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Microsoft and Yahoo! – My Take

Uncategorized Feb 01, 2008

A favorite theory among tech pundits is that the company that will eventually dethrone Google doesn’t exist yet. Rather, it’ll be the brainchild of former Googlers who quit when their current job becomes boring or their stock options vest. Imagine a mass exodus – hundreds of very rich, very smart engineers with nothing but free time and creativity on their…

Uncov Nails It

Uncategorized Jan 16, 2008

Uncov is good. But sometimes they’re great. The proliferation of stupid is the cancer that is killing the internet. In the quest to re-implement every conceivable desktop application in Ajax, you mental midgets are setting computing back 10 years. The worst part about it is, you think that you’re innovating.

Lost’s Buried Treasures

Uncategorized Jan 16, 2008

For seven years I ran the largest Stephen King site on the net. When I sold itin 2005 I thought I put that world behind me for good. I had a final article printed in Lighthouse Magazine and moved on. But, like most things, it has a way of creeping back into my life. I had the good fortune of…

How To Install PEAR in Mac OS X Leopard

Uncategorized Jan 02, 2008

Unlike previous version of OS X, Leopard doesn’t come with PHP’s PEAR repository installed by default. Luckily, installing is quick and painless. From a command line: Just press enter to select all the default choices except for the installation directory. For that, use /usr/local. (Thanks, Steve.) Next we need to modify our php.ini file to include the new PEAR files:…

Navigate Yahoo! Search Results Using Only Your Keyboard

Uncategorized Nov 08, 2007

Google has an experimental search page where you can test drive new search result layouts. My favorite is the Keyboard Shortcuts option. This lets you navigate and view search resultsusing only the keyboard – no mouse required! It’s a huge benefit for Quicksilver fans. Now that Yahoo! is my default search engine, I desperately didn’t want to give up the…

Retain Your Employees With Your Ideals, Not Your Perks

Uncategorized Nov 05, 2007

Earlier today I was asked what I look for in a job. Specifically, what it would take to retain me past the typical “three year burnout” period tech workers often find themselves up against. The usual answers came to mind: a fun corporate environment, challenging assignments, working with people smarter than myself. Those are all important factors, but they’re also…

50 States Programming Puzzle

Uncategorized Nov 01, 2007

Anders Pearson posted an interesting programming puzzle today on Thraxil.org: Take the names of two U.S. States, mix them all together, then rearrange the letters to form the names of two other U.S. States. What states are these? He found out about it from Mark Nelson who, in turn, heard it on NPR. It’s not a terribly difficult riddle if…

How to Enable PHP5 In Mac OS X Leopard

Uncategorized Oct 26, 2007

I’ve seen a lot of visitors searching for information on enabling PHP5 in Mac OS X Leopard. It turns out to be quite easy. Leopard ships with Apache 2 and PHP 5 pre-installed. To enable PHP simply: That’s it! PS – If you want any easy way to setup and manage virtual hosts on your Mac,check out VirtualHostX.