Google don't offer anything like this on their own site, let alone as a widget, so I launched gCount this week.

Entering your Google Code project name will return a total download count and some JavaScript you can pop onto your website that will display the same count.

I'll post updates to [http://twitter.com/cchana]twitter[/url] if I make any enhancements and maybe even promote projects using the service!

Nike+PHP's new home

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:10:52

While the code itself still sits over on Google Code, Nike+PHP's support site now has a new look!

I've moved it onto a Wordpress platform which makes administration and updating the site easier.

Nike+PHP progress and branding

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:55:21

Version 1 or Nike+PHP has been out for a while and earlier this month I released v1.2.1.

The code has been downloaded over 100 times and I'm extremely proud of that fact! I would love to see how people are using the code, so please add to the Examples page on the wiki.

I also changed the branding for the project a little bit, but need time to work on the site, something I might do in March. The site is a little bright, something I wanted it to be, but I'll be toning it down a bit in the next refresh.

The old logo was dark, plain and, well, just boring!

The new one is lighter, has a bit of depth and contains the Nike logo (hope I don't get into any trouble for that!).

2010 or ten past eight?

Tue, 5 Jan 2010 18:13:52

Possibly the best way of pronouncing the new year, 20:10 has already begun and I've already made more changes to http://charanj.it!

My portfolio site now has a slightly better layout, more functionality for the portfolio showcase and more key terms and information about me, as a developer.

I'm looking to improve the twitter situation, because not all my tweets are really suitable for my portfolio site, but I'll decide what to do with that a bit later!

In the pipeline

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:38:48

I haven't had the time to work on receeve.it properly for a few weeks, but I am looking to release the following things in the near future:

1. Nike+PHP v0.9.1
2. A mobile poker site (trying some revenue ideas out)
3. Migrating the odd blog post from the old Be Unequaled blog

As you may be aware, Be Unequaled is no longer around as a fashion site, but will return in the future in a different form. I feel that the blog had some decent content so I'll be migrating that over bit by bit to this blog.

New portfolio is live!

Wed, 4 Nov 2009 17:29:51

I tweeted a few things about my new portfolio and I finally got it up yesterday evening!

I feel that it showcases my talents a lot better than the last version and has a lot more personality! The site is built in HTML5 and uses CSS3, it should degrade nicely down to XHTML and CSS2.

Quite a bit of jQuery, but all unobtrusive. As has become my signature, the site doesn't work in IE6, but I really couldn't care!

Check out charanj.it!

Nike+PHP a PHP class for Nike+

Mon, 5 Oct 2009 09:08:40

So I am a lover of Nike+ and have had a Nike+ stat widget on the side of my blog for quite a while now. The project can be found at http://nikeplusphp.org.

It came to my attention that the method used wasn't the easiest and certainly wasn't up to date. Looks like something changed on Nike's end and that has broken the API I was using.

Looking around for an alternative, I was inspired to build my own class and am now firmly at version 0.7 with it. I've created a small website for the project where you can grab the code and there's some documentation to help you get started.

The project is called Nike+PHP and all you need is a Nike+ account, PHP5 and SimpleXML installed.

The class grabs all the info and creates a PHP array that's easy to use. I'll be updating it whenever I get a chance and will try to get a mailing list up and running so that you are able to keep the code up to date.

If you have any problems, need help or have any suggestions, please feel free to let me know (via email: hello [at] charanj.it) and I'll do my best help.

New Sky project finished, the new Money & Property site

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 12:34:20

Over the last few months we've been working hard to get the new combined Money & Property site up and running.

We're really happy with how it turned out because it looks great and we believe it's faster than the old site! We launched on Wednesday after a big effort by everyone involved. Take a look at the site and let me know what you think!

Be Unequaled now closed, receeve.it soon?

Sun, 1 Feb 2009 20:36:29

Today is the 1st of February and as promised, Be Unequaled is no more. Due to a lack of time on my part and the continued decline in activity, I feel it was the right thing to do. I am sad to see the site come to an end, but it really felt like the right thing to do.

As for receeve.it, things are coming on along nicely! I have a few small features left to polish off and the layout needs some work, but we're pretty much there.

Luckily, I have a holiday coming up over which time I believe I'll have no, or very little, internet access. I aim to take a bit of time off from development and get my head ready for an onslaught when I'm back! This will all be in the aid of getting a BETA version out by the end of February or beginning of March. In the even that I don't get away, I'll still try to do that.

If you want to keep up to date with receeve.it, please register on the mailing list and follow the blog that I set up.

My next project - receeve.it

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 21:22:30

I won't say too much just yet, but receeve.it is going to be my next project.

If you're interested in what I have coming up for the site, please visit the site and signup for updates and to be eligible for the BETA program.

BBC and BU will be no more

Mon, 5 Jan 2009 18:22:11

Over the new year, I made a couple of changes that will affect my two biggest projects to date. On 1st February I will be shutting down Be Unequaled, having already closed Billionaire-Boys-Club.co.uk.

Billionaire-Boys-Club.co.uk didn't go where I wanted it to in the long run, but was a great start to a little community and gave me an opportunity to learn so much about communities, PHP, MySQL, CMS', forum admin, website admin, dealing with advertisers and probably 100 other skills.

I enjoyed working on it but Be Unequaled was the natural progression for me. The site was better managed, better built and I felt it was a better place to be without the focus of a brand like BBC.

This wasn't a hastily made decision and plenty of thought went in to what to do. In the end, I had to take my real life into consideration more than I did when the BBC site started all those years ago. With a wedding coming up, a wife to live with and family life approaching, running a forum full time was going to be difficult.

