Image Upload with YUI Editor 2.5.0

Posted on February 25, 2008 by Dennis

The YUI team has been making further enhancements to the YUI library. I decided to stick together in one post all the previous resources I’ve added for the YUI Image Uploader and make sure the uploader was compatible with the latest version of the YUI Rich Text Editor.

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Posted in Programming | Tagged , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

I think Spore on the DS is going to stink

Posted on February 13, 2008 by Dennis

Ok, I’m taking a little sidetrack from my usual line of topics. I certainly spend plenty of time programming and learning things. What do I do in the rest of the time? A range of activities including, but not limited to, playing on my DS and Wii!

Well, anyone who follows any type of gaming industry news has certainly at least heard of Spore, the next Sim game from Sim City creator Will Wright. Just this morning, I read a Spore walk through given to Wired Magazine by Will himself.

Spore on the DS

I think that the game has a lot of potential to be a whole bunch of fun. I was especially excited to see that there will be a DS version and possibly a future Wii version. When I got to the slide that discussed the DS version, my first instinct was to scan quickly to see what is not going to be included. I was disappointed to read the following:

Of course, things have been dramatically scaled back for each version. The Nintendo DS game, shown here, will concentrate on the “creature” phase. You’ll build your own critters, then take them out into the world. You’ll be able to use the DS’ internet capabilities to swap creatures with other players all over the world.

So apparently if you are going to play Spore on the DS, you’ll be not be evolving your creation from the primordial soup, playing the RTS tribe mode, or entering the space age. Hm. I really hope there is a Wii version that doesn’t stink.

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Ten Principles Of Effective Web Design

Posted on February 11, 2008 by Dennis

Here is another article from Digg.com highlighting some effective web design techniques. I’m stockpiling these for the next time I have a new project that requires a new face. This one is particularly informative since it gives examples at the beginning of how users use the web and then shows how you can take advantage of that. From the article:

Since the visitor of the page is the only person who clicks the mouse and therefore decides everything, user-centric design has established as a standard approach for successful and profit-oriented web design. In order to use the principles properly we first need to understand how users interact with web-sites, and how they think.

read more | digg story

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Is Pylons the Best Python Web Framework?

Posted on February 8, 2008 by Dennis

I’ve been playing with Python for close to two years now. I started out playing with Python when I had a need to develop web applications faster. I was getting rather bored with the additional development time that the thousands of lines of XML and the constant restarting of Tomcat that the Java, Struts, Hibernate, et al. stack was adding to my workload. Anyway, at the beginning of my Python journey, I began evaluating a few different Python web frameworks. After these couple of years, I’m ready to record a few of my thoughts on the process.

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Posted in Programming | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Managing Gmail Identities with Apple Mail 3.0

Posted on February 4, 2008 by Dennis

A commenter pointed out on my original post about Apple Mail and Gmail that you can manage multiple Gmail identities by separating each email address with a comma. Here are the steps:

  1. If you have already set up your Gmail identities on Gmail, you can go to the next step. You can’t use an alternate address for an identity that you have not confirmed with Gmail. If you haven’t added the identity in Gmail yet, you can click “Settings” from the links at the top of you Gmail account and then choose the “Accounts” tab. After you’ve confirmed the identity with Gmail, you can use it with Apple Mail.
  2. Open Mail preferences and select your Gmail account.
  3. The entry box that says “Email Address” could really be titled “Email Addresses”. Simply enter all your Gmail identities, each separated by a comma, in this box.
  4. When composing a new message, you’ll now have a drop down box for different email addresses.

Just for curiosity’s sake, I tried entering an email address that I hadn’t confirmed with Gmail. The message is still sent but the sender was simply set back to my main Gmail address.

Posted in Software | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

8 Web Design Mistakes That Developers Make

Posted on January 31, 2008 by Dennis

I decided to make a blog entry for this so I can come back again and review it later. I fall exactly into the category of “developers creating websites”. Luckily, most of the work I do, at least professionally, has someone else to be in charge of how it looks! I found the tips mentioned here very useful however.

From the article:

An excellent website takes a particularly savvy blend of both great design and great code. Because of this, you often find designers having to figure out code and developers trying their hand at design. Speaking as a developer who spent his university years studying among other developers, I can safely say that programmers are not designers.

read more | digg story

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