webrecurse | software for web development

Heroku - Ruby on Rails Platform Heroku is getting tons of buzz...

Sat, 09 Feb 2008 05:17:00 -0800

Heroku is getting tons of buzz lately. The application was recently Techcrunch’d , the founders were interviewed on Ruby on Rails Podcast, and hackers are already enjoying it on hacker news.

I signed up for an invite a few days ago and got an email within 24 hours. When you first login, you’ll be greeted with a friendly screen to create a new application. You can choose your own subdomain for each of your applications.

Development in your Browser

I spent some time in the code editor and I was surprised that it was semi-productive. Honestly, I doubt I’ll ever be as productive in a web editor as TextMate or Vim. The code editor is very responsive, is quick at changing and saving files, and feels just like a bare-bones desktop editor.

Some other development tools included are script/console, Rail’s generators, and Rake tasks. Instead of version control, there is a “Snapshot” feature. Anytime you’d like to make a branch or tag, just take a snapshot of your current source code and go back to it anytime.

Dead Simple Deployment

Development is just half of the equation, though, I think Heroku’s main strength is its hosting abilities. In fact, you can ignore all the development tools provided and just import your own project from your local computer.

Heroku makes deployment dead simple. You don’t have to do anything except for pick a sub-domain and point your web browser to it. Here’s my 5-minute app, a start up index. As you’re working on your project, you can go back and forth between your live site and your code-editor.

Heroku is definitely an innovative application. It’s exciting to think that one day, we may be able to offshore all of our development/hosting needs to a web application. But right now, most developers will probably be much more productive developing with their desktop tools.

For application hosting, Heroku may be a no brainer. If you’re developing an application for a few friends, and your personal VPS is out of memory, consider using Heroku. It’s perfect for the small web apps that get developed quickly, but get abandoned because developers don’t want to bother hosting it for such a small audience.

I imagine Heroku will add more features as they get more customer feedback. They’ll probably fine tune their service so they can start hosting enterprise applications, hitting 1000+ users for each application. They’re using Amazon’s EC2 service which will increase the number of server slices to deal with higher loads.

Heroku is funded by YCombinator.

Google Docs - A Web OfficeIf you already have a gmail account,...

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 21:02:24 -0800

Google Docs - A Web Office

If you already have a gmail account, you might consider trying out Google Docs. I’ve been using this web app for the last few weeks and haven’t missed my Open Office installation at all. Features include spreadsheets, word processing, and presentations.

Your documents are stored online for easy access on any computer (plus easy sharing). They can be downloaded at anytime. Since I’m a light word processing and spreadsheet user, I’m not missing any features from MS Office or Open Office. The only downside I see is that I can’t edit my files when I’m missing wifi.

Anywhere.FM - Music Where You Want ItI’ve just started...

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 20:14:09 -0800

Anywhere.FM - Music Where You Want It

I’ve just started using Anywhere.FM, after hearing the recent news about its acquisition. Anywhere.FM lets you upload songs (there’s an easy importer for iTunes) and listen to your music anywhere you have a web browser.

Anywhere.FM is based on Flash, it’s a fast web application that feels just like iTunes. You don’t even need an account to start using it, just go to the website and listen to free songs.

Disqus - The webwide discussion community where you carry your...

Sat, 02 Feb 2008 16:51:03 -0800

Disqus - The webwide discussion community where you carry your conversations with you

Disqus is a forum/comments web application. If you have a website that could benefit from comments, Disqus gives you some Javascript that you can paste in. Your visitors can leave comments without having a Disqus account.

I’ve just started using Disqus for Tumblr. They have instructions for popular blog engines like Wordpress, Movable Type, Blogger, and even Tumblr. The time for installation took me less than 10 minutes.

RescueTime - Time Management Software for Geeks RescueTime is a...

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 20:38:51 -0800

RescueTime - Time Management Software for Geeks

RescueTime is a great way to find out which applications/websites you spend most of your time in.

When I’m at my 9-5 job, I spend most of my time in a code editor and testing out our web applications. But after 5, I waste too much time on hacker news.

