WePlayVideos.com Blog

Zeds dead baby

2010-03-27T16:07:00.000-07:00

WePlayVideos.com is currently well...dead. I don't think it's coming back.

My other projects can be found at Practical Media

Stalling for time...

2007-12-04T20:32:00.000-08:00

The old "Stone Age" prototype of WePlayVideos.com was starting to bug me, so I have put up a stall page instead.

I will have the new version of the site up as quickly as possible!

Viva Las Vegas!

2007-12-04T20:23:00.000-08:00

I have some bad news. Instead of working on WePlayVideos.com over the Thanksgiving holiday, the family and I took an impromptu road to Las Vegas (it was only 1000 miles by car!).

Needless to say WePlayVideos.com is delayed again. My hope is to have the new site up by Christmas.

I'm not dead yet...

2007-11-11T20:50:00.000-08:00

...merely a flesh wound!

WePlayVideos.com is back on the front burner. I spent a bunch of time this weekend reworking the css layout and implementing the new jQuery video switching. I have also implemented the first of many CFCs on the site. I am very excited about the progress I made this weekend.

My new optimistic soft launch date is the end of November.

Thanks Vic for the inspiration!

Not Forgotten

2007-09-30T19:20:00.000-07:00

The last couple of weeks have been fraught with personal crisis and technical issues. I have not abandoned WePlayVideos.com, but it has definitely taken a backseat to real life. As for the technical issues. I am working on them as we speak and should have something to show for very soon.

Development Back on Track

2007-09-11T06:35:00.000-07:00

The first stage of the new database development is completed and I have solved several of the tougher technical issues. Now I just need time to crank out code. Hoping to have 0.03 completed by the end of the weekend (9/16).

Version 0.03 is late...

2007-08-26T05:05:00.001-07:00

I know, I know. It is late. I am working on it as quickly as possible. Trust me the wait will be worth it.

Nuts and Bolts: SVN Goodness

2007-08-26T04:56:00.000-07:00

The codeset for WePlayVideos is not large, but I wanted to get it into source control. My migration plan is simple.

All coding will be done in the Dev version of WePlayVideos on my development machine, all changes will be commited to a SVN repo.

When a version is complete I will update the Stage version of WePlayVideos (currently also on my dev machine).

When the version on Stage has been validated, it will be synched with the Live server. Currently I do not have SVN access on the server.

This gives me the ability to fix bugs that crop up on the Live site in Stage, and continue to develop in Dev. SVN will synch up all the code changes. Brilliant!

I wanted to use a repository somewhere other than my dev machine in case something catestrophic happened. I went looking for cheap/free SVN repositories. I came across Unfuddle via Google (of course). They offer remote SVN storage and bunch of other great tools (Bug tracking, milestones, etc.) The single project version (15mb) is free. It was a breeze to set up.

I use Tortoise as my SVN tool on my dev machine. It is what I use at work, so I have a good working knowledge of it.

For now I am going to continue to use Filezilla for my file uploads to the Live server, but at some point I may switch over to BeyondCompare.

Regardless of the toolset, WPV is now under SVN source control!

WePlayVideos New Color Palette on ColourLovers.com

2007-08-06T22:26:00.000-07:00

This is the new color palette for WePlayVideos.com. I am not completely sure about the Social Networking focus of ColourLovers, but I love to look at the palettes. I used the palette tool to make several color decisions about WPV 0.03.

My page is here:
http://www.colourlovers.com/lover/uselink126

Ok, back to work...

Not so much...

2007-07-27T21:58:00.000-07:00

Well, 14 days have almost come and gone and I have spent (at most) 3 hours working on Weplayvideos.com. There are lot of excuses I could make: We had houseguests from out of town, work was busy, blah, blah, blah.

The truth is we did have houseguests and work was pretty busy; but the real problem was me. I lost focus. I got caught up in how certain features were going to work and I started doubting it was a worthwhile use of my time. I start thinking about other ideas....

I flaked.

Well, I am officially unflaking. I am setting the next timebox for Aug. 11 and I am announcing the features I plan on releasing (without giving everything away):

A new visual design
New CSS that degrades better
More information features
Limited Membership Services
Playlist Tools

I have features lined up for iterations 3 and 4 so I need to get cracking, I will update soon!

