Llamatrax

Today I had lunch with a former Ericsson associate busy forming his own company, Softmaxx. The team at Softmaxx has created a middleware package streamlining wireless communications between embedded machines and application servers. If you are looking to simplify wireless communications, then be sure to check out Softmaxx.For more information, visit the Softmaxx website.

Programmers whose skills have stagnated often ask us what technologies or tools they should learn. My approach has always been that a programmer can learn a new tool if they have a solid programming foundation – but deciding which tool can be challenging. Yesterday’s programmers would envy the high-quality, free tools that commercial and open source communities deliver today. Step #1 is finding the right tool.Programming Environments
Eclipse www.eclipse.org, www.eclipse.org/downloads
Netbeans www.netbeans.org, www.netbeans.org/downloads/index.html
Cygwin www.cygwin.com
Sun Studio developers.sun.com/prodtech/cc/downloads/index.jsp

Databases
PostgreSQL www.postgresql.org, www.postgresql.org/ftp/binary/v8.1.4
MySql www.mysql.com, dev.mysql.com
Oracle www.oracle.com, www.oracle.com/technology/software/products/database/oracle10g/index.html

Java Language
Java java.sun.com, developers.sun.com/resources/downloads.html
Apache www.apache.org
JBoss Application Server www.jboss.com, labs.jboss.com/portal/jbossas/download
Tomcat Servlet Engine tomcat.apache.org/index.html

Bundles/Operating Systems
WAMP (Windows, Apache, MySql, PHP) www.wampserver.com/en
Linux Live CDs www.frozentech.com/content/livecd.php
Mandriva Linux www.mandriva.com/en/download
RedHat Fedora Linux www.redhat.com/fedora
Solaris www.sun.com/software/solaris/get.jsp

Other Tools
Vim (a VI clone) www.vim.org, www.vim.org/download.php
Emacs www.gnu.org/software/emacs

Web References
HTML www.w3schools.com/html/default.asp
CSS www.w3schools.com/css/default.asp
JavaScript www.w3schools.com/js/default.asp
PHP www.php.net

With more and more people using flat panel displays, it might be useful to try Microsoft’s ClearType technology. An option in Windows XP, ClearType font enhancement technology is intended to enhance the readability of text on LCD devices like your laptop or flat panel monitor. According to results from the University of Texas, people selected ClearType text 80% of the time. Also, when completing everyday office tasks, participants read from a computer screen 30 seconds faster.If you have Windows XP, you can turn ClearType on…

1. Right-click on your Desktop and select Properties
2. Click the Appearance tab
3. Click the Effects button
4. Click the checkbox by Use the following method to smooth edges of font screens
5. Select ClearType from the drop down box
6. Click OK

Note: this option should only be enabled if you are using an LCD display – and of course, your mileage may vary.

Happy New Year!

One of the greatest poets, T.S. Eliot said…

“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language and next year’s words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning.”

2006 is starting off well for Llamawerx. In December, we picked up a few clients we had been engaging for awhile. We landed some new website development, a website/database redesign for a professional association, and a consulting agreement covering IT project management/software integration with a transportation company in Kansas. Each of these is a welcome addition to our business.

We continue to purse JetsetJr.com and Cryotrax too. We’re finalizing our initial release of Cryotrax Researcher Edition and are looking for early adopters – so, if you know of someone who might be interested, please send them our way.

So here’s Llamawerx wishing you the best in 2006!

I recently found out that website age can improve your page ranking. As you know, most people go straight to google or yahoo when they’re looking for something. There is a whole branch of online marketing known as search engine optimization or SEO. SEO uses techniques such as keyword optimization and link exchange in order to make your site more relevant to search engines. Google even has a term for this, the google page rank. There is one factor that can’t easily be optimized: the age of the site. It appears that other factors being equal, older more established sites rank slightly better and thus draw more traffic. Don’t think your ranking is important? How many times to you click on the 1^st entry? The 2^nd? How often do you go beyond the 1^st page?Of course, website age is no substitute for good, relevant content. But, procrastination doesn’t help your page ranking either.