Same as last year but this year will be even bigger. Sitepoint is providing Christmas Countdown with lot of sweet offers.

Each day, from December 1 until Christmas Eve, there will be a different deal on SitePoint gear with a special surprise on the last day. Each offer will be available for only 24 hours, until the next deal is announced.

For today 02 Dec 2010 deal you will get CSS3 plus HTML5 Live Course worth $24.9 with only $9.95

And even more, with everyday’s purchase you will get:

So make sure not to miss out great deals that might attract you. Check out the Sitepoint Sales and subscribe to its daily deal newsletters.

Do you think that Cloud Services can be free? Yes, and Amazon made it true.

Beginning November 1, new AWS customers will be able to run a free Amazon EC2 Micro Instance for a year, while also leveraging a new free usage tier for Amazon S3, Amazon Elastic Block Store, Amazon Elastic Load Balancing, and AWS data transfer.

Below are the highlights of AWS’s new free usage tiers. All are available for one year (except Amazon SimpleDB, SQS, and SNS which are free indefinitely):

AWS Free Usage Tier (Per Month):

* 750 hours of Amazon EC2 Linux Micro Instance usage (613 MB of memory and 32-bit and 64-bit platform support) – enough hours to run continuously each month*

* 750 hours of an Elastic Load Balancer plus 15 GB data processing*

* 10 GB of Amazon Elastic Block Storage, plus 1 million I/Os, 1 GB of snapshot storage, 10,000 snapshot Get Requests and 1,000 snapshot Put Requests*

* 5 GB of Amazon S3 storage, 20,000 Get Requests, and 2,000 Put Requests*

* 30 GB per of internet data transfer (15 GB of data transfer “in” and 15 GB of data transfer “out” across all services except Amazon CloudFront)*

* 25 Amazon SimpleDB Machine Hours and 1 GB of Storage**

* 100,000 Requests of Amazon Simple Queue Service**

* 100,000 Requests, 100,000 HTTP notifications and 1,000 email notifications for Amazon Simple Notification Service**
In addition to these services, the AWS Management Console is available at no charge to help you build and manage your application on AWS.

Register for your AWS now.

Typography plays an important part in web design, this is a fact that every designer believes. In this post present a collection of high quality fonts. The collection is hand picked with the grading of professional, precision and usability but free for use.

Dekar

Dekar free font is applicable for any type of graphic design – web, print, motion graphics etc and perfect for t-shirts and other items like posters, logos.

Download: Dekar Font

Museo

Download: Museo homepage
MUSEO font family has five weights (100 300 500 700 900).
3 weights are absolutely free (300 500 700) and 2 are paid (100 900).

Piron

Highly legible typeface very well suited for any display and text use – web, print especially for magazines, brochures, logos, posters, flyers and motion graphics.

Download: Piron

Code: Free Font

Code free font is applicable for any type of graphic design – web, print, motion graphics etc and perfect for t-shirts and other items like posters, logos.

Description: Code free font is applicable for any type of graphic design – web, print, motion graphics etc and perfect for t-shirts and other items like posters, logos.

Download: Code Free Font
Info: Format: Opentype (.otf) Compatible: PC & Mac Details: 192 Character Set, Manual Kerning, Tracking / Pairs Price: Free

Raleway

Raleway is an elegant sans-serif typeface, designed in a single thin weight. It is a display face that features both old style and lining numerals, standard and discretionary ligatures, a pretty complete set of diacritics, as well as a stylistic alternate inspired by more geometric sans-serif typefaces than it’s neo-grotesque inspired default character set.

Download: The League Of Moveable Type

Junction

Junction is where the best qualities of serif and sans serif typefaces come together. It has the hand drawn and human qualities of a serif, and still retains the clarity and efficiencies of a sans serif typeface. It combines the best of both worlds.

Download: The League Of Moveable Type

Triskweline

Triskweline is a fixed-width font especially suited for text editors and programming environments. It was designed for maximum legibility and tidiness and supports all important symbols and Latin-1 characters.
If you’re like me and sick of staring at Courier all day long you will love Triskweline.

