what was new in 2009 by matte elsbernd

The web has always attracted me as a way to express my ideas. My ideas come in many shapes and sizes. Whether it's visual, verbal or programmatical, I've found some way to explore them, whether it turned into an actual website, stopped as a small demo, or remains simply an (not so) used idea that is waiting for someone else to take up and run with.

The sites/projects below are pretty much 100% my work from idea to writing, design, development, etc. I think it's a pretty impressive list, but it's still just a sliver of the ones I've wanted to build.

2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020
2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010
2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000
1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995 | 1994 | 1993

What Was New in 2009

Books I've Read (December 30, 2009)
The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (Read from Dec 28, 2009 to Dec 30, 2009)

Books I've Read (December 27, 2009)
Well, I've only written one, but I decided to start adding reviews to some of the books. Might as well keep track of how I felt about a book too.

Books I've Read (December 27, 2009)
The Sanctuary by Raymond Khoury (Read from Dec 23, 2009 to Dec 27, 2009)

fotomatte (December 26, 2009)
New Albums Added:
Night Walk (Mountain View, CA) (May 2005) [10]
@ Sunset (Mountain View, CA) (May 2005) [1]
Night Walk 2 (Mountain View, CA) (May 2005) [26]
Shoreline @ Sunset (Mountain View, CA) (June 2005) [34]

fotomatte (December 25, 2009)
New Albums Added:
Meiji Shrine (Tokyo, Japan) (Sept 2007) [25]
Tokyo Imperial Palace (Tokyo, Japan) (Sept 2007) [12]
Mitsukoshimae (Tokyo, Japan) (Sept 2007) [28]

fotomatte (December 24, 2009)
New Albums Added:
Around Nassau (Nassau, The Bahamas) (Mar 2002) [30]
Atlantis Hotel (Paradise Island, The Bahamas) (Mar 2002) [47]
The Cloisters (Paradise Island, The Bahamas) (Mar 2002) [3]
The Jule Tree (Copenhagen, Denmark) (Nov 2005) [7]
Tivoli (Copenhagen, Denmark) (Nov 2005) [12]
Grey Day (Copenhagen, Denmark) (Nov 2005) [33]
Sunny Day (Copenhagen, Denmark) (Nov 2005) [70]

Books I've Read (December 23, 2009)
I finally had someone mention my book site, so I decided to revisit it. Other than updating really old code & SQL statements, I revised it to include the ability to look at books by year, genres and there are also links to Amazon in case someone is having a hard time trying to track down a book. Of the 600+ books listed there, I could only not find one book on Amazon. Impressive.

(Not So) Used Ideas (December 23, 2009)
New Look
I've integrated a new template for my blog (Not So) Used Ideas. I didn't design it, but I really like it. It'll work for now. Hope to get some more ideas up soon.

Books I've Read (December 23, 2009)
I've added the ability to search across titles and authors. Have fun!

Books I've Read (December 22, 2009)
What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell (Finished Dec 22, 2009)

Books I've Read (December 15, 2009)
Present at the Future: From Evolution to Nanotechnology, Candid and Controversial Conversations on Science and Nature by Ira Flatow (Finished Dec 15, 2009)

Books I've Read (December 6, 2009)
The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering by Frederick P. Brooks, Jr. (Finished Dec 06, 2009)

Books I've Read (December 2, 2009)
Anathem by Neal Stephenson (Read from Nov 22, 2009 to Dec 02, 2009)

Books I've Read (November 23, 2009)
Coincidences, Chaos, and All That Math Jazz: Making Light of Weighty Ideas by Edward B. Burger with Michael Starbird (Finished Nov 23, 2009)

Books I've Read (November 22, 2009)
Geek Speak: How Life + Mathematics = Happiness by Dr. Graham Tattersall (Finished Nov 22, 2009)

