Blog
Taking the Work Out of Optimization
21 May 2013
Since I originally moved my blog to the Jekyll platform, I've been looking for several ways to push the performance of my website further.
Over the last couple of months, I've been exploring several content distribution networks for my new web course Extreme Website Performance, such as CloudFlare and Amazon's CloudFront, as well as forgoing a CDN altogether and focusing on reducing the number of network requests used (and therefore taking the bottleneck away from the distribution servers).
Recently, a Redditor asked whether it was possible to create a background that looked like a gaussian-blurred photograph with CSS. In fact, it's quite easy to do so using multiple background images and radial gradients.
Google Now is an assistant that is able to learn from your habits and predict your future actions. If you believe this sounds creepy, you're not alone. Many individuals have serious concerns with Google's privacy practices in general, and Google Now is evidence that they are willing to leverage the masses of data available on each of its users.
Development Environments the Right Way with Vagrant and Puppet
25 April 2013
As long as I can remember, I have used some form of MAMP/WAMP stack for development. I'd download the entire stack pre-packaged with some sort of control console, and develop web applications straight out of my Dropbox folder (with Git as version control), changing the web root of the *AMP configuration depending on which project I am working on.
This worked fine for many years, but recently I've discovered the magic of Vagrant and Puppet.
Conceptually, Facebook Home seems like a fantastic idea-- it places bright, large photos on your lock screen that can be swiped through when you have a free moment, and focuses on your friends. But, there's a fundamental issue with placing user generated content on your home screen.
Timeline
Learning Jekyll By Example
My new book, Learning Jekyll By Example, is available to read.
ThreeBar Launched
ThreeBar, my new welcome bar service, has launched.
Pixi Dust for Windows 8
Pixi Dust for Windows 8 has been released. Check it out on the Windows App Marketplace.
CES 2013
Attended the Consumer Electronics Show 2013.
New Website Launched
A new version of this website was launched, just in time for New Years! See how it was made.
PutBar for Mac OS X
PutBar for Mac OS X was released to the public.
RSNA Conference
Attended and presented at the RSNA 2012 conference in Chicago, IL, USA
Analytics for Clicky
Analytics for Clicky was released to the public.