Some of the blame might rest with the job title: “technical editor” is no match for web industry jobs with titles that include the word wizard, genius, guru, or ninja. The title technical editor makes the role sound like it’s for the resident apostrophe nazi. Banish that thought; we already have a word nerd. What we need is a real web nerd.

If you are someone, or know of someone, who enjoys tinkering with stuff on the web just for the fun of it, and then sharing your knowhow, this might just be the perfect job — getting paid for staying up to date with web technology and working with a bunch of hardcore web geeks who share the passion.

The 16GB 3G iPhone is still up for grabs for a successful referral too!

We all know what tags are in web terms, right? (If not, check out this Wikipedia article on the subject.) Tags are almost exclusively used to associate subject matter with content; you tag something like a photo or a blog post with a number of keywords that describe it, so that you can build semantic relationships — search criteria, content-by-subject lists, that kind of thing.

But it occurred to me that tagging can also be used as the basis of an authentication system. (To give props — I came up with this idea a while ago but I didn’t think of it in terms of tagging; it was Lachlan Hardy who made that connection for me.)

The idea is very simple: you create a system in which you define a number of tags that indicate permission groups, so you might have tags like guest, friend, moderator and me. Individual users also have one or more tags associated with their user account.

Then for each piece of content, you assign tags that indicate who’s allowed to see it — if a post is tagged me, moderator then only you and mods can see it. Or to put it more generally, whenever a permission tag for a piece of content and a permission tags for a user coincide, that user is allowed to see that content.

The real point here is that it’s infinitely extensible. You can define any number of tags — from tags that apply to everyone, right down to individual users — and create a user/permissions system that’s as granular as you need. (One of the problems with XFN is that it’s too broad — I can’t encompass all my personal relationships as friend or acquaintance.)

You could describe this as a kind of role-based authentication, and in those terms it’s not a new idea; you might also see it as inverted role-based authentication — instead of defining user groups that have attributes (such as the member groups in vBulletin), we’re defining attributes directly, and therefore bypassing the need to define groups. Either way, by putting it in terms of tagging it somehow seemed more interesting, and more relevant to modern web development practices.

And it makes me wonder — where else could we extend the idea of tagging, beyond its current uses? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Image credit: juandesant

I find myself here to track what is the current state of the art in Drupal land. I have been using Drupal extensively for a number of community based and science publishing systems and have been very happy with the results. So I am keen to learn what else I can add to my toolkit — after all, Drupal has something like a billion contributed modules and I have only gone through a hundred or so ;)

The other key reason I am here is to see the uptake of Semantic Web technologies inside of Drupal. There are a few sessions directly addressing semantic tech, but I wanted to have the fireside chats with the core Drupal folk and see what is out there. Yesterday I was heartened to hear in a keynote by Rasmus Lerdorf (inventor of PHP) that the Semantic Web is near and dear to his heart and that of Yahoo. I will write more on that later…

Okay, so that is enough lead up. I plan on getting a good nights rest (yeah right) and kick into full gear tomorrow. Over the last three days I have had about 3 hours of sleep per night so I am cutting this post a bit short.

If you missed your opportunity last week to pick up a copy of the excellent pocket guide, Adobe AIR For JavaScript Developers (that’s the dead-tree version), then now’s your chance to grab a copy again.

We just set live the second of Akash Mehta’s tutorials on building applications with AIR, Learn Adobe AIR, Part 2: Build A Customer Management App. This time round, Akash looks at expanding the user interface of an AIR-powered app, by exploring how to implement drag-and-drop and window management features. He also touches on menu construction and native window interaction. It’s all useful stuff if you’re experimenting with Adobe AIR development.

And once again, we have a quiz, so you can test how much of the article you absorbed. The first 100 people to complete the quiz will receive a free copy of the pocket guide, Adobe AIR For JavaScript Developers (once again, that’s the print version) delivered to your door.

Plus the book is still available as a free PDF download, so if you miss out on the print version, be sure to grab it in digital form. This free PDF offer is available until the end of October.

If you haven’t installed the AIR SDK, that’s probably a good place to start. Then once you’ve read the article, take the quiz and leave your details to score a freebie. Only the first 100 people!

Take the quiz!

The throw statement is particularly useful for APIs developers, as a way to warn its user-developers about runtime issues, such as missing or invalid input data. Its use should be generally preferable to alert() because it makes best use of the browser’s native functionality (and it’s less annoying):

if(typeof input == 'undefined')
{
	throw('Missing input');
}
else if(parseFloat(input) != input)
{
	throw('Input must be a number');
}

Using throw() with a string argument will throw a general error. However you can also create and pass an Error object, with which you can specify more details about the error:

var err = new Error();
err.name = 'My API Input Error';
err.message = 'Input must be a number';
throw(err);

The example above produces this output in Opera’s error console:

Firefox’s console doesn’t show the error name, only the message; but it’s still almost as useful:

The important thing to note is that anywhere you use throw() will halt the execution of the script (not just the enclosing scope). So you should arrange your code so that any throw() statement comes at the end of an execution block:

function err(type, message)
{
	var err = new Error();
	err.name = 'My API ' + type + ' Error';
	err.message = message;
	throw(err);
}

// the delete in this example won't happen
if(typeof this.input == 'undefined')
{
	err('Input', 'Missing input');
	delete this.input;
}

// but this delete will happen fine
if(typeof this.input == 'undefined')
{
	delete this.input;
	err('Input', 'Missing input');
}

Of course, a single language statement — however useful — can never replace a fully-featured debugging tool like Firebug; a proper debugger lets you set breakpoints, watchpoints, step-through execution … all kinds of goodness. Firebug even lets you log messages to its own console.

