Michael Doyle | Blog

Web Development – Adding recent tweets to your web page

To insert your most recent tweets on to a web page paste this code:

 
<ul id="twitter_update_list">Loading...</ul>
 
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://twitter.com/javascripts/blogger.js" defer></script>
 
<script type="text/javascript" 
src="http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/USERNAME.json?callback=twitterCallback2&amp;count=5" defer></script>
 

You change "USERNAME" to your twitter account name and you set the "count" to show the number of tweets you want displayed.

Photography – Desktop Wallpaper

I rented out the Canon 70-200mm 2.8 IS in New York for my trip to Bronx Zoo. I made a widesceen wallpaper pack from shots I took of the Silvered Leaf Monkey. The shot is very melancholic as the monkey remained like this while I was there.

Click Here to Download the Widesceen Wallpaper Pack

Web Design – Inspiration

Pixelactic have a list of 40 very nice looking sites for some design inspiration.

http://pixelactic.com/2009/08/40-fresh-beautiful-websites-for-design-inspiration/

Photography – Photoshop Actions

Naldz Graphics has a list of Photoshop actions to enhance photos. I use the Lightroom route to process photos, but some actions can be good to have in Photoshop for inspiration or just playing around.

http://naldzgraphics.net/freebies/60-useful-photoshop-actions-to-enhance-your-photos-for-free/

Photoshop – Designing Web Elements

Carsonified has an interesting artocle with some photoshop tutorials on design elements for the web with Photoshop.

http://carsonified.com/blog/design/5-advanced-photoshop-techniques-for-web-designers/

Photography – Desktop Wallpaper

I've uploaded a wallpaper pack of various widescreen sizes of a photo I took a while ago. They are suitable for widescreen desktops from 1920*1200 to 1280 *800.  I'll be uploading more from time to time. I have to streamline the process (I'm resizing in photoshtop and zipping at the moment). I might create some photoshop actions to create different resolutions and for 16:10 and 4:3. Enjoy!

Shot with a Canon 40D using the 100mm macro 2.8.

Click Here to download the Widescreen Wallpaper Pack

Web Development – Mod Rewrite Rules

Noupe has a good article on the basics of Mod Rewrite and a list of further resources on it.

http://www.noupe.com/php/10-mod_rewrite-rules-you-should-know.html

Photoshop – Mastering the Pen Tool

Smashing Magazine has a great article on the Pen tool. I haven't gone through it yet, but the pen tool is one of the most useful and misunderstood tools to use. Lots of helpful info in this.

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/08/18/mastering-photoshop-with-paths/

Photography – Noise Reduction

Neat Image is a noise reduction program which works by a camera's profile and then making different profiles for each different ISO settings for that camera. It can work as a photoshop plugin too. Sounds really interesting and I've seen some examples. I'll give it a shot and see how it works and post up before and after shots. It'll be interesting to see how it works with ISO 400+ on a Canon G9.

SEO – Tools

1stwebdesigner.com has a list of great tools to use for SEO purposes:

http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/resources/20-free-keyword-research-tools-comprehensive-insight/