For our app, we went with the iframe option, because we had lots of data exchanges going on with our own database, and users needed to upload pictures as part of using the app. During testing, (in various flavors of IE, Firefox, and Safari on both major platforms), no real problems were encountered with the functionality of the app that weren’t resolved before deploying. Once deployed, however, some users were encountering problems that seemed to be random glitches that we couldn’t really troubleshoot.  The API methods for getting a user’s photos sometimes didn’t return anything, no errors, no photos, nothing.  This actually seems to be a known problem, and an obviously annoying one.  Also, sometimes the user would be taken outside of the iframe, and directly to our server, which is obviously not ideal.  This was fixed with a kludgy workaround, where all links were pointed to the app’s URL on Facebook, with our URL parameters appended.  This, however, is going to make tracking less accurate with Google Analytics, since they are technically not links within the iframe any longer.

So I’m curious, has anybody else had problems when developing Facebook apps?  Does it feel as messy to you as it did to me?  It’s been an interesting experience, and I just hope I’m not the only one that feels this way after my first real Facebook app.

My duties included designing the site, as well as setting up the Drupal 6 instance that makes up the meat and potatoes of the site.  Some aspects of Drupal were less than ideal for what the site needed, but it all worked out in the end.

Check it out, and enjoy!

So I have this freshly installed Windows XP virtual machine and I needed to install a PDF reader. I used to use Foxit Reader, but I always have problems with the toolbars staying arranged in the right places, so that’s out.  So I headed to Adobe’s site to get their reader.  Immediately, I noticed that the installer package contains Acrobat.com running on top of Adobe AIR (which I don’t have installed, so it’s nice enough to do that for me, too).  Seriously?  I just want the damn PDF reader.  So I suck it up and click “OK”.

What happens next is what really blew my mind. I get prompted by Firefox to install the “Adobe Download Manager”. Download Manager?  Seriously? I’ve already got a download manager…it’s called Firefox.  So I dig a little deeper to see why they’re using this.  In their FAQ, they say they’re using to “allow you to pause and resume large downloads”.  Large downloads, huh?  Like a 40mb PDF reader? Bottom line here, is whatever happened to just clicking a link that says “download”?

I guess it was inevitable, given how their install processes for the Creative Suite programs have gotten out-of-hand.  But seriously, all those hoops to just get a PDF reader?  On my Mac at work, I can use Quick Look by hitting Space on a PDF icon and instantly  see the PDF.  Instantly, no splash screen for the reader, just the PDF, open right in front of me in a fraction of a second.  Just sayin’…

Oh well, Adobe’s slowly going the Microsoft route, and I guess there’s nothing that can be done about it.

Here’s the deal: I believe it is pronounced with a short “i”, a la “sift”.  Some of my coworkers believe it is pronounced with a long “i”, a la “site”.  Phonetically, they’re saying “cipher”. Obviously, I am correct.  My reasoning: the “I” in sIFR stands for Inman (soft “i”), as in scalable Inman Flash Replacement, because Shaun Inman initially developed the technology. Also, I believe the pronunciation of the first letter of each word in an acronym should be maintained, if it results in an easily spoken acronym.  For example – NASA arguably rolls off the tongue a little more easily than nay-say.  You can see my point.  Their sole reason: “cipher” sounds cooler.  Shenanigans, I say.

So now it’s time to hopefully get a collective opinion on the matter.  What say you, fellow geeks?

The site itself, which was obviously designed by the same folks responsible for his campaign site, is quite captivating as well.  It admirably meets all the goals one would expect from such a site: visual unity, a sense of regality, tasteful typography, and readability.  Quite a bit of information is presented on the home page, yet spacing and color are used judiciously to lead the eye through the visual hierarchy.

The way our next President is handling every aspect of his upcoming office already is a sign of what we have to look forward to in the next four years: responsibility, intelligence, thoughtfulness, and dedication. It’s about time.

In related news, I’m finally getting to the point where I’m actually redesigning my other blog, so stay tuned for posts on the entire process of re-creating that site.

Cheers.

This doesn’t mean I’m leaving PHP in the dust – I still use it extensively at work, with no plans of stopping anytime soon – but I just have a feeling this is a language I would like to work in. Python’s syntax is similar to Ruby’s (at least at first glance), and from what I’ve read it outperforms Rails by quite a bit.

The project that I’m going to cut my Django teeth on is my wife and I’s blog: www.rustyandben.com. I talked briefly about overhauling the site a few months ago, but some other higher priority projects came up. I’m getting to the point now, however, where I can start working on it again. I’ll be re-designing and developing from scratch (obviously maintaining all data), so it makes the perfect opportunity to try out Django. I’ll be upgrading my Media Temple hosting to a virtual dedicated server so that I can have root-level access in order to install whatever software I want. This, in turn, will allow me to try out a couple other technologies I’ve been wanting to check out: SQLite (a lightweight flat-file database system) and Lighttpd (a lightweight and fast HTTP server). More on those as I assess their feasibility.

I’ll be posting about all this again soon, as I’m planning on writing a series of posts about the creation of the site.