2011 has been a transformative year for Streamhead. Due to some major work and planning behind the scenes, I haven’t been able to post as much as I would have liked. But all this hard work is about to pay off and you, my dear reader, will enjoy the fruits of it. In 2012, I plan to double down on in-depth articles, tutorials and case studies. All practical hands-on information. Read on for a review of 2011 and my goals for 2012.

Before I start making plans, it’s good to look back at the goals I had a year ago. In 2011, I finally managed to focus on just a few projects and not be so random, which is why I don’t score too good on the goals I set for myself:

1. HTML5, CSS3, etc.: I wanted to learn new enabling technologies for the web. And, in a way, I did, but not like I imagined. I learned PHP and got into the WordPress plugin business (a post on that is forthcoming). I also used Node.js to launch my latest personal project and I’m glad I did.
2. Mobile: Sadly, I wasn’t able to create anything worth showing on the mobile front. Apart from some very small experiments, I got nowhere.
3. Online Marketing: For the last few months I’ve had an Adwords campaign running. It’s been slow learning, but I am getting better at finding keywords and convincing Google my ads are relevant. And I managed to get a site to position 7 in Google for my target keywords in about a month. Nothing major, but I’m pretty happy with this evolution. I haven’t written about any of this, because I feel I got very little to add to the discussion at the moment. That might change, though.
4. Game Modding: A big zero on this one. I launched two small experiments early in the year. There was little interest and I wasn’t convinced myself, so I didn’t promote anything. I did manage to pull of a half-assed ticket to ride clone, which convinced me I shouldn’t invest further in ActionScript. Adobe killing of Flash has only strengthened that opinion.

What you haven’t seen is my search for a sustainable business model for Streamhead and my other projects. Making money with a blog is, for all intents and purposes, impossible. Unless you want to churn out a few long-form articles a day, like Tuts+ (A great resource BTW), you can’t live of of advertising or ebook sales. Furthermore, I realized a full-time writing gig is not my thing. I want to be in the trenches, developing, not writing about developing.

Plans for 2012

Most developers tend to stay away from sites like elance. I did discover that there is good work out there, with good clients that want to pay for quality. And the further my reputation improves, the easier it is to find that work. It’s very easy to phase in and out small projects as time permits.

There is a lot of work out there in the widest possible range of technologies, but it is most profitable to stay focused on just a few. Which is a major pain point for me, so in 2012 I intend to focus on a few core technologies.

Currently, I’m trying to limit my programming languages to Java, JavaScript and PHP. I might try out something related (Groovy, Clojure, Coffeescript), but I’m going to try to not stray too far from the path.

Java

Although there are now other cheap options, I still like the AppEngine platform for Java web application deployment. Libraries, such as Vaadin, are what keep the platform young. However, I do feel that there’s going to be a turning point soon when one of the other JVM languages really goes mainstream. It’s probably not going to be Clojure, maybe Scala?

I also still have that Android in Action book I want to go through.

PHP

PHP is a great source of small project work. It’s an interesting language I will continue to use. However, I am going to narrow it down to WordPress development and possibly a few other applications.

JavaScript

Like it or not, JavaScript is the language of the future. It’s everywhere and there’s no reason why it would go away. And now it has also invaded the server side. I was pleasantly surprised with Node.JS. It’s a very robust programming module that is going to stay in my tool-belt. On the client side, I do hope to get some game programming in and maybe some cross-platform mobile programming.

Non-technical

Of course, 2012 isn’t going to be just programming. I will continue with my Internet marketing efforts and if I feel it’s worth sharing, you’ll be the first to know.

Conclusion

I value input. Do you have a great topic you want me to write about? A question you can’t find the answer to? Get in touch with me and I’ll make it happen in 2012.

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Shared web hosting is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, you get an extremely affordable website, on the other hand, most providers try to host an incredible amount of sites on one server so they struggle to make true on their promises of unlimited bandwidth and other resources. If you’ve visited the site during the last weeks, you might have noticed that Streamhead is struggling too.

Very long loading times seemed to indicate database problems, but after some back-and-forth with the web hosting helpdesk, it turns out I’m being throttled due to too heavy load on the server. I don’t hold a grudge against Lunarpages at all, I’m still happy with their support and hosting. It’s just that an increased number of visitors is pushing the shared hosting plan to its limits.

