Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with web

Unix web apps

yegga — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:49:38 -0800

A two parter: 1. I remember reading a quote by someone along the lines of 'every new 'killer web app' is a unix app. google=grep; facebook=wall; etc. Can you help me find this please? 2. Now that you grok the idea, can you tell me more analogs of unix vs web apps? Which unix apps are yet to be made webby? Which have been, but badly implemented? Which are your favorite unix apps? Etc.

GMP math friendly web host?

wmeredith — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:02:13 -0800

Sys Admin filter: I'm looking for cheap web hosting that is out of the box GMP math friendly. Does anyone have a good recommendation?

Web template for cleaning business?

zeikka — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 06:39:17 -0800

Where can I find simple, yet professional and elegant web template/ Wordpress theme for cleaning business? I'm helping someone who's starting a small scale residential/ business cleaning service. I have domain and cheap hosting for her, but would like to find nice web template to use.

Wordpress theme would be ideal as I'm not very experience web designer or don't have experience with complex publishing system. Free would be great this as is very small scale.

Fair salary for a "Usability Testing Assistant"

the jam — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:42:15 -0800

Asking for a friend: I've been offered a position as a "Usability Testing Assistant" at an established, medium-sized (50-75 employees) web company, and now I need to provide them with salary requirements. In this position, I would report directly to the Usability Testing Director. My responsibilities would include recruiting test participants, running all tests, and communicating to the company's developers insights and feedback from the tests. I've found salary ranges for a "Usability Tester" (60k-70k), but I'm not sure if that would directly apply to me, or if this position would be considered more junior. What is an appropriate salary range for my new position? Concrete numbers or links for more research would be much appreciated!

How to create online video classes?

jabo — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:36:36 -0800

I need advice in setting up secure, online video classes. A student would pay for the class, and then be directed to a streaming video that they would be able to watch (not download) for a length of time (say a week).

I could use any advice, resources, warnings or general musings on how to accomplish this. Existing software or hosting solutions also welcome. I know html and css but only just getting my little toenail wet with php. Finally, this would be for a small business with limited resources (i.e. cash).

Help me choose twenty RGB colors that all contrast with each other.

popechunk — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:41:10 -0800

Help me choose twenty RGB colors that all contrast with each other, so that any two of them are distinguishable in a graph. I am using rrdtool to make some graphs from a perl script, and I need a default list of 20 or so colors that are all easily distinguishable from each other when they show up next to each other in an rrdtool graph.

I've seen some other posts on finding a handful of colors that look good together, but I'm looking for the largest set of web colors where any two can be easily distinguished when they show up next to each other.

Private, self-hosted alternative to Brightkite?

merlinmann — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:39:48 -0800

Looking for a self-hosted, private alternative to Brightkite for sharing family stuff. My wife and I (mis)-use Brightkite as a two-person, location-aware version of Twitter. All our posts are private (we two are one another's only "friends"), and it's turned out to be a really handy way to let each other know where we are, indicate when we're on our way home, and even to post little snapshots of our daughter to each other through the day. Really fun and useful.

Although, we admittedly use the app "anti-socially," always trying make sure everything stays as private as it can, obviously it's an uphill battle with an app that's designed to broadcast lots of personal information to large groups of people.

Any suggestions for a more private alternative to Brightkite? Preferably something Open Source and self-hosted where we own and control as much of the data as possible. Not against API stuff interacting with Fire Eagle or what have you; as long as we maintain control over keeping everything as private as you'd want a note on your own fridge to be. Do-able?

Move this, word!

fantasticninety — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 22:17:42 -0800

Is there a website that allows you to create moveable font type vids? I'd like to know if there's a free site which allows people to type in text and then choose options to create a rough and ready version of this kind of thing.

Video Sharing Websites?

tangyraspberry — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:17:53 -0800

Can anyone recommend a video sharing web service for private viewing? In other words not you tube. I trying out Smugmug but, at $60.00/year, it's a little pricey.

Help me get my stuff back!

gakiko — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:07:56 -0800

I used Infogami.com for some of my personal research. Now it's shut down and I want my research back, but I can't get to it. Infogami used to be a simple wiki/personal page host with some features I liked (eg. Markdown instead of HTML). Now they've shut it down (without any kind of notice, if I may add), I can't get to my pages anymore and emailing them at the address provided (feedback/at/infogami.com) gives me the following daemon error:
Sorry,_I_wasn't_able_to_establish_an_SMTP_connection._(#4.4.1)/
I'm_not_going_to_try_again;_this_message_has_been_in_the_queue_too_long./

My site was password-protected so the content doesn't show up in Google Cache. Or in Google at all (I guess I checked the option for the site not to be indexed).

Does anyone have any ideas how I can contact them or get back my research? Do you know who the owners are and how to reach them? Is there some hack I could use to see my stuff?

Which HTML/CSS/JS IDE do I want?

drjimmy11 — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:31:52 -0800

Which HTML/CSS/JS IDE do I want? So I've been doing AS3 development for the last few years, using Flex Builder, but am now moving back into HTML/CSS/JS. I've gotten used to having a fairly intelligent IDE and I'd like to not go back to the bad old days of having to type every single param and property from scratch every time. (I'm looking for code help, not just highlighting.)

