Code Monkey Business by Brendon Chase
The probability of a monkey typing a given string of characters to program together a meaningful application is so tiny that, were the experiment conducted, the chance of it successfully compiling during our lifetime is minuscule but not zero. Follow Brendon as he steers through the method behind the madness in software development and reports on the latest industry trends.
Jun 25
Firefox 3 add-ons to make you a better Web developer
Firefox might be a fast browser (for speed, try out Opera or WebKir -- Ed.) but its extensions can transform it into a powerful development tool for Web developers and designers. Here are 10 of the best to get you started. Firefox's open platform makes it ideal to extend and turn it into almost anything you want. Hundreds, if not thousands, of developers have contributed to the platform and pushed [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 1 comment
Tags: add-ons, web development, firefox
Jun 23
Do browsers need a Universal Edit Button?
As websites allow more user-generated content, do browsers need a way to better inform users that pages are editable? A group of Wiki providers think the solution is adding in a green pencil icon in the URL bar to indicate a Web page can be edited, similar to the RSS icon to represent an RSS feed is available. Under the banner universaleditbutton.org, a group of more than 25 Wiki providers, [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 1 comment
Jun 19
Install Web stacks in an instant with BitNami
Need to set up a server environment to run Web applications such as WordPress, MediaWiki, Joomla, Trac, DocuWiki, or Drupal? Here's how to do it in less than two minutes with free software. Setting up a localhost Web server environment such as LAMP, MAMP, JRuby, WAMP, or Django seems to be getting easier each time I try. The BitNami project has stepped up to the crease and made it extraordinarily [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 0 comments
Tags: web server, web apps, lamp
Jun 13
Railo to go open source with JBoss
Railo have announced they will be open sourcing their alternative engine for the ColdFusion Markup Language(CFML). Railo, which compiles code programmed in CFML into Java bytecode to run on a Java servlet engine, are readying to expose their code for developers to use. The catch is developers will have to wait for the next release of Railo, due out in late 2008 according to the company. The new [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 2 comments
Tags: lgpl, jboss, java, coldfusion
Jun 11
Adobe lead charge for a Java SWT port to Apple's Cocoa
Reports out of Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference this week indicate a port of Java SWT (Standard Widget Toolkit) to Mac OS X Cocoa is being readied. The Mac Observer reports Scott Kovatch, Senior Computer Scientist of Adobe Systems, will be leading the project. He stated Adobe engineers will be working on the project and the company will be making use of the technology in future Adobe projects. [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 0 comments
Jun 06
Google to allow third party code in Gmail?
According to executives from the company, Google is preparing to open Gmail to developers outside the Googleplex labs. As the Web giant prepares to unleash new features upon the popular email client, the company also hinted to the future -- where third-party developers can code new Gmail features or add-ons. Keith Coleman, a Gmail product manager, told CNET News.com's Stephen Shankland: "We'd [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 0 comments
Tags: outlook, thunderbird, gmail, mozilla, microsoft, google
Jun 04
Are your Web apps ready for the next-gen browser war?
