The End of Nerd Week

January 25, 2009 By Brad Leave a Comment

This past week was an insanely busy nerd week for me.

On Tuesday I recorded the 7th episode of the SitePoint Podcast with special guest host Sarah Milstein. We dedicated the episode to talking about Twitter and the many uses it has, both personal and business.

On Wednesday my business partner and I attended the New York WordPress Meetup for a presentation by Johnathan Andersen on WordPress as a CMS: The Strategy of Content Publishing. Johnathan did a great job presenting how he utilizes various plugins and custom fields to transform WordPress into a CMS.

On Friday I joined Jeff Chandler on the WordPress Weekly Podcast to ask Dan Milward of the WP E-Commerce plugin some questions. It was a fun show and I’m looking forward to getting back to the round table discussions like the earlier days of the podcast.

I’ve also been pretty active on the WP Tavern Forums. WPTavern.com is a new site started by Jeff Chandler of WordPress Weekly with a focus on all topics WordPress. It’s a great site for sharing your experiences with WordPress and learning lots of valuable information. Get registered and get involved!

Oh and did I mention my company launched two new website redesigns in Thesis? MattBites.com and RetroRenovation.com. MattBites.com was migrated from TypePad and launched with WordPress and a fresh clean look provided by the Thesis theme. RetroRenovation.com was redesigned using Thesis with help from Kenneth Smith. Both sites look amazing and we are really excited to see them go live!

This has been an awesome nerd week and I hope to have many more like it!

Filed Under: Personal, Podcasts, WebDevStudios, WordPress Tagged With: Meetup, podcast, Sitepoint, WordPress

Official SitePoint Podcast Launches

November 9, 2008 By Brad Leave a Comment

By StrangeWork.com: I’m excited to announced to launch of the Official SitePoint Podcast, which I am a co-host on!

SitePoint Podcast LogoWe have been working on this podcast behind the scenes for over a year now, so I’m extremely excited to see the show finally launch! I’m joined on the show by some really talented and knowledgeable friends from Sitepoint: Patrick O’Keefe, Stephan Segraves, and Kevin Yank.

The SitePoint Podcast will feature top news headlines as related to Web Developers and Designers. We will also feature a main discussion topic each episode. New episodes will be released bi-weekly. On the first episode we discuss how the Internet industry is affected by the current economy situation we are facing worldwide.

This is a new and exciting venture for me and SitePoint, so I’m anxious to see how it’s received. Take a listen and be sure to post comments and feedback on the blog post at SitePoint.

Filed Under: Personal, Podcasts Tagged With: Brad Williams, podcast, Sitepoint

Have you Bookmarked the SitePoint Reference yet?

May 20, 2008 By Brad Leave a Comment

By StrangeWork: SitePoint launched a new section a couple months ago which is a must bookmark for all web developers out there. Mash a solid reference book on HTML, CSS, and JavScript and you’ll have the SitePoint Reference.

HTML, CSS, JavaScript ReferenceSitePoint launched the CSS Reference in March of 2008, and just last week launched the HTML beta reference!

These reference sites couldn’t be easier to use and cover languages relatable to all web developers including HTML, CSS, and a soon to launch section on JavaScript. You can either search for specific elements or drill down in the easy to navigate categories.

Reference sites and books are great for developers like myself that know how to program, but need help remembering syntax from time to time. Do yourself a favor now and bookmark this site!

Filed Under: Personal, Web Development Tagged With: Personal, Sitepoint, Web Development

The Ultimate CSS Reference from SitePoint

March 10, 2008 By Brad 2 Comments

By StrangeWork.com: Today I received my newest book from SitePoint, The Ultimate CSS Reference.

Ultimate CSS Reference from SitePointThe first thing I noticed is the durable hard cover the book is wrapped in. There is something special about a hard cover book, especially when it’s a reference manual!

I’m a huge fan of reference books. Most of us out there know how to use different languages to develop our web sites. What we don’t always know is the correct syntax to make that magic happen. That’s where the reference manual comes in to play.

Of course we all know over time these manuals can take a beating from constant use. That is why I love the hard cover! It’s able to hold together when I launch it across the room in frustration.

Kidding of course! I highly recommend the entire line of SitePoint books for beginner and expert developers alike.

Filed Under: Personal Tagged With: book, CSS, Personal, Sitepoint

The Art and Science of JavaScript from SitePoint

January 20, 2008 By Brad Leave a Comment

By StrangeWork.com: I just received my latest book in the SitePoint collection, The Art & Science of JavaScript.

The Art & Science of JavaScript Book As always SitePoint has gathered some of the greatest minds in modern JavaScript to collaborate on an amazingly easy to follow book.

The Art & Science covers some great topics including Google Maps and Flickr mashups, building your own fully accessible 3D maze, draggable and sortable table columns, and much more!

SitePoint has always amazed me with the beautiful layout and design of their books. Code is easily readable in a fixed-width font with a blue background. The book also displays Tips, Notes, and Warning icons to help expand upon certain points.

This book is geared towards anyone who is familiar with JavaScript and wants to take their skills to the next level.

Filed Under: Personal Tagged With: book, JavaScript, Personal, Sitepoint

The PHP Anthology Book from SitePoint

November 8, 2007 By Brad Leave a Comment

By StrangeWork.com: SitePoint.com is at it again. Fresh off the press and in my hands is the new SitePoint book The PHP Anthology: 101 Essential Tips, Tricks & Hacks, 2nd Edition.
PHP Anthology Book
As most of you know I primarily use Microsoft technologies for developing, but as this blog shows I also like to dabble in the dark arts known as PHP. I’m no PHP expert, so this book will make for great reference material when I’m hacking up plugins or modifying scripts.

As always SitePoint has done an amazing job at making a technical book easy to read, understand, and actually enjoy! I recommend this book for PHP enthusiasts and experts alike!

Filed Under: Personal Tagged With: book, Personal, PHP, Sitepoint

The ASP.NET 2.0 Anthology Book from SitePoint

October 12, 2007 By Brad 2 Comments

By StrangeWork.com: Yesterday I received my new book from SitePoint.com, The ASP.NET 2.0 Anthology: 101 Essential Tips, Tricks & Hacks.ASP.NET 2.0 Anthology Book

After skimming through my new read I must say, SitePoint can write some amazing books! I love how each section is prefaced with a question:

“How do I read data from my database?”
“How do I use source control?”
“How do I require users to log in?”

This method seems to flow easier for me in understanding new development techniques and code.

If you are interested in learning ASP.NET 2.0 using C# or just looking to refine your ASP.NET 2.0 skills then this is a must read.

Filed Under: ASP/.NET Tagged With: ASP/.NET, book, Personal, Sitepoint

Sitepoint.com CSS Anthology Book

July 26, 2007 By Brad Leave a Comment

There is nothing quite as magical as seeing a package on your door step after work. Yesterday I received my new SitePoint book The CSS Anthology: 101 Essential Tips, Tricks & Hacks.
CSS Anthology Book
What great timing too! I’ve been working on increasing my knowledge of CSS for some new projects I’ve been working on. With just my initial flip through of the book I can already tell this book is jam packed with valuable knowledge.

SitePoint has an entire line of well written books covering everything from web design to developing database driven web applications.

It’s always a challenge to stay ahead of the technology curb, but Sitepoint is helping make that challenge a little easier.

Filed Under: Personal Tagged With: book, CSS, Personal, Sitepoint