What is the cloud – how to use
The word "cloud" became a buzz-word quite a while and Google search results for the word cloud is far away from real clouds in the sky. Although, many people and even web developers are quite away from understanding of what cloud is, how it works and how to take an advantage by using it. So clouds are really "cloudy".
Being a web developer this topic is in area of my interests for some time, but I always thought that clouds are for really big players. By big I assume million of clients, billions of page loads, terabytes of data, etc.. My mistake!
Recently I came across with Rackspace cloud and understood how wrong I was. It changed my understanding into more practical way and I gave up my VPS and moved to the cloud.
Deploying a web application via FTP
When your brand new application looks shinny, it is time to put it on the Internet, process called deployment. Usually this involves several steps, like uploading application files, creating remote database, setting up configuration, etc.. Once it is setup and running you reazlise that your app is missing features X, Y and Z and deployment starts over and over again, this often leads to strange bugs.
I use simple lftp command line tool to automate project deployment via FTP and eliminate any possible deployment errors.
File uploads in HTML5 – what’s new ?
File uploads have traditionally had very bad usability on the web. The standard solution was uploading files as part of a form, leaving the user to just wait until the process was done. We could offer barely any feedback of what was going on. Several options appeared in HTML5 to make the process more bearable for the user.
Hardening linux server
If you consider yourself as Linux administrator this post might be useful for you. NSA published some nice papers with hardening Linux servers recommendations. NSA - National Security Agency - organization that is trusted. Latest version of 200 hundred pages guide in PDF for securing configuration of RHEL5. A very detailed manual, explaining general principles of secure system, including all necessary system changes, service configuration, network security, firewall, etc..
Custom markers on Google Maps
Google did a great job with Google Maps from developers point of view. Recent V3 version of Maps API is very simple to use in projects. Recently I created an example how to embed map on the site and display custom markers on it. Markers handle mouse onClick event as well.
PHP Development in the Cloud
Nevertheless Amazon recent downtime showed us that clouds are not panacea for all problems, they are the future. Especially when quick scale, precise resource allocation is needed.
This book is about applying your PHP skills in a clouds.
Most developers gloss over when they hear “the cloud” as the term has been appropriated by marketing types and has very little true meaning anymore. In this book, Vito and Ivo strip bare the buzzwords and help PHP developers figure out what the cloud is actually about and how they can take advantage of what cloud computing has to offer. After reading this book, you will not only have a clear picture of what cloud computing is, but you’ll also be able to utilize the various cloud services that are out there.
How to make your site lighting fast
Сertainly, era of dial-up modems has gone and modern broadband internet made almost all sites loaded in a seconds.However, there are several reasons why you should still worry about every byte of size of your company or personal blog size.
Cheap hosting for a blog
For people who knows me and subscribers of my blog I propose WEB hosting for just $1/mth for simple sites, personal blogs, etc... I can setup WordPress for you. If you are interested, leave me a comment to this post.
OpenID login for Yahoo and Google accounts
I've updated my Openid sample code for logging in with Yahoo and normal Google accounts.
Why use code version control for solo developing ?
It is known fact among developers that VCS (version control system) or SCM (source code management) are good for team developing, it helps syncing each developer code changes into one final product, while effectively resolving code conflicts. But how can it helps loners ?

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