The Next Iteration

2007-07-13T22:28:00.000-07:00

I am setting the timebox for the next iteration. The next release 0.03 will go live July 28th. This next release will be major upgrade from the current site. I do not want to publish a features list yet, but suffice it to say this will be a big step towards a public go live.

Minor Release 0.02 now live

2007-07-13T22:02:00.000-07:00

Tons of Birthdays and a quick business trip to LA have kept me from doing much with the site. I did push up some really (really) minor items. Release 0.02 features:

New Production Ready Logo (Yeah!!!! - Thanks Odigito!)
A couple of CSS fixes to make the site work with IE7
Added a copyright notice with a maito link (Thrilling!!!)
Added Favicon

I am freezing the site at 0.02 for the next two weeks as I add a bunch of new features, which I will talk about in the next post.

New Web App Development - Go Live

2007-07-01T14:20:00.000-07:00

[Originally Posted 06/25/07]

It is not exactly a full blown launch of the site, but http://www.weplayvideos.com is live. It has a playlist with 12 songs on it and plays videos from the playlist controller.

It was a real race to the finish line with an almost complete database re-design about 3 hours ago. I am going to need to take some time and really look at the table design and see if it is going to serve the new features that will be launching in the next few weeks.

The site is very simple and very pre-launch. The logo is a quick crop from the actual comp I will be using (that is why it has some faint lines around it). I will get the real logo in the next couple of days.

I crowdsourced the logo design, I got almost 60 comps. Here is the contest.

I am going to start a blog specifically for WePlayVideos and will be copying these last posts there and blogging about future development.

But for a moment I am going to bask in the glow of accomplishment. So not to spoil the moment, or this fine, fine Smirnoff Ice; I bid you good evening!

New Web App Development - Day 5

2007-07-01T14:19:00.000-07:00

[Originally Posted 06/25/07]

They say it looks darkest before the dawn, well it looked pretty dark this morning. It was really starting to look like I would not be able to launch tomorrow. But as the day progressed little by little things got better. By this evening I was starting to get excited about how the site looked. It is an extremely simple site with a simple idea behind it. I intended to blog about the idea and my plans for it but as it is 12:25 in the morning and I am having trouble keeping my eyes open, I will limit it to the basics.

Site: http://www.weplayvideos.com

Premise: My own personal MTV (and maybe soon everyone elses)...

The whole joke is this, what is the difference between MTV and my site? We play videos!

I will elaborate more in the next couple of posts. Today I got the following done:

Figured out how to switch videos the way I wanted
Figured out how to make the rounded corners on the playlist controller scalable
Tweaked the CSS (table free layout baby!) so that it is almost ready
Added more data to the DB
Coded the video switching js and css
Fixed a bug in my master query
Got the basic site to about 75% complete

The plan is to launch late tomorrow (with zero fanfare) a very basic version of the initial launch site. Tomorrow is just the end of iteration one. I have lots of features to add in coming development cycles.

New Web App Development - Web Resources

2007-07-01T14:17:00.000-07:00

[Originally Posted 06/24/07]

In the process of working on this project I have found some excellent resources online, I will share some now and more after monday:

Crowdsourced Creative Resources (Logo): Sitepoint
CSS Layout Templates: Intensivstation
Online Button Creation: Glassy Buttons
Standards Based HTML templates: Web Standards Project
Awesome Firefox Debugger Plug-In: Firebug
CSS and HTML Syntax reminders: W3Schools

I have read so much great stuff on the internet today, examples of different hacks or experiments, tutorials and open source documentation. The internet rocks!

New Web App Development - Day 4

2007-07-01T14:16:00.000-07:00

[Originally Posted 06/23/07]

Worked many hours on the project today. Got quite a bit accomplished.

I have found a major technical hurdle that I am going to have to eventually surmount to get the user experience I have in mind. The plan is to go live with a scaled back version of the interface on Monday and continue to work on this issue. I have seen examples of what I am looking for unfortunately the all require Adobe Flex to pull them off. I will get it to work.