I’ve now taken a number of precautions to hopefully stay a little longer on my current hosting plan until I figure out a way to earn some money for better hosting. Donations and consulting work are always welcomed, btw

Here’s what I did.

Caching

This is the single most important step you absolutely have to take if you are running WordPress. Install either WP Super Cache or W3 Total Cache. It doesn’t matter too much which one you take. Their features are very comparable.

I was already running WP Super Cache, but I’ve tweaked the settings a little. I’m now using “mod_rewrite” based caching (in the advanced options), which means there’s no need at all to invoke any php script for cached pages. I have also increased the cache expiry time so pages stay in the cache for a day (unless they are updated of course)

Plugin Tweaking

Chances are good that you have a big number of plugins installed. If you have performance issues, take a very good look at the list and try to remove as many plugins as possible. Also experiment to figure out if any one plugin is causing excessive load.

The “top posts” plugin is currently disabled to see how the resource usage changes.

Database Optimizing

The WordPress database tends to get cluttered after some time with old post revisions and other unused data. Sadly, it appears WordPress does not, by default, offer tools to solve this.

Luckily, there’s the WP-Optimize plugin which allows you to clear out unnecessary data. With the plugin, I was able to clean up 2/3 of my database. I had collected over 2000 old post revisions over the years.

The plugin also offers an option to optimize the MySQL database. You can do this just as well via phpMyAdmin, but it’s easy to have the option in your WordPress admin interface.

Further Optimization

If that still isn’t enough, the WordPress site offers a number of additional useful tips that will allow you to reduce the load on your site even more. They’re a bit more advanced, but might be worth your while.

If you have more tips, feel free to share them in the comments.

The end of the year is not only a time to look back, but also forward. Read on for what’s in store for Streamhead. It’s going to be a great year, so make sure you don’t miss a post. If you become a Facebook fan, you not only get the latest posts, but also a bunch of supremely interesting links. Or if you prefer to receive the posts by mail, use the field just below this post. And of course, there’s always the feed to bend Streamhead to your every wish.

But enough about that, let’s get to the plans.

In general, I’m pretty happy with the more technical direction Streamhead took. I plan to continue in the same direction, and would like to revisit a few older posts in this new light. So you can expect more code samples, more experiments and more tutorials, combined with the latest and most interesting news and articles.

HTML5, CSS3 and co

Oh yes, you can expect lots more web 2.0 posts (or are we at v3 already?). JavaScript will definitely return into the picture and probably a good deal of ActionScript. As always I’ll be on the lookout for new maturing technology both on client and server.

I personally really liked my latest post on the Io language in this regard. I hope to write more like those.

Mobile

photo credit: Joe Wilcox

There’s no escaping. Mobile devices are here and they are here to stay. While I have done some very small experiments with Android and mobile websites, next year is the year I’m really investing time in applications for the small screen. And you’ll be in the front row seat.

Online Marketing

Don’t worry, this blog isn’t going to turn into a get-rich-quick scheme. With the launch and ongoing development of my own web application, I did notice I’m missing some important knowledge. I’m thinking of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), traffic analysis, conversion tracking, etc. for normal people.

Game Modding

photo credit: cmax

You might have noticed by my frequent posts on gaming, I love to play a game from time to time. Back in the days I enjoyed adapting the game and its mechanics. Known as modding. It’s a great way to learn a wide range of different disciplines. 3D, artificial intelligence, new languages, etc. So I’d like to get back into that. We’ll see how that goes.

Have a great 2011!

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Two weeks ago, Streamhead turned 3. Combined with the years end, it seems like a great idea to look back and reflect on why you might want to write your own blog and how you can enjoy the process in the long run. Because if you don’t, you’re probably not going to last a long time. So in this post I present 9 guidelines that help me keep going.

