I am not a system administrator. However, I am a software engineer, and responsible for administrating systems. As technical director, it is also my responsibility to create policies. Knowing that systems can be compromised, I know a policy needs to be in place for protection. Not allowing all engineers to run constantly as the root or super user on a Linux box is a good place to start. What happens though when I do not heed the warning of my own policy?

Recently I have been noticing Safari 3.1.1 has been running like doody for gmail when I am at work and at home as well. I also have been having more occurrences of it crashing lately. While I am trying to stick with the "Mac Mindset (TM)" and use mac only or cocoa apps, or some other kool-aid-ish type thing, I decided to try out Firefox 3 RC 1.

When I first started programming the use of the keyword this was some what befuddling. It was not until I truly grasped the concept of JavaScript objects that I fully understood the purpose of the keyword. If you still scratch your head when it comes time to use the keyword this, I would recommend spending sometime reviewing and learning about JavaScript objects. Then, coming back to this article to drive home the concept of the keyword this.

You'll likely never have to do this, but recently I did. I had to take the responseXML property of the XHR object and turn it into a string. Now, you'd think this would be easy, but in fact you'd be wrong.

In a previous post on JavaScript Ant I reviewed some techniques from JavaScript libraries that could prove to be useful in your own scripts. A final technique that I gave a brief mention of, but did not cover in depth, was (object) method chaining. This technique was made popular in several libraries, but none more so than jQuery. In this straightforward tutorial, I will show you how to implement method chaining with little effort.

You will find that each Web site has needs that are specific to the real domain where they will be hosted. It becomes increasingly important as you begin to develop applications on your local environment, that the directory structure and permissions match these domains accurately. Even if your application is hosted on a Linux machine, your local Windows application should have a similar architecture.

This question was asked recently on LinkedIn within the Answers section. It was followed up with a clarification question. "If you are a business owner, or part of the HR department, what are some of the major [sic] challenges that you are experiencing in identifying great people?” I am not sure why, but something clicked. I provided the following answer:

I had lunch with a former colleague recently, and we were discussing the type of work environments that are conducive to productivity and employee retention. As a psychology major he was able to pinpoint a simple principle that I had overlooked, but that was strikingly obvious. Enlightened by his observation, I wonder now how many in my field wish to adorn a stick-on name tag, and state with anxious resolve, "Hi, my name is Resource. I am seventy-five percent billable."

Do you remember Book It!, the reading incentive program by Pizza Hut that is still available to elementary school teachers? Just like the Scholastic Book Club before it, both provide children with an exciting avenue that fosters reading. It meant gold stars, the admiration of your peers, and quiet nights under the covers accompanied only by a flashlight and the intoxicating smell of an old library book. Of course, it also meant free pizza.

There are very few technical books that I read, or use as an ongoing resource, which allow me to state with confidence that they are worth the money I paid. jQuery in Action would be one such book. Of course, in the interest of full disclosure, I did not pay for the book. I was given a digital copy by the publisher for review. Nonetheless, these pages are packed full of API documentation and tutorials, and if I were just beginning my journey with jQuery, I would pay for jQuery in Action.

My father worked for the United States Postal Service for thirty years. He received incremental pay raises, a steady paycheck, a pension, rarely worked a day of overtime, and even received an award for never taking a sick day in fifteen years. He was in at 8:30am and home by 5:30pm, and I never heard him complain once about his job. Without asking, you would presume he was happy with his work.

I am happy to announce the release of Truncate v.2.3, a plugin for jQuery. I let this plugin simmer for awhile, and I thank each of you that sent me emails regarding a bug that went unfixed for some time. That bug is no longer an issue with this release, and I have added an important enhancement. The plugin will now truncate an HTML string, and preserve the formatting.

With the advent of so many different JavaScript libraries, the question often arises, "is there one library that will meet all of my needs?" I can tell you from personal experience, the answer is almost always, "no". At some point in a full Web site or Web application build, you will need to add custom functionality. If you are one of the poor souls who is faced with using a library you do not know, or who is faced with the absence of a library altogether, then the situation can seem hopeless.

As you mature in your JavaScript knowledge, you may find yourself not only wanting to use, but also wanting to understand the core functionality inherent to each library. Deconstructing the source, you will discover common threads running through each line of code. If you can learn to imitate and manipulate these patterns to your benefit, then you will find that you have reached an important milestone.

