April 17th, 2008
by Robin Tebrake
You waste your server resources for web applications? Why don’t accept the help of Google. Just a few days ago Google launched its Google App Engine. Being still in beta it allows you to upload your web application on the Google network and use their computational power. With a free account you are already able to use 500MB space, a CPU usage of 200,000,000 megacycles and a maximum of 10GB bandwidth per day. Also you get several other features:
- Dynamic webserving, with full support of common web technologies
- Persistent storage
- Automatic scaling and load balancing
- Google APIs for authenticating users and sending email
- Fully featured local development environment
Great - Where do I have to sign in?
Google App Engine is still in beta. There were 10,000 beta accounts available but after ca. 3 hours they were all gone. Google already announced that more accounts will follow in the near future. So don’t hesitate to subscribe to the waitlist.
April 14th, 2008
by Gerrit Tebrake
At first what does Ajax mean?
AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML), is a web development technique used for creating interactive web applications. Ajax is asynchronous, in so far as extra data is requested from the server and loaded in the background. This is intended to increase the web page’s interactivity, speed, functionality and usability. Ajax function calls are usually made in Javascript using the XMLHttpRequest object. The asynchronous content doesn’t need to be formatted in XML.
Scripts for your Website
As quite every modern website makes use of at least a bit of Ajax you may want to have a few of those cool effects for your page. So I collected the best scripts for you. All of them are free to use and easy to install.
Lightbox 2 - Lightbox is a simple, unobtrusive script used to overlay images on the current page. It’s a snap to setup and works on all modern browsers.
April 6th, 2008
by Gerrit Tebrake
Talking from web2.0, you think of fade effects, live form validation and other nice and often practical effects. But how are these things realized? Is it something that only professional programmer can assemble?
The only thing that would be helpful is a general understanding of Javascript and HTML. Many of the effects you may have in mind are realized by using open-source libraries or other freely available code snippets. You just have to integrate a few Javascripts and call a few functions to have a beautiful web2.0-ish effect for your website.
In my view the best library is script.aculo.us in connection with prototype.js. They are easy to understand, have a large documentation and a good community. Other libraries worth mentioning are jQuery, Dojo, MochiKit, mootools and YUI. After installing the libraries, it’s so easy to create. Make a few Ajax calls, fall back on entire functions, get some groove effects - and your code is much lighter than before! So why not try to use one of these libraries, after a bit practice you will thank yourself for taking this step.
March 30th, 2008
by Robin Tebrake
Yesterday WordPress 2.5 has been released with a couple of new features. Those who want to upgrade WordPress now, can do it here.
The popular blogging platform needed six months for this major upgrade. But what changes with the new version? The most important update regards the all-new dashboard. It isn’t a static site anymore but consists of several customizable widgets and only provides you with the most important links. Therefore it is very easy to fit the dashboard according to your needs.
The developers of Wordpress spend this version a completely new and fresh color scheme, changed the menu order and recoded the media gallery. Now it is possible to easily upload and manage images as well as videos and other files. Further remarkable new features are editing protection for multi-admin blogs and an built-in plugin update function. The whole list of changes can be read at the WordPress Blog. All in all WordPress 2.5 is a recommendable update, I am sure everyone will love.
March 21st, 2008
by Gerrit Tebrake
Mark Zuckerberg did it and many others! They build successful websites and applications, and you can do the same! The first and most important thing is the idea. If your idea has potential then why not give it a try! Many people haven’t thought of becoming famous and rich by their websites but they were wrong.
What do you need to start your own website, blog or web application?
The idea - it’s the A and O to be successful! Are there already sites that do the same as yours? Is it possible to make money with your idea (sell premium content, banner advertising) or do you just want to be popular?
The website - do you master (x)HTML, PHP and JavaScript and maybe another language like Java? The point is - make yourself clear what is possible with your capabilities and what not. Maybe hire a professional programmer, but keep in mind that they are very expensive. Also nowadays it’s essential to permanently keep an eye on your sites’ security.
