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Aite then. I'm heading to Santa Monica for the weekend. Back on Monday night. I'll try and see if a post or two can happen between now and then but no promises. Gotta keep it real. Love and Family first...

Pace!
Shimone @ Jungle Life

Hello all and thanks so much for your patience. After many long days and even longer nights, the Jungle Life redesign is finally live. A lot of loose ends have been clipped, a variety of plugins have been added or updated and functionality across the board has been optimized from the ground up.

The design incorporates a more wider, modern resolution (1024 x 768+ with graceful degradation), support for IAB standard ad sizes, and a greater focus on content over visual clutter.

There are still some issues that need to be addressed here and there (primarily with the usability of interactive forms and the complete lack of OSX testing) but overall I'm very happy with the launch.

I'd like to take a moment to send a special shout out to those of you who I contacted personally for your thoughts and opinions on a previous version of this design. I was headed in much a different direction and your feedback was instrumental in shaping the final result.

Lastly, a very BIG THANKS and EXTRA LOVE to my girlfriend for her emotional support this past month as I worked myself to the brink of insanity. She pulled me off the proverbial ledge when I was losing it, and was instrumental in getting this site to where it is today. Thank you M, I couldn't have done it without you!

Finally, if you have any feedback or bug reports please leave a comment or contact me via the link above.

Stay tuned as I ramp up for a flurry of activity. I may need just a *wee* bit of time to breathe but it shouldn't be long now. In the meantime, here are some funny pictures of my trio of pets.

Pace!
Shimone @ Jungle Life

» tags: redesign Technorati Tag: redesign  development Technorati Tag: development  reboot Technorati Tag: reboot

Hello all - a status update. Phase 1 of the redevelopment has been implemented.

Goal: Speed up Jungle Life!

How? Using a combination of PHP and DOM scripting to create a thumbnail image gallery.

First, I'm using PHP to resize larger images into thumbnails - This has been accomplished with a customized version of a very old script from evolt.org. Using this script I can resize images to any dimension I choose - in this case a thumbnail.

Second, I implemented a customized version of Litebox v1.0 (a scaled-down version of Lightbox 2.0) to turn the PHP thumbnails into clickable gallery overlays.

Third, I enhanced the Litebox script using Muffin Research Lab's getElementsByClassName Deluxe Edition script to hide the thumbnails until the page is fully loaded. I then used the very nifty Ajax loading gif generator to extend this aesthetically.

These new features have been tested in Windows XP using IE 6, IE 7, FF 1.5 and FF 2. Once I get access to a Mac I will begin Safari testing.

I'm hoping people will figure out how to use this feature intuitively but there will likely be some tweaking while I work on usability. In short, click the thumbnails to launch the gallery and either use your keyboard or mouse to navigate through subsequent images.

Example posts to play with this feature have been implemented on: Jungle Life Featured Interview: Self Edge San Francisco, Jungle Life x Nike ID = Air Max 90 Mud, Triple 5 Soul Women's Collection Fall 2006, Triple 5 Soul Menswear Fall 2006, and Saint Alfred Fall 2006 @ Kicks Hawaii.

Ironically, the most noticeable change around here is the new Squidfingers pattern (which I've inverted). The old Squidfingers background was nice but I've been using that one for years and I thought it was time to get serious and go bold. Which leads me to...

What's next?
Revising the visual aesthetic. 800 x 600 minimal resolution is dead. Long live 1024 x 768!

Stay tuned and thanks for your patience....
Shimone @ Jungle Life

» tags: code Technorati Tag: code  css Technorati Tag: css  dom Technorati Tag: dom  ajax Technorati Tag: ajax  javascript Technorati Tag: javascript  coding Technorati Tag: coding  scripting Technorati Tag: scripting  redevelopment Technorati Tag: redevelopment  web2.0 Technorati Tag: web2.0

Recently I made the decision to devote myself full-time to working on Jungle Life but first, I've got some administrative stuff I need to take care of.

Currently I'm working some new features into the site that should hopefully speed things up significantly. Next up is a complete redesign.

I'll continue to post as I can but things may be a bit sparse for the time being while I get caught up.

