Introduction
The following is a collection of resources related to managing a business.
Check List
The following is a check list of sorts for building a business around a web application. While the list below focuses primarily on software, there are a basic items mixed in the list that any business should have regardless of the industry that you are in. Keep in mind that while the items are numbered, they don’t necessarily represent order:
- Web Hosting - You need a good web hosting service that is reliable and can scale. Amazon’s EC2 computing might be worth considering.
- Web Presence - Not only do you need a hosting service for the web application you are developing but you also need a personal blog where you can talk about the things you are passionate about (preferably a professional one using your real name), a micro-blog like Twitter, a blog as part of your web application so you can talk about news specific to the app, and a corporate blog to represent your the many aspects of your business.
- Marketing - Establishing a web presence definitely helps but you also need to be involved with the community by posting comments on various web sites, maybe helping out with open source projects, etc. It also helps to put together easy to understand podcasts and screencast demos.
- Documentation - Along with the marketing speak, it also helps to have well written documentation, context sensitive help, and F.A.Q. pages. Putting the effort into writing good doc should help reduce the number of repeat questions which allows you to get back to doing what you want to do most: write more code.
- Statistics - It is a good idea to study the kind of traffic flowing in and out of your site. One way is to add Google Analytics or similar services.
- Payment Processing - You’ll need to handle the processing of credit card payments and other financial transactions so make sure you understand the APIs and how to integrate them in your web application.
- Source Control - You need to be able to version your software, patch it, etc and setting up a Subversion repository or using Git is a good idea.
- Backups - A good rule of thumb is to have your data backed up in triplicate. A couple of hard drive solutions, like Drobo, would work best with the third being a secure store in the cloud (again Amazon S3 comes to mind).
- Bug Tracking - You need to be able to track your bugs. Many people like Fog Bugz and even Trac. You can also use OmniFocus as a single-user, quick and dirty solution.
- Accountant - Your going to need one to pay all those new taxes. You might have to hop around a couple of times until you find one that you really like.
- Lawyer - You will need a lawyer for those tricky contracts, terms of service, licenses, etc but these guys are serious money drains. So know of one and keep him/her in the ready but only use when necessary.
- Software Licenses - The software you buy had better be legit.
News
- Mac Software Business Podcast - A good podcast to subscribe to learning how to run a business on a MacOS. Despite the fact that the podcasts focuses primarily on MacOS software, it is also good for any startup.
- MacBreak Tech - A good site to check out in general. I am linking to this site because the “Making Mac Your Business” podcast episode is definitely worth checking out.
Tips & Tricks
Introduction
Email, while we might have a love/hate relationship with, it is still a major means of communication. The following page is dedicated to developing better email messages that you might use for personal or business purposes.
Services
- MailChimp - Not free but might be worth paying for if you need to compose email messages that look professional. Even if you don’t use the service, browse around the site. There are a lot of resources and helpful tips for designing better email messages. They even have some email templates you can download.
Resources
- Email Standards Project - Helps developers and designers improve the standards and accessibility of their email messages. You will also find information on the various email clients and how well they deal with HTML messages.
Introduction
The following page is dedicated to news, repair, and maintenance information about the Genuine Buddy 125cc scooter made by the Genuine Scooter Company.
Maintenance
A fairly comprehensive service guide can be found on pages 29-30 in manual provided with the scooter.
Supplies
You will want to keep the following on hand for servicing your scooter:
- Engine Oil: SAE 10W30
- Brake Oil: FMVSS DOT3(4) or SAE J1703
- Gear Oil: SAE 140
- Spark Plug: C7HSA (for NGK) or CR7HSA (for EEC)
Resources
- Modern Buddy - A forum with plenty of news and discussion about the scooter.
- Scooter Net - Dedicated to scooter enthusiasts.
Introduction
The following is a collection of design tips, tricks, resources, etc.
Testing
- DebugBar - An IE plug-in that allows you to debug JavaScript, view the DOM, etc. It also allows you to test various versions of IE from one instance of IE.
Resources
- Wikipedia Commons - A general source of freely available media. Make sure to read the disclaimer though.
- Yahoo! Stenci Kit - As the name implies, a collection of stencils to help get you jump started in your design.
- FlashDen - A resource for buying and selling flash components as well as audio tracks, fonts, and much more.
- Flipping Book - A nice flash-based page flip widget that can be tied into any web app.
- Icon Finder - Find well designed icons.
- Crystal Clear - A collection of symbolic graphics.
- 100 Free Circular Icons
- Calendar Icons - 12 icons that can easily be used to represent months of the year.
- iStockphoto - A treasure trove of media that can be bought and sold. When buying the media for use in other uses, it comes royalty free.
- Soundsnap - A collection of sound effects.