Books I've Read (November 11, 2009)
The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More with Less by Richard Koch (Finished Nov 11, 2009)

fotomatte (November 8, 2009)
New Albums Added:
Birthday + Honeymoon (Koh Samui, Thailand) (May 2008) [12]
Doi Suthep (Chiangmai, Thailand) (May 2008) [13]
Elephant Preserve (Chiangmai, Thailand) (May 2008) [44]
The Bangkok Skyline (Bangkok, Thailand) (May 2008) [6]
Jim Thompson House (Bangkok, Thailand) (May 2008) [10]
Bangkok Streets (Bangkok, Thailand) (May 2008) [10]
The Bangkok Canals (Bangkok, Thailand) (May 2008) [12]
Temple of the Dawn (Bangkok, Thailand) (May 2008) [11]
The Grand Palace (Bangkok, Thailand) (May 2008) [29]

fotomatte (November 1, 2009)
New Albums Added:
The Edgewater Hotel (Seattle, WA) (May 2009) [6]
A(Corn)Mazing! (Dixon, CA) (Oct 2007) [16]
Carpet (Portola Valley, CA) (May 2009) [6]
We Bought a House! (Portola Valley, CA) (Mar 2009) [13]
Mom's Quilts (Oakland, CA) (Jan 2008) [4]
Industrial Nicole (Oakland, CA) (Jan 2008) [1]
Lola & Bud's Rehearsal (San Anselmo, CA) (June 2008) [9]

Books I've Read (October 30, 2009)
Success Built to Last: Creating a Life That Matters by Jerry I. Porras with Emery Stewart with Mark Thompson (Finished Oct 30, 2009)

Books I've Read (October 29, 2009)
The Exceptional Presenter: A Proven Formula to Open Up and Own the Room by Timothy J Koegel (Finished Oct 29, 2009)

fotomatte (October 27, 2009)
New Album Added:
Dani + Blake (Los Gatos, CA) (Oct 2009) [70]

Books I've Read (October 26, 2009)
The Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux (Finished Oct 26, 2009)

Books I've Read (October 11, 2009)
Weird Ideas That Work: How to Build a Creative Company by Robert I. Sutton (Finished Oct 11, 2009)

Books I've Read (October 8, 2009)
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini (Finished Oct 08, 2009)

Books I've Read (September 18, 2009)
Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by Jim Collins with Jerry I. Porras (Finished Sep 18, 2009)

fotomatte (August 9, 2009)
New Albums Added:
Juneau Who Killed Me? (Juneau, AK) (July 2009) [12]
Helicoptin' A Glacier (Juneau, AK) (July 2009) [42]
Helicoptin' A Glacier (Outtakes) (Juneau, AK) (July 2009) [19]
Monkeys At Sea (Juneau, AK) (July 2009) [4]
m/s Amsterdam (Elsewhere, WA) (July 2009) [22]

Books I've Read (August 9, 2009)
Egonomics: What Makes Ego Our Greatest Asset (Or Most Expensive Liability) by David Marcum with Steven Smith (Finished Aug 09, 2009)

fotomatte (August 8, 2009)
New Albums Added:
Natural History Museum (London, UK) (Nov 2005) [34]
Can't Sitka Through This (Sitka, AK) (July 2009) [19]
Glacier Bay (Elsewhere, AK) (July 2009) [45]

fotomatte (August 7, 2009)
New Albums Added:
Craigdarroch Castle (Victoria, BC) (July 2009) [9]
Catch Me If You Ketchikan (Ketchikan, AK) (July 2009) [14]
London At Night (London, UK) (Nov 2005) [20]
Victoria & Albert Museum (London, UK) (Nov 2005) [6]
London By Day (London, UK) (Nov 2005) [11]
Adventures in London (London) (Mar 2001) [122]
London 2000 (London) (Jan 2000) [95]

fotomatte (August 6, 2009)
New Backend & New Photos
I've been hard at work building a new, automated backend to this long-living site of mine. Now I am able to publish photos/albums at the click of a button. It handles all the image resizing, etc. for me. Additionally, I'm phasing in a new "Extra Large" size, so you can view even larger versions of the photos if you have a big enough monitor.

