ajb{log}: learn something new each day

We all know that a lot of (if not most) web developers love using Firefox for development. Mainly because of its simplicity, community support and functionality to extend the browser using add-ons.

It is also not a secret that we know that 60% or more* of our web users are still using IE. Most likely, half of those are IE7.

Now, to even the game of preferred development browser (sort of), there is a new update for IE7Pro (version 2.1).

IE7Pro is an app to extend your IE7 installation adding lots of Firefox-like features which you (web developer) need.

The app might get you to use IE7 more for development. Really. Why? It packs tons of improvements to IE7 and extend it like Firefox.

Some main features includes

• Enhancement of IE’s Tabbed Browsing Capabilities
• Super Drag and Drop
• Mouse Gestures (ala Opera)
• Crash Recovery (yeah! we need this!)
• Save Page to Image
• Quick Proxy Switcher
• AD Blocker (finally!)
• Greasy monkey alike User Script
• Inline Search
• Spell Check
• And a lot more…

More screenshots after the jump.

So, do you want to give IE7 another shot? Or do you want to simply check out what IE7Pro can offer? If your answer is yes to any of those, then get the app directly here.

It might be worth your time.

–aj

*Based on sites I handle/d

The blogosphere waited for the much awaited release of Wordpress 2.5 which was scheduled today 3.10. However, upon checking wordpress.org, version 2.5 isn’t out yet.

Obviously, it is delayed. But I don’t see anything on the net that says this.

Well, I’ll try to check later again to see if there’s anything that will show up.

–aj

Maybe it’s my timezone? DST?

Test Driven Development for the Masses
by Andre John Tamayo Cruz

About the Speaker

Andre John Cruz aka cruizer is a Microsoft MVP for Visual C# and an Administrator for PHPUGPH.com.  His day job is an Application Developer for Barclays Capital Singapore.  He is an avid FOSS enthusiast, and also an active participant in various user communities in the Philippines, both Microsoft and non-Microsoft oriented.  He is known as a proponent of the test-driven development (TDD) practice in the .NET world and has spoken a few times about the topic in recent Philippine MSDN events.

About the Topic

Test-Driven Development (TDD) is a software development technique consisting of short iterations where new test cases covering the desired improvement or new functionality are written first, then the production code necessary to pass the tests is implemented, and finally the software is refactored to accommodate changes. The availability of tests before actual development ensures rapid feedback after any change. Practitioners emphasize that test-driven development is a method of designing software, not merely a method of testing.  It combines test-first development where you write a test before you write just enough production code to fulfill that test and refactoring.   The primary goal of TDD is specification and not validation.  In other words, it’s one way to think through your design before your write your functional code.  TDD is also a programming technique; the goal of which is to write clean code that works.

When?

15 March 2008 (Saturday)
2:30 PM to 6:00 PM

Where?

dotPH Domains, Inc.
2706 Jollibee Plaza Bldg.
F. Ortigas Jr. Rd. (formerly Emerald Ave.)
Ortigas Center, Pasig City
1605, Philippines

*** FREE Wifi-access during the workshop / seminar ***

How much?

Seminar Fee - P120.00 (P100.00 only if you bring a copy of your resume)

First-come, first served.  Limited seats only.

REGISTER HERE
http://www.jotform.com/form/80591737232

Sponsors

This techno nugget is brought to you by PHPUGPH and dotPH Domains

–aj

According to boren.nu, version 2.5 of Wordpress is nearing its release date which is scheduled on March 10th. Wordpress is currently 2.3.3.

Excerp:

We’ve set March 10th as the release date. This gives us a month of bug fixing. We’ll start off our bug hunt cycle with a hunt on Wednesday, February 13, 2008 at 17:00:00 UTC.  If you’re comfortable with testing almost-beta code, stop by #wordpress-bugs and help us polish up the new admin design, test the plugin updater, and fix bugs.  After the bug hunt, we’ll announce the schedule for our weekly beta packages and bug hunts.

Can’t wait guys!  Thanks.