I have tried a few but none seems to have everything I want:

1. Dreamweaver:
Pluses: When you link to a stylesheet, you can CTRL+space and get a list of styles to choose from.
Minuses: Weak support for JS. (no auto-complete at all)

2. Aptana:
Pluses: Seems to have excellent JS support, including major AJAX libraries.
Minuses: Unless I am missing something, I can't choose Css styles off a list, and that is a major major timesaver for the work I'll be doing.

3. HTMLPad 2010:
Plusses and minuses seem about the same as Aptana, plus it costs money. (DW CS3 is already installed on my work machine so no cost there.)

So, am i doing something wrong with Aptana? Is there another piece of software I'm not aware of? Or should I settle for DW for html/css and Aptana for JS? (The work will probably be 80% or more on the html/css side.)

thanks!

How should we pay our web ad rep?

chocolatepeanutbuttercup — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:08:04 -0800

How should we pay our web ad rep? We (partner and I) have got a local arts website that is beginning to do well in terms of readership. We're finally at the point where we want to bring on someone to sell ads.

We've got a good candidate and we're ready to start negotiating their payment.

We're thinking of a small flat fee plus a commission, but don't know how to balance them. We want to be fair - don't want to cheat but don't want to give away the store.

Any advice, anecdotes and/or resources are welcome.

Thanks!

Any good books on web penetration testing?

jacobian — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 08:28:13 -0800

Any good books on web penetration testing? I'm a web developer and consultant, and I often deal with web application security. Everything I know about penetration testing I've learned in a pretty ad hoc manner, and I think it's time to give myself a bit of a more formal background.

I'm familier enough with the concepts (SQL injection, XSS, CSRF, etc.); I even teach classes on those subjects. I've got decent knowledge crypto and digital security in general. I also have a few tools I sorta know how to use (Burp Suite being the main one). But I don't really have any good grasp on the "right" way to actually conduct a formal web penetration test -- I usually just flail around for a while trying different things until I "feel" satisfied. Doesn't really make for a very scientific process, I know.

So: any suggestions for books (or any other sort of learning material) on web penetration testing? I'd prefer something more on the advanced side of the spectrum; I'd rather be overwhelmed than bored.

Radical critiques of cyberspace?

jammy — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 07:02:44 -0800

If Karl Marx & Emma Goldman were arguing about the internet on Metafilter, what might they be saying? What kind of radical left analysis &/or commentary exists concerning the internet, new media, & computer technology? Looking for books, articles, essays, websites, etc...

I am most interested in work that takes relatively recent social & technological developments into account (e.g., the rise of social networking sites, mobile devices, etc., or advances in robotics & prosthetics).

Gracias!

Where did my Little Java Link Go ?

duckus — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 08:36:21 -0800

I found a great Java programming site awhile back. I was given a programming task and could get immediate feedback on whether or not it was correct. Tasks were things like, test if two integers are equal and 'reverse a string'. It was targeted toward learning .. but I seem to recall the tasks had advancing levels of complexity. This is not Java BlackBelt. I can't believe I didn't bookmark it. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

I need a crash course in the current best-practice website accessablity standards.

anastasiav — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 06:42:45 -0800

Give me a crash course in making our nonprofit website accessible. What are the best practices/standards? What's the lingo? I'm not building the site, but I have a meeting with the developers who are, today. They are doing this pro-bono for us (we're a community nonprofit with a goodly number of disabled users). Its important to our CEO that the website be accessible, but she hired me because she doesn't really understand the web.

I get the web fine, but I've never had to deal with this particular issue before. My first meeting with the developer is this afternoon. Help me talk with them about this issue and not sound like a N00b!

Need money now thankyou.

drjimmy11 — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:50:15 -0800

What are some good tech-centric temp agencies in L.A.? Hi! Yet another in my long series of job-trauma questions.

I'm currently between jobs- I'm a web/software developer, specializing in flex/AS3 but with years and years of doing html/js/ajax/php type stuff too. I have a pretty strong resume, I like to think, going back about 10 years.

I'm currently getting contacted by a lot of recruiters and going on a lot of interviews, but it's a very drawn-out process. Basically I need a gig to bring in some money now- cutting up PSDs or whatever is fine, I'm not proud at this point. I'm curious if anyone knows any decently reputable agencies who could get me something like this soon. Specific names of agencies are appreciated, referrals to specific people are even more appreciated. (meMail me if you like).

(I'd also be interested in where I can advertise myself as a flex freelancer, but I'm more inclined towards W2 right now for a few reasons.)

Thanks!

Web Dev - How to inform browsers to update their cache?

LoopyG — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:25:20 -0800

I am developing a website that has a moderately-sized user base. I am going to be rolling out a new version of the page soon. In my testing, I have noticed that my browsers don't notice that there are new versions of some of the CSS files available on the servers, and renders the page with the old CSS files. This causes display glitches. How do I let browsers know that new CSS/Javascript files are available and to update it's cache?

