rand() Tutorials

  • Thoughts on Code Commenting

    One of the "behind the scenes" ways of organizing your code and making it maintainable is code commenting.  Whether you're coding in Java, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, or any language for that matter, code commenting plays an important role in making your development life easy.  I thought I'd just share some off-the-cuff thoughts about code commenting.

  • Integrity: Link Checker for Mac

    I usually don't post about desktop applications because, quite frankly, I make my living creating awesome web apps.  I did, however, recently stumble upon a free utility which searches for broken links within a website.  That utility is the awesome Integrity application for Snow Leopard.

  • Google Wave Invites Giveaway

    Over the past months I've given away dozens of Google Wave invites via my Twitter feed. Selfless? Yes. Kind? Of course. Generous? Always. So far I've simply given them away but now we're going to play a new game!

  • What I’m Thankful For: 2009 Web Edition

    I'd like to take a moment this Thanksgiving to thank some people that deserved to be.

  • Confessions Friday

    Over the past two years I've run my Confessions of a Web Developer series.  Each one has been really popular and well-received.  It's Friday and I've had a bad week so today I want you to confess your web development sins in the comment section below.  Purge your conscious at the end of the week and confess!

  • When Webmasters Attack!

    CSS-Tricks scribe Chris Coyier wrote a great post titled What Beautiful HTML Code Looks Like where he outlined (with a great image, no less) how a great HTML/PHP file looks when proper programming practices are used. The post was so popular that the featured image was promoted to the Digg homepage. Then the webmasters logged out of their guild chat long enough to bless the Digg comments with their wisdom. I present to you...When Webmasters Attack! Also, what kind of web designer doesn't already know this? It's called being organized. However, all that white-space is going to add-up and waste bandwidth, which makes this "beautiful code" (a self-serving, inaccurate, subjective description) not-so-perfect. What kind of web designer doesn't know how easy it is to GZIP content which compresses/eliminates all of the extra whitespace that makes code more maintainable?I don't think <?php .. is valid HTML 5 either. This isn't a "Hello Kitty" picture, Webmaster, so please don't comment. This will get parsed by PHP and output as HTML.

  • 7 Signs I Knew I Was Born To Be a Programmer

    This will probably shock you but I'm a programmer. Not a designer, not a copywriter, just a simple programmer. I've done some self analysis and realized that becoming a programmer wasn't a choice — it was destiny. The following is my logic for why I became a programmer.

  • MacBook Pro: Week 12

    It's been 3 solid months of having my MacBook Pro now and I wanted to give a quick overview of my thoughts:

  • Important Notice: GeoCities is Closing.

    I just got the worst news of my life:

  • Quick Tip: FavIcons and 404 Errors

    As you probably already know, adding a favorite icon to your website is a great way to add subtle branding to your website. It's an easy, one-time update to your website that you never need to think about once it's done.