twtpoll Plugin for Mango Blog

read more...

The Launching of Hawkeye Tweets

There is no mistaking the fact that I am a HUGE Iowa Hawkeye Nerd. If you hadn't noticed, two of the last three sites launched by Brice Cheddarn Development have been Hawkeye related. Hawkapalooza was a pro-bono website put together to help a student organization at the University of Iowa. NILE was put together for a client to help him promote his novel.

Hawkeye Tweets is personal project to support my favorite team. It was inspired by the work of colleagues, who put together Suns Tweets and Cards Tweets as a way to use Twitter in support of their teams. I took the same concept and applied it to the Iowa Hawkeyes.

With the help of justSignal, the same technology used on Suns Tweets and Cards Tweets, I was able to put this site together in one massive all night, Monster-fueled hacking session. Hawkeye Tweets uses the justSignal Twitter Widget to pull in the streaming tweets and ColdFusion to power the backend and other ancillary components. ColdFusion will be used more heavily as the site expands.

read more...

IE6 finally hears the Death Rattle

Internet Explorer 6 is like a bad date that just won't take the hint. The long standing browser has been causing headaches for web developers and designers since 2001, and until recently people have done nothing but accept the abuse. Recent news, however, suggests we may have finally had our fill of abuse from IE6.

Internet Explorer is the main web browser that many of us nerds learned to surf the web on. Back in the early part of the decade, IE6 did its job and did it well. This was in large part because no other options existed. Before Microsoft was legally forced not to, they had the ability to bundle the browser with the Windows operating systems, which led to Microsoft experiencing a 95% market share for internet browsers. And when that many people adopt a product, it then becomes impossible to move away from.

Today, we have far superior browsers in the market like Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and Safari, as well as Internet Explorer 8 (I hate to say it, but IE8 is pretty slick). These browsers are not only standards compliant, which IE6 is not, but they have evolved into all-encompassing utilities that reach far beyond the internet and into your everyday lives. I can't imagine life without FF and all of its plugins, let alone surfing the web without it.

I liken the IE situation to one of your grandparents living until 204 years of age, and then thinking they could adequately compete in the NFL for a starting RB position. In 2001, IE6 was just what we needed, but for the web to continue evolving and growing, the browser that requires the most time, energy and effort to make things work must be permanently retired. Not just retired, but banished from even coming close to a computer connected to the internet.

read more...

Raymond Camden - Twitter Jedi Master?

In the world of ColdFusion, Raymond Camden is definitely a Jedi Master. His ColdFusion blog is one of the most popular websites for CF developers, not to mention his blog engine (BlogCFC) is one of the most popular CF apps out there. He writes books about ColdFusion, gives seminars about it, makes his wife speak to him in backwards ColdFusion...the guy does it all. Now he is Tweeting about ColdFusion.

Twitter, the ridiculously popular microblogging site, has allowed CF developers from around the world to collaborate. So, it comes as no surprise to know Ray has amassed a large and loyal following on there, too. Not only is he Tweeting about ColdFusion, @cfjedimaster is harnessing the power of the Jedi to thwart any web nerd that comes even remotely close to putting #coldfusion in the same tweet as *gulp* a negative word.

read more...