Have you ever been stuck in that horrible guess and check routine? You know the one - the page layout is just wrong and Firefox isn’t quite reading your mind. You keep making small changes to the css but nothing seems to change. Suddenly you make the wrong change and everything is a mess. Trust me, I’ve been there too. I’ve also seen my fair share of inscrutable JavaScript bugs. As a C++ Veteran coming to all this fancy web stuff is fun but can quickly become frustrating when all you see is that nice opaque view that browsers tend to give our users.

Far off the beaten trail, you will find the Barrier house. A perfect retreat from city living, it is nestled among trees high on a hill overlooking a bay on Great Barrier Island. Like most houses on the barrier, it is completely off the grid and has no access to the power grid, or council provided water and sewerage services. These are all facilities that have to be provided on site. There is no road access to the property, the only access is by boat and by foot. The construction process required a barge and a helicopter!