–aj

Yahoo! just launched their OpenID service. 248 million users will now have the ability to login to any website that supports OpenID 2.0 authentication (link) and that my friend, is a huge boost to OpenIDs initiative.

Here’s Jeremy Zawodny and Allen Tom discussing OpenID at Yahoo.

Visit http://openid.yahoo.com now and setup your account. When I get the time, I’ll implement OpenID to all the sites I maintain. Should be a very cool addition to any site. Jump in the bandwagon now!

–aj

VirtualBox is an all-purpose virtualizer with a very small footprint and lots of features. VirtualBox lets you run different operating system on a single machine.

VirtualBox runs on Windows, Linux and Macintosh hosts and supports a large number of guest operating systems including but not limited to Windows (NT 4.0, 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista), DOS/Windows 3.x, Linux (2.4 and 2.6), and OpenBSD.

Check it out!

–aj

SMF is having some kind of issues. Trying to look for a fix. If you know how, please PM me. Thanks.

–aj

UPDATE: SMF fixed.

More information here

Due to overwhelming response from the tech & developer community, we have exceeded our expectations and we are temporarily holding off registrations until we find a bigger venue to hold everyone. The PHPUGPH team event organizers are doing their best to get a bigger place for everyone.

To ALL who registered:

Please settle your ticket reservation within 7 business days. This ensures a spot in the conference. All pre-registrations will expire on November 6, 2007 (Tuesday).

So, secure your spot today! Email chean@phpugph.com for payment details.

Thanks.

–aj

Microsoft Aquisition Plans: 20 Companies Per Year

“Not to be outdone by Murdoch and his slew of MySpace announcements, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has made some pretty big announcements today at the Web 2.0 Conference, speaking on Microsoft’s plans to acquire 20 companies per year for the next five years, ranging from $50 million to $1 billion, reports Venturebeat.”

Are you one of those companies?

Source

Windows Live SkyDrive: Upgraded to 1GB

“These past couple of months since our last release, we asked ourselves, “What can we do to make SkyDrive even better?” The most obvious answer is something that our users have asked us to do: give out more storage. We’re excited to announce that we’re doubling everyone’s storage to 1 GB!”

MozyHome Free has 2 GB of free backup space.

Source

Microsoft Live Search 411

“Live Search 411 enables you to do this for free, from any phone in the US. Just call 1-800-CALL-411 (1-800-225-5411) and say where you are and what you’re looking for. You can also get text messages, maps, traffic maps, and text-based driving directions sent to your mobile phone (with a service plan that supports text messages or data access, of course!).”

Source

Don’t be a iPirate arrr else…

“In a bold move, the UMass Office of Information Technologies makes a stand against violating intellectual property rights by….violating intellectual property rights?”

Source

Rich? Got some US$ 100,000 lying around? Get a Media Wall for your room.

Source

GPhone is coming

“Although rumors of a possible Google Phone have been making the rounds really hard lately, any such phone will have to be amazing to grab enough end-user and media attention. Expectations are high, but since we’re dreaming, here’s Gizmodo’s wishlist.”

Marissa Mayer didn’t comment nor deny on the question “Have you seen the GPhone?” by Om Malik .

Source

High resolution image hints at ‘Mona Lisa’s’ eyebrows

“One day I say, if I can find only one hair, only one hair of the eyebrow, I will have definitively the proof that originally Leonardo da Vinci had painted eyelash and eyebrow,” said Cotte.

Source

Robot Cannon Kills, Software/Hardware to blame?

“We’re not used to thinking of them this way. But many advanced military weapons are essentially robotic — picking targets out automatically, slewing into position, and waiting only for a human to pull the trigger. Most of the time. Once in a while, though, these machines start firing mysteriously on their own.”

Remember iRobot?

Sources here and here

Other shorts

• Mac OSX Leopard set on October 26, 2007
• Microsoft Popfly Beta launches
• UBUNTU 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon is out
• Adobe eyes move to software-as-a-service
• Firefox 3 to go native in appearance
• New Flickr UI with GeoTagging is Very Impressive

–aj