University Update and New Site
Posted: 4th October 2009
Well, thats been a packed 2 weeks!
Its fantastic, strange, interesting, exciting and mind expanding being back at university. It has taken a while to get back into the mindset of being a student and adjusting to the sporadicity of the timetable combined with sports clubs, socials and assignments but I feel I have gotten the hang of it now. The course hasn't been too challenging so far as we are in the middle of a much needed C++ boot camp which will (whether I like it or not) be my toolkit for the future. Its certainly a shift from the Java mentality and a even bigger shift from standards compliant web development. However I am finding it interesting and everyone on the course is incredibly friendly. I'm certainly looking forward to the "proper" lectures i.e. ones with a specific focus on gaming which will be starting in just over a week's time.
I've also signed up to the climbing, skiing and athletics clubs in a bid to make more friends and get very fit. I've attended one climbing session so far and tried to keep up on a run with the distance team yesterday (unfortunately I've been ill recently so I was/still am a bit fatigued). I've even registered interest in racing for the ski team which will be new experience. I'm certainly looking forward to their trip to the Alps next year which I hope I can attend (ludicrously cheap deal)!
As you will have noticed too, the site has had a facelift. It took longer than expected as I started from scratch again which was disappointing as the previous site was done using this same system which allows modularisation. The problem was that soon after I constructed the last version the makers of CodeIgniter released a massive update and introduced a new form validation library which was too good to ignore but meant having to redo all the forms again. Since the entire content management system ran on the previous library I thought I could jusity the overhaul.
In terms of content some things have gone and others have had a more focused input. The tutorials have gone as they were the product of more bored/depressed times. They've not entirely disappeared as you can find them at HTML Forums. The gallery has had a significant update with a lot more photos and a better presentation style. The portfolio section (although with only one category so far) is now structured and will be filled with my work as I progress through this degree. The wishlist has gone because it wasn't particularly useful and the links have gone too because they didn't have a good exchange rate (nor did they add to/enrich the content of the site). Comments have also been removed - they just provided an avenue for horrible messages.
I hope you like the new site - please feel free to leave comments and/or criticisms via the contact page.