April 2006

Free website analysis and profiling

Submitted by Damien on Fri, 04/21/2006 - 4:09pm

I got an email today to say that Quest Software was renewing support for their two free website analsysis products. Funnel Web Analyzer will scan your website logs to generate traffic reports while Funnel Web Profiler scans your site itself to generate lists of content statistics - word usage, code errors, etc, etc - very useful stuff indeed.

Easy round corners in CSS

Submitted by Damien on Thu, 04/20/2006 - 7:54pm

There have been many attempts to create boxes with round corners over the years, some using tables, some using Javascript, others with images. This is the first, and possibly only, that uses only CSS and HTML to do so, and it seems to work rather well. While not as awe-inspiringly flexible as some options, its simplicity and code-length (or lack there of) make it stand out.

http://www.spiffycorners.com/

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Dramatically improve test-driven development

Submitted by Damien on Thu, 04/20/2006 - 1:17pm

Test-driven development is one of the best benefits that Ruby on Rails brings to modern web development, but it can be a bit tricky, and laborious, constantly tweaking test code, running the tests, then making required changes. Enter autotest, part of a suite called ZenTest, which makes life dramatically easier for you.

TaxCut vs TurboTax

Submitted by Damien on Mon, 04/10/2006 - 4:52am

For the first few years we had to do a tax return in the USA I used TurboTax to do so. Back in 1999 it was pretty simple for us to do our taxes as we had almost nothing to list in it. Over the years it got a bit more complicated but continued to be manageable. Around the 2002-2003 time-frame Intuit, who makes TurboTax, decided to do some naughty things with their software - the installed some extra limitations on how or when you could install their software, which would pose problems if we ever needed to verify the data in future years.

Keep track of Ruby on Rails changes

Submitted by Damien on Mon, 04/10/2006 - 2:43am

Here's an easy way to keep track of the on-going changes to Ruby on Rails. The Rails team use the system Trac to manage their development and it includes a page to list all of the recent changes.

Macs go Intel, then go Windows? (UPDATED)

Submitted by Damien on Wed, 04/05/2006 - 2:37pm

After the announcement in 2005 that Apple were going to change their Macintosh computers from the IBM/Motorola PowerPC range of processors to Intel's x86 line everyone thought they were nuts. Well it seems the insanity continues as Apple have just announced a program called Boot Camp that allows anyone with an Intel-based Mac to run Windows!

Don't leave chocolate beside laptop exhaust vent

Submitted by Damien on Mon, 04/03/2006 - 10:00pm

A silly one this time. Whatever you do don't leave chocolate, be it chocolate pieces, chocolate covered nuts or anything chocolate related, sitting against the exhaust vent of a laptop as the chocolate will melt onto and into your laptop and will probably void its warranty. Just don't do it.

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Slow network? Reboot your modem!

Submitted by Damien on Mon, 04/03/2006 - 10:00pm

An odd one today. Over the past few days (week?) I've noticed that our cable Internet connection was a bit slower than usual, basically lots of latency and downloads running at 1/10th their usual speed which makes running a VPN connection a real pain. Calling tech support didn't get anywhere as they insist that you disconnect any router that you might have wired up and directly connect one computer to the line. I figured for SCOs and Googles (s'n'gs) that I'd try doing what they asked anyway.

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