David Keener at RubyNation 2008: Many thanks to Gray Herter, who snapped some nice photos of me speaking at the RubyNation 2008 Conference in August. Click here to see the full set of photos from my talk.
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| October 2, 2008 |
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| Introduction to RubyGems: RubyGems is a package manager for Ruby code, where each package is referred to as a "gem." All of the Ruby books show users how to install gems, but almost nobody explains how to use the many other features of RubyGems. |
| August 5, 2008 |
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| Practical Tips for Rails Migrations: Migrations are one of the neatest features provided by the Rails framework. The thing to remember, though, is that migrations are still code. Even migrations can get out-of-control after a while, unless you follow some practical tips for keeping them useful and relevant. |
| July 20, 2008 |
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| Creating a Breadcrumb Trail in Rails: Lots of web sites have breadcrumb trails to show users the hierarchy of pages through which a user has navigated to reach their current page. In this article, I provide a simple set of generic methods that can be used to easily add a breadcrumb trail to a Rails web site. |
| June 18, 2008 |
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If You Can't Find the Oracle: So, my friend, Jake Vanus, was trying to get Oracle running on a Windows laptop. After several installation/configuration cycles, he had to drop the task for a while. When he came back to it, he couldn't remember whether Oracle was still installed or not, so he asked me where to find the Oracle startup scripts. To which I responded gravely, "If you can't find the Oracle, you will have to seek out the Merovingean."
It's always helpful to slip in a Matrix joke when a buddy is having technical issues. |
| June 10, 2008 |
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| AOL Exit Interview: Talk about surreal. I had my exit interview with AOL today — 41 days after I left the company. It seems that they want to know A) why people are leaving the company, and B) why they're having such a hard time hiring new people. In fact, this is so important to AOL's management that they outsourced my exit interview to a human resources consulting firm. |
| May 5, 2008 |
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| Mac Office 2008 Product Key Issue Solved: There have been numerous reports on the web of installation issues with Office 2008 for the Mac. Most of the issues seemed to center around Office 2008 not recognizing the proper product key during a re-installation. As far as I can tell from my Internet research, nobody had come up with a solution for the problem. However, I was able to solve the problem when I encountered it. |
| April 17, 2008 |
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| NovaJUG: Creating Dynamic Charts With JFreeChart: On April 9th, 2008, I presented on the topic of JFreeChart to the Northern Virginia Ruby Users Group (NovaJUG). JFreeChart is an open source charting library implemented in Java. It provides the capability to dynamically create sophisticated charts and incorporate them into Java applications. This in-depth presentation illustrates how to effectively use JFreeChart to enhance your web sites. |
| April 10, 2008 |
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| NovaRUG: Implementing OpenID for Your Social Networking Site: On March 19, 2008, I presented on OpenID and Rails to the NovaRUG. There are thousands of social networking sites, each with their own unique sign-on systems. How many user names and passwords do you really want to remember? Wouldn't it be nice if you could have a single sign-on that you could use on all of the sites that you frequent? OpenID is an open-source, decentralized sign-on technology that promises this and more. My PDF presentation on OpenID is available online. |
| March 21, 2008 |
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| Graphic Designs for a Regional Ruby Conference: The Northern Virginia Ruby Users Group is planning to organize a new regional Ruby conference. They've asked for some ideas on graphic designs to promote this new conference. So here are some promotional concepts that I've come up with. |
| March 16, 2008 |
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| Survival Tips for Technical Job Seekers: Looking for a new job is always a lot of work. Here are some survival tips to help technical professionals find a new job in today's volatile job market. |
| March 15, 2008 |
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| Dilbert on Agile Programming: "Agile Programming" has become one those popular buzzwords. Fortunately, we have Dilbert cartoons to put things like this into their proper prespective. |
| March 4, 2008 |
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| Embedding a Jelly Scripting Capability in Your Java Application: Jelly is an XML-based scripting language that was created under the umbrella of the Apache Commons initiative. Jelly has been successfully integrated into entreprise applications in order to make scripting capabilities available to users. Find out how to embed a Jelly scripting capability into your next Java application. |
| February 26, 2008 |
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| Tips for Web Services: Working with web services is often more painful than it needs to be. Here are some tips for crafting high-quality web services, based on real-life experiences. These tips are useful regardless of whether the web services are being developed using Java, .NET, Ruby on Rails or some other technology. |
| February 16, 2008 |
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| Traffic Report 2007: In this blog entry, I publish and then analyze real traffic statistics for KeenerTech.com. I look at traffic trends to determine how well my strategies for promoting the site have worked, and then use the information to fine-tune my future strategies for raising the profile of the site. |
| January 15, 2008 |