Introduction
This page is dedicated to using and learning about the Netbeans IDE.
Tutorials
Overview
This widget adds a graphical user interface to many of the options found in wp_list_categories function. Here is a screenshot of what the widget has to offer:
Example
The following is an example of the widget being used within a theme as displayed to the public:
License
This software is licensed under the GNU License.
Support
As with all software, there is likely to be some undiscovered bugs. Let me know if you find anything and I’ll work on getting it fixed when I have time (hey, its not like I’m getting paid or anything).
Installation
To install, follow these steps:
- Make sure you meet the requirements listed below.
- Download the latest release of the widget from the downloads section listed below.
- Extract the “aeonscope-categories-widget.php” file from the downloaded JAR file (or rename the JAR to ZIP if that is easier).
- Upload the “aeonscope-categories-widget.php” file to the wp-content/plugins directory of your WordPress install.
- Activate the plugin via the Wordpress “Plugins” menu.
- Browse to the WordPress “Design” menu, add the “Aeonscope Categories” widget to your theme, and customize the widget as you see fit.
Requirements
Release Notes
Downloads
Introduction
The following is a capture of camera and camcorder electronics as well as related accessories.
Tips & Tricks
Cameras
- Canon PowerShot G9 - A 12MP semi-pro, compact camera with image stabilization and video support.
- Canon EOS 40D - A 10.1MP prosumer digital camera with image stabilization and other impressive stats.
- Nikon D300 - Comparable to the Canon EOS 40D. Rated as the best prosumer camera to buy in some circles.
Camcorders
- Sony HDR-SR12 - Captures 1920×1080 video at 60fps which can be increased to 240fps for high speed filming. Sports a 120GB hard drive with HDMI connections. Records 5.1 Dolby Digital sound with built-in microphone. Has a 12x optical zoom with a 150x digital zoom. Video is recorded at 5MP while still images can be captured at 10MP. Face-recognition and image stability is included.
- Canon HG10 - Captures 15 hours (roughly) of high-definition video on a 40 GB hard drive in AVCHD format. Sports a top-notch image stabilizer. The video format is hard to use with many image/video applications though.
- Samsung SC-X210WL - A wireless helmet cam.
- Flip Video - Captures 640×480 video resolution at 30fps with storage up to 1GB. Comes with a built-in USB arm that can connect to Windows and Mac computers. The camcorder is available as a standard and ultra portable device that can be accessorized for underwater and other physical activites. Follow the link and check out some of the interesting features for quickly capturing and sharing video.
Accessories
- Gitzo - Makers of high quality ball-heads and other tripod mounts.
- Acratech - Another manufacturer of professional ball-head and other tripod mounts.
Maintenance
- Formula MC - A good cleaner to have around for cleaning your lenses.
History
Berserk Technologies is a Limited Liability Company (LLC) that was founded on April 1st, 2008. The company was formed out of a desire to use few resources, a network of friends, and low overhead to get the job done in a fast, reliable, and consistent manner.
Services
Berserk Technologies provides software consulting services as well as custom software development using Java, Ruby, JavaScript, and CSS languages.
The Team
Berserk Technologies is owned and operated by Brooke Kuhlmann who wears many hats (president, accountant, developer, system administrator, tech support, quality assurance, janitor, etc.)
Contact
While there is no official company web page as of yet, feel free to contact me (Brooke) via e-mail (use the page header icon) or via Skype (ID: aeonscope).
© VMWare
Introduction
VMWare Fusion is a Mac OS application that enables one to run virtual machines (VMs) of other operating systems like Windows, Ubuntu, etc.
News
- Team Fusion - A blog dedicated to Fusion news on the Mac OS platform.
Tips and Tricks
Overview
This Java library is a collection tools I have written in the evenings and weekends to solve interesting problems that I have come across. Maybe you will find these tools useful as well.
License
All software is licensed under the Apache 2.0 License.
Javadoc
The latest Javadoc can be found here.
Support
As with all software, there is likely to be some undiscovered bugs. Let me know if you find anything and I’ll work on getting it fixed when I have time (hey, its not like I’m getting paid or anything).
Requirements
Downloads
Video Resolutions
- DVD: 720×480 pixels
- HD-DVD: 1920×1080 pixels
- HD VMD: 1920×1080 pixels. More info found here.
- UHDV: Ultra high-definition video. The next generation of video beyond HDTV. Suppose to have 4,000 horizontal lines of resolution and will have 16 times more pixel count than HDTV.
Video Formats
- CD: Infrared laser.
- DVD: Red laser.
- HD-DVD & BD-ROM: Blue laser.
