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I'm Leaving (InstantSpot)

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 15:39:00 GMT

Seems like an easy decision, right? I mean, it's just web application, right? It's not. I mean, it is just a web app, but it wasn't an easy decision. The evil geniuses behind InstantSpot have been really good to me and, frankly, it's just so damn easy to get started and to be productive. It took me a while to decide that I wanted to take on that burden myself. But I do. More on my reasons for leaving can be found at robwilkerson.org, but the reason for this post is to talk about what's next.

Firefox 3.0b3. Sexy.

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 14:36:00 GMT

In spite of my previous rant, I'm not prepared to give up Firefox just yet - even in the face of blazing speed increases from the Safari camp. Now the Firefox team has given me one less reason to switch (albeit a superficial one). The new beta3 release is gorgeous, borrowing heavily (it's homage, right?) from the Safari UI, it seems to me.

I've only had it installed for a few minutes so I can't speak to any other improvements, but I like the look (a lot) and they appear to have fixed a bug that prevented me from editing blog posts in the beta2 version.

Leaving Firefox Behind

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 03:00:00 GMT

I keep trying to leave Firefox behind. And trying. And trying. Not behind, behind like feathered hair or roadkill, but behind as in dropping it as my primary browser. I haven't had much luck so far and it's pissing me off just a little bit. This I tell you this now because I just installed 3.0 b2 on my Mac hoping it would be better than 2.x and my bitterness is a bit more acute at the moment. Needless to say, it's not better. Not really, anyway. It doesn't even look that much better. I may even prefer the look of 2.x with one of Aronnax's outstanding grApple themes applied, to be honest.

SuperDuper 2.5 (Finally) Released

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 21:25:00 GMT

I've been looking forward to this for a long time now. SuperDuper, of course, is the outstanding backup software for Macs and this release offers compatibility with OS X Leopard. It's not free, sadly, but it's one of those apps that is far enough ahead of its free counterparts that I believe it's worth paying for. Yeah, I know Leopard ships with TimeMachine. Wonderful. Fantastic. Not good enough. Doesn't work for me.

I don't mean that it literally doesn't work for me. It probably functions just fine. My problem with it is that TimeMachine forces me to park a big ol' external hard drive on my desk and hard-wire it to my machine.

Don't Eat Leftover Sushi. Just Don't

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 22:19:00 GMT

Yeah, I'm pretty sure you don't want the details. Just consider this my little gift to you. I'm only trying to help.

Fail Now, Fail Loud, Fail Proud

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 21:53:00 GMT

I write less code than I used to (particularly during the daylight hours), but I inherit a lot of code and I review a lot of code in addition to that which I still write. Today I read something that reminded me to write about a trend - or maybe it's an oversight - I've noticed in the last few years. It seems that a lot of developers are afraid of errors. Somewhere, somehow, it seems like it became the norm to create "bug-free" software by masking bugs and failing silently. Why? Or, more assertively...stop that.

Contrary to popular belief, errors are user-friendly (at least in the long run). Errors are certainly developer-friendly. In almost every case, the latter begets the former, I've found.

Don't Break the Web

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 18:49:00 GMT

In light of Microsoft's plans (or is it just a proposal?) for browser version targeting, I decided to weigh-in on a more philosophical level. There are a lot of very smart people chiming in on this who are much closer to the situation than I am at a practical level. They are better equipped to speak to any implementation concerns. My concern rests at a higher (as in more abstract, not better) level.

Attractive Accessibility

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 01:10:00 GMT

Generally speaking, I do everything I can to avoid images in content. Simple text is easier, more maintainable, more accessible and, for added incentive, I'm a spectacularly inept designer. Predictably, though, there's always an exception. When an exception arises and I have to use an image, I still want the markup to be semantic and accessible.

The technique I use isn't revolutionary or even new, but I don't see it used very much where I work, so I thought I'd write it down. Who knows? Maybe it's less common than I've been assuming it is.

Ant for Web Applications

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 22:56:00 GMT

On the whole, I suppose, Ant is probably best known as a build automation tool for "traditional" software projects (particularly Java), but its usefulness for building and deploying web applications should not be dismissed. I've been using Ant since maybe 2003 or 2004 to do just that.

