It’s fun time again !!

Guess what ~

I got three design projects lined up and this should be fun to do, at least much much better than stupid design tweaks whole day long

1. GovGateway needs a facelift
2. A close friend “Sven Horak” needs a website designed for his company
3. and I am working on my website

Feels like I am back to designs after a long time. This is a well deserved break !!

Take it easy everybody out there. I will share the results when done

Cheers !!
Bis.

CSS optimisation using CSSTIDY

Click here to go to the CSSTIDY app on Thenetweaver. The interface is pretty self explanatory, but I would suggest to keep a backup of your CSS files vefore you decide to replace them with the generated ones.

Optimising your CSS files

Optimising your CSS files and cleaning them up is very important not only for the size but for further maintanence issues as well. This would enhance readability too.

Below are few principles which can be read in details in “SmashingMag” and these can be applied not only to CSS files, but also to Javascript, HTML and other programming languages. Considering the principles below will help you to create more optimised websites from user experience standpoint. I have already implemented these for few of my websites for my company
eg:

The Principles as discussed in SmashingMag

1. Use Shorthand :

Instead of writing something like this

p { margin-top: 10px;
margin-right: 20px;
margin-bottom: 30px;
margin-left: 40px; }

You can try writing the same in a line

p { margin: 10px 20px 30px 40px; }

2. Replace Hacks with conditional comments :

Use conditional comments instead of hacks.

3. Use whitespace wisely :

In your CSS files avoid using multiple line breaks for readability.

4. Use resets :

Using a framework and/or a reset set of rules can help keep your work optimized.

5. Future-proof your CSS :

Seperate layout styles from the rest of the styles.

6. Document your work

We all know how important documentation is. When working in a team this helps to keep your styles consistent.

7. Make use of compression :

Try to compress your CSS files using either manual compression or some kind of online tool like CSSTIDY. I will write about this in a seperate post and how you can use that. Follow this link to read that post. I have implemented and installed CSSTIDY in my server and you can try it there.

Let’s say that it’s the begining

I get inspired by the work of people around me. People do so much. Everybody wants to achieve something. Everybody wants to feel special in their own way, so do I.

It’s not about feeling special to the people you love, you know or you hate. It’s about feeling special to yourself. At the end of the day it’s about patting your back and say “Well done. Let’s face a bright new day tomorrow.” I want to reach there, that’s my goal.

So here I begin, to devote whatever time my work spares me in writing a thought which might well grow into a story. Will you like it? Who knows .. But at least I can say that I didnt waste the limited milli-seconds of my quota. I am happy and I will ever be so.

Cheers.

There’s always a start

 

I posted this in Bihu.in long back. Probably I got to know this from entrepreneur.com

Digital Envoy Inc.

Startup costs: $100
Believe it or not, IP intelligence technology provider Digital Envoy Inc. was spawned from two serious sweet-tooths. Sanjay Parekh, 31, started buying candy from Costco and reselling it to his telecom co-workers when he struck up a friendship with Rob Friedman, 38, general counsel at the company and an Atomic Fireball enthusiast. Soon, their friendship moved beyond candy cravings, and they were bouncing around business ideas.

Parekh made an interesting discovery when visiting the FedEx and Ikea websites in 1999: both prompted him to enter what country he was in. “I thought that was kind of stupid,” he recalls, and the extra step slowed down his home dial-up session. “So I architected a solution to that problem using IP addresses.” Friedman agreed that the technology–which provides general information about an online user, such as the city, local demographics and type of internet connection being used, based only on the IP address–would help businesses. They launched Digital Envoy Inc. in 1999, bringing along senior finance manager and co-worker Dennis Maicon, 40.

Filing fees for corporate documents cost $100, and Friedman drew up all the legal drafts. An article on the Red Herring website about their business led to their very first client, Advertising.com (now owned by AOL). Since they worked from their homes, Friedman quips, “I negotiated that deal in my bedroom.” They also hired an intern and Friedman’s cousin to do programming work in the beginning.

After moving into an office in 2000, they hired three more employees. Friedman found $10 chairs, and opted for modular desk setups rather than expensive cubicles. In their newest office, they have cubicles, bought inexpensively from the office’s previous tenant. When it comes to traveling to trade shows and to see customers, they’ve also found ways to save their Norcross, Georgia, company money, using slightly out-of-the-way but much cheaper flight options.

Digital Envoy now works with many major ad networks and sites, and projects 2004 sales at less than $10 million. The company’s latest product, IP Inspector Fraud Analyst, allows companies to fight identity fraud by verifying user identity in real time. They are also combating fraud with a product that analyzes whether an e-mail is really a phishing attack. Digital Envoy continues to grow, but in many ways remains the same. Says Parekh, “One of the philosophies we’ve always had is to do more with less people.”

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