Browser

I downloaded a beta of Apple’s Safari browser which has been newly released for Windows. I’ve heard quite a lot about Safari from Mac fans, so eager to try it.
My first observation is that it looks terrible. I don’t know if this is how it looks on a Mac, but the contrast of the menu/address […]

asp.net and ajax

I’m not particularly wed to a particular software development strategy. I’ve used Microsoft .net technologies, COBOL/IDMS mainframe, PHP, Wordpress and so forth. I use what I think is the best tool for the job.
For most of my work, I use asp.net/c#/sql server. If you are building things for the web that are more "application" than […]

Forbes: You’ve Lost The News

Microsoft Claims that Software Like Linux Violates its Patents
Revealing the precise figure for the first time, they state that FOSS infringes on no fewer than 235 Microsoft patents.
Microsoft:"This is not a case of some accidental, unknowing infringement," Gutierrez asserts. "There is an overwhelming number of patents being infringed."
Now, it seems to me that the […]

NPE Maps Addon

I’ve written a little utility using the NPE Maps data, a great project designed to geocode the UK. I needed it for something experimental, but I’m happy to share my utility.
The idea of the utility is to take each of the records that is in the NPE Maps outward + 1st inward database and create […]

Beginning CSS Web Development

I’ve been reading and working with Simon Collison’s Beginning CSS Web Development. It’s a book that a recommend to anyone who is interested in learning Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).
I’m not a web designer, but a web developer. I don’t really have the aesthetic mind that comes up with the amazing things that designers create. But […]

MTAS Security Cockups

Who is running this? I mean… really.
First off, the MTAS system has a URL that is unsecured. I can see where someone came from with this. If no-one knows the page name, they aren’t going to get in. Of course, that loses things like login audit information and also takes a chance that someone isn’t […]

Google MyMaps

I’ve just tried out Google’s new MyMaps feature that’s part of Google Maps. I was trying it because my own attempts at creating a custom map were time consuming - working out the co-ordinates and then hand coding them.
MyMaps gives you a browser interface where you can plot points of interest, draw lines and all […]

Wide World of Computing

I’ve just read Paul Graham’s piece "Microsoft is Dead". It’s well written, and I believe it’s largely true. The title isn’t quite right - Microsoft aren’t actually dying - but their level of control is.
But something in the article struck me:-
The last nail in the coffin came, of all places, from Apple. Thanks to OS […]

Gliffy: Diagrams on the Web

I used to use Microsoft Visio for my diagramming needs. It’s a brilliant tool, but most of my independent client work doesn’t require UML documentation - it’s more business orientated.
However, I do need diagrams occassionally, and I make a trade-off and use a drawing package (it’s much cheaper than buying Visio).
It looks like there’s a […]

OpenID

At the recent Oxford Geek Nights event, Simon Willison gave a presentation about OpenID. I think it’s worth a mention on its own, as sites like LifeHacker are picking up on it.
The idea behind OpenID is simple - replace hundreds of "per site" identity systems with a single sign-on system that can be used anywhere.
This […]