links for 2007-08-17

You can’t buy talent, but you can try.

After working on several large scale PHP projects, and writing a lot of PHP code, I’ve discovered a number of tools that improve code quality, streamline rollouts, and generally make life as a PHP developer a whole lot easier. Many of these tools probab

National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaki

Every author I know gets asked the same question: How do you write a book?.

It’s a simple question, but it causes unexpected problems. On the one hand, it’s nice to have people interested in something I do. If I told people I fixed toasters for a l

A recent column on Zdnet, by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, discussed the reasons why people won’t change from a retail operating system to a free one. The implication is that Linux can’t even give away their software. That sounds pretty dire. Windows retails fo

Today I arrived on the Death Star to take command. It’s incredible. It has everything you need to take over the universe. Reactor Cores. Trash Compactors. Prison Cells. Fighter Bays. Even a Day Care Center. I swear the hydrolics in the doors need to be le

Whether you know it or not, that compact disc you just copied to your MP3 player is only partially there. With the CD on its way out and computer files taking over as the primary means of hearing recorded music, the artificial audio of MP3s is quickly bec

Wizards of the Coast is announcing at GenCon today that it will release the 4th Edition of its category-leading Dungeons and Dragon roleplaying game in 2008, the first full new edition in eight years. The three core books will be released next summer on

4E: What we know – updated!

Combine the dynamic, visually rich experience of a video game with the fun and intense social interaction of a face-to-face, pen and paper game.