During the transition from the old system to the new, old galleries are as they were, and new ones (and transitioned old ones) are available in the new. You shouldn't see much of a difference on your end, except the new ones will have that extra larger view.

I've added some new photos from and old set of trips. I've got photos from Amsterdam in February 2007 and Disneyland Paris from January 2007.

More to come.

Books I've Read (August 6, 2009)
A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder by Eric Abrahamson with David H. Freedman (Finished Aug 06, 2009)

fotomatte (August 6, 2009)
New Albums Added:
Disneyland Paris 2007 (Marne-la-Vallee, France) (Jan 2007) [16]
The Half-Built Happiest Place on Earth (Hong Kong, China) (May 2008) [11]
Condo, Night Sky (San Francisco, CA) (Jan 2008) [1]
Hockey 2009 (Las Vegas, NV) (Mar 2009) [16]
Friends & Cirque (Las Vegas, NV) (Mar 2009) [7]
Disney's Hollywood Studios (Orlando, FL) (May 2009) [2]
Disney's Animal Kingdom (Orlando, FL) (May 2009) [4]
EPCOT 2009 (Orlando, FL) (May 2009) [1]
Matte's 35th Birthday (Orlando, FL) (May 2009) [9]

fotomatte (August 5, 2009)
New Albums Added:
Cable Car Fill-Up (San Francisco, CA) (Apr 2006) [1]
Late Night View (San Francisco, CA) (Apr 2006) [1]
New Deck (San Francisco, CA) (Dec 2006) [3]
Centraal (Rotterdam, The Netherlands) (Feb 2007) [1]
Exploring Amsterdam I (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) (Feb 2007) [26]
Exploring Amsterdam II (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) (Feb 2007) [42]

fotomatte (August 4, 2009)
New Albums Added:
In Route (Tokyo, Japan) (Sept 2007) [4]
Ginza (Tokyo, Japan) (Sept 2007) [3]
The View (Tokyo, Japan) (Sept 2007) [10]
Harajuku (Tokyo, Japan) (Sept 2007) [40]
Cold, Night Game (Oakland, CA) (June 2007) [2]
Eating In The Rain (Portland, OR) (May 2007) [1]
Sleeping With The Monkeys (San Francisco, CA) (June 2007) [2]
Snow 'Dam (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) (Feb 2007) [1]

Books I've Read (July 31, 2009)
How I Got Published: Famous Authors Tell You in Their Own Words by Ray White with Duane Lindsay (Finished Jul 31, 2009)

Books I've Read (July 27, 2009)
Uncommon Carriers by John McPhee (Finished Jul 27, 2009)

shrt.ly (July 25, 2009)
What's Short For Fun?
There's a million of them, but as a web guy I figured I should build my own. So I registered a new domain name today (Libyan - my first) and it will be the basis for a little URL shortener I built.

What's a URL shortener? If you want to link to a really long email, it can easily get mangled in an email or document. So you enter the URL into a form and it assigns you a short URL which you can post around and whenever anyone visits it, they get automatically redirected to the original URL.

So that's it in a nutshell - shrt.ly.

BehindtheURL (July 25, 2009)
TLDs by Registrar
I have to remember that sometimes the best place to find new features for a site is within my own needs. I was once again exploring some new domain name ideas and I realized that behindtheURL was lacking a way to know which domains might be harder than others to register given that for the past few years I just use GoDaddy. So I have gone ahead and indicated which TLDs are offered for registration by various Registrars, I call it TLDs by Registar.

To start off, I have provided information for GoDaddy, Register.com and Registrars.com. These are all registrars I have used over the last 13 or so years, though some of them I have not used in quite a long time. So, in others words, I am saying I do not endorse any of them, though I use GoDaddy almost exclusively at the moment.

BehindtheURL (July 24, 2009)
Re-Introducing whatWEBserver?
Another part of this site that had been in hiatus, I've re-added whatWEBserver? a simple little tool which lets you enter a URL and see what web server it is running on.