Audio Formats
SACD vs. DVD Audio. SACD has a stronger hold over DVD Audio only because it much easier to use, cheeper, and requires less equipment. However, DVD Audio is superior to SACD when properly set up. The reasons for the DVD Audio lack of momentum is:
- DVD Audio came out way after DVD Video was in full force. It should have came out around the same time.
- You usually need a TV/monitor to manipulate and use the menu.
- Not many DVD Audio disks exist in the market.
- No standard for bass management.
- No standard for equipment hookup (connecting a DVD Audio player requires a ton of RCA cables).
- DVD Audio disks don’t alway utilize the speaker layout properly. In some cases the sound shows up behind you when it really doesn’t need to be there.
HDMI
When buying displays, receivers, DVD players, etc. Make sure they support HDMI 1.3. You will want to buy devices that support xvYCC and Deep Color as they are part of the HDMI 1.3 spec. More info in Home Theater Magazine (Page 32).
In addition to HDMI 1.3, the following audio formats should be included in your shopping considerations:
- Dolby TrueHD - The latest and greatest in sound quality from Dolby Labs.
- DTS-HD - The DTS equivalent of Dolby TrueHD.
Sound Proofing
References
- SA-CD - News and reviews dedicated to the SA-CD audio disk format.
- DVD Demystified - Learn about the DVD technology. Complete with a FAQ and other useful info.
- DVD Help - Learn how to make DVD, SVCDs, and Video CDs.
- DVD Tests - Learn about the compatibilty problems amongst DVDs.
- CELF - Consumer Electronics Linux Forum. Using open source architecture to promote technical advancements on the Linux platform.
- 100,000 Watts - U.S. Radio and TV directory. Get the full breakdown, state-by-state, of what broadcast signals your city might emitting. Great for checking on HDTV capabilities. The only downside is that it requires a membership.
- Digital Film Forum - Forum devoted to video calibration.
My Picks
- Paradigm Studio Reference - My personal favorite (The Perfect Vision, Issue 57, Page 70 and Absolute Sound (Issue 164). Received the 2006 Editor’s Choice Award (The Perfect Vision, Issue 72, Page 72). When shopping around, make sure the speakers are v4 (i.e. Version 4.0) as this is the latest upgrade in the line.
- B&W 700 Series - Excellent dynamic range as well as being soft and fluid while at the same time still able to pack a punch. The design of these speakers is top-notch (The Perfect Vision, Issue 54, Page 79). Received the 2006 Editor’s Choice Award (The Perfect Vision, Issue 72, Page 73).
- Definitive Technology Mythos ST - Rated as one of the best speakers of 2007 by The Perfect Vision (Issue 82).
- Monitor Audio Bronze Reference Speakers - Interesting set of speakers. Have not listened to these in person but I am fond of the design.
Notes
Most home theater setups use a D’ Appolito configuration for the center channel. The D’ Appolito configuration is a loudspeaker set on it’s side and has a midbass-tweeter-midbase configuration. The center channel is the most critical speaker in a home theater setup as it produces 80% of all signal info. The center channel is also responsible for producing clear, intelligible voices.
All high definition loud speakers should be able to reproduce the 20Hz to 20kHz range (optimal). This includes the center and surround speakers. If not able to reach 20Hz, then 30 to 60Hz would be the bare minimum.
Surround speakers should be placed at a ratio of 1.5:1 of distance between the front speakers. Meaning that if the left and right front speakers are 10 feet apart from each other, the surround speakers should be at least 15 feet apart from the front speakers. If nothing else, all speakers should be at least equidistant from each other.
Subwoofers appear usually crossover at 50, 60, or 80Hz. Ideally 30 to 40Hz would be better providing that your loudspeakers are up to snuff.
Blu-Ray Players
Buy a PS3. To be honest, I am not interested in this format and am looking into digital solutions rather than get sucked into buying more disks.
DVD Players
- Oppo DV-981HD - Rated best DVD player of 2007 by The Perfect Vision (Reviewed in Issue 78). A related review that might be of interest is Roo’s Oppo DV-980HD review.
- Denon DVD-5910 - The Perfect Vision gave the following rank to this DVD player (where 10 is the highest rank possible): Video 10.2, Audio 9.2, Price/Performance 9.2.
- Denon DVD-2910 - Provides excellent capabilities found in higher end electronics for a cheaper price (The Perfect Vision, Issue 60). Is being replaced by the DVD-2930. Received 2006 Editor’s Choice Award (The Perfect Vision, Issue 72, Page 57).
- Denon DVD-1920 - Received a 8 out of 10 rank in video, audio, and price/performance when reviewed by The Perfect Vision.
If shopping for a DVD player, look for a player that supports progressive scan technology. This will improve your picture quality by changing the normal interlaced signal to a progressive scan signal (double check that your TV or monitor support progressive scan input). Players that support Sage/Faroudja DCDi technology are a good bet. A progressive-scan DVD player should be able to handle the 3-2 pulldown cadence of film to NTSC transfer.
