Dutch Rapley

CBS Sports FAIL

I don’t know how fumbled this one. Was it the developer or the QA engineer? Maybe both are to blame. I know the casual user doesn’t see the meta data when visiting your site. Meta data matters when you share a link via Facebook.

ColdFusion + Migrations

Wait. What? Database versioning with ColdFusion? Not exactly. If you’re building any type of web application on Linux or Unix (Mac OS X included), there’s no reason you can’t leverage a little bit of ruby goodness in the form of ActiveRecord::Migration.

Migrations in ActiveRecord do a wonderful job of versioning your database, especially if you work on a distributed team, or each developer has their own local environment, and you use git. Forget managing SQL statements that updates your table structure, that’s for the birds.

If you’re interested, you should definitely check out the standalone-migrations gem.

After all, it’s about using the best tool for the job.

Web Application Developer

Artisan or engineer?

I know this video is old, but, it’s still very relevant. It’s another one of my favorites on the topic of software development.

The Entrepreneur Update - August 30, 2010

The 10 Most Important Business Lessons I’ve Learned (ryanallis.com)

How a startup should leverage a personal assistant (blog.asmartbear.com)

What A CEO Does (avc.com)

GrocerEye cofounder demonstrates the secrets of a great pitch (entrepreneur.venturebeat.com)

Hopefully, this post will be the first of many to follow. On a regular basis, I’ll attempt to compile a list of links to articles containing helpful advice for both new and veteran entrepreneurs.

Initially, I wanted to call this list “The Entrepreneur Five.” I quickly realized that this was not the best approach. While I do believe the list of links should be kept short, I should really use my best judgement in deciding what to share. I’d rather have a couple extra items, in the list, from time to time; rather than scurrying to meet a self imposed five link quota with, potentially, irrelevant content.

Also, I was thinking about posting this list on a regular schedule (i.e. every Friday), but have decided against this strategy.

Ultimately, the goal is to provide a list with a “high quality/low noise” ratio.

Enjoy!

So Long Slashdot

For years, I’d take a glance at Slashdot on a daily basis. For the past several weeks, I haven’t looked at it, even once. I can’t explain it. I’m just not interested anymore.

70’s Schwinn Suburban 5-Speed

This bike has Shimano’s FF System and Positron shifter. The FF System is fairly interesting and probably ahead of it’s time in the 70’s. It allows for the chain to turn even when not pedaling; thus, allowing for the rider to shift while coasting.

Words of wisdom from Seth Godin.

Moving Away from Dreamhost

Six years ago, I set up an account on Dreamhost. I have nothing against Dreamhost. They have served me well over the years. I paid $10.95 per month and I got basic hosting.

Initially, I used Dreamhost for a personal website to host Gallery (of which Matt Mullenweg of Wordpress was a contributor). I also used Dreamhost for email until Google Apps came out.

One of my goals was to build some PHP applications and host them on Dreamhost. I built one. In 2004, I used the Fusebox framework to build a Flickr/Shutterfly mashup. You could browse your photos and friends’ photos then add them to a Shutterfly shopping cart. This was before Flickr supported authentication as part of their API.

Over the years, I’ve hosted several blogs. I’d write a dozen, or so, blog entries then delete my bog and start over. I was never committed to blogging. I’m now hosting my blog on Tumblr.

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First real computer bug. This image is hosted at Santa Clara County Library. Link to image.

A list of various fonts that are friendly to programmers. I’m using ProggyOpti on the Mac and Triskweline on Windows.