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Blogs ยป Archive for November, 2004
W3C Documents the Architecture of the Web
At an October meeting in Basel, Switzerland, the World Wide Web Consortium’s Technical Architecture Group (TAG) completed and released a final working document titled “Architecture of the World Wide Web”.
The TAG is accepting public comments on this final draft until early December, when it will go for a final ratification as a first edition and formal release.
The document seeks to gather and organize architectural and structural elements of what makes up the web in a central document. The W3C’s TAG was formed in 2001 to do just that by documenting and promoting standards-based principles of web architecture.
It targets both the hobbyist and professional content and architecture developers, bringing to the forefront the fundamentals and core web standards. It also sets the stage for new web-related technologies those developers may adopt moving forward.
The group’s members include Chair Tim Berners-Lee (W3C) and:
- co-Chair Stuart Williams (Hewlett-Packard)
- Dan Connolly (W3C)
- Paul Cotton (Microsoft)
- Roy Fielding (Day Software)
- Chris Lilley (W3C)
- Noah Mendelsohn (IBM)
- Norm Walsh (Sun)
Group member Chris Lilley (also Chair of the SVG Working Group) took a break from work to speak with SitePoint about the TAG’s documentation mission.l
Q: What is the TAG’s perspective on this document?
A: WebArch …
Eyein’ Orion
As I ranted previously, I’m on the lookout for a beginner-friendly Java Web application server. It doesn’t need to do anything fancy like EJB, it just needs to be easy for first-time Java developers to use while they learn Java and deploy their first project or two.
I was about to take Caucho Resin for a spin, but the fact that their trial download expires after 30 days put me off a little. Sure, “students and hobbyists” can write in for a license waiver, but what about professional developers looking to learn a new technology? I suspect they’d grant a waiver in that case as well, but figured I’d start with a server that is clearly free for non-commercial use.
Orion fit the bill nicely. It’s a fully J2EE 1.3 compliant server, which means it supports Enterprise JavaBeans (EJBs), not just JSP/Servlet Web applications, and it’s free to download and use for non-commercial purposes. The Orion site also claims that Orion is “easily the fastest J2EE-based application server”.
Now, I complained that Tomcat wasn’t suitable for beginners because of its twistily organized, and overly technical configuration files and documentation. Orion is definitely better in both those areas: its configuration files …
New ICANN Policy Affects Domain Transfers
Based on a new ICANN policy effective Friday, November 12, 2004 — domain name service providers are changing the way they handle domain transfer requests.
Prior to this policy, a majority of domain name providers would not complete a transfer request(s) without specific confirmation of the current domain owner’s desire to do so. Now under new rules, after five days of attempts to confirm the transfer with the domain holder, the domain will be transferred unless the domain is ‘locked’.
Locking a domain prevents changes to contact information and name servers as well as barring domain transfers even if you do not respond within the new specified time frame.
Domain locking should be free and is most likely accessible via your vendor’s web interface. For example, logging into your account at Network Solutions, EasyDNS or GoDaddy and managing your individual domains has locking as an option.
This would also be a good time to insure the contact information for each of your domains is accurate and includes a current, valid email address where you can be reached for business regarding your domain.
What is the way to set your Web Design/Development firm apart?
The last blog was about a butler service that found a way to set itself apart in a crowded field. The company does this by positioning itself as “butlers” instead of “maids” — recognizing that, in the US at least, the term butler has a more upscale and desirable connotation (anyone can have a maid these days, but almost no one has a butler). And then the company backs that positioning strategy up with some important differences, including better presentation, a “portfolio” of clients, a personal meeting and consultation by the owner, cleaning techniques that focus on the details, and a more thorough and comprehensive solution.
It’s important to recognize that this is a common strategy to set a company apart: In web design as well, there are lots of generic “maid services,” but very few “butler” services. If you think about it for a little bit, I’ll bet you can figure out ways to position your firm in a way that changes the playing field and makes other web firms seem generic and incomplete….Just remember to back up your statements with substance.
Here is another way to set yourself apart, this time based on a successful seafood restaurant chain here …
What a butler can teach web designers about selling, with credit to Brendon Sinclair
This week my wife put her foot down and insisted that we get a cleaning service to save our home from the sloppy living practices of our two dogs, two little boys, and of course, me.
