An easy way to keep your Ubuntu EC2 instances up to date
Note: this tip can be applied to a lot of Linux distros, but the Ubuntu on EC2 set up is the one I’m using it on. YMMV
So I’m running some pretty stable Ubuntu instances on Amazon’s EC2. They’ve never shut down unexpectedly, and I rarely need to restart them. This means I’m rarely [...]
Which form style do you prefer?
I’ve just been doing a bit of refactoring on the Every Single Shot sign up page. I started with something that resembled the idea of mad-libs form design:
(click thumbnail for full size image)
I’ve since decided to try amore traditional form layout:
(click thumbnail for full size image)
Do you have a preference? Vote [...]
Automatic http/httpS switching with Grails
A common requirement in webapps nowadays is to switch users between a secure and insecure connection (called protocol switching). For example, maybe your user needs to enter a password, credit card number, or some other sensitive information. Of course, you (and the user) would like that information to be sent securely, which means [...]
Shell scripts that talk back (and make you millions)
I’ve got a bunch of shell scripts that I use to help me with development of Every Single Shot. Some of these scripts, like starting up a new server instance or redeploying an application, can take a while (10 to 15 minutes). I’ll typically launch a script and then start working on something [...]
ChangeLog #3: Beta release and the start of something great
Total earnings as of March 18th, 2010: $0
In my last ChangeLog I said things were moving slowly – much slower than I would have hoped for. That’s finally changed! Development has really picked up over the last couple of weeks and I’ve been churning out new features and fixing bugs like nobody’s business. [...]
How to give good customer support – be like SmugMug
I didn’t mean to learn anything about customer support – I was just researching the competition.
More precisely, I was researching some indirect competitors for Every Single Shot and I found myself at SmugMug. Although I was looking to learn about the specific features of SmugMug, what I found myself really impressed with [...]
ChangeLog #2: Storing photos and little else
Total earnings as of February 11th, 2010: $0
This week was a lot slower than I had hoped it would be. I don’t think I made enough progress to be able to launch a beta (remember to sign up) on February 15th (4 days from now!) – but I’m still shooting for it.
Safe, secure photo [...]
Entrepreneur and geek - a dangerous combination! I'm living my dream - running my own software business and working on its second app - 



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