When I’m developing a Web site sometimes I will take my initial development local and run a local server. Obviously for projects already online or projects that do not require full database integration I do not need to run one all of the time. This is where MAMP comes into play, or if you run Windows WAMP* would be your flavor.

What exactly do these terms mean? The M and W stand for your working platform by way of Macintosh or Windows and the AMP stands for Apache, MySQL and PHP. These simple apps can start and stop the full suite of hosting tools at a moments notice without you having to muck around in your system and install all sorts of tools that require more in depth configuration. I’ve found that overall this can speed up programming and testing because you will not need to constantly upload files to an FTP server and check them that way, instead you would just save and refresh your browser.

And it would be sort of open-source blasphemy if I didn’t mention XAMPP mainly used for Linux, but also containing flavors of Mac OS X, Windows and even Solaris.

All of these software packages are free, or have a free (lite) version available for you to use in your programming endeavors so have at it!

*Windows & WAMP makes the assumption that you are developing a PHP/MySQL Web site and not a .NET Solution

Most people utilize a CMS or Weblog software that automatically handles url rewrites, but what if you have a simple website that doesn’t need quite the same treatment?

I came up with a quick down and dirty little trick to help overcome such an instance and I think you may find this useful.

Fire up your favorite text editor and open up create a .htaccess file (or modify the file that may be sitting in your root directory) and paste these lines in. Feel free to tweak them a bit to suit your needs, maybe you’ll even find a better use for this method.

And that’s it! Pretty URL’s on the easy.

With current economic downturns and fiscal crises on the minds of most working people, there are a few subtle steps you can take when times get really tight. In our society, it’s not a secret that goods and services once thought to be a luxury have become a current standard of our lifestyle. Can we survive living within a new means without sacrificing our happiness? We most certainly can, and can possibly even increase our happiness.
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Setting up a secure public machine for demonstration purposes can be tricky. This is information freely available; however, when I first began this task, it was very difficult to get a straight answer on the do’s and don’ts.

Please Note: This is only an effective way if you want to utilize a web-based presentation or application.

Around a year ago, a client of ours sent two brand spankin’ new 24” iMac’s and wanted to use them as secure browsers. So, we got to work on figuring out how to implement this sort of thing on the Mac platform. Our company before used to build .NET applications specific to an event and windows based machine; this process wasn’t the most streamlined, seeing as how a simple web app for data capture would work just as well. So after some searching, I found a method that would work out perfectly for this and it’s even cross platform compatible!

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Not only is etiquette a courtesy in business and personal life; it’s also a way to immediately create credibility in your brand, you.  So what exactly is good etiquette in the business world?

A few tips to consider:

• When someone enters a meeting room, stand and greet them
• When in a room of strangers, extend a warm handshake and introduce yourself, especially to those standing solo
• When dining, don’t chew with your mouth open
• Don’t chew gum during meetings
• Never put your bags on the conference room table; sit them next to your chair or on your chair and unload from there
• Always bring paper, writing utensil and your calendar to ANY meeting
• Always arrive a few minutes prior to a meeting - don’t make everyone wait on you
• Hold the door for others - male or female
• Clean up after yourself; don’t expect someone else to pick up your dirtied glass or trash
• Send a handwritten thank you note after meeting a new person and enclose your business card … not only good etiquette, but also good networking!

For more great tips, check out Emily Post.