As we looked around for such a service in the phone book, they all seemed to be pretty generic, and none were able to come out when we needed them.
Then my wife called a company called The Butler Did It.
The owner of the company came out to provide an estimate, and the way he went about it provides a great lesson to anyone involved in Web Design/Development:
- He arrived in a black Jaguar (used, but still impressive)
- He was dressed nicely, with polished black shoes, and professional business casual attire (which is rare in this part of Florida).
- He carried a nice brief case.
- He used a clip board and fancy pen to take notes and prepare our estimate on the spot.
- He showed us a portfolio of gorgeous houses where he had worked, including photos of the unique way his company vacuums carpets, folds napkins, etc.
- He provided a list of references, including a magazine article featuring his company.
- As he toured …
Firefox 1.0 is Out
List of mirrors here.
Not 100% ColdFusion but worth a mention
Yes I know it’s been quiet around here. I’m trying to move away from a “finding news” to a “making news” blog. So posts will start to be more unique in the coming days / weeks.
I just got copies of the DEVNET from Macromedia as well as Contribute 3 so expect to see my thoughts posted here in the future.
In the mean time Sean Corfield of Macromedia has setup a permanent Breeze Meeting which you can hit here and visit 24/7 with him and other “geeks”. It’s pretty cool and as he plays with it more and more you’ll see some of the cool things breeze can do.
Koders.com — Open Source Developer’s Search Engine
The verticalization of search has been coming for some time with talk of all manner of specialized search engines that are either free or pay to play. The idea, of course, is to separate the wheat from the chaff and access tightly focused results instead of seeing ‘2,398,789 results for your search term’ (while arguments could be made for more advanced training on search methodology for the end user – that is an entirely different discussion).
In the meantime, Koders.com has launched a beta search engine targeting open source developers. The search engine indexes open source code spanning numerous licenses and languages. Some interesting functions:
- As you review results, you can select the project it belongs to and use a provided calculator in the browser to identify the cost to build (i.e. build versus buy). You can input the number of person months you would use, the percentage of functionality you need, and your monthly labor costs to evaluate.
- Koders has an enterprise tool coming soon that will allow larger enterprises to implement a server appliance with what looks to be index and search logic similar to the public search tool. The server can inventory all of the company’s source …
The importance of delivering and delighting clients, and why it is so rare
Okay, you Web designers/developers who don’t believe that service in your industry is abysmal: Here we go with another set of THREE examples. In previous blogs, some of you have gotten quite defensive, calling me a lousy and cheap client and suggesting that there is no problem.
So this blog has three differences:
1. These examples come from highly-paid professionals, some employed and some self-employed — and not necessarily by me. So stop blaming me for their poor service as you read these examples.
2. These professionals have excellent credentials — right schools, big company experience, etc. They really have no excuse.
3. I’ll show you four distinctions (expanded upon in my book at www.itprosuccess.com) to improve.
Here are the three examples:
One: A Web Developer with impeccable credentials (including senior positions at two of the top web development firms in the world) has promised deliverables for a major project five times, and missed deadlines each time. It seems clear that he cannot predict when he will complete work, and cannot manage his team. The owners of this project have thrown up their hands and have considered starting over from scratch.
Two: A Web Designer was charged to develop a new website for his publicly traded …
Getting Started: Apache mod_rewrite Methods
Apache’s mod_rewrite module appears to be the one area of Apache administration that generates the most questions. I seem to be a perpetual beginner when it comes to url rewriting, and I continue to dream up impossible wishes on a regular basis.
I also bother my own peers for their best rewrite hacks to build up my arsenal. However, having seen numerous queries on this powerful module, I thought sharing some of my own favorite (and basic) rewriting usage would contribute to those seeking answers.
In addition, I am sure we have some hidden rewriting ninjas hanging around the SitePoint community that will add in some missing magic we all could leverage.
As a final aside – my knowledge of rewriting has come almost exclusively from reading and re-reading (and re-reading!) the Apache HTTP docs and some serious Googling on the topic over the years. Regular expressions can be both your friend and your enemy! ;>)
These are generally added into either your httpd.conf file or into an .htaccess file. For some excellent advice on htaccess if you are using that route – see this.
Re-directing a sub-domain to a domain:
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^(.*)\.mydomain\.com$
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\.mydomain\.com$
RewriteRule (.*) http://mydomain.com/%1$1 [P]
Or …