But Firebug is a browser-specific tool, where this is a cross-browser language feature, so it can be safely integrated into the heart of a script without any chance of unsatisfied dependencies.

• A large number of vendors register to participate in a business-to-business marketplace. Vendors indicate what services they are best placed to offer, and pay a fee to register.
• Visitors to SitePoint looking to purchase services such as logo design, web design, web hosting or SEO services can request quotes from participating vendors. This service is free for interested parties looking to get quotes on a job.
• SitePoint receives a small payment for bringing the customer and the vendor together (there’s our disclaimer out the way).

There are a couple of reasons why we think this is a great model, and potentially a terrific fit for SitePoint:

1. We’ve used the service ourself, and had great results. In fact, we were hugely impressed both with the process and the vendor who provided us with the service we were after. If we didn’t stand by the service, we wouldn’t be considering integrating it into our site to this degree.
2. We already have a thriving community of savvy, entrepreneurial folks who are constantly looking for these kinds of services.
3. We also have an even bigger community of individuals who provide services such as these to clients every day, and could be eager to expand their client base through such a network.

At this point, some of you may be thinking, “Isn’t that what the SitePoint Marketplace is for?”

Yes and no. The Marketplace is good for auctions and classified listings, but this services offers the following additional benefits:

• Interested customers can receive no obligation quotes.
• Customers have access to a much larger network of vendors—one that extends beyond those who visit the SitePoint Marketplace.

As I mentioned above, we thought we’d try the service for ourselves, to see whether it was something we wanted to stand by, and we’re convinced it is a Good Thing. We’re interested in hearing your thoughts about this service though.

Is this something you would consider utilizing, as a client? (If you’re looking to get a quote for something, I’d encourage you to trial the service before weighing in. Note this is restricted to clients and vendors in the USA at this stage) And if you offer web development-related services, consider registering with VendorSeek and let us know your experience in the comments. As I mentioned, this is a trial, so its success along with your feedback will help determine whether we continue offering the service.

Check out the SitePoint Services signup page.

First, we gave you multiple chances to receive a free copy of Jack Herrington’s pocket guide to Flex 3 (the dead-tree version). All you had to do was read an article or two about developing with Adobe Flex and take a short quiz.

Now we’re doing the same thing with Adobe AIR. We’ve just published the first of two articles on building applications with AIR, Learn Adobe AIR, Part 1: Build A Note Storage App, by Akash Mehta. Clocking in at over 4,000 words, Akash gives you a comprehensive tour of the AIR platform, taking you through how to interact with a database, manage events, create XML-driven dropdown menus and more.

Once you’ve read Akash’s tutorial, test yourself by taking the quiz. The first 100 people to complete the quiz will receive a free copy of the pocket guide, Adobe AIR For JavaScript Developers (once again, that’s the dead-tree version) delivered to your door.

And like before, we’re also making the book available as a free PDF download, so if you miss out on the print version, be sure to grab it in digital form!

So what are you waiting for? Go download the AIR SDK, read Akash’s article, then take the quiz… before the books disappear into thin AIR (sorry, I couldn’t resist!)

Take the quiz!

For the entire month of August, when you order ANY top-quality printed SitePoint book, you’ll get a second book in PDF format (worth $29.95) absolutely FREE.

Here’s the special page to take advantage of this superb deal.

Pick your printed book, choose your freebie, and learn something new this month. The more you order, the more you get for free — it’s a simple offer that you do not want to miss.

Last time we had a deal this good, we sold out in less than 48 hours. So if you’ve been eyeing off a SitePoint book, or just want to learn something new in August, then don’t delay — stocks are limited and they won’t last long!

The McFarlane Prize recognizes excellence in Australian web design and development in the broadest sense, and is decided by a jury of experts in design, coding, accessibility and usability (including SitePoint’s resident usability blogger Lisa Herrod). Regular readers will remember that last year that the SitePoint Contests web site (which evolved into 99designs) was awarded second prize.

Entry is free, and very simple. Just nominate your site using this form. Be sure to read the criteria for nomination.

The winner of this year’s award will be announced on the final day of the Web Directions South conference in Sydney in September. If you haven’t bought your tickets for this conference, be sure to do so soon — The “middle bird” discount is valid until the end of this month, and SitePoint readers are eligible for a further $55 discount by entering the code WDS-SP during purchase.

OK, so after having talked up the job for a bit, it’s time to cut to the chase: SitePoint is hiring! The publishing team needs a new technical editor to help produce our range of books, articles, blogs, and newsletters. The job is based out of our office in Melbourne, Australia. If you work in the web industry and love writing about technology and sharing your know-how as much as you love tinkering with it and reading about it, we need you!

Apply Today

To apply, read all about the position and then fill in our online survey.

Refer a Friend—Win an iPhone

Alternatively, if you know of someone who would be perfect for the job, fill in our referral form and be in the running to win a 16GB Apple iPhone 3G! If the person you referred to us gets the job, the iPhone is yours.