As you’ve probably already noticed, I’ve just updated the site with a new, fresh layout.

The old layout was hacked together from two skins that I had created for Wordpress. When I get time I’ll be releasing a cleaned up version of that skin. Obviously it wouldn’t be very fair to release it in its current state as its got lots of problems.

So, on to the new design. I wanted a fresher look, and I think the new two column design accomplishes this. In addition, you will notice a few social icons in the top right. These will take you to my different social profiles, so please feel free to add, follow or become a fan!

In addition to the recent design changes, I moved into my new house this week with some friends. After being given a (pretty much) inhabitable house, we were forced to fine a new place in under 24 hours. With the help of Hertfordshire Uni, we managed to find a much nicer place, which I’m now living in. Our new ISP is Virgin Media, and we decided to go for the 20 meg package. We wanted the 50 meg, however it would have taken two weeks to get installed. Anyway, I’m now up and running on my new setup, and will be making a few posts soon about the new workspace!

Following on from my post on the Top 10 Mac Productivity Apps, I’m now going to share what I feel, are the top 10 web development apps.

Now, obviously my choices will not suite many programmers. For this reason, please bear in mind that I’m a PHP developer, and my choices focus on PHP/HTML/CSS development. There are going to be a few repeated apps, simply because there’s a fine line between the two subjects.

Ok, lets get started! (click here to continue reading…)

First, let me apologise for the really, really, REALLY huge gap between posts! I’ve been a bit snowed under with the recent launch of VPSSpeed as well as ongoing work on the top secret project.

So, heres a little project update to let you know where I’m at.

VPSSpeed
VPSSpeed is expanding at a phenomenal rate. In the last week we’ve filled 2 Core 2 Quad (8GB RAM) servers and taken in a lot of new customers. Unfortunately with these new customers came the fraudsters….you know the ones, those guys who signup, send 50,000+ spam emails, then dump the account. Because of this, an entire IP range got put onto the Spamhaus blacklist!

It forced me to take extra steps to prevent fraud orders. From using MaxMind fraud verification, to no longer allowing free email addresses such as Yahoo and Hotmail. Since doing this, we’ve not had any fraud orders get through.

I’ve got a great range of new features that will be added to VPSSpeed soon. These include:

• Updated website
• Advanced reseller program
• New OS Templates
• A company blog
• Twitter (Who’s not using it these days!?)
• Dedicated Servers
• DNS Hosting
• + more

There are quite a few other little bits and bobs that I’ll keep under wraps for now! We’re also looking at offering VPS hosting in other locations. Whilst our Dallas provider does a great job, we’re looking at offering a few alternate locations such as Atlanta, Tampa, New York, etc.

If you’re interested in a VPS server, then do check out VPSSpeed.com you can also get 25% off your first month with the coupon RMCOM.

WSDReg
WSDReg has taken a bit of a back seat at the moment. This month it is 3 years old and is still going strong with a customer base in the thousands, and domains in the tens of thousands. I’ll be working more with WSDReg in a few months time.

Unnamed top-secret hidden project
This one’s got me rather frustrated. Its something I’ve been working on for close to a year now and is coming very close to ready for use by it’s first customer. I cant go into much detail about it but I’ve mentioned it on my blog before!

There’s not a huge amount to say about this one at this time but I’ll be posting more details once it goes live!

Well that’s about all for now! I’ve only got about 5 weeks left at university (if that) then I’m off for 4 1/2 months, so will post more updates soon!

Well as you may have noticed from the new ad’s and powered by image, we recently launched a new brand over at RikeMedia called VPSSpeed. VPSSpeed provides low-budget unmanaged Linux VPS hosting on the OpenVZ platform.

VPSSpeed has been in the pipeline for almost a year, as have several other web-hosting sites that we’ll be opening up in the near future. We opened up and saw an immediate surge in orders and this has continued since our launch. There seems to be no stopping the customers flocking to VPSSpeed!

I can’t blame them though, there are few VPS providers out there that can provide a 512MB VPS plan for under $15 /month and include a free control panel. (click here to continue reading…)