Had a little long downtime on my website, unfortunately my host “Dreamhost” had some problems and all my websites were down for a few hours ! Personally no one likes a downtime but one thing good is that Dreamhost do put up the status that the site is down so we dont bang our head in walls and spend hours figuring out if it was our mistake and how to fix it.

I have been planning to setup a home based web server, not a localhost i already have that but a real time web server which will host a website, it would be really cool and fun, so far i have done some of my homework on that.

So i ll publish what i learn and how far i go with it, here are a few nice tutorials i have found which i will use to deploy my own web server initially a windows one or if successful a Linux based webserver:

Things that i need

1. A separate machine probably a P4 branded used = Rs : 8000 = $150
2. A DSL always on connection which i already have 2MB = Rs : 2000 = $33
3. A Fixed IP address which will be tough to get but will arrange that from ISP = Rs : 1000 = $16
4. Install Linux or Windows

Tutorial on setting it up

1. Installation of Linux now i am not sure of the distribution i should use anyone got a suggestion there ?
   1. Ubuntu
   2. Debian
   3. Fedora
   4. OpenSusi
2. LifeHacker > How to setup a personal web server
3. Open source Free Control panel for hosting , Cube Panel or lots of free hosting control panels a wiki
   

Today i tested the wordpress 2.5 the new version which is at its brink of launch according to the a ‘sneak preview‘ post on the wordpress development blog the wordpress will be launching its new versions within days.

The good part is my fav designer Jeffery Zeldman & his team have joined up with wordpress to redesign its admin panel which is really user friendly and good to see a change, one thing i liked allot about the new version is its tagging management system they have introduced. Its not a system but an added functionality to manage your tags well. The bad thing is that wordpress has not changed its default theme yet which was created by Kubrik.

I have been working on & off on wordpress designs for about 2 years apart from that i have also worked with other CMS systems like drupal, cms Made Simple, Joomla but so far my fav have been Wordpress.

If companies have offices like Google, i would not like to go home at all…

If your ideal workspace includes a slide, a games room, a ‘chill-out’ aquarium and plenty of free food then you had better get your CV into Google.

Recently Google Inc. opened its new office in Switzerland Zürich, the building is designed for 300 engineers to work there. According to BBC, Google Engineers work in small teams of three or four, which is reflected at the Zurich HQ with small offices, each of which comes with the requisite ‘bean bag’ meeting room. Whiteboards are everywhere, allowing ideas to be written down wherever they are thought up and there is a heavy emphasis on the idea that work and play can co-exist. Other areas include a games room, a library in the style of an English country house and an aquarium where over-worked Googlers can lie in a bath full of red foam and stare at fish. Google is keen to present itself as the company that ‘does no evil’ and ‘puts users first’, statements that are becoming more challenged as the company becomes ever more powerful.

After going thought the work environment, extremely inspirational work place and innovative / casual way of working your creativity at Google i had no other options but just to apply once again at Google for job :) (this is my third attempt :) )

Google Zürich Office Video

I was just roaming around on the net and was going through Genex Blog and stumbled upon the story on AboutUs.org, which happen to have an office in Lahore. AboutUs.org is a sort of wikipedia, but instead of wiki about dead people i mean historic stuff and encyclopedia it a wiki on people, business & web according to them

AboutUs is a wiki whose goal is to create a free and valuable Internet resource containing information both about websites and other community created topics. The site was pre-populated with information about many different websites and thousands of updates are now being made by people each day.

So to test the site i entered my name and search, when result came i was bit shocked as some one had been kind enough to add all my information there, even my picture ! My website was already listed with all its details. Its a good feeling to see that happen and gives a feeling as if you were some kind of a famous Designer on whom people would write about any how apart from that day dreaming part it is a bit scary as well in terms of Privacy, as what all we publish on our web properties gets reproduced some other place without our knowledge.

Dont be scared & welcome to the new design of “My Portfolio & my Home on Web”, finally my website zeeshanhasan.com gets a  new look ………. currently excited, scared, exhausted, excited again……

So today i relaunch my ever awaiting portfolio / web that had been pending since Oct 2007, yes it took me 6 months to get it out of my desktop and on to web, reason being its extreamly difficult to work for your own sites cause 99% of time you spend on working for other people sites and usually our own web properties never get a priority. Any how for the last two weeks i had decided to work on finishing my website though the design part was finished long time back but the CSS and complex layout needed allot of work, though currently its 98% complete and 2% i hope does not get pending and get wrapped up quite quick.

 So what does the new layout have to offer, okai first of all i haven’t moved things allot as compared to the previous layout, but have focused on details and mixing the social network life with my website as you can see the social links on the header they are the communities i usually hang out so connect with me. I have used allot of transparencies which are quite difficult to use for web due to the IE / Firefox issues but i found my way around with help of some very nice tutorials and articles i found on the net.

I have changed the logo rather i would say i have evolved the logo to a newer look & feel, the over all theme is inspired from the Nature i.e. trees, leaves.

For this web to work my core focus of the project was to expose more of my skill set, add the new artwork i had worked on and update all the information as previously all the material lying there was approximately 2 years old.

For blog i have kept it simple but there are additions coming up i.e. will probably add jQuery to enhance the functionally and interactivity on the blog.

Let me know your feedback / comments cause i am desperately in need of that …