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Blogs » Archive for November, 2008
Famous Rails Screencast Gets an Update
When Ruby on Rails was first introduced, nothing helped put it on the map more than the now famous “Creating a weblog in 15 minutes” screencast. It showed the power of the framework in a quick and easy to digest way, and has since been emulated by other frameworks. Now, it’s been updated.
10,000 iPhone Apps – How Many Are Good?
There are now 10,000 applications on the iPhone App Store, but just how many of them are good and worth your time? As more and more developers flock to the platform for a chance to make a buck, the noise level will inevitably rise. Is app fatigue right around the corner for users?
SitePoint Podcast #3: A Richer Web?
The SitePoint Podcast is now on iTunes! Click here to subscribe.
Hosts: Brad Williams, Stephan Segraves, and Kevin Yank
News topics covered on this episode:
Yahoo! Launches BrowserPlus, Plans to Open Source It (SitePoint)
Microsoft: 100 Million Silverlight Downloads in 4 Weeks (SitePoint)
Amazon Announces CloudFront: Affordable CDN Service (Amazon)
Adobe Debuts Flash Catalyst At MAX Conference (SitePoint)
Adobe: Demo video
Main Show Topic: Pros and Cons of Web Application deployment using Flash, Silverlight, etc.
Betanews: Novell and Microsoft sanction Silverlight workalike for Linux
Ars Technica: Adobe to Close Desktop-Mobile Flash Player Gap with ARM Port
Ars Technica: Adobe Starts 64-bit Flash Testing with Linux Alpha
Australia’s Net Censorship Sparks Outrage
Australia’s government is about to launch a mandatory nationwide censoring plan that some say is even more technically aggressive than the net filters in Iran. Citizens in Australia aren’t taking it lying down, though, with many groups launching campaigns to protest the censorship.
Have I Got A (140 character) Story For You!
The following is reprinted from the SitePoint Tribune, Issue #423
I’ve just started using Twitter, the microblogging service, as a way to help build my online brand. So far I have 32 followers. One of them is the Prime Minister of Australia.
Hmmmmm. Now I’m a little nervous.
I’m about to write my business’s online newsletter, and the fact that the Prime Minister is following me on Twitter will earn a mention. I plan to include that story because it will do a couple of things:
- grab the reader’s interest, and
- impact positively on my branding (the reader will think it’s pretty impressive).
I use stories a lot in my life. When I’m with a client making a pitch for a web development job, I’ll employ stories to weave in our expertise, experience, and ability to complete the project.
For example: “We’ve had this issue previously; how we got around it was by doing A, B, and C. Then the client’s site exploded with sales as a result. The client was delighted, and he actually went out and bought himself a new sports car that very weekend!”
Stories work because people can relate to them. Barack Obama does it all the …
Win SitePoint Books At Web-blast ‘08
A quick shout out to any web developers based in Sydney, Australia—if you haven’t bought your tickets to Web-blast ‘08 (the end-of-year get-together for the Sydney web industry next Friday evening) then it’s not too late—about 90 tickets remain!
Web-blast is a huge end-of-year party for Sydney’s web community – bringing together web designers, web project managers, interface designers, information architects and other web professionals. Join a range of Sydney’s web communities and celebrate the end of year in style on Friday 5th December, 2008.
SitePoint are proudly supporting this event by making some books available as giveaways on the night. Should be a fun night!
Adding the SitePoint References to Coda
If you use Coda, the slick Mac-based editor for building web pages, did you know that you could integrate SitePoint Reference information directly into Coda itself? Matt shows you how to add these comprehensive HTML and CSS references to your workflow — for free!
Quick and Easy Graphing with the Google Chart API
The Google Chart API makes creating simple charts and graphs in your web app a cinch. As Richard demonstrates, simply create a URL that contains the data to be fed into your chart, and voila — your image will appear. It’s super fast and easy to use!
15 Awesome Gifts for the Geek in Your Life
Today is the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States, which means that tomorrow is Black Friday — the biggest shopping day of the year and the unofficial start of the Christmas shopping season. Check out our list of 15 gifts that any geek would love to receive.
Yahoo! Wants to Power Your Site Search
Yahoo! today announced the launch of their new Vertical Lens program. Part of their Build Your Own Search Service API, Vertical Lens lets web site owners create powerful, custom site search applications using Yahoo!’s technology.
