MySql 5.1 Release Premature? »

December 19, 2008

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After a year of testing, Sun Microsystems announced in April that that MySql 5.1 was ready for GA release.  That was great news because it would be offering lots of new features and Open Source products are always priced right .

However, MySql’s original author, Michael “Monty” Widenius says that release by Sun was premature.  On his blog, he recommends treating the new features of MySQL 5.1 as BETA and to make sure that you test them thoroughly before placing into production.

He says there are 20 verified critical bugs in 5.1 that remain unaddressed and possibly as many as 35.  There are also more than 300 less critical bugs that are on the “to-do” list, but have no fix timetable.

He also documents several bugs, which could lead to database instability:

• There is a bug that could cause an error when one is upgrading from 5.0 to 5.1 and a table in the database contains triggers – documented here

Check out his blog and you will see a TON more documented bugs.

So why would Sun release something as GA when it should have gone through some additional testing, perhaps?  Monty says:

The reason MySQL 5.1 was declared RC was not because we thought it was close to being GA, but because the MySQL manager in charge *wanted to get more people testing MySQL 5.1*.

Monty’s post is very candid and normally those types of discussions would be held behind closed doors, but such is the way of Open Source.  It is very… open.

So use MySQL 5.1, but be informed before you decide to upgrade and you should definately test it completely before you put it into production.

Edit HTML in Realtime »

October 27, 2008

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We try to post about free and low-cost software that we find specifically related to web development and graphic design, etc.  Recently, we found a pretty cool little coding tool from squarefree.com. It is a real-time HTML code editor.   It is handy if one is trying to learn the HTML basics because they will be able to see instant results in a split-screen format.  Enter the HTML code in the top section of the screen and the bottom of the screen will show you how your code will be displayed in a web browser.

So, if you are a noob (PS. You are a noob if you do not know what a noob is) and you want to wet your feet with a little HTML coding, check it out.  Plus, it is free to use .

Free Web Development Software »

January 12, 2008

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Everyone loves FREE. So, here is a list of some of the best free software we have found with regards to web design and development. We personally use or have used the software listed here and none of these software makers paid us to get listed here. We did it because we are just so darn nice .

Web Graphics

• Top Pick for Screen Capture Software – Faststone
• Top Pick for Screen recording software – CamStudio
• Top Pick for Graphics Editing – Gimp

Web Development

• Top Pick for FTP Client – WinSCP
• Top Pick for Text Editor – Notepad ++ (Text editor and much more – way better than Microsoft Notepad).
• Top Pick for ActionScript editor – SEPY actionscript editor – Edit or create Actionscript without even opening Flash.
• Top Pick for Free Dreamweaver replacement -Nvu Web Authoring System – Works on Linux Desktop, Windows or Mac.

Web Browsing

• Top Pick for Web Browsing – Firefox – no explanation needed
• VERY close second – Opera – Web browser that has plenty of benefits

Web Safety

• Top Pick for Anti-virus – AVG anti-virus
• Top Pick #1 for Anti-spyware – AVG anti-spyware
• Top Pick #2 for Anti-spyware (because you can’t have too many options in this department) – Spybot Search and Destroy

This concludes our list of the best free software related to web design and development. I am sure there will be some differing of opinions, so if you have ones that you are particularly fond of, feel free to speak up. As I mentioned in the introduction, we either use or have used all of the software on this list, so we recommend from experience .

Automatically Write .htaccess Files »

December 20, 2007

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Htaccess files are a must have in the arsenal of any good web designer. They are super important for SEO and vital to the security of your website. But, if you have never heard of .htaccess files, this post is not for you. However, if you use an Apache Server configuration you probably agree that .htaccess files can sometimes be a pain.

I know people that can write them in their sleep with one hand tied behind their back while reciting the alphabet backwards and when they are done, the file works perfectly. Not always the case for me (which is why you should ALWAYS check you .htaccess file before you think you are done).

If you are not comfortable writing them from scratch, here is a great tool that will hold your hand through the entire process. All you do is fill in the details on the form, check a few boxes and viola, your .htaccess file is done.

Click here to try it

PNG Image Fix for Internet Explorer »

November 25, 2007

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Everyone knows that the .PNG image is famous for its transparency option amongst web designers, but the lack of PNG support among some web site browsers can be rather frustrating.

Actually, the support for .PNG image had started a long time ago. Bob Osola wrote a pngfix.js sometime back to fix the .PNG problem, but it only fixes the <img> tags, forgetting the <div> tags with a .PNG background. It also misses images smaller than 12px in height, where the height and width gets distorted.

Just few weeks ago, Rogie King from Komodo Media blogged about a clever way to fix PNG image display issues in IE through CSS. You don’t even have to write an external js source to fix that problem!

You can read more at Pluit Solutions.