So, then, why do some people insist on using multiple question marks at the end of question sentences???????????????????…? Is this really necessary?

Please. One question mark is sufficient.

There’s no lesson to be learned, and that’s frustrating. Oh well, that’s life, huh?

I guess catching colds is good to maintain good immunity. No lesson, but still a benefit. Still sucks being sick, though.

Check out the table of contents on Packt’s website.

It starts out with a bit of general info regarding what a CMS is and why they’re important. I liked how the author didn’t dwell on this area; instead, he goes through some of the key points, then moves right along into getting some hands dirty with the system.

He does go into a bit of detail on installation into different platforms, so expect the typical *nix/Windows installation breakdowns.

The book is pretty well written, not too technical but not too casual, either. The subject matter moves in a logical order, and if it’s your first time building a site with MODx, then this book will guide you through the whole process, from start to finish, in a good order.

You could probably run through this book and build a site in a day or two, maybe just devote a whole weekend to it. Even though it was written on 0.9.x, the same applies to 1.0, so don’t worry about any minor inconsistencies.

The author spends a good bit of time dealing with some of the more complex things in MODx, including PHx, Ditto, and Snippets in general. And of course, he spends a good chunk of time on templating, which is one the greatest aspects of MODx.

This book is thorough enough to get you going in MODx right away. You’ll find that rolling out sites in MODx is faster than using any other popular system, but I do recommend you build a full HTML/CSS prototype of your site before integrating into MODx; things go even quicker that way.

All in all, MODx Web Development is a great resource and a good read. It’s sure to get you into shape working with MODx in just a few days’ time.

A typical modx project goes something like this:

1. Figure up a site map
2. Design the site visually
3. Prototype the site into HTML/CSS/Javasript
4. Convert the entire prototype to templates, simply by adding in template variables
5. Build the rest
6. Train your editors

This pretty much sums up the entire development process with modx.

Often, when developing any site with a CMS, you’ll encounter some very common obstacles. For example, have you ever tried to get an intuitive breadcrumb working in Drupal? It’s doable, but it takes some work.

In modx, you’d simply call a snippet called [[Breadcrumbs]]. And guess what? The snippet actually works right out of the box, just as you’d expect. Awesome!

In the backed, modx provides a very intuitive interface. Sure, the admin uses three separate frames, and could appear a bit clunky at first. But when it’s time to populate your site, the speediness of frames actually increases the developer’s productivity. Dramatically.

The admin area contains a site tree, similar to SilverStripe and a few others. This is great for your site editors, as time and time again, I’ve found that editors have a hard time grasping the concept that ‘every item is a node’ or that ‘every item is an article in a category in a section.’ With a site tree, my editors are easily able to find the page they’re looking for, and the interface is intuitive enough for even the most CMS-illiterate editors to figure out pretty quickly.

In addition to a pretty nice admin interface, modx also provides a quick editor, which exists on the live front-end, if an editor-user is logged in. This makes it even easier for my editors to make changes. Lots of my editors say that they never even enter the admin area; they simply use the quick editor from the front-end.

A few complaints

There are only a few caveats and complaints that I encounter. Modx is the perfect fit for many sites, but certainly not for all sites.

For example, one minor complaint I have is that modx stores nearly everything in the database! This includes all your html templates. I’ve grown accustomed to editing templates as a collection of files, but modx stores them directly in the db. Of course, this improves speed performance, so it’s a fair trade.

Also note that with modx, you could store the entire theme layer in the database, by using documents/resources as css or javascript files. Just make sure to set the appropriate content-type in the headers.

Another caveat is that modx isn’t the most robust for a site with hundreds of users. Nor is it great when the number of pages on your site exceeds a few thousand.

But in general, modx is a great choice for many simple websites, and you’ll be amazed at the increase in your productivity level during development.

This one uses a helicopter rotor, so it’s really just a tiny carcopter. Funny enough, though, this proof of concept was actually done in 1923. So the technology has been around.

I’m still waiting for the flying cars like in Back to the Future II, where there are no wings or rotors. I want a bad ass DeLorean with wheels that flip around.

PAL-V One

Now, though, Beer is My Poison will be all about beer: breweries, brews, home brewing, good times, events, and anything else beer-related. For now, the events and brewery tours will be local to my home town in the mountains of North Carolina, Asheville. Asheville is a beer lover’s haven, with a high concentration of microbreweries, craftbreweries, and beer fans!

The new site’s probably a bit buggy, but I launched it anyway. Shouldn’t be much longer till I fix it all up.

They’ve released a new feature that suggests additional options based on your search term. For example, search for an image of “jaguar”; did you mean the automobile or the great cat?

Sure, it’s a seemingly simple feature, but I guarantee it’ll save me even more time in my daily life, and as a web guy, one minute can be ages.

Thanks, Google.

That’s cool, but we don’t even have 3G available where I live and work, in Western North Carolina. Thanks, AT&T.

And while I’m at it, Brother’s iPhone got kinda messed up one day, and to replace it, we’d have to buy a newer iPhone, one that was made for 3G service. But in order to activate it, we’d need to upgrade our plan to get 3G coverage… yes, even though we don’t have 3G available here. WTF, AT&T? Thanks again.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with their service and the iPhone, but upgrading to a service that isn’t available, and paying for not even using it, well, that’s just crappy.

I watch football with my brother on Sundays during season, and one of the only reasons I watch it is for John Madden and Al Michaels. They’ve been calling games for so long, that just hearing their voices over the game brings me back to childhood. That’s pretty much the only reason I watch the games.

I honestly couldn’t care less who wins or loses, and I only get into the games when it’s a close 4th quarter.

Without Madden, I don’t know that I’ll ever again give a damn about watching football. Damn.

These wingsuit guys are insane! I’d love to try it, but I don’t think I have the eggs to jump to my eminent death! Maybe I’ll try skydiving first, about a mazillion times, then maybe I’ll have the guts to sail through the air like these fellows.

Then, of course is the flight around my home town, Asheville, NC. Our man Apollo Creed flies around the town, scares the crap out of some hikers on the mountain, but doesn’t look back!

Have a look at our latest Groovy Web Design. Hope you like it!

Web Design with BITE!

If we all adopted this route, then the Google’s warning screen would become standard, more trusted, and would probably do much better than all of us just showing our own error messages, warnings, or flat-out letting IE6 users see some garbled mess.

Google doesn't like IE6

The study claims that students who use facebook regularly get B’s, while students that don’t use facebook get A’s.

My take? Well, students who don’t study aren’t going to study any more, regardless of which distraction they choose. I’m sure these same students have plenty of additional options with which to waste their time. Don’t blame facebook, blame a lack of interest in studying.