Published in General on Thursday, September 2nd, 2004
Readers take note that we are taking a short hiatus...
Hello all, just a short note to say that posting here will be on hiatus due to a temporary overload, and for some reprogramming, rethinking, and very subtle restyling.
This blog originally started with some good intentions and neat ideas. Some happened, many didn't, and now when I take a step back, I see quite a few things that need to be cleaned, re-thought and re-focused.
Changes will be made and applied here over the course of the next 2-3 weeks, so while posting may be down, style changes (and some functionality) won't be. If you have an opinion on things, don't be afraid to speak your mind, e-mail it → mike@...
Enjoy the beginning of fall!
Sitepoint's web devlopment books have helped me out on many occasions both for finding a quick solution to a problem but also to level out my knowlegde in weaker areas (JavaScript, I'm looking at you!). I am recommending the following titles from my bookshelf:
I started freelancing by diving in head first and getting on with it. Many years and a lot of experience later I was still able to take away some gems from this book, and there are plenty I wish I had thought of beforehand. If you are new to freelancing and have a lot of questions (or maybe don't know what questions to ask!) do yourself a favor and at least check out the sample chapters.
The author line-up for this book says it all. 7 excellent developers show you how to get your JavaScript coding up to speed with 7 chapters of great theory, code and examples. Metaprogramming with JavaScript (chapter 5 from Dan Webb) really helped me iron out some things I was missing about JavaScript. That said each chapter really helped me to develop my JavaScript skills beyond simple Ajax calls and html insertion with libs like JQuery.
Like the other books listed here, this provides a great reference for the PHP developer looking to have the right answers from the right people at their fingertips. I tend to pull this off the shelf when I need to delve into new territory and usually find a workable solution to keep development moving. This only needs to happen once and you recoup the price of the book in time saved from having to develop the solution or find the right pattern for getting the job done..
Comments and Feedback
Oh no, this is terrible news. My days will be darker without fiftyfoureleven.
However, I do appreciate that sometimes these things need to be done, so I'll try to be patient.
The clock is ticking Mike, 2-3 weeks is a long time - so you better get started! :-)
Haha, your days are darker because you live in the UK, where the skies are cloudier ;-].
I'm on it, I have ideas, now I need time...
I beg to differ: We have glorious sunshine today!
Are you sure that you aren't improving the weather with {scripting language of your choice}? (sorry, I should'a linked to your page in the first place... But his clouds are pretty)
And just to be an ass, *ahem* (yikes, there are clouds!).
Oh no, the game is up. My "manipulate the data to make English weather seem more appealing" scheme has been rumbled.
How I laughed to see that the clouds are approaching Alicante! :-P
Not to worry Mike, it could be far worse.
Good luck! I'm planning to switch whenever someone builds me a perfect weblog system. I'm told it will happen somewhere this month, but I'm not sure if it will be totally ready.
Thanks Anne! I'm not switching, just re-working and reorganizing some stuff. We also have a tonne of work right now.
As for that perfect CMS, I'm hoping it somes out soon too. I have some private weblogs that need updating and I'm waiting for the new stuff...
Could you finish before next saturday? I'm going on a small holiday, so no harm would be done to my feedDemon.
Much love.
:P haha.
- sounds like a pet!
Looking forward to the post reworking debriefing ;)
Hmm, better tack on a couple of extra days then ;-]