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DerekAllard.com : CodeIgniter, ExpressionEngine, and the World of Web Design

Evolution of an Evil Robotic Chimp

November 27th, 2006

Over the last little while, I've documented how this site is changing. I thought I had arrived at a pretty stable look, but if you are a keen observer, you may notice that the the hanging robot on the side of my site has changed. How do you start a blog post about a robotic chimp that's hanging out on your site? It's hard, but I wanted to chronicle the evolution of the hanging robot, and see if I couldn't find him a name.

This story starts with an innocent email from a good friend and colleague (and skilled artist), Cliff. He wrote ...love the new look, but hate that hanging robot on the side.

Thoughts on a Javascript Library Integration with Code Igniter

November 27th, 2006

For reasons I'll disclose in the near future, I've recently been convinced that Scriptaculous, despite my thoughts on its "bloat", is in fact the best library for me to focus in on if I'm going to integrate it with Code Igniter. I'm currently committed to a project that I'm just finishing off that I've been developing using Mootools, but when its done any work I do in this area will probably be on Scriptaculous integration.  I'll release the mootools library when I'm done of course!

Top 10 SQL Performance Tips

November 19th, 2006

Hmm... lools like my love affair with SQL related posts continues.

MySQL has posted an excellent resource posted called Top 10 SQL Performance Tips. Although, it is kind of a misleading name, since its a wiki, and everybody is able to post. Currently it's up to 84 tips, most of which look really great. Here is a small sampling...

Writing SQL with HAVING vs WHERE clauses

November 14th, 2006

UGH! So apparently I need one of those Matrix-style brain implants to help me remember SQL.

I'm writing this down now as both a personal reminder... and maybe I'll save you from the same fate. When writing the archive for this blog, I wanted to create friendly URLs, so that /blog/archive would display all posts, /blog/archive/2006 would show all of the posts from 2006, and finally /blog/archive/2006/11 would show all of the posts from November of 2006. Simple enough right?

DerekAllard.com has been rebuilt

November 13th, 2006

Well, this humble blog started as a standard Wordpress install. I quickly moved to the Hemmingway theme, but then thought that my site lacked any of my personality. So I set about to rebuild it. My first attempt was chronicled on this blog. My intentions were to make it available as a Wordpress theme for anyone to download.

Kill All Humans revised

November 07th, 2006

Well, the time has come to properly do this site. Until now I've been using a Wordpress theme that I hacked together in an afternoon and named Kill All Humans…, but it never quite felt right. There were so many little things here and there, CSS inconsistencies, etc. So what I've decided to do is rebuild my site in Code Igniter, and chronicle the whole process in short (maybe 10 minute) videos.

The first step is re-building the XHTML to be like I want it to be. Below you’ll find the XHTML/CSS building blocks of the new derekallard.com.

Tips for Getting Started Building an Application Using Code Igniter

November 06th, 2006

When I originally released BambooInvoice I learned a lot about trying to code for a site specific goal, and coding for a mass audience. I originally wrote these tips on the Code Igniter forums, but since I was recently asked for advice again, I thought I'd repost them here. The original thread is still active.

Since I released BambooInvoice I've received a number of interested emails from developers looking for tips on getting started building an application using code igniter that you intend to widely distribute. Here is a small collection of useful processes.

If all you know is Photoshop, you are NOT a web designer

November 05th, 2006

Seriously. Recently I’ve had the "pleasure" of working with some pretty messed up projects. Basically, I've been called in to put out a fire caused by some work that another "web designer" had done. Here’s a newsflash, websites are not just single high-resolution jpegs inserted between <html> tags.

Firefox 2 tabs - Hate em…

November 04th, 2006

I don’t like the way Firefox 2 handles closing tabs. Here’s how I fixed my Firefox to get back to the behaviour I wanted.

Tamper Data for Fun and Security

November 04th, 2006

I can’t believe I just discovered this now. The Tamper Data extension for Firefox.

TamperData is an extension to track and modify http/https requests. It is great for security testing and just in general trying to break your applications. In fact, if breaking is what you want to do, check out the pre-packaged built in SQL Injections, Cross Site Scripting (XXS) vulnerabilities and other goodies.

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Derek Allard

I'm Derek Allard, a programmer, author, and award-winning instructor. I'm also a Technology Architect at EllisLab, and the programmer behind BambooInvoice, a simple, Open Source, web-based invoicing application. [ more about Derek ]

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