Recently, I wanted to learn how to make Facebook applications using Ruby on Rails. For my first project, I decided to build a small application to let people find, share, install and promote Ubuntu software right from within Facebook. Determining which software we use can be a very social experience, often we’ll ask our friends [...]
Find, Share and Install Ubuntu Apps on Facebook
by Jim on 27. Jun, 2009 in Facebook, Fun, Linux, Ruby on Rails, Ubuntu
View your site in (almost) every browser with Browsershots
by Jim on 14. Jan, 2008 in CSS, Web Authoring
Ever wonder what your website looks like in different browsers? Even though most of us would prefer that people didn’t use browsers like Internet Explorer 6, these old browsers are still widely used. If you want to make sure that your site is not completely broken in these old browsers, try Browsershots.org.
Browsershots generates screenshots of [...]
Yaml Cookbook for Ruby
by Jim on 14. Jan, 2008 in Ruby on Rails
I wanted to learn some about YAML so I could use it in one of my current Ruby on Rails projects. A quick google search turned up a lot of information, but nothing quite as useful as the Yaml Cookbook for Ruby. The cookbook is full of examples of YAML and the corresponding Ruby code. [...]
Firebug
by Jim on 27. Dec, 2006 in CSS, Web Authoring
While working on a new site today, I was reminded of just how great the Firebug extension for Firefox really is. I used Firebug heavily about 6 months ago for a Ruby on Rails application. I used it mostly for monitoring and debugging my AJAX calls. Firebug has come a long way [...]
‘Tis The Season For … Ruby!
by Jim on 19. Dec, 2006 in Fun, Open Source, Ruby on Rails, Web Authoring
The guys over at Ruby Inside are putting together a
Ruby Advent Calendar. The Calendar features a new article about Ruby for each day of Advent.
Following the trend, Err the Blog has put together their own Advent Calendar that’s packed full of useful Rails tips (focusing mostly on ActiveSupport). There are some great gems in there!
Kevin Lynch Interviewed About Adobe’s Apollo Project
by Jim on 18. Dec, 2006 in Articles, Flash, Web Authoring
TalkCrunch recently interviewed Kevin Lynch about Adobe’s upcoming Apollo project. I’ve been keeping my eye on Apollo and it seems quite interesting. Adobe is calling Apollo “a cross-operating system runtime being developed by Adobe that allows developers to leverage their existing web development skills (Flash, Flex, HTML, JavaScript, Ajax) to build and deploy [...]
Save Bandwidth and Speed Up Your Site With Apache 2 and mod_deflate
by Jim on 03. Nov, 2006 in Open Source, Software, Tech, Web Authoring
If you’re a website operator or up-and-coming blogger, you may have noticed your bandwidth bills growing larger each month. Fortunately, there’s a very easy way to transparently compress your pages and save bandwidth and download time for you and your visitors. Version 2 of the Apache web server features a module called “mod_deflate”, [...]
Blake Ross of Firefox Fame Has a New Project: Parakey
by Jim on 02. Nov, 2006 in Software, Tech, Web Authoring
IEEE Spectrum has a great 4-page article about a new project from Blake Ross. His idea seems very similar to Adobe’s Apollo project. It seems that cross-platform, “sometimes connected” web/desktop applications are “coming things“. The article is a little long, but a very interesting read.
Read more: IEEE Spectrum: The Firefox Kid
37Signals Releases Free Version of "Getting Real”
by Jim on 26. Oct, 2006 in Ruby on Rails, Tech, Web Authoring
I picked up “Getting Real” from 37Signals back when it was first released as a PDF book. It was well worth the $19 price tag. The book is packed full of useful insights into starting and running your own web business.
I’ve recommended the book to several people (you know who you are), but [...]
Some Interesting Website Statistics
by Jim on 10. Jul, 2006 in Web Authoring
W3Counter – Global Web Stats
I hope some people will take Firefox’s 25% market share as a sign to quit making their sites compatible only with IE (um, are you listinging Yahoo!?).




