Here is some general information about the new WordPress 3.0 features, and what they mean: tutsplus.

Some people like to read, but you also have the option of viewing the following videos: WordPressVideos. These cover some interesting topics, from how to use the admin features to how to use the menu manager. You can also use the videos to give clients a very good idea of what WordPress can do.

Happy blogging.

Eclipse is my IDE of choice. I will not argue that it is the best IDE for each of the tasks I use it for – that is not the point. I like Eclipse because it represents a one-stop-shop – I use it to edit web pages, style sheets, JavaScript, Python, PHP and Java. Eclipse also gives me access to my code repository using Subversion.

Lately, I have also been using Aptana, an Eclipse plug-in that helps me create JavaScript. It also makes some of the latest Web 2.0 cool effects available to me by helping me integrate various JavaScript libraries with my code.

Today, I discovered that the Aptana site provides some high quality help for web developers. I do not specialize in front-end development; therrefore, I find this page very useful. I am currently promoting the use of AJAX at a client site – these resources will be very useful. So will Aptana. Give it a try.

I use VMware at home. The benefits are huge. I have a virtual machine that acts as a file server, which I mirror to another server on my network. I also backup files to an external storgae device.

The biggest change for me is that my fully configured virtual machines are throw away appliances. I find this especially useful for the instance of Windows that I run. I have a snapshot of the VM in perfect working order. If I get a virus, or my registry becomes corrupt, I just roll back to the previous state. Since I do not use this instance to store files, I can do this with impunity.

I especially like being able to set up a web application with a separate database server and a separate apache instance to handle images. VMWARE let’s me plan how I am going to scale an application.

However, I still have a small problem. I still have to configure my VMs myself and install the software I need. You can solve this problem by downloading a preconfigured VM that can be used right out of the box. VMware provides some of these that can be downloaded out of the box, which is fine if you use VMware.

A Canadian company provides useful Virtual Appliances in multiple flavours. For example, you can download a server that runs an installed instance of PostgresSQL that runs under VMWARE, XEN or Microsoft Virtual PC. The copany is called Virtual Appliances, and their head office is in Uxbridge, Ontario. Their VMware appliances are certified by VMware, which means that they comply with best practice, they provide a safe computing environment and they have complete documentation. Give them a try. I found the TomCat VM very useful.

In a previous entry, I mentioned that I am working on a personal project that uses REST style urls and microformats to server data to my web application from Cherrypy. Since then, I have noticed that REST is becoming the flavour of the month. We love new things, don’t we?

I have also discovered that the Ruby on Rails people have been getting excited about REST as well. And, there is also a new Java project that I found out about: the Restlet project. I have not noticed as much discussion coming from the PHP camp about REST, but I may simply be missing it.

REST is a style, or a way of constructing URLS, but it is not a technology. I write this for older developers, like me: take note of REST. For a while, everything new seemed to be an MVC framework. Even PHP has CakePHP, an MVC based framework. Everything was trying to compete with Ruby on Rails. That trend is now entrenched. Even the next version of Joomla will be based on the MVC pattern.

Choosing to write code for a living will expose you to never-ending change. What was hot yesterday, will not be tomorrow. In fact, what was hot yesterday is often violently discarded. The older you get, the more you want to keep doing what works. You become good at what you do, and it seems like an insult that younger developers are not interested in learning what you know.

I am here to say to older developers that you DO have knowledge that can benefit young up-and-comers, but you are going to have to understand the new things to ensure that you have credibility. It is a characteristic of the young to dismiss an older developer the moment he or she is not familiar with something new, like Ruby on Rails, for instance. It has always been so. We owe it to the younger generation to try to keep up, especially if being conversant with new things makes it easier for us to share our real wisdom and experience.

So, oldsters, take nore of REST. Besides, learning can be fun.

Once, I was in charge of designing a content management solution, and the company wanted to develop and sell it. I asked for a product manager to help on the creative side, and I wanted to concentrate on the technical side of things. But I wanted us to work together. That is not what I got! The product manager resisted and impeded my progress, and I had to throw up my hands in disgust and leave.

One of the things I was saying was that managing content was not enough. You had to manage the process of creating content, and you might even have to manage relationships between content creators and content purchaser/users. I even imagined that the tools to sell things had to come with tools to help you market or buy things etc. For example, if I give you the tools to manage content translation, I could also help you contract with and pay translators. Not everybody has an in-house translator.

Now, I am seeing people who not only provide the tools you need, but they also provide the tools for you to bring your services to the world. For example, Amazon has a co-marketing program. In my previous entry, I provided a link to this program that provides the means to market and sell applications for hand held devices. These programs free you to concentrate on development work. I am going to find more of these programs.

The db40 micro commercial offering allows you to use db4o in software that runs on handheld devices at a unit cost as low as a a dollar. If you plan to ship tens of thousands of copies of your software, that is a pretty good price. The market for software that runs on handheld devices is huge. Vendors of handheld hardwre are finding it harder to differentiate themselves based on hardware; therefore, the differentiator is software. db4o has been very reasonable in their pricing, and I think this represents a huge opportunity for them. That was smart!