NOTE: Films are shot at 24fps while NTSC TV displays at 30fps.
My Picks
- JVC DLA-HD1 - Supports a multitude of video formats with very high ratings for video reproduction.
- Sony VPL-VW200 - The grand daddy of the Sony projector line. I wrote about the VPL-VW100 model a while back here. The VPL-VW100, which is no longer available, received the 2006 Editor’s Choice Award (The Perfect Vision, Issue 72, Page 56).
- Sony VPL-VW60 - Supports 1080p resolutions at 24 and 60fps. Screen suggestions: Stewart Filmscreen’s Firehawk SST screen (as both Sony and Stewart collaborated to make this possible). The Perfect Vision provides a much more comprehensive review of the VPL-VW50 model (Issue 73, Page 56) which received The Perfect Vision’s 2006 Top Product of the Year Award (Issue 74, Page 60).
- Pioneer Elite PRO-1140HD (plasma) - Possibly one of the best plasmas out there (The Perfect Vision, Issue 67, Page 82). Received the 2006 Editor’s Choice Award (The Perfect Vision, Issue 72, Page 53).
- Sharp LC37D90U - (LCD) Supports multiple HDMI hookups and full 1080p resolution. This is part of the AQUOS line (The Perfect Vision, Issue 71). Received the 2006 Editor’s Choice Award (The Perfect Vision, Issue 72, Page 52).
Flat Panel Display Mounts
For those wishing to securely mount their flat panel displays on the wall, check out Peerless Industries as an option.
Screens
When using front projection, you need a good screen to supplement it. Shooting on the wall will work but is less than optimal and destroys the true nature of a good front projector. Here are a few choices:
- Stewart Filmscreen Grayhawk RS, Firehawk, and Studiotek 130 - Received 2006 Editor’s Choice Award (The Perfect Vision, Issue 72, Page 57).
- Screen Research ClearPix2 - Received 2006 Editor’s Choice Award (The Perfect Vision, Issue 72, Page 57).
As a screen alternative, check out the Vogel screen paint.
Plasma Considerations
- They are very delicate. The screens can crack if not packaged carefully and can even break under their own weight if tipped or placed face-down.
- They suffer screen burn (where an image stays in one place for too long, never moving so that it etches itself into the screen). Examples are screen burn occur when playing video games or watching 4:3 images.
- Have the best viewing able for large audiences.
LCD Considerations
- Do not support wide viewing angles for large audiences.
- Can suffer from dead pixels (where one pixels stops working causing a blank or off-color spot in your image.
- Make sure you buy a display that has a response time of 8 milliseconds or less so that you do not suffer from motion lag which is what happens when fast moving objects on the screen create ghosting effects because of slow response times.
- Do not suffer screen burn like plasma displays do and are ideal for 4:3 images and video games.
Facts
- Going from 1080p at 24fps (fps = frames per second) to 1080i at 60fps that equates to a 30% loss in vertical detail.
- Most TVs can’t fully display 1080p/24 even though companies claim this.
- The ATSC Table 3 includes 1080p/24.
- SXRD Display Technology has a resolution of 1920×1080.
Introduction
JavaScript, as you will know if you have done any web development, is a client-side scripting language that enables some of the clever desktop-like behavior you can experience on various web sites today. Of course, AJAX plays an important part in this as well.
Getting Started
Tips and Tricks
Libraries
- Prototype - Adds AJAX support for dynamic communication between browser and application. Here are some handy libraries built on top of Prototype: Starbox, Prototip, Proto.Menu, and ProtoChart.
- script.aculo.us - Provides a cross-browser, user-interface for your web applications. Sits nicely on top of Prototype.
- jQuery - A fast library that enables easy traversal of the HTML elements, animation support, AJAX, error handling, and has lots of useful plugins. Check out Visual jQuery to get, yes, a more visual experience of jQuery API or you can start learning jQuery now. Here are some additional libraries built on top of jQuery worth checking out: Validation, timeago, Flexigrid, Flot, and jParallax.
- Yahoo! User Interface Library (YUI) - Another JavaScript library that is a collection of utilities and controls for building robust web interfaces.
- Ext JS - Originating from the Yahoo! User Interface (YUI) library, Ext JS is a library that can be used to bring a lot of interesting UI behavior to your web application.
- Dojo - A library that has I/O, widget, GUI, testing, and animated transitions amongst other things.
- MooTools - A cross-browser and compact JavaScript framework with plug-in support.
- Jester - A JavaScript client that supports REST API and also uses Ruby on Rails coding conventions.
- LiveValidation - A library for client-side validation of text as it is typed.
- Date JS - A library for dealing with date and time.