Thanks for the continued support!
Shimone @ Jungle Life

On the reals though. I'm still struggling to recover from being sick. I'm doing my best but really, I'm beat and can't post. I have sooo much to write but I just can't. Hang tight. I hope to be 100% soon. Right now I'm running half steam and things are likely to be sporadic around here for a minute.

Anyhow, Happy Halloween n shit. Get rich or try dyin'

Okay, I'm gonna come clean here. I've actually been sick all week. I'm trying to cobble some posts together but every time I get on the computer I feel like I have to lay down.

My girlfriend took the damn flu shot (mandatory for kindergarten teachers) and then got sick for 3 and a half weeks. She just barely got healthy for about a minute then went out and promptly caught a cold which she was kind enough to share with me.

So now you've got these 2 wilted people laying around feeling useless and unable to accomplish much of anything.

So that's the long and short of it. Sorry for the lack of posts...

As predicted, today marks the 1st anniversary of my 30th birthday!

My father once said to me: the hardest years of your life will be between the ages of 18 and 25. Looking back I can say he was definitely right. While things have gotten more complicated (and expensive!) they have also grown much calmer and settled. I "get it" I suppose and can now spend my days focusing on my passions, my interests, my talents and my career.

In Jungle Life news, I realize the quality and frequency of posts have declined here in recent months. This is largely due to my leaving a steady full-time job for the fast-paced world of contracting and to meeting a wonderful woman with whom I spend most of my free time. I've always felt the need to keep things moving forward but once the two settle to a rolling simmer things should start getting bubbly around here in due time. It's all about the balance and Jungle Life will be tipping the scales again before you know it...

Thanks all for the support!
Shimone @ Jungle Life

» tags: shimone Technorati Tag: shimone  birthday Technorati Tag: birthday  old Technorati Tag: old  ancient Technorati Tag: ancient  grandpa Technorati Tag: grandpa  decrepit Technorati Tag: decrepit  antique Technorati Tag: antique

I'm pleased to announce that Jungle Life has accepted an invitation to join the BlogBurst Network.

BlogBurst helps promote your blog to publishers for display on their sites, and handles blog profile management, syndication, blog promotion and discovery, copyright management, tracking and reporting.

Current BlogBurst customer include: SF Gate, Washington Post, Houston Chronicle, San Antonio Express-News, Austin American-Statesman, Gannett, Lee Enterprises, Parade.com, AZCentral.com, Des Moines Register, Santa Maria Times, San Jose Mercury News

For an example of BlogBurst in use, check the SFGate Travel section and see "Travel Blog Posts" on the right.

What does this mean to you the Jungle-Life visitor? Very little, but if you see a JL post on the San Francisco Chronicle website or any of the other websites above you'll know what's up!

BlogBurst: RSS-based Blog Syndication Network for Online Media Publishers

» tags: bloburst Technorati Tag: bloburst  rss Technorati Tag: rss  networking Technorati Tag: networking  web2.0 Technorati Tag: web2.0

After the many trials and tribulations of Feeblitz and Feedburner Email I've settled on what appears to be a terrific newsletter alternative: Zookoda. Current subscribers should be enjoying the fruits as we speak!

I've migrated all current Jungle Life subscribers from both Feedblitz and Feedburner Email over to this new system and disabled email sending from the old ones.

I've completed re-coded and tested the heck out the newsletter in Gmail, Yahoo Mail, ATP Mail, and whatever else I could get ahold of. Zookoda gives me an incredible amount of control over every aspect of the newsletter. As far as I can tell it should display very elegantly in your reader of choice. No more junk and horrendous rendering, just the posts as they were intended!

And so, if you haven't already subscribed to the newsletter now is a great time to get on. Stay updated with all the latest on Jungle Life!

If you're on the site - look top-right under Mailing List. Enter you email address, wait for the confirmation mail and click the link.

Next update is scheduled for broadcast tomorrow at 8am :)

Any bugs or feedback please let me know!