3 years ago I published my first test post to get this blog going. Initially it was supposed to be more of a gadget blog (and how to hack them), but I followed my passion and it’s now much more focused on programming, web development and multimedia. I still follow the Make: blog religiously, so there still might be some gadget hacking in this blog’s future. I’m not promising anything though

Over those 3 years and the blogs and experiments before Streamhead. I’ve sort of refined my reasons for blogging and the ways I can keep continuing. Although it’s always somewhere in the back of my head, it is certainly not about the money. The Internet is full of sites trying to convince you that it is possible to make a viable career out of blogging. They are probably right, but I don’t know how much the enjoyment factor is when it’s your primary goal.

If you’re primary focus is not money, the rules change a lot. The reason’s why you might investigate “sales funnels”, SEO, and Internet marketing in general are different. And most of all the type of pressure you experience is entirely different.

These are the guidelines that have helped me throughout the years.

1. Have an audience

2. Pick a topic

3. Don’t create 100 blogs

4. Take it slow

5. Don’t do the same work twice

6. Pick a popular and widely used blogging platform

7. Stick to a schedule

8. Listen to other people’s advice

9. Don’t listen to other people’s advice

Conclusion

I’d like to conclude with the words of Merlin Mann, a great blogger:
Find your obsession.
Every day, explain it to one person you respect.
Edit everything, skip shortcuts, and try not to be a dick.
Get better.
(from his talk at IzeaFest)
Keep on blogging in 2011.

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“The joy of coding Python should be in seeing short, concise, readable classes that express a lot of action in a small amount of clear code — not in reams of trivial code that bores the reader to death.” – Guido Van Rossum

Last summer, I read the second edition of “Programming in Python 3″ and wrote a book review for DZone. Unbeknownst to me, the review has been on the Book Zone for a while, so I thought it about time to mention it. Sadly I haven’t been able to program as much Python as I would have liked, but when I do, I still use the book and still stand behind my initial review.

Python as a language has always intrigued me. It is one of the few languages where white space is actually important. It’s a bold choice, not without merit and certainly not without its opponents. And that fact alone got my attention.

So when DZone’s Book Zone offered me a chance to review the book, I rose to the occasion. And really enjoyed it. I’m not going to republish my review, you should go and check it out.

Suffice to say it’s a great book to start with Python if you’re already fairly experienced in pretty much any other language.

6 months later, I’m ashamed to admit, I haven’t really grown out of the “toy project” category yet. There are many reasons, but most importantly, it does take some real effort to get to know a new language. I plan to push myself a little more in this regard. Of course, you’ll be able to follow along on the blog.

My review of Programming in Python 3.

If you want to host some open source code, there are many many options. Going from the grand-daddy of all open source repositories SourceForge to some more unknown, like Assembla. But one host that has seen extreme growth over the last few years is undoubtedly GitHub. It’s built on the Git system, which makes it incredibly easy to cooperate and exchange ideas in code. No longer is there a need to have dedicated teams working on a project. It’s all ad-hoc and social.

One of the suggestions I get a lot (and I love your comments and suggestions!), is to provide more complete code for some of the tutorials/samples I give. I usually only show small parts of a larger solution and let the other stuff as “an exercise to the reader”. Understandably, this doesn’t always communicate my solution very clearly. Some people just like to browse through existing code.

And you know, they are right. So, in the future, I’m going to try to provide some complete code. And I’m also going through some of my older, but popular, posts to enhance them with a clear code sample.

I choose GitHub for two reasons, first because it is something popular I’d like to get to know it and secondly because the way Git seems to handle branching and cooperation sounds really great (and I’d like to try that too).

I  used a few sources to get started:

• The refcard on Git is an easy way to get quickly up to speed with Git. There’s an explanation of how it works and also a description of the two workflows you’ll most likely encounter when working with Git.
• There are many tutorials out there to convert you from Subversion, which is probably something almost any developer is familiar with by now.
• And finally GitHub itself has a treasure trove of guides available on anything you’ll need.

After a little configuration, I’m now all set to create my first GitHub project. Coming soon (I already have my first badge).

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If you’ve been keeping up with the blog via your browser, this post is for you. There are many other and sometimes betters ways that you might not know about. And those ways don’t just work for this blog, you can use them pretty much on any site and reduce the time it takes you to browse through your favorite sites.

If you’ve never heard about RSS, or have always thought it’s something technical, not for you. Now is the time to change that. RSS is basically a newspaper of all the blogs you like, delivered to your door, every day.