This entry offers a high-level view of how I use Ant to meet my own build and deployment needs. Subsequent posts will look at specific elements that are non-standard or that relate to how I integrate Ant into my end-to-end deployment process.

xkcd Kills Me. Absolutely Kills Me.

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 16:52:00 GMT

xkcd offers a perspective that, at a glance, appears quirky and offbeat. About the time you finish reading, though, you realize that it's just so...on the nose. More than once I've been tempted to don the tin foil chapeau just to keep the author out of my head.

If you're not a subscriber, you're seriously missing out.

Variable Replacement with Ant

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:31:00 GMT

In the years I've been using Ant, there aren't many things I haven't been able to make it do for me to automate the end-to-end build and/or deployment process. There is at least one thing that's eluded me, though. Automated changes to a config file.

On Nomenclature in Code

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 22:05:00 GMT

Among the (many) things that I'm admittedly anal about with respect to code is nomenclature. I hate obfuscation, I detest ambiguity, I deplore obscure abbreviations. I'm also not a fan of misdirection.

Principles of Web Application Development

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 23:48:00 GMT

Anyone that's been building web applications (or doing anything else, for that matter) for any length of time has undoubtedly established a few operating principles that drive the way they work and the deliverables they produce. I have mine. Not too long ago, I sat down and made an effort to articulate the principles (well, at least the big ones) that drive my work and, after some thought, decided to publish them here. I'd be interested in hearing how others apply (or avoid) the principles that I follow.

Keep It Simple, Stupid
Separate Presentation from Content
Separate Content from Behavior
Prefer Extensibility to Performance
Prefer Readability to Perforance
Prefer Simplicity to Flexibility
Less First, Then More

Grey's Law

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 01:26:00 GMT

Today, in the course of doing twelve other things, I happened onto a reference to Grey's Law which states that, " Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice."

I wish I'd say that.

MAMP 1.7.1: Problem(s) Solved

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 01:46:00 GMT

After all of my bitching and moaning about how MAMP was affecting (read: preventing) my full development workflow, last night I downloaded v1.7.1 - I've been running 1.7.0. I knew 1.7.1 had been released recently and it was on my "short" list of things to do, but yesterday I did it to see if it would automagically fix all my problems. Sho'nuff...it did.

First Time Reader, Last Time Reader

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 18:12:00 GMT

I try to avoid reference posts, but the ex-paratrooper (peacetime) in me was struck by this. Articulating your own death must be an incredibly difficult thing to do on many levels. MAJ Andrew Olmsted did a hell of a job. I wish I'd known about his writing sooner.

Geaux Tigers

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 13:09:00 GMT

As an LSU alum, I'm an LSU fan (of course). There's nothing cooler than showing up to class on a Thursday morning during football season, parking in the shadow of Death Valley and right next to an RV (one of many) that's already started tailgating for the game on Saturday. Great atmosphere, great school and great people. I wish I could've been there last night.

Most Commonly Installed Fonts

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 21:44:00 GMT

I'm not a designer (quite). I don't play one on TV. When it comes to typography for my sites - unless I have a designer screaming for something else - I stick to the tried and true font-family value in my CSS: Verdana, Arial, Geneva, Helvetica, sans-serif. Good 'nuff, on to better things. Today, though, I decided to do the dance so I had to see which fonts are cross-platform enough and whose operating system install base is significant enough that I can use them with a reasonable degree of comfort.

CodeStyle provided the answers I needed. Good stuff.

PHP, Meet ColdFusion

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 17:03:00 GMT

Caught this post on one of the PHP feed aggregators: 10 PHP Myths Dispelled. Any of these ring familiar to any ColdFusion Developers out there?

MAMP + Svn Woes

Sat, 05 Jan 2008 18:37:00 GMT

Reckon I just might've spoke too soon when I posted last night. Maybe. I thought I'd solved all of my issues with MAMP and had successfully bent it to my will when I got pear running. Alas, 'twould appear not. Today I tried to execute an Ant script and one of my Subversion tasks was failing.