A file permissions error has occurred. Please check the permissions on the script and the directory it is in and try again

Posted 30 June, 2007 in Other Stuff

If you upgrade wordpress and get the following error:

A file permissions error has occurred. Please check the permissions on the script and the directory it is in and try again.

Check the root of your website for a file called index.cgi. Remove it and that should fix the problem. It did for me anyway.

Convert DVD to Mobile Phone 3GP – Free

Posted 30 June, 2007 in Other Stuff

Since I got my Nokia E61 mobile phone or cell phone for you Americans, I have used it as everything other than a phone. With the 2 GB I have found that I can save around 10 movies in reasonable quality and view them on the go on my E61.

I use a package called DVDFab Decrypter to remove the DRM on my DVD. It saves the DVD to my computer. Then I Use a program called Plato DVD to 3GP Converter to turn it into a crunched down version for the phone. The video format is 3GP and is just like MPEG but for phones.

I do not link to these programs as I think DVDFab Decrypter gets deleted and moved around. Just google them.

It was perfect when I went on holiday and had time to kill. I watched movies every night in bed. A film is aronf 150mb to 250mb. The video is fine for the size, and sound is great.

Tables & CSS. Designing the Web.

Posted 30 June, 2007 in Other Stuff

As a web designer since early 90s I have seen the internet develop pretty much from birth to web 2.0. The funniest thing I have seen is the bitch slapping HTML tables have had over the past few years.

Before CSS they where pretty much the only way to layout a web page, and I as well as others pushed them to the limit.

These days CSS does the job, but is it still okey to use tables for such work? I go on the old, â€œIf it aintâ€™ broke donâ€™t fix itâ€ moto and still quite often use table for layout.

This is especially so on one-off websites where there will be little change in design. CSS is best used when a site is going to change look and feel and needs that extra flexibility. Otherwise tables are still a good option, and deserve perhaps a round of applause for hold the line until CSS came along, and are still great fall backs, held in reserve.

Although I hate having to wade through endless lists of styles in style sheets just to find why some border is not the same as another border, CSS was the right move. Do not get me wrong, CSS is a superior tool for layout, but I just plain like good old tables and I wanted to give them a little hand.

Rubber Stamps Vector File

Posted 30 June, 2007 in Other Stuff

As the rubber stamps seem so popular I have now uploaded the Adobe Ilustrator vector file for them. Stamps Zip File

Flash or HTML Websites?

Posted 29 June, 2007 in Other Stuff

Not for the first time and undoubtedly not for the last time either, I was asked if a site should be all Flash or HTML.

Now this depends, is what I say. This particular site had already been created all in flash. They sell gifts online and the site is basically an e-commerce store. They had been up and running for about a year and where getting little or no organic hits to the site. The site was 1 page, with a clever bit of flash running the catalogue of products. (more…)

Web 2.0 Stripes in Photoshop

Posted 25 June, 2007 in Other Stuff

This tutorial is meant as a simple way to make stripes in Photoshop. It assumes a basic understanding of Photoshop. Included are various samples of stripes at the bottom of the tutorial, for your use subject to the free (cc) licence.

1. Start with a 200 x 200 pixel box.

2. Set foreground colour to Black and background to white.

3. Using the gradient tool set to Reflected Gradient, drag a gradient from the middle of the image to the top. Use the shift key to get it straight. (For special effects, try an oblique or angled gradient)

4. Got to Filter > Distort > Wave.

5. Set Generators to 999. Wavelength Min and Max to 5. Scale 100%. Type: triangle. Repeat Edge Pixels.

Now you should have nice web 2.0 stripes read to use. You can of course use other colours.

If you wish to have stripes without the gradient do steps 1 and 2 again then:

3. Using the gradient tool set to Linea Gradient, drag a gradient from the bottom of the image to the top. Use the shift key to get it straight.

4. Got to Filter > Distort > Wave.

5. Set Generators to 999. Wavelength Min and Max to 5. Scale 100%. Type: square. Repeat Edge Pixels.

This should give you plain stripes that you can then add to your patterns, Edit > Define Pattern.

Mess around with the settings to create some nice effects!

Gradient Patterns

Gradient 2.0 Stripes.

Miss Shilling’s orifice!

Posted 20 June, 2007 in Other Stuff

I did a random search on Wikipedia and found this. It is shocking that a site such as Wikipedia will have such content. I am going to write to them at once and complain. Children use Wikipedia. In this day and age we must fight back against orifices, holes and futtocks!
If you can stomach it you can see Miss Shilling’s orifice for yourself here.

Blog RSS Feed Icon

Posted 19 June, 2007 in Other Stuff

More RSS feed icons for blogs and websites. 2.0 web graphics style. Free (cc) to use. See conditions.

Free Web 2.0 Gradients

Posted 18 June, 2007 in Other Stuff

I found a nice page that does some great Photoshop web 2.0 gradients. Gradients play a strong role in web 2.0 graphics and add that 3d feel to icons and logos and words etc. It is a large collection and with the use of hue and colouring you should be able to create an endless variation of gradients.

ultimate-web-20-gradients-free-download