Twitter nyeem rau beginners: Ib feem 1

Twitter's new Logo, the Blue Bird
Twitter is an extremely powerful social & news networkyou just have to learn how to use it.

Twitter is a great social network for catching up on the latest — oh hey, I got a new Tweet! Be back in a second.

Whoops, thov txim. As I was saying, Twitter, tus “lwm yam” social network, is an incredibly quick and easy way to catch up on all the news that’s fit to type in one convenient place. Tab sis npog, in order to fully make use of the #awesomeness that is Twitter, you’ve got to learn a bit. Luckily for you, @I have made one that @you are reading right now. #whatluck

Why it’s awesome being a developer

Studiofibonacci free icon set of ninjas with weapons
Apparently, these are a bunch of computer programmers.

Ninjas.

That’s what computer programmers are calling themselves nowadays. The profession (if you can even call it that) goes by a litany of none-too-glamorous names, such as developer, programmer, engineer, technician, and more stuff that doesn’t quite make you the most popular guy in the room. Hence, a lot of, er, programmers (for lack of a better word) go by ninja or such. Which I find slightly annoyingyou’re writing code, not killing enemies of the emperor. But I digress.

Thov txim rau downtime – kuj, khoom mus WebHostingHub

A closed box package cartoon clip art
Yuam kev 404, elephant not found

tl;Drhathix.com had some downtime but my super-helpful host WebHostingHub cleared it up immediately. Also, I apologize for the fanboyishnessit’s just that WHH is that awesome.

I was recently working with some so-called cutting-edge web programming techniques (parsing JSON using PHP from client requests using JavaScript and jQuerytold you it was gory) and realized I needed a new version of some software rau the server that hathix lives on.

Plaug nphoo Safari, web taug txuj kev nyuaj nees

Elephant with donut icon png
Lub logo rau nphoo Safari, the awesome web game finally released to the public.

I’ve got a dirty little secret. Qhov tshij, not so dirty, really, morecreamy. Sugary. Frosty. Sprinkle-y.

Here it is: for the last year and more(computer searching reveals since January 29, 2011even before hathix.com was founded), I’ve been working nonstop on alittleweb-based adventure game. And it’s never been formally released to the public until now.

Here’s a look at the making of the game. It’s taken 16 months and over 100 hours of development.

Cabra wins the PA High School Computer Fair

A cute goat cartoon with big eyes
Bleat nrog cog qoob loo, kas.

Plees advertisement: Download Cabra, the newly award-winning flashcard program!

Cabra, my surprisingly useful flashcard program, has a new feather in its cap. It’s now also an award-winning flashcard program. I’m not kas-ding (sorry about the goat pun.)

This March I shared Cabra at my regional computer fair (sponsored by the county’s Intermediate Unit) and was awarded a trip to the statewide computer fair.

Which brings me to yesterday, when I arrived in Dickinson College in Carlisle, PAJ. Great campus (Dickinson is the 16th oldest college in the nation) and nice small town. It’s a smaller college but very well-regarded, and its facilities were great for the fair’s purpose.

An introduction to web development

HTML 5 logo on an iPhone smartphone with app icons around it in a cloud
Welcome to the web.

Back in my day (OK, before my day), the profession of web developer was a low one. It ranked below puppy hater but above Yankees fan on the scale of professional honor. Because of all the tags and transparency spacer images we used, we were seen as crude hackers with no sense of aesthetics.

Qhov tshij, we may still be lacking in aesthetic sense, but as the Web has developed so has the profession of web developer. These days there are countless tools we can use to make well-written, standards-conforming, and beautiful (OK, maybe not that last one) web pages. Most of the great websites you use today (shameless plug: including this one) are built using these tools.

MLA template rau Microsoft Word 2010

A screenshot of Word 2010 in MLA format.
Click this to download your free MLA Template for Word 2010

tl;Dra free MLA format template for Word 2010A freely-downloadable "Download" button.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had more teachers than I’d can count who graded papers solely on how well you followed the proper format and not, you know, on that fluff they callcontent.’

If you’re a student, chances are pretty good you have to write many, many papersall in MLA format, a common format for papers, essays, and such. The MLA format was designed, I’d imagine, to regulate the look of all papers and to drive students crazy. There are tons of random rules and guidelines you have to know, such as: