Steve Tucker

It's all Rock n' Roll

Steve Tucker - contact@stevetucker.co.uk — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT

It's been over six months since I last wrote here. It seems a little strange to pick this blog up again from where I left off, but as I've an unusual desire to write this evening (and these moods are increasingly rare these days) I thought I'd go with the flow and put a few thoughts down.

About a year ago - 13 months to be near exact - a friend let me take home his old electric guitar, sort of on a long-term loan. It wasn't anything special - a poorly built imitation of a Gibson Les Paul with its share of knocks, scuffs and previous owners. Although I loved how it looked I can't say I gave the whole guitar thing too much serious thought. After all, you have to be realistic and it's not hard to imagine the amount of time and dedication involved in learning such a skill.

However (much to my surprise) I took to it. So much so, in fact, that practicing now pretty much dominates the majority of my free time. And whereas a year ago my passion and efforts were largely thrown into the continuing development of this blog you're reading, web design as a hobby for me has now almost entirely ceased, existing now purely as a career.

A part of me is somewhat regretful that this happened. I put a lot of effort into my blog and gained a small but (I felt) close-knit readership of people, many of whom I considered friends, and some of whom I'd even met at various web design events. These people I no longer really talk to. Likewise I used to read books in order to continually push my web design skills. Part of me wonders where I'd be now, one year on, if I'd stuck at it!

However, if you want something in life then you should go for it. And stereotype as it may seem, I wanted to be like the guitarists who's music I love to listen to (Guitar Hero, anyone?). A year down the line I'm still not very good on guitar, and I don't expect I will be for perhaps a few years yet. However I'm glad of where I am, and despite the boredom of practicing I'm prepared to be patient, despite my impatience!

If you're thinking of doing something perhaps life-changing, like starting a business, discovering a new hobby or learning a new skill then believe in yourself and go for it. Life goes by too fast to stand still.

Thought end.

An infrequent update

Steve Tucker - contact@stevetucker.co.uk — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT

Well, 2007's given me a pretty wild Christmas & new year. Not so much full of Christmas spirit, mistletoe and Glenmorangie, sadly, but more along the lines of working 10 hours a day in the office, only to come home to... more work. Shit.

But I can't complain. 2007 was a far better year than many of the others previous. For example, I'm living in my own lovely house (with my own not-so-lovely mortgage), my wife hasn't got fed up of me and left yet, and business is booming.

January 1st finally saw the launch of May Contain Nuts.com - my first social networking website. Hurah! I cheated a little bit with the video section, and used YouTube, but that actually works really well. The chatroom system was a first for me, and completely uses Ajax. Had a few of the usual IE6 hindrances but no biggies. Overall the whole project was pretty fun to do, and at this early stage I'm really glad to see it's actually gaining popularity. Fingers crossed for 2008!

Whilst I'm in a writing mood I may as well say that I'm improving of the old guitar. I'm hardly Slash, it pains me to say, but it's getting there slowly surly. I'll post a video or something here just as soon as I can play something that doesn't sound like an orchestra warming up.

I'll close by saying that I'm going to try to start writing here more often, but as most people who used to read this blog knew (and by this, I mean that they've probably all given up waiting for an update and left, quite rightly) finding the time is just so difficult. In the meantime let me wish you all a very belated happy new year :)

Everything is clear.

Steve Tucker - contact@stevetucker.co.uk — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT

Many people find writing blogs difficult. The problem is, when people begin writing they do so for genuine reasons - because they enjoy writing, communicating and expressing themselves to others with similar interests & passions.

But this often turns into little more than a chase, and writers find themselves concentrating more upon increasing their visitor stats than writing what they enjoy writing about. I've been through this myself, and though I've always tried to stay true to writing only what I feel, I have in the past found myself writing more for my readers than myself. This is not the way to express yourself.

Since this time, owing to priorities in my personal life and career I've substantially let go of my blog, principally in how often I write, but also in how I feel about it. I no longer feel I care for the stats package. I don't feel my moods change depending on readership. It doesn't matter to me, and so I'm free to write what I want, when I want. I enjoy blogging again.

