Ștefan Nicolae » The programmers’ dilemas http://www.stefan-nicolae.ro/en Just another unleashed web programmer Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:59:55 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Roweb reinvents itself http://www.stefan-nicolae.ro/en/2010/08/roweb-reinvents-itself/ http://www.stefan-nicolae.ro/en/2010/08/roweb-reinvents-itself/#comments Fri, 06 Aug 2010 12:02:11 +0000 stefan http://shakabut.com/?p=172 Few hours after launching Roweb’s new website, I am both happy and proud to be a small piece of the Roweb’s re-branding team. When I first saw Roweb’s website six years ago, I immediately wanted to work for them, as I thought this was the best web development agency in the area. And I still think I was right. Even if my contribution to the whole re-branding process is rather small, I can’t stop being happy for the result (plus I was the one who pushed the Upload button :) ).

Roweb’s main website
Roweb’s Romanian website

]]> http://www.stefan-nicolae.ro/en/2010/08/roweb-reinvents-itself/feed/ 0 jQuery fader http://www.stefan-nicolae.ro/en/2010/06/jquery-fader/ http://www.stefan-nicolae.ro/en/2010/06/jquery-fader/#comments Wed, 23 Jun 2010 08:47:31 +0000 stefan http://shakabut.com/?p=157 Alex needed a little image fading effect for his blog. As an example, he gave me a nice Earth Hour gallery (i think it was the boston.com Earth Hour 2010 article). The idea is to overlap 2 images and provide a fading effect when the visitor clicks them. I'm sure there are hundreds of scripts that do the exact same thing, but I proffered to write the 10 lines of jQuery code myself. ]]> My friend Alex needed a little image fading effect for his blog. As an example, he gave me a nice Earth Hour gallery (i think it was the boston.com Earth Hour 2010 article). The idea is to overlap 2 images and provide a fading effect when the visitor clicks them. I’m sure there are hundreds of scripts that do the exact same thing, but I proffered to write the 10 lines of jQuery code myself.

Here’s an example of the effect: http://shakabut.com/examples/jqueryFader/.

This is the little piece of code:

<style type="text/css">
   .pictureFaderBox{
      margin:0 auto;
      cursor:pointer;
      width:640px;
      height:427px;
      clear:both;
   }
   .on, .off{
      position:absolute;
   }
   .on{
      z-index:10;
   }
   .off{
      z-index:5;
   }
</style>
<script type="text/javascript">
   $(document).ready(function() {
      $(".pictureFaderBox .on").toggle(
         function () {
            $(this).animate({opacity: 0}, 900 );
         },
         function () {
            $(this).animate({opacity: 1}, 900 )
         }
      );
   });
</script>

Also, please check Alex’s post to see a great photo project: http://3punctefoto.blogspot.com/2010/06/pitestiul-urbanizat.html. The post is in Romanian, but the pictures are not :) – don’t forget to click the images!

PS: If you like nice interface elements, check our web agency website and contact us.

]]> http://www.stefan-nicolae.ro/en/2010/06/jquery-fader/feed/ 0 iPhone 4 announced. http://www.stefan-nicolae.ro/en/2010/06/iphone-4-announced/ http://www.stefan-nicolae.ro/en/2010/06/iphone-4-announced/#comments Tue, 08 Jun 2010 07:01:53 +0000 stefan http://shakabut.com/?p=144 5 minutes after watching all the little videos and features lists on apple.com I have a deja-vu. The phone(+OS) has all (and nothing but) the characteristics the online media was buzzing about lately…

First of all, I don’t understand why Apple names all their stuff iSomething?!? Why on earth do they need to name the new operating system iOS??? What does the “i” stand for?

Anyway, the new phone looks nice (I like it’s slim rectangular shiny looks), all the new features are great and after 2 years of 3G I actually have a list of favorites:
- iBooks – I know, it won’t be available in Romania soon, I know, reading a book would be nicer on the iPad, but hey, I like the idea
- Video calls – my old Nokia has this feature since 2006, I haven’t used it too much but hey, I like the idea
- Improved camera – I do have a SLR camera, but I would probably use the phone’s camera for holiday shots. I don’t actually need an HD camera on my phone, but hey, I like the idea :)
- Improved battery – my old 3G needs daily recharging already, so yeah, I like the idea…

Now, that we’ve established “I like the idea”, here comes the big question: will I buy one?

]]> http://www.stefan-nicolae.ro/en/2010/06/iphone-4-announced/feed/ 0 “I got a new camera” + “My first timelapse” http://www.stefan-nicolae.ro/en/2010/05/arpechim-my-first-time-lapse/ http://www.stefan-nicolae.ro/en/2010/05/arpechim-my-first-time-lapse/#comments Tue, 04 May 2010 08:49:29 +0000 stefan http://shakabut.com/?p=98 The Easter Bunny (aka my wife) brought me a new Canon EOS 550D last month, but since the weather was moody, I wasn’t able to play with it that much.

Last week, Alex convinced me to go and take some pictures of the Arpechim oil refinery and yesterday we decided to wait no more. After one hour of off road driving while searching for a better angle, we finally found a deserted road just behind the oil refinery which proved to be a decent spot for photos.

Alex wanted to shoot a few frames (I’m soooo curious) and I decided to make a time-lapse of the refinery. This is my first one so I messed up the last frames by letting the white balance on auto, but we had a good time and I learned a few things.

Here’s the nice time-lapse:

I also took a few pictures:
Arpechim 1 Arpechim 2 Yes, I am having a "let's make it HDR" mood Arpechim 4

]]> http://www.stefan-nicolae.ro/en/2010/05/arpechim-my-first-time-lapse/feed/ 0 How to help someone to quit smoking… http://www.stefan-nicolae.ro/en/2010/03/how-to-help-someone-to-quit-smoking/ http://www.stefan-nicolae.ro/en/2010/03/how-to-help-someone-to-quit-smoking/#comments Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:52:06 +0000 stefan http://shakabut.com/?p=75 … you smoke all his cigarettes.

This morning, mr. Sandulici, wanted to take a short smoking break. The rest of the office inhabitants decided they needed a cigarette break too (they are all non-smokers, by the way).

Mr. Sandulici stated: “If I see you all smoking, I will quit!”. Well… they did.

The problem was none of them knew how to hold the cigarette, so the show was fun enough to quit smoking for.

Sandulici, I hope you appreciate what they did for you, man!

Gabi managed to light the cigarette, after a few trials After 2 smokes, he started choking Vasi tried to create smoke circles. He didn't succed... He didn't succed... Coco, enjoying a Moromete moment. "Yup. It's true what they say. It calmes you down. I think I started understanding my project manager.... Yeah, the project manager is actually a nice guy...." "Jesus... It sucks!" "Somebody wash my tongue!" "I think I'm cool" "I'm definately cool" "Tastes like ..." Yup! Worths quitting smoking... The result... ]]> http://www.stefan-nicolae.ro/en/2010/03/how-to-help-someone-to-quit-smoking/feed/ 8