Download: Triskweline homepage

Luxi Sans

A very clean and legible sans-serif font that can be used for headings and body copy.

Download: Luxi Sans download (via fontsquirrel)

Crimson Text

Crimson Text is a font family for book production in the tradition of beautiful oldstyle typefaces.

Crimson Text is inspired by the fantastic work of people like Jan Tschichold, Robert Slimbach and Jonathan Hoefler. We hope that the free type community will one day be able to enjoy Crimson Text as a beautiful workhorse.

Download: aldusleaf.org

Latest Release: All six weights, OpenType format. Updated once in a while; available on SourceForge.

Acid

Acid was designed by Stephan Baum specifically to be used in logotypes and body copy. The form of glyphs is similar to the design classic B42 by Marcel Breuer (Bauhaus) and has a very geometric character. The font contains 103 glyphs, comes in six weights (regular, regular italic, medium, medium italic, bold and bold italic) and is in the process of being developed. Released under Creative Commons.

Download: Acid free font

Quadranta

Quadranta is a display font that would fit logo designs and playful headlines. Available for personal and commercial use. Designed by Darim Kim.

Download: The Tally of the Font Quadranta

League Gothic

League Gothic is a revival of an old classic, and one of our favorite typefaces, Alternate Gothic No.1. It was originally designed by Morris Fuller Benton for the American Type Founders Company (ATF) in 1903. The company went bankrupt in 1993. And since the original typeface was created before 1923, the typeface is in the public domain.

Download: The League Of Moveable Type

St Ryde Regular

St Ryde is a sans-serif, very casual typeface, that works perfect in your bodycopy within the regular weights. The whole family comes in 5 weights including the matching italics, so you can choose from thin, light, regular, medium and bold. Regular is available for free download. St Ryde has a wide range of characters, including small caps, lining, proportional and tabular figures plus small caps figures, too. Designed by Sascha Timplan. Available in OpenType format.

Download: myfonts.com (Reg. required)

Prociono

“Prociono” (pro-tsee-O-no) is an Esperanto word meaning either the star Procyon or the animal species known as the raccoon. It is a roman with blackletter elements.

Download: The League Of Moveable Type

Ripe

A Geometric Postmodern slab seriffed face. The serifs feature simplistic rounded terminals and its stroke is uniform.

Ripe was designed to be a practical typeface. Each character is distinct, yet consistent. Its subtle differences are clear enough to be easily read at both high and low resolutions, perfect for print, web and screen media.

Download: ripetype.com.au

St Marie

St Marie Thin is a preview for the upcoming release of a new typefamily, but this time i want to go further with that freefont-thing. There will be one normal Open-Type-Font and an optimzed Webfont, so you can design online and offline with a hiqh quality freefont from Stereotypes.

Download: Behance Network

Kilogram

Very bold typeface for print designs.

Download: Behance Network

Franchise

Franchise is a powerful new display typeface meant to communicate your message quickly and with power. The characters were meticulously drawn to achieve a unifomity without compromising style. Franchise is just as much at home on the front of a donut shoppe as it is on the scoreboard at a football stadium.

Download: derekweathersbee.com

Want to play with the new Windows Phone platform? Read this free ebook with 24 chapters, about 1,000 pages written by Charles Petzold.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Part I The Basics

1 Hello, Windows Phone 7

- Targeting Windows Phone 7

- The Hardware Chassis

- Sensors and Services

- File | New | Project

- A First Silverlight Phone Program

- The Standard Silverlight Files

- Color Themes

- Points and Pixels

- The XAP is a ZIP

- An XNA Program for the Phone

2 Getting Oriented

- Silverlight and Dynamic Layout

- Orientation Events

- XNA Orientation

- Simple Clocks (Very Simple Clocks)

3 An Introduction to Touch

- Low-Level Touch Handling in XNA

- The XNA Gesture Interface

- Low-Level Touch Events in Silverlight

- The Manipulation Events

- Routed Events

- Some Odd Behavior?

