The Brave Programmer

So you want to monetise your blog do you?

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Bravery) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 15:41:00 +0000

I see a lot of questions on monetising blogs. How do you monetise you blog? What ads do you put on? How much should you charge? I'm not making enough money from adverts. I think a lot of people have missed the point. Its not about how much money you can make on your site/blog. It’s about how will it benefit the advertiser.

Fading Banner Image Swap with JavaScript

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Bravery) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 15:40:00 +0000

I had to make an animated banner for a site. The obvious and easiest choice was to create an animated gif. Having done that, with a six image slide animation, I ended up with a 5mb image size. WOW. That would take ages to download, especially with our not so fast bandwidth here in South Africa. This will definitely drive people away from the site, never to return. Folks just don’t like waiting any more, they do not have the patience. It’s Go! Go! Go! So I had to come up with another plan.

Should you believe your SEO stats.

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Bravery) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 15:38:00 +0000

You are a SEO professional. On your site you boast some successful SEO jobs. You have clients testimony proving your results. But are they truthful?

Top 10 web design mistakes.

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Bravery) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 15:38:00 +0000

Every geek thinks he is a web designer. You can go to your local cafe and find 10 web designers if you can find one. People now days think that if they have FrontPage or Dreamweaver or Expression, that they can design websites. Not so. Here is a list of some of the top design mistakes that will hurt your website in the long run.

The top SEO myth of all time.

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Bravery) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 15:36:00 +0000

There are a lot of SEO firms and SEO professionals out there. Every one is trying to get your business. Like politicians, they will promise the world to you, bend the truth and even lie.

What is it that you want from SEO? Well the most obvious, to be listed on the search engines. But not just listed, to be listed on the first page. But then the ultimate is to be listed in the top, number one position on the search engine results page, or SERP. Then generate conversions and sales.

Pictorial History lesson of Microsoft Windows

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Bravery) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 15:18:00 +0000

With Windows 7 released I thought it would be cool to travel down memory lane and remember where Windows has come from. Remember DOS? Does anyone remember Windows 1.0?

Follow through the evolution of Microsoft Windows. Along with some Windows logos, that certainly bring back memories.

I started out with my first PC which had MS Dos installed in about 1986. Before that I had A ZX Spectrum, and then moved to the Commodore 64. My first PC was a IBM Brother PC.

Can you remember the Logos, or the screen shots. Have a look at the screen shots of the various different Windows Operating Systems. See if you can correctly name all the windows version represented .

Web Development with C# - Application State.

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Bravery) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 15:10:00 +0000

What is application state? Application state is a collection of user-defined variables that are shared by all instances of an ASP.NET application. These are set and initialized when the Application_OnStart event fires on the loading of the first instance of the applications and are available till the last instance exits

We have so many thing to try and remember when learning a new language. Lots of things to try to understand. C# and the .NET framework is so large, that it can almost be too overwhelming. But then you also have to contend with the differences of windows programming and web programming.

One of the big differences is this idea of a disconnected application. In traditional windows programming, you can keep things in memory across your different applications functions. But with the web you get disconnected from the web server with in seconds. How can you, how do you track you applications state across a disconnected network?

In this lesson we will be looking at application state, and what .NET does to manage web application state for you. ASP.NET applications are hosted in a web server and are accessed over the stateless HTTP protocol. Attempting to manage state in Web applications goes against the fundamental design principles of the Web. A new instance of the Web page class is created each time the page is posted to the server. In traditional Web programming, this would typically mean that all information associated with the page and the controls on the page would be lost with each round trip. For example, if a user enters information into a text box, that information would be lost in the round trip from the browser or client device to the server. As such, if the application uses stateful interaction, it has to implement state management on its own. ASP.NET provides various functionality for state management in ASP.NET applications.

Read more of this article @ Web Development with C# - Application State.

Cascading Style Sheets - Pseudo Elements

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Bravery) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 15:06:00 +0000

CSS gives us the ability to style certain parts of the document by using pseudo elements. Pseudo elements refer to parts of the document that you cannot directly access through the HTML. Pseudo-elements allow you to style information that is not available in the document tree. But the browser can access those elements. For instance, using standard selectors there is no way to style the first letter or first line of an element's content.

Pseudo elements act like you've injected new HTML into the page and have the flexibility to style those new imaginary elements. Because we don't have direct control over them, it is the browsers responsibility to access them.

One of the things I had to grasp early when learning Object Orientated Programming, or OOP, is this idea of events. Raising events, and what they mean

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Bravery) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 15:05:00 +0000

One of the things I had to grasp early when learning Object Orientated Programming, or OOP, is this idea of events. Raising events, and what they mean. Then when it came to web development, I had to find out about postbacks. Now if these two concepts allude you or confuse you, then stay tuned. I am going to try and make it easier for you.

In this lesson we are going to look at how to handle events and set properties in code on the server. It is much the same as in many other languages, with the difference of mindset. Normally these settings take place on the client, in a windows application. But because the web is a disconnected application, the mindset has to change slightly when dealing with web apps. But if you understand events and properties in other languages, this will be no different.

