Pet Projects

JBHV Framework

Project began Apr 2004

Expanding upon the principals I learned while developing the Array and Odyssey products at IDI, I created a replicatable, extensible, skinnable site building suite of tools for my own personal projects. The base code isn't that complex, but it allows for easy and rapid development of sites with a minimal of work. It uses an inheritance-based object model and Perl's Template Toolkit for templating.

There's a great deal of base features that can be used in any project, plus adding additional features is extremely easy. I've got some ideas on how to automate things even more, and I hope to make it a full MVC framework some day (it's nearly there, but the View/Controller code is mixed in some cases).

It was never intended to be used by anyone else, so it is by far not generic enough for distribution.

Rachel Amanda Hill Photography - http://www.rachelamandahill.com

Launched Feb 2006

My wife is starting up a photography business, so I built her a site. She wants to add more text to some of the pages, and eventually sell prints through the site, but the majority of it is already there.

If you need some photography work, contact her. She's quite talented (one of the reasons I became interested in her to begin with), and since she's just getting started, her rates are more than affordable.

Librarius Metallicus 2.0 - http://www.librariusmetallicus.com

Launched Jan 2006

A finally-revamped Librarius Metallicus was launched in early 2006. I'm still adding new features and making tweaks here and there, as is always the case. I cleaned up the navigation a lot, streamlined the presentation of information, added TONS of new features, and finally ported it to my JBHV framework.

Our Family Tree 2.0 - http://genealogy.kathihill.com

Launched Feb 2005

I finally redid my mom's genealogy database site in mod_perl using my JBHV Site Engine. It's a basic site, really. Just a searchable genealogy database with Family Group Records, Pedigree Charts, and Descendancy Charts to view for each person.

She wanted me to remove the ordinance dates, so I obliged her. The biggest challenge, really, was trying to squeeze more performance out of the gedcom file parser. Currently it takes 8 minutes to run on my server, so I still have room for improvement, though I fear the bottleneck is the database.

Anyway, apart from minor tweaks, I doubt that I'll need to revisit this site again, ever.

Home Page 4.0 - http://greg.kathihill.com

Launched Feb 2005

You're looking at it. This version is 4.0, long overdue but finally feature complete. All sections of the site are dynamic, including the resume. I spent about 12 hours over a week and a half implementing all of the features. And I've only had minor display issues to fix so far, no core code issues. That should speak volumes about the quality of my JBHV Site Engine.

I plan on adding some alternative skins at some point to demonstrate the simple skinning technology I built into the engine, but I honestly don't know when I'll get to it.

Something that you may not immediately notice about this site is the fact that is does not rely on tables for page layout structure. The designers out there will appreciate that. All positioning information is done via CSS. Do a 'View Source' to see what I mean.

Star Wars RPG Resource Site - http://www.swd6.net

Launched Oct 2004

I'm going to be reworking this site a great deal to use as a showcase site of my javascripting abilities. So, you can see the partially completed old version at that url, but it will be much, much cooler when it's done.

Librarius Metallicus

Project began Oct 2001

Librarius Metallicus is an online database of heavy metal bands with lineup and discography information. The purpose of the site was to provide a one-stop resource for collectors seeking information about bands they listen to or for people seeking out new bands in the genre. It didn't take off quite as well as I had hoped, but it has had a steady growth since it's inception. I've been meaning to rewrite it in my JBHV engine, but other projects have taken my focus. Hopefully, by this summer a new version will be complete.

From a technological standpoint, Librarius Metallicus was my first stab at Object-Oriented Perl, a skill I then further developed on several other projects. I also toyed around with some advanced style sheet techniques, and did some nonstandard navigation which didn't work as well as I'd hoped. All in all, it's a good site that has been running strong for three years without any major hiccups.

Librarius Metallicus 1.0 - http://www.librariusmetallicus.com

Launched May 2002

The original cgi-based Librarius Metallicus used Object-Oriented Perl (well, not very good OO, but it was a start). It will eventually be replaced with a true OO model running under mod_perl.

Hill Family Genealogy

Project began Mar 2001

My mom wanted to create a site to display her vast genealogical research to the world, so I obliged her. Basically, all it does is parse a gedcom file into a database and display the information using standard genealogical forms (pedigree chart, family group record, etc).

I'm currently working on a rewrite using my JBHV Site Engine, so expect it sometime in the next month or so.

Our Family Tree 1.0

Launched May 2001

The original genealogy database site that I created for my mom years ago. The new one is vastly improved, but here's some screenshots of the original, cgi-based version.

I tried to keep the basic design ideas intact, but I did change quite a bit as well.

Home Page

Project began May 1999

My very first site was my home page, which I quickly redid several times and then let sit for several years. You're viewing version 4.0 of the site, something long overdue.

Originally it was a straight HTML page, but I added Javascript in version 2.0, and then some SSI cgi scripts in 3.0 (which haven't worked since I moved servers and didn't bother fixing because I was planning a rewrite), and finally rewritten using my JBHV Site Engine in OO Perl/mod_perl.

It's nice to finally have a decent site to show to accompany my resume.

Home Page 3.0

Launched Feb 2001

Basically just a redesign of 2.0, with the addition of a 'News' script which I wrote in cgi Perl. I also learned how to use Server-Side Includes, something I am glad that I decided against in all other projects.

Home Page 2.0

Launched Aug 1999

I learned some Javascript and CSS, so I rewrote my web page to utilize these technologies. The design was a bit colorful for a programmer, and I used a weird font, but I liked it at the time.

Home Page 1.0

Launched Jun 1999

My original home page is no longer existant in any form, so I can't provide a link or screenshots. It was very basic and pretty pathetic really. Hey, I was learning HTML, ok. :)