July 13, 2011 in Learn
Create Vector Masks using the HTML5 Canvas
The HTML5 canvas can be used to create a lot of cool things, like games, video effects, graphs and more. It can also be used to produce some slightly less complex effects, like manipulating images on the page. In this…
July 7, 2011 in Learn
It's Time To HTTParty!
When you’re developing with Ruby, it’s pretty inevitable that at some point you come across an HTTP API that doesn’t have a gem available. While writing Hopefully Sunny I ran into just that situation with World Weather Online’s weather API….
June 21, 2011 in Learn
Getting started with iOS development
Developing a native iOS app can be pretty daunting. There’s the extensive sdk with various APIs and then you have to learn a completely new language known as Objective-C. Most developers fear a new language because of all the nuances…
June 14, 2011 in Learn
Build Dynamic Pages with Knockout.js
Building dynamic web pages using JavaScript can be a complex task. Fortunately, frameworks like jQuery, MooTools, and others make it much easier to interact with the browser. However DOM frameworks only solve part of the problem.
When building an application that has a lot of data that can be updated, and any piece of information could be represented in several places on the page, it becomes a pain to try to make sure the interface accurately represents the data at any point in time.
May 31, 2011 in Learn
What Makes A Great Programmer?
I remember it like it was yesterday. It was the year 2000, Dr. Pargas was standing at the front of our data structures class talking about some data structure-y topic while an SSH session was projected on the wall in…
May 23, 2011 in Learn
Run Linux in your browser
I came across this on Hacker News and it blew my mind. Fabrice Bellard just created a PC emulator that boots Linux, written in JavaScript. It even works on my iPad. From the technical notes … The PC emulator is…
May 19, 2011 in Learn
Mediaqueri.es: a collection of responsive web designs
Came across this wonderful site called mediaqueri.es The site contains a curated collection of responsive web designs and is aptly named after a feature of CSS3 which is called Media Queries. You can sort the list of sites by date…
April 7, 2011 in Learn
Solarized
“Solarized is a sixteen color palette (eight monotones, eight accent colors) designed for use with terminal and gui applications. It has several unique properties. I designed this colorscheme with both precise CIELAB lightness relationships and a refined set of hues…
March 31, 2011 in Learn
Quick Tip: Use bit.ly for Local Development URLs
Recently I’ve been working on a new Master Class for Think Vitamin Membership on the topic of responsive design. One of the major goals of responsive design is cross-browser compatibility, so as you might expect, I’m teaching a project that…
March 3, 2011 in Learn
10 Must Have Ruby Gems
One of the most beautiful things about Ruby development is the ease of adding functionality through packaged libraries called gems. With the power of Bundler, you can quickly add and manage gems in few lines of code. With the recent…
February 14, 2011 in Learn
Encrypting Cookies in the Browser
Cookies are a convenient, often necessary way to maintain state and data in web applications. Since this is well known, cookies are a target and potential vulnerability you have to be aware of when developing for the web. There are…
February 7, 2011 in Learn
Tips on Learning JavaScript
In his seminal article Style Versus Design Jeffrey Zeldman wrote The web used to look like a phone book . What he should have written is: The web used to look like a phone book sitting in a tacky 70s…