Tuesday, October 16, 2007

The future of online publishing?

With many web applications, such as Google Docs, emerging to form what we may know as 'web 2.0', there's a lot of interesting apps to check out.

One such app is SynthaSite, a free site creation system. You've likely seen things like it - there are many companies offering 'WYSIWYG' editors that use templates. Serious web developers such as myself often look at such applications, and sneer in disapproval.

Not so with SynthaSite. Well, okay, I did at first, but after taking it for a test drive, it just might be the program I'm looking for.

One thing I like about it is that I can work on my sites anywhere that I have web access. Just launch your web browser, log in to your SynthaSite account, and work away.

Currently all sites created with the app are stored on the SynthaSite servers, but when the app goes public (it's currently in limited beta), you'll be able to download your content to your PC (or Mac, if you prefer), then upload via FTP to your favorite host.

Of course, not everything is free. SynthaSite will be launching what they call the 'DIY superstore', which sells templates, widgets, etc.

Again the sneers. Who needs templates, right? Well, you can also start with a blank page and create from scratch, which is what I did for most of my hands-on time.

Adding images and other content is a breeze. Simply select a component from your toolkit, and drag it onto your page. Images work like this: you drag an image onto your page, then give it a source via the component options - source being the url the image is being pulled from. Hopefully the ability to use images stored on your computer will be supported soon.

I know I said 'drag', but this isn't exactly what you might think. As far as I know, currently you can't just 'drag and drop' anything wherever you please, but I hope this will become supported, as it's just what I need to position my images with ease.

Another feature I'd like is the ability to edit HTML. Most users likely won't even know what the term means, but I for one would like to use SynthaSite to do mostly everything, then customize it all with HTML, or even code my site in HTML then use SynthaSite to make it exactly the way I want.

People curious in SynthaSite can view a video demonstration below (click here for a high resolution), or sign up for the beta at http://www.synthasite.com/


Monday, October 8, 2007

RIP Neko

Been a while since I've wrote in here.

Remember the kitten I mentioned? Well, I thought of a name for him.

Neko. Japanese for cat. Yeah, I know, you likely don't think it's nice to just call him 'cat', but...

Anyway, I have sad news regarding Neko.

September 28, 2007, he passed away. ;_;

At first I thought the fleas he had caused it. Then I noticed that his belly had swelled up. I think the problem was that he was too young to leave his mother, and thus couldn't yet digest solid food. Sad, but we must move on...

And so we are now on the day of thanksgiving, a day on which we are to celebrate the invention of food! ^_^

Okay, I know that's not what it's really for, but still...!

Anyway, why do I always have to be sick on holidays? I mean, it's nice and all that I'm not sick on days when I need to be somewhere, but c'mon, why do I have to either be throwing up on Christmas or coughing on my birthday? Humph, I say. -_-

Regarding the writing contest I'm entering, I now have 1186 words in my entry. I need to have at least 2000, with a max of 2500. Almost there! :)

Anyway, I'm gonna cut this short, as I don't really feel like writing this right now... the cough and all that, y'know... so, as I always say, ciao! ;)