Webonaut

Come on DEV world; let's have some proper innovation in programming. Hipster coding paradigms of the last couple years (Angular, Ruby, etc I'm looking at you) have exponents spouting "look, I've written no Javascript!". Yeah, well you've written a TON of Angular. In fact, I could have done it with less code in standard javascript & HTML. Incremental benefits in some areas (usually academic, along the lines of "better" practice coding structures) are too often negated by added complexity; legacy nightmares (out-of-fashion code is not pleasant 5 yrs later) & increased dev time when the real-world doesn't match the ideological utopian world envisaged by the creators. This is why we're all still programming C/Javascript/HTML/Perl using slightly better text editors. Occasionally genuinely useful new tech is added to the list (jQuery for example) - but where is the game-changing development system that allows for an order of magnitude i...

This (embarrasingly) simple online tool allows you to make tables in gmail messages. The lack of this feature in googlemail has annoyed me for some time, so I went to Google Campus London and constructed this one-page-wonder. If I was to slap a couple AdWords ads on it would that make it the fastest ever startup from conception to monetisation I wonder? www.gmailtable.com

OPEN LETTER TO DVLA ( if you wish to write yourself, it's: evl.feedback@dvla.gsi.gov.uk ) Not sure how to make a complaint, but suffice it to say this is one. I was disappointed to see the previously consumer friendly tax disc system implement Verified by Visa. Why? 1. This system is anti-small business (such as mine) being thrust onto them as an extra payment hurdle that big players like Amazon do not have to implement. Government should not be supporting systems that actively hurt small UK engines of growth in favour of big global corporations IMO. 2. It is anti-consumer, not just because it makes smooth processes (like your own) more convoluted, but analysis of the protocol by academia has shown it to have many security issues that affect the consumer, including greater surface area for phishing and a shift of liability in the case of fraudulent payments (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3-D_Secure#General_3-D_Secure_Criticism ). Basically, Visa can more readily get o...

Trying to avoid form CAPTCHAs, so considering implementation of a "Double Bluff" honeypot to stop spam. Goes like this: CSS hidden, traditional honeypot input with a tempting name like 'title' that's empty for robots to inadvertently fill. Then a hidden input that is javascript filled once page has loaded. Checking the first pot is empty and the second full should capture all but the mightest spam routine...

Google Chromebook / Chromeboxes make excellent mini web-servers for development/testing/office use, or for using in kiosks / taking to tradeshows etc. Amazingly there is enough space on them for a reasonable sized web-site and database, and the oomph is comparable to a medium-size virtual server from one of the popular web-hosts. Firstly, get your Chromebox / Chromebook running Linux by installing Chrubuntu: Follow this guide here ->  http://webonaut.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/installing-ubuntu-linux-on-your.html Bring up a Terminal. (Remember, your user is called "user" with password "user" by default). Type: sudo apt-get install tasksel sudo  tasksel Use the cursors to select "LAMP" (dom't deselect the default options or you may take away your desktop!) then hit return. (BTW: Now is a good time to try Edubuntu as it is cool, and openssh-server is useful too ;) Give the mysql root user a password when prompted. Test it out! Try this ...

NOTE: THIS WILL WIPE YOUR BOX! (but you only store stuff in the cloud, right?) Switch the developer switch on your machine (it's in a little hole on the back of the Chromebox. Use a paper clip and BE CAREFUL - it's not a strong switch) Switch the machine on. The unhappy face means you are in developer mode (sweet!). You can wait (and put up with the loud double-beep) or press Ctrl+D to continue Log into ChromeOS as normal Open a browser window and press Ctrl+Alt+T to bring up the mildly rubbish in-browser crosh terminal type "shell" to get a decent bash shell type "sudo bash" to get an even better root shell! type " chromeos-firmwareupdate --mode=todev " to update and properly enter developer mode Note: switch back later by typing the reverse into an Ubuntu shell, e.g. " chromeos-firmwareupdate --mode=normal " type "reboot" and follow steps 4,5 and 6 again The next steps are a bit convoluted, but here's a handy ...

So, for the Arena Hotel project I've just completed I needed to prevent the default HTML right-click context menu that allows download of videos. There is no tag parameter for this, so the only way you can do it is by disabling context menus either on the container div, or the whole document. Wedge this code in: $(document).ready(function(){   // Kill the right-click context menu globally   document.oncontextmenu = function() { return false; }   // or just kill for a particular container div   $('#mydiv').bind('contextmenu',function() { return false; }); });