Webkit, Firefox, and Internet Explorer are all scheduled to update their engines in 2008. Are you ready for Web dev test fest 08? The Web as a platform for development has always been a rocky road. Remember the early days when there was one browser, which made testing easy. One platform means less points of failure and less support and more time to spend optimising pages to load under 50Kbps of [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 1 comment
Tags: ie, opera, web development, safari, testing
May 28
Adobe previews new Web dev tools
Want to see what's in store for Adobe CS4? Public betas of Dreamweaver and Fireworks are available for download at Adobe Labs. The release of the Dreamweaver and Fireworks betas this week is the first public outing for the new tools and a chance for developers outside the Adobe community to offer feedback, or as the company put it, "kick the tyres and ensure that it meets your needs". Dreamweaver [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 0 comments
Tags: web design, dreamweaver, fireworks, adobe
May 26
China poised for 3G
A major overhaul of the telecommunications industry in China will clear the way for 3G services to possibly over half a billion mobile phones. Announced by the Chinese government over the weekend, the country's phone companies will merge from six to three groups in a bid to compete with China Mobile, the company that dominates the industry. While no time frame was given for the completion of the [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 0 comments
Tags: 3g, mobile development
May 26
Six video podcasts to help you ace Photoshop
Mastering Photoshop and other image manipulation programs can be a handy addition to your toolbox of skills as an IT pro. Traditionally, learning a new technical skill like a programming language or getting a grip of a complex tool like Photohop required buying a 500-page reference manual as a primer and probably taking a short course or two. Within the past couple of years this has changed considerably. [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 0 comments
May 22
Dealing with the ego elephant in the room
Egomaniacs, swell-heads, know-it-alls, showboats, show ponies, narcissists, ego-trippers, big heads, and peacocks – work with one of these? Before starting this post let's be clear – a healthy ego is one with genuine confidence and drive but are realistic in that the world wasn't created by themselves. In Australia, showboats shouldn't be misinterpreted as Tall Poppy Syndrome either – where [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 0 comments
Tags: team, management
May 16
How to manage a team of geniuses
Hiring a team of developers and techies that are smarter than you is inevitable. As a manager how do you cope with this and keep things on track? I've always been a fan of hiring smart, and not necessarily the right people. It's much easier to train a smart person to do an amazing job than hire an average person to be smart. Successful rugby union coach, Rod Macqueen, took this approach when [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 0 comments
May 09
Will China produce the next GTA?
China's middle class with expendable income is increasing and so is the country's ambitions to become a world class gaming and animation development hub. Is it only a matter of time before the next big gaming hit in the west is built in the east? This week representatives from powerhouse studios such as Pixar and DreamWorks, LucasArts, and Virgin are in Suzhou, China to attend the inaugural X [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 1 comment
Tags: games, development
Apr 18
Conference season open for Web developers
Are Adobe Air, Microsoft Silverlight, Google Gears, AJAX, and the semantic Web some of your favourite things? Now's the right time to put in that training request because May and June are full of great local Web developer conferences. Remix 08 Microsoft's second annual Remix conference will this year see designer and developer sessions on new possibilities working with Silverlight 2, Internet [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 1 comment
Tags: remix, air, web directions south, web development, webdu
Apr 10
Aussie software pros code for the Fred Hollows Foundation
Software professionals in Australia have coded together a blitz Web-based charity campaign to raise money for the Fred Hollows Foundation -- donations are now open. The campaign, dubbed the "Million Eyes of Sight", allows visitors of the Web site to purchase a pixel AU$2 each. As more people buy pixels the image will become clearer. The group hopes to raise over half a million dollars. The [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 1 comment
Tags: charity, coldfusion, adobe
Mar 20
Quote of the year (so far)
Hats off to James Gosling for this corker about developers who insist on using Emacs for their developer needs in the face of better tools. Recently, Builder AU editor, Chris Duckett caught up with the founder of Java and one of the innovators in the Emacs scene. It seems Gosling isn't as nostalgic about Emacs as some who continue to use it day-to-day. Surely this will ruffle the feathers of [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 3 comments
Feb 14
Builder AU widgets for all
Want the latest Builder AU tips, tutorials, news and blogs in widget form? Here's Builder AU's cross platform widget to insert on your Web site or blog, Netvibes account, Windows Vista, Apple's Dashboard, or your favourite social networking Web sites. Under the hood the nifty little widget was built using the Netvibes Universal Widget API(UWA). The creation used common and open languages that [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 0 comments
