Fleshing out Oshi

I’ve been putting together project Oshi in my spare time, after work and on Sunday evenings and it’s coming along slowly but surely. I’m adding new pages all the time, as and when they are needed. I’m slowly starting to realise that this will be a lot more complex than I first thought and will need to be reigned in to stop it from growing too large.

Last year I listened to a podcast which had a lecture/presentation by Jason Fried at 37Signals, one where he talks about “Getting Real”. When I was listening to the podcast it made me realise that what he said was completely true, by doing less, you can do more. By actually getting to work on something rather than planning it, you can see what needs to be done and change it quickly. Remembering this has helped me to get started and to try and keep the application focused. I think it’s also good for personal productivity, by actually doing something rather than thinking about it you are making steps forward and avoiding procrastination.

37Signals have made their methodology available via their website, I recommend it for anyone stuck in planning hell!

37Signals Website

“Getting Real” Methodology

ja ne!

Getting Started

I’m running an Ubuntu Feisty Fawn setup for my development, using Apache 2, php5 and MySQL 5.0.38 for the backend development. The current project I’m getting started on is my own website, something that I was working on before coming to Japan but lost due to a hard drive failure on my old laptop.

I’m planning to build a site that will showcase my work and will give potential employers an opportunity to properly assess what I’m capable of. The site will be written in HTML, CSS and PHP all mixed together and will also use Web API’s to link to Flickr and Google for a little mashup experimentation. I’m trying to be strictly standards compliant for accessibility and ease of use.

I’ll regularly post screenshots and once I have hosting organised, links to the actual work I’m doing so keep checking back for more updates.

ja ne!

A change of direction.

I created this blog as a way of talking about things I’m passionate about and making observations about how the web is different in Japan. Admittedly with working as an English Instructor, I’m not best placed to make those kinds of observations. So a change is on its way.

From here on the blog will be used to chart the development of my own work, to be able to inform potential employers and to showcase what I can do. Expect posts regularly and with screenshots and general banter about my ideas.

Fridays will be the time for action, for coding and for progress (I hope) so check back regularly to see whats up!

ja ne!