There are many programs that support RSS. For instance, I like Google Reader because it’s online and always available. You can add subscriptions to websites you like to visit frequently. From that point on, updates to the site will automatically appear in Google Reader, right next to all the other sites you like. No need to open 100 bookmarks, it’s all in one place.

If you open the Streamhead RSS feed, you’ll get a lot of other options. Another example: I really like NetNewsWire on my iPod Touch. It allows me to quickly catch up to the latest news, wherever I am.

I’m going to be honest, it takes a little getting used to, to follow your sites outside of their homepage, but it allows for a lot more flexibility.

But sometimes, you like something simpler without the need to set up a new account or install programs. That’s when an e-mail subscription might be perfect for you. Many sites, such as this one, offer e-mail lists with the latest news and sometimes a little extra. If you like, you can set up a filter in your e-mail program of choice to keep your inbox from flooding.

The Streamhead e-mail signup is located to your right, just under the search and category box. Just fill your e-mail address in the box and you’ll automatically start receiving the latest news every week, straight to your inbox. Give it a try, if you don’t like it, it’s really easy to unsubscribe.

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Those following me on Twitter (hey, why aren’t you?) might have noticed an upswing in my Twitter usage lately. For the most part, this can be attributed to Mixero, a fairly new Twitter client. I hear you thinking the world isn’t big enough for yet another Twitter client, but this one has a few options that you might want to try out.

Flexible and intuitive group and context management are just the starters.

For me the most important feature is the way Mixero arranges Twitter contacts. The principle element is the “active list”. People or groups can be added to this list which is central in the interface. From there you can quickly access the tweets of the list or tweets from specific people/groups in your active lists.

Using contexts, you can manage multiple active lists and quickly switch between those. The concept has been thought through to the end, which results in a very usable and intuitive program. Even searches are integrated into the active list.

If you’re a procrastinator and want to be distracted all the time, Mixero has an “avatars mode” which reduces the interface to the avatar images overlaid on top of your other programs. It looks good and looks useful, but it’s way too distracting for me, I can’t get any work done with this mode turned on.

A few things that would improve this already great program:

• Keyboard shortcuts. Any program can benefit from well thought out keyboard shortcuts.
• A possibility to mark individual tweets as read. I understand you’re supposed to work with “lists” as a work unit, but from time to time I like to open up my “master” list and just scroll through it. It would be nice if I can mark the messages I read.
• Maybe it already exists, but locking an active context would be nice. Now if you click on a contact, it’s automatically added to your active list. This is both good and bad, so a way to lock the list might only leave the good stuff.

Mixero also has an iPhone client, which I haven’t tried yet, but it too looks just as user friendly. And important, it synchronizes states between the desktop and mobile client.

There you have it, my new favorite Twitter client.

During June 2010, 2 months from now, Streamhead will be on location, road-tripping through the Western part of the United States. The plans haven’t finalized yet, but that’s where I need some input. Inside the post, I’ve added a map with some of the locations that we might visit. I’d love to get some suggestions by insiders, little places that aren’t in any of the guides. Stuff like that. And most of all, I’d love to meet up.

Before I continue, let me show you our current travel ideas. We will focus on 4 major areas: Las Vegas, Grand Canyon and the parks around it; Yellowstone; Portland, Oregon and San Francisco. Here are some points of interest (use the little square icon in the top right for full screen goodness):

[umap id="60153" tp="6" size="m" alignment="center"]

During the trip me and the misses would love to meet up with anyone who’s in the neighborhood. Locals and tourists alike, we’d love to hang out. Have a beer, enjoy the scenery. Talk Java and Flash, but also traveling, social security and surfing. Anything really. For privacy ans security concerns (for both you and me, you never know on the ‘net), I’m only going to share detailed dates and places with people interested in meeting up.

For your enjoyment, here’s a special little form, that you may fill at your leisure if you feel like meeting up.

cforms contact form by delicious:days

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In a little detour from my usual posts, I present you a small tutorial on fixing a broken CD player. Actually, the post only goes into cleaning the player’s lens, which is the number one most common reason why a CD player will mallfunction. It’s a very basic repair, so don’t expect any complicated electro howto. It is however not something most people will easily do, because in most cases you’ll have to void your warranty. So only try this if your only other option is going to a repair guy.