Books I've Read (July 23, 2009)
Free: The Future of A Radical Price by Chris Anderson (Finished Jul 23, 2009)

BehindtheURL (July 23, 2009)
What It's All About
Sometimes About sections are the hardest ones to add. You don't always think anyone wants to know details behind the scenes, but oddly, they do.

So I have added an About section for behindtheURL which will give you the chance to know a little more about why the site exists.

BehindtheURL (July 21, 2009)
Re-Introducing TLD
It's one of those things you replace and then realize you didn't have to.

There was a section of behindtheURL called TLD which listed all of the different TLDs and had links to their official websites (where available). When I rebuilt the site, I included that information on the main of the site as a handy, one-page reference.

But as I was updating redirects to those who had bookmarks to the old pages, I realized why not just put those pages back up using my new system. So I have.

Books I've Read (July 20, 2009)
The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008 by Paul Krugman (Finished Jul 20, 2009)

Books I've Read (July 17, 2009)
Negotiating Rationally by Max H. Bazerman with Margaret A. Neale (Finished Jul 17, 2009)

Books I've Read (July 14, 2009)
More Information Than You Require by John Hodgman (Finished Jul 14, 2009)

Books I've Read (June 30, 2009)
From Square One by Dean Olsher (Finished Jun 30, 2009)

Books I've Read (June 22, 2009)
Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett (Finished Jun 22, 2009)

Books I've Read (June 15, 2009)
The Venetian Betrayal by Steve Berry (Finished Jun 15, 2009)

Books I've Read (June 10, 2009)
The Alexandria Link by Steve Berry (Finished Jun 10, 2009)

Books I've Read (June 7, 2009)
The Third Secret by Steve Berry (Finished Jun 07, 2009)

Books I've Read (June 3, 2009)
The Templar Legacy by Steve Berry (Finished Jun 03, 2009)

Books I've Read (May 30, 2009)
The Romanov Prophecy by Steve Berry (Finished May 30, 2009)

Books I've Read (May 28, 2009)
A Technique for Producing Ideas by James Webb Young (Finished May 28, 2009)

Books I've Read (May 27, 2009)
The Amber Room by Steve Berry (Finished May 27, 2009)

Books I've Read (May 24, 2009)
The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie (Finished May 24, 2009)

Books I've Read (May 19, 2009)
The Charlemagne Pursuit by Steve Berry (Finished May 19, 2009)

Books I've Read (May 8, 2009)
The Camel Club by David Baldacci (Finished May 08, 2009)

Books I've Read (May 1, 2009)
The Atlantis Prophecy by Thomas Greanias (Finished May 01, 2009)

Books I've Read (April 30, 2009)
Raising Atlantis by Thomas Greanias (Finished Apr 30, 2009)

Books I've Read (April 26, 2009)
Stone Cold by David Baldacci (Finished Apr 26, 2009)

Books I've Read (April 18, 2009)
The Collectors by David Baldacci (Finished Apr 18, 2009)

The Firm List (April 7, 2009)
Profile System Updated
Continuing updates to the backend of The Firm List. I have made some major updates to the backend for The Firm List Profiles. Will be able to offer greater functionality soon!

Books I've Read (April 5, 2009)
The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World by Niall Ferguson (Finished Apr 05, 2009)

Books I've Read (April 4, 2009)
Linked: How Everything Is Connected to Everything Else and What it Means for Business, Science and Everyday Life by Albert-Laszlo Barabasi (Finished Apr 04, 2009)

Books I've Read (March 28, 2009)
From Entrepreneur to Infopreneur: Make Money with Books, eBooks, and Information Products by Stephanie Chandler (Finished Mar 28, 2009)
The Small Business Start-Up Kit: A Step-by-Step Legal Guide by Peri H. Pakroo, JD (Finished Mar 28, 2009)

Books I've Read (March 24, 2009)
Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy by Lawrence Lessig (Finished Mar 24, 2009)

Books I've Read (March 18, 2009)
Print is Dead: Books in Our Digital Age by Jeff Gomez (Finished Mar 18, 2009)

The Firm List (March 16, 2009)
Updated Profiles System
I'm in the middle of backend changes across the site and today I launched a new backend to the Profiles section of the site. It's the first public step, but more are coming. Little has changed to the end user besides the URLs have changed (old URLs are being redirected as appropriate). Soon you will see more profiles, a different layout and better tools to update your profile.

