Adding html widgets to a website is an easy way to extend services and incorporate new capabilities, but sometimes they don’t always fit well. Changing the spot sizing can be a problem, particularly with hosted sites that are template driven. Here’s a way to solve this with a little help from Google.
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Anyone can design a website with today’s scripting environments. Those who shouldn’t create opportunities for those who can, who invariably are called in to clean-up. There are some easy ways to avoid these hidden costs upfront, or determine the clean-up costs afterwards.
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Email on the internet is a public resource available to everyone and can be abused by anyone. Increasingly we depend on what turns out to be a fragile communications system that in many ways is pure Rube Goldberg in design and operation. Here are some ways, organized as questions and answers, that small companies managing their own email systems can avoid most of the quicksand.
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Memory allocation problems in PHP have many causes, but the error reporting (such as it is) leaves much to be desired in finding a solution. Here’s one fatal memory error cause, and the fix, that is a MySQL 5.3 Community edition ‘feature’ that is particularly vexing. It also happens in version 5.2, but don’t know if if happens with 5.4. (more…)

Trite but still true, there’s no second chance to make a first impression. Odd that those peddling social network expertise seemingly ignore this and, perhaps, much else besides.
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Paintings and sculptures can be identified by workmanship details, which sometimes are better authentications than a signature. Software can be similarly identified, and for the same reasons. (more…)

Software frameworks earn their keep by reducing development effort, but sometimes managing a simple click through their Byzantine paths complicate simple things. Here’s what we did when all we wanted was to get a little help without losing our place in the workflow.
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While judging a book by its cover may not always be a good thing, judging software by its installation process can be a good indicator of overall product quality. The uninstall process can be a confirmation of the decision to do so.
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The latest version of Flash, part of Adobe’s CS5, has many changes, new features and extended capabilities that increase productivity and improve workflow. This not only adds some complexity, and can cause confusion on where familiar tool settings and controls are now, but in some cases are not accurately described in the official Adobe documentation. This book, by authors with international experience and expertise with Flash, addresses these issues with well written explanations and detailed exercises and training aids.
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Like email spam, hijacked email addresses and money transfers from Nigeria, the inevitability of automated blog comment submittals have become more than nuisances. Here’s a few ways to control these pests without making things too difficult to legitimate readers’ comments.
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