Announcing Website 19: Refreshed Look, Forums, Mobile Version

Posted April 12, 2007, 7:04 p.m.

Well I finally got tired of waiting for the Joomla people to finish up their long-awaited 1.5 update, so I’ve updated Off on a Tangent to version 19 on the same CMS platform that version 18 was on. You may remember I kicked-off v.19 development in October 2006, and—while Joomla’s release delays stymied some of my really cutting-edge plans—I still managed to get a lot of mileage out of these months of development, including a new forums feature and a streamlined mobile version in addition to the usual visual improvements. Read-on for details.

Refreshed Look—The most obvious change is the look. I’ve darkened the blues a bit, added some texture to the lighter areas, increased the number of randomizing pictures (now four at a time!), and lots of little things throughout. I’m really happy with the way it turned out and I think it’s my best-looking site to-date, all while maintaining a high level of cross-platform and cross-browser compatibility.
Off on a Tangent Forums (Experimental)—I used to have a comment feature on the site (powered by AkoComment), but it was a bit wonky and inflexible (not to mention unpopular). I quietly disabled the function quite a while ago, and only one person ever mentioned having noticed. As part of the Website 19 upgrade, I’ve implemented a new experimental forum system (powered by JoomlaBoard) which I hope will catch-on and become a vibrant area of the site. The forums give you a relatively free-form area where you can discuss what I’ve written and, even better, start new discussions of your own. Now get talkin’!
Off on a Tangent Mobile (Experimental)—In December, I initiated limited support for mobile web browsers. Website 19 takes mobile support to a new level, automatically delivering a streamlined, small-screen version of the site to users visiting from many kinds of smartphones. Off on a Tangent now offers broad support for browsers on BlackBerry, Palm OS, Symbian, Windows Mobile, and more (see Site Requirements for a list of supported mobile browsers). I’m still learning in this area, so consider my mobile support solid-but-experimental.

Scott Bradford is a writer and technologist who has been putting his opinions online since 1995. He believes in three inviolable human rights: life, liberty, and property. He is a Catholic Christian who worships the trinitarian God described in the Nicene Creed. Scott is a husband, nerd, pet lover, and AMC/Jeep enthusiast with a B.S. degree in public administration from George Mason University.

Quotes

Life is not fair. It is tempting to believe that government can rectify what nature has spawned. But it is also important to recognize how much we benefit from the very unfairness we deplore.

Milton Friedman

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen

Catholic Church

We shall see hereafter that in America the real strength of the country is vested in the provincial far more than in the federal government.

Alexis de Tocqueville

I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them.

Bernard Shaw

A fool with a heart and no sense is just as unhappy as a fool with sense and no heart.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Of all the symptoms of decay in our decadent civilization, subjectivism is the most disastrous of all. A mistake can possibly be discovered and amended if and only if truth exists and can be known and is loved and searched for.

Peter Kreeft

The rabbit’s tail looks like it’s made of cotton because if the tail looked like it was made of polyester, everybody would assume that the rabbit was artificial.

Scott Bradford

We should be teaching our children to aspire to greatness, not to resent it in others.

Scott Bradford

Any one who goes ahead and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God; he who abides in the doctrine has both the Father and the Son.

John the Apostle

I despise the public. That’s my only vindication.

Ayn Rand

News is what somebody does not want you to print. All the rest is advertising.

Unknown

Through most of history, most sane people affirmed the existence of some divinity.

Scott Hahn

If you can’t translate it into words a fisherman would understand, you don’t understand it yourself.

Peter Kreeft

An idealist is a person who helps other people to be prosperous.

Henry Ford

In every culture in history, the saints, who most resemble Christ, give the most offense . . . because all cultures, like all individuals, are fallen and sinful, in many different ways.

Peter Kreeft

Hell is other people.

Jean-Paul Sartre

All things would tend towards nothing, unless the hand of the Almighty preserved them.

Gregory the Great

Do not pretend you are happy with something if you are not, and if a reasonable solution might, in principle, be negotiated. Have the damn fight.

Jordan Peterson

So material a difference does it make, not what ills are suffered, but what kind of man suffers them. For, stirred up with the same movement, mud exhales a horrible stench, and ointment emits a fragrant odor.

Augustine of Hippo

Wealth and want equally harden the human heart, like frost and fire both are alien to human flesh.

Theodore Parker