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How I Develop Websites Without an Internet Connection
Let’s start this off right: I am a hack. An amateur. A hobby web developer who occasionally gets talked into building websites for other people. That being said, I spend an inordinate amount of time designing and developing sites of my own and a few client projects, and if I’m going to spend time doing something, I will try my best to work smarter, not harder.
Being dependent on an internet connection to do development work forces me to work when said connection is available, not when I want to work. During a stint of traveling a few months back, I started researching local development options and the process has been so beneficial to my workflow. Here’s how I do development without an internet connection:
1. I use TextMate ($55) for code editing. Use whatever you’re comfortable with here, but I’ve grown to love TextMate for its flexibility, user interface and integration with my ftp client of choice, Transmit ($30).
2. MAMP (free) is an app that installs Apache, PHP and MySQL as a local server environment on your computer. I point MAMP to a document root at /Users/~/sites and keep my files for each project in separate folders there. A browser sees whatever is in that document root as http://localhost:8888/ by default. MAMP also allows of full installs of Wordpress and ExpressionEngine without the need for setting up hosted databases, so I have the freedom to develop fully-functional, content-heavy sites locally.
3. Fluid (free) creates site-specific browsers for any URL. Each Fluid app is treated like a unique application. I create a Fluid app for each project with the URL structure of http://localhost:8888/projectname/ (which is pointing to /Users/~/sites/projectname in the Finder.) I like being able to focus on one project at a time and keep it quarantined off from the rest of my recreational web browsing.
4. But what about everyone’s favorite browser Internet Explorer? Using a combo of Darwine and ie4osx (both free), I can run IE6 and IE7 beta as an X11 app on my Mac. I have Parallels ($80), too, but I typically don’t need to boot a full Windows install just to see what IE is doing with a website. ie4osx is awesome in its simplicity.
It’s a work in progress, and I’m certainly still learning, but separating my development from the internet-connected browser has set me free to make websites whenever I want to. Web dev is now no different than sketching or playing in Photoshop or writing an article. And it’s possible thanks to mostly free technology.
[It] turns out that if your bias is to always make it right, to use grace and flair to overdeliver at every turn, you’ve just discovered the single most important secret of marketing. Because when you amaze and delight, people talk about you. — Seth Godin, who is quickly taking over my quote category
A note from The Management: After almost five years of being online, I finally made myself a favicon today.
Success is now the domain of people who lead. That doesn’t mean they’re in charge, it doesn’t mean they are the CEO, it merely means that…they show the way, they spread ideas, they make change. Those people are the only successful people we’ve got. — Seth Godin, being interviewed by Hugh MacLeod
Virb 2.0 is Nigh
The Virb Six post a little update on the progress of the new and improved Virb. (And by “new and improved” I mean “new and actually useful.”) Their development Twitter has been dropping feature hints for a few weeks now. I’m excited about profile RSS feeds, embeddable customizable audio players and better audio/video encoding.
But I’m most excited about how they’re embracing openness and allowing users to use whatever apps/sites they want to to interact with Virb. It’s the path to web success.
Five Seemingly Unrelated Topics I’ve Been Learning About Lately
1. How the cortisol that your adrenal glands make plays into stress and health
2. ExpressionEngine templates and member groups
3. Economics
4. Using multiple CSS classes to achieve complex grid-based designs
5. Designing an office environment for maximum communication/flow/inspiration
Is This What Christianity in America Has Become?
“O God, we are in a battle that is raging for the soul of this nation. You, O God, have raised up Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin for such a time as this. Help them, O God, to strengthen our economy, to keep our taxes and spending low…and grant them the privilege of being elected the next president and vice president.”
— from the opening prayer of a McCain/Palin rally at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA
“O God, we are in a battle that is raging for the soul of this nation. You, O God, have raised up Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin for such a time as this. Help them, O God, to strengthen our economy, to keep our taxes and spending low…and grant them the privilege of being elected the next president and vice president.”
— from the opening prayer of a McCain/Palin rally at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA
This isn’t about the candidates as much as it is American theology. You can replace “Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin” with “Senator Barack Obama and Senator Joe Biden” and switch the policies to reflect the respective party line. It’s still just as disgusting.
“Please, Lord, keep my taxes low and the economy strong so I can continue being in the top 1% of money earners worldwide while not caring about the other 99%.”
If any of you have an abundance of goodwill and a spare $189.95, I will be more than happy to supply you with my mailing address so you can send me this. I thank you in advance.
While luck may be more appealing than effort, you don’t get to choose luck. Effort, on the other hand, is totally available, all the time. — Seth Godin, Is Effort a Myth?
Why Human Resources Just Isn’t What It Used To Be
On a whim, I applied for a designer job with PUMA a little over a year ago. Today, I received the following email (emphasis mine):
Dear Joshua,
Thank you for your interest in the No Job Title found position with PUMA
North America, Inc. Unfortunately, we have other candidates at this time
who more closely match the job requirements. Your resume will be kept on
file to be considered for future openings that meet your background and
skills.We wish you success with your employment search, and again, thank you for
your interest in PUMA!PUMA North America, Inc.
Human Resource Department
No, thank YOU, PUMA! By automating your Human Resource department with an obviously amazingly-functional (and timely!) email system, you have proven to me what a wonderful, personal company you would have been to work for.
I’m enjoying The Atlantic’s redesign. What I’ve seen of the print version also looks lovely.
A note from The Management: I’m working on a ground-up rebuild/evolving of the dot com right now. I’ve learned approximately 9 zillion things since I first built it, so it will hopefully be faster, better and chock full of tasty typographic and grid-based treats. The same, but different. Soon-ish.
When Mandy and I were living in Boston, we’d make frequent late night excursions to spots around the city with our D200 and tripod in tow. It was fun and it often produced great results. Tonight is one of the first nights since we moved to South Carolina that we did likewise. My wife takes pretty pictures, doesn’t she? Who Should You Vote For? gives you relevant topics like healthcare, foreign policy, taxes, etc. to agree or disagree with, then tells you which candidate best lines up with your issue beliefs. My results were polarizing for sure, though there’s still a good bit I don’t have an educated opinion on. (via Sarah Hatter)
Five Banes of My Existence
1. AT&T
2. mayonnaise
3. off-the-rack collared shirts
4. the radio (except for NPR)
5. fuzzy screenprint jobs
Hiring Over Your Head and Building a Team That’s Better Than You
Quote, “Hire to be the dumbest person in the room. Surround yourself with people that are smarter than you. Somebody who is of excellence and passion.” — Michael Lebowitz, founder Big Spaceship from his CLICK NY session
I LOVE THAT. As we’re rapidly expanding and experimenting with our team here (especially in web and communications) I am excited to be a part of hires that have specified knowledge far beyond mine. Our other designer Chris knows so much more about getting things printed well than I do. When it comes to web development, I have enough knowledge to get things done, but not enough to make a dent in the universe, so we’re looking for a web developer to own it and push us/me forward. For us to accomplish great things, I have to make an intentional, concerted effort to not be the smartest guy in the room.
As we grow, I will know less and less about the specifics of our team’s individual tasks so that those things can be done passionately, excellently and on a world-class level by the right people. Otherwise, we only grow as far as my knowledge capacity will let us and we never leverage the power of being a team.