I have been battling with this issue lately. In my mind the developer should religiously check their own code as they work on it and only consider it done if they have checked it from every angle they can think of. Only later would testers come through to find the very unobtrusive ‘bugs’. Above all, a tester should never be a crutch for the developer.

There are developers out there that seem accustomed to just getting code to ‘work’ and then move on. I wonder if they realize they are causing more problems than they solve?

Here is the minimum I think a developer should do before moving on to the next task:

1. Get the code to work as specified.
2. Check the code in a live environment (user side etc).
3. Try to ‘break it’ by doing things unexpected. Users will RARELY do things as planned.
4. Check the systems code is connected to for issues.
5. If a web app – check in the 3 most popular browsers.
6. Ask someone else to take a look.
7. Fix any issues.
8. Test again.
9. Fix.
10. Repeat steps 6-8.
11. Mark as ‘done’ when you don’t run into issues.
12. Submit for ‘testing’ (if you have a dedicated team for testing.)

In most cases, this takes an extra 5-10 minutes work for the developer working on the code and will save uncountable time for the tester and the project as a whole. The tester can then focus on the unobtrusive issues instead of wasting time going back and forth on the obvious ones. The tester should have to work hard to find problems.

I am anxious to hear opinions on this workflow issue, especially from developers accustomed to working with dedicated testers.

1. Turn off all components, modules & plugins you do not use.

This can save a few seconds on the frontend and backend.
Log into the administrator and locate the following. Disable the ones you are not using.

Extensions > Install/Uninstall > Components
Extensions > Module Manager
Extensions > Plugin Manager

2. Turn on caching in Global Configuration

Site > Global Configuration

3. Optimize CSS and JS

Make sure you have well formed code and minimal white space.

CSS optimizer: http://www.cssoptimiser.com/index.php
JS optimizer: http://www.xtreeme.com/javascript-optimizer

4. Compress CSS and JS

This can be done manually or via extensions.

Compress CSS manually: http://perishablepress.com/press/2006/10/23/compressed-css-compression/
Compress JS manually: http://perishablepress.com/press/2007/04/24/compressed-javascript-compression/
Compress both CSS & JS with an extension: http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/site-management/cache/7350/details

5. Don’t use statistics or logging – use Google Analytics.

The native logging and statistics in Joomla and those offered by extensions are very resource intensive. By disabling them you will gain performance.

6. Use native SEF

Using Extensions to generate Search Engine Friendly URLs is useful and necessary for full control over your SEO, but you will get a performance hit. The native SEF in Joomla 1.5 has improved a lot and is sufficient in many instances.

7. Try to keep queries under 30

Enable debugging in Global Configuration to check how many queries you have. If it is under 30 your site should be relatively fast. Over 50 and you will likely have issues.

8. Don’t use bridges

These are brides to other CMS systems like OpenRealty or Gallery2. This will slow down your site.

9. Optimize your images

This should go without saying, but make sure the images you use are optimized for the web.

10. Optimize your server for php & mysql

Talk to your host and tell them you are using Joomla which is heavy on php and mysql resources. Ask them to optimize your site for this. There are several settings that can improve the speed of your site which mostly equate to allocating more memory on the server to php & mysql. You may have issues if you are using shared hosting, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.

11. Install Phil Taylor’s SPEED UP (for 1.5)

This one will increase the speed of your backend administrator only and uses Google Gears. I personally have had good luck with this extension.

http://www.phil-taylor.com/Turbo-Gears-Speed-Up-Joomla-1.5-Admin-Console

Sources:
http://www.joomlaperformance.com/articles/performance/so_you_want_to_speed_up_joomla_3_14.html
http://thenexus.tk/my-need-for-speed-14-ways-to-speed-up-joomlahtml/
http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/administration/admin-add%252dons/6053/details
http://www.phil-taylor.com/Turbo-Gears-Speed-Up-Joomla-1.5-Admin-Console
http://www.seongyupyoo.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=13:joomla&id=14:how-to-optimize-and-speed-up-joomla-15&Itemid=5
http://www.joomspot.net/how-to-speed-up-optimize-joomlas-performance.html

Bing.com, formerly Live Search (live.com), formerly Windows Live Search, formerly MSN Search (msn.com), went fully online June 3 2009.

It sports some cool new features (specifically with video and image searches) but I just don’t get Microsoft. I’ve read the history behind this decision and I have a decent grasp on the business reasons behind it. But seriously, isn’t this just another example of Microsoft throwing a bunch of money at something needlessly? They are spending $80 – $100 million to advertise this ‘new’ search engine which, when it comes down to it, is just msn search with a new skin and some cool new bells and whistles. Why not just keep the branding they already have?

Business decisions and branding aside, I thought I’d give bing a try (the proof being in the pudding and whatnot). So far, I haven’t found a reason why it is any better than Google or Yahoo. I will continue using Google as my search engine of choice and don’t see switching any time soon.

If you would like to read more about this, Wikipedia is a good place to start.

jQuery for Absolute Beginners from ThemeForest.net

Here are some great examples of the technology:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented_reality
http://www.truveo.com/augmented-reality-magic-10/id/2847581887
http://ge.ecomagination.com/smartgrid/?c_id=FM#/augmented_reality
http://www.stijnzeeman.com/post/117047307/is-this-real-bmw-augmented-reality

Things should be looking schnazzy again in no time

I ran across some panoramic virtual tours I did a few years back. These are of my parents house from back when I was first learning the technology.

Here are a few more I have created since then:

Warehouse Condos
Rabbit Rock
Witches Gulch
241 Parkview
Ray Kretz Industrial Forest

Enjoy.

If anyone has a link to the Holy Grail of USB Flash Drive Autorun please comment below

Here is what I used
(used it to autorun a Flash Windows Projector file):

Create an Autorun.inf file and place it at the root of your flash drive along with your program files.

Here is the link where most the info I used was found.

Change to the directory you want changed, then run these;

Will set permission for all files to 644 and all directories to 755.

This works for pretty much any Linux server.