Michael Kimsal's weblog

Do you have web development knowledge to share?

mgkimsal — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 01:23:26 +0000

Consider working with Web Dev Pubishing to publish your knowledge as an ebook. Learn more or just submit your idea.

New PDF database magazine

mgkimsal — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:15:26 +0000

No, it’s not from me or WebDevPub, but it looks good all the same. It’s actually a continuation of the earlier MySQL Magazine, but with a larger focus, and is now a pay-for PDF, similar to JSMag and GroovyMag.

OSDBZine.net is put out bi-monthly from Keith Murphey, who had started the MySQL Magazine two years ago (and recently interviewed on webdevradio). I just picked up the first issue, with a whopping 61 pages of database goodness. With pieces on Drizzle, Firebird, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, LucidDB and more, it’s got something for just about everyone.

Only drawback so far is the current signup process – it’s a little barebones (I spoke with Keith, and he’ll be updating it soon). Visit http://www.osdbzine.net/signup.html to register an account, then login to purchase via paypal.

Latest JavaScript Magazine available

mgkimsal — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:56:54 +0000

The November JavaScript Mag (JSMag) is now available. Here’s a quick run down of what’s inside:

* Shea Frederick completes his overview of the IDE landscape for JavaScript developers

* Jay Garcia dives in to the ExtJS Component Lifecycle

* Christian Tiberg explains how to use StorageEngine (YUI) in your apps

* Tom Hughes-Croucher demonstrates making Yahoo Query Language even more useful with server-side JavaSscript

* Kyle Simpson walks you through JSON-P error handling

* Matt Henry covers the latest Community News

Have a closer look!

JSMag is now 10% off when purchased as a 12 month subscription!

PDF Watermarking web service

mgkimsal — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:47:28 +0000

I’ve got a PDF watermarking web service I’m considering opening up as a service for others (currently using it internally for my own projects). If this is something that sounds like it would be of interest to you, let me know. It should be a pretty easy integration piece, but I’d be interested in getting some feedback on how you’d be planning to use it (what tech, mainly). Also, this would likely be a paid service, either on a ‘per use’ limit basis, or some flat monthly pricing. Frankly, I’m a little surprised that I can’t find one out there – I’ve got to think this exists already, but I’ve not seen one. If you know of one, let me know.

Six week test progress update

mgkimsal — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:49:32 +0000

My first post back in August identified a project I was going to start, and my goal was to have it done in six weeks. I’m *close*, and closer than last week, but probably another week off. Not happy with myself for missing my initial deadline, and I know even when it ‘launches’ there will still be more work to do, but I’ve taken some positives out of this so far.

I’ve not spent six full weeks on this, or even 7-8 now. This has definitely been a part time ‘after hours’ project, and there’s been a lot of ups and down the past two months which have interfered. So, to that extent, I don’t feel like I have yet ‘failed’. I know if I’d spent 6 full time weeks on this, it would have been done in less than 4. Additionally, it’s given me a bit more time to think about the UI. I know it won’t be perfect, but I’ve gone through 2 iterations of the process sign up, talking with more than a few people, taking their feedback, and generally shortening and tightening up the process. Had I launched 3 weeks ago with the first pass patched together, it would have been much worse. Lastly, I still struggle with PayPal – I hit a snag tonight that cost me more time than I would have liked, and I can’t really see where the problem was (code was copied from jsmag.com, and should have worked fine!)

So, stay tuned for more updates. Also, authors – especially self-published ones – drop me a line if you want to be part of the testing/beta phase.

Charlotte Code Camp ideas

mgkimsal — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 18:31:21 +0000

I’m presenting my “PHP On Windows” again, this time at Charlotte Code Camp today. I’ve got the unenviable position of following Chris Love and Joe Walling, each of whom have presented great business-oriented presentations on being entrepreneurial with software. They’ve both got me thinking about a lot of things, and I wish they wouldn’t, because it makes me lose focus on the few things I should be focusing on! But still, definitely some great ideas happening here. If I get a chance, I’ll post some of the ideas here, but I might not be able to find the time.

Virtual keyboards encourage weak passwords?

mgkimsal — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:33:56 +0000

I’ve not seen any studies that indicate this, but I can say as a recent iPhone user, I’ve found myself changing some of my passwords to not include symbols or capitals or anything that isn’t convenient to type on the default virtual keyboard. Does anyone else do this? Has there been any research on this? While the Palm Pre keyboard is a bit tiny (even for my dainty digits) I know it would be easier to access symbols or other non-qwerty characters than it is on the iPhone. I suspect the same issue affects the new myTouch G3 phones as well.

Any thoughts/experiences on this?

PHP On Windows – presentation slides

mgkimsal — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 19:49:19 +0000

I gave a talk today at the Raleigh Code Camp titled “PHP On Windows”. It was decently attended, given the attendee focus at a Microsoft-sponsored event. MS has been embracing PHP much more publicly over the last year or so, and I reviewed some of the steps they’ve been taking (auto-install on IIS7, recent bytecode cache from MS, etc). The slides I used were relatively sparse, as some of the presentation was simply doing some code on Windows.

I will probably expand on this talk and may give it again at some point. If you have any good resources or info about PHP on Windows, let me know.

Progress on six week test – looking for authors

mgkimsal — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:55:48 +0000

As a quick followup to my previous post (http://michaelkimsal.com/blog/six-week-test-followup-custom-business-cards/) I wanted to drop a quick update here. Six weeks isn’t too long if it’s your only activity. Trying to fit in a six week project in the midst of other projects and deadlines is hard, but you already knew that!. I’m 4.5 weeks in, and have a basic site template up, and am working on the info gathering portion (nearly done, but can be improved) and then paypal and google checkout integration. Given my current workload, hitting Sept 28 is still possible, but it’ll be tight!

re: timing – the designer I worked with had me on somewhat lower priority than I’d hoped, which ate up a lot of the 4.5 weeks – I was hoping to be where I’m at now about 1.5 weeks ago. However, I did not convey any sense of urgency to him, nor give him a deadline, so that rests entirely with me. I satisfied with the first round of design that we did, so I can’t complain (about anyone except me, anyway!) Lesson learned: have hard deadlines in place with people you work with

If you’d like to be involved in testing or giving feedback, give me a shout or leave contact information. I’m specifically looking for feedback and testing from self-published authors (of any genre).

Web Development Job Hunter classes (raleigh)

mgkimsal — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 13:43:28 +0000

I’ve been working with a couple local people on developing a short term plan for them to get in to or move around in the web development job space, and I was wondering if there’s a need for something perhaps sightly more formal in the Raleigh area. Here’s my initial sketch…

Weekly classes (probably Saturday morning) 2 hours per class for 6-8 weeks

Class would consist of

reviewing web development options (technologies, focus – front end or back end, etc)
deciding on a particular technology to focus on
developing a short term game plan for achieving certain tasks – small projects to connect to a database, do flash animation, handle user authentication, etc.
work with participants to keep them on schedule, answering questions that may come up
have in speakers from local hiring companies to do presentations about their work environments and what they’re looking for in entry-level positions
have in guest presenters from the area who specialize in one tech (.net, ruby, flash, etc) to answer specific questions
general support and motivation when learning the new technology.

For some people getting in to new tech can be rather overwhelming because there’s so many choices, and often conflicting advice about what’s “best” to get in to. What I’ve found is that there’s isn’t one “best” that’s right for everyone. Learning PHP just because that’s where the jobs are, but you hate it – that’s just pointless.

Is there a need for something like this in the Raleigh area? Would you be interested in participating?