Posted on

Building AVR, Part 1: Project Architecture

Once AIM was built, we needed a product to display the inventory that had been managed. The AutoConX Vertical (Responsive), or AVR, is a white-label product that allows publishers (newspaper or magazine) list inventory from sellers in their area. It’s a digital classified system that offers a lot of customization and flexibility.

This project was trickier than AIM because AIM was a brand new product. AVR, however, had to be a modern and responsive site that met all the publishers’ expectations from the legacy product. Publishers wouldn’t switch unless they saw real value in the new system. We had to build a product that we would put our own products on.

This is the story of the project architecture for AVR.

Continue reading “Building AVR, Part 1: Project Architecture”

Posted on

Building AIM, Part 4: CSS Architecture

We needed to build an inventory system, one that was free from the restrictions of our legacy system. We wanted to build a system that could describe any piece of inventory: from cars to carpets, from houses to job listings. We needed an interface for our sellers to actually manage that inventory. That interface is the AutoConX Inventory Manager, which we call AIM.

This is the story of the CSS architecture for AIM.

Continue reading “Building AIM, Part 4: CSS Architecture”

Posted on

Building AIM, Part 3: JavaScript Architecture

We needed to build an inventory system, one that was free from the restrictions of our legacy system. We wanted to build a system that could describe any piece of inventory: from cars to carpets, from houses to job listings. We needed an interface for our sellers to actually manage that inventory. That interface is the AutoConX Inventory Manager, which we call AIM.

This is the story of the JavaScript architecture for AIM.

Continue reading “Building AIM, Part 3: JavaScript Architecture”

Posted on

Building AIM, Part 2: CFML Architecture

We needed to build an inventory system, one that was free from the restrictions of our legacy system. We wanted to build a system that could describe any piece of inventory: from cars to carpets, from houses to job listings. We needed an interface for our sellers to actually manage that inventory. That interface is the AutoConX Inventory Manager, which we call AIM.

This is the story of the CFML architecture for AIM.

Continue reading “Building AIM, Part 2: CFML Architecture”

Posted on

Building AIM, Part 1: Project Architecture

We needed to build an inventory system, one that was free from the restrictions of our legacy system which could only describe automotive, agricultural and recreational inventory for dealerships across the United States. We wanted to build a system that could describe any piece of inventory: from cars to carpets, from houses to job listings. The process started with our database structure and maintenance areas. Then came a REST API to give us a nice separation of concerns. Once that was in place, we needed an interface for our sellers to actually manage that inventory. That interface is the AutoConX Inventory Manager, which we call AIM.

This is the story of the project architecture for AIM.

Continue reading “Building AIM, Part 1: Project Architecture”

Posted on

(2016) Best of Last Year

It’s time for the (2016) Best of Last Year mixlist!

It’s rare (exceedingly rare) that I get the playlist finalized before June. Life (in the form of kids, wife, job, inherent and pervasive laziness) tends to take over. Not this year, though! I murdered my wife and kids which caused me to lose my job! (Just kidding.)

I was surprised by this year’s list. Some decidedly “Top 40” tracks made their way in, but it was through the brilliant, musical mastery of the artist. My favorite album of the year ended up being the soundtrack to a musical I haven’t seen. And peppered between are new tracks by long-loved artists and undiscovered tracks that wouldn’t let me go.

See the playlist and listen to it on my (2016) Best of Last Year mixlist.

Posted on

Christmas Card 2016

2016 was quite a year for changes for the kids: they both began attending a new school, they both began a weekly extra-curricular, and they both discovered Pokémon Go. Well, we pretty quickly knew what should be the theme of this year’s card: Rauschémon Go! Catch us all to learn what’s new in 2016.

View our 2016 Christmas Card here.

Posted on

(2015) Best of Last Year

Every year I evaluate the best of the music I discovered during the previous 365 days. My aim is to get the playlist finalized in January, but life usually exerts itself instead. And this is it! The moment you’ve all been waiting for! The (2015) Best of Last Year mixlist!

(Yea! Hurrah! Awesome! Uh, what… what is this, now?)

Some old favorites released disappointing albums in the past year, while some up-and-comers released phenomenal ones. Ben Folds and Death Cab for Cutie both had new releases that failed to resonate with me. Meanwhile, Cold War Kids, The Decemberists and Shakey Graves really brought it home.

There’s some EDM, some covers and even some French hip-hop in the mix (so to speak). I guess there’s a little something for everyone! (Unless you really love polka; there’s no polka.)

See the playlist and listen to it on my (2015) Best of Last Year mixlist.

Posted on

PostCSS: A Dumb Name For an Awesome Thing

Bolstered by my reception at the South Dakota Code Camp, I updated and presented my PostCSS talk at dev.Objective() 2016, one of the best web development and CFML conferences in the states. I think it went well, despite my quickly expiring laptop.

You can view the slides on Slides.com.

You can browse the demo repository on GitHub.com.

You can learn more about my postcss-placehold plugin on GitHub.com.

Thanks to everyone who came!

Posted on

Miles.ink, my writing website, is live

While Of Miles Rausch will always be my heart and soul, my personal diary in the world, it isn’t always very focused. In fact — like me — it’s intentionally varied and unintentionally disorganized. How can one separate the scientist from the artist, the developer from the writer?

Well, now there’s an easy way to separate out the writer: Miles.ink. Miles.ink is my writing website. It’ll have writing news, information on how to read and discover my written works and even information on how to support my art through services like Patreon.

If you’re interested in learning more about Miles Rausch, the writer, check out Miles.ink.

Posted on

New Mixlist: (2014) Best of Last Year

Well, another year has come and gone, and so I’ve finally come up with a new mixlist: (2014) Best of Last Year. Every year, I make a mixlist of the best songs that I discovered in the past calendar year. The songs may come from any decade, any era, but the uniting feature is that I only just discovered them in 2014.

Visit the mixlist page to listen to the playlist via an embedded Spotify playlist and to read more of my thoughts on it.