As you all know, I’m a web developer using PHP, MySQL, and Apache. Port 80 just so happens to be the default port for HTTP connections. What completely baffles me is that Skype will use ports 80 and 443 (HTTP and HTTPS) as alternative ports for incoming connections. By default. So, unless I change this option, if Skype starts before Apache, Apache won’t start.

Thanks Skype. I appreciate this “feature”.

Okay, so PHP Sucks, But It Doesn’t Matter.

I like Jeff Atwood. I enjoy reading his blog and I’m looking forward to stackoverflow. I’m just not used to seeing him quote painfully old articles when trying to make his points.

From my own experience, and the countless of online tutorials and blogs, many PHP developers are guilty of the same crap code VB developers were once renowned for. OO, N-Tier, exception handling, domain modeling, refactoring and unit testing are all foreign concepts in the PHP world.

Ever heard of PHP 5? PHPUnit? Zend Studio? The plethora of other tools that real, good development shops use? Sure, a lot of the junk you see in PHP was done by hobbyists or people without a good, firm understanding of how things work. There are quite a few professionals out there who develop and distribute quality PHP-based products.

I think Stas put it best, PHP isn’t the only language where really crappy code is produced. I read The Daily WTF quite a lot and notice a ton of other languages in there, so they must all suck too, right?

It’s certainly very possible to build really elegant solutions in PHP. It’s also possible to build maintainable solutions in PHP. As tools like Zend Framework, PHPUnit, Phing, phpUnderControl, xdebug, Eclipse with PDT, Omega Vortex’s own Omega Matrix, and many others start to become more widely used, I think it’s very possible that you’ll see a gradual increase in the overall quality of PHP code.

I know what you’re thinking: “You’re kidding, right?” (Okay, maybe that’s just what I thought.)

In some cases, I wish that I was …

So Long … And Thanks for All the Fish

Yahoo responded to the letter from Carl Icahn, but I think this is the lead out before the final nail goes into the coffin. Microsoft has said they’ve moved on, though? What happens if this new board of directors can’t get the software giant to bite? I think Dvorak put it best. This squad looks like a great bunch of sellouts.

If Yahoo can’t fend off Icahn, it’s game over. If Icahn does manage this take over, selling out to Microsoft might actually be the best case scenario. Can anyone spot the irony in that sentence? So, we’re looking at the possibility of Yahoo being sold to Microsoft where the clash of culture and technology is sure to eventually doom all of Yahoo’s services … or Yahoo being cut up and sold to the highest bidders … which is sure to eventually doom all of Yahoo’s services. I can’t find the win in this situation, can you? Oh right, I’m not a Yahoo shareholder … maybe I should be.

I feel really sorry for some of the more prominent members of the PHP Community who are currently employed at Yahoo. I can’t imagine that they would have any trouble finding a new home, if they decide to leave after whatever ends up happening. Maybe everything will settle down and nothing will happen, then they’ll get to just keep their jobs in peace. Who knows?

Let’s pick on CNET for a while … (more…)

(Obligatory Joel on Software Reference)

It’s really true, though. A couple years ago, I thought that in order to be successful I needed to make a big difference somewhere. Make huge changes and huge progress everyday. As time passed, I slowly came to realize that’s not possible. Things happen. Businesses aren’t developed overnight. Now, everyday, I wake up and contemplate what the next inch forward will be. Progress, any progress, is what it takes to be successful.

Don’t get me wrong. In today’s fast-paced global marketplace, being able to think quick on your feet and react faster than your competitors is what it takes to stay afloat. What benefit do you get out of reacting faster than your competitors and shipping a poor implementation of a requested feature? Take your time. Do it right. While your customers may complain about the speed, initially, you’ll certainly receive more praise for making it work properly, in the long run.

It’s a brand new day. Let’s see what kind of progress this day will bring.

A recent client of Omega Vortex has been hit by the pains of outsourcing. Now, I’m sure there are a ton of really good developers out in India … somewhere. Sadly, a lot of the people I have talked to have had nothing but negative things to say about consulting companies based out in India. It’s certainly a lot cheaper than development shops here in the states, but it’s also a lot riskier. So, here’s my five rules of outsourcing to make sure that you don’t get burned the next time you’re looking for someone to help you complete a project.

(more…)

I’m in the market for an RSS Feed Reader. Something light-weight that lives on my PC (sorry Google Reader fans). I’m a huge fan of Opera’s built-in RSS Support, but I’ve been using Firefox again lately. Firefox’s Live Bookmarks just aren’t cutting it for me, anymore. My RSS Feed list has gotten extensive to the point that whenever I start my browser, it will hang for about 2 - 3 minutes while it does a massive update check against all my RSS Feeds.

I’m thinking about giving Thunderbird a shot to see how well it manages feeds. I’ll report back with my feelings on its performance and whatnot. If anyone has any other suggestions, please let me know.

I’m giving Windows Live Writer a shot so I can see how this is going to publish to my blog. It looks pretty good, so far, but we’ll see how it publishes. It looks like it posts just fine, without any sort of trouble. Retrieves entries just fine and everything. I’m editing this again now, from within the desktop interface. The great thing is that it even shows you what your blog entry is going to look like, in your own theme, before you even publish it.

Not bad.