The next theme to get its 1.6 update is Realize. I’ve gotten more emails and PMs than I can count, and I promise its coming within the next 48 hours. Thanks for waiting everyone! Here are some screenshots, enjoy.

New login box

New search box

Macally MSUITPAD

I bought an iPad a couple weeks ago, does that mean I’m horrible person? Anyways! I wanted to be able to share my new toy with people that might not, uhh, value its scatch-and-scuff-free good looks as much as me. So I set off to find a case. Let me tell you something about iPad cases in BC: there’s almost no selection. Your best bet isn’t at Apple, its actually London Drugs. I visited several stores and they had the widest selection.

Unfortunately I don’t like any of the cases I’ve seen so far (I want the Incase Grip Protective Cover), so I decided to pick up a cheap alternative until I can get down to the US. I settled on Macally Silicone Protective Case for iPad (msuitpad). Here’s what you need to know..

Its cheap. I got mine for $25CAD plus tax. Its also cheaply built, there’s some rough rubber around the edges and the fit is mediocre. That said, it does the job and is actually very nice to hold. The material is a soft rubber texture, and the back has these awesome ridges that make it easier to hold on to your iPad. In fact, if the fit were just a bit tighter I think I would have been content with this product.

The problem is that the fit is too loose. And I fear that with time it will only get worse after repeated repositioning/removing. Here’s a little video to demonstrate my concern.

So overall it gets the job done. Don’t go picking your iPad up by the cases’s rim, don’t expect top of it’s class beauty, and save a little coin. If you’re looking for a nice-enough silicone case, a temporary protective cover, or something cheap this might just be the product for you.

One area I’m focusing on is the header section. I tried to innovate with my latest themes (Realize and Aardvark), and my goal now is to make them even better looking and more functional. The header is obviously unique to each theme, but here’s what put together for my client’s site.

Something that’s always bugged me about forum software are smiles on the post editor. They take up a huge amount of space and usually cheese-up the page considerably. So I put them in a cupboard! (easily opened and closed with a click)

All buttons (form, postbit etc) look the same. These kind of buttons not only look better, but have provide accessibility and are easier to translate.

And that’s all for now! NDesign and Realize will be available first, for those wondering.

Fun pie chart! I don't use tables..

I’ve always designed client sites to play nice with IE6, and tediously implemented “hacks” where necessary to make them look the way they should. The real problem here is that the browser is so old, and so riddled with bugs that I literally have to spend more time worrying about IE6 than any other browser. Its brutal.

So when does the madness end? I guess it ends when clients stop caring about supporting it; when no one uses it anymore..

I’ve been hoping to put together some new themes for a while now. As soon as a proper 1.6 beta comes out I’ll start working on it, and I promise to keep everyone updated.

Following these instructions and these instructions (more or less) on HowardForums I was able to get custom ringtones on a Telus m540.

My Suggestions

1. Don’t use UniCDMA. Get ahold of the CDMA Workshop software instead.
2. Don’t waste your money on a legit ringtone, download and edit the ones below. (I wasted hours trying to make them from scratch)
3. If you’re having lots of trouble try the sample files I’ve included in this post without any edits first. They should work. Leave me a comment or go post in one of the forum topics on HoFo if you need some help.

Included for you here are a sample 11.txt, 11.dd and 11.gc file (its Speechless by Lady GaGa in case you’re wondering). To make your own ringtone follow all the linked instructions (CDMA Workshop method is best) then edit my .txt and .dd files, replace the .gc with your own .mp3 and upload to the folders described in the HoFo instructions. Best luck.

My latest issue with them resulted in more than a week of technical issues and wasted time. It was only resolved when I moved my domain to a different company. I was further irritated when they billed me for the domain, that had been transferred to another company a month earlier, and forced me to fill in a form and fax it across the continent to be reimbursed.

A word of advice for 1&1 customers trying to setup or change GLUE (nameserver IPs) for their domain. After making changes to your subdomains ns1 and ns2.yourdomain.com, you must go into the settings for yourdomain.com and click “update” to start the update process. Otherwise nothing will happen and your GLUE will not be updated, and sometimes even this doesn’t work. Best of luck.