Taking a Hiatus

Thursday, April 17, 2008 6:00 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: General | Comments: 0

Things are getting a little too busy lately.

Since I've been working at my full-time job (with overtime), working on two products, four websites, and continuing to work with my existing 15 clients, I've been trying to make time for DCS Media.

Unfortunately, there is only so much time in a day.

Fireday Review: CruiseControl Build Monitor

Friday, April 04, 2008 6:00 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Fireday | Comments: 0

This week's review is strictly for enterprise team developers.

If you work on a team in a company, you no doubt have heard of CruiseControl at one time or another. Most companies that are serious about team development use some type of source control system and CruiseControl.

This week, I found a cool extension that adds the full functionality of CruiseControl into a statusbar notifier.

Two Famous Developer Essays

Thursday, March 27, 2008 11:00 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Developers | Comments: 0

After doing some "Spring Cleaning" on my computer, I found two programming essays that are still a great read.

After going through my ebooks that I've purchased and collected over the years, I came across two of my favorite essays from Scott Ambler.

For those who don't know Mr. Ambler, he is another individual who I admire in the software industry. I've been reading his material since 1998. He created Ambysoft, wrote some great books, and has a lot of free essays which assisted me throughout my career.

How to find opportunities for your business

Tuesday, March 25, 2008 11:00 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Business | Comments: 1

Are you trying to find ideas to start your business? Keep your eyes (and ears) open.

It's been a while since I posted a business lesson and over the Easter weekend, I heard a joke that relates to even the smallest entrepreneur.

Here's the joke:

Fireday Review: ColorZilla

Friday, March 21, 2008 9:30 PM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Fireday | Comments: 0

This weeks extension focuses on the designer's dream extension: ColorZilla.

This week, the designers take center stage with a helpful extension called ColorZilla.

The extension is small at 161k, but it packs a wallop with it's designer tools.

Fireday Review: Domain Lookup

Friday, March 14, 2008 6:00 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Fireday | Comments: 0

Want to quickly find out if that great domain is avaiilable? Check out this weeks Fireday review for your answer.

Check out this weeks review of Domain Lookup

Umm...it's a little addicting. I had to use it to review it, right?

Outlook Alternatives: Moving from Outlook to Thunderbird

Wednesday, March 12, 2008 11:00 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Open Source | Comments: 0

MS Outlook has been around for a long time, but maybe it's time for a little change.

Outlook is one of the best known PIM's around because it comes with and integrates nicely into MS Office. However, since Google has taken MS Office online with their Google Docs, maybe it's time to move from Outlook to Thunderbird.

But isn't Thunderbird an email client? Yes, but so is Outlook. As well as email, Outlook also includes a contact list, a to-do list, and a calendar for your appointments.

Fireday Review: FEBE

Friday, March 07, 2008 9:30 PM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Fireday | Comments: 0

An exceptional Backup/Restore extension for Firefox users!

Moving from one computer to another has some disadvantages...like remembering all of your extensions that you use on a daily basis.

This week, I review FEBE, the Firefox Environment Backup Extension. And when I say backup, I mean, Back-Up!

Nokia Tablets Users: What mobile software do you need the most?

Wednesday, March 05, 2008 6:00 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Mobile | Comments: 0

What software do you think is absolutely essential on your Nokia N770/N800/N810?

After replacing my Palm T3 with a Nokia N800 and running with a virtual office mentality, I felt like I lost my best friend. Don't get me wrong...I love my Nokia N800, but I've encountered a downside.

The downside is the amount of software available for the Maemo platform. I understand there are over 500 applications in the garage, but without the ability to create an MS Word or Excel document, it kind of hinders the portability concept. I hope the OpenOffice community is prepping something soon.

Fireday Review: MenuEditor

Friday, February 29, 2008 6:00 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Fireday | Comments: 0

Do you use every single menu item on your Firefox pulldown menu?

