Michael McGarrity | Web Developer in Ayrshire

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admin — Fri, 14 May 2010 08:46:33 +0000

I’ve just finished a new web site! Really enjoyed working on it.
The Abington Hotel is in southern Scotland and perfect for leisure or business. Take a look at the site and let me know what you think.
http://www.ab-hotel.com/

Hopefully more sites to come soon.

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admin — Sat, 08 May 2010 22:56:16 +0000

The much-anticipated and already critically-revered Podcast is….on hold. I’ve got the Microphone, the MD Recorder and the rough layout for the pilot episode. The only downer is the compatibility between the Mic and MD Recorder seems super poor from early tests in the lab. In the meantime, I’m going to see if I can find a more recent (and cheap) MD Recorder and use this. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, I’m dabbling with some dj mixes. I’m using Mixmeister for the mixes and just last weekend had the chance to put together an 8 minute mix featuring Unkle, Royksopp and Echaskech. I’m wanting to use it to showcase some of the music I enjoy and give across some of my personality during it. Check it out at SoundCloud. Going to publish a new one for next Friday, with an aim for 20 minutes mix of classical and electronic.

New site: http://www.ab-hotel.com/

Film-wise…please check out Four Lions (a jihadist comedy), My Neighbor Totoro (beautiful animation from the Ghibli studio) and The Sacrifice. All worth your attention if you like something a bit different to Hollywood.

Meanwhile……….

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admin — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 18:52:02 +0000

Weekends don’t get much busier than that!

Down ol’ London town to see Ennio Morricone LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall. Shakey videos and blurry photographs to follow. Promise.
The music for ‘Fistful of Dynamite’ and ‘Vatel’ were the real highlights, as was, of course, ‘Ecstacy of Gold‘. Incredible that Il Maestro is in his early 80’s and still looks as sprightly as ever.
Also managed to squeeze in some pre-gig window and real shopping in Soho.
Shout out to playlounge.co.uk – vinyl toy heaven.

Work is going well. Some exciting projects coming up soon.
Hoping to try use more CodeIgniter for them as well as push ahead with my own OOP work where possible.

The music releases are relentless right now too.
New Bonobo(8.5/10) and Hybrid(6.5/10) were put out in the past few weeks and in the coming months some new work from Chicane, Trentemoller, Unkle and Royksopp to name just a few. Very exciting times.
Aurally, currently enjoying: Max Cooper Mix, Rafael Anton Irisarri, Lindstrom, Ikonika, port-royal, Clark and Archive.

Over the summer I really want to do more Photography and….a Podcast. You have been warned, it’s going to be astounding

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admin — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 15:59:13 +0000

Now only a matter of weeks until The Maestro and his trusty full Orchestra play the Royal Albert Hall. Recently discovered his soundtrack to ‘Lolita‘ which is just beautiful.

Caught the brilliant ‘Mic macs‘ this weekend. If you haven’t seen it, please do. Beautiful colour, music, brilliant characters, great story.

Another one to add to the ‘wow, how many more brilliant musicians are releasing cds this year?’ is Clubroot. May 3rd will see the release of album numero second. Stay tuned.

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admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:37:31 +0000

Building a new site with CodeIgniter right now. So far, so good.
Having a ball aaaand a few hair-tearing moments too!

Starting a couple of freelance sites shortly and finishing one off soon.

Listen to some Telefon Tel Aviv and ‘M’.

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admin — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:36:03 +0000

Building a Guestbook in CodeIgniter as we speak. It’s going fairly ok, hoping to perhaps try a demo of it next week. Any takers up for testing?

In other news, the new Four Tet LP is ace. If you can only listen to one, do dig Plastic People. So much good music coming out this year. Burial, Ulrich Schnauss, Bonobo, Hybrid, Unkle and Trentemoller. Very excited indeed.

Hoping to finish up a couple of web sites shortly and have another two to start soon. Really excited to be working on these in my spare time.

Feel like I’m riding a wave of ‘code confidence’ right now…taking on challenges I would normally have left behind. Hoping to look at the Zend Framework in the next few weeks too…once I’ve (slightly) mastered CodeIgniter.

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admin — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 21:08:18 +0000

Been dabbling some more the past couple of weeks with PHP OOP. Fruits: User Sign Up.
I’m hoping to carry on work with my Mango CMS, a very basic CMS framework. It’s really just there to keep my hand in with the latest tech.
Also, finding some time to dabble with simple CodeIgniter apps and perhaps look at the Zend Framework sometime in the future.

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admin — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 12:21:03 +0000

Spent most of Friday night code dabbling with PHP OOP.
Fruits so far: Sign-Up Form, AJAX Forms, OOP Data Retrieval.
All being fine and dandy, over the next 2 weeks I’m building a basic CMS for all future work. Using OOP. Challenge accepted.

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admin — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:14:20 +0000

Lovin’ this track from the Mylo Mixmag Mix CD.
The Units – High Pressure Days (Rory Phillips Remix)

The Sounds of 2010

admin — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 20:09:48 +0000

This year looks to be an exciting one musically.

Already some of my favourite bands are starting to release details of their impending albums.

The following, especially, have got me very excited indeed:

Four Tet – There is Love in You
Burial
Bonobo – Black Sands
Hybrid
Massive Attack – Heligoland
Pendulum
Unkle – Where did the Night Fall
Ulrich Schnauss

Work-wise, it’s been a productive start to the year. Been working on a number of exciting webby projects. I’m trying to take more risks, when I can, just to keep the skillset looking good. One of these is learning a bit more of OOP, which will pay a lot in the end, by cutting down a lot of the coding I do. Really want to make 2010 all about self-improvement in a number of ways.

I’m fortunate enough to be taking a break from things by heading to the big smoke of London this weekend. I’ve got a short list of must-see places (Tate Modern, Elms Lesters, Hideout store, Dover Street Market and Camden Town Market) and no doubt finding time for doing the touristy point, look down at the map, and point in a different direction entirely, then nod. Think I’ll fit in just right! Got any suggestions of your own for places to visit in London?

Hopefully will have bagged some piccies for the blog on my return. Stay tuned.

Another brilliant slice of Adam Buxton…

http://adam-buxton.co.uk/ad/2010/01/08/alone-in-the-shed-part-1-2-news/