https://iain.co.nz/A wee weblog, since 2006Fri, 13 Nov 2026 09:54:33 +0000https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/northland-power-sources/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/northland-power-sources/Fri, 13 Nov 2026 00:00:00 +1200Self contained html applications are where it’s at. I’m finding it fascinating to be able to put together small, lightweight applications that run in a browser and tell a story. Here’s my first story.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/drawn-at-random/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/drawn-at-random/Fri, 13 Nov 2026 00:00:00 +1200Twenty years ago, on this blog’s first day, Iain shared a line of PHP that showed a different header image on each visit: rand(1,5).https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/tui/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/tui/Mon, 26 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +1200https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/poor-knights-islands/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/poor-knights-islands/Sat, 04 Mar 2017 00:00:00 +1200https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/some-new-work/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/some-new-work/Mon, 27 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +1200I just pushed live some work that has kept me busy for the last few weeks and I thought some of the behind the scenes workings might be worth a share.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/taxonomy-2.0/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/taxonomy-2.0/Fri, 08 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +1200A few weeks ago, I quietly launched Taxonomy 2.0. I’ve been meaning to write up a post about it but to be honest I’ve just been really busy working on some awesome projects.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/injecting-ee-categories-to-taxonomy-trees/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/injecting-ee-categories-to-taxonomy-trees/Wed, 22 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +1200Given that I'm now whoring myself, and waking up with dollars in my eyes - I thought I'd put some more effort into sharing some tips and tricks of various things you can do with Taxonomy.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/on-free-add-ons/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/on-free-add-ons/Fri, 03 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +1200I’ve made the decision to start charging for my add-ons listed in the software section of this site starting June 10th.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/new-linear-style-for-taxonomynav/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/new-linear-style-for-taxonomynav/Sat, 09 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +1200The latest release of Taxonomy (v1.2.3) is not particularly blog worthy, it contains a couple of nice new features - but one that I’ve been playing with recently is the style="linear" param on the nav tag.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/taxonomy-1.2/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/taxonomy-1.2/Sat, 26 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +1200Just pushed an update to the Taxonomy module and thought I’d write a post to outline some of the new features and also share a couple of development tips.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/new-design-for-2011/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/new-design-for-2011/Sun, 06 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +1200Thought I’d better get my shit together and actually develop something in HTML5…https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/a_new_order/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/a_new_order/Tue, 20 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +1200Expressionengine has been a revelation for me; purely and simply a life changing piece of software.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/wymeditor_fieldtype_for_expressionengine/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/wymeditor_fieldtype_for_expressionengine/Sat, 08 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +1200I’ve just knocked together a quick WYMeditor Fieldtype which I’m happy to share with anyone that’s interested.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/slides_from_my_presentation_on_expressionengine_at_barcamp_auckland/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/slides_from_my_presentation_on_expressionengine_at_barcamp_auckland/Mon, 13 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +1200For anyone who attended my presentation on Saturday at Barcamp Auckland, or anyone that’s interested, you can download my slides.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/crumbee_expressionengine_plugin/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/crumbee_expressionengine_plugin/Tue, 09 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +1200Just written my first EE plugin, appropriately named Crumbee, its pretty crummy really.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/useless/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/useless/Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +1200Yep, I’m pretty crap at keeping this up to date… I’ve just got heaps on but have started a Tumblr account where you can get wee bits and bobs that I stumble accross....https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/how_not_to_communicate_to_the_masses_via_email/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/how_not_to_communicate_to_the_masses_via_email/Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +1200Check the state of it? Wtf are Chemical Brothers up to?https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/dive_tutukaka_relaunched/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/dive_tutukaka_relaunched/Sun, 25 May 2008 00:00:00 +1200The job has been on the cards for a while, but due to available resources at the clients side, the job went into hibernation for a while… That is until Kirsty from eliterate stepped in and managed content delivery on behalf of the client. What an altogether pleasant experience having someone as capable as that taking over a project.