Today I got the following done:

Finished seeding database
Pointed DNS to final IP
Put up stall page on final IP -No it's not in Ruby on Rails :)~
Put the basic CSS layout in place
Did tons of research on how to fix my presentation problem
Touched base with all the Designers that are crowdsourcing my logo
Put together a proof of concept of basic version of user experience

Tomorrow I will post the url and more information about the project.

New Web App Development - Day 3

2007-07-01T14:14:00.000-07:00

[Originally Posted 06/23/07]

Got a lot done last night. Worried a bit that most (ok all) of the coding is still ahead. That's ok, it's the weekend now; I am on this full time. You know what they say, "The only thing we have to fear is...CSS!"

Yesterday I got the following done:

Resolved Dev DB/Application server issues - Queries are working!!!
Acquired hosting
Installed db design tools
Designed Database
Built Database on dev server
Began seeding data

In a later post I will talk about technology decisions, hosting and development tools.

New Web App Development - Day 2

2007-07-01T14:13:00.000-07:00

[Originally Posted 06/22/07]

We had a bit of a family emergency Thursday night (it actually involved the emergency room), so I did not get nearly as much done as I needed to. I am determined not to let this setback keep me from launching next Monday.

Yesterday I got the following done:

Got email setup via pop3 in order to get hosting
Fought with db driver connection to application server
Looked over 12 new crowdsourced comps for logo
Installed db development tools

On Sunday I will reveal what the idea, logo and domain are.

New Web App Development - Day 1

2007-07-01T13:55:00.000-07:00

[Originally Posted 06/21/07]

Day 1 is quickly coming to a close. Due to the late hour I will make this fast.

Yesterday I got the following done:

Reserved Domain Name
Set up development application server
Set up development database server
Crowdsourced logo development for the new site.*
Sketched out initial design

* I will talk more about Crowdsourcing in a future post.

Not too bad for deciding to do this at about 10a this morning (and holding down a full-time job).

Lots to do tomorrow!

On the Cusp....

2007-07-01T13:54:00.001-07:00

[Originally Posted 06/20/07]

Ok, so here it is. I am tired of sitting on the sidelines. I have been working on the internet for over 10 years now. I rode the pine during the first internet bubble and labored away in corporate obscurity during the subsequent "rebuilding" years. Now I work at a very hip interactive agency with some some of the best and brightest. Web 2.0 is upon us and I am inspired to get something to launch.

As many of you know I have also been working (on and off, heavy on the off) on a large side project for over a year now which seems to be quite bogged down. In spite of that (or maybe because of it) I have decided to take a quick break and develop something else for immediate launch.

Here is what happened, I had a thought this weekend that might make an interesting project. As I always do, I made a few notes and put it in the old mental folder under someday maybe. But this thought was persistent, it kept bugging me. So I kept thinking about it, fleshing it out, thinking about how it could be done and when I could get around to doing it.

I looked at some resources online, thought about hosting, made up snarky comments in my head for the FAQ. Then I went looking for domain names (this is my bad habit - I own lots of domains that never see the light of day). Fortunately, I couldn't find any that I really liked and as the was about the millionth idea I have in the queue, I let it go.

When I woke up this morning, the idea was the first thing on my mind. Why couldn't I do it? All the things I need are online. It doesn't seem like it would be that hard. In the shower (for some reason the most inspiring place in my house) the perfect domain name came to me. I hurried downstairs (I toweled off and dressed first!) and checked it on the internet. Of course, someone had already beaten me too it, but I came up with another one on the fly (an even better one I might add) and it was available. I grabbed it immediately.

So now I have a domain name and the accompanying guilt to go with it.

But this time, I have decided to do something different. I am giving myself 5 days to get the first iteration of the site/application built and launched. I will document my progress here as a motivator to not putz out.

In one of my favorite lines from the movie Hunt for Red October, Sean Connery says, "When Cortez reached the new world he burned his boats, as a result his men were well motivated".

Well, my boats are burning and the clock is ticking. I need to go now, I have stuff to do...

WePlayVideos.com's New Blog Home

2007-07-01T13:45:00.000-07:00

I am moving WePlayVideos.com posts out of my personal blog. I will copy the original 8 posts over here and all new information about WePlayVideos.com will reside here, at least for the time being.

If you are a new reader, Welcome!

If you followed the blog over from Misadventures of Al, Welcome Back!

Now on with the show...