Tags: igoogle, netvibes, windows live, opera, widgets, dashboard, sidebar, vista
Jan 30
2008 iAward nominations open
Seeking recognition in the field of excellence for one of your recent projects? It might not be the Oscars, or even the Logies, but nominations for the iAwards are open this week. The Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) iAwards seek to recognise outstanding Australian information and communication technology (ICT) innovators of the year open to all dev shops big and small. According [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 2 comments
Dec 05
Adobe release H.264 video support for Flash player
In a bid to stay relevant in the world of high definition video Adobe's new Flash player has officially shipped with the H.264 video standard included. Released this week, Flash Player 9 Update 3, which went under the code name Moviestar during beta, includes the H.264 standard video support, making way for better quality pictures and the HE-AAC standard for increased audio quality. H.264 and [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 0 comments
Nov 29
Drupal gets a Second Life framework
Objects in the Second Life virtual world can now be more easily integrated into Web sites running the Drupal content management system thanks to a new third-party module creator released this week. The new framework, created by third-party Drupal developers 2bits, allows objects inside Second Life to interact with applications running on the popular Drupal content management system. The framework [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 0 comments
Tags: content management, second life, drupal
Nov 14
Newbie guide to Google's Android
Google's platform for mobile devices has been announced and ready for developers to get their hands dirty. Here's the basics of what it's all about and the core architecture overview. Let's take it from the top. Android a mobile phone platform based on Linux. It's open source and will be developed by a consortium called the Open Handset Alliance, which is basically Google and a some interested [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 1 comment
Tags: android, mobile development, google
Nov 07
OS X Leopard source code released
The core set of components under the hood of Apple's Leopard operating system has been released to developers. The source code for Darwin, the centre of Apple's UNIX-based operating system is now available to developers, as previous versions of the components have been since OS X 10. While the release gives developers and interested parties a look under the hood of Apple's latest operating [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 0 comments
Sep 03
Is facesquatting becoming a problem?
Could name squatting on Facebook applications become a new litigious area for the Web? Lately I've been involved in the world of developing Facebook applications in the current gold rush or downhill derby in social media Web development. Popularity is the aim, annoyance is largely the game. If you're a Facebook user then you're probably getting a flood of invites to use these new applications. For [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 1 comment
Tags: facebook, cybersquatting, trademarks
Jul 19
Don't bother with the counter offer
While Australia is currently in a tight labour market should you really bother with a counter offer when an employee already has one foot out the door? This week Hayes Information Technology recruiters released their annual salary survey. For many, it's depressing to see what the so-called average peer is earning on a so-called greener pasture. For others, it's a point to state their market [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 0 comments
Tags: salary, recruitment, management
Jul 12
Ivar Jacobson acquires Aussie consultancy company
The consultancy company led by the software pioneer, Ivar Jacobson, announced overnight it has finalised the acquisition of the consultancy arm of Crag Solutions Pty Ltd. In a bid to rapidly grow Ivar Jacobson International's (IJI) customer base in Australia the company have acquired the services division of Crag Solutions Pty Ltd, who are based in Melbourne. “Asia Pacific is a market under [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 0 comments
Tags: acquisition
Jul 05
iPhone Web development guide released
It's going to be a while before we see an iPhone that works with official Apple support but there's no reason why Aussie developers can't get ahead of the curve and be up with their US counterparts. Apple has just released a Web development guide for the iPhone. Inside the guide are tips on the iPhone's abilities, how to create apps that are optimised for the phone, create mash-ups, and make [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 1 comment
Tags: iphone, google maps, widgets, apple, safari
Jul 03
Take off your suit pants and jacket -- It's Web 2.0
It's time to take off that uncomfortable suit and put on those comfy jeans you left at home during the dot-com crash. And while you're at it, grow that tidy corporate haircut out, let your facial hair run wild, and visit your local tattoo parlor so you can show off some visible ink. The word is out. IT rock geeks are back in demand and stereotypical "dot-com" culture (and smell) is back in [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 25 comments
