As I Know It.

Web App Performance Resources

Wed, 08 May 2013 13:51:00 -0500

General Overview

http://elie.im/blog/web/analyzing-web-application-performance/#.UYqedytATeQ

DOM Processing

http://blog.newrelic.com/2012/05/10/how-we-tune-our-own-app-using-rum-data/

Adding DNSimple SSL to Heroku

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 11:22:57 -0600

Adding DNSimple SSL to Heroku

From Scratch: PHP Application on Elastic Beanstalk via Git

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 16:54:00 -0600

Create An Elastic Beanstalk Application

1. Login to your AWS Management console and navigate to the Elastic Beanstalk section.

2. Create a new application by clicking the “Create New Application” button in the top right corner.

3. Follow the screenshots below to fill out the form.

4. You should now be able to access your application through the Environment URL you specified when creating your application. If you setup a PHP application you should see a page like this:

Setup Git To Push To Elastic Beanstalk

1. Download the Elastic Beanstalk CLI from here: http://aws.amazon.com/developertools/6752709412171743

2. Unzip the folder and extract the “AWSDevTools” folder. Place this folder somewhere convenient on your system. You will need to reference this folder anytime you want to setup a new elastic beanstalk with Git. I prefer to keep it right along side my local repositories.

3. Open up terminal and navigate into your application’s repository.

4. Run the AWS Dev Tools Repository script from inside the repository. The path to the script within the AWSDevTools folder varies based on your operating system.

Mac: AWSDevTools/Linux/AWSDevTools-RepositorySetup.sh

Windows: AWSDevTools/Linux/AWSDevTools-RepositorySetup.bat

5. Run “git aws.config” and follow the prompts.

AWS Access Key: Your AWS access key

AWS Secret Key:Your AWS secret key

AWS Region: us-east-1

AWS Elastic Beanstalk Application: Name of your application

AWS Elastic Beanstalk Environment: Name of your application’s environment

6. Run “git aws.push”. Your application’s Git repository will be pushed up to your elastic beanstalk. Once it is complete you will should see the “Running Version” of you environment reflect your most recent Git commit.

Squashing Git Commits

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 20:08:12 -0600

Squashing Git Commits

AWS Elastic Beanstalk PHP Error Log Setup

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 17:10:40 -0600

AWS Elastic Beanstalk PHP Error Log Setup

GitHub: Cloning and Fetching Remote Branches

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 11:28:21 -0600

GitHub: Cloning and Fetching Remote Branches

Developers Who Paint The Back of the Fence

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 01:18:30 -0600

Every software developer knows the concept of “Developer’s Debt” whether they are familiar with the term or not. If you’re not familiar here is a quick blurb from The Pragmatic Programmers by Dave Thomas:

“As the designer or developer of a new application, you’re faced with hundreds of micro-decisions each and every day: blue or green? One table or two? Static or dynamic? Abort or recover? How do we make these decisions? If it’s something we recognize as being important, we might ask. The rest, we guess. And all that guessing builds up a kind of debt in our applications - an interconnected web of assumptions.”

I have come to realize that the way a developer “manages their debt” is a distinguishing factor between being a good developer and being a truly talented developer. I know lots of people who can crank out code and make the cogs turn. However, I can count on one hand the people that I would ever want to share code with. It takes a unique mindset to always be conscious of keeping an application’s debt as low as possible. It takes someone who has so much pride in their work that they don’t just paint the front of the fence where people can see it, but they also paint the back of the fence.

An Entrepreneur's Pursuit

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 14:41:00 -0600

It is a fact that many entrepreneurs get caught in the grind. We can spend every waking moment focusing on our ventures, the next sale, the next product release, or a long awaited acquisition. This is the result of the gung-ho attitude and focused passion that many entrepreneurs have for the work they do everyday. It is what makes us entrepreneurs, and it is typically a requirement to join the club. As a result, we can loose touch easily. Long nights and restless work are not out of the norm.

While the entrepreneurial grind may seem obscure to many, those who choose it would usually never have it another way. It is the moments when you do finally sit back and relax that make it all worth it. The moments when everything lines up and your work has paid off. The moment when you make that sale, release that product, or finally sign that acquisition. While an entrepreneurs pursuit can be hell, it can also be heaven, and we all know you can’t have one without the other.

PHP on Heroku

Sun, 25 Nov 2012 15:22:00 -0600

PHP on Heroku:

This guide was incredibly helpful in launching a new PHP application on Heroku with a web root outside of the default directory. I will be needing this again.

Finally going to give Heroku a spin.

Saying Yes Means Saying No

Fri, 23 Nov 2012 00:00:00 -0600

I’ve begun to realize more and more that saying yes to one thing means saying no to another. Time spent on one project is time lost on another.

It is the everyday decision of “What will I work on today?” that determines where we end up and what we end up doing in our life. Despite the importance of this decision over and over on our lives it seems minuscule on a daily basis. It is this lack of correlation that typically makes us invest our time everyday into the present instead of investing it into the future.

A surplus of projects and paths to choose from lately has made me cognoscente of this fact. If you don’t say no to projects that have decent gains in the present sometimes you will never be able to work on the projects that may have magnificent gains in the future.

It’s time to start saying no more.

Gener8tor Launch Day Video And Slideshow

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Gener8tor Launch Day Video And Slideshow:

by Tailwind Creative

Rand and Dharmesh Told Us "No", But We Did It Anyway

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Rand and Dharmesh Told Us "No", But We Did It Anyway:

by Tailwind Creative

Photo

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 15:18:00 -0500

"Act like you’ve been there before, especially when you are in the end zone."

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 00:00:00 -0500

“Act like you’ve been there before, especially when you are in the end zone.”

Photo

Sat, 30 Jun 2012 13:50:00 -0500

Tailwind Creative Office Space

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Tailwind Creative Office Space:

by Tailwind Creative

Photo

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 19:12:32 -0500

Juxseo- We Built It Just Because

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 10:00:05 -0500

Last week we launched a free SEO on-page optimization tool called Juxseo. (Pronounced Jux-ee-oh, as in Juxtaposition and SEO.) In short, the incredibly simple tool allows you to run a report on a specific URL to determine how optimized that page is for a specific keyword. You can also search the Juxseo reports database by URL, domain, or keyword to see all historical reports.

We initially wanted to build Juxseo for internal use with our clients, but after cranking out the core features pretty quick we decided to take it a step further and release it into the wild. Releasing it as a public tool made us realize that we should use a slightly different approach. We decided to stay away from the typical bland interfaces and data overloaded tables that most reporting tools are famous for. We wanted to make Juxseo attractive, simple, and straight to the point.

The result is a tool that is great for everyone that knows nothing about SEO. Any executive or marketing professional can use Juxseo to get some insight into their on-page SEO performance. If the report fails they have a list of reasons why with simple explanations and actions to correct them. At the same time, we run Juxseo on our iPads in front of clients in initial meetings. It helps us explain to them some of the things we are talking about without getting too nerdy on them.

Frequency and Recency Curves in Google Analytics

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 20:51:00 -0600

Frequency and Recency Curves in Google Analytics:

by Ben Bartling

Photo

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 10:04:00 -0600