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Blog theme update

by Serge Jespers on 25. Feb, 2010 in Various

“Hey Serge, what happened to that blog design contest winner? When is that theme going up?”. Aaah yes… I got that question a couple of times in the last few weeks. Sadly Marten (the winner) mailed me with the message that he would not be able to finish the actual WordPress theme… Since that was a part of the contest, I could not just ask someone else to transform the PSD in to an actual theme. I couldn’t really cut the prize in half and so I decided to keep it for a future contest.

Around the same time, I came across Canvas by WooThemes and decided to build something on top of this framework theme. February has been really busy so I didn’t get around to building it yet. But… Tonight I noticed that someone/something inserted a link to a malware site (If you’re on Windows, please double check if the malware link didn’t install anything on your machine. I apologize if it did.). From the first investigation, I noticed some weirdness going on in the theme files and thus decided to expedite the theme switch. It’s now using a default Canvas theme but hopefully the code injecting security hole is now gone.

If you still see something weird, it would be greatly appreciated if you could let me know. Thanks!

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Haiti needs your help! Show your support and help raise awareness!

by Serge Jespers on 14. Jan, 2010 in Various

I know this is extremely off topic but nonetheless I think it’s well worth pointing your attention to. I’m sure you’ve heard about the devastating earthquake in Haiti. According to the Red Cross, 3 million people (1 in 3 Haitians) are affected by the earthquake.

While Haiti is definitely not around the corner for most of us, you too can help. You can help by donating to the Red Cross, Unicef, Oxfam or other help organizations. Even the smallest amount can help. I’ve donated €25/$36 to the Red Cross which will be matched by Adobe.

You can also help raise awareness by adding this little widget (as seen on the right) I created this morning to your site. It’s extremely easy! Just click on the “grab and share button” and add it to your social network page, blog or site. After you’ve added it to your site, ask your friends to do the same.

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Happy holidays!

by Serge Jespers on 24. Dec, 2009 in Various

Happy holidays! Hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a spectacular New Year’s eve. 2010 is going to be amazing with some really exciting new releases. Just trust me on that one ;-) I’m taking some time off so the blog may/will be quiet for a few weeks. See you in 2010!

(In case you were wondering, I created/rendered this image with Blender and did some color adjustments in Photoshop CS4.)

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Why I switched to Rackspace Cloud + get a $25 voucher for your new account

by Serge Jespers on 24. Nov, 2009 in Hosting, Various

Before I start about why I moved to Rackspace Cloud, I want to make it clear that I had no problems with my old host whatsoever. I’ve used Hetzner for my hosting the last oh… 5 years or so and really haven’t had any big problems. So why did I move? First of all, let me explain what I used for hosting at Hetzner. I used one of their managed servers to host some of my friends’ blogs and random sites. On top of that, I had a dedicated box for my blog and my ColdFusion install. The biggest reason I started looking for another solution was that I had no time to keep my dedicated box up to date, which was really starting to become a problem. So I looked at a number of hosting companies to see what they offered. With the Dollar to Euro ratio being what it is today, I favored US hosting companies. For flexibility, I also favored cloud hosting. I like the fact that I don’t have to worry about my server the next time I get featured on Techmeme.

So what do I like about Rackspace Cloud?
I really like their offering and how easy it is to choose. Cloud Sites is basically a managed solution. $100/month gives you the equivalent of a 2.8GHz machine in a clustered environment. You also get 50GB of space, 500GB of monthly bandwidth, automatic backups, SSL support and access to a live, fanatical 24/7 support team (and they really are fanatical!). You can even mix a LAMP server setup with a .NET setup. (I really hope they will add ColdFusion to this mix as well… *hint* *hint*)

They also have an offering for Cloud Servers. These are virtual dedicated machines and this is what really persuaded me to go for Rackspace Cloud. I really like that you only pay for what you use. If you’re not using the server, you don’t pay anything. This is perfect for development and testing servers but also for setups that you don’t use as often. The Cloud Servers are also flexible. You can start off with their smallest server (10GB HD/256MB RAM) and scale it up when you need more space or RAM. The Rackspace Cloud control panel is very easy to use and gives you a great overview of how much your servers are consuming.

