James Titcumb

Dear everyone who makes websites,

Please change your e-mail validation to allow me to use the “+” (plus) sign in my e-mail address.

Why? So I know who I’ve given my e-mail address to and if I find a spam e-mail address to an e-mail address I gave to you, I will contact you and rant and rave at you and shout at you.

Kind regards

James

So here’s a few useless usage statistics about this website I found using Google Analytics…

Browser Distribution

• Firefox – 58.93%
• Internet Explorer – 15.58%
• Chrome – 10.33%
• Safari – 9.64%
• Mozilla – 2.92%

Flash Usage

• 8.31% of visitors do not report to have Flash installed

Operating Systems

• Windows – 55.95%
• Linux – 29.54%
• Mac – 8.61%
• Android – 4.90%
• iPhone – 0.31%
• iPod – 0.17%
• FreeBSD – 0.06%
• Playstation 3 – 0.06%
• Blackberry – 0.02%

Java Support

• Yes – 76.80%
• No – 23.20%

Top 10 Countries Ordered By Visits

Other Figures…

• 1.23 average page views per visit
• 59 seconds average time on site (yikes!)
• 86.51% new visitors versus 13.49% returning visits

It’s been live for a couple of weeks now, although I haven’t done much promotion of it, so here is word of an “official” announcement of my new portfolio site. Please take a look around and if you have any constructive criticism, feedback or advice, feel free to let me know through the usual channels…

So without further ado, I pronounce www.jamestitcumb.com officially open!

Today when ordering a webcam for my parents, the Dixons website really got my back up. Firstly the page died and never gave me a reference number. Secondly, and most annoyingly, I went to view my account, and every page I attempted to load I was presented with the screen shown.

For those of you who are reading on feed readers or unable to see the image, the text reads:

For your additional security and to protect your personal information we request that you re-enter your password each time you wish to view a page containing your personal details.

This is probably one of the most annoying things I have ever seen on a website. Not only does it force me to enter my password every time I want to look at something (not just once, but EVERY time), it is also a huge accessibility issue. For goodness sake Dixons, have you even considered people who have difficulty using keyboards? Forcing them to enter their password EVERY SINGLE TIME is like making a bank with steps and no ramp for wheelchair users.

Personally I think it is hugely discriminatory to force users to enter their password not just when initially logging in, but every time you want to look at something? Whichever idiot thought of that idea should be shot, and this issue should be fixed immediately.

Sort your website out Dixons – employ someone who actually considers the people who may be using your website.

Yeah I know, I got really sloppy over Christmas and totally forgot to blog. So here’s an update in a clear, concise unordered list.

• Amelie, my newborn niece is doing great (born 23rd December 2008!)
• Christmas was fantastic, we had a mountain of presents both at Hannah’s mums and at my sister’s, including a one-of-500 pressing of Primordial – Dark Romanticism on picture vinyl, Fallout 3 (at last!), COD5, a high-definition video camcorder and several other awesome presents.
• We spent £500 on kitting out the nursery – it’s looking awesome, and the last piece is the wardrobe, arriving tomorrow.
• I made my first Jamie Oliver recipe yesterday, a Chicken and Leek stroganoff – very yummy
• I made my first home-made loaf of bread yesterday, and it beats shop-bought bread hands down. So easy as well!
• I went to our “local” pub, the Parson’s Collar on 28th with the Frosthold guys, not bad. Very drunk.
• We played Munchkin Quest for the first time on the 29th. Very cool!
• Frosthold played a cracking gig at the Wedgewood Rooms on the 30th, as well as releasing our new CD, called When Brothers Fought In Arms… see the Frosthold website for details on how to buy a copy!
• I made a new Frosthold website incorporating the new artwork, and also in OO PHP5 instead of the old top-down PHP4 the original one was written for.
• We had a 4D scan of the baby yesterday. We determined it is 99% a girl, but she was so curled up with her hands and legs over her head that we couldn’t get a good 4D image – we rebooked for next week!

If I went into much more detail I’d make an enormous blog post, so I’ll leave it at that, but I promise I’ll start blogging more!