Maybe a better way to go about this subject is how I arrived at my chosen framework. I used to be all about Mootools by default, maybe it was the name, maybe the fact I like beef, maybe that I really dug their web site. I eventually (after sporadically testing different frameworks) arrived at JQuery as my default. So what made me choose JQuery over the countless others? Plain and simple it was the community support. Having a great framework or script is all well and good, but when you have a great user base out there that shares their innovations and discoveries then it makes it all the better. It probably didn’t hurt that in my employment we write in .NET technology and in that technology Microsoft decided that it would embrace JQuery as it’s default framework for Javascript going forward, so for me that’s a Win/Win. I program in .NET at work but do a lot of PHP stuff in my offtime, so a framework that appeals to both androgynously really perked up my senses.

So what is your preferred framework, and why?

Localhost: XAMPP
Language: PHP
Database: Sequel Pro
Editor: Coda
OS: Snow Leopard

I usually set up my sites in the Default ~/Sites folder on my Mac, just to keep things in one area mainly and for this demo we'll be using stardup.com (a domain I own and have never really done anything with due to time restraints).

I found this tutorial online a while back by Arron Wolf and it was a really good way to keep my logical file structure instead of duping directories back and forth from XAMPP's native htdocs folder. This is not super intense a process even though some people may shy away from Command Line. Follow along with the instructions on that site if you want to get it set up for your latest project. Go ahead, I'll wait…

…Okay great, you're back! Now let's begin with one really dead easy trick to keep your configuration files working on both sides, without having to change them every time you commit many site changes.

This can be done in any other programming language, however the if/else syntax changes a bit. I've also begun taking this a little further, including other bits in my code like $header and $footer stuff that will help me visually determine which one I may be looking at (as I'm often too lazy to look at the address bar).

So my next tip is related to running a lightweight version of XAMPP (because you really don't need all of the features for local development). I write a very simple Applescript that launches XAMPP with options, and then placed it in my System Preferences > Accounts > My Account > Login Items

Now I know a lot of the more hardcore programmers are probably wondering why I have to do the username/pass with administrator privileges twice, the answer is because I know only as much Applescript as I need to, and nothing more.

Just a quick note/update for Mac users.

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

Update: I have moved from MAMP to XAMPP for local development, it's a little more flexible for my usage.

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!

Step 1:
Download Opera's latest and greatest. (opens in a new window)

Step 2:
Open up Opera and get into the settings preferences.

Under the General Tab set your Starting Preference (Start with home page). Then set the home page appropriate to your event; I chose a local file to accomplish this.

Then click the Wand Tab and uncheck the “Let the Wand remember passwords” box.

Now head over to the Advanced Tab and find Security (highlighted) and click Set Master Password …
This will ensure that you can get the computer out of Kiosk mode in order to utilize it later on as a computer again. So this step is fairly important!

Under the same Advanced Tab you need to locate Shortcuts and uncheck the Enable mouse gestures. This will prevent anyone who may know Opera mouse gestures from being able to try any funny business.

Step 3:
Now that those settings are out of the way, we can move into the more nitty gritty stuff. As we are using Mac as an example, go ahead and fire up Script Editor.app from your Applications/Applescript folder. This will be a very basic script, one line of code.

do shell script "/Applications/Opera.app/Contents/MacOS/Opera -kioskmode -noexit"

Of course if you stuck Opera.app into another folder, the part in between the " may slightly differ.

Save that script somewhere in case you want to edit it sometime, then do a Save As … You will select Application as the File Format. I usually save something like that onto the Desktop so an Event Staffer can locate it easily.

So is that it? Not quite, but we're close. For it to actually be secure, you still need to filter out sites, or in a better case, only allow certain ones blocking all others.

Step 4:
Since Opera has been run, there will now be an urlfilter.ini file that should be edited. On the Mac you can find this at: /Users/yourusername/Library/Preferences/Opera Preferences/ if the urlfilter.ini file is NOT in there, you need to create it (sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't, no rhyme or reason to it). Okay, so you have the file, let's open it up in a text editor and fill it with something similar to below.

Opera Preferences version 2.1
; Do not edit this file while Opera is running
; This file is stored in UTF-8 encoding

[prefs]
prioritize excludelist=0

[include]
file://localhost/Users/user/Sites/kiosk*
*.somewhereelse.com*
*.thatsite.net*

[exclude]
*

The *.domain.com* are sites that you will allow the browser to visit and the * are there as wildcards, in case one of those sites sends the user to a different subdomain or folder.

Step 5:
You just have to set up the computer at that point to automatically log in as the Kiosk User (or whatever user you just set this up for) and ensure that they have the Applescript Application in their Login Items path.

There are a lot more rules that can be applied; however, these should take care of most needs for most circumstances. If you are doing something for the military or another government branch, you may want to write an actual application.

• Things
• Anxiety
• Schoolhouse (re-purposed)
• GTDTiddlyWiki (cross platform)

As I have been examining my options (and not truly GTD) I have compiled my short list of preferred apps/methods.

Things is the first Application that I decided to try out, it is currently in Public Beta so not all of the features work at the time of this writing. With a good pack of features and collaboration options this will be a great tool for the individual or team. There is also nice documentation and tutorials easily reachable within the interface, this is helpful when you are trying to overcome a slight learning curve.

Anxiety Great app, Mail and iCal integration, lightweight footprint, and can work seamlessly with your Mac if you have 10.5.

Schoolhouse I view this as useful so far as Things, it's designed with the student in mind but you could easily think of your projects as "classes" and take it from there. With this app you can do set up Tasks, jot yourself some Notes and even attach related files to the "class" like PDF's, Word Docs & even layered artwork. It has a lot of potential and the developer is planning a new release soon.

GTDTiddlyWiki I have to say, I'm impressed with this method so far above all, extremely light footprint, it's based on the Open Source TiddlyWiki aimed at the GTD purpose. I've been using this for a few days now and find it to be a top contender even stacked against a Desktop Application. I normally prefer an app to a web-based solution but for something that people used to jot onto paper or put in a simple .txt file, sometimes less is more.

With many options out there I'd be interested in hearing how you Get Things Done, and what it finally took for you to get the ball rolling.