The Blog is back!

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Great news, you may have noticed that our blog has been resurrected!

We’re not proud to admit that we haven’t been practising what we preach recently, but things are going to change, we’re resurrecting our blog and we’re going to start doing more of the things we know and love for ourselves!

If you want to be kept up to date with all that is happening at IT Pie then you might want to jump onto our website (www.itpie.co.uk) and subscribe to our eNewsletter.

For the time being, keep an eye on the blog for more exciting posts.

 

Christmas Present Ideas – let IT Pie help you

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So Christmas is upon us once again, last night I was in Winter Wonderland in Cardiff enjoying a glass of mulled wine after successfully avoiding falling over on the ice-rink and I thought, it’s probably about time I began some Christmas shopping, but what do I get for people?gift

Luckily we’ve worked with a wide variety of companies over the years and many of them may just provide the answer to my shopping query, so if you’re like me (disorganised and in need of some Christmas present ideas) below are some ideas.

  • BillBandit – Do you know anyone who is disorganised with their paper (receipts, lists etc) then this clever little gem might be the answer to their problems!
  • The Cardiff Devils – Know a sports fan out there who has or hasn’t seen the Devils play? Why not head to the rink for a match and discover the excitement of Ice Hockey.
  • The Culinary Cottage – Know of any budding chefs? Why not visit the Culinary Cottage and learn how to cook some fantastic cuisine. With a wide range of courses available there’s something for every chef.
  • Chocolate House – We all love chocolate, so why not pick some award winning chocolates for a loved one from the Chocolate House?
  • Listhendig – Do you know someone who just hasn’t got enough bags? Well visit Listhendig and help them expand their collection further.
  • Washington Gallery – Why not visit the Washington Gallery for some art or jewellery? You might even pick up a collectors piece by our own designers who regularly show their work at the Gallery.
  • Penarth Yacht Club – Ever fancied taking to the high seas? How about joining the Penarth Yacht Club who provide sail training courses as well as sailing competitively and leisurely all year round.

All of the above are clients of IT Pie and hopefully will be able to provide you with some gifts this Christmas. To see a full range of our work please head over to the website (www.itpie.co.uk) and we hope you have a very Merry Christmas.

Happy 1st of December – want some Christmas fun?

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So it’s the 1st of December and in the IT Pie office we thought we’d ensure you have a chance of a white Christmas with this cheeky little script.

Simple right click and save one of the following images to your images folder on your website:   snow3 snow

Then copy and paste the below script into you web page after the <body> tag:

<script type=”text/javascript”>

/******************************************
* Snow Effect Script- By Altan d.o.o. (http://www.altan.hr/snow/index.html)
* Visit Dynamic Drive DHTML code library (http://www.dynamicdrive.com/) for full source code
* Last updated Nov 9th, 05′ by DD. This notice must stay intact for use
******************************************/

//Configure below to change URL path to the snow image
var snowsrc=”images/snow.gif”
// Configure below to change number of snow to render
var no = 10;
// Configure whether snow should disappear after x seconds (0=never):
var hidesnowtime = 0;
// Configure how much snow should drop down before fading (“windowheight” or “pageheight”)
var snowdistance = “pageheight”;

///////////Stop Config//////////////////////////////////

var ie4up = (document.all) ? 1 : 0;
var ns6up = (document.getElementById&&!document.all) ? 1 : 0;

function iecompattest(){
return (document.compatMode && document.compatMode!=”BackCompat”)? document.documentElement : document.body
}

var dx, xp, yp;    // coordinate and position variables
var am, stx, sty;  // amplitude and step variables
var i, doc_width = 800, doc_height = 600;

if (ns6up) {
doc_width = self.innerWidth;
doc_height = self.innerHeight;
} else if (ie4up) {
doc_width = iecompattest().clientWidth;
doc_height = iecompattest().clientHeight;
}

dx = new Array();
xp = new Array();
yp = new Array();
am = new Array();
stx = new Array();
sty = new Array();
snowsrc=(snowsrc.indexOf(“dynamicdrive.com”)!=-1)? “snow.gif” : snowsrc
for (i = 0; i < no; ++ i) {
dx[i] = 0;                        // set coordinate variables
xp[i] = Math.random()*(doc_width-50);  // set position variables
yp[i] = Math.random()*doc_height;
am[i] = Math.random()*20;         // set amplitude variables
stx[i] = 0.02 + Math.random()/10; // set step variables
sty[i] = 0.7 + Math.random();     // set step variables
if (ie4up||ns6up) {
if (i == 0) {
document.write(“<div id=\”dot”+ i +”\” style=\”POSITION: absolute; Z-INDEX: “+ i +”; VISIBILITY: visible; TOP: 15px; LEFT: 15px;\”><a href=\”http://dynamicdrive.com\”><img src=’”+snowsrc+”‘ border=\”0\”><\/a><\/div>”);
} else {
document.write(“<div id=\”dot”+ i +”\” style=\”POSITION: absolute; Z-INDEX: “+ i +”; VISIBILITY: visible; TOP: 15px; LEFT: 15px;\”><img src=’”+snowsrc+”‘ border=\”0\”><\/div>”);
}
}
}

function snowIE_NS6() {  // IE and NS6 main animation function
doc_width = ns6up?window.innerWidth-10 : iecompattest().clientWidth-10;
doc_height=(window.innerHeight && snowdistance==”windowheight”)? window.innerHeight : (ie4up && snowdistance==”windowheight”)?  iecompattest().clientHeight : (ie4up && !window.opera && snowdistance==”pageheight”)? iecompattest().scrollHeight : iecompattest().offsetHeight;
for (i = 0; i < no; ++ i) {  // iterate for every dot
yp[i] += sty[i];
if (yp[i] > doc_height-50) {
xp[i] = Math.random()*(doc_width-am[i]-30);
yp[i] = 0;
stx[i] = 0.02 + Math.random()/10;
sty[i] = 0.7 + Math.random();
}
dx[i] += stx[i];
document.getElementById(“dot”+i).style.top=yp[i]+”px”;
document.getElementById(“dot”+i).style.left=xp[i] + am[i]*Math.sin(dx[i])+”px”;
}
snowtimer=setTimeout(“snowIE_NS6()”, 10);
}

function hidesnow(){
if (window.snowtimer) clearTimeout(snowtimer)
for (i=0; i<no; i++) document.getElementById(“dot”+i).style.visibility=”hidden”
}

if (ie4up||ns6up){
snowIE_NS6();
if (hidesnowtime>0)
setTimeout(“hidesnow()”, hidesnowtime*1000)
}

</script>

Ensure that the ‘var snowsrc=”images/snow.gif”‘ points at the image you have just saved (you may need to rename the file) and there you go. A White Christmas on your website.

Hope you enjoy

The IT Pie team

Thanks to Dynamic Drive and the author Sasa Skevin for the script.

Ever dreamt of Olympic Gold?

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Ever dreamt of Olympic Gold? Maybe London 2012 will be your chance for gold, but for us mortals the International Olympic Committee have come up with a way for us to beat some of those who have won Gold in ‘The Best of Us Challenge’. Now you might not fancy your chances against Michael Phelps when it comes to swimming, or against Nadal in tennis, but hows your golf? Or even easier, how many tennis balls can you pick up and hold in 30 seconds.

There’s a wide range of challenges on-line and all you need to compete is a camcorder and the ability to compete, check out some of the challenges below or visit http://thebestofuschallenge.olympic.org/