» tags: newsletters Technorati Tag: newsletters  zookoda Technorati Tag: zookoda  feedblitz Technorati Tag: feedblitz  feedburner Technorati Tag: feedburner  email Technorati Tag: email  mailing Technorati Tag: mailing  lists Technorati Tag: lists

Quick Jungle Life update for you all. I've updated the email newsletter to the new FeedBurner default (aptly named "FeedBurner Email" so if you're reading this through Feedblitz (sorry for the horrid layout!) then please head back to the site and resubscribe using the form at the top right.

Hopefully the FeedBurner newsletter looks better than Feedblitz....

Thanks!
Shimone

Okay so here's the deal - I was sick all of last week with a cold. I like to tell everyone that I never get sick - and it's true (maybe once every 3 years?), but somehow I got caught up in the virus that's been going around and it had me laid out from Sunday through to Friday. Finally, I was just starting to get better and I wake up to find my hard drive has been completely wiped out. So, not only was I hit with a nasty virus but I think my computer was as well. Needless to say, my last backup was about 10 months ago and I've lost everything since. Devastating perhaps but if you don't do regular backups and know better you only have yourself to blame.

So, I ran out this weekend and bought a new computer (an Acer 5672WLMi which I may review here) and now I have to spend the next week installing, configuring, and building it to my specifications.

With that said, Jungle-Life will be getting that much less love as there are more pressing issues I have to deal with.

If any you of you would like to CONTRIBUTE please message me via my member page. I'm looking for some contributors to the site and would definitely love to get some more input from the rest of you Jungle Life visitors. No topic is too banal. Just send me something :)

Shimone

I'm off to Tahoe for some snow. See you Sunday or Monday :)

-=Shimone
http://www.jungle-life.com
http://www.staticbeats.com
http://www.boomboombap.com

Alrighty, it's getting late and I have a very early flight to catch. I'm heading to Vegas with my business partner for the AVN show. This is a business trip but we're definitely going to make the best of our time out there. Lots of food, lots of drink, some shopping, some gambling, and a full day of work before we return. I expect the place to be a complete madhouse due to CES - which is in the same convention center - but Vegas is always a mess so that will be nothing new. Flights and hotels are completely booked for the entire week though so that should give you an idea what kind of chaos to expect. A couple years back I tried to go to both trade shows on the same trip but it was just too much and while CES is pure pleasure AVN is all business. Kind of ironic actually...

See you in a few days!

» tags: vegas Technorati Tag: vegas  ces Technorati Tag: ces  avn Technorati Tag: avn

Hello to the Jungle-Life RSS subscribers. I've updated the feed for better image and layout support and a shorter title and URL. In doing so I've retired the old Feedburner URL in favor of this new one.

Official RSS Feed URLs are:

http://www.jungle-life.com/xml-rss2.php
http://www.jungle-life.com/atom.php
http://feeds.feedburner.com/jungle-life

Please update your readers.

Thanks!

I use a very nifty stats collector called MyBlogLog. Unlike most stats which only collect and store incoming data, MyBlogLog collects and stores only outgoing data - specifically outgoing link statistics. The science of statistics is often inexact but it does however give me a general idea of what people find interesting on the site.

If you've ever been interested to know what external links people click through on your site, MyBlogLog is the tool for you. It's easy to set up and FREE. Paid users (such as myself) get access to extra features like real-time stats, top links, and more data retention for $25/year.

MyBlogLog Tracks the Missing Link

-- Top Outgoing Links: December '05 --

3,099 offsite clicks / 10,630 page views / 6,368 readers

(783 clicks) - The film itself
(443 clicks) - Rendezvous Racer
(133 clicks) - Speed of a Car: C'etait un Rendezvous
(073 clicks) - Skinny girls...
(056 clicks) - Adidas Teamgeist FIFA 2006 Soccer Ball
(045 clicks) - Adidas Oddity Collection
(035 clicks) - Female Ronald McDonald
(034 clicks) - Turf San Mateo
(034 clicks) - Deal Alert: 30% off 300 items at Digital Gravel
(029 clicks) - Double Edge Films Theater Presents: SPIN
(027 clicks) - 2005 International Wine & Spirit Competition

» tags: stats Technorati Tag: stats  outlinks Technorati Tag: outlinks