We will also be talking about a concept called postback. We will also see how to determine if the current web request is as a result of postback or first time request. Why does that even matter. Why do we need to watch for it. How does it affect our code and the resultant web page?

So hurry to our article page and read all about events and postbacks. You won't be sorry.

BTW, what else would you like to see covered? I am going through a whole lot of articles, and topics to cover, I will try in the course of time cover as much as I can. But I would probably not cover everything. If you feel that there is a subject that will benefit you and others, let me know.

The Top 10 Programming Languages You Should Learn

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Bravery) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:46:00 +0000

There are thousands of programming languages out there. Many are aimed at a particular industry with a particular purpose. But what makes a programming language popular? I would venture to say that the top programming languages would stand out for their job marketability and wide use, and developer support.

There is no point in being stagnant. No programmer worth his salt sticks to one tool set. We have to change in this ever changing world. What was good yesterday is not good today.

There is just so much competition out there that one has to be prepared for almost every opportunity. Its a sad thing when you have to turn down a job because you are not familiar with a mainstream language.

So what are the most popular programming languages?

The most popular programming language

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Bravery) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:44:00 +0000

When trying to discus which is the most popular programming language, we can become emotional, entering into a battle that rivals religion sport or politics. Often times there is no need to debate, the language of choice is pre-chosen. Example of when a programmer needs to update a legacy system or a existing system written in a particular language.

If there is one thing I can stress and that is that a programming language is just one tool in a developer’s expansive collection of speciality software and hardware. I always maintain, "Use the best tool for the job". Many developer will, out of personal bias, suggest a language outside of logic and sanity.

So does it really matter which programming language a developer uses, as long as he or she is meeting customer requirements on time and within budget?

Computer Industry Acronyms

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Bravery) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:36:00 +0000

Acronymns make it easier for us to remember things. I remember in school, when studying, I would try and make important points into acronyms to remember them. South Africa like their acronyms. They will find weird acronyms for every organisation, process or idea. The IT and computer industry is not without their fair share of acronyms. Here is a list of acronyms from the IT industry in a way you might not have read before.

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International Character Keyboard shortcuts.

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Bravery) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:34:00 +0000

If you ever use international characters such as ã, è, ï,ñ, then you know what a pain it is to get these characters to appear in your document. If you use these frequently then I bet you wish that there were some keyboard shortcut you could use, instead of using the dreaded Symbol window. Wouldn’t it be better if these characters were at your fingertips as apposed to being buried inside the Symbol window.

Well your sanity is our concern. You can correctly get the characters you want if you know the correct key combinations. Below is a short list of some of these international characters and they shortcuts to use to display them.

More Keyboard Shortcuts.

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Bravery) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:32:00 +0000

eyboard shortcuts do help us save time now days. Following a brief post on keyboard shortcut combinations for international characters. Here are some more common keyboard shortcuts. Some you might well be aware of, some not.

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I am a blogger not a writer.

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Bravery) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:31:00 +0000

Is there such a difference? Can a blogger be a writer, and can a writer be a blogger. Should a blogger be a writer.

To correctly understand this, one has to understand what exactly a blog is. A blog is a web log. A internet diary if you may. It is a forum where people can jot down their thoughts and ideas. Write helpful tips and hints. A blog is a forum where you can give meaningful instructions, or just write for the fun of it. Penning down what is important to you and what might be meaningful to your readers.

A blogger is not necessary an author or a qualified copy writer. They might not even have a proper or good command of the chosen language that they are writing in. But then again writing might not be their primary career focus.

Cascading Style Sheets II - Selectors

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Bravery) — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 13:06:00 +0000

All CSS styles are made up of 3 parts: a selector, a property and a value. Selectors are the names that you give to your different styles, or the names of certain elements to style.

CSS selectors are a fundamental part of CSS. Selectors define which HTML elements you are going to be manipulating or styling with CSS code. In essence selectors are used to "select" the elements on an HTML page that are affected by rules.

What is a rule or a "Rule Set"? A rule or "rule set" is a CSS statement that tells the browser how it should render or display particular elements on a HTML page. A rule set has a particular syntax consisting of a selector followed by a declaration block. In my Basic CSS introduction, we got a glimpse of the rule set.

Bless the little children.

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Bravery) — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 13:00:00 +0000

While reading the dBASE news group, I came across some really funny things and jokes about kids. This will surely light up your day.

A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales.
The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal its throat was very small.
The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale.
Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible.
The little girl said, 'When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah'.
The teacher asked, 'What if Jonah went to hell?'
The little girl replied, 'Then you ask him'.

A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they were drawing.. She would occasionally walk around to see each child's work.As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was.
The girl replied, 'I'm drawing God.'
The teacher paused and said, 'But no one knows what God looks like.'
Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, 'They will in a minute.'

A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds.
After explaining the commandment to 'honour' thy Father and thy Mother, she asked, 'Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?'
Without missing a beat one little boy (the oldest of a family) answered, 'Thou shall not kill.'