As you start using Firefox more and more, you'll notice some of your commands aren't used as much or you resort to keyboard shortcuts.

So why keep some of the unused commands on your pulldown menu?

Fireday Review: FireFTP

Friday, February 22, 2008 6:00 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Fireday | Comments: 0

Use FireFTP to carry around a lighter FTP application...WITHIN Firefox.

After using an FTP client for a while, it just seems like another application that I didn't feel like carrying around on a USB drive.

However, at 135k, FireFTP provides all of the features of a fully loaded FTP client with a small file size.

Default CSS for HTML 4

Thursday, February 21, 2008 6:00 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Design | Comments: 0

What are the default HTML settings for Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)?

Designers are using baseline, or "reset," style sheets more and more to clear out the existing settings of default styles in the browsers to create a more uniform way of designing web pages.

After looking at some recent polls about "Which CSS Reset do you use?", I thought about this in a different way.

Fireday Review: Read it Later!

Friday, February 15, 2008 6:00 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Fireday | Comments: 0

In Firefox, tabs get a little too unruly. Use this extension to keep a reading list of your favorite posts.

If you've always wanted a way to mark specific posts or articles for viewing later (when you have the time) instead of using tabs, this week's extension called Read It Later! has a lot of great features geared towards a blogger or professional surfer.

Pulling and Pushing Data

Wednesday, February 13, 2008 7:00 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: General | Comments: 0

What's the difference between an RSS feed and an EMail?

I've recently received an email from an individual asking me why I'd use an RSS feed as opposed to a regular email?

I've been using RSS since I've started my Micro ISV blog, but for those who don't know what an RSS feed is, I'll refer you to my Beginner's Guide To RSS.

Speed Links - Feb-11-2008: Developers

Monday, February 11, 2008 7:00 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Speed Links | Comments: 0

Quick Speed Links for Developers

Mr. Attwood over at Coding Horror has a great post about The Years of Experience Myth and what programmers really excel at in their job.
The Immutable Laws of Web Design and Development is a list of Murphy's laws that apply to the designer and development community. Great read!
If you're undecided about a particular web framework, jump over to Solving IT Problems for the post entitled Choosing a web framework for rich internet enterprise application development and see for yourself how your web application should adjust to what users are used to.

Fireday Review: gDocs Bar

Friday, February 08, 2008 2:00 PM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Fireday | Comments: 0

Looking for a way to take your existing MS Office documents and conveniently edit them online?

If you work with MS Office documents remotely, then Google Documents is probably on your list of frequently visited web sites.

Then, this week's Firefox extension review explains how the gDocs Bar can be right at your side...(actually, sidebar) while on the road.

Free Utilities for Burners and Your Network

Thursday, February 07, 2008 7:00 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Free | Comments: 0

Tired of your Roxio burning software? Need to document your network? Check out these free utilities.

Over time, if you continue to pay for burning software or hire a contractor to document your network, the amount of money spent can become costly.

Fortunately, there are companies out there providing exceptional software that accomplishes both of these tasks.

Fireday Review: AdSense Preview

Friday, February 01, 2008 5:30 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Fireday | Comments: 0

SEO's and Webmasters will find this extension to be very helpful when analyzing ads on a web page.

The AdSense Preview extension allows webmasters and SEOs to actually see what results AdSense produces...without the fear of being banned by clicking on the ads.

Check out the AdSense Preview extension review here.

Why John Rambo is the Ultimate Freelancer

Monday, January 28, 2008 6:00 AM

Posted by Jonathan Danylko | Tag: Business | Comments: 2

Here's some advice for freelancers on what to do and what not to do: John Rambo style.

After watching Rambo this weekend, I couldn't help but realize that John Rambo was a freelancer.

I'm not talking about the type of freelancer that goes crazy on clients the way Rambo attacked the enemy, but the way he handled himself before all of the fighting is what I'm referring to. Check out these similarities I noticed in the movie that relates to freelancers.