will

It's All Geek to Me

Posts about technology, with a focus on web development with Python.

I am the author of Beginning Games Development with Python and PyGame.

Oct 21, 2009
in Tech

Talented front-end developer job for Web 2.0 company in Oxford

The company I work for, 2Degrees, is looking for a front-end developer to join our team.

Are you a CSS monkey?

We need a CSS monkey with a good working knowledge of browser quirks and the ability to get even IE6 looking good (although you don't have to like it). It would help if you don't run away screaming from Javascript and can play well with the code monkeys.

More details are below. Email the address at the bottom of the job description, and mention this blog!

Would you like to do something genuinely useful with your client side development skills - UI, XHTML, CSS (JavaScript, AJAX)

2degrees is an exciting, fast-paced, well-funded Web2.0 environmental networking business based in Oxford. continue reading…

Oct 9, 2009
in Tech

Turning website favicons in to 3D

The feedback I recieved from Reddit about locidesktop.com (my hobby project) was encouraging.

If you would like to join the beta program for locidesktop, please leave a comment below…

One of the comments pointed out that although there is a large choice of icons available, there isn't always a clear recognizable image for each site, and it would be nice if locidesktop would use ‘favicons’. I had considered using favicons previously, but rejected the idea because they are just 16x16 pixels in size, and I wanted to use large images for icons. continue reading…

Sep 12, 2009
in Tech

Evolution of an Auto-Complete

My latests hobby-project has been pushed live, in invite-only beta form. Previously known as Links Desktop, I have now dubbed it Loci Desktop, after the Loci Method.

Auto-complete in Loci Desktop

One feature of Loci Desktop is that it will auto-complete URLs when you add new icons to your ‘desktop’. Auto-complete is one of those features that users expect these days. They want the app to figure out what they want with as few key-presses as possible – and quite rightly so, typing is such a chore!

The auto-complete system for Loci Desktop, in its initial state, was straight-forward to implement. The javascript and front-end was the most time-consuming part of the job, but the back-end Python code was trivial. continue reading…

Aug 1, 2009
in Tech

Links Desktop Teaser Screencast

In past blogs I've hinted on the fact that I'm working on a Javascript application in my spare time. It's not quite done yet, and wont be live for a few more weeks, but I do have something that I can show off.

This project is best explained in the form of a screencast. This is the first screencast I have ever made and I'm not sure if I have done it right, or if my humble server will cope with serving FLV files. If the server doesn't manage to keep up, I'll probably Youtube it.

Update: If for any reason the above player doesn't work, you can view the screencast on Youtube. continue reading…

Jul 20, 2009
in Tech

ETag magic with Django

An ETag is a feature of HTTP that allows for a web server to know if content has changed since the last time the browser visited the page. The client sends the ETag from the cached page in a header. If the ETag in the header matches the current ETag then the server lets the browser know that the cached is up-to-date by sending back a 304 Not Modified response.

The most natural way to build an ETag is to generate it from the HTML returned by the view, which I believe is how the default view caching works in Django. The downside of this is that the page is generated even if the client has a cached copy, and all that is saved is the cost of sending the page to the client. continue reading…

Jul 18, 2009
in Tech

Making tileable images with Python

Here's an interesting bit of Python code I hacked together – it's a script that takes an image and warps it so that it is tileable (making it suitable for a repeating backgound or a texture in a game).

A Mandlebrot fractal

If you use it on a photograph, it will come out looking like a fair-ground mirror. But it works well when applied to a pattern, or something more abstract, such as the fractal image on the left.

The code is public domain – use it for whatever the heck you want!

Update: Here's another, more interesting example, The original is here.

Jul 14, 2009
in Tech

Python Job Alert

My employer is looking for a new Python developer to work here in Oxford, UK. The company I work for runs 2degreesnetwork.com, which is collaboration service for sustainable business. Basically, it's a social networking type of site for businesses to collaborate on climate change and related issues. I'm not officially allowed to say this, but the closest analogy is ‘Facebook for Businesses’.

This is the office. Ignore the man in the far corner, he is just a hobo that wandered in.

The site is built with Django, so obviously Django experience would be a bonus, but experience with any MVC framework would be valuable. We're looking for someone who isn't necessarily a specialist and who doesn't mind getting to grips with new technology and dabbling in the front-end from time to time. continue reading…

Jul 1, 2009
in Tech

I take it back, this is the most inneficient code ever

Here's the most convoluted “Hello World!” script I could come up with (in response to this). I don't know if it works. I've proven it correct, but I haven't tested it.

I promise my production code is (marginally) more readable this this…

May 30, 2009
in Tech

A 3D Texture-Mapped Globe Rendered with Javascript and HTML

I've been working on a large-ish Javascript project lately (still in stealth mode). One that could be described as a Javascript application. And since I've been up to my elbows in Javascript, I have found my contempt for the language waning. Not entirely, of course – I'm still a Python fan-boy. But enough for me to knock out a 3D(ish) spinning texture-mapped globe, using nothing but Javascript and HTML, as a way of honing my JS skills.

Without further ado, I present you with a 3D Javascript Globe.

This effect is off course a hack in the sense that it produces a novel result, but it still only makes use of standard browser capabilities.

One of the few geometry formulas that I have committed to memory is the relationship of the points on a circle and the radius: x^2 + y^2 = r^2 continue reading…

Apr 5, 2009
in Tech

Django like templates in Javascript

Here's a quick ‘n’ dirty Javascript function I hacked together that provides Django-like template substitution.

Used something like this:

Which returns the following string:

Alas, it doesn't support anything other than substitution. If you need anything more advanced (loops etc), you should investigate Javascript template engines.