AJAX, when you boil it down, is about manually making "micro" HTTP requests using the XMLHttpRequest (XHR) JavaScript object. It mimics the behavior of the user agent, but instead of using the browser interface, you are using JavaScript to make a programmatic HTTP request (which also handles the response). This technique actually has many names: AJAX, scripting HTTP, XHR, or remote scripting, but personally I prefer the term XHR.

Managing client expectations before, during, and after a project is completed, is a difficult task for just about any freelancer. Overcoming technical boundaries, unexpected requirements, and indecisiveness are just a few of the issues that can strain the client relationship. If you are successful, you may not even have time to dissect the problems that plague you, since you move quickly from one client to the next. The following tips should help to alleviate some of this stress, and help to strengthen your reputation as a rock-solid professional.

If you are an early adopter for Windows Vista, then you are probably bemoaning the fact that I would even consider such a solution to feature bloat. The last time I checked, Vista has five flavors: Ultimate, Home Premium, Home Basic, Business, and Enterprise. Running Windows XP Home Edition suites me well enough, and an upgrade to the professional version is still sitting in my desk drawer. Because of this I will not venture a critique of the Vista OS. Although, I will say that the tiered approach is a sacrificial lamb for techies who simply do not like what Vista has to offer in any version.

With the release of Firefox 3 Beta 1, Mozilla continues to demonstrate a commitment to Web standards, Web developers, and savvy Web surfers. Full page zoom, tagging, revised bookmark management and a revised download manager are just a few of the features technology reviews are spotlighting. Although plausible deniability was acceptable in the past, Mozilla now claims to have also plugged over 300 memory leaks, improving performance considerably.

Every day I sit down at my workstation, evaluate the tasks assigned to me, and then instantly begin coding solutions to the problems I must solve. This is all done by memory of course, without the assistance of programmers who have tread the same road before me. I do this without hesitation, and I still always manage to create an optimized, and scalable program, invariably developing the perfect piece of software. If you believe this, I have some swampland I would like to sell to you East of the Mississippi. Please email me for details.

One of the issues that plagues non-profits is the ability to create a beautiful Web presence within a tight budget. Web standards are typically far from the primary focus as well, so any non-profit taking the initiative to understand these trends deserves a second look. These ten registered charitable organizations are not only doing their part to enhance the quality of life for all humankind, but they are encouraging others to get involved through inspiring Web designs that communicate a clear message.

The tinyEdit plugin informs users which HTML tags are allowed in a textarea, and it provides easy select/insert functionality for those supported tags. The primary purpose of the plugin is to provide bloggers with a lightweight editor for comments.

Like so many other programmers, I possess an insatiable desire to build something useful. The sole purpose of any system is to be the focus of my criticism, and suggestions for improvement are a necessary outlet. Any application I build, after finished, is undeniably worthless, and must be completely refined, streamlined, and re-built. This cycle is maddening, but it is the core of my temperament as an Architect (INTP) according to Dr. David Keirsey.

Okay, so I cheated a little with that headline, since Yahoo! Bookmarks is not specifically intended to a be a social bookmarking tool. According to a post from October 24, 2006, on the Yahoo! Search Blog, this responsibility will always belong to del.icio.us. However, for those of us looking to better save, organize, and import bookmarks into traditional folders (with a Web 2.0 touch), then you definitely need to consider Yahoo! Bookmarks.

When Firefox popularity was on the rise, and before the release of IE7, some developers began boycotting IE by dropping support for it on blogs and personal portfolios. It was a rather odd moment in the history of Web technologies. It was both a resurgence in the long fought browser wars, and it was a solid demonstration of ignorance by some in the development community. As much as I understand the frustration, I was saddened to see that this sort of attitude is still prevalent today.

There is no official ECMAScript or JavaScript language feature called "shorthand". Developers are responsible for coining the phrase, probably after realizing that terms like Ternary Condition are a bit archaic. The Mozilla Core JavaScript Guide does an excellent job of highlighting many of these shorthand techniques throughout tutorials, but I thought it best to have a definitive list all in one place. If you have others you would like to add, please feel free to comment.