Revenue was another factor in my decision, but not a key one. I made enough to cover my costs and I was hoping this would rise through 2008. It took me almost 9 months to change jobs and I know I neglected the site a little but I think the changes in the economic climate might have had an effect too. Revenue was down a ridiculous amount over 2008 and although I think I covered costs, the amount of time spent running the site vs income was not a ratio I could live with.

I am very sad to see these two sites end, I think they have both ended at the right time. When I closed the BBC forum, a drastic shakeup was needed and since I had BU waiting in the wings it really was meant to be. With BU, the end has come a little more slowly, but it's been clear that no number of changes will take it back to it's peak 12 months ago unless I start to invest serious time and money, things I just can't do right now.

I think the final nail in the coffin at the end of it all was the fact that I had lost a lot of interest. Not by choice but because of other changes in my life. Moving jobs from the centre of London closer to home meant my access to BAPE, Maharishi, CDG, St�ssy and the rest of the industry became almost non-existent.

If you want to read more about the end of the two sites, please see the BBC holding page or the blog post on BU.

Thanks to all the moderators who helped with both sites, the members who joined and contributed and even to those that just lurked!

I will miss both sites, but the time I have saved is already being put to use on a new project that I'll talk more about later!

My wedding website launched!

Thu, 7 Aug 2008 19:28:50

As friends, family and most acquaintances already know, I'm due to get married next year and to mark the occasion and all events leading up to it, I started a wedding website to keep a record of everything.

My fiance and I have been fortunate enough to have had hundreds, if not thousands, of photos taken and we've added the best of them to the website. For privacy reasons, you do need to be logged in to see the full size photos. If you don't have access and would like to see them, please get in contact with me if you'd like to see them (although the username and password will be handed out at my discretion).

A lot of effort was taken to make sure this website is compatible with the most popular browsers (possibly the last website I built before my new rule), so users of IE 6+, FF2+, Safari 2+ and Opera 9+ should not have any problems. If you do, please let me know and I'll do my best to get things fixed.

Similarly, do get in contact if you'd like a similar website for you and your other half and we can definitely discuss the possibility!

Business cards for me

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:28:45

I've wanted a business card for some time now, but never really had a solid idea or design that stands out. Add to that the initial cost, not being able to get a fully customised card and the uncertainty over customs charges, it became a less and less attractive option. Luckily, I was given the chance to design my first business card in the last few days and I am very happy with the final results.

The business cards of other developers I've met are often cluttered and contain so much information. Name, title, company, address, telephone, mobile, fax, email, favourite colour, pet's name and so on. I wanted something simple that allowed people to know who I am, what I do and how to get in touch. What more does a business card need to do?!

I settled on having the following information

Name
job title
email
website
skills

I also wanted a double sided design. After playing with some options, I settled on having my portfolio site's URL as a centre piece. It may only be something that other programmers appreciate from some of the responses I've had, but it's something I really like and am proud to have.

My first attempt really got me thinking creatively. I wanted to hide my details with in small snippets of code, but coming back to make some changes a few days later made it clear that it was just too much.

I thought it was clever and highly relevant to my field of work, but I hope to be giving the majority of cards out to potential clients, rather than fellow developers, so it made sense to keep it normal and sensible. After all, if no one can decipher what the symbols and letters mean, I won't be getting much business from them!

My first amendment was to centre my name/URL horizontally, but I kept it close to the top rather than completely centre it. My second amendment was to move the key information to the back. With my previous attempt, I had struggled with what I should add to the back so this new approach gave me the opportunity to add more info and to present it in a clearer way than before. My name, position and contact info becoming more prominent.

Despite wanting to make things less cluttered, there was plenty of space on offer. I decided to add my key skill set to the bottom of the card. I could clearly show what they were and what I am good at. This was one thing I wasn't really sure about, because to a potential client, this may mean nothing. On the other hand, if they recognised a few words, or did some research, I would hope that they would impressed the range of languages I could work with. For networking opportunities, this would be an easy way of letting other's know what I had to offer.

After a couple of weeks, I finally got my hands on them so here are some pictures of the final piece, I hope you like them.

You can download a digital version of my card, email me for a hard copy or for a vcard that should be Address Book (Mac) and Outlook compatible.

I would like to hear some opinions on what you think of my cards! Please feel free to leave a link to your own business cards.

Registering charanj.it

Fri, 4 Jul 2008 05:05:02

Charanj.it is the new URL for my personal website. It's also the domain that this blog's sub domain now belongs too.

During development, I was using the now removed blog.cchana.co.uk but I had been looking for something different, something witty, something clever or something random.

I feel I found something that fit a number of the above criteria, but none of them grabbed me. It was actually seeing ma.tt as a website's URL that made me go for it. I really wanted to register a few different domains, but the costs involved for some suffixes were beyond ridiculous.

Registering a .it domain isn't too bad, but far more time consuming than registering a .co.uk or .com domain. Upon purchased, at almost �40 for two years, I had to mail/fax a signed document that would then be reviewed. None of this was explained clearly and from what I read before attempting to register the domain, the document was a formality. In fact, the domain wasn't officially released until it had been received and checked.

The experience wasn't great with Livetodot, but it got the job done and the domain is now mine.

I toyed with the idea of having the address charanj.it/sblog for this blog, but I thought that this may confuse a few people, so I stuck to my somewhat tried and tested sub domain method.

Charanj.it is now the URL for my personal portfolio
Blog.Charanj.it is now the URL for this blog
hello [at] charanj.it is now the email address I'll be handing out to potential clients and to fellow professionals but will actually forward to...
chaz [at] cchana.co.uk, which will remain my main email address

Please feel free to share your own URLs that are personal to you, for whatever reason.