My Little Corner of the Net

Performacing Blog Editor for Firefox

Written by Kodiak on 06/30/2006 — Leave a Comment

I’ve just installed an extension to Firefox that I’ve wanted for a log time: the Performancing Blog Editor.  Now, there have been several blog editor extension published for Firefox already, but most of them have been developed for specific blogging platforms, and until now I haven’t found one that works with my WordPress blogs.  A couple months ago I wrote about a FireFox spin-off browser called Flock that is specifically designed to edit blogs.  Flock works with WordPress, but it is still in beta and it still requires me to open a separate program when I want to blog something.

The Performancing editor, published by Performancing.com, the world’s largest organization of professional bloggers (whoda thunk there was such an organization), is activated by the click of a button in my Firefox status bar.  When clicked a simple WYSIWYG editot pops up.  I simply type my entry, choose my blog, and click the publish button.  I can also add the post to categories and even edit previous entries.  I can set up multiple blogs to edit and the extension’s clear labeling makes it nearly impossible to accidentally post to the wrong blog.  I can also upload images directly through the editor via FTP or HTTP.

I’ve only used Performancing to post two entries so far, but so far I’m quite impressed.  The only feature that appears to be missing is a spelling checker.

Posted in Cool, General, Websites

HighEdWebDev 2006: Introduction to PEAR

Written by Kodiak on 06/30/2006 — Leave a Comment

I am happy to announce that my workshop proposal for this year’s HighEdWebDev conference has been accepted. This year I will be presenting on PEAR, the PHP Extension and Application Repository. PEAR is a collection of PHP classes that form a framework to help developers create applications more efficiently. I’ve been using PEAR for a couple of years now, but when I mentioned it in a session at last year’s conference, no one else in the room had heard of it.

In my session I will first present the PEAR Package Manager, demonstrating how to install it and use it to install and upgrade PEAR packages on both Windows and Unix machines. I’ll also cover how to set up a local PEAR repository in your Unix user account for when you don’t ahve root access to the server. Then I will demonstrate several useful packages, including packages that abstract database calls, create forms and manage submissions, create and connect to web services, manage unit testing of PHP code, and more.

My session will be on Sunday, October 22, 2006 from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. This is a workshop, so there is an additional cost to attend, but I promise it will be worth the money!

HighEdWebDev is a conference by and for web professionals working in higher education. This year’s conference will run from Sunday, October 22 through Wednesday, October 25, 2006 at the Hyatt Regency hotel in downtown Rochester, NY.

Below is the “official” abstract for my workshop:

As a Higher Ed web developer you’re short on time, short on resources, but definitely not short on projects. Every department wants the latest and greatest features added to their website, but web applications take time to build and maintain. Imagine abstracting your database calls, easily controlling your web forms, and effortlessly connecting to (or even providing) web services from your PHP applications. Or maybe you’d like to simplify data reporting, perform unit testing, manage files, or even manipulate images. The PHP Extension and Application Repository (PEAR) is a structured PHP code library that offers many packages that can save you time and that help eliminate many of the common frustrations of web application development. PEAR packages make it easy for you to do all these things and more. This workshop will introduce you to PEAR and the many useful resources you can find in it. We’ll learn what PEAR is all about and how to install and use the PEAR Package Manager in both Windows and Unix environments (including how to install a local PEAR library in your own account when you don’t have root access to the server). Finally, we’ll look at several of the most popular and most useful PEAR packages and see how to make the most out of them. Intermediate experience with PHP is recommended.

Posted in Current Events, General, Websites

Back In Business

Written by Kodiak on 05/09/2006 — Leave a Comment

After an upgrade from an ancient (1.something) version of WordPress to the latest, there were a few issues with the display and functionality of this site. I’m glad to report that they are now fixed. Kodiak’s Korner is back in business.

Posted in General

Blogging from Flock

Written by Kodiak on 04/01/2006 — 1 Comment

I discovered a cool new browser while browsing through the March issue of Computer Link magazine: Flock. Flock is built on the Firefox core and is designed to allow easy posting to blogs. It isn’t even in beta yet, but I decided to download it to see what its all about.

So far, so good. All I had to do was run Flock then choose “My Blogs” from a menu. Then I entered the URL to my site and clicked a button. The browser did some thinking and then prompted me for a login. Next I was looking at a list of all of my articles and a big fat “+” button that I clicked to start writing this post.

Flock has a clean interface with a WYSIWYG interface (apparently powered by TinyMCE), the option to edit raw HTML, the ability to add my post to categories or tag it on Technorati, and the ability to save a draft or post outright. Perhaps the nicest feature for me is the spell check, since I am notorious for hitting “Post” and then finding my mistakes.

Flock is NOT stable yet. It isn’t even in beta yet. There will be bugs. Nonetheless, it looked cool, so I downloaded it. Personally, I like being on the cutting edge and I’m not so serious a blogger that I can’t live with a lost post now and then. But if you aren’t like me, you’ve been warned.

Edit (04/13/2006): My first impression of Flock was that it didn’t work–my message never showed up on the blog. I finally noticed, however, that it’s been here all the time. It just had a post date of December 31, 1969. Wow, I’ve been blogging since before I was born! (The current April 1 time stamp is an estimate–I don’t recall exactly when I posted this, but that has to be close.)

Posted in Cool, General, Site News, Websites

I’m the Master of PHP

Written by Kodiak on 02/28/2006 — Leave a Comment

Brainbench Certified Master PHP 4Last week I noticed that RIT’s E-Learning Zone offered a Brainbench certification exam for PHP 4. I had a little time to look at it today, so I started the test not knowing what to expect. As it turns out, I know PHP pretty well—I scored 4.40/5 and became a Brainbench-certified Master of PHP 4.

Posted in Cool, General, RIT, Websites
« Older Entries Newer Entries »
<