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/applecare_registration_is_a_painful_experience/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/applecare_registration_is_a_painful_experience/Sat, 17 May 2008 00:00:00 +1200Far out, for a company as slick as Apple, they seem to have a half ass side to them sometimes. I just went to register an AppleCare Protection Plan and almost put my fist through the monitor.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/a_z_a_vu/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/a_z_a_vu/Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00:00 +1200Around 1 year ago, i submitted a complaint to Whangarei District Council about their awful website in general, and in particular the A-Z they have on there.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/switched_to_an_em_based_layout/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/switched_to_an_em_based_layout/Tue, 06 May 2008 00:00:00 +1200Moving away from ‘old faithful’ - the pixel, has been on the cards for a while now. It was probably the realign of SimpleBits and the accompanying blog post that caused the change in thought.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/washed_out_colour_on_a_secondary_display_using_photoshop_cs3/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/washed_out_colour_on_a_secondary_display_using_photoshop_cs3/Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +1200This issue almost drove me insane. For the last two days I’ve been having major Photoshop CS3 colour issues on my 20” high definition 2007WFP Dell - which is used as a secondary display to my spanking new MacBook Pro.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/i_hate_my_new_macbook_pro/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/i_hate_my_new_macbook_pro/Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +1200I hate the little shiny aluminum son of a %^& so much because I can’t find a single thing to complain about.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/199900_usd_255562_nzd/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/199900_usd_255562_nzd/Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +1200Why ~~am I paying~~ did I pay NZ$3,198.00 for a MacBook Pro then?https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/a_seamless_user_experience_for_you_ie6_users/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/a_seamless_user_experience_for_you_ie6_users/Fri, 25 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +1200Recently on the EE forums, there was talk of a site that failed to accommodate Internet Explorer 6 properly.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/how_old_do_you_feel/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/how_old_do_you_feel/Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +1200Figure 1, has just turned 17:https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/spammers_just_keep_getting_funnier/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/spammers_just_keep_getting_funnier/Mon, 21 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +1200How’s this for the latest piece of spam to make it to my inbox:https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/smokefree_for_2_weeks/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/smokefree_for_2_weeks/Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +1200I’ve been smoking for nearly half my life. Nearly. Half. My. Life.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/colourful_me/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/colourful_me/Thu, 17 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +1200I dunno what it was, but for some unbeknown reason, I started playing around with trying to generate a random hex colour. It wasn’t as easy as i hoped… (initially)…https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/i_dont_get_it/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/i_dont_get_it/Mon, 14 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +1200Eventfinder have just announced their new “network site” called The hive…https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/getting_my_hands_dirty_with_codeigniter/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/getting_my_hands_dirty_with_codeigniter/Tue, 11 Mar 2008 00:00:00 +1200I downloaded CodeIgniter (CI) around a year ago and to be honest, I didn’t really know what I was doing. The video tutorials went straight over my head and I quietly deleted the folder from my dev webserver.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/finally_finally_finally/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/finally_finally_finally/Fri, 22 Feb 2008 00:00:00 +1200"Whangarei mayor Stan Semenoff has announced plans to establish an international-standard Hundertwasser arts centre at Whangarei’s Town Basin.”https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/im_certified/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/im_certified/Tue, 19 Feb 2008 00:00:00 +1200Yeah, I know what you’re thinking… Iain has developed a nasty habit and needs to go to rehab.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/getting_into_summer/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/getting_into_summer/Fri, 01 Feb 2008 00:00:00 +1200Had a very slack end to last week because of a camping trip we went on down the west coast… Overall the trip was fantastic, and I’m thoroughly looking forward to rod and tent time this weekend too.