Now, if I understand the licensing of db4o, you also have the option of using db4o under the GPL license even on handheld devices. That is fine, but if you want to look for investors, this can make your business look less attractive to them. Personally, I think you can build a viable business on open source software, but not everyone understands that. At a $3 a unit for 10,000 licenses, you can deploy to your first few customers without closing the door on some sources of investment.

On the other hand, going the proprietary route is not necessary. Much of the software you deploy could be sold as part of a service you offer – the cost is for the service, but not for the software. You may not need your code to be closed. Still. db4o is so easy to use, and the handheld market software market is heating up. Why not use it – that is probably one of its best uses.

I am open to the open source idea, but I favor choice. I believe that open source is a good idea, and I think that sharing ideas makes them better. However, I do not think proprietary software is evil, per se. Being glued to the idea of proprietary software is short-sighted. You decide. However, if you want to protect your perceived intellectual property – db4o’s micro licensing scheme is a bargain.

If you have some ideas for for developing software for the handheld market using db4o, check this program out. You can be marketing and selling your software tomorrow!

You cannot be good at everything. I admit that I am not a designer. I have forced myself to achieve a level of competence, but that is all. I can imitate the design of others. Perhaps my biggest shortcoming is my limited ability with graphics programs. However, I comfort myself by patting myself on the back about my many other skills. Rather than saying that a lot of designers are better than I am, I tell myself that many programmers are worse.

In order to get by, I cheat. For example, I am building a prototype of a web application and I created rounded corners by using a rounded corners tool on the Internet. I also need help with the hex values for colors. I also use widgets and controls in my applications – why write that code, if someone else has already done a great job? I am particularly fond of the Rico accordian widget.

I try to produce compliant xhtml, and to comply with other standards. Accessibility matters, too. I rely on the web developers toolbar to check my work. There is always something I forget.

As a consultant, I am often interviewed by technical people in government departments. They frequently arrive with a gun loaded full of questions. Then, they aim at my head and fire as quickly as they can. They believe that they are measuring my ability, knowledge and competence. To a point they are, but often, the area of expertise they are testing me on is a very small part of what I think I know. Much of it can be looked up if I need it.

Lately, technical people have asked me about design patterns. Typically they ask me to name three, and then ask a few detailed questions about one of them. I usually refresh before these interviews by reading a general article at Wikipedia. I also like this C# specific resource at dofactory. Next time I do one these interviews, I am going to pick three design patterns, and I am going to teach myself how to draw the UML representation of the pattern – that should impress.

The other question that I get asked is to describe a time when I have used one of these patterns. This is difficult because I often work on code that was written by others – and they do not use design patterns. The other way I cheat is that I find a place in the code to implement a design pattern so that I have something to say at the next interview. Often, the use of the pattern was not necessary per se, but it does ME good to be able to describe the work to get a job later.

Using techniques and approaches because they are hot can be good for your career, but you owe it to your client to learn on your own time. Also, use the technique in a conservative way to solve a real problem. I have been called in on projects that were disasters because the developers reached beyond their grasp. Once, I worked on code that was extremely confusing because the developer thought he was applying the model-view-controller architectural pattern. Boy did he blow it!

Many job interviewers put emphasis on being able to demonstrate skills and knowledge on the spot. For example I have been asked about the syntax for creating inner or outer joins. Come on! I use a tool to build my views and queries. I often forget how to write the sql when asked on the spot. These things do not matter.

It would be great for an interviewer to ask a resource how he or she cheats. It might also be great to say, “You knew this was going to be a technical interview. How did you prepare?”

All day long, I forget things, and I cheat. I reuse the work of others regularly. All the time, I prepare for technical interviews by studying stuff that may not even come up once the job starts – it’s about jumping through the right hoops to get the job. Sometimes, I cheat a little by using a technique that is not strictly called for just to be able to put it on my resume. For example, I recently used an Ajax toolkit in part of a web application because Ajax is hot. My client did not care one way or the other, but now I can sell that skill to the next bidder. I am a big fat cheater.

I on, on the other hand, was wondering how much snow was going to fall. In the days of my youth, I can remember times when we would get 13 or more inches of snow. (I’m showing my age. Canada converted to the metiric system years ago.)

Therefore, while my step-daughter was dreaming about hoping into her snow suit, I jumped onto my computer and found out that we can expect 20 to 30 centimeters of snow. How does that compare to the days of my youth? Then, I used the Google site to convert centimeters into inches.

Making the conversion is easy. In the search tool, simply type: “30cm in inches”. The answer comes back: 11.8110236 inches. Isn’t Google cool! If you are Canadian, you can use the tool the next time to use an old cookbook and you need to convert imperial measures to the decimal measures used by your measuring equipment.

I am installing OpenOffice on my machine today, and I realized that some people may not know how to install an RPM on a Debian based machine. I do not have time to write at length, but if you are already fairly able to manage a Linux installation, but you know more about RPMs than about apt-get, this will help.

Basically, follow the installation instructions you find at the OpenOfiice site, but instead of typing “rpm -Uvih *rpm” type “alien -iv *rpm”. Alien will convert the RPM packages to DEB and then install them. Good luck. I hope this helps.

I experienced most of the problems he mentions with an earlier Mono, but the latest version is a breaze. Let me know if your milage differs.