I dabble a bit in hardware do-it-yourself from time to time, especially if it involves old-ish quality equipment that I really don’t want to replace. Many devices are created to only last a few years, which is really too bad. They usually fail in pretty straightforward ways (broken joystick on phones, lenses or driver belts on many CD/DVD players) but are very expensive to get repaired. Probably because the companies prefer that you just buy a new one. We can’t let them get away with that, now can we.

I’ll be showing you the innards of the Pioneer XC-L7, which is a mini system from about 15 years ago. It’s also one of the most beautiful and affordable systems released by Pioneer. The image above really doesn’t do it justics, but I couldn’t find any of the promo shots. The disadvantage of a mini system is that there’ll be a lot less room to work with, so there are probably more components to remove before you get to the lens.

This repair is for CD players that are mechanically still functioning (the tray works, CD spins), but have serious skipping issues with most of the CD’s you try. If some are still working, that’s actually a good sign for this kind of repair. There’s really not much equipment you’ll need:

• A set of screwdrivers. For most systems a Philips screwdriver will suffice, but for smaller systems (especially portable ones) you might need more specialized tools.
• If possible, a small plastic screwdriver to pry open cases and connectors. I used a flat metal screwdriver, but I would have felt safer with something plastic.
• Things to clean lenses: I uses a combination of eyeglasses cleaning tissue and cotton swaps. Don’t use any cleaning fluids not designed for lenses or glasses, you’ll only make things worse by damaging the lens or the coatings on the lens.
• A lot of patience. Really, a lot.
• A test CD, one that doesn’t play correct in the CD player, but that is not damaged (try it on your PC or another player)

Opening the case

Things to look for:

• Disconnect everything, especially the power cord!
• Take your time, and try to index all the screws you remove. They all look alike, but there are differences that you might only notice when reassembling.
• Look for arrows, they usually point to the screws you need to loosen to open stuff.
• Make sure you don’t break plastic covers that click into place.
• This really should be the easiest step. If you don’t feel comfortable doing this, you probably aren’t going to like what’s next.

Removing obstructions

This is where it gets interesting. To reach the lens of the CD drive, there was a large (probably the main) circuit board blocking my path.

• Again I used the arrows to find the screws that needed to be removed. This time, they also had letters next to them so that I couldn’t miss any.
• However, I did miss 2 at first. The board had 2 connectors on the back of the device that were also fastened with a screw.
• Once you think all screws are removed, carefully look around and try to figure out all the wires and connectors going into the board.
• Now’s not the time to hurry, because you certainly don’t want to break any connections, this will be almost impossible to repair (unless you have a soldering iron and replacements handy)
• Take your time and disconnect everything, remember (or write down) where everything goes.

At this point I got my first glimpse at the lens

I could have cleaned the lens right there, but the white plastic thingie was easy to remove, so I went ahead and got a clear path to the lens.

It’s the translucent, blue-ish round thing in the center of the picture. Try to not touch it with your fingers as you might put extra grease on it, use whatever lens cleaning product you have and finally use the cotton swap to dry it. Be very gentle. The lens will move a bit, don’t worry about it, that’s perfectly normal.

Testing

Now is the time to test it. You’ll have to partially reconstruct the player. Reconnect all wires and connectors. It’s probably also a good idea to put copper screws (red-ish brown) back in their place. They might conduct electricity and could be essential for the workings of the player.

I put in my test CD and it worked flawlessly. I tried a few more CDs and must say I was rather impressed that such a simple operation could solve all issues I’d had with the player.

If this doesn’t help for you, here are 2 more resources that might be useful. A short guide on changing the laser power on Kuro5hin and a very in depth FAQ. But again, most of the skipping-related problems are caused by a dirty lens. So try this first.

Thus came the reassembly. Which, as you might guess, is a lot easier.

• Don’t tighten screws too much. Especially in plastic you might damage something.
• Put everything back in its place. My player had a plastic shield between the mainboard and the cover. I’m pretty sure that one is essential to avoid short circuiting anything.

That’s really all there is to it. This will take you anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours, but it might save you an expensive repair or an even more expensive new player. So what do you have to loose?