stephen lang's blog

Post-dissertation development

Stephen Lang — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 23:41:45 +0000

Well, more than a year after I handed in my dissertation, I have re-started development on the CHUI project! So, what have I been up to? After finishing Uni I went back to my old job at Maplin Electronics for a few months in order to save up enough money to travel New Zealand with Kirstin. Travel we did, for six months (three of those spent camping in our 1.9kg tent). Plenty of photos on Flickr! for those who wish to know more. Back in England then and time to get a job! Thankfully it only took me three weeks to secure a position as Technical Developer at Data Media and Research, only a ten-minute walk from my house. I’m looking forward to my new job and learning Unix will be a handy skill for the future. I have some time to spare before I start work though, so I’m taking advantage of this and I’m currently working on moving all my web sites to a 1&1 server. This has also promted some development of CHUI. I’m about to release a general maintance and bug-fix update (v0.0.3100) which includes the following changes:

Secure user log in system
Cookies now enable CHUI to remember users
User login/out link more personalised
Compatibility with Linux server
New Zealand inspired ‘Maori’ theme added
Theme switcher improved, now saves theme preference
Name-guessing (from e-mail address) algorithm improved
Minor bug-fixes

I hope to continue development and future ideas include:

More themes
User sign-up facility
IE6 compatibility
Google mail module
Possibly remove FTP (and POP3?) support
Take more advantage of PHP5
Improve security
Possible addition of user layout profiles for different resolutions and devices
Properly limit RSS display
Improve RSS module in general, add ATOM support and maybe prev/next system
Flickr thumbnails?
and many more to come!

Alpha v0.0.3000

Stephen Lang — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 08:04:57 +0000

A new version of CHUI was recently launched. Though similar looking to previous versions, there are many more features under the hood. More soon.

Getting there

Stephen Lang — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 22:05:17 +0000

Well, it’s looks like choosing Effective C++ Programming has paid off! Today I used the decorator design pattern to extend a mootools object. Even if all I did was add a module-height tracking variable, the fact that I understand how this pattern works and can recognise it is extremely useful. I would have arrays flying around everywhere if it wasn’t for this knowledge.

CHUI v0.0.1110 is now live, with draggable height-independent minimise-able modules! Woo. It’s really coming along now, I’ve got my head round the mootools framework and it’s amazing. Effects are flawless in execution, cross-browser compatible, gracefully degradable and extendible. The framework makes it really easy to access the DOM and I can’t wait to try out the AJAX functions. Need to get the database set-up first though.

Tomorrow I shall attempt to make the modules re-sizeable, to add to the customisable experience of CHUI. I never thought I’d even get close to having draggable AND re-sizeable modules. Who knows, this interface may actually become as responsive and dynamic as I originally though it could be.

Next step: Re-sizeable modules.

First alpha launced

Stephen Lang — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 00:38:03 +0000

It may be behind schedule - but it’s finally here, the first alpha (v0.0.1000). I’ve been working hard over the weekend to overcome initial development boundaries, such as: directory structure, layer abstraction, a version-keeping database and library/framework installation. The different layers include: logic (PHP), mark-up (XHTML), presentation (CSS) and interactivity (JavaScript). There is one more final layer to add during development, data storage. This will, of course, be developed in MySQL. It’s now six weeks to the deadline for the CHUI project, it’s approaching fast. I’m confident however that my development is now in full flow. I will be going on to drag-and-drop interactivity next, using the ~~Rico JavaScript library (based on Prototype)~~ mootools JavaScript framework. I will also be beginning to look at storing user’s preferences and different colour themes. Still to come is support for POP3 email access, Box.net and Flickr API intergration. Striking a balance between functionality and ‘correctness’ (accessibility, quality, portability) is key to the success of this project in the time period given.

I will also try to look over my report, this has to be in too!

Next step: Second alpha launch.

Progress Update

Stephen Lang — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 22:30:17 +0000

Having not blogged for a quite a while I’ve decided to post an update on my whereabouts with the CHUI project. First of all, I upgraded my hosting account to accommodate for an extra domain so that I could launch thechuiproject.org. Although only the basic framework is in place at the moment, I’ve spent many hours emailing and configuring and button-pressing getting it to even appear in a browser! The reason that this site launch is so complex is due to the project’s dependency on server architecture. First of all, I needed a server running Apache alongside MySQL and PHP. Not only this, but I needed the PEAR libraries installed and the possibility of creating scheduled tasks (also known as ‘cron jobs’ on Linux). Even the version of PHP and MySQL was important due to the scalability I wish my code to have. As a result, I now (almost) have a LAMP server running all of these, as well as my personal website and my girlfriend’s website.

I have emulated the same server architecture (except on Windows Vista) on my home computer for development purposes. This should also provide me with a live back-up/mirror should the LAMP server go down.

So, what have I actually got working so far? Not as much as I had planned by this point in time. I currently have a full screen, fluid, cross-browser, gracefully degradable, modular and accessible layout. It’s very easy to work with as each ‘block’ can be initialised by simple typing in div tags (with a module class) and placing any content you wish within the tags. Each module has a fixed width and height so each is given scroll bars - only when needed of course. I have RSS working on my development server but not yet on the LAMP server because I’m still in the process of installing the appropriate PEAR libraries. The logo has been designed and a colour scheme chosen. I even came up with a slogan last night that nobody appears to be using at this point in time: “chui, customise your life.”