Tags: web 2.0, human resources
May 31
Google Gears screenshots
Google Gears was released today which promises to allow developers to create offline Web apps through a browser plug-in. Here is a bit of eye candy I took while checking it out. If you're looking for more information check out the Builder AU news piece by Chris Duckett, ZDNet Australia's video interview with Google Australia, and the Google Gears Developer Web site. Screenshot 1 Google's [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 0 comments
Tags: gears, screenshots, google
May 15
CodeGear ready Ruby release
CodeGear have announced this week they will be releasing an integrated development environment(IDE) for Ruby on Rails developers in the second half of 2007. The development tools company owned by Borland Software Corporation have released snippets of information on the upcoming IDE, dubbed "Ruby IDE" including: * Full support for Ruby and Rails, enabling development features such as Code Completion, [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 0 comments
Apr 20
Microsoft release Orcas beta and .NET framework 3.5
After two community previews Microsoft have released the first beta of their new Visual Studio development tools, code named "Orcas". The new tools which were released overnight focus on developing applications on Windows Vista, Office 2007, and AJAX Web applications. Included in the release is LINQ, Windows Communication Foundation, and Visual Studio Tools for Office. To accommodate the new [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 2 comments
Mar 29
Set up Apache, PHP and MySQL like a n00b on OSX
This week I've been mulling the idea of using WordPress as a publishing platform for some new projects. On paper it seemed to have most of the requirements I was looking for but I wanted to get my hands dirty and see for myself how it worked and could integrate with some existing platforms. The problem is that I don't really have time to mess around with my current set up on my Mac and I find [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 1 comment
Mar 21
Get more out of Safari with Debug mode
If you're looking debug your code in Apple's Safari browser there are few options available by default. However, if you open up a Terminal window and put the line in below you can get access to some nifty tools: defaults write com.apple.safari IncludeDebugMenu 1 to change back to normal mode just exchange the 1 to 0. Make sure you restart Safari after entering this in Terminal. On the [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 0 comments
Mar 06
Turn Gmail into a personal Jukebox
If you're a technical professional who is on the run there is an easy way to store and play your favourite MP3 files using Google's free Gmail e-mail service. Using this short tutorial I'll show you how you can have an online jukebox that you can log into from just about any computer and listen to your music collection. Important note:Like a lot of technology this can be used for good or evil. [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 5 comments
Feb 28
Spoiler warning: New Builder AU features inside
The Builder AU dev team have been busy designing, coding, and testing new community features we're about to launch very soon. Here is some eye candy as a sneek preview of what they have been working on. We'll explain some of these new features in more detail soon so stay tuned! Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 1 comment
Tags: builder au, screenshots, development
Feb 27
Aussies bringing Ruby to .NET
Developers at the Queensland University of Technology are currently working on an innovative project to create a compiler for the Ruby language that runs on the .NET Common Language Runtime. The project, dubbed the Gardens Point Ruby .NET compiler, is currently in beta at version 0.6. According to the official Web site the project is still in its infancy but developers working on the task have [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 1 comment
Feb 23
Code lean and keep it green?
Each year in the IT business there is always something coming out bigger, better, faster than the previous year. Whether it is new computer hardware, a new operating system, gaming console, mobile device or other gadget, users crave these new products. And I keep buying them. The downside of technology having the lifespan of a banana is that programs and the code that run on more power hungry devices [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 0 comments
Tags: environment, green, code
Feb 06
One Vista to rule them all?
Does the world need five versions of the one operating system? Over the past 2 weeks I’ve fielded many questions from friends and family about the launch of Microsoft’s Vista operating system. The conversations have gone something like this: Friend: ...So Brendon, you work with computers, right? What is this new Microsoft Vista thing? Is Vista the new version of Windows XP? Me: That’s right, [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 4 comments
Jan 30
Live Aussie Vista Launch
Today was the launch of Microsoft's Vista operating system and Office 2007 application suite. Below is a transcript of events from the media launch at the MCA in Sydney. 10am - Windows Vista launch hasn't started yet and either is the air conditioning. The room is full of sweaty tech media types awaiting the local launch. Tech geeks need air conditioning. 10.10 - Launch starts with The Ramones [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 0 comments
Jan 23
Think Wiimote to engage users?