Pros & Cons of bringing web development in-house?

MeatLightning — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:33:22 -0800

Pros & Cons of bringing web development in-house? Hi all -
I manage a mid-size e-commerce website. We currently work with an agency to build and maintain our site. We are considering hiring a dev (C# / .NET, SQL) and taking over development... or at least much of it (still may go out of house for UX, front-end dev).

Anyone have any advice, experiences, warnings, etc they can share?

Have you gone down this road? How did it go? What should we watch out for?

thanks in advance!

Like Digg, but local.

rev- — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 06:58:40 -0800

Recommendations on Digg-like voting software (or website)? I'm trying to put together a work project, and I'd like to solicit staff for ideas and then let every one vote on the ideas. The key being that I'd like to set it up and let it run on it's own for a while. If it had a comment component to allow people to refine and discuss the idea, that would rock!

Maybe it's a plugin to wordpress or something, or a standalone script that I can install or maybe it's just a web site that will let me do this.

I swear I've seen something like this before and I wish I'd bookmarked it, but it is lost down the mind-drain.

Ideas? Thoughts? Dance moves?

Thanks!

Before Etsy: What was that DIY trading community from way back when?

junkbox — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 08:16:20 -0800

Years ago (2002? 2003?), long before Etsy, there was an online community for DIY/crafty blogger types to trade materials and maybe handmade goods as well. What was it called, and what happened to it? I remember the background was a dark red color, and it might have had the word "thread" in the title or maybe not. It was popular with the personal blogging set, which was in its heyday at the time, with everybody trading knitting yarn for beads or jewelry hooks or homemade lip balm. I only made a couple of trades, then wandered away and lost track of the thing entirely. Anybody else remember this? What was it called?

Who are you this time?

A Terrible Llama — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:18:38 -0800

I am interested in people's experiences in using their real names online. For those of you who operate under your real first and last names online:

Why did you make that decision?
Are you a forward-facing person at a company, site moderator, etc., where your professional capacity influences what you post?
Have there been any repercussions or regrets? Positive things?

I'm at a crossroads with this because of some professional reasons that have come up, and am questioning if I should reevaluate how I handle this.

Updating my portfolio website and need help with web navigation, images, hosting and more.

mintchip — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:04:23 -0800

Updating my online portfolio and need help with web navigation, images, hosting and more. I would like to update my online writing portfolio, which is currently a blog hosted by Blogger. Each post is a thumbnail image along with some introductory copy. The thumbnails link to large jpg images
stored on Flikr. I want to spend a minimum of time updating my site, and I need to be able to make updates with ease. I have old versions of Photoshop and Dreamweaver at my disposal. Can you help me with these questions?

1. Navigation: On Blogger, new posts appear in date order rather than being organized by category. I am not happy with this navigation limitation. Is there any way around this without creating a whole new website independent of Blogger? I have been thinking about purchasing a domain name and then using an HTML template, but it would be easier if I didn’t have to do this. If I do need to move to a different site format, what would you recommend for a simple template and/or host?

2. Photo storage: My thumbnail images, which Blogger creates, link to Flikr photos. However, the type in these larger images isn't fully readable until the user clicks a second time (after clicking on the thumbnail), to enlarge the image to full size. I’m afraid some readers won’t do this. Is there a good solution to this? Where should I store my photos (if not on Flikr)?

3. Photo size and format: What are standard image sizes? If I abandon the blog format and create a new HTML site, how should I go about creating all of the JPGs I will need (full size, thumbnail)? What is the standard size for full size images and thumbnails and what do you recommend for a naming convention? Would PDF format be preferable? If so, what software should I use to create my PDFs, are there any standards to these, and where can I store them?

4. Should I allow people to download my writing samples, either as JPG or PDFs?

Worth improving my web skills to get a job?

wyn — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 08:05:42 -0800

At 35, if I made the effort to acquire the skills, could I get a web developer job? I learnt HTML and CSS about six years ago. I used to work for an online news service (I wasn't a web developer). For the past few years, I've been teaching English as a foreign language in different countries. Now back in the UK, I'm thinking about spending my free (unemployed) time learning XML, PHP, MySql and other web development stuff (any suggestions?). But would it all actually be worth the effort? If all I end up having to show potential employers is a portfolio of personal websites, what are the chances of somebody of my age (without relevant professional experience) getting a decent web developer job?

Researching website options

titanium_geek — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 07:03:04 -0800

Researching options for all things website: hosting, domain name registration and DNS. Can you help me narrow it down? Hello Mefites, this is my first ask.mefi question. I'm writing a report for a 'professional writing' course. We will be assessed on the quality of the writing, not the content.

Scenario: you say "I would like a website for my small company."
I say: "Well, you need content (I have this covered), a domain name, and hosting."

What do I say next? I know I can google web hosting providers, but there are lots! What are the good and/or popular companies out there?

I have on the list already: GoDaddy (my own domain bought through them, looking to change.)
nearlyfreespeech.net
mediatemple

These are companies I've seen mentioned on my journeys around the web, but I'd like more recommendations please.