Monthly Archives: November 2009

Writing Opportunities at Long Last

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As many of you are well aware, writing is something that has been on my mind for years, and though I have been told I have a proficiency at it (when I put my mind to it), I had not spent much time actually pursuing any writing opportunities – until now. First, as I wrote about earlier this year, I had an opportunity to write a little blurb for Kotaku and try to win a chance to help them cover E3 this year. While I did win that contest (though I can’t sneeze at placing third), it ignited my desire to write again, and I have put a little more effort into it recently. Predominantly, I have just put a little more thought and proofing into my blog posts, since that is really the only place I could send prospective editors for published work, but this seems to have started generating a little interest.
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JavaScript Library Nightly Builds, SymLinks and Auto-Updates

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Something has been bothering me for some time, and I finally took the time to resolve the issue once and for all – relatively speaking. As mentioned in my previous post, I have had opportunity to work with multiple different JavaScript libraries, and I often find myself running behind on the newest bug fixes for a given module. Many of the library development teams offer a nightly build available to checkout via SVN or Git (usually by way of GitHub), and I devised a way to automatically update my shared repositories among all the domains on my server. While not rocket science, nor an entirely new idea to most of you, it is quite helpful to me, and I thought I’d share my method here.

There are actually four steps involved with this update, so I apologize in advance if this gets too long.

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JavaScript libraries: jQuery vs. ExtJS

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Often I have been asked which JavaScript library I prefer over all other, and the answer is not as easily orated as one might expect. Occasionally, I actually find someone willing to spend the time and thought involved with seeing the answer through to its conclusion. To avoid any undue future banter, I thought I would put my thoughts concerning the matter down in writing and simply reference this post when the topic is breached.

No, this will not be a comprehensive discussion and review of all available JavaScript libraries, but hopefully it will be sufficient to drive people to view the topic with a bit more of an open mind. Also, I must alert those who have come looking for a definitive answer from me: you will not receive a single library of choice here, but rather you will be given some insight to different perspectives requiring careful consideration when each library is being reviewed.
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Working Remotely: Pros and Cons

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One of the most amazing things in the history of technology must be the ability of working remotely. Take a moment and consider what the ramifications of this step in employment progress. To anyone who has worked a regular office job for any length of time, the enticement of being able to work from home is quite alluring. However, having some moderate experience with this phenomenon myself, I realize that beneath the shiny facade, all is not ponies and rainbows.

For those that are not aware, let me first quickly share my experience with you. Having worked on various freelance and contract projects for about three years, I began my professional career as a lead web developer in the educational realm where I never even considered working remotely as an option. Simply adjusting to the life of the desk dweller was enough to keep me busy for the three years I was there.
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