I also have an ohm on my my chest, it was the first one I had done many years ago. Mine was done by Woody when he was first starting out and was operating in the same shop that Paradise Tattoo now uses.

I have just taken over maintaining a site for a friend of a friend. The site is the portfolio for a pair of ceramic artists based in Hazlemere. Their creations are unique, I have not seen anything like it.

To take on the site I had to convert it from a purely image and frame based layout into a CSS positioned site. It looks almost identical, but should load a lot faster, be found by search engines, and be easily updated.

The site is www.ostinellipriest.co.uk, let me know what you think.

We (Fushion Sound System) will be there, hopefully doing the same as last year, and maybe more. Last year we did the Origin Stage (lighting) and the Interstella Circus tent (sound and lighting). I worked in the Circus tent and enjoyed the cabaret acts as well as the live music. I also provided some lights to the Psymusic tent, hopefully this year it will be bigger and need a fully managed lighting solution.

As soon as I know more information I will post about it, in the mean time check out the photos from last year.

Main room

Old lighting truss

The DJ booth

Main room

Rear of the main room

Magic posters

These photos were taken in the summer of 2009 before the main part of J. Needhams complex was pulled down. The snooker hall and bingo hall were attached to the rear of the club. You can still see the rear of the club from the main road, but it will soon be a Lidl store.

I spent many years as a punter and working in this famous club. My first experience of it was when I was at Bucks Uni in 91/93. It was called The Attic then, and was very strange.

When I returned from Derby Uni in 95 it became my usual weekend haunt. At some point I got a job in the cloakroom, and then on the door, not as security, just taking the door tax. I had many great nights in there, and put on my first party there. An eclectic night called Garble.

The Attic closed down late in the 90’s but was soon reopened as Melt. It had a refit and was popular once again. This lasted a year or two before it closed. I am not sure why it closed, but when it reopened at Unit 3 it received a major refit.

I was asked to bring Magic in as one of the main nights. We had reasonable success, but it was never a major crowd puller. Eventually after a year or two the club closed due to not being able to get insurance. It was sad to see it close, and hoped it would eventually come back. This was not to happen, and we now know its going to be pulled down.

I have many good memories from this club, its where I met my wife, and made some great friends. If you too have some special memories, please post them below as a comment.

If you also have some photos that you would like to share, get in contact with me and I will post them.

Psy Room:

PSYFI (LIVE SET)
BERGER – Ninja Hippies
12MANY – Just Rite

Techno Room:

KICK TOM SNARE – Just Rite
CAPTAIN ACID SCOTTISH – Just Rite
MR PICKLESON – Just Rite

Sound Provided by Just Rite Sound System
Lighting Provided by Dooza Lighting
Decor By Spectrum Decor

Door tax £5 b4 11 £7 After

Play (Plug n Play Studios)
35 Milford Road
Reading
RG1 8LG

Map to Play

This simple bit of JavaScript will give your external links on your page an icon to indicate that you will be leaving the site. I previously would have done this using a CSS selector that targeted all links in a paragraph that had the target attribute set to “_blank”, but I wanted a fool-proof way of doing this without having to remember to set the target.

How does it work?

It works by manipulating the DOM using the Spry Dom Utils JS. It creates an observer that on page load adds the class called “external” to all links that are on a different domain.

To use it, just put this in your head section:

<script src="SpryAssets/SpryDOMUtils.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="SpryAssets/SpryExternalLinkIcon.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<link href="SpryAssets/SpryExternalLinkIcon.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />

The first file is from the current Spry library.

The second is my custom code, and the third is a small bit of CSS.

This is SpryExternalLinkIcon.js:

function externalLinkIcon(){
  Spry.$$("a").forEach(function(href) {
  	if( href.hostname != window.location.host ){
  Spry.Utils.addClassName( href, 'external');}
  });
}
Spry.Utils.addLoadListener(externalLinkIcon);

This is SpryExternalLinkIcon.css

.external {
    background: url('external.png') 100% 60% no-repeat;
    padding:  0 15px 0 0;
}

Now any link that is on a different domain will get assigned the class “external”, which in turns puts an external link icon at the end of it.

Demo

You can see what I have been talking about here: http://www.dooza.tv/spry/SpryExternalLinkIcon.html

Download

You can download the files here: http://www.dooza.tv/spry/SpryExternalLinkIcon.zip

Conclusion

Using JavaScript to add this icon is progressive enhancement, the page doesn’t break, the link still works, but in browsers with JavaScript support you get the added functionality of an icon that helps the visitor recognise an external link. The visitor might want to open the link in another tab or window, knowing its an external link before having to click it will save time.

I would love to hear your opinions on this little bit of code that I have presented here. There aren’t many Spry tutorials or blogs about, which is a shame, its got potential.

/SpryAssets

You can still donate to the cause, its not too late. Just pop along to my page over at Movember and give as much as you like.

http://uk.movember.com/mospace/248012/

Wordpress as a platform is very easy to learn, and was much more flexible that Blogger. It has jumped in functionality with numerous new releases, more than I ever counted on. I had previously toyed with Joomla but it never worked the way I wanted it too, and was very frustrating.

To celebrate the year of use, I have changed template, and will be fine tuning it to my liking. One day I will make my own from scratch, but need  more time to get my head around what is possible.

Most techies involved in lighting or computing are aware of the standard IEC power cable. Its a bit like what you have in kettles, but lower power, and is found everywhere. Your computer will have one, all my lights have one, my lighting desk has one. I have loads and loads of these IEC cables, you can never have enough, and most of the time they do the job perfectly, but sometimes you need one that is a little bit more secure.

The standard IEC power cable can be knocked out of its socket, or might just be a little loose. When this happens you might lose control over your lights, your computer might turn off and you lose what you were working on. Its these times that the IEC-Lock is worth having.

It is simple to use, as its just the same as a normal IEC power cable, but with one slight difference. It has a gripping mechanism on the earth pin. So when you plug it in, it holds on tight and won’t let go until you press the little red button on the plug. It is such a great idea, you can see the manufacturer’s website for more information on how it works and the patens.

If your intersted in buying less than 100 (thats what the manufacturer sells) then you might want to check out AC Entertainment Technologies (yeah I know, I work for them, so its a blatant plug) , they come in three versions: IEC-Lock to 13Amp, IEC-Lock to Schuko, and IEC-Lock to bare ends. The last one is good as you can fit to any plug you like, like a 16Amp CEE Form. I am surprised this one isn’t in the range already!

What many people don’t appreciate is that one man dies every hour of prostate cancer in the UK, more than 35,000 men will be diagnosed this year and that prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK.  Facts like these have convinced me I should get involved and I am hoping that you will support me.

To donate to my Mo, you can either:

•    Click this link http://uk.movember.com/mospace/248012/ and donate online using your credit card, debit card or PayPal account
•    Write a cheque payable to ‘The Prostate Cancer Charity – Movember’, referencing my Registration Number 248012 and mailing it to: Movember – The Prostate Cancer Charity, First Floor, Cambridge House, Cambridge Grove, London, W6 0LE.

Movember is now in its third year here in the UK  and, to date, has achieved some pretty amazing results by working alongside The Prostate Cancer Charity.  Check out further details at: http://uk.movemberfoundation.com/research-and-programs.

If you are interested in following the progress of my Mo, click here http://uk.movember.com/mospace/248012/. Also, http://uk.movember.com has heaps of useful information.

Thank you