- Timeframe - Built on top of Date JS, it allows you to select date ranges.
- SoundManager 2 - Wraps and extends the sound capabilities of Flash.
- PersistJS - A client-side, cross-browser persistent storage solution that does not use cookies.
Testing
- JsUnit - A client-side testing framework.
-
Screw Unit - A BDD testing framework that feels a bit like RSpec for JavaScript.
Tools
- Line-Height - A tool that helps you determine line-height for various fonts (since each font has it’s own calculation).
Overview
This Java library was created out of a desire to capture and reduce developing the same functionality more than once. This library builds mostly upon Apache Commons functionality but other well-known libraries are referenced as well.
License
All software is licensed under the Apache 2.0 License.
Javadoc
The latest Javadoc can be found here.
Support
As with all software, there is likely to be some undiscovered bugs. Let me know if you find anything and I’ll work on getting it fixed when I have time (hey, its not like I’m getting paid or anything).
Requirements
The following software is required to compile and run (might work with older versions):
Release Notes
Downloads
© The OmniGroup
Introduction
OmniFocus is personal task management software based on David Allen’s book Getting Things Done. If you have used notepads, daily planners, PDAs (i.e. Palm Pilot), etc. in the past then this is the next evolution of personal task management for you.
Getting Started
- Read the book “Getting Things Done” by David Allen.
- Watch the OmniFocus Basics and QuickStart videos to get started.
- Download a copy of OmniFocus to test and then buy it.
Settings
I always find sharing settings helps others think about how they might like to adjust their own settings. Here is what I have been using:
(click to view)
Tips and Tricks
Introduction
The Google Web Toolkit (GWT) is a web kit that allows developers to quickly design and develop AJAX applications using the Java language without having to write Javascript code. GWT does this by automatically compiling and optimizing the Java source code into Javascript libraries for the developer.
Getting Started
Coming soon…
Tutorials
Third-Party Libraries
The following are a few third-party libraries to help enhance GWT:
- gwt-jsonizer - Allows you to convert/revert your JavaBean objects into JSON strings.
- gwt-ent - Enables enterprise level support such as: UI generator, MVC framework, reflection, Spring integration, and acegi integration.
- MyGWT - A widget library that also uses the EXT JS library.
- GWT-Ext A GWT library that wraps the EXT JS library.
- GWT-SL- A server side library that integrates with the Spring Framework and Hibernate4gwt library.
- Gwittir - Provides MVC scaffolding.
- Hibernate4gwt - Easily use POJO between Hibernate and your Java client.
Resources
Coming soon…
Introduction
This page, while not containing a lot of information at the moment, is dedicated to information about Twitter.
Tips and Tricks
Applications
- PocketTweets - A web application built specifically for the iPhone. Allows you to post and get Twitter updates directly on your phone using WiFi or EDGE networks.
- Twitterific - An ascetically pleasing desktop application for the Mac OS that allows you to post and read tweets. Costs $14.
- Twidget - A free dashboard widget for the MacOS that allows you to post Twitter updates only.
- TwitBox - Another desktop application but for the Windows Vista OS. It is free to download and use.
- Twhirl - A platform independent Twitter application that runs on the Adobe AIR platform.
- Quatably - A web app that creates a threaded view of Twitter conversations.
- Tweet Scan - Allow one to search tweets by topic and/or by user.
The following is a capture of some useful accessories to compliment your electronics.
- GelaSkins - Buy skins for your phone or laptop using 3M adhesive technology that doesn’t leave a sticky residue when you are done using the skin. Most skins are for Apple products but there is some support for PCs and non-Apple cell phones.
- SkinIt - Buy from multiple categories of art for your laptop, phone, etc. or submit your own custom design for a skin you can apply to and customize your device with.
- Decal Girl - Add decals to your electronics with choices for many different styles.
- 15-Piece Cables-To-Go Kit - Contains USB, firewire, network cables, etc.
- ColorWare - A company that specializes in transforming existing electronics with new colors.
Introduction
The following sheds light on setting up networks properly. While information is sparse at the moment, this page will evolve over time.
Tips and Tricks
Introduction
This page, while not containing a lot of information at the moment, is dedicated to information about Google Earth.
Tips and Tricks
© Apple
Introduction
The following hardware list will help enhance your iPhone experience.
Native Applications
A few picks worth checking out:
- OmniFocus - Costs $20. Gain all the power of OmniFocus on your iPhone. Even better if you use the desktop app as you can synchronize between your desktop and phone.
- WordPress - Free. Allows one to blog from your phone with the ability to tap into all your data such as posts, categories, tags, etc.
- AOL Radio - Free. Listen to the radio.
- Google Mobile App - Free. Easily search your contact list and the web. Enables location based information searching as well.