Books I've Read (March 10, 2009)
The Tyranny of Dead Ideas: Letting Go of the Old Ways of Thinking to Unleash a New Prosperity by Matt Miller (Finished Mar 10, 2009)

Books I've Read (March 8, 2009)
Faster: The Acceleration of Just About Everything by James Gleick (Finished Mar 08, 2009)

Books I've Read (February 23, 2009)
What Just Happened: A Chronicle from the Information Frontier by James Gleick (Finished Feb 23, 2009)

Books I've Read (February 11, 2009)
Small Is The New Big: And 183 Other Riffs, Rants, and Remarkable Business Ideas by Seth Godin (Finished Feb 11, 2009)

RESRC (February 1, 2009)
This is What's New
Sometimes I forget that if you're continually adding to or updating a website, if no one knows you are, it's almost as if you're not doing anything. I always know what I just added, but to let everyone else know, I've added a What's New section to RESRC. This will be a handy way to show newcomers that this site has been around for a long time and is still growing.

HexHues (January 31, 2009)
Find A HexHue
Woke up this morning and realized that one of the core uses people would have for this site is to find (and name) a particular color. But I hadn't given anyone an easy way to get to that color. So, added a "Find a HexHue" box on each page which allows you to type in a hexadecimal color code and jump straight to the page for that color. If it's already been named, you can add a comment if you'd like. If it's not already named, you can submit one.

HexHues (January 31, 2009)
Send Me Feedback
Knowing from years of building websites that my websites grow better from real feedback (good or bad) from those who are using it, I've added a form for you to send me questions, comments, or anything else. Just click on the "Feedback" link found on any page.

HexHues (January 31, 2009)
What's New? What's New.
Sometimes I forget that if you're continually adding to or updating a website, if no one knows you are, it's almost as if you're not doing anything. I always know what I just added, but to let everyone else know, I've added a What's New section to HexHues.

This will be a handy way to show newcomers that this site has been around for a long time (1996!) and is still growing.

Books I've Read (January 29, 2009)
The Stuff of Thought: Language As A Window Into Human Nature by Steven Pinker (Finished Jan 29, 2009)

RESRC (January 24, 2009)
Search RESRC
It's still in the early stages, but today I've added Search RESRC which is an implementation of Google Custom Search which will allow me to not only offer the ability to search the RESRC site itself, but will also (eventually) allow me to offer a search of the actual websites of those resources listed on here. That way you'll be able to search across the wealth of information they host on their websites.

Books I've Read (January 21, 2009)
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (Finished Jan 21, 2009)

Books I've Read (January 13, 2009)
Your MBA Game Plan: Proven Strategies for Getting Into the Top Business Schools by Omari Boukinight with Scott Shrum (Finished Jan 13, 2009)

Books I've Read (January 12, 2009)
Gluten-Free Diet: A Comprehensive Resource by Shelley Case (Finished Jan 12, 2009)
The City: A Global History by Joel Kotkin (Finished Jan 12, 2009)

Books I've Read (January 9, 2009)
The Care & Feeding of Ideas: A Guide to Encouraging Creativity by James L. Adams (Finished Jan 09, 2009)

Books I've Read (January 6, 2009)
The Luxury Guide to Walt Disney World Resort: How to Get the Most Out of the Best Disney Has to Offer by Cara Goldsbury (Finished Jan 06, 2009)



> home > books i've read > domain names i own > fonts > humor > interactive > misc > photos > portfolio > press > resume > sites/projects > social media > what's new > words



fotomatte has 9,845 photos