ArtsForTheSoul.net is under development and should be ready for unveiling on Monday. The site is for an arts retreat in Steamboat Springs. More on this after we launch it.
Serafini Studios is proud to be hosting the website for the QuickSFV project, written by a friend who has built an excellent application that does one thing and does it well – check the validity of downloaded files. Most of all, QuickSFV is quick! We didn’t design the site, but we may be helping the author work on it in the future.
QuickSFV was designed with one goal … to be quick! Existing SFV file verification programs were slow and cumbersome to use. Most users need to verify files and the quicker, the better. QuickSFV integrates into the Windows Explorer shell and makes it very easy to verify files. Just double-click on the .SFV file and QuickSFV does the rest. QuickSFV also understands several other file verification formats including .CRC, .CSV and .CKZ.
Give it a try if you need to verify downloaded files. And if you like it, consider donating, since the author has spent many hours making this an exceedingly useful little application. 
We’re rolling out HIPAAClicks.com with a soft launch, gradually adding more features. HIPPAClicks is a custom designed and coded HIPAA information portal that updates automatically 24 hours a day to display the latest news about HIPAA in one location. The site includes Google Adsense advertising and is designed to appeal to a highly-targeted audience interested in HIPAA compliance issues. In addition, it is built with a minimal number of graphics, intending to load as quickly as possible.
Technical Details:
The site is coded in PHP and includes the following:
We’re planning on adding:
Recently added 2 additional images to Nora Larimer’s site.
http://noralarimer.com/gallery/index-landscapes_01.html
You can purchase original paintings directly from her site as well as giclee reproductions.
The new website for Securanix Network Security Specialists is now live. It includes an updated look and feel, more accessible navigation and quicker loading times. In addition, links are now included on every page to translate into another language. The site validates as XHTML 1.0 Transitional.
For this project we’re also using the PEAR XML_RSS module to display the CERT Incident Notes and Advisories on the homepage. This will automate the process of displaying security headlines on the site.
Part of the goal of the redesign was to improve the professional image of Securanix, and we feel that we succeeded in this area as well.
Updated Rachel’s site the other night with the latest WordPress beta (1.0.1). The upgrade went fairly well, although it did take a little tricky manipulation of table names in MySQL. Basically the old b2* tables were still there from an earlier install, and at first I wanted to use the new wp_* table names. So I began by doing a fresh install (of course, none of the old posts showed up). So then I eventually figured out that if I renamed the old tables with the wp_* prefixes that I wanted the new tables to have then the upgrade script would migrate the content properly. This worked well.
I am loving how WordPress is developing as a piece of software. It has vitality. It is growing in elegance and simplicity. It is Open Source.
Particularly, I appreciate the mod_rewrite ease-of-use. Basically, you simply decide what format you want your archives to be in (suggested is something like archives/2004/01/01/post-title-name) and the admin area gives you the exact code to paste into your .htaccess file. It is very slick, and then it works like magic. Considering how tricky many people find mod_rewrite, this alone is an awesome part of the system.
I’ll be upgrading this site’s installation as well soon, I think. I still have some other stuff to deal with first, though.
Another great feature is the inclusion of an “Edit this post” button in the template tags. Makes it super easy to edit any entry right when you see it. I had hacked this into my installation before, but seem to have lost it somewhere along the upgrade line, so it is great to see an official implementation.
Things are continuing to hum along here at Serafini Studios. Kristin is going to be the writing instructor for the Principia Upper School Teton Trip again this year. She is also continuing her other school visits, inspiring thousands of children each year.
On the project front, exciting progress continues with Vibe Phone. We’re working on interface design, graphics, usability and functionality.
Securanix continues to develop in interesting ways. We’re working on the initial plans for a number of security-related products.
Sites we’ve been spending some time with recently:
Also, been thinking about non-profit foundations and how they might relate to helping empower young people (elementary-age and up) with technology education including HTML and publishing to make a difference in their own lives and open up opportunities…
Found via BoingBoing – it’s an entire mp3-only album of 8-bit video game console composed Christmas music. You can download each song in mp3 format and print out an album cover.
There’s lots of other cool music available on the site as well. Check it out!
Link: www.8bitpeoples.com
My favorite so far: Let it snow by Bit Shifter. Composed using Nintendo Gameboy.
Download mp3 (2.5MB, 192kbs bitrate)
Just finished updating NaomiWrites.com with a new layout and the addition of a picture gallery. Using Open Source software called Gallery to handle image management. It is still pretty tricky to incorporate Gallery into a site without a lot of tweaking of header and footer files, but it is a nice and powerful system. You can view a slideshow, automatically order prints of your images and create as many albums as you want. Also it uses ImageMagick to resize images so you can upload a large image and it will create a thumbnail for you. Very nice…
We’re also using WordPress for the blogging software.
Visit the site at www.NaomiWrites.com.
posting using graffiti on my new i330 over at Hal’s place.