- Here I Am - Free. Uses the current location data from your phone to e-mail someone in your contact list of where you are (the e-mail contains a Google Map link of your location). There are a couple apps of the same name so make sure to pick the one made by Matthew Mackey of Arboretum Software.
- Shazam - Free. Launch this app to listen to a song playing at your friend’s place, a club, etc. It will attempt to detect who the artist and album of the song for you.
- DataCase - $6.99. Turns your iPhone into a data store for personal documents and files that you might need on the go.
- Simplify Media - Free. Share your iTunes playlist or connect to your friends playlist through your iPhone.
You can read more about native applications here.
Web Applications
The following is a list of interesting web applications that can enhance your iPhone experience (assuming you have a decent WiFi or EDGE network connection):
- iPhone Apps Manager - Can be used to capture and manage your favorite applications.
- Skype for iPhone - Allows you to use Skype on your iPhone for text and chat. You can make voice calls but it will eat up your SkypeOut credit. Check out my Skype page for more details on Skype.
- Newsgator Mobile - Allows you to access your FeedDemon feeds on your iPhone. The best part is that all your feeds are synchronized across all accounts no matter whether you are on the iPhone, at home, work, etc. Check out my Feed Demon page for more details.
Accessories
- Shure SE110 - Earphones that do better at sound reproduction than the default earphones.
- Rivet Mobile Stereo Headset - Earbuds that use a lanyard. Provides better sound and less outside noise than the standard set that ships with the iPhone.
- Belkin Headphone Adapter - Unfortunately, the iPhone uses a special headphone jack that is not compatible with other head phones. This will adapter will allow you to use existing hardware.
Stores
- XtremeMac - A cool place to shop for iPhone and iPod accessories.
Tips & Tricks
Development
Introduction
JMF allows Java developers to develop multimedia applications that can be purely Java-based or you can install performance packs for Windows, MacOS, etc. that will give native support and faster performance.
Getting Started
Here are a few quick steps for getting started:
- Bookmark the JMF web site as mentioned above.
- Spend some time reading the JMF Reference Documentation
- Download the Javadoc.
- Download the Java-only class libraries or install the performance packs for your operating system. For Windows users, you might want to read my post that details what you get with the Windows Performance Pack.
Articles
The following articles are worth reading before you jump into doing real JMF programming. The first articles by Chris Adamson are especially helpful for painting a good picture of JMF.
Enhancements
The following libraries can enhance JMF or replace it completely:
Introduction
The following page is information all about the Ruby programming language. This page was assembled with help from Brant.
Getting Started
- The Beauty of Ruby - A 54 minute feature presentation of the Ruby language.
- Ruby Documentation - Read the documentation but also check out the Ruby in Twenty Minutes tutorial to get a taste of writing and executing Ruby code.
- Ruby Learning - Start by studying the tutorials.
- Ruby Docs - More documentation and resources on Ruby. Check out the standard library documentation.
- Getting Started with Ruby.
- Ruby Downloads - Download the Ruby distribution for your operating system.
Tips and Tricks
Documentation
- Ruby Core API
- Ruby Standard API
- Got API - A great place to quickly search Ruby and Rails documentation from one site.
- Ruby on Rails API
- RailsBrain - Provides a faster way of navigating the Ruby on Rails API.
- Rails Doc - Provides quick keyword search capabilities as well as community comments along side original documentation.
- Noobit - A central source for Ruby, Ruby on Rails, and Ruby Gems documentation.
- REST and Ruby - A downloadable PDF for learning how to use REST in Rails.
For those into Rails, more information can be found at the Raaum’s Rails Site and The Ruby on Rails Link Library.
Tutorials
- Railscasts - Short screen cast tutorials of Ruby on Rails code.
- PeepCode - Screen cast tutorials like Railscasts but longer in length and not free (roughly $9 per episode).
- Envy Casts - Produced by the same guys that host the Rails Envy podcasts. Each screen cast tutorial will set you back about $9.
News
Mailing Lists
Communities
- Act as Community - Nice site design but slow to use. Not sure if it is a Rails problem or a hosting problem. I am member as well.
Books
Tools
Gems
Ruby Gems allow one to discover and install additional packages that do not come standard with the base Ruby distribution. Here are a few worth considering:
- RSpec - A Behavior Driven Design (BDD) testing framework for Ruby and other languages. Can also be used as a plugin to Rails.
- ZenTest - An auto-tester that works with RSpec.
- Facets - What you can’t find in the base Ruby library you might find with this gem.
- Ruby on Rails - A database supported framework for web application development using the Ruby language.
- Merb - A MVC like Rails but faster, more abstract, and lightweight.
- Rack - A modular web server interface for Ruby programs (in case you wanted an alternative to Ruby on Rails).
