The Joel Test Updated For Programmers

Do you have what it takes to be a good programmer? In the The Joel Test Updated For Programmers, John Sonmez covers twelve skills and concepts important for doing your job well.

  1. Can you use source control effectively?
  2. Can you solve algorithm-type problems?
  3. Can you program in more than one language or technology?
  4. Do you do something to increase your education or skills every day?
  5. Do you name things appropriately?
  6. Can you communicate your ideas effectively?
  7. Do you understand basic design patterns?
  8. Do you know how to debug effectively?
  9. Do you test your own code?
  10. Do you share your knowledge?
  11. Do you use the best tools for your job?
  12. Can you build an actual application?

via The Joel Test Updated For Programmers

Readydesk – desktop standing desks

Looking to join the standing revolution? Readydesk works with your current furniture to convert a desk or table into a standing desk.

Turn your current desk or table into a standing desk. At home or work, Readydesk is affordable, portable, lightweight and strong.  Readydesk can be adjusted to your height so that you stand in an ergonomically proper position, putting less stress on your spine. ~ Readydesk

Frito-Lay Creative Project Management App – Lift

Great example of using WordPress as a Web Application Framework: The Lift team re-worked the WordPress admin into a project management application for Frito Lay: Frito-Lay Creative Project Management App – Lift

One of the biggest tasks was re-skinning the admin. We removed all WordPress branding and converted it into a white-label, custom CMS. The front-end is redirected to the admin and requires user authentication to sign in and use the app. Once logged in, a custom logo and admin bar greet the user with a soft color palette and refreshing design. The traditional Publish metabox has been completely replaced with a custom one which factors in the custom workflow mentioned above.
~ Frito-Lay Creative Project Management App – Lift

X Theme Showcase & Example Sites – (Updated Weekly)

I’ve mentioned the WordPress X Theme on here before. It’s a WordPress theme with limitless design options and loads of potential. This past week I was browsing Theme.co‘s site and I found this nice Showcase of X Theme sites in the real world. Even better than seeing Theme.co’s demo of X is seeing it used to great effect by real bloggers and companies. My hats off to the Theme.co crew for building a very versitile theme.

From .com – .gov, check out just a sample of the thousands of X-powered sites and discover the incredible versatility of this ultimate WordPress theme. ~ X Theme Showcase

Riding Light on Vimeo

This made the rounds last week, but I’m just now sharing it here. If you haven’t seen it, this video helps you visualize the vast distances of space by giving you a “photon’s eye view” of light traveling away from the sun.

In our terrestrial view of things, the speed of light seems incredibly fast. But as soon as you view it against the vast distances of the universe, it’s unfortunately very slow. This animation illustrates, in realtime, the journey of a photon of light emitted from the surface of the sun and traveling across a portion of the solar system, from a human perspective.

I’ve taken liberties with certain things like the alignment of planets and asteroids, as well as ignoring the laws of relativity concerning what a photon actually “sees” or how time is experienced at the speed of light, but overall I’ve kept the size and distances of all the objects as accurate as possible. I also decided to end the animation just past Jupiter as I wanted to keep the running length below an hour. ~ Riding Light on Vimeo

Illustrator SVG Exporter

Exporting SVGs from Illustrator is a slow, laborious process—this script fixes that. The script doesn’t waste your time with GUI or settings you’ll never use. You just run the script, select a location to export and you have your SVGs. We love the concept behind Generator and this script takes a strong cue from it. The script exports any layer, group or path named with the .svg extension. ~ iconic/illustrator-svg-exporter

Matterhorn: Your new project manager

Matterhorn looks to be an all-in-one project management solution that you can adapt to fit your workflows.

Matterhorn is a simple-to use, lightweight project management tool that helps your team keep track of multiple people and projects at once.

It’s got checklists, boards, discussions and a planner, that all work in harmony to keep you and your team focused on what really matters. ~ Matterhorn

Online Mattress Shopping

Did you know you can buy a mattress online? Of course you did. Anyway, the wife and I are mattress shopping right now, and we’re seriously considering a couple of online options. With free shipping and 30+ night trials, getting your mattress online can make sense. Here are two options we’ve been looking at:

  • Tuft & Needle – $600 10″ thick queen, 30 night trial, free returns, 10 year warranty
  • Casper – $850 queen, 100 night trial (This episode of the 99% Invisible podcast features a Casper $50 off coupon at the end. Give it a listen!)

Forgotten Apollo moon artifacts found in Neil Armstrong’s closet – CNET

Quite a find to be hidden away in your closet:

Astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon when he traveled 240,000 miles on NASA’s Apollo 11 mission in 1969. He passed away in 2012, but left behind a legacy full of space, adventure and scientific inspiration. He also left behind a wealth of physical materials related to his travels. A purse full of rare artifacts is now in the spotlight as the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum shares details of a hidden piece of space history. ~ Forgotten Apollo moon artifacts found in Neil Armstrong’s closet – CNET