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| Principles of OpenID: OpenID is an open-source digital identity technology that allows web users to use a single sign-in for all OpenID-enabled web sites. Find out about the underlying principles behind this up-and-coming technology. |
| January 13, 2008 |
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XKCD Web Comics:  Once
in a while, a friend sends me a link to a site that's so funny I just have to share it with others. XKCD is a web comic that comes with its own inimitable warning label: "Warning: this comic occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)." My favorite is a comic that actually manages to include some SQL. Dilbert, watch out!. |
| January 7, 2008 |
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| Reading a Resource From a Jar File: The easiest way to ensure that a Java class has the static resources that it needs is to bundle them within the same jar file as the compiled class. Once you've embedded your resources in a jar file, though, how can you access them from your code? Find out how easy it is to access embedded resources. |
| January 6, 2008 |
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Santa Clause Traditions:  My
wife, Sally, is Scottish. I mentioned to her in passing one day that, when I was a kid, my parents would leave milk and cookies out on the kitchen table so Santa could have a snack when he showed up. She looked at me with a horrified expression, then exclaimed, "Milk and cookies! That's terrible!" She shuddered. "Santa's a man, not a boy! In Scotland, we leave whiskey out for the poor fellow 'cause he needs something to warm him up on his journey." |
| December 23, 2007 |
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| Implementing OpenID for Your Social Networking Site: There are thousands of social networking sites, each with their own unique sign-on systems. How many user names and passwords do you really want to remember? Wouldn't it be nice if you could have a single sign-on that you could use on all of the sites that you frequent? OpenID is an open-source, decentralized sign-on technology that promises this and more. My PDF presentation on OpenID is now available online. |
| December 21, 2007 |
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Java Developers Notice Rails:  The
latest issue of the Java Developers Journal features an in-depth primer on Ruby on Rails. It's a nice article by Ryan Garver, and a solid introduction to Rails. I think the Java community is beginning to notice this new, upstart technology. |
| December 3, 2007 |
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| JRuby Speed Test: JRuby is an implementation of Ruby in Java. It's come a long way in the last two years, going from pipe dream to viable platform. In the latest speed tests, JRuby has proven to be even faster than the C-based Ruby implementation. |
| November 28, 2007 |
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| Quick Start: What Is Rails?: Here's a brief but useful presentation that I've successfully used to introduce the Ruby on Rails technology to folks with absolutely no knowledge of it. Suitable for non-technical manager types, as well. |
| November 22, 2007 |
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| Speaking On: Implementing OpenID for Your Social Networking Web Site: I will be presenting at the Washington DC Ruby on Rails User Group on December 13th, from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM. The meeting will be held at George Washington University. |
| November 14, 2007 |
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| Microsoft Screen Cleaner: Have you ever noticed how your screen somehow seems less clear after several years of use? Find out how to fix your screen and protect your vision using an innovative new product from Microsoft. |
| November 6, 2007 |
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| Creating Self-Documenting Java Code Using Javadocs: Javadocs is great tool for generating useful documentation for Java code from embedded comment blocks. Find out out how to use this tool to make your Java source code more maintainable. You'll find that Javadocs is so easy to use that it's almost unprofessional not to use it. |
| November 4, 2007 |
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Improvised Public Comedy:  The
Improv Everywhere group is known for staging comical events for the unsuspecting public. Some of the events are hilarious, including one of my favorites, in which some 60 volunteers dressed like Best Buy employees showed up at a Best Buy location in New York. Check out their site if you're looking for a good laugh. |
| October 30, 2007 |
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| Evolution of a Graphic Design Concept: This is a case study of the iterative development of the graphic design for CareerBank.com, a highly successful niche career site focused on the accounting field. This case study lifts the veil on an important element of web design that isn't usually shown to outsiders. Come take a look! |
| October 21, 2007 |
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| 2007 Web Design Survey: The prominent web design site, A List Apart just published their 2007 survey of web design professionals. Find out more about their results. |
| October 19, 2007 |
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| October 2007 Presentation: David Keener will be presenting for the Washington DC Ruby on Rails User Group. The topic will be: "Using Rails to Create an Enterprise App: A Real-Life Case Study." Find out more about this upcoming presentation, which will be given on Thursday, October 18th, at George Washington University. |
| October 13, 2007 |
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| Debugging Cross-Database Issues in Rails Migrations: It's pretty common in the Rails community to use migrations with multiple types of databases, e.g. - developers might use MySQL in their development environments while creating code targeted to run in production against an Oracle database. Learn about some of the pitfalls, and solutions, associated with using migrations in a cross-database manner. |
| October 3, 2007 |