- Mailfactory - Enables e-mail support. Installation:
gem install mailfactory.
- Feed-Normalizer - Normalizes any RSS feed so that you can access from a generic class. Installation:
gem install feed-normalizer.
- FasterCVS - A much more efficient CVS. Installation:
gem install fastercsv.
- Bishop - A Bayesian classifier library. Installation:
gem install bishop.
- Linguistics - A language framework. Installation:
gem install linguistics.
- Ferret - Inspired by the Apache Lucene project, Ferret is a text search engine for Ruby.
- Picolena - A Ferret-power document search engine that claims to be lightweight and speedy.
- Active Merchant - Originally developed for Shopify, it adds financial processing to Ruby and/or Rails applications.
- Active Record Extensions - Adds functionality and performance enhancements to Active Record.
- Ruby OSA - Enables Ruby programs to manipulate MacOS applications in much the same fashion as AppleScript.
- GPS Receiver Reader - Use this to interpret GPS data.
- libxml - An XML parsing library that claims to be fast and feature rich. Read about resurrecting libxml-ruby to learn more.
- Hpricot - An HTML parser for Ruby.
- MMS2R - “A library that decodes the parts of an MMS message to disk while stripping out advertising injected by the mobile/cellphone carriers.”
- Pool Party - “An open source tool that automates deployment, monitoring, and load balancing of [Amazon] EC2 instances.”
- SOAP4R - The SOAP implementation for Ruby. You can get started here.
- BackgroundDRb - A Ruby job server and scheduler.
- Daemon Controller - A library for managing daemon threads.
- Randexp - “Allows you to use regular expression to generate a random string that matches the regular expression”.
- HTTParty - A convenience library for modeling response objects such as JSON, XML, etc. Read more about it if you like.
- Prawn - A library for generating PDF documents.
- Config Toolkit - Makes parsing configuration files easy in Ruby.
- Adhearsion - A VoIP library.
Ruby on Rails Plugins
- ActiveScaffold - Built on top of Rails, it is a scaffolding plugin for quickly generating UI on your models.
- Streamlined - Enables one to generate interfaces for your ActiveRecords.
- Hobo - A collection of scaffolding plug-ins designed to make generating UI around your models much easier.
- Auto-Admin - Another scaffolding plug-in for quickly creating administrative UI around your models.
- Shoulda - Enhances Test::Unit framework for Rails applications.
- Mephisto - Adds blogging capabilities but does not work with the latest and greatest editions of rails.
- Haml - Adds a new and possibly more elegant way of building views for your Rails apps.
- MemCached - “A high-performance, distributed memory object caching system, generic in nature, but intended for use in speeding up dynamic web applications by alleviating database load.” To learn more, check out these tutorials: Basics for Rails and MemCached in Ruby on Rails.
- Paperclip - While there is no dedicated web site for this yet, Paperclip offers an easier way of handling file uploads.
- Restful Authentication - Adds user authentication to your web app.
- Lockdown - An authentication/authorization system that is a different take on security than Restful Authentication.
- Seed Fu - Go beyond basic fixtures and use this to seed your Rails database.
- TextMate Syntax Highlighting - Allows you to display code using highlighting as found in TextMate.
- Metrics Fu - Measures performance and other metrics.
- Endless Page - Uses AJAX requests to create an endless page as you scroll down. A nice alternative to using pagination.
- Rails iUI - Aids in developing your web application for the iPhone.
- Community Engine - Enables many of the features you would need in building a social community web site such as tag clouds, RSS feeds, user profiles, etc.
- Palmist - Helps find and fix MySQL bottlenecks.
- Unobtrusive Javascript - Makes using JavaScript a bit more elegant than the default Rails helpers.
- Javascript Auto-Include - Automatically includes and loads JavaScript on a per controller basis.
- Passenger - If you use DreamHost as your web host provider and want a faster and easier way of deploying your web application then check out this plugin.
- Rubber - “Enables relatively complex multi-instance deployments of RubyOnRails applications to Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2).”
- Calendar Date Select - A JavaScript-based date/time picker that has an impressive set of features. Make sure to check out the demos.
- Bundle Fu - Streamlines the loading of JavaScript files. Helps speed up loading and reduces additional lines of code.
- Act As State Machine - Add callback code to your models when they change state. Read more.
- Act As Versioned - Adds versioning support to an ActiveRecord model. More details here.
- Act As Paranoid - Stores time of ActiveRecored deletion in a “delete_at” attribute.
- Sentry - A wrapper for OpenSSL encryption classes.
- Act as Taggable On - Adds tagging capabilities to ActiveRecords.
- Dynamically Tags - Tags words in a sentence, dynamically.
- Awesome Fields - Allows one to build forms in a much more streamlined fashion using DRY principals.
