Posts from 2016
I occasionally have a need to divert file requests on a website to a PHP script. By doing so, I can determine whether the visitor may access it, see whether an image should have a watermark automatically applied, or notify an administrator that a PDF has been viewed or downloaded. The easiest way to do…
Time-lapse video of the cable-car ride from Birg to Schilthorn in Swiss canton Bern.
The battle royal du jour in the web development community is the argument of whether websites should be built with a JavaScript-based technology like AngularJS, Node.js or React, or using the classic composition of HTML and CSS, then extending it with JavaScript for those browsers which support it. Without reading the detailed arguments from informed developers on both…
Life is often unfair and life is short. You don’t know what cards you’re going to be dealt.
There’s a trend these days for people to use the word “stunning”: from tabloid newspapers to t.v. presenters. And their use of the word so often makes everyone else use it. A view of the sea: “stunning”. A fashionable dress: “stunning”. A film star looking average on a red carpet somewhere: “stunning”. I think that use of the…
Using modern web technologies to replicate the ubiquitous red panel used by Swiss railway company SBB CFF FFS.
Time-lapse video of the cable-car ride from Grütschalp to Lauterbrunnen in Swiss canton Bern.
Publishing photos to WordPress directly via FTP using Adobe Lightroom.
I’m in the closing stages of development for a new WordPress site for a client. (A private one, so I can’t go into details.) As the development phase has progressed, the management of the required plugins in the Multisite installation has become ever more complex. Some sites are running an older Theme, which are dependent on a set…
Hiking along a panoramic path above the lake at Oeschinensee and then over-doing it on a much steeper, rockier path on the way to the Blümlisalphütte.
Today is the 50th anniversary of the first non-pilot episode of Star Trek. We saw Star Trek Beyond at the cinema yesterday and it was touching when we saw subtle tributes in the film and in the credits. The film makers wove Leonard Nimoy’s passing into the story through the death in absentia of “Ambassador…
There are many copy-and-paste examples of how to write your own functions and apply them through WordPress’ hooks and actions. But with a little simple knowledge of PHP’s namespace syntax, developers who regularly work on WordPress projects can make their lives a lot easier, whilst making their code much more robust, portable and secure. The first thing to…
That’s the long-term plan, anyway. As promised in a previous blog post, I’ve completed the new Photos section of the site, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of permanenttourist.ch. Nothing is ever truly finished around here, so there will be improvements and tweaks as time goes on. It’s better to get something working online, than to spend…
I wrote and posted my first blog post in this version of my website ten years ago today. To celebrate, I’m reviving the “Photos” section of the site, which will contain my best and my favourite photos.
The Schilthorn Cableway has released a new short advertising film today, and as usual, it makes me want to head for Mürren straight away.
Burgh Island, off the coast of Devon, was re-christened by Agatha Christie in 1941 for her famous Hercule Poirot novel “Evil Under The Sun”.
Eleven years later, and Interlaken Town Council are still using the website I built for them. It may not be programmed for optimal use on mobile devices, pre-dating the iPhone by three years, but it still works flawlessly.
Bathing in public was forbidden to the women of Zurich until 1837. Once the ban had been lifted, the city constructed a bathing house on the river Limmat, alongside the Stadthausquai next to the city hall.
A small set of photographs from Switzerland’s largest city, taken in a classically traditional square landscape format.
