Blog

Install phonegap 3 on Windows 8

PhoneGap 3 I recently wanted to test an idea on an android device.  To quickly write up a proof of concept I decided to use PhoneGap.  I have used PhoneGap in the past but the current Version 3.1 (at the time of writing) is more mature than when I previously developed with it. I was prepared to walk through a few …

Read more

Zentyal vs Pfsense Firewall Review

I have posted a few times about my home network and in particular all the great things you can do with DDWRT or with PFsense.   I recently had my home PFsense firewall have some issues, mainly to a hard drive failure.  When I was replacing it, I decided to try a few different versions of firewalls. HARDWARE The hardware for my …

Read more

WordPress and CDN

Jimiz CloudFlare

High Traffic WordPress Sites A few websites that I maintain get a large volume of traffic.  They are using WordPress as a content management system.  To accommodate this traffic I have been utilizing a combination of a great service CDN and a caching plugin.    A “CDN” is a Content Delivery Network is a service that will store and forward  your items …

Read more

Magento 1.8 has been released

Magento

Magento 1.8 I am a huge fan of Magento.  It is a great ecommerce and shopping cart system.   In the last year I have launched a few sites using this system.   The flexibility of Magento allowed me to create a B2B site and also B2C.    eBay purchased Magento and I have heard a few people trying to figure …

Read more

Google using your name and picture in ads – How to Opt Out

Google Endorsements Google has recently made a policy change.  You may have seen a notification in your gmail or Plus page.  I basically just clicked on the “x” or said OK with out thinking about it.  I am sure many other prople are like me and don’t take much time to read any policy changes.  However, recently many news sites started …

Read more

Fun Computer Tricks (Possible Inappropriate tricks)

I read a great blog by Troy Hunt frequently.  He is an architect and MVP over at Microsoft, he typically talks about security.   He recently sent out a quick tweet regarding locking your computer.  After the tweet regarding what to do when someone does not lock their screen. http://www.troyhunt.com/2013/10/40-inappropriate-actions-to-take.html I love some of the options.  One favorite was to set …

Read more

Favicon–What / Why / and How

If you do not know what a favicon is , it would be hard to explain with out a picture.  The Favicon is the little icon that shows up in your browsers tab for a website. In this picture the favicon is highlighted, it happens to be my site’s icon.  I also have a few well known sites open;  Google, Facebook, …

Read more

Mobile Screenshots for presentations

I often have to do presentations or showcase a site or an application.   I find taking pictures or showcasing the application can help many people get a sense of what I am talking about.  I recently discovered a great tool to take a screenshot of your app or website using multiple devices.    http://placeit.breezi.com/ has Mobile devices, tablets, pc’s and  other great …

Read more

Web Developer Checklist

Update for 2023 The team at TopTal has revised and updated the web checklist – Here is the updated link https://www.toptal.com/developers/webdevchecklist  Great Improvement: this is a great tool to prepare for a website or application launch. — I was reading some of my news feeds and came across this great site called http://webdevchecklist.com/. It is a creation of Sayed Ibrahim Hashimi …

Read more

Magento : Premature end of script headers: index.php

Magento

I recently had an error show on a Magento site. The error showing was : Premature end of script headers: index.php After some searching I found that this is a common error with a few different solutions. In my case I logged into the server and looked at the apache error log. What I found was the error and also what …

Read more

Thinkpad x1 Touch

I am a ThinkPad junkie (proof 1, 2). I currently have 3 active thinkpads in our home. My primary laptop T410, My wife’s T410, and our home server (everything PC) t61p. Today I just purchased another thinkpad to add to the collection. I got a Thinkpad X1 Carbon Touch. This is the first touch laptop I have purchased. I have had …

Read more

Tech Travel

I recently went on a trip to San Francisco for the Microsoft Build Conference. First and foremost the conference was excellent. You can say what you want about Microsoft, but they are making both hardware and great software. Packing for a trip like Build, where everyone got a Surface Pro and another tablet, I had to make sure to be ready …

Read more

Home Phone – Free using google talk

I just setup our home phone to have free calling and kept our existing number. The new setup I am using incorporates Google voice and an obitalk Obi110 ($40) device. I have been a VOIP user at our house for the last 7 years. I started with Vonage and have switched to a few providers ever since. The most recent Voipo …

Read more

Printers – Home Laser Printer

I hate printers. They have caused me so much headache over the years. Printers bother me from the standpoint that they don’t work when you need them, and most likely they are near or out of ink when they do work. In the past few years, I have had the theory of purchasing the lower to mid level printer and ink …

Read more

Giro Reverb – Commuter Helmet

Reverb

I recently upgraded my helmet to a more fully bodied helmet for commuting to work. I have a Giro Road helmet that really allows for air flow and the ability to cool your head. But for commuting to work and being packed away in my desk it was not all that durable. I decided to go with a more urban looking …

Read more