Ryan Kinal
100 E. St. Clair St.
Warren, PA 16365
716.581.1000
ryan.kinal@gmail.com
Ryan Kinal is a programmer and web developer, specializing in JavaScript, HTML, and CSS,
with experience in PHP, SQL, ASP.NET, and graphic design. But beyond being technologically inclined, he is also artistically motivated, through music, lindy hop, and drawing in various media. Combining these interests and talents, he is a skilled developer with an eye for aesthetic design.
State of the Ryan
Monday, October 5th 8:25 pm
I really have no idea what to write about. Let's just get that out there right now. As of starting this post, I'm going in blind. I haven't really had any special experiences or realisations in the past week, and I don't have anything terribly special coming up in the next week. At least, nothing I know about.
As a result, this will be more of a State of the Ryan address. A status report.
First, things are going well in terms of my projects. I'm having a bit of trouble tranferring one of them from my local server to a live server, but I don't forsee that being an issue much longer. I'm actually fairly proud of some of the work I've done, though it's not something I can really say much about, since it's a project for somebody else. I think it's secure, and cleanly coded, and looks okay on the front end.
The next big project with InternU is coming, and it should be an interesting one. I think it will be more complicated than SkinnyWater, with quite a bit more back end work. Back end, of course, isn't my favorite thing to do, but every front end needs a back end, so it has to be done.
There have been some issues with R.K. Hite & Co., Inc. For instance, their server is not set up, and thus I have no place to put their site. I also need more pictures and content from them, so I'm not using the same stuff all over the site. I'm also trying to figure out what CMS to go with. I want something free, and light-weight. Something that will make it easy for RKH personnel to update the site on their own. CMSMS is a contender, though I'd like to have something that will allow "lists" of data - kind of like how Expression Engine handles all of its data. I will have to do more research.
Lastly (in terms of my projects), Muse is coming along nicely. I've put up a filterable list of traits, and the new version of the combat manager has been up for a while now. The site is actually getting a decent amount of traffic, being a fansite. Based on the stats, I think the combat manager is the most popular of the tools and resources, which I'd say is fair.
And one last thing. Internet Explorer 8 doesn't suck. I know. It sound ridiculous, I was able to easily and successfully debug a JavaScript error in IE8 on Saturday. As a front-end developer, functionality such as a useful error console gives a browser many many points. Internet Explorer 8, without any plugins, has successfully joined that club.
... but I still use Chrome as my default browser.
(I will likely have something more interesting and more on-time next week.)