- Subdomain Fu - A tool set for adding and dealing with subdomains.
- Mobile Fu - Adds mobile device support.
- Open Flash Chart - A rather attractive way of charting data. Learn how to port this to your Rails project.
- Google Charts on Rails - A simple plugin with very basic support of the Google Chart API. It’ll get you started quickly but you’ll soon hit limitations.
- ActivePresenter - A clever way in which to wrap and manipulate multiple models into a single form.
- has_markup - A plugin to ease the display of HTML markup.
- openStream - Adds e-commerce to your site.
- Localized Dates - “The localized_dates plugin takes away some of the pain of localizing dates and times. It leverages the power of the Rails i18n plugin to facilitate localization of dates and times.”
- will_paginate - Adds pagination to your views.
- Query Reviewer - A sort of profiling/debugging tool for your MySQL queries. It generates reports that can be reviewed. It also supports AJAX.
- GeoKit - Provides the ability to calculate distance, compute lat/long on a model, compute lat/long from a snail address, and much more.
- System Settings - Adds storing and retrieval of configuration settings for your web application in a convenient manner.
- New Relic - A Rails plugin that monitors application performance a diagrams where areas could be improved. It is free to use for development but then there is a cost involved to use in production.
Here are a few more worth checking out: Top 11 Rails Plugins by Juxie TechKnow.
Web Frameworks
- Thin - A Ruby web server that combines the power of Mongrel, Event Machine, and Rack.
- Ebb - A small and fast web server for dynamical languages with minimal features.
- Lighttpd - A web server that aims to be fast, high performance, and excellent and managing CPU load.
- Mack - “Is a Ruby web application framework that is being built from the ground up to aid in the development of distributed, portal-like applications that have a need for speed. Mack supports best of breed technologies in a modular way.”
- ar-extensions - Extends and enhances the default functionality of ActiveRecord such as mass data import and exporting to CVS via the “to_csv” method.
Web Hosts
The following is a list of web hosting providers of Ruby on Rails applications. The list is asssembled in no particular order:
Here are other options.
Performance/Benchmarks
Additional Resources
- Git - A speedy version control system. Read the InfoQ article or study these Git Tutorials for more info.
- Camping
- RIO - A useful Ruby I/O library. Check out the How To documentation as well.
- RubyWorks - A pre-assembled web server production stack for Ruby.
- MacRuby - A version of Ruby that is built on top of Objective-C for the MacOS. Provides more stability and better performance than the default Ruby distribution.
- Feather - A Merb-based blogging platform.
- Rubinius - A Ruby virtual machine written in C that is loosely based on the Smalltalk-80 architecture.
- Passenger - a.k.a. mod_rails. Makes deploying Rails application on an Apache server easier.
- Merbunity - A web site and community of news and resources built around Merb.
- Can Has Auth? - A Merb plugin that supports user authentication much like Restful Authentication for Ruby on Rails.
- DBSlayer - “A lightweight database abstraction layer suitable for high-load websites where you need the scalable advantages of connection pooling. Written in C for speed, DBSlayer talks to clients via JSON over HTTP”.
- Thor’s Hammer - An alternative to the rake and sake scripting frameworks.
- Splunk - Helps manage the various log files associated with a web application. Check out the web site demos as well as usage on Amazon EC2.
- Sexy Forms for Merb - Much like Awesome Fields for Rails, this adds handy form helpers to your application.
- SWFUpload - A lightweight JavaScript/Flash plugin for uploading a file or multiple files to a web server. Seventytwo has an article on how to make this plugin work with Rails.
- Hoptoad - A free service that will capture and aggregate exceptions in your web application to reduce e-mail maintenance spam. Can also be used as a syndicated feed amongst other capabilities.
- Cinabox - A Continuous Integration build system for Ruby. Designed to run on a Ubuntu distro.
Introduction
The following is useful information related to Cascade Style Sheet (CSS) programming.
News
Tips and Tricks
Tutorials
Tools
- Browsershots - Get a quick glimpse of your web site as viewed in multiple browsers at once.
Dealing with Internet Explorer (IE)
Unfortunately, IE sucks so bad that it gets it’s own section. Here are some tips to reduce your blood pressure:
Resources
Introduction
The following information is related to the Mac operating system. Hopefully the tips, tricks, and software listed below will improve your Mac experience.
Getting Started
Keyboard Commands
The following commands can be used anywhere, anytime:
- Command+Space - Opens Spotlight.
- Command+Shift+3 - Snapshots the entire screen, automatically saving the image to desktop.
- Command+Shift+4 - Snapshots a screen region of your choice (press spacebar to highlight a select window). Automatically saves the image to desktop. Additional tips here.
Tips and Tricks
