web-goddess

Author: Kris

  • Review: Balsamiq Mockups

    Back at my previous job, I was using a piece of software called “Axure” to generate mockups of web applications. When I started at the new job and they asked me what software I needed, I suggested that one. I nearly had a heart attack when I realized it’s $600 for a single user license! That’s nuts. So I started looking around. I toyed with the idea of using Visio (it’s just so clunky!) before somebody recommended Balsamiq Mockups to me. It looked like just the thing I needed, and the license is only $70. I was debating on buying it when I noticed that they offer free licenses to “do-gooders” and bloggers. I sent them an email, and they wrote back with a license the very next day! I was floored by the business and I hadn’t even started using the software yet. Of course, I wasn’t going to give them a glowing review for nothing. I’ve spent the last month or so putting Mockups through its paces.

    The software: I was a bit dubious about this whole “Adobe Air” thing, but the installation proved painless. (I tested it on both PC and Mac.) Within 10 minutes of launching it I was generating mockups for both web pages and mobile phone handsets. I wasn’t sure how technical people would react to the deliberately hand-drawn look of the diagrams, so I showed it to a couple developers for their opinion. They all liked it and said it was more fun than getting a PowerPoint or Visio drawing. I’ve been using it extensively for a few weeks now and I’ve got zero complaints. (The only bug I found was fixed a few days later.) It’s so quick to create something from scratch, and changes take hardly any time at all. People have literally stopped by my desk to point at what was on my monitor. This app makes you look like you spent a lot more time/effort than you really did!

    The business: Like I said, I was predisposed to like them just because they sent me a free license. Still, I’ve been hugely impressed by how the husband-and-wife team support and promote their software. Releases are free and having been happening every week or two. (The most recent one has custom iPhone interface elements, which will be *very* useful to anybody doing mobile stuff.) They’ve got a blog that gets updated frequently, and the developer is a frequent Twitterer. I really can’t say enough good stuff about them. If you find yourself trying to figure out what a website should look like, you should definitely try this one out. (And I think they’re working on an online version soon…)

  • Web Censorship may be defeated after all…

    So Senator Xenaphon has effectively killed the web censorship plan? GREAT! I hereby forgive him for nearly scuppering the forthcoming economic stimulus payments.

  • Shared today on Twitter

    is waiting at the Apple Store to hear if Boudicca can be brought back from the dead. Otherwise, new computer! Yay!

    is relieved that Boudicca is just choking on some bad RAM. Snookums is resurrecting her now. No new computer for me… yet.

    spoke too soon. So-called Apple Store “Genius” somehow didn’t notice blown, leaking capacitors. Very pissed off and annoyed.

    Just completed a 9.86 km run with @runkeeper, check it out http://bit.ly/KBVxv #runkeeper

  • Shared today on Facebook

    is waiting at the Apple Store to hear if Boudicca can be brought back from the dead. Otherwise, new computer! Yay!

    is relieved that Boudicca is just choking on some bad RAM. Snookums is resurrecting her now. No new computer for me… yet.

    spoke too soon. So-called Apple Store “Genius” somehow didn’t notice blown, leaking capacitors. Very pissed off and annoyed.

    Just completed a 9.86 km run with @runkeeper, check it out http://bit.ly/KBVxv #runkeeper

  • Spicy Pork Tacos!

    Spicy Pork TacosYesterday the Snook and I tried out the recipe for Spicy Shredded Pork that my sister recommended a few days ago. We got a 2kg pork shoulder and roasted it in the Le Creuset casserole in the oven. It smelled fantastic. We had it in for about four hours, and then we cranked the heat to try to crisp the skin. (That part didn’t really work.) Snookums shredded it and we ate it with tortillas, avocado, lettuce, and a bit of sour cream. It was so good! Better than any Mexican I’ve had in Sydney.

  • bmp Socks

    I started these socks back in November as a prize for the Colony of Gamers charity raffle. I sat them aside in December to wait to hear who won (so I could knit the feet the correct size). And I waited… and I waited… and no email! I contacted them a few weeks ago asking what was happening, and still no reply. I figure that means they’re mine, right? Right. So this weekend I finally finished ’em.

    bmp Socks

    bmp Socks

    The pattern is from Knitty. I happened to have a lot of black and white 5ply in my stash, so I used that instead of traditional sock wool. (I took the needle up to a 3mm.) They look pretty big, but fairisle doesn’t stretch much and they fit me well. I knit them on two circs and followed the pattern pretty much exactly. The shooter was done in duplicate stitch. Cute and retro, huh? (More pics and details on Ravelry.)

  • Shared today on Twitter

    is fairly certain that was the first time an iPhone was whipped out at a Knitters Guild Executive meeting. It’s like I flew in from Mars.

    @shanea Awww, couldn’t find anybody to boost you up? 😛

  • Shared today on Facebook

    is fairly certain that was the first time an iPhone was whipped out at a Knitters Guild Executive meeting. It’s like I flew in from Mars.

  • Shared today on Twitter

    is starting Vegemite desensitisation. Day 1: Toast, butter, & teensy tiny bit of foul black stuff. Still alive. Will try again tomorrow.

  • Shared today on Facebook

    Snookums often comments that it feels like xkcd is spying on our life. Especially true with this particular strip. (Be sure to read the mouseover.)

    feels like going to bed at 8:30 on Friday night. I AM SO OLD.

    is starting Vegemite desensitisation. Day 1: Toast, butter, & teensy tiny bit of foul black stuff. Still alive. Will try again tomorrow.