This short post is nothing more than an expression of my own experience, and perhaps something to make you think about your priorities. If you write then remember why you began doing so in the first place - it'll put things into perspective. Enjoy the experience for what it is.

Tunage: Seasick Steve - Cheap

Steve Tucker - contact@stevetucker.co.uk — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT

If you haven't heard this guy yet and you like blues/rock then you're really gonna enjoy this. Enjoy :)

PS: Embedded videos seem to be causing a bit of havoc with my Javascript menu - sorry, it'll get sorted (some day).

Lost E-mails..

Steve Tucker - contact@stevetucker.co.uk — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT

The fab fellas at .net Magazine have just informed me that my email address hasn't been working, as it turns out since I transferred this site over to a new server a few weeks ago.

In retrospect I'm surprised I didn't notice the sudden decrease in spam and junk mail sooner, but hey. Thinking about it now, as the spam begins to roll in once again, I was probably better without my email! Anyway, to cut a long story short, if you sent me any messages within the last few weeks and I haven't responded then my sincere apologies - I promise I wasn't being ignorant of forgetful.

And to the folks flogging viagra and imitation rolex watches, please forward all mail to kissmyarse@stevetucker.co.uk ;)

innerXHTML in Google and Firefox Suggest!

Steve Tucker - contact@stevetucker.co.uk — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT

Yesterday I noticed, to the satisfaction of the geek within me, that the term 'innerXHTML' now appears as a suggestion in the Firefox search bar, and in Google suggest! I know for a fact that this wasn't so a few short weeks ago, because I'd been checking every once in a while. Now I know there are other bits 'n' pieces out there named innerXHTML, and I don't think this suggestion came about solely because of the existence of my innerXHTML, but I do feel I've played a part. Either way I must admit to being pretty chuffed.

Similarly 'eyeplot.com' (the web address of my company) is now also appearing as a suggestion too. In fairness you need to pretty much spell out the name before you get the suggestion, but hey? At least it shows promise!

Oh, and on a side note it's my 24th birthday today too, so presents/cards/lapdancers please send to my address via post. Cheers ;)

iPlayer Petition Result

Steve Tucker - contact@stevetucker.co.uk — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT

Some of you may have heard of the recent iPlayer petition, either via me or other sources. To briefly explain, the iPlayer (which is not associated with Apple) is a new service soon to become available by the BBC. Unforutnately however the BBC had only intended to release the iPlayer in a Windows-only format. Not very fair for all us Mac and Linux TV license payers.

The iPlayer petition was simply in response to this intention, and arguing that the format should be made available on a greater number of operating systems than just Microsoft Windows. Here are the official details:

The BBC plans to launch an on-demand tv service which uses software that will only be available to Windows users. The BBC should not be allowed to show commercial bias in this way, or to exclude certain groups of the population from using its services. The BBC say that they provide 'services for everyone, free of commercial interests and political bias'. Locking the new service's users into Microsoft Windows whilst ignoring those members of society who use other operating systems should does not fit in with the BBC's ethos and should not be allowed.

Well, after several months of silence I (along with everyone else who signed the petition I assume) finally received this e-mail from the 10 Downing Street office:

The Government set up the BBC Trust to represent the interests of licence fee payers, and to ensure good governance of the BBC.

The BBC Trust has responsibility for ensuring that the correct degree of scrutiny is given to all proposals from the BBC Executive for new services (such as the iPlayer) and any significant changes to existing services. To fulfill this duty, the Trust conducted a Public Value Test on the BBC Executive's proposals to launch new on-demand services, including BBC iPlayer. This included a public consultation and a market impact assessment by Ofcom.

In the case of the iPlayer, following the consultation, the Trust noted the strong public demand for the service to be available on a variety of operating systems. The BBC Trust made it a condition of approval for the BBC's on-demand services that the iPlayer is available to users of a range of operating systems, and has given a commitment that it will ensure that the BBC meets this demand as soon as possible. They will measure the BBC's progress on this every six months and publish the findings. 10 Downing Street

And there you have it. Whether this post affects you directly or not, it's nice to know that we can still make a difference :)