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/whangarei_district_gets_a_new_website/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/whangarei_district_gets_a_new_website/Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:00:00 +1200Over a year ago, my company held a workshop to get input for what a new website for the Whangarei District should aim to achieve. We got great feedback and suggestions from many representatives across several industries who all live, work and play here in Whangarei.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/its_going_to_be_a_good_2008/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/its_going_to_be_a_good_2008/Tue, 15 Jan 2008 00:00:00 +12002007 was quite a big year that started off badly, but ended up great.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/im_an_idiot/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/im_an_idiot/Fri, 21 Dec 2007 00:00:00 +1200I’ve pretty much spent the entire afternoon getting around Windows Vista, and I’m very close to putting my fist through the monitor.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/coming_soon_to_a_browser_near_you/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/coming_soon_to_a_browser_near_you/Thu, 29 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +1200It feel like its been ages since I launched a new site and yes, it has been a long time… Mainly because the project I’m winding up next week has been a year in the making and is now winding up to launch phase. Thats had me buried in the sand for the last month.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/mr_internet_explorer_you_need_a_royal_thrashing_with_the_browser_stick/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/mr_internet_explorer_you_need_a_royal_thrashing_with_the_browser_stick/Thu, 08 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +1200If you are using Internet Explorer get off my site now and install firefox.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/self_indulgence/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/self_indulgence/Tue, 23 Oct 2007 00:00:00 +1200It had to happen sooner or later… For the first time in yonks I’m doing some professional development without using google, or reading the manual, or trial and error, or emailing someone, or getting a nerdto do it..https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/the_futures_bright_the_futures_em_old_looking/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/the_futures_bright_the_futures_em_old_looking/Mon, 15 Oct 2007 00:00:00 +1200Local elections have wound up here in Whangarei and I have to say I’m a little disappointed with the results.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/spring_is_here_and_its_time_for_spring_cleaning/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/spring_is_here_and_its_time_for_spring_cleaning/Mon, 01 Oct 2007 00:00:00 +1200To celebrate spring, I’ve redeveloped iain.co.nz. It happened quite spontaneously when i returned from my trip home - all in all, it took me 5 hours to redesign, code, and migrate from Wordpress to Expression Engine.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/expression_engine_does_it_for_me/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/expression_engine_does_it_for_me/Mon, 17 Sep 2007 00:00:00 +1200I think I’ve found the holy grail of Content Management Systems for average joe coders such as myself. If your down and dirty with plain old html and dabble in php - then given a couple of weeks of tinkering, you can have a full blown dynamic website that knocks the socks of anything you’ve done before.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/spoolsvexe_maxing_my_cpu/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/spoolsvexe_maxing_my_cpu/Sun, 12 Aug 2007 00:00:00 +1200Sending files to print and then trying to cancel them sometimes causes my cpu to max out at 99%. Worst thing is the bastard file won’t go away even after a reboot, and the cpu still plays up.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/marine_library_goes_live/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/marine_library_goes_live/Fri, 10 Aug 2007 00:00:00 +1200Probably my largest project to date, marinenz.org.nz has finally gone live. I’ve been building this on my spare time for a conservation trust with a very, very limited budget. Still needs a lot of work but I’ll try and get cracking on the V2 layout as soon as the content is finalised.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/photoshop_cs3_crashing_on_new_doc/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/photoshop_cs3_crashing_on_new_doc/Wed, 11 Jul 2007 00:00:00 +1200Just upgraded from CS2 to CS3 web premium (PC vers)!.. With all my excitement whilst downloading the 2gb download, and the 1 hour installation process I was dying to try out the new apps..https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/wireframe_elements/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/wireframe_elements/Mon, 02 Jul 2007 00:00:00 +1200Feel free to download and use as you see fit. If you find them handy dandy, smile.https://iain.co.nz/2007/05/31/just-too-busy-to-do-anything/https://iain.co.nz/2007/05/31/just-too-busy-to-do-anything/Thu, 31 May 2007 00:00:00 +1200Holy crap, where did this year go?https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/web_typography/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/web_typography/Wed, 02 May 2007 00:00:00 +1200I’ve always found typography in my site designs to be a sticking point, inconsistencies accross large sites, lack of flow and general hacks to make stuff look right for a quick fix are generally my faults when it comes to site designhttps://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/hi_im_a_mac_and_im_getting_on_iains_nerves/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/hi_im_a_mac_and_im_getting_on_iains_nerves/Mon, 