Tonight I’m going to work on drag-and-drop functionality and hopefully sort out those PEAR libraries finally.

Next step: First alpha launch.

Getting back on track

Stephen Lang — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 00:12:01 +0000

I didn’t think it’d happen with this project but I managed to get behind schedule. I’m not used to multi-tasking University work. I’m glad that I went on placement though, multi-tasking was one of the things that I had to do. I’ve been working hard since Christmas to get back to my schedule and so far I’ve managed to do further research, sign up three research participants and publish a questionnaire (needed for eliciting requirements). At the moment, I’m just waiting for the last results to come through so I’m going to finish writing formally about my initial research for now.

I’ve also done a few things to help me get organised. The first was fuelled by Outlook 2007 beta completly messing up on Vista RC1, leaving me now unable to even open Outlook 2003 or 2007. After a bit of hassle I’ve got myself a Google Calendar which can be accessed remotely via Thunderbird and Netvibes (using the iCal standard). This is better for me as my schedule is going to be staring me in the face a lot.

Secondly, I’ve set up Vista’s shadow copies and Nero’s DVD-RW backup facility. This means I’ll be able to look back at previous versions of my work and also rest assured that even if my computer explodes - my work will be safe in a draw. I’d like to implement Box.net’s remote (FTP) backup software when it becomes available too. Lastly, I’ve configured my Netvibes homepage into three tabs - the default one being email, notes, to-do and calendar modules and the others containing news and bookmarks. I did this because I kept getting distracted by technical articles from Engadget and the BBC. It also provides me with an overview on my schedule every time I open Firefox.

Next step: I aim to be back to the schedule by the end of the week (thank God my lectures haven’t started yet!).

Research into customisable homepage interfaces

Stephen Lang — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 23:08:02 +0000

It turns out there are already quite a few customisable homepage systems on the net. By far the best that I have found is at netvibes.com. Others include myYahoo!, iGoogle, Pageflakes and Goowy. All of these are very functional, however none of them seem to have been designed with accessibility in mind. This means that accessing the interface from a mobile device such as a phone or PSP may inhibit the user experience. Hopefully I’ll be able to develop CHUI in such a way as to allow users to access their customised homepage from any device.

I have also discovered box.net. An online storage website that offers a free 1GiB account. Box.net also offer an API which is used in both Goowy and Netvibes. This is interesting but I have not found out whether they also offer FTP access, which would be useful if people prefer to use their own client. I have just contacted Box.net and hope to receive information on their API.

I will now be writing this up in a more extensive and formal manor.

Next step: Discuss CHUI in context of the discovered (similar) user interfaces

Project Specification

Stephen Lang — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 21:36:32 +0000

I created the first draft of my project specification last night. I had hoped to get it done earlier but there seems to be so much this year that I’m having trouble getting into the swing of things. I reckon I’m getting the hang of it now though, my placement helped a lot in terms of organising tasks.

There are only a few changes proposed by Ray for the first draft. First of all, it seems that my suggested title may have been a little too long. No problem though because I can still get across what I want to say in the elaboration and definition of the project deliverable. Apparently referring to my application as ‘CHUI’ is perfectly OK, as long as I explain the acronym of course. It has also been suggested that I introduce the emphasis on accessibility of the application - and what I actually mean by ‘application’ in the first place. The only couple of suggestions left include deciding upon milestone dates and mentioning the personalisation capabilities of CHUI.

I will hopefully be sending my second draft of the project specification to Ray this evening, in order to get it properly done by the deadline this Friday. So far so good then.

Next step: Project Specification (Final Draft).

Initial Thoughts

Stephen Lang — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 22:30:52 +0000

The initial idea for my dissertation was to produce an e-commerce website with a large emphasis on minimal mouse clicks and accessibility. Having come up with this idea after almost a years worth of thinking and still not being happy with it, I sought the help of my newly assigned dissertation supervisor (Dr. Ray McLaughlin).

After this, I decided to augment my idea by adding a layer of complexity in the form of a three-dimensional interface. However, this still did not satisfy my need for something new. So, after yet more hard thinking/lack of sleep/female intellect, I came up with the idea of a Custom Homepage User Interface. Possibly aided by the fact that the acronym of said idea reminds most people of a certain hairy beast, Ray has suggested that this project would be worthy of the label ‘first class’, if done well of course.

With CHUI, I aim to provide a ‘personal online portal’ - a place that integrates:

Email
File storage
BBC News
The weather
Photo slide show
Google search
Bookmarks/favourites

All this using open source software in an efficient, accessible and attractive manner in order to produce a modern online interface for people of all ages. Ray has also reassured me that choosing CHUI over my original idea provides certain benefits. One such benefit being that e-commerce websites are now well established and it would be hard to produce a massively-accessible-mini-amazon-with-fireworks.

Next step: project specification.