4 Bitmaps, Also Known as Textures

- XNA Texture Drawing

- The Silverlight Image Element

- Images Via the Web

- Image and ImageSource

- Loading Local Bitmaps from Code

- Capturing from the Camera

- The Phone’s Photo Library

5 Sensors and Services

- Accelerometer

- A Simple Bubble Level

- Geographic Location

- Using a Map Service

6 Issues in Application Architecture

- Basic Navigation

- Passing Data to Pages

- Sharing Data Among Pages

- Retaining Data across Instances

- The Multitasking Ideal

- Task Switching on the Phone

- Page State

- Isolated Storage

- XNA Tombstoning and Settings

- Testing and Experimentation

Part II Silverlight

7 XAML Power and Limitations

- A TextBlock in Code

- Property Inheritance

- Property-Element Syntax

- Colors and Brushes

- Content and Content Properties

- The Resources Collection

- Sharing Brushes

- x:Key and x:Name

- An Introduction to Styles

- Style Inheritance

- Themes

- Gradient Accents

8 Elements and Properties

- Basic Shapes

- Transforms

- Animating at the Speed of Video

- Handling Manipulation Events

- The Border Element

- TextBlock Properties and Inlines

- More on Images

- Playing Movies

- Modes of Opacity

- Non-Tiled Tile Brushes

9 The Intricacies of Layout

- The Single-Cell Grid

- The StackPanel Stack

- Text Concatenation with StackPanel

- Nested Panels

- Visibility and Layout

- Two ScrollViewer Applications

- The Mechanism of Layout

- Inside the Panel

- A Single-Cell Grid Clone

- A Custom Vertical StackPanel

- The Retro Canvas

- Canvas and ZIndex

- The Canvas and Touch

- The Mighty Grid

10 The App Bar and Controls

- ApplicationBar Icons

- Jot and Application Settings

- Jot and Touch

- Jot and the ApplicationBar

- Elements and Controls

- RangeBase and Slider

- The Basic Button

- The Concept of Content

- Theme Styles and Precedence

- The Button Hierarchy

- Toggling a Stopwatch

- Buttons and Styles

- TextBox and Keyboard Input

11 Dependency Properties

- The Problem Illustrated

- The Dependency Property Difference

- Deriving from UserControl

- A New Type of Toggle

- Panels with Properties

- Attached Properties

12 Data Bindings

- Source and Target

- Target and Mode

- Binding Converters

- Relative Source

- The “this” Source

- Notification Mechanisms

- A Simple Binding Server

- Setting the DataContext

- Simple Decision Making

- Converters with Properties

- Give and Take

- TextBox Binding Updates

13 Vector Graphics

- The Shapes Library

- Canvas and Grid

- Overlapping and ZIndex

- Polylines and Custom Curves

- Caps, Joins, and Dashes

- Polygon and Fill

- The Stretch Property

- Dynamic Polygons

- The Path Element

- Geometries and Transforms

- Grouping Geometries

- The Versatile PathGeometry

- The ArcSegment

- Bézier Curves

- The Path Markup Syntax

- How This Chapter Was Created

14 Raster Graphics

- The Bitmap Class Hierarchy

- WriteableBitmap and UIElement

- The Pixel Bits

- Vector Graphics on a Bitmap

- Images and Tombstoning

- Saving to the Picture Library

- Becoming a Photo Extras Application

15 Animations

- Frame-Based vs. Time-Based

- Animation Targets

- Click and Spin

- Some Variations

- XAML-Based Animations

- A Cautionary Tale

- Key Frame Animations

- Trigger on Loaded

- Animating Attached Properties (or Not)

