New Zealand Web Design and New Media

SilverStripe join Google’s prestigious Summer of Code programme

26Mar07

In what is a first for a New Zealand company, Wellington based SilverStripe has joined Google’s prestigious Summer of Code programme, under which university students are paid to work on open-source projects as a summer job.

Google Summer of Code is a program that offers student developers stipends to write code for various open source projects. Google will be working with a several open source, free software and technology-related groups to identify and fund several projects over a three month period. Historically, the program has brought together over 1,000 students with over 100 open source projects, to create hundreds of thousands of lines of code. The program, which kicked off in 2005, is now in its third year, following on from a very successful 2006.

SilverStripe is well known for its open-source content management system for websites that is used by about 100 businesses and government agencies, such as the City Gallery Wellington. The SilverStripe CMS is a PHP5/MySQL-based product that is both a content management system (ala Joomla!, Drupal etc) combined with a rich extendable framework for building websites and web-applications (ala Ruby On Rails, CakePHP).

Silverstripe claim there are a number of reasons they released the SilverStripe platform open source. Not only does it allow them to give something valuable back after years of using open source products themselves, they feel they’re evolving the web community with a genuinely innovative product. Finally, they are so convinced SilverStripe will work best when it is widely adopted that they BSD licensed it. SilverStripe are committed to furthering open source and open standards.

Filed under: New Zealand, developments, open source, web design, webdesign | 1 Comment

DMD Internet continue high standards of work.

19Mar07

DMD
DMD Internet website NZ Web Design and New Media Website Ranking: 8.0 out of 10

DMD are one of the web design companies that have been around for some time and look after some of the top website in New Zealand. Like most of the top web design companies they co-ordinate a strong link between design and functionality in an overall build and have a track history of delivering quality websites.

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Meetup.com starting to gain momentum in New Zealand

07Mar07

Meetup.com is about helping those with an interest to join a group and arrange times and reasons to meet with people who share your interest.

Looks like a cool idea if you have a passion for a particular interest and the time to participate.

Wellington had 105 groups, Christchurch 101 and looking at Auckland there were 132 meetup groups today with the following web design orientated groups:

The Auckland Web Design Meetup Group (Auckland, NZ) Every month you can meet other like minded web designers and developers. We have introductions and networking, followed by a featured website profile, a celeb spot and finally a relevant new topic presented on powerpoint. RSVP online, invite someone!

The Auckland E-Business Owners Meetup Group (Auckland, NZ) Meet with people who are starting, or would like to start, entrepreneurial ventures online.

The Auckland PHP Meetup Group (Auckland, NZ) Meet PHP developers and entrepreneurs and discuss all topics related to PHP. Typical evening lineup: Our meetup starts at 7pm with people arriving and general chit chat about any topic people want, simply general networking. We have members of all experience levels attending, so there is usually someone with a similar interest for everyone. Depending on speakers planned for the night, we usually start the formal part of the night at 7:30 to 8:00pm. We have up to three speakers on any one meetup and topic will be announced in advance on the website and per email. There is usually time for general discussion after each presentation. The evening ends at 9:30pm, when we have to vacate the building.

The Auckland MySQL Meetup Group (Auckland, NZ) Meet other local users of one of the world’s leading open source database products.Check out MySQL

The Auckland Ruby Group (Auckland, NZ) This is a monthly group that explores the use of Ruby and Ruby On Rails. If you are interested in either of these topics, come along to our meetings!

The Auckland Java Group (Auckland, NZ) Meet other local Java developers to talk about code, architecture, and innovation. Both beginners and pros are welcome!

It is worth having a look to see what groups are in your area in your interest, or look at starting one yourself.

Filed under: developments, new media | 1 Comment

Netconcepts are web design innovators to watch

05Mar07

Netconcepts NZ Web Design and New Media Website Ranking: 9.0 out of 10
If you are a budding web designer or like me someone who is always trying to improve the product and service options I offer my clients then you need to take notice of the developments at Netconcepts.

Stephen Spencer, the President of Netconcepts, is a very smart thinker and a knowledgeable person when it comes to new media, web development, e mail marketing and the latest developments on the web.

The Netconcepts website has a wealth of free information and advice that is worthy of consideration.

Have a look at Stephen’s Blog as well for more good stuff.

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Cactuslab lead the way for New Zealand web designers

01Mar07

Cactuslab Website – NZ Web Design and New Media Website Ranking: 9.5 out of 10

Let me start by saying I have known Karl von Randow and Matthew Buchanan since they first started Cactuslab over 5 years ago and they still work in supporting us technically in what we do.

That said, they are still some of the smartest web designers/ web developers in New Zealand and the World and you just have to look through their own site, their awards and at their portfolio to appreciate this. Cactuslab specialise in full-service design and build for moderate to large website projects.

They have been working in Web Standards compliancy for some time and lead the way in many other different areas for New Zealand web designers.

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