Redswish

Carefully crafted banter

Narrow Stairs


4 Responses

Well, actually my only gig of the year so far! I just don’t think the first half of 2008 has been particularly productive for film or music. The only new album releases that I can recall (off the top of my head) that have inspired me at all so far are the new Sigur Ros album, Rihanna… you know what? I’m sat here struggling, so I’m going to forget listing and jump straight the new Death Cab For Cutie release – Narrow Stairs. I’ve been a fan of DC’s work for a few years now, but never really got into them. I’d struggle to name more than 5 songs, never mind sing them. However with the release of the new album, which I must say is fantastic, I’ve been gradually falling in love. Thus, my mate Tom and I took our precious Wednesday nights out to pop down to the Apollo and thoroughly enjoy the Manchester show of their Narrow…

Read the full article »

Google looking at more social approaches to searching


One Response

In the attempt to continuously improve their already dominant powerful search service, Google are now looking at more social approaches to the way results are displayed and utilised by browsers. A video from Tech Crunch shows a user interface being tested, demonstrating new features Google are looking to integrate into their search including the ability to vote results up and down, as well as removing them from your own results list. Other possible features include the ability to add comments about websites. How this would be moderated, I’m unsure. The concept sounds great, but whether a comments facility would be beneficial on a search results page remains to be seen. I personally very rarely need to try any more than the first 3/4 results to discover what I’m looking for. I don’t think I’d even consider looking at comments. The question arises of whether this will be beneficial to the user and a valid improvement to Google’s services, or another…

Read the full article »

Let There Be Payne


3 Responses

October 17th. Max Payne – the film. 2008 has been a poor year for movies so far. No, don’t argue; it’s a fact. I’ve not been to the cinema once, not even on a date, not even to view the listings. The only good films to appear on DVD were No Country for Old Men and Rambo, neither terrible nor fantastic in my opinion – however brutal! The only thing that’s come close was 21, and that was hardly Spacey’s finest role. But things are looking up. The big summer blockbusters are showing at the moment, including Hancock, Wanted, Wall-e (the latest offering from CG masters Pixar), The Dark Knight which promises to be awesome and The Forbidden Kingdom with my 2 favourite generic martial artists – Jet Li and Jackie Chan. As my memory serves, this is a far better serving than last summer. I think it’s time for a trip out to the movies! But even more exciting…

Read the full article »

WordPress 2.6 attacks!


0 Responses

Another month, another WP update. Really not worth the effort this time, it’s took me about 4 months to slowly transition all my sites through 2.0 – 2.3 – 2.5 – 2.51… which, with the added visual and structural upgrades added with the help of Jeffrey Zeldman and co; I’m perfectly happy with. What I’m not happy with is this sticky keyboard – it’s getting really difficult to type on. The latest installment adds predominately editing-based new features such as word count, customizable default avatars, better structuring and management tools, increased and faster support for remote posting and the jQuery library. And of course much, much more… More info on the ‘brand spanking new’ WP release on the wordpress blog.

Read the full article »

The little things…


0 Responses

My post on the Flame blog from last Thursday about keeping in mind the small details when building sites. The Little Things That Matter So don’t forget to dot those i’s and cross those t’s, and remember to tidy up all self-closing tags!

Read the full article »

Countdown to the new site


One Response

7 days and counting. Next Monday, the 21st July, is launch day for the nathan beck and redswish websites. All next week I will be featuring a bulk of tutorials, topical articles and interviews to get the new design site on it’s feet. Now I’m working at Flame I’ll be looking to spend more spare time boosting redswish in an attempt to raise it’s profile dramatically in the blogging and web design world. So thanks to all the current regulars, and to everyone new for supporting the site. The first 6 months since I launched were a trial to see if I could keep up the blog and if it would work. As it is, it’s time to upgrade to Version 2. 21/07/08 – see you then!

Read the full article »

iPhone Crazy!


0 Responses

I’ve never known an office get so excited over… a phone! It is of course July 11th – iPhone 2nd Generation launch day. This being Manchester, England – it’s miserable and wet and there are no iPhone parties or crowds of hungry gadget lovers camping and clamoring outside the Apple Store. However, there is a buzz in the office – but what do you expect when you cram a bunch of tech geeks into one room? Suprisingly, as of 9.15am, the only member of the team to be the proud new owner of an iPhone is Nick; hence the reason half the staff are crowded around his desk, jaws dropped in awe. The reason the rest of the team aren’t sporting glossy black Apple bags on their desks is either because they’re currently tied down with other contracts or just couldn’t be bothered to queue outside in the dreary Northern rain. My reason, as sorry as it may be, is…

Read the full article »

Xbox is dead – Long live PS3!


3 Responses

I’m not one to make extravagant statements like the above… am I? Look, I’ve given the Xbox 360 a chance. In February I had to make a tough decision between getting a PS3 or Xbox, the Wii didn’t even enter my mind. I say it was a tough decision, I was actually at a GAME store with no intention of buying anything, until I saw a 6 months interest-free finance option on the 360… minutes before walking out with a very big silver and grey box.

Read the full article »