2532|Gigs

The Future

I have lots of upcoming changes in my life including work, moving to a new house, son starting kindergarden, etc. For the past several months I have focused on client work and have not put any time towards any of my projects. The ones that were alive and kicking have now been left for dead and others barely made it past the planning phase while some have a few lines of code started. It isn’t that I don’t have any interest in my projects anymore but more that I haven’t been managing my time very well. I have had plenty of free time away from client work and the family that doesn’t get put to good use. After doing some thinking on my projects and what I really want to do with them I have made some choices and will outline some here.

2532|Gigs

www.2532gigs.com | Version 1.2.2 (stable) | OpenSource
The Now: This was first complete opensource project and has had a great following, plenty of downloads, and is still in use. However, we haven’t had a release since January 29, 2008 which was just bug fixes. We have a few bugs still not fixed and several features half completed. We did start work on the next full featured version and completed several new features and fixed a few bugs but it never got completed and after several months it is still sitting on my HD.
The Future: Several new and amazing features have already been completed and tested along with a few bug fixes. I plan to refocus and start a rewrite of the script to fit the new features and some future plans I have for it. This script is far from dead but will be on life support for a little bit longer. Goal is to have a new stable version by the end of the year.

FieldStatus

www.fieldstatus.com | Private Beta Next | Web App
The Now: FieldStatus came about from a client script who needed a way to notify their club members of the status of their fields (it was a soccer club) via email and text messages. They were using a web app but that site was not only lacking some features but hadn’t been updated in some time and their contact email was bouncing. It is hard to use a site when there is nobody behind it. The project which started out as an opensource project turned into my first web app instead. The project has been started with lots of code laid down but currently no version to test (or at least public).
The Future: I have been excited for this app since starting it. I have talked to several clubs and organizations who would like to use it and the prices they are willing to pay (most use the same dead site my client used before). This will be a paid service with a free version for smaller clubs/orgs. This is also far from dead and might be above 2532|Gigs on my list. My goal is to have a private beta by the end of the year.

undergroundCMS

no url yet | No Releases | OpenSource
The Now: This started about from 2532|Gigs and the lack of a really good cms designed for bands and venues. I started planning and some outlining code until a new project called StashCMS was released the same month I started coding my CMS. StashCMS had most of the features I had planned to include and although the design was lacking and some minor features needed it was a great start for a first release. I didn’t see a need to continue this script when there was a really good alternative to use. I later was going to volunteer to code for StashCMS but before I could after the first main release the script died and the developer stopped providing support and said no future development.
The Future: As I noticed from the people using StashCMS and the forums with people still looking for support or new features, there is still a place for a great CMS designed around bands/venues. So, when I thought undergroundCMS was dead it looks like it might come back to life sometime next year. No real goal for this but to see if while working on 2532|Gigs I can have a first beta release early next year.

Some other projects that are not dead yet but I still don’t have much information on including In The Falls which right now I don’t want to give out too much information, Team Management System which is in private beta for a client right now and will have a release early next year (this won’t be opensource, it will have a fee attached). There you have it, some of my past and future projects and some plans for them. Lets see how things go. I plan to blog more on the projects as I start the back up and get some releases ready.

Updates Soon

I know the site has been lacking on posts the past several weeks and I do plan to get back to posting. For those who follow me on twitter know how busy I have been between work, looking for new clients, coaching my sons soccer team and still working on settling since the move. For some reason it always takes us months to get settled into a place. We have boxes that haven’t been touched still, nothing on any walls, etc. I have also been working on a new design to put up here for the past several months and its still not finished. Looking at it now, I don’t even think that I like it. Might just use a theme for now and set my goal for my design in January. I also haven’t forgotten about my OpenSource Projects either. 2532|Gigs is still an active project however development has been on hold for awhile. I talked with Nick (the other developer) and we have plans to pick back up on development in the coming weeks and release a new version very soon and shoot for v2.0 early 2008. FieldStatus is just about ready for its first release. I have been working on it the past few weeks bug fixing and putting the final touches on it. Its currently in use on a client site and works great. It will be released as an OpenSource script until January 2008 when it will be moved to a hosted app with several price levels. More details on this will come later this year. Thats about all I have for now. Things will calm down in November and I will be back to posting and developing some of my projects (and some new ones next year).

