Yearly Archives: 2011

How to Build a Lego Wall in Your Home or Office

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Many web developers can trace their humble beginnings to the family room floor of their childhood, where boxes of Lego bricks spilled out into our imaginative hands and became flying cars, futuristic skyscrapers, impenetrable fortresses, and whatever else we could think to build. Yes, many of us enjoy developing web-based applications because it is so […]

An Overview of the Open Source Landscape at OSCON 2011

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This last July I had another opportunity to attend OSCON 2011 in Portland, Oregon. So I did what any self-described beer and technology enthusiast would do, I jumped on a plane and flew north. While in attendance, I soaked in as much knowledge as I could — insight, instruction, tips, and funny stories about the […]

Configure Your Web-based Application to Receive Email Using Wildcard Virtual Subdomains, Postfix and Linux

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Many web-based applications, including online project management software, feature the ability to accept and process emails. For example, an incoming email may be tweeted, posted to flickr, or appended to a task. The online abundance of productivity tools has helped us get out of our inboxes, but they haven’t replaced email entirely. In fact, many […]

Looking Back on Old School Web Design & Development Methods

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The Web, as we know it today, has advanced a considerable amount from it’s original incarnation. HTML hasn’t changed as much as the web browser, and web designer and developers have advocated and implemented higher standards in their work. From CSS improvements to better use of semantic HTML, the Web has (mostly) become a better […]

Calculate the number of lines in a CSV file using PHP and Linux

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When parsing large text files, particularly CSV files, web developers often need to know the number of lines contained in the file up front. Knowing the CSV line count is useful for a number of reasons, for example, displaying a progress meter while parsing the large file, or estimating how long the parsing process might […]

Web-based Application Development Tip: Protect Your “Tenants”

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According to the New York times, thieves were able to capture the names, account numbers, e-mail addresses and transaction histories of more than 200,000 Citi customers, using the Citigroup customer web site. This isn’t the first time a financial institution has had its data compromised. What is so alarming about this particular security breach was […]

Clever release names for creative developers

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Ubuntu and its alliterative, animal themes, are the first thing that comes to our minds when we think of noticeable nomenclatures used by developers — in place of boring, old-fashioned numbers — to label significant releases. More recently they’ve released Lucid Lynx, Maverick Meerkat, and Natty Narwhal. As I write this they are working on […]