Archive for September, 2008

Tina Fey as Sarah Palin

// September 15th, 2008 // No Comments » // Newsy Goodness


“30 Rock” star and Saturday Night Live Alum Tina Fey appeared on the season premier of SNL to portray Sarah Palin alongside Amy Poehler’s Hillary Clinton. She nails not only the look (no surprise) but the voice and cadence of Palin. This video is funny, but also very very sad.

When I can find a way to subdue my language a touch, I intend on writing up a post on how distasteful and insulting Sarah Palin is in this presidential election… If I never manage to put it together, it’s because I couldn’t find a way to channel my hatred in healthy manner…

10 Good PHP Principles from Nettuts

// September 10th, 2008 // No Comments » // Technology Bits

The recent article from Nettuts.com, 10 Principles of the PHP Masters has some solid concepts that are worth reading about.

The description synopsis of the article is:


With PHP’s widespread adoption,it’s almost too easy to find a script or snippet to do exactly what you need. Unfortunately, there’s no filter as to what is a “good practice” and what’s, well… not so good when writing a PHP script. We need trustworthy sources, who have proven they have a solid grasp on the best practices of PHP.

We need PHP masters to show us the best principles to follow for high-grade PHP programming.

Good stuff.

Update: This article on CSS is equally valuable – 10 Principles of the CSS Masters.

Silverback – Usability Testing

// September 1st, 2008 // 1 Comment » // Technology Bits

I have always been very interested in doing serious usability testing of applications or web sites. However, it is complicated and associated software to make it easier is usually quite costly.

Silverback appears to change that.

I have yet to have a chance to put it through it’s paces, but watching the video demo, this has great potential. With only a $49.95 price tag, this will be easy to justify with our next major project.

Described by Clearleft as:

Spontaneous, unobtrusive usability testing software for designers and developers.

  • Capture screen activity

  • Video the participant’s reactions

  • Record the participant’s voice

  • Add chapter markers on the fly

  • Control recording with the remote

  • Export to Quicktime

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