Running a test server has never been easier than with the advent stand-alone Apache distribution packages. If you’re interested in mucking about in Open Source software package distributions (see my previous post, How to Be Your own Webmaster) or even a hard-core developer the fastest, and safest, way to roll a project out is to [...]

I put together a 16-slide powerpoint that outlines the basics of what you’ll need to know if you’re thinking about hosting your own website. It includes information about hosting plan types, security certificats, registering a domain name, and, most importantly, an outline of a few open source software packages’ features (Joomla!, Drupal, phpBB, WordPress, Gallery, [...]

Firefox 2 is awesome for so many more reasons besides not being IE or Safari. For one, I find the spellcheck really handy. Until today, I didn’t know you could load additional dictionaries as easily as other extensions. Just go here and click on your language of choice. Now if you’re in your webmail and [...]

I have no idea why I haven’t been clued onto this sooner, but TED.com has got to be one of my new favourite sites. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader. The annual [...]

Originally published in the July 1945 issue of Atlantic Monthly, Vannevar Bush‘s post-war article, As we may think, is cited often because of its intertextual breadth. In the paper, he proposes a new and radical information retrieval system called the memex (based on microfiche) that would facilitate access to the sum total of humanity’s archived knowledge.

A memex is a device in which an individual stores all his books, records, and communications, and which is mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility. It is an enlarged intimate supplement to his memory.

The memex is a prototypical hypertextual system…

I came across this U.S. WWII pre-electronic guidance system initiative called “project pigeon” which basically used trained pigeons to direct bombs on target by consensus. My entry point on this was a really great book called Universal Principles of Design. Click on the image at left to see the full page. There is also wikipedia [...]