HexxWorld Blog

I am preparing to release an enhancement to my HexxWear website for mobile devices. I wanted to share a video demo of how I was able to record the display of my Droid Eris from my Ubuntu LINUX desktop using androidscreencast. In the video below I am navigating my mobile HexxWear site on my Droid Eris demonstrating how you will be able to shop right from your smartphone (i.e. Android, Windows Mobile).

Here is the video:

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I own a Cafepress Premium shop called HexxWear and for the past month or so I have been working on optimizing my shop for mobile web and smartphones. My mobile site is not yet ready for purchasing product from it but I do have featured products displayed with links to them in the main desktop version of my shop.

As with most web development one of the keys to owning a website is ensuring that there is as little manual maintenance as possible. This is done by developing or integrating dynamic elements on your page by means of scripts or other software.

Previously, on my HexxWear mobile site, I had to manually post five featured products. This is approach is not very convenient. So I decided to add PHP into the mix by displaying random featured products. In order to do that I needed a database of my products that the PHP can pull from. Cafepress, as far as I know, will most likely not provide me with a database dump of my shop products (no one has answered my question in the forum yet).  So how can I obtain the necessary data from my shop that I can import into my own SQL database?

The answer to this question is not quick and simple and takes a little time to cleanup prior to importing. However, I have proven that it is possible using a combination of a third party tool called podToolbox, Microsoft Excel (or equivilent spreadsheet application), basic text editor (i.e. notepad, wordpad). There may be quicker procedures for obtaining your cpshop data, but I could not find one aside from the third party tool cpshop. I may look into that later, but from what I saw from the sample sites they are not mobile compliant.

You can also download and view the .pdf of this procedure for viewing later. I also have this posted on Instructables.com.

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I performed an early phone upgrade on my Verizon account and purchased the Droid Eris. I have owned PDA/Smartphones since 2006 or so. They have all been Windows Mobile except for this one. The reason I made the switch from Windows Mobile to Android is because I use mostly Google apps and services and the Android OS was more convenient, relating to features. The other reason I made the switch is because I am a strong user of LINUX and love the Open Source community.

My Thoughts on the OS

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I decided to make the switch from Windows Mobile to Android mainly because I use so many Google features and applications that it only makes sense. I am  a major LINUX user and all about Open Source which is one of the selling points for me and why I decided to go ahead with the Android. I am still working on a CarPC project and will be integrating my Android with the project as well. I should receive my new HTC Eris early next week. This phone has been out for a few months now and there are tons of forum and blog posts about it already (Google is your friend). I will post my favorite features and comments later.

The year 2009 was a fun year for learning and experimenting with various technologies as a hobbyist. I worked on a CarPC project using my EEEPC 2G surf as my CarPC which was fun. Along with that project came development of bluetooth solutions for internet connectivity and integration with my Wii remote. I also starting a new CarPC project which involved building a small footprint, mini pc system from scratch and integrating it in my Car. This project is still on going but I have learned a lot from it. This year I also repurposed an old Pentium II 333 mhz machine from 1998. It has been successfully running Ubuntu Linux 9.04 hosting Apache webserver, Tinyproxy and Dansguardian web content filter. The Pentium II is also hosting my files, pictures and music. I enhanced my home LAN by implementing a network based system backup using Secure SSH. My latest project involved optimizing my websites for the mobile web and smartphone devices. These are all just a few of my ‘Geek’ projects from this year, 2009.

Next year for 2010 I plan on working on the following projects and I’m sure more will be added as the year progresses. (continue reading…)

A website with a .mobi domain rather than .com helps identify that it is a mobile website. That means that it complies with the strict standards for displaying properly on mobile devices. A website with .mobi domain also may help it display on results from mobile web searches. However, it is not necessary for you to actually purchase a .mobi domain.

We are in a time where money may be tight for many due to the economy. This should not be a deterrent because as long as you follow the mobile web standards for your webpage or website, you can keep it on your current domain, but you it is recommended that you place your mobile sites on a subdomain. This is will help with organizing and identifying your mobile sites from your normal ones. For example, my domain is hexxamillion.com and I created a subdmain which contains my mobile websites call mobi.hexxamillion.com. This saved me from having to spend money on additional domain because my web host along with most others offer free or unlimited subdomains with their account. Notice that by looking at the name mobi.hexxamillion.com you have an idea that the websites are for the mobile web.

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This latest post will be touch on some basics for those interested in either optimizing or developing their websites for mobile web and devices. Developing for mobile web is fairly simple if you already know HTML and XML. However, the mobile web is more strict in regards to formatting. First thing’s first, I will definitely recommend the following websites which I view as great essentials for mobile web development:

• W3C Mobile Web Initiative- Web standards and specification focused on mobile devices.
• http://mobiforge.com/ – Community of mobile web developers with a forum and excellent developers documentation and guides for mobile web and devices.
• http://mobiready.com/ – Test and troubleshoot your website for mobile web compliance.
• Mofuse.com- Mobilize your blog and RSS feeds for free. There are additional features for the premium account.
• Instant Mobilizer- Instantly mobilize your website.

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The homepage to the root of my domain Hexxamillion.com is now mobile friendly. If you visit hexxamillion.com with your desktop you will see a page rich in flashy goodness, if that is a real word . See picture below. Click pic to zoom.

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My current project involves optimizing my websites for the mobile web, providing a great user experience for those visiting my sites on their mobile phone. As you may have read in my last post, this blog is now mobile friendly. I have also enhanced my HexxWear blog for mobile web. I am new to the mobile web development world and came across this website that has a wealth of information and tutorials from the mobile web development community. I felt that I should share this with others who are new or researching information on optimizing their websites for viewing on mobile devices.

http://mobiforge.com/

My HexxWorld Blog is finally optimized for mobile web. Now you can comfortably enjoy reading my blog using your mobile phone. You also have the option to view it in full HTML if you have a smartphone. I have a new badge on the top of my blog indicating it’s mobile-friendly. If you are viewing this from your desktop, click on the badge for more cool and enhanced options for your mobile phone.