RescueTime uses a desktop application which logs your information and sends it to their servers. You can view your statistics online. It’s a great way to remind you to stop wasting time and get to work.

Senduit - Share easily Senduit is a free service for sharing...

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 20:32:41 -0800

Senduit - Share easily

Senduit is a free service for sharing large files via the internet. It’s a pain emailing large attachments. With senduit, just upload your file and share your private link.

Instant Domain Search - find the right domain name, as fast as...

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 20:29:00 -0800

Instant Domain Search - find the right domain name, as fast as you can type

As web hackers (in the good way), we’re always coming up with new projects that need domain names. I use Instant Domain Search, because it can find domain names incredibly fast.

Just start typing and Instant Domain Search will look for domains under .com, .net, and .org. The site uses AJAX, so you won’t have to wait too long for a server response. There’s even a secure option via https.

IE NetRenderer - Browser Compatibility Check IE NetRenderer is a...

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 20:24:58 -0800

IE NetRenderer - Browser Compatibility Check

IE NetRenderer is a free tool for web designers to check how their website looks in IE5.5, IE6, and IE7. Users can just enter a URL and NetRenderer will give you a screenshot of your site. The results are almost instant, you won’t have to wait in line for your image.

Strongspace - Secure Backups Strongspace is an excellent choice...

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 16:57:00 -0800

Strongspace - Secure Backups

Strongspace is an excellent choice for backups for web programmers for three reasons:

you can backup with a web browser or the command line (this is a great feature because you can automate backing up every night via cron jobs)
you can purchase a lifetime 3GB account for a one-time payment of $39
Strongspace’s greatest strength is that they take security seriously, you won’t lose your data and it won’t be stolen

I purchased a lifetime 3GB account a few months ago and I’ve been a happy customer since. My source code is backed up there every night.

To take advantage of the lifetime account, you can purchase SftpDrive for $39 which comes with a free Strongspace account. To be honest, I use a Mac and SftpDrive is only available for Windows. But I gladly spent the money to use Strongspace.

Conceptshare - Online Design Collaboration Made...

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 09:16:11 -0800

Conceptshare - Online Design Collaboration Made Easy

Conceptshare is an impressive conference tool. One person uploads a “concept”, which is any type of image. Then, you and your co-workers can collaborate on the concept using free hand drawing tools or a chat box.

All of this is done in real time using Flash. Conceptshare is great for people working in remote offices. Prices range from free and $19-$199/month.

Splashup - a powerful editing tool and photo...

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 19:47:00 -0800

Splashup - a powerful editing tool and photo manager

Wow, splashup is a great image editor that’s embedded right in your browser using Flash. Splashup is aiming to be more full featured (like Photoshop) than lightweight browser competitors (like MS Paint).

It’s currently in beta and it’s free. You don’t even need to sign up for an account to start using it, just click ‘Jump Right In’ on the front page.

Snipshot - Edit pictures online Snipshot is a quick way to crop,...

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 04:59:00 -0800

Snipshot - Edit pictures online

Snipshot is a quick way to crop, rotate, add effects to, and enhance photos online. It’s free and requires no signup (so if you’re on someone else’s computer or in a hurry to crop a photo, give it a shot).

Snipshot also offers a pro account for $9/mo which has more effects and face detection. There’s also an interesting API which lets programmers integrate Snipshot services in their own websites.

Lighthouse - beatifully simple issue tracker Lighthouse is an...

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 23:26:00 -0800

Lighthouse - beatifully simple issue tracker

Lighthouse is an eye-catching bug tracker with features like tagging, searching, email integration, and version control integration.

I’ve been using it for a while now as a replacement for Trac. My favorite feature would be its powerful searching. You can search using a special syntax like this:

responsible:me tagged:”bug important”

Searches can then be saved as bins, which is a very flexible way categorize tickets.

Plans start from free, $10-$120/month.

Weebly - a free website builder Users can build and host...

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 23:43:00 -0800

Weebly - a free website builder

Users can build and host multiple websites with Weebly. To build a site, users can drag elements onto a page (like paragraphs, contact forms, ads) and type away.

Building websites with Weebly is dead simple. The only drawback is that most websites will look alike because of the limited number of designs.