Back in January I talked about the status of my web dev projects. Basically I'm rewriting all my software to turn it into more of a platform or package that I can just plug in and reuse more easily on multiple websites.

My friend Potter, whom some of you may know as Jiita and Piccolo in ZMT, came to me recently with a cool idea for a website. Now I have even more motivation to finish my software so I can use it on this new project.

Here's a quick lowdown on status since the last status update:

SHM REDESIGN - ~COMPLETE~

PD GALLERY UI - members area selection of galleries is ~COMPLETE~ but still need to redo the browsing menu.

AJAX COMMENTS - I'm still stuck on this one due to a technical problem with jquery's form plugin file uploads. I'm working to resolve this still.

ADVERTISEMENTS - I've been trying a variety of ad networks. So far I've tried BuySellAds.com, Project Wonderful, AdEngage, BlackLabelAds, in addition to Adsense. Some have been more successful than others.

AdEngage was probably the most dissapointing. I tried it in the adult section of PaperDemon and didn't get any buyers for ads. Instead my ad units just showed CPC ads that got me only about $0.02 per click. I've since removed most of the AdEngage ads and replaced them with BlackLabelAds (Adbrite's adult ad network) which turns much higher profits than AdEngage does. Adengage also uses CPC but the money earned per click is much higher than AdEngage.

I tried out BuySellAds but realized I don't have enough traffic on the ad unit for it to be worth $5 per month for an advertiser. This is the lowest price you can go. Plus it would be showing the same ad for the whole month and a lot of my traffic is repeat visitors. I doubt my visitors would like seeing the same ad for a whole month especially if I have to put it on every single page to give it the traffic it would need. If I could get my traffic to triple I'd have a much better chance of selling an ad unit and I could place it on the art pages which typically have more random visitors, it would be a better value for the buyer.

With ProjectWonderful I have 3 ad units each getting somewhere between $0.01 and $0.10 per day. It fluctuates a lot. I plan to put the skyscraper ad unit on more pages in hopes of getting it more traffic and driving up the price of the unit. And at least 0.02 is better than a giant blank ad that says "your ad here" and not getting any money at all.

It's unfortunate I can't place Adsense or Project Wonderful in my adult section because the adult section is doing very well traffic wise. But I guess BlackLabelAds will have to do for now.

Strangely, my Adsense revenue has dropped significantly as of late. I'm not sure why that is as most of the adsense ads that I removed and replaced with Project Wonderful were underperformers. I did hear something about other publishers reporting a drop in their Adsense revenue and that it had to do with the fact that advertisers are spending less money on advertising. This means the cost per click is lower and my revenue goes down.

Basically in the end it all comes down to needing more traffic. I need to try some more SEO strategies.

For the most part of my time working with PHP, I've done things my own way. I don't use a lot of libraries or read too many articles or books about how to "correctly" develop web applications. I know that most developers stay up to date with the latest libraries that help alot with development. There are also a lot of premade free packages out there that can give you a content management system in minutes such as Word Press. And there are probably a lot of things I'm doing wrong since I'm self taught. Yet I'm still doing my own thing and dread the idea of doing it any other way.

And for a long time I felt like I was an inferior web developer because I wasn't taking that approach to web development. It's like I'm reinventing the wheel, the same wheel thousands of other developers have already made.

But an interesting thought occured to me today. With music, I typically don't like to read sheet music when I play the piano, despite being fairly quick at sight reading. I'd rather figure out the notes myself by ear and then rearrange the music in a different way. And when I do it this way, I understand the music far more than if I had learned it through sheets and it becomes more enjoyable to play.

So maybe that's my nature; figuring it out for myself. Maybe it's because I'm a creative person. It seems more fun to me to build an app myself rather than just downloading an existing app and customizing it or plugging in this library with that library.

So here's to all you reinventers of the wheel out there!

But I make an exception for Javascript. It's too much of a pain in the ass to write it myself and I'm going to use jQuery to do all the heavy lifting. F*** you, you stupid DOM and your stupid nuance differences in browsers! I HATE writing Javascript!

So back in November, I mentioned I'd be dedicating myself to Webdev for at least 6 months before returning to my Multimedia projects. Here's a quick look at the in-progress webdev projects I have completed, have in progress, and future planned projects.

Completed Projects

UTF-8 - I migrated the site to UTF-8 back in late November. This is something that needed to be done since I will be developing more XML based apps.

REDESIGN - I just finished a visual redesign of PaperDemon.com template. It's not a major overhaul but it does resolve a few issues that I had with the older layout. It's mainly a change to the header and footer and a few color tweaks.