- Splines and Key Frames

- The Bouncing Ball Problem

- The Easing Functions

- Animating Perspective Transforms

- Animations and Property Precedence

16 The Two Templates

- ContentControl and DataTemplate

- Examining the Visual Tree

- ControlTemplate Basics

- The Visual State Manager

- Sharing and Reusing Styles and Templates

- Custom Controls in a Library

- Variations on the Slider

- The Ever-Handy Thumb

- Custom Controls

17 Items Controls

- Items Controls and Visual Trees

- Customizing Item Displays

- ListBox Selection

- Binding to ItemsSource

- Databases and Business Objects

- Fun with DataTemplates

- Sorting

- Changing the Panel

- The DataTemplate Bar Chart

- A Card File Metaphor

18 Pivot and Panorama

- Compare and Contrast

- Music by Composer

- The XNA Connection

- The XNA Music Classes: MediaLibrary

- Displaying the Albums

- The XNA Music Classes: MediaPlayer

Part III XNA

19 Principles of Movement

- The Naïve Approach

- A Brief Review of Vectors

- Moving Sprites with Vectors

- Working with Parametric Equations

- Fiddling with the Transfer Function

- Scaling the Text

- Two Text Rotation Programs

20 Textures and Sprites

- The Draw Variants

- Another Hello Program?

- Driving Around the Block

- Movement Along a Polyline

- The Elliptical Course

- A Generalized Curve Solution

21 Dynamic Textures

- The Render Target

- Preserving Render Target Contents

- Drawing Lines

- Manipulating the Pixel Bits

- The Geometry of Line Drawing

- Modifying Existing Images

22 From Gestures to Transforms

- Gestures and Properties

- Scale and Rotate

- Matrix Transforms

- The Pinch Gesture

- Flick and Inertia

- The Mandelbrot Set

- Pan and Zoom

- Game Components

- Affine and Non-Affine Transforms

23 Touch and Play

- More Game Components

- The PhingerPaint Canvas

- A Little Tour Through SpinPaint

- The SpinPaint Code

- The Actual Drawing

- PhreeCell and a Deck of Cards

- The Playing Field

- Play and Replay

24 Tilt and Play

- 3D Vectors

- A Better Bubble Visualization

- The Graphical Rendition

- Follow the Rolling Ball

- Navigating a Maze

You can download a PDF here (38.6 MB).

And you can download the ebook’s sample code here (5.03 MB).

Cheat Sheet in programming is collection of codes, commands that would help us get the job done quicker by referencing to the appropriate documentation. While there are massive number of Cheat Sheets available online, most of them are inaccurate and out of date. This is a collection of Cheat Sheets which I found well made, precise and good for use.

Note: I will update and refine this collection gradually, so you should visit this post again or bookmark it.

Web Design Cheat Sheets Collection

HTML

- Go Squared’s HTML Help Sheet: PDF

- AddedBytes HTML Cheat Sheets: PDF | PNG

- Elizabeth Castro Online (x)HTML Cheat Sheet: View Online

- HTML5 Canvas Cheat Sheet: PDF | PNG

- Smashing Magazine HTML5 Cheat Sheet: PDF | GIF

- HTML Character Entities Cheat Sheet: PDF | PNG

CSS

- Veign’s CSS 2 Quick Reference Guide: PDF

- Leslie Franke’s handy CSS Cheat Sheet: View Online

- Smashing Magazine CSS 3 Cheat Sheet: PDF | GIF

JavaScript, AJAX, jQuery, MooTools, Prototype, Scriptaculous, YUI, Blue Print CSS

- AddedBytes JavaScript Cheat Sheet: PDF | PNG

- Addison Wesley’s JavaScript Reference Card: PDF

- What’s AJAX Cheat Sheet: PDF

- Impulse Studios’s jQuery 1.4 Cheat Sheet: PDF

- jQuery 1.4.2 Visual Cheat Sheet: PDF

- MooTools 1.2 Cheat Sheet: PDF

- MooTools R.83 Cheat Sheet: PDF | PNG

- Dojo 1.5 Base API Cheat Sheet: View Online

- Snook’s Prototype 1.5.0 CheatSheet: PDF

- Prototype 1.6.0.2 Cheat Sheet: PDF

- Scriptaculous Cheat Sheets: PDF

- YUI 2.7 Cheat Sheet: ZIP

- YUI 2.8 Grid CSS: PDF

- Blue Print CSS: PDF

Photoshop

- Photoshop CS2 Keyboard Shortcuts PDF: (Windows) (Mac)

Programming Cheat Sheets Collection

PHP

- PHP Cheat Sheet: View Online
- AddedBytes PHP Cheat Sheet V2: PDF | PNG
- PHP Quick Reference: View Online