If you’ve played the recently launched Nintendo Wii gaming console I think many would agree that it’s a breath of fresh air. While the graphics engine and processing power are inferior to competitors the new console makes gaming more accessible and fun to a wider audience. It’s interesting to see that the Wii is breaking down traditional age, technical, and gender barriers in gaming. The reason [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 1 comment
Jan 16
Technology that will still suck in '07
As another year begins I thought I'd compile a short list of technology I think will still suck in 2007. Mobile phone coverage – What? I can’t hear you. Hello? Okay I can hear you now. No, not now...How about I just call you later on a landline. Broadband – In our sunburnt country we call 256kbps broadband, include caps of 200MB per month, and charge through the nose for any extra bandwidth [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 7 comments
Tags: technology, predictions, suck, 2007
Dec 11
Get Vista and Samba to work
Early adopters of Microsoft’s new Vista operating system may notice that it will not connect to Samba share folders out of the box. This will be a bit of a pain for many enterprise customers. The technical reason is because Microsoft Vista’s default security policy is to only use NTLMv2 authentication. According to a Google search Samba doesn’t support this yet. Update: Some readers have pointed [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 112 comments
Tags: samba, file sharing, vista, microsoft
Dec 05
CodeGear Q&A
CodeGear is the new name for Borland's developer tools business. Builder AU spoke to CodeGear about the handover and direction of the developer tools business under the new banner. In November Borland Software Corporation announced the formation of CodeGear, a subsidiary company set up to sell its developer tools. The move came months after Borland announced it would sell the division to focus [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 5 comments
Nov 13
Open source Java imminent
It's been almost two and a half years since someone at Sun Microsystems first told me they were going to open source Java and it looks like it is about to happen. Furthermore, as we reported earlier this year -- under the GPL. I just got this e-mail from a Sun representative on the Australian Java User Group mailing list and this news story from CNET News.com: "Well, it's finally happening, [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 1 comment
Nov 01
Australian prices for Vista released
No doubt there will be more news on this soon but Microsoft have just e-mailed Builder AU with the local prices for Microsoft's Vista operating system. At first look it seems rather expensive for the high-end version, retailing at $751. However a spokesperson for Microsoft said in the e-mail release that "Microsoft is committed to keeping prices low for customers, Windows Vista editions will [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 3 comments
Oct 06
AUUG conference gets a peek inside Google
Google is poised to give their first public insight into the management of their clustered architecture at the annual AUUG conference. Despite recent calls to disband the Australian Unix Users Group (AUUG), the organisation is pushing ahead with its annual conference scheduled to start in Melbourne next week. Michael Still, an Australian working at Google's headquarters in Mountain View, California [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 1 comment
Sep 21
Helper Monkey to JavaScript's rescue?
When I first started scripting in JavaScript it was mostly used as a fun language to change colours, create pop-up messages, make sure users filled out Web forms correctly, and attempt to create the same user-experience of a Web site across multiple browsers. How times have changed. JavaScript is being used in more complex fashions I would have never thought anyone would bother with a few years [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 0 comments
Sep 20
Debugging the manual #1
The most taxing part of solving most problems in IT is taking the effort to read the user manual and find the right documentation, right? Usually this is the case, but what happens when the official documentation is totally unreadable? Yesterday I was asked to help out a friend with their external hard drive. It was nothing trivial but the computer wasn't recognising the hard drive when plugged [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 0 comments
Sep 12
The break-up of Borland
This week I caught up with David Intersimone, VP of developer relations worldwide, and Malcolm Groves, regional product director for Asia Pacific, from Borland's Developer Tools Group to talk about the immediate and planned future of the group once this division is sold by Borland. Borland Corporation are on the verge of naming the details of it's planned sale of its developer tools business -- [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 2 comments
Aug 31
Microsoft investigating Gervais leak
According to a BBC report Microsoft is investigating how and why internal training videos made by comedian Ricky Gervais have surfaced on YouTube and Google Video. At Builder AU we saw the videos a couple of weeks ago on YouTube and thought it was good piece of marketing to help improve Microsoft's image in the marketplace. However, the short films, called Office Values and Realising Potential [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 1 comment
Aug 29
The Ten Commandments of egoless programming
While trawling over some of our older content on Builder AU I came across a noteworthy article about egoless programming which I thought was worth a quick re-run on the site: The term "egoless programming" was coined by Jerry Weinberg in the book, The Psychology of Computer Programming, first released in the 1970s. What Weinberg wrote in that book was a set of guidelines for developers working [...] Read more »
-- posted by Brendon Chase | 2 comments
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Club Builder: Sports, Gates and Gears
This week on Club Builder: Steve Ballmer gives a teary goodbye to Bill Gates, Mark Taylor moves into IT endorsements and we ask some Google Gears questions.
