Today Adobe Systems Inc. released Flex 2, the next version of the active page technology that is often refered to as the rival to AJAX (Asyncronous JavaScript And XML). In reality this isn’t the case. Although AJAX and Flex provide similar functionality, there are far more differences than similarities. AJAX is not a technology, but a grouping of two technologies working together. Flex is a technology in its own right that runs on the Flash platform. (more…)
28.Jun.06 
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A tale of two Opera’s
This week Opera Software released a new version of the Opera desktop web browser, bringing it to version 9. But they didn’t stop there, Opera Mini 2.0 for mobile devices was also released for almost all Java enabled phones and PDA’s.
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23.Jun.06 Uncategorized Comments (0)
Yesterday Apple released Shake 4.1, the widely used compositing system that Apple aquired three years ago when they brought Nothing Real outright. Shake is a desktop compositing application that runs on Mac OS X and Linux and is generally thought of as a competitor to the likes of AutoDesk Combustion and Eye-on Digital Fusion. The new point-one update brings Shake to the world of Universal Binaries, allowing it to run natively on Intel powered Mac’s.
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21.Jun.06 Uncategorized Comments (0)
The first commercial use of PDnH Server, outside of Polaris Digital, is about to launch later this month. The Woodford Group, a large brownfield site developer based in the UK have chosen a modified light version of PDnH Server to power the web site of a subsidiary company called Golden Living.
The new Golden Living site was designed by Polaris Digital in consultation with another Manchester studio, Design Quarters, who are the brand guardians for The Woodford Group. The new Golden Living site will be powered by PDnH Server 0.2.0 Light, a specially modified version developed specifically for this site.
The new Golden Living web presence has been developed to industry standard accessibility and technical standards, guided by Polaris Digital. This marks the first time PDnH Server has been used on a project in the private sector and we sincerely hope this is the beginning of a new trend.
19.Jun.06 Uncategorized Comments (0)
Polaris Digital’s new servers are now completely operational and we are now ready to start the process of updating the Polaris Digital web presence over the next month. Using PDnH Server 0.2.5, the new Polaris Digital site will look and feel very different from the current site.
In the last six months, Polaris Digital have been revising the web site policy that governs how web sites developed by Polaris Digital must perform. The new web site policy is now complete and will be available for download in the near future. The main concern was ensuring full accessibility for all users, even if their browser has no support for any of the modern web technologies.
- All web sites must use the XHTML 1.0 Strict standard, styled by CSS2; or XML styled by XSLT.
- All sites must comply to the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative WCAG 1.0 and WIA-AA standards for site content.
- All dynamic and active components must have equivilant structured accessible content if the primary content is unavailable for any reason.
The new site will reflect these statements, as well as ensuring that the Freedom of Information Act 2000 is also adhered to. This comes directly from Polaris Digital supporting the new government initiative to enforce the FOIA 2000 and Disability Discrimination Act 1995 for all private sector web sites.
In addition to the technical features, the information architecture has been re-worked along with the site content. The new site will be very clear and concise, with all navigation controls easily accessible by all.
New case studies will be available from our latest projects, highlighting our expertise in producing accessible sites for the private and public sectors. This blog will also get a make-over, bringing it back into brand with the rest of the site.
The new web site should be available from mid-July.
16.Jun.06 Uncategorized Comments (0)
I have recently been working with a number of partners on a new project that up until now I haven’t been able to talk about publically. However, the word is now out and I can reveal that I am currently consulting on a very exciting government project.
The JISC Information Governance Gateway (JIGG) web site will be the ultimate resource for students, lecturers, teachers, government officials and any other interested parties who wish to research or discover their rights defined by the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
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16.Jun.06 Uncategorized Comments (0)
On 15th June, 1996 Manchester city centre was devastated by a bomb planted in a white truck by the IRA. On a busy Saturday morning, shoppers were startled suddenly by Police shouting and running, trying to clear the city centre. 90 minutes earlier a member of the IRA had phoned Greater Manchester Police, warning them of the impending blast.
After the bomb had detonated, most of the southern zone of the city centre, around Exchange Square, was completed destroyed. One defiant postbox outside of Marks and Spencer’s remained relatively untouched (photo above), and is standing in the same spot ten years on.
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15.Jun.06 Uncategorized Comments (0)
As a follow up to the MyUK : Transport article posted earlier, I thought it would be appropriate to introduce the Siemens/ThyssenKrupp Transrapid Maglev mass transit system for the uninitiated.
To the right is a picture of the Chinese Transrapid system that connects Shanghai International Airport with Shanghai, 35 kilometres away. With such a short stretch of track, the trains only reach their 450km/h peak speed for a couple of seconds.
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10.Jun.06 Uncategorized Comments (0)
While we are in the process of migrating all our new services to our brand new dedicated servers, I thought it would be a good time to start my series of commentaries about Britain in the twenty-first century. These posts will come in no particular order and with no particular schedule. The first comment is tackling the failing integrated (if you can call it that) transport system with have in the UK, especially dealing with British railways.
The first six years of the twenty-first century has seen a lot of changes in Britain. Labour have won a record third term in office, but a number of the issues they entered office championing in 1997 have still to see real improvement. I am not saying that no improvement in our public transport, hospitals, schools or universities has materialised. But the general public concensus is that Labour’s core manifesto pledges have been largely ignored in recent times, no doubt damaged further by an all but illegal war in the Middle East. (more…)
09.Jun.06 Uncategorized Comments (2)
As you’ll notice, things have changed around here. Well I decided I would freshen up this blog with a design by ‘the unsigned’, regular contributors to the WordPress development team. Although, it has also been useful by giving me a chance to hack apart someone elses AJAX code.
This theme will be temporary as I have a design for a new one of my own fashioning, however it may be a while to get it up and working.
07.Jun.06 Uncategorized Comments (7)