REFERRALS - Just created a new referral system the other day on PD that allows members to recruite newbies and get free premium accounts. I've done this in an effort to increase traffic and activity (and hopefully increase ad revenue).

In Progress Projects

ADVERTISEMENTS - I'm also working on adding more advertisements to PD, particularly adding adult ads in the Red Curtain. My hosting costs far outweight the ad revenue and I'm hoping to change that now that I have a mortgage to pay (just bought a house, whoo!).

AJAX COMMENTS - The commenting system is something I'm working on a major rewrite of. I rewrote it to be more exportable and have made it an XML based output with XSL and AJAX using jquery stuffs. It's nearly done but I've run into a snag with the jquery ajax image uploader. This project started out as a good candidate for experimenting with XML/XSLT based reusable system but ended up being more complex than I thought and is taking forever to finish.

GALLERIES UI - The galleries system for artwork on PD right now has been very confusing for a lot of users. I'm working on a new interface and reorganization of the gallery trees. Not sure when I'll have this done but I'm hoping to have it done by end of February.

WEB PAGE CMS - I'm in need of a simple yet flexible content management system for web page content for the ShrunkenHeadMan club at SJSU. I've started work on this and am about half way through. Content is stored in a database but is served in XML and converted to HTML via XSLT. It allows for multiple layouts and uses YUI Grids for the layouts. It also archives past edits of a page.

SHM REDESIGN - working with the SHM webmaster and have developed a new template for the site. Working on implementing the new template now and should be done within the next couple weeks.

Future Projects

MEMBERS/LOGIN/PROFILE REWRITE - the code for member logins, profiles, etc is my oldest code and is just a huge mess. I can't easily plug it in to my other projects. I'm rewriting this one and want to make the profile thing xml/xslt based so it can easily be customized for my other sites like PaperDemonMedia, SHM, and a family site that I want to start soon.

PHOTO GALLERY - I'm going to rewrite my simple photo gallery that is used on PD and add a couple features like albums and upload from picasa. Will use this for the family site and for SHM.

FAMILY SITE - once all of my code is rewritten for better reusability and customization, i want to create a new site that uses all my existing software just for my family to post photos and connect with each other. I might integrate it with other apps such as twitter and facebook.

As you can see, I have a lot going on. I jump around from project to project. I'm thinking 6 months isn't enough time. It's already been more than 2. Well, back to work.

Unfortunately, my laptop got infected with one of the nastiest trojans to surface on the interwebs... the Vundo Trojan.

My boyfriend, Mike, managed to clean off the virus finally but it left windows a little bit messed up. So he thought he'd try doing a "reload" of windows. This is where you install Windows on top of itself rather than reformating the drive and doing a clean install of windows.

Why I hate Microsoft and Fujitsu right now...

My laptop runs Windows XP Tablet edition and Fujitsu gave me a "recovery disc" instead of a real version of Windows. These recovery discs cannot do repair installs of WIndows. They can only format the drive and do a clean install. So I called Fujitsu and asked them if they could send me a Windows XP Tablet edition cd and they said they can't send that to me and they don't manufacture it. I contacted Microsoft and they just told me to contact Fujitsu. You can't just go into a store and buy XP Tablet OEM. And even if you could, I don't want to buy a copy with a product key. I just want the disc! I have a fully paid registered version of Windows! But I don't have the software disc!

Speaking as a consumer, I'm very frustrated that Microsoft and these computer manufacturers are no longer providing us with a full version of Windows. My computer is clean from viruses but windows is just a bit funky. And Fujitsu's answer is to do wipe my drive and start over?!

If it was regular Windows XP, I could just borrow an OEM Windows disc from someone else to do the repair install. But since its Tablet edition, I'm at Fujitsu's mercy. STOOPID!

And Fujitsu tells me that they can do a clean install and recover all of my data. Yeah but my applications won't be there. Have you ever had to deal with Adobe's freakin' DRM?! Even if you change a part in your computer it goes crazy and you have to call Adobe to reactivate your copy of their software. You waste a lot of time setting up a new machine, whether or not your "data" is recovered. Not to mention the stupid crap I'd have to deal with for authorizing iTunes to play my purchased music!

At this point, Mike was able to fix windows with WinsockXPFix and LSPFix. I wont know if my computer is "well" yet until I start using it again. Here's hoping I don't need that disc afterall!

So now that my cosplay endeavors are over for a while, I'm going to spend some time on heavy development on PaperDemon and other projects.

I have some other website projects that will need code from PD. So I'm working on making it easier to customize and reuse.  I estimate to have the majority of my planned work done in about 6 months. Once that's done, I'll get back to working on my multimedia projects.