Alive & Kickin’

It’s true. I am alive and kickin’. I recently made a move from Oklahoma to Texas (Wichita Falls, Texas to be exact). We actually moved to Burkburnett, TX first and planned to move to Wichita Falls in January but that didn’t work out and we couldn’t wait that long so we packed up again and got our own place in Wichita Falls. Its great to finally be moved out of Oklahoma. This is where I plan to reside for ever but its an improvement at least. Our new place is nice. 2 big bedrooms, full bathroom and a 3/4 bath in our bedroom (nice to have a shower in our room), big living room and my favorite; a fire place. Can’t wait for the heat to go away (103 outside today) and winter to come and light it up. The only downside to the whole move is one; not having internet. DSL was finally back online today after being without it for awhile (feels like a lifetime). I am now behind work a few weeks as I took off before the move to pack and move. Tomorrow I start work again and have a ton of client work to do. So, the plan is to work my normal hours plus a few extra daily and work on weekends for the rest of the month to get caught up. The only other downside (as if I needed more) is that our AC was working the first few days we moved in. Then Sunday it stopped. We turned a work order in on Monday to get it fixed and nobody came by. It was 102` outside and about 93` inside with my two kids it was really hot. We only have one fan that we just kept moving around the place. Then today after talking to them several times they finally came only to say they had to replace the unit. They got here about 3pm and didn’t leave until after 7pm, which was nice because I was worried they would leave and finish it tomorrow. Anyways, it seems to be working now although its still hard to tell as there is so much hot air in the house so it will need to suck it all out over night, but you can feel the difference from triple digit heat to some cool air blowing.

I promise things around this site will pick up along with a new layout, however most will have to wait until I get caught up on work and some new clients worked out. I spent 2 hours going through emails from clients and creating a huge to-do list of the work they need. It also means that 2532|Gigs will be on hold even longer. As if it hasn’t been delayed enough. I am honestly thinking about adding another developer or two to pick up my slack and taking a leave from the project. I don’t plan to leave it and still plan to be the Project Admin, but might take a step back as far as developing until I can get time and clear things up. It will also delay all my other projects (some would have never seen the light of day anyways). Thats it for today.

Another Weekend

Today has been an uneventful weekend so far. Yesterday I went and got my eyebrow pierced. I had it pierced in high school but let it close up (actually the spacer fell out and I didn’t notice it until it started to close). The downside of course to any piercing or tattoo is the aftercare which can sometimes be a pain. For my eyebrow I have to soak it (eye included) in water/sea salt mix for 10mins once a day. Not actually that bad. Tattoos are harder to care for with making sure they don’t dry out, get too much sun time (I have one that faded due to getting a sunburn shortly after the tat). Then we went to Wichita Falls, TX to start looking at houses. We are hoping to attempt to move to Texas within the next two weeks however if that doesn’t work then we are going in January. Going back to TX Monday to look some more and hope we find one thats decent and out price range. Would like to move this month but January isn’t that far away. We will have to wait and see. Should know for sure within the next week. Continue reading »

Yet Another Month

Thats right, another month has come and is just about over. May was an eventful month, I just can’t remember why. This week I’ve been working on client stuff, mainly for Danny Webb’s Photography website. Its just about done and should be online here in the next few days. El Chico’s has been a run around due to the manager is really busy and spends alot of time out of town, so its hard to get meetings with him, i’m working on it though. I have also been asked about doing a site for a local funeral home. So, i’m looking to get that one here in the next week. This weekend I will be out of town. We are going camping (rain or shine, and yes it will rain) for the weekend because Sunday is my 22nd birthday. On Monday I will be heading to Texas to spend the day with my grandma. It will be one year since my grandpa passed away so I’m going down there Monday morning and taking her out to lunch to Cheddars. My client work is calming down a little right now so I’m hoping to finally get a design to put up here soon. I have been recently asked by a highschool buddy of mine who is currently do webdesign as well in another state if I would help him out with some coding work for his clients for a little side money, so I’m hoping to get that started as well. Also, keep a look out for the next version of 2532|Gigs, it will be the best yet. The new features are amazing. Nick has finished several new features already and now I have to get started on my stuff and get it finished, plan to start next week.

Generators

Over the past several months there have been a massive amount of “Web 2.0″ generators showing up everywhere. Most of them don’t really serve a purpose but I have found one that has actually come in handy. The Ajax Load Generator has gotten a few uses out of me including the saving icon displayed on 2532|Gigs when editing the CSS for the Mini-Calendar. So, if you ever need a great ajax loading image head over to the generator. Another one I recently came across is the Stripe Generator which looks like it could come in handy for some. I normally make my own stripes (they aren’t really that hard), however its there for those who need it.