Today, I was reading through a web developer forum and I ran across a noobie web designer asking for help with one of her school projects. She was looking for a place to find a cheat sheet. (It was apparent from how she asked her question that she didn’t know much about web design.) As I was scrolling past her post, I noticed that someone had posted a reply. I was scanning the reply when I came to an abrupt halt and shifted my eyes up a few lines to see what the poster was talking about. The reply was from a self proclaimed developer who was trying to explain how the web development world works. Here is what he said, which got me thinking:
In web development, there are designers and developers. These 2 different jobs, which overlap, have 2 different philosophies. Designers generally think in the term; form over function. How the page looks is more important than how it works. For developers it’s the opposite; form follows function. A functioning site is more important than a pretty site.
He goes onto say that the best sites are usually a balance of the two philosophies. However my question is whether a developer can be a good designer and vise versa? I would love some feedback from other web developers, what are your thoughts on this?
Today, my company (Lifespent Media), switched to a new project management tool called Basecamp. Although this is not my first time using it, I am still impressed. I used Basecamp while I was working with Design is Fuel on one of their projects. I will admit its hard trying to stay organized and keep track of files, emails, and client contact information. Basecamp has really made my life easy by storing everything in one place. Now my clients can login, post feedback, keep up with their to-do list for their specific project, view upcoming benchmarks and even chat live with our developers. Its especially helpful for my clients who aren’t local, they don’t have to waste an email or a phone call to check on the status of their project, now they just login and check it in real time.
But, like I said, we have just started to use it within the last 24 hours, so I will post again in the near future and see if I still think Basecamp is worth the coinage. So far so good though!
After literally years of contemplation I decided (more like talked my self into) it was time to buy a Mac. Thats right, I gave in and purchased an iMac and wow… am glad I decided too. The responsiveness, tools, eye candy, and usability to name a few are reasons enough for me to have bought this Mac.
The responsiveness of this computer out weighs anything I have seen with a PC. What do I mean by responsiveness? Well lets just say when I tell this thing to “wake up” while its been sleeping it comes up immediately unlike the PC which seems to have its own snooze button and takes a little longer to get out of bed.
The tools available for web development and graphics design have everything covered that a PC can do and then some. I enjoy using the Adobe Creative Suite with Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Flash and Illustrator. While the Adobe Suite is run on Windows as well, the speed at which the applications open and run on the Mac leave the PC in the dust. I have since found a simple and light weight text editor called TextMate (to replace Dreamweaver), not only does it recognize HTML, XHTML, CSS, PHP, and much more but it also recognizes Ruby on Rails. Before with my PC I would run different programs for the different languages I was programing in no longer is that the case. Speaking of ROR (Ruby on Rails), developing applications is a breeze considering its pre-installed on Leopard. Saved me a lot of time from having to download and install repositories and hope it worked like I have had to do in the past on Ubuntu.
But I have got to say that the best part of using a Mac isn’t that everything works, or that the applications load quick, or even the lack of the “blue screen of death“, no the best part for me is the usability that Leopard offers. Everything from spaces to expose’ to the dock. Leopard makes life easy on the user with the logical order and organization of files and folders. Everything is straight forward with a “what you see is what you get” mentality.
In all, I am really just trying to say that I enjoy using a Mac and if you happen to be on the fence trying to decide if they are worth the money, in my humble opinion they are worth every cent!
Photo Credit: Apple Inc.
Let me just start this post off with a WOW! Not wow that its taken me just over four months to write a new post (even though I am sure my site would disagree)… but rather more of a wow for a new framework I have been working with: Ruby on Rails. I know, I know, its not NEW-NEW but its new to me. I have been working on a project this last week (Its how I spent the better part of my spring break… ok enough with the jokes) for a local gaming center (Alpine Gaming). I am going to outline a few features of the site more for me than for you but it will give an idea as to what Ruby on Rails can do, but keep in mind I am a beginner just imagine what a skilled developer can do with this framework. (I will also include a few links to some resources I found very handy at the bottom of this post.)
- Content Management System
- The entire site is built on the Ruby on Rails framework, which makes editing and updating the site very simple. All information is stored in a database.
- AJAX and Javascript
- Within the site there are a few scripts running to ease usability and create eye candy for the user and administrator. The effects include: sortable lists, light box, and reserve
display div layers.
- Syndication
- The news section of the site utilizes both RSS and ATOM feeds.
- Analytics
- Utilizing Google analytics is a must on any web site I develop. Not only does it help keep track of how many visitors the site has but it also supplies some other fun information.
- Validation
- The website is XHTML 1.0 Transitional on every page. Don’t believe me? Take a look: here.
I had some help with this project, below I have listed a few places where I found helpful information. A big thank you to everyone listed:
PeepCode.com.
RailsCasts.com
Ralph at Rails on Edge
RubyPlus.org
All the people on #RubyOnRails at Freenode.
With this writers strike hitting television networks hard in the pocket book, it would seem NBC has found a way to make some extra cash by launching an auction website with materials from the sets of shows such as Heroes, The Office, and Friday Night Lights. Just to name a few. I guess this is good considering that the talks between the Writers Guild of America and producers for the networks are proceeding painfully slow. NBC must figure, “What the heck, no ones left to write the stories guess we wont be needing the props any more…”. Personally if I had that kind of money to blow I would definitely be bidding on those posters from Heroes.
Let’s say it’s been a busy day. I have been hard at work developing a new layout (as you can see) and let me tell you this is probably one of the best layouts I have created in a while. This site is using a backend called Wordpress which by the way is an amazing application. I played around with Typo but it’s still a bit behind Wordpress but I like the fact that it runs on Ruby on Rails. However I decided that WP would be a better choice for now. I don’t have a lot of time to write any more, just wanted to get an update on the website just in case anyone decided to view it while its being remodeled. With that I will leave you with something to think about. (I really just want to see if my blockquote style works!)
Part of the inhumanity of the computer is that, once it is competently programmed and working smoothly, it is completely honest.
-Isaac Asimov