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| Conditional Logic in Rails Migrations: Migrations are an awesome feature of Rails. Since they're implemented in Ruby, you can add conditional logic to perform database actions only if needed. Find out how! |
| September 27, 2007 |
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| Downloads With Tivo: Find out how to download shows from your Tivo box so you can watch them when ... and where ... you want. |
| August 23, 2007 |
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| Rails Date Manipulation: Date manipulation is the bane of existence for enterprise developers. It seems like manipulating dates should be so easy, but yet it's generally tedious, painful and basically not fun. However, in Rails, it's not so bad. Find out why. |
| July 6, 2007 |
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| Glasgow Airport SUV Crash: It's eerie watching TV and seeing today's terrorist SUV crash at Glasgow Airport. I've spent a lot of time at Glasgow Airport, and the scene was instantly recognizable to me. In fact I was there just a little over a month ago. |
| June 30, 2007 |
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| DOM Popup Kit: The DOM Popup Kit is a nice JavaScript utility for adding in-page popup elements to your web pages. Find out more about this simple, but useful, JavaScript utility, including how to use it in a Ruby on Rails application. |
| June 22, 2007 |
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| Quick Start: Rails LiveTree: This short presentation from my brother, Steve Keener, provides a step-by-step roadmap for creating a dynamic tree feature for a web site using the LiveTree JavaScript code and the Rails "acts_as_tree" mechanism. |
| May 14, 2007 |
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| My Presentation for the DC Ruby on Rails Users Group: I gave a presentation on Ruby Vector Graphics (RVG) at the Washington DC Ruby on Rails Users Group on May 3rd. Find out how it went. |
| May 8, 2007 |
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| JFreeChart Presentation: JFreeChart is an open source charting library implemented in Java. It provides the capability to dynamically create sophisticated charts and incorporate them into Java applications. This in-depth presentation illustrates how to effectively use JFreeChart to enhance your web sites. |
| April 22, 2007 |
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| Multiple Form Buttons in Rails: Simple forms may be sufficient for most web solutions, but not all of them. Find out how to create forms in Ruby on Rails that contain multiple buttons. |
| April 10, 2007 |
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| Speaking at DC Ruby Users Group in May: I was asked by Dave Naffis, one of the founders of the Washington DC Ruby User Group, to give a talk at one of the upcoming meetings (the May 3rd meeting, as it turns out). Find out more about my upcoming talk. |
| April 5, 2007 |
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| Secrets of the Great Pyramid Revealed: An architect reveals his theories regarding the construction of the Great Pyramid of Khufu via a 3-D animated presentation on the web. Very cool stuff! |
| March 31, 2007 |
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| Tivo and Your Home Network: Connecting your Tivo box to your home network opens up a raft of new capabilities that can change how, and where, you experience your television programs. |
| March 26, 2007 |
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| A Random Element for Your Web Pages: Nobody likes a boring web page. Find out how to add interesting random elements to your web pages. |
| March 17, 2007 |
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| Creating a Pull-Quote Effect With CSS: From a page-layout perspective, online articles are boring compared to their printed counterparts. Discover a simple technique to make online content more effective. |
| March 10, 2007 |
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| Creating Dynamic Charts With JFreeChart: JFreeChart is a Java-based, open source charting library. Find out how to use JFreeChart to dynamically generate sophisticated charts and seamlessly embed them within web pages. |
| March 6, 2007 |
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| Case Study: NCTM: This in-depth article describes the creation of the sophisticated and highly successful E-Resources publishing initiative for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. This project involved the creation of a searchable, access-controlled online repository of PDF and HTML journal articles, with significant ecommerce features. |
| February 25, 2007 |
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| Dog in AOL T-Shirt: Yes, that IS a dog ... and he's wearing the famous "You've Got Mail" T-shirt from AOL. |
| February 20, 2007 |
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| How to Have a Web Site Outage: Sometimes, no matter what kind of backup plans and recovery plans you come up with, you still end up with an unexpected outage. Here's one lovely scenario that I recently encountered. |
| February 15, 2007 |
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| URL Rewriting in ASP.NET: URL rewriting is a technique in which a request for a web resource is intercepted and an alternate resource is substituted for the response. This is sometimes done, particularly in content management systems, to create simple, easy-to-remember URLs for web-accessible content. Find out how this technique can be accomplished in ASP.NET. |
| January 29, 2007 |
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| Getting the Most Out of Tivo: Tivo is the gold standard when it comes to personal Digital Video Recorders (DVRs). It also offers some interesting features for the technically-oriented. |
| January 22, 2007 |
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Introduction to Java Servlets: The Java Servlet API (Application Programming Interface) allows developers to create Java classes that dynamically construct and return web pages. Discover how to create highly functional servlets.
