Articles

What is HTML5?

In the last year I’ve seen an almost frantic rush of companies trying to find HTML5 developers, and subsequently a rush of developers scrambling to fill that demand. However, both sides seem unable to answer questions like, “What does HTML5 actually mean?”, “Can I call myself an HTML5 developer?”, “What do I look for when hiring an HTML5 developer?” The first question I always ask about the project is “Which components actually require HTML5?” From there we can begin to narrow down what we’re looking for and eventually answer all the other questions. I ask this first because I frequently hear things like “It has to be optimized for iPad” which does NOT automatically mean you need HTML5. In many cases, the project may even just need a good JavaScript developer.

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2 Beginner Tips for Adobe Illustrator

I’ve used Illustrator in the past but I don’t honestly remember my way around the interface. So as per my usual routine, I will be recording my intro steps for you and future me.

Here are the first to things that tripped me up. Everything beyond this I’ll probably resort to tutorials or just find on my own. Enjoy!
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JavaScript Explained: Difference Between Logical OR “||” and Bitwise OR “|”

I’m not ashamed to say today I got slammed on a JavaScript pop quiz presented to me by a curious coworker. It is the type of question you might see on a JavaScript-centric job interview conducted by someone who likes giving questions that trip you up : )

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6 SEO Secrets That Can Get Your Website Banned From Google

Professional SEO services and website developers go to great lengths to ensure their clients have top notch websites that generate as much traffic as possible. Google is always on the lookout for pages that use dirty tricks to attract visitors. This post explores six of those tricks, from a different, more humorous perspective.

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Setting up an Amazon EC2 Server to Run TeamCity

This post is a follow-up to my previous post – Intro to Continuous Integration with TeamCity. As I learned, TeamCity is best (for my project) when set up on an Amazon EC2 instance. Since we’re using Git (via GitHub) for source control, TeamCity can listen to our GitHub repo and recognize when a commit has been made so it can run any appropriate build procedures.
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Intro to Continuous Integration with TeamCity

In my most recent endeavor, I am redesigning the build process for a new project. I’ve decided to use Git for source control, TeamCity for CI (Continuous Integration), Amazon EC2 for hosting the CI server, and a MediaTemple Dedicated Virtual server for hosting the production and staging sites.

Though some people may have you believe setting this all up is easy, I can comfortably admit that in my experience it has not been. Hence, the blog posts which will serve to remind me how to get back into this mess should I ever accidentally find my way out.
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“Pay Whatever and Download” jQuery Plugin

Today I want to release my very first jQuery plugin. Actually I’m not going to post it officially to jQuery’s plugin repo yet. I just want to get it out there small-time so I have a chance to tweak it a bit before going all spotlights and ammunition over on jQuery’s site. With my recent return to blogging regularly, I have been thinking of different types of interesting content to create like PSDs, or ebooks, etc… content that will take a lot of time to produce. So I thought of this plugin for one simple reason: Creating content takes time, and for those readers who appreciate that content enough to flip me a buck for it, I say – why not do it in style?

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A Few Beginner Tips for OmniGraffle Users

I’m getting started today using OmniGraffle Pro for another project. I’ve poked around in it before but not to this extent. The goal is to get a double-benefit: learn OmniGraffle, and produce some nice looking wireframes.

So the goal of this post is to document a few of the things that tripped me up first, having come in with a lot of Photoshop habits and expectations. I will assume that you are creating a new blank document for each of these items.
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Configuring the EGit Plugin for Eclipse

You would hope this process was straightforward but it’s not so I’m writing this post to help Future Me again. Here are the prereqs:

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Uploading a Project to GitHub

This post follows another post titled Installing Git on Windows. It is a series of posts meant to document my process of Learning how to use the Git source control system.

Here are the steps I’ve gone through already:

  1. Set up an account on GitHub
  2. Download and Install Git

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