I ended up signing up for a Cloud Sites account and also signed up for a 40GB HD/1GB RAM Cloud Server. I moved all the blogs (including this one) and sites to the Cloud Sites account and installed ColdFusion 9 on the Cloud Server. The move was a very smooth ride! I’ve been using this setup for a month now and was very happy to find out that I’m now paying a little more than a third of what I used to pay for my hosting (obviously also thanks to the Dollar to Euro ratio).

If you want to try Cloud Sites yourself, I have a $25 promotion code for you.
Just use the promo code THANKS-serge@webkitchen.be when you sign up for a new Cloud Sites account and you will receive $25 off your first month’s Cloud Sites hosting bill. But hurry up… The promo code is only valid until December 1st.

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TckTckTck

by Serge Jespers on 01. Nov, 2009 in Various

This is seriously off topic but important enough to blog about it. Right now, we are counting down to the most important meeting of our lives. This December, world leaders will come together in Copenhagen to hammer out a global climate treaty. There are less than 36 days left, which is enough time to show them that we want a bold, ambitious, and fair agreement. It is time for us to come together to build a cleaner and more secure world, but the clock is ticking.

Please join me in adding my voice to the largest mandate for action that the world has seen.

Check out www.tcktcktck.org and sign the pledge. You can also sign the pledge from the widget below. Show your support by adding the widget to your blog, social network pages and sites. It’s easy! Just click on the “Grab this” button and you’re almost done.

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Happy Holidays!

by Serge Jespers on 24. Dec, 2008 in Various

[flash medium=3 f={image=http://www.webkitchen.be/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/xmas.jpg&showdownload=false}]

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Only 2 days left in our charity auction! Get your Adobe bag and support Unicef!

by Serge Jespers on 18. Dec, 2008 in Various

There are now only 2 days left in our charity auction. If you haven’t placed your bid on one of our Adobe branded bags, now is the perfect time to do so! Don’t forget that all the money raised from the sale of these bags will be matched by Adobe (we have a gift matching scheme for recognized charities) and donated to Unicef

More info here.

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Charity auction for Unicef – Get your limited edition Adobe bags here!

by Serge Jespers on 10. Dec, 2008 in Various

Andrew and I have found ourselves with an excess supply of Adobe-branded bags. I mean… How many bags does one need? ;-) So we decided to auction them off for charity.

We currently have five limited edition bags for you choose from, including a backpack, an over-the-shoulder laptop bag, a beach bag, a sports holdall and the big one… a very limited edition Platform Evangelism laptop bag (only issued to Adobe platform evangelists). All the bags are shown below, together with a link through to the eBay page… As an added bonus, each bag will also contain a Flex or AIR book – we have a stack of different books, so no promises as to which one you’ll receive though.

Auctions close in 10 days and all the money raised from the sale of these bags will be then be matched by Adobe (we have a gift matching scheme for recognized charities) and donated to Unicef. Please donate generously and spread the word about the auction… it’s all for a good cause.

If you have an Adobe branded bag and would like to donate it to the auction then feel free to get in touch with Andrew – unused bags or bags in excellent condition would be gratefully received!

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Time flies…

by Serge Jespers on 05. Oct, 2008 in Various

Wow… Time really does fly when you’re having fun! Almost a year ago, I joined Adobe’s platform evangelism team. I didn’t realize it was almost a year ago, until I looked in my calender and realized that I hadn’t taken any time off since well… a year ago. I’m convinced that proves that I really love this job! ;-) Meeting new people just about every day and getting them enthused about our platform is just amazingly energizing.

That being said, there are some exciting times ahead and the next few weeks were ideal (well… almost) to take a break. So that means that I won’t be updating my blog for the next coming weeks and that I won’t be approving any comments etc.

I am really looking forward to the next coming months. There are some exciting announcements coming. You do not want to miss our MAX conference this year! So I hope to see you in either San Francisco, Milan or Tokyo. I’m doing a session on workflows between Flash CS4 and Flex and also a Thermo hands-on lab together with NJ.

Oh… If you haven’t already done so, why not subscribe to my RSS feed so your newsreader can tell you when I’m back in action… See you all in a few weeks!

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