One day a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly noticed that her mother had several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast on her brunette head. She looked at her mother and inquisitively asked, 'Why are some of your hairs white, Mom?'
Her mother replied, 'Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white.'
The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then said, 'Momma, how come ALL of grandma's hairs are white?'

The children had all been photographed, and the teacher was trying to persuade them each to buy a copy of the group picture.
'Just think how nice it will be to look at it when you are all grown up and say, 'There's Jennifer, she's a lawyer,' or 'That's Michael, He's a doctor.'
A small voice at the back of the room rang out, 'And there's the teacher, she's dead.'

A teacher was giving a lesson on the circulation of the blood. Trying to make the matter clearer, she said, 'Now, class, if I stood on my head, the blood, as you know, would run into it, and I would turn red in the face.'
'Yes,' the class said.
'Then why is it that while I am standing upright in the ordinary position the blood doesn't run into my feet?'
A little fellow shouted, 'Cause your feet ain't empty.'

The children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic elementary school for lunch. At the head of the table was a large pile of apples. The nun made a note, and posted on the apple tray:
'Take only ONE . God is watching.'
Moving further along the lunch line, at the other end of the table was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies....
A child had written a note, 'Take all you want. God is watching the apples.'

Cascading Style Sheets I - The-Basics

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Bravery) — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 12:49:00 +0000

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a simple mechanism for adding style. It is a stylesheet language used to describe the presentation (that is, the look and formatting) of a document written in a markup language. Today we are looking at the basics of CSS.

CSS is designed primarily to enable the separation of document content (written in HTML or a similar mark-up language) from document presentation, including elements such as the colours, fonts, and layout.

There are various ways of linking these style rules to your HTML documents, but the simplest method for starting out is to use HTML's STYLE element. This element is placed in the document HEAD, or by using the Style property of an individual tag, e.g. h1. The style element contains the style rules for the page. But the most common way of using a Style element is by putting it into a external Style sheet. A file with css extension. This is then linked to the HTML page.

Pivoting your data in MSSQL Creating "Cross Tab" reports

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Bravery) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 06:15:00 +0000

A pivot is a normally used to transform large amounts data into a condensed list or grid. A Pivot report displays data in a grid along a vertical and horizontal axis. Financial reports are good candidates for Pivot reports.

Microsoft Access refers to pivots as "Cross tabs." In MS Acces there is a wizard as well. It asks which columns should be on which axis, then auto-generates the code needed. Access creates pivots by using the special key word TRANSFORM.

Unfortunately it is not as easy as using a wizard in MS SQL. In SQL 2000, pivot style reports, called "Cross-Tab Reports" can be created using the CASE keyword. CASE can also be used in SQL 2005 and SQL 2008. But there is another keyword that can be used, PIVOT.

Read More..

LinkedIn vs Facebook

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Bravery) — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 07:16:00 +0000

Do you have a social netwrok account. Are you on Facebook or MySpace. Social networking is taking the world by storm. Everyone has a MySpace or Facebook account. Maybe you have a twitter account. Researching SEO, one find out that good use of social networks can improve web site traffic. But Facebook has never really been the place for business has it. Well, if you want to promote your business via social networking, take a look at LinkedIn

Facebook more popular than MySpace

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Bravery) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 21:45:00 +0000

The social wars get bigger and more intense. Just like everything else, someone is always trying to out do you. The internet is a cut throat business. Traffic is what makes the World Wide Web go round. Facebook and Myspace are no different. Myspace has taken the limelight for a while, but there is a new kid on the block.

Promote your blog with e-mail

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Bravery) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 21:37:00 +0000

A blog will die if no traffic comes its way. If you have a new blog, then one of the ways to get traffic to you blog is to promote it. But How?

We are always looking for ways to promote our blog or website. One way of doing this is putting links to your blog into your e-mail via a signature. Why not have the latest post from your blog in you e-mail signature.

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Cheat sheets - Because we cannot remember everything.

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Bravery) — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 11:26:00 +0000

Being a programmer can be hard on the old grey matter at times. Especially when there is so much to remember, and so many languages to remember it in. Enter the Cheat sheet.

Twitter tweeting can bring much needed traffic to your blog or website.

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Bravery) — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 11:25:00 +0000

The things that any start-up website or blog need the most, is traffic and inbound links. But this is much easier said than done. In my research on how to get said traffic and links, I was led to social networking. Twitter is one such social network.

Joomla-vs-Drupal-vs-Dotnetnuke.

noreply@blogger.com (Robert Bravery) — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 11:20:00 +0000

Content Management Systems is the in thing now-a-days. It gives you the ability to manage your own website. Make your site dynamic, update content easily and regularly.

But the question is, which CMS is the best, or which is right for me. For most, Open Source is the way to go. So which is the Better Open Source CMS. Of the three that came First, Second, and Third in the OpeSourceCMS awards, Drupal, Joomla!, Dotnetnuke,
which one would your choose.

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