Staple Design now offering webhosting

17
Dec
0

So…I have been running webservers in one way or another for ten years and I have decided it is time to take it to the next level.

I appreciated that what people want with their websites is…for it to work. With this in mind I am not out to confuse with high level server megaflops and a zillion features but rather to offer:

  • Super stable and secure web hosting – hassle free
  • New Zealand based servers which are faster for kiwis, unless you are internationally focused in which case a US server or European
  • Great service, and an actual real person you can talk to
  • Fair pricing, actually: a real bargain
  • Help when you need it. Advice on improving your site and design/coding input if it is ever needed

I’ll make a zingy feature table sometime – but for now the plans look like this:

Staple 1: Basic – $95/YEAR

This plan gets you 20mb of diskspace, enough for a small static websites, and 1 email address with unlimited bandwidth.

Staple 2: Interactive Starter – $120/YEAR

For sites with scripting and database needs i.e wordpress, CMS driven sites etc. 100mb of diskspace with 1 MySQL database and 5 email addresses.

Staple 3: Interactive Medium – $180/YEAR

For sites with larger scripting and database needs i.e ecommerce and CMS driven sites etc. 500mb of diskspace with 5 MySQL databases and 15 email addresses.

Staple 4: Interactive Large – $250/YEAR

For sites running multiple database driven applications. 1500mb of diskspace with 10 MySQL databases and unlimited email addresses.

Please note:

Yes! You can get a server at Godaddy with a hell of a lot more of everything. You will not however be able to ring up a clever local web expert who can help you sort out your problems and give you sage advice on how you could make your website better, reduce your costs or increase your business productivity using the web.

Inkscape – 0.47 = PDF beauty.

9
Dec
0

I would like nothing more than to make Ubuntu my main operating system. But for that to happen I need graphics and CAD programs, with this in mind I have been using Inkscape on and off over the last few years and keeping an eye on developments.

This week I loaded up the new version 0.47 and tested it out on a few small, odd tasks I had to do. Strangely these did not include drawing which is Inkscapes strength.

  • Extracting pages from a PDF
    I like to fill out forms on the computer as opposed to printing, hand writing, scanning and emailing. If you are lucky enough to have Illustrator or Indesign this is relatively easy. Inkscape now extracts single pages from a PDF, you can then lock that into a layer and type over the top – even place your pre-scanned signature. Inkscape performed this seamlessly. Excellent!
  • Outputting as PDF
    I had a logo to output and my experience with PDF export in Inkscape has been sketchy in the past, crashing the application and strange clipping in some object fills. This time is was as fast and beautiful as I could have wanted. Again Excellent!

So… along with the excellent drawing main feature set Inkscape is an excellent PDF editor (at least for single pages).

No all I need is Google to put out a Linux edition of Sketchup. Please. Pretty please.

New website and blog in place

15
Jun
0

Hmmm…been experimenting with Wordpress and like it so much that I have ported my nascent Blog to it. This is a testing post to see how it is going…