19 Mar 2007 00:00:00 +1200Don’t know about all macs, but I sure cocked up spending $4k on a G5 imac in 2005. Today i downloaded some updates from apple and it pood itself, wouldn’t boot. Trying to work over a network on Indesign and it poos itself, trying to open font book and it poos itself (400 fonts).https://iain.co.nz/2007/03/19/animated-gifs-made-easy/https://iain.co.nz/2007/03/19/animated-gifs-made-easy/Mon, 19 Mar 2007 00:00:00 +1200I recently had a client ask me if I’d do them an animated gif for a small block ad they wanted to run on another website. the question was “hey, can you do them animated gifs”, i said “sure, no worries”… quickly pressing the help menu on photoshop to find out how… Truth is, in the 5 years I’ve been coding/designing - I’ve never done one…https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/back_at_the_controls/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/back_at_the_controls/Sat, 17 Mar 2007 00:00:00 +1200After 6 weeks in the wop wops of the Hebrides, I’m finally back in the altogether pleasantness of Whangarei. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and I’m sure I’ve got less things to worry about…https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/comic_sans/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/comic_sans/Mon, 12 Mar 2007 00:00:00 +1200Why, why, oh why do the computer dabblers of this world use Comic Sans in everything they do…https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/off_to_the_uk/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/off_to_the_uk/Tue, 16 Jan 2007 00:00:00 +1200cor blimey, we’re off already. Aint been home for 5 years and is gonna be a blast!… Couple of nights in singapore on the way over, few days in London, then to cambridge and then finally arrive on Tiree…https://iain.co.nz/2007/01/16/firefox-two-bugs-really-peeving-me-off/https://iain.co.nz/2007/01/16/firefox-two-bugs-really-peeving-me-off/Tue, 16 Jan 2007 00:00:00 +1200Anyone else out there getting weird stuff happening on full screen mode?https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/adding_a_third_monitor_to_my_setup/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/adding_a_third_monitor_to_my_setup/Sat, 06 Jan 2007 00:00:00 +1200I recently asked my local computer people if they could price me out a tri screen video card for my PC. I got a shock when they cam in at $2k.. Which got me thinking and i started googling aroundhttps://iain.co.nz/2007/01/04/new-adobe-logos-causing-a-stir/https://iain.co.nz/2007/01/04/new-adobe-logos-causing-a-stir/Thu, 04 Jan 2007 00:00:00 +1200Haven’t quite made my mind up yet on these, but I’m swaying with the nay sayers at the moment.https://iain.co.nz/2007/01/04/css-resources/https://iain.co.nz/2007/01/04/css-resources/Thu, 04 Jan 2007 00:00:00 +1200Thought I’d share some css sites which are worth a bookmark.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/new_zealands_best/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/new_zealands_best/Fri, 29 Dec 2006 00:00:00 +1200Ok, I’ve been guilty of overlooking validation when it comes to launching sites on a budget… But, recently I’ve been assigned some pretty big sites to develop (big in relation to previous sites..) and I’d thought I’d do my best to make sure they validated. All in all, its been a pretty painless process and I’m pleased to say I’m even getting 1.0 strict sites together.https://iain.co.nz/2006/11/28/time-is-getting-short/https://iain.co.nz/2006/11/28/time-is-getting-short/Tue, 28 Nov 2006 00:00:00 +1200Not getting much time to do anything these days, work is pretty full on. Lots of good stuff happening though.https://iain.co.nz/2006/09/10/holy-moly/https://iain.co.nz/2006/09/10/holy-moly/Sun, 10 Sep 2006 00:00:00 +1200sheez… our 11 month old boy sam is beginning to walk!.https://iain.co.nz/2006/07/16/cms-made-simple-really/https://iain.co.nz/2006/07/16/cms-made-simple-really/Sun, 16 Jul 2006 00:00:00 +1200I’ve been working on a pretty basic site design over the weekend, coming up with design and layout concepts etc, and thought i’d check out what was new at opensourcecms.com.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/backing_up_files_made_easy_with_synctoy/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/backing_up_files_made_easy_with_synctoy/Mon, 26 Jun 2006 00:00:00 +1200Microsoft has brought out a great little tool for synchronizing folders and backing up data. Its called Synctoy and is a free download from the Microsoft website.https://iain.co.nz/2006/06/16/searching-several-pdf-documents-at-once/https://iain.co.nz/2006/06/16/searching-several-pdf-documents-at-once/Fri, 16 Jun 2006 00:00:00 +1200We’re working on a job where we are compiling 200+ pdfs onto a cd, and creating an interface to allow easy access to the the high volume of information. (Many of these are 200+ pages). Its a compilation or marine research documents that someone has compiled over a number of years. The immediate issue that came to mind is ‘wouldn’t it be great to have a function to search through these documents…https://iain.co.nz/2006/06/15/new-additions-to-northland-site/https://iain.co.nz/2006/06/15/new-additions-to-northland-site/Thu, 15 Jun 2006 00:00:00 +1200A year in the making and Shift’s latest additions to the Northland site are now live. We were involved in some minor changes to the original site which is now a channel called Visit Northland.https://iain.co.nz/2006/06/11/adding-randomness-to-almost-anything/https://iain.co.nz/2006/06/11/adding-randomness-to-almost-anything/Sun, 11 Jun 2006 00:00:00 +1200I was looking for a simple way to display a random image on the head of this site and i think i found the simplest/easiest solution out there.https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/goo_goo_ga_gaa/https://iain.co.nz/blog/entry/goo_goo_ga_gaa/Tue, 24 Jul 1979 00:00:00 +1200Burp, snort, fart em… puke.