Python

- AddedBytes Python Cheat Sheet: PDF | PNG

- A Python Quick Reference: View Online

Ruby

- Ruby Cheat Sheet: PDF | PNG (page1) | PNG (page2)

- Ruby Quick Reference: View Online

- Ruby Reference for Beginner: PDF

ASP.NET

- Microsoft ASP.NET AJAX Client Life Cycle Events: PDF

Design Pattern

- Quick Reference by Jason S. McDonald: PDF

Git

- Official Git Cheat Sheet: View Online | PDF | PNG

Web Frameworks Cheat Sheets Collection

CodeIgniter

- Official CodeIgniter Quick Reference Chart: PDF | View Online

- Design Fellow CodeIgniter 1.7.1 Cheat Sheets: ZIP (with parameters) | ZIP (without parameters)

Django

- Mercurytide’s Django 1.0 Cheat Sheet: Colored PDF | Grayscale PDF

- Online Django Cheat Sheet: Contains basics Django commands: View Online

- Django Reference Sheet: PDF

Ruby On Rails

- AddedBytes Ruby On Rails Cheat Sheet: PDF | PNG
- A very comprehensive Ruby On Rails cheat sheet by Blaine Kendall: PDF

CMS Cheat Sheets Collection

WordPress

- tekka.de SEO Cheat Sheet For WordPress: PDF

Drupal

- Drupal 6 Theming Cheat Sheet: PDF

- Drupal 6 API Cheat Sheet: PDF

- Smashing Magazine Drupal Cheat Sheet Desktop Wallpaper: View and download online

Joomla

- DB8 Quick Reference Guide 1.5: PDF

- Joomla For Dummies Cheat Sheet: View Online

- Minimal Joomla Cheat Sheet: View Online

- Joomla 1.5 Templating Cheat Sheet: View Online

Other Cheat Sheet Collections

- Dzone’s RefCardz More than 100 high quality Cheat Sheets for developers made by well-known book authors . (you’ll need to register a free account)

- cheat-sheets.org: A huge collection of Cheat Sheets.

What are the other Cheat Sheet that you think should be on this list? State it on the comment section and I will add them to the list if fit.

Over $250 worth of themes and plugins for just $30. Grab the pack now before it expires!

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- A killer premium WordPress themes
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- Premium plugins
- A psd template
- A premium WP theming tutorial
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How Google rates links from sites like Twitter and Facebook.

How Google finds your content and decides what to display.

This book is free to download till end of October (normally costs $10) so be sure to grab your free copy before it expires.

Download here (you will need to register a free account)

In this 104 pages ebook you will learn from A to Z about how to work with Git – a new fast and efficient Version Control System. Git will help you to collaborate better with your mate in software and website development.

Getting Good with Git

What’s Inside?

Chapter 1: Introduction to Git

1. What is Git? 7
2. Why Should I Use a Version Control System? 9
3. Where did Git Come From? 10
4. Why Not Use Another Source Code Manager? 10
5. Summary, 11

Chapter 2: Commands

1. A Warning, 14
2. Another Warning, 14
3. Opening the Command Line, 15
4. What You’re Looking At, 16
5. Commands, 17
6. Advanced Command Line Skills, 24
7. Summary, 25

Chapter 3: Configuration

1. Installing Git, 28
2. Configuring Git, 33
3. Using Git, 34
4. Referencing Commits: Git Treeishes, 51
5. Summary, 52

Chapter 4: Beyond the Basics

1. Git Add Revisited, 55
2. Git Commit Revisited, 65
3. Git Reset, 66
4. Git Checkout Revisited, 67
5. Git Diff, 68
6. Git Stash, 70
7. Working with Remote Repositories, 71
8. Git Rebase, 78
9. Summary, 81

Chapter 5: GitHub

1. What is GitHub? 84
2. Signing Up, 84
3. Tour of the Tools, 87
4. Creating a GitHub Repository, 92
5. Forking a Repository, 96
6. Summary, 101

Appendix A: More Git Resources, 102

Appendix B: Git GUIS , 104

Download here (you will need to register a free account)

Google’s advice on why and how to create good Meta Tags.