About Me

PBX My name is Paul Bissex, and e-scribe.com is my consulting business. I build web applications using as much open source software as possible. From September to June I teach web design and other important non-photographic professional skills to photographers. In the '90s I wrote technology commentary and reviews for magazines, newspapers, and web publications, including Wired, Salon.com, FamilyPC, the late lamented Web Review, and the Chicago Tribune. Feel free to email me.

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This runs on Django, served by Apache and mod_python. The database is SQLite. The operating system is FreeBSD, on a VPS hosted at Johncompanies.com. Comment-spam protection by Akismet. Vintage topo imagery from the Maptech archive. The markup engine is Markdown.

The Book

Book cover I'm co-author of "Python Web Development with Django", an excellent guide to my favorite web framework. Published by Addison-Wesley in October 2008, it is available from Amazon and your favorite technical bookstore as well. Click on the book title above to learn more.

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Python.org redesign launches

This must have happened over the weekend. The redesigned python.org has launched. It's a huge visual improvement over the old design, which really hadn't changed much in, oh, about seven years.

The Python community has achieved a gradual, grudging acceptance of the idea that marketing and presentation matter, but I think it was Ruby on Rails that really drove it home. Ruby (a very cool language in its own right) has seen a huge surge in popularity in the past year, driven largely by the excitement around Rails. Python.org has been sitting around looking dowdy.

The new site isn't just a visual makeover -- it's much more focused on showcasing Python's strengths and achievements to people who may not be familiar with it.

It's all in keeping with the seriousness and polish of today's Python. As a Python devotee I'm glad to see it. Thanks and congratulations to everyone involved. (And don't forget to update to the new favicon!)

Update: Favicon is fixed. Speedy!

Monday, March 6th, 2006
design + python
5 comments

Some related posts: Why the python.org redesign is good

• Comment from Andrew , later that day

I'm was super glad to see the update. The new logo is great and the site is as well. I think I liked Fredrik Lundh's django version as well.

• Comment from Justin Bayer , 1 day later

Personally, I don't think that it's that much. To me it seems as if a little bit content was added and that the CSS was polished.

Where are some new cool features that present python's web power instead of praising django and turbogears on the entry page?

I am not too lucky with this.

• Comment from Paul , 1 day later

I disagree that the change is just CSS polish and a "little bit" of content, but if you want to pitch in on additional stuff:

http://psf.pollenation.net/cgi-bin/trac.cgi#HowCanIHelp

• Comment from Anonymouse , 1 week later

Corporate people don't use Mozilla. Python.org is annoying as all hell in Internet Explorer on Windows.

The re-design wasn't for corporate types, it was for the fun and profit of those involved.

Now we have a less usable site.

• Comment from Paul , 1 week later

Python.org is annoying as all hell in Internet Explorer on Windows.

If you have specific trouble reports I'm sure it would be appreciated if you visited the tracker and filed bugs.

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