Version 26 “Beta”.

Posted by Markus Langenfeld - 06/25/08 at 10:06:13 pm

Here it is - Markus Langenfeld.com Version 26.

Well, not quite. I have a load of stuff I want to get on here still and a few colors and small details are slated to change over the next few days… When I get time. Some of the features yet to be ported from the mighty version 25 include my Twitter integration, and some sort of RSS thing on the sidebar.

I’m content with the design but more importantly I’m loving the ’skeleton’ of the new layout as it will allow for new expansion options that I didn’t have with the prior design. You will notice some new additions to my little corner of the internet including an Advertise page that will be online shortly.

Version 25 had a good run at just 3 months shy of a year (all-time-record FTW), this will be a refreshing change of pace.

Dammit Wednesday: Get it done.

Posted by Markus Langenfeld - 06/11/08 at 09:06:00 pm

What a week. I’ve been completely disconnected from most everything to ensure I’m getting stuff done at work. After going on almost 2 years of pushing the need for a new company website I have gotten a full green light on the project. The new website is something I want to work on but because we need it online in such a short amount of time I’ve essentially spent every free moment coding and designing the company’s brand new web presence. Even as I’m typing this on my bed, at 10:45 PM, with my hands falling asleep — I’m flipping back and forth between Word, Photoshop, FTP, and the bombing of IMs I’m getting from the people I haven’t spoke to in a week.

So my work related rant this Dammit Wednesday is projects and their tendency to consume life.

At least nothing burned down…

Posted by Markus Langenfeld - 06/02/08 at 05:06:34 am

A Small OrangeWe made it! I essentially used up my entire weekend but this website along with the others I maintain and host are all moved over to A Small Orange. I can’t say it was easy, in fact I ran into some head scratching (and hair pulling) roadblocks along the way. However I’m fairly confident that the big issues are behind us, and it’s always reassuring to know that it could be worse.

I’m really digging A Small Orange so far. The support has been great, it’s reliable and they have some neat programs and tools set up for their customers that I haven’t seen before. In fact, I have a little something for you guys – If you’re in the market for affordable, reliable, web hosting you can save yourself $5 on your order by using coupon MARKOSENTME or 15% off with 15%FTW.

Also, although there are much better things to donate your money to, ASO has set me up with a donation link if you want to help out with my hosting costs… You know, if you’re into just giving away money.

I’ve already referred my work to ASO, so we can continue development on the new company website. In other words, don’t be surprised if I mention them more often as I’m sure I’ll run into more headaches that tend to come with any development project.

From Silicon Valley to The ATL, we’re moving.

Posted by Markus Langenfeld - 05/30/08 at 10:05:59 am

In between my ever expanding daily routine at work and trying to keep up with everything going on in life - I’ve been moving websites all week to a brand new web host. I recently expressed my dissatisfaction for Media Temple (MT), and although I’ve been in contact with MT management since then, and they did their best to make up for the many problems I’ve had with their services, I just don’t feel that they are living up to my expectations in terms of reliability and value. However, this might not be good bye forever. The upcoming developments at MT sound very exciting and I really hope that they iron all of the little issues before it’s released. If they do it right the next time around there’s a good chance I could come back, but for now I’m able to get a competitive plan with solid customer support for half the price and I’m not about to pass it up.

After shopping around and actually signing up with and trying a couple different hosts I’ve decided to choose A Small Orange as the new home for my little internet empire. So far A Small Orange (ASO) has offered very quick support and a few nice features I was missing with MT. The pricing is very competitive but most importantly they are already offering very reliable service. ASO’s data center is located in the state-of-the-art AtlantaNAP Colocation Facility in Atlanta, Georgia. Just for the record, Media Temple’s data center is in 365 Main’s new El Segundo, California facility.

Anyways, this entry will be my last with Media Temple. When I return (hopefully everything will return) later this weekend I will be bringing you my captivating ramblings from my new home.

Time to say my goodbyes to (mt)

Posted by Markus Langenfeld - 05/21/08 at 08:05:17 am

It’s been a rough ride Media Temple. I’ve put up with you guys for almost 2 years now and since I’ve signed up I waited patently through one false promise after another in hopes that you would finally work out all of the bugs and glitches that come with your Grid Service, once and for all.

I’ve paid a lot of money for your services, a lot of hard earned money, and I did nothing but promote and praise your company. It almost brings a tear to my eye as I sip my morning brew out of my Media Temple coffee mug to think about actually moving everything to a new host. But that will be my big project this holiday weekend.

