IanVisits…

Found (via Digg) this very interesting article about how to optimise the delivery of webpages, written by a Google Geek.
http://www.die.net/musings/page_load_time/

I am familiar with most of them at a superficial level, having a while ago, read an equivalent article from a Yahoo Geek about how they optimised their webpages.

I was particuarly interested though in this article as it explains, with graphs - the improvements to be had from multiple hostnames on webservers.

I already tend to use Gzip on my main websites and am going to be engaging in a total rebuild of the main buisiness website early next year - right down to a complete new server and installation.

I will keep this article on file as it makes sense to split out my static and dynamic content and images into seperate hostnames to speed up delivery.

One other idea I saw a while ago for websites with a lot of small images was to actually serve a single large image containing all the components - then use CSS to crop the “master image” for each use so that only the required part was visible.

That is a great way to cut down the multiple HTTP header request overhead to a single request. While not relevent for my websites, which tend to be graphics light - I thought it was a very interesting idea.

Each morning on the way to work, I read The Economist. This week they have a special about France, and I am afraid to say that I got rather stuck into it.

So I managed to miss my underground change at Baker Street - and ended up going a stop too far, changing, coming back and having to find my way around the station to get back onto the correct train line.

So, instead of arriving nice and early - I actually got in after the boss did.

*damn*

A Cornwall man has lost 101kg in a year on a diet of Oxo cubes.

Stephen Kay, 39, swapped fry-ups, pies, pasties and pints of lager for three bowls of hot broth a day.

Within 12 months he had slimmed down to 96kg and lost 60cm off his waist as his belt size shrank from 60 to 36.

Click here for more

I’ve been trying to diet a little this year by doing sensible things like eating a little less and exercising a little more.

What a fool I was - I should have just stopped eating and switched to gravy.

…or at least they do at home.

I come into the office to work, and presume that the clocks on our phone system display would also be correct.

I don’t pro-actively make that presumption (as I would have tested this presumption) - I just assumed the time was correct.

Net result - I think the morning is going very fast, and I go for lunch an hour earlier than usual. I now have a much longer afternoon ahead of me.
*snarls*

At least my clocks at home mostly auto-correct themselves.

One day, I will own something like this…

This wave-piercing luxury trimaran may look like something from a Star Trek movie, but it’s no fantasy.

In this case, a 148-meter hull has its advantages, with split-level luxury staterooms providing room for up to 28 guests. The master suite extends to three decks, which means, of course, it needs a private elevator. There also is accommodation for 11 personal staff and a crew of 48. Public rooms include observation lounges in the cross decks that link the center hull and side hulls-just the place to have drinks, do yoga and watch dolphins playing beneath you. There is a swimming pool, hot tub and plenty of room for sunbathing.

A clue to a possible destination of this new ship is the inclusion of a mosque.

http://www.yachtingmagazine.com/yachting/boatreviews/article/0,24579,1547754,00.html