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| January 19, 2007 |
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| On Being a Rails Expert: There's been a lot of hype lately about a new technology called Ruby on Rails. What does it really take to be a Rails expert? |
| January 15, 2007 |
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| Getting Started With Ruby on Rails: This article describes a few tools, such as InstantRails and RadRails, that will help new developers get started with Ruby on Rails. |
| January 8, 2007 |
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Harnessing the Power of XML For Your Business: There's a lot of hype about the usefulness of XML. This article cuts through the hype and explains some of the major advantages that XML offers for businesses.
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| January 5, 2007 |
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Banner Display in the ASP.NET Ad Rotator Control: The enhanced Ad Rotator control provided by ASP.NET provides numerous advantages over the Ad Rotator component provided in so-called Classic ASP. Find out how easily banners can be handled in ASP.NET.
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| January 5, 2007 |
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| Generating Dynamic Graphics in ASP.NET Applications: Find out how GDI+, ASP.Net's wrapper for Microsoft's Graphics Device Interface, can be used to dynamically create images such as charts and graphs within the context of a web application. |
| January 5, 2007 |
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| Simulating IDENTITY Columns in Oracle: Microsoft SQL Server supports IDENTITY columns that can be used to generate unqiue primary key values. Unfortunately, Oracle does not support this useful feature. Find out how this feature can be simulated in Oracle. |
| January 1, 2007 |
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| Overly Secure?: Security is a good thing...usually. But sometimes you can take security too far. |
| December 3, 2006 |
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| My Favorite ASP.NET Conversion Error: Find out about an easy solution for one of ASP.NET's most common errors. |
| November 15, 2006 |
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| Web 2.0 Hype Generator: Inspired by Wired Magazine, the Web 2.0 Hype Generator helps aspiring entrepreneurs figure out how to advertise their new Web 2.0 ventures. Check it out today! |
| October 29, 2006 |
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| Let's Go Orbital: Learn about a new class of web site that's sure to change our understanding of real estate, satellite imagery and privacy. |
| October 23, 2006 |
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| Extreme Short Stories: The November 2006 issue of Wired Magazine includes an interesting feature on extremely short stories. Specifically, they asked a bunch of writers to come up with striking "stories" in only 6 words. Well, this sounded like a fun exercise, so I decided to try my hand at it. |
| October 21, 2006 |
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| The Horatio Factor: A different perspective on the controversy surrounding the Horatio Alger Street Fair in Marlborough, Massachusetts. Horatio Alger Jr. was the prolific 19th-century author whose "rags to riches" stories helped popularize the American Dream. |
| September 30, 2006 |
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| Software Testing: A Forgotten Art: Solid testing is one of the hidden ingredients of successful web sites. This article on software testing as it applies to web sites and web-based applications was created for a small web consulting company. |
| November 28, 2006 |
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| Understanding How Oracle Triggers are Executed: Oracle's triggers provide a powerful way to implement complex business rules within the database itself. Take a whirlwind tour of the features that make Oracle triggers so powerful. Find out about a useful convention for naming triggers that provides better support future maintenance activities. |
| December 15, 2006 |
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| Handling Credit Card Transactions Using CyberCash: Implementing a solution for handling credit card payments is one of the defining hurdles that has to be overcome by many online businesses. Find out how credit card processing works in the online world, plus learn how this task can easily be accomplished using the ColdFusion language. Originally published in the ColdFusion Developer''s Journal. |
| September 9, 2006 |
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| Using Cron to Schedule UNIX Activities: The freely available cron program is an extremely useful utility for scheduling the automatic execution of tasks. Find out how to use this useful UNIX utility. |
| July 16, 2006 |
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| Simple Banner Rotation Using Active Server Pages: Using the ASP programming language, Microsoft's widely available Ad Rotator component can easily be used to manage banners for a web site. |
| August 27, 2006 |
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| Tracking Software Issues: The almost universal accessibility of the web makes it an ideal platform for fielding collaborative applications. In this article, originally published in the ColdFusion Developer''s Journal, a simple web-based system for tracking and managing software issues is described. |
| August 18, 2006 |
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| Generating Traffic for Your Web Site: All online businesses face the struggle to get visitors to come to their web site. Here are some inexpensive but highly effective ways to generate traffic for your web site. |
| July 11, 2006 |
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| Top 10 Best Practices for Creating Web Sites: Designing effective commercial web sites is a difficult task, with numerous potential pitfalls. Discover some best practices that will help you make your web site dvelopment effort a successful one. |
| June 12, 2006 |