I'm really excited about jQuery. I just got a lesson from a colleague at work and I'm totally reved up about it. I can't wait to start doing some awesome ajax and dhtml work with jQuery. I wish I had learned about this a long time ago. Currently, I'm using the Sarissa js library. But jQuery is so much better. it has such a better structure. The code is easier to understand and will result in you writing less lines of code. And the things it can do with the DOM are amazing. Why couldn't they have designed Javascript to function like jQuery from the start? It's so unfortunate that Javascript had to be such a poorly structured language. Traversing the dom is rediculous, not to mention all the weird browser compatability problems. Gah! But jQuery will solve ALL of those problems.

Mike's costume is done and looked great!

From Halloween 2008 Ike, Link

I had to work late on Wednesday night so I had less time to spend on Mike's costume. On Thursday evening Mike tried on his costume and we realized that we could do without the pauldron+chest piece so we'll save that for another time. Also we did not do the black boot covers. Since we decided to not do those pieces, I had a chance to do some changes to my costume. I made a new set of pants that are stretchy and more slim fitting and fixed my chainmail that broke at AX. Pants are still a little loose but I can bring in the seams more.

And we looked mighty fine!

From Halloween 2008 Ike, Link

 I think I'm going to retire my TP Link costume for a year or two. The next costume I make is going to be simple and comfortable.

Another quick update...

The headband, red skirt, and wig are complete. I did the cuting on the wig and decided not to do any spikey styling to it. It looks fine how it is. I might try spiking it for Fanime.

Final items to create in order of priority are :

1. pauldron+chest piece (5%) - 4-6 hours
2. pants (95% bring in seems) - 10 minutes
3. boots (50% create black wraps) - 2 hours

So I have another 6 to 8 hours of work ahead of me. I should have time Thursday night but tomorrow I will be pretty busy.

I likely wont have time to fix my chain mail or make my new pants for my link costume :(

This is just a quick update.

Late last night I finished Mike's coat. It turned out pretty good! I'm excited and can't wait to finish the rest of his costume. I don't have photos yet but I will.

I purchased boots online for Mike that are almost identical to the $7 pair I found at Goodwill for my Link costume. I received them in the mail last week thankfully!

Major elements left to finish for the Ike costume:

• Headband - 30 min. of work
• Red skirt - 30 min.
• Pants - 10 min.
• wig - 1-2 hours
• gloves - 2 hours
• pauldron, breast plate - 4-6 hours
• black leggings on boots - 2 hours

For my costume, I will be Link again. I hope I have time to make a new pair of pants. I found a better material that's stretchy. Should take a couple hours to make. Also my chainmail is broken. Much of it broke at my last con. It will probably take 5 hours of work at least to repair it.

I might be staying up late the next few nights to try and get everything done.

The prototype for Ike's jacket is complete. I've made it into pattern pieces and laid it out on my fabric for cutting. I've already cut the pieces but it's not shown here. I only have a week left to actually put it together. I hope I can do it!

From Cosplay Ike, the Making Of

The main belt is done. My photos show part of the process. The belt took about a total of 3 hours to make.

From Cosplay Ike, the Making Of

I started working on a prototype for the gloves last night and it went very well. It took about an hour and a half to do while watching tv and stuff. I have some photos of the prototype:

From Cosplay Ike, the Making Of

 I will probably start sewing the jacket tonight or tomorrow. No more tv for me from now until Halloween! I have a lot still left to do.

Status of major items that I must have done:

wig - 50%

I have the wig. I just need to style it

green head band - 0%

This will only take an hour to make.

cape - 100%

Did this in a couple hours

blue jacket - 45%

The prototype is complete but now I need to make the final piece. It has a lot of trim so it will take some time to make.

gloves - 20%

Prototype is done. Need to cut final fabric and sew.

main belt - 99%

Just need to cut the holes for the buckle to go through but I don't want to do that until Mike is in the costume.

pants - 90%

Pants are mostly done. But they're fitting a little loose so I'll probably bring them in a bit.

sword - 100%

bought from party store

I did something stupid on Friday. I broke my glasses. It's too embarrasing to tell how.

I had to work all weekend and I'm pooped. Thankfully I didn't need my normal glasses for work. I have a separate pair of computer glasses. And I'm wearing my old pair of regulars in the mean time.

Since I had to work most of the weekend, I'm even more behind schedule with Mike's Ike costume. The good news is I've taken apart my prototype for the jacket and made it into pattern pieces and I just barely have enough fabric for it. I wanted to buy more than I got but I got the last of the fabric on the bolt. Only one more weekend left until Halloween!

Going to go watch a movie now...