You guys are supposed to be the best, you host countless top notch designers and big name bloggers and granted many of them are not on the Grid, I almost wish they were so they could see what’s going on. Daily downtime. DAILY, even if it’s just for a minute or two we pay a premium price for premium hosting that should never go down. Why are there so many problems? I know you know how bad it is, look at your status blog once, you guys don’t even bother apologizing for the intermittent problems anymore – “DOWN: 10:15AM Pacific Time, UP: 10:25AM Pacific Time” That’s it, what is that?!

When is it going to get better? When will my website be online for a month or even a week straight without a hiccup? And why is everything so freakin’ slow?

Your support is amazing, the various features and flexibility of the system is unmatched. But none of that matters if you can’t provide what matters most, Uptime.

Don’t make me do this.

Posted by Markus Langenfeld - 05/16/08 at 03:05:44 pm

I’ve been having a lot of problems with Media Temple lately. In a given day there could be multiple short instances of downtime, last month I actually risked losing advertising money because of it. Media Temple is supposed to be one of the best hosting providers there is, I mean they host countless big time designers, bloggers, and corporations. All of a sudden the Grid-Service is becoming a very unreliable product and it’s forcing me to shop around and explore my options.

I’m not totally decided on moving my internet empire just yet, but I’ve been on a few comparison websites to gather reviews for some of the other big names in the industry. One website I have checked out is WebHostingRating.com, they have a list of the top rated web hosting providers along with a massive articles section containing information for everything from windows web hosting to cPanel tutorials. The articles are nice because you can learn about the different options that are important to your web presence, making for an educated decision on your next web host.

Anyways, I might stay where I’m at for now, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I find myself a better deal in the near future.

My relationship with WordPress runs deep.

Posted by Markus Langenfeld - 05/07/08 at 12:05:16 pm

I Love WordPressThe end of April marked 3 years of using WordPress to power my personal web presence.

Before this website and the domain we’re using today, I went through a few different phases with various blogging platforms, domains, and names for my blogs. I first started blogging with Blogger.com in 2002, this was back when Pyra Labs was still running the show and the concept of blogging was new and kind of ridiculous. I remember when the founders of Blogger.com were guests on TechTV’s The Screen Savers and they were trying to explain the concept behind a service that allows people to write whatever they want and openly share it with the world. I knew then that blogging would add a whole new dimension to the information age, the personal diary was no longer a notebook hidden in a dresser drawer.

By editing and customizing the premade Blogger templates I dove head first into learning basic HTML and CSS skills and working with proprietary “Blogger Code” as I called it, which I now know isn’t proprietary at all. I bet you wouldn’t believe that I first got into web development with Flash 4.0 and I actually had a good grasp on the fundamentals of Flash animation and actionscript before I knew what I was doing with basic programming. After working with Blogger I made the plunge into MovableType, my first hosted platform that I had to install myself which back then wasn’t just a few clicks of the mouse like it is today. I used MovableType for a while before I basically let my blog go and eventually the domain expired. I guess I was busy with school or perhaps I was trying to figure out what I really wanted to offer on my website and why I had it in the first place.

I purchased MarkLangenfeld.com and started using WordPress 1.4 in 2005. WordPress wasn’t nearly as popular back then as it is today and most of my blogger friends and programming mentors were using Textpattern or MovableType at the time so I was pretty much on my own. WordPress and I have become good friends over the years, like most bloggers I have my own arsenal of different plugins and things that make this website work. In fact I was recently discussing with a friend of mine that one of the big problems keeping me from changing my layout around again is the amount of modifications and hacks that I have running now, it would be a huge undertaking. Even with that in mind I think that the flexibility and reliability of WordPress is totally unmatched by any other platform and I’m looking forward to using it another 3 or more years to come.

Create an online portfolio with Carbonmade.com

Posted by Markus Langenfeld - 04/20/08 at 09:04:51 pm

CarbonmadeMy project for this weekend was creating a new portfolio that shows off some of my recent web and graphic design work. While I doubt I’ll actually use the portfolio to gain freelance projects it’s nice to have a spot online to show off a few samples, just like it’s nice to have a resume on hand to outline my work experience.

I stumbled across a portfolio somewhere last week that was using this service called Carbonmade and I guess the cute logo struck my interest because a few minutes later I was working on creating an account for myself. Carbonmade is an innovative concept that allows people to create professional looking portfolios with no HTML or programming experience necessary. It works similar to a photo gallery, you’re able to upload your works and add comments to describe it. Carbonmade offers a free option called the “Meh. Plan” that restricts the user to 5 projects and 35 images. Otherwise the “Whoo! Plan” allows for 50 projects, 500 images, and 10 videos for $12 a month.

The way that this system is set up I could see it being used in a few different ways such as a presentation or a dedicated gallery for family photos and such. I’m not quite finished yet, but you can check out my Carbonmade portfolio here.

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