By Ira Smith on
1/21/2009 5:08 PM
Many know Mammoth Cave National Park as the place to see the longest cave in the world. Most visitors though end their trip once their designated trip through the cave is completed. The loss is theirs because there are equally attractive sites to see above ground along the many trails that run through the park.
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By Ira Smith on
1/11/2009 9:16 AM
There are few places to hike that offer outstanding features year round. Within a comfortable drive from Nashville Tennessee, heading east along I-40, Cumberland Mountain State Park is one such place. The trails in this state park are not for those who seek extreme physical challenge of dramatic elevation changes or for mega mileage hiking distances. The trails in this park are for those who seek a moderate hike in both distance and physical challenge. The real appeal is the sites to be seen as you make the hike along the trails.
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By Ira Smith on
8/20/2007 5:53 PM
Before tackling this blog entry, it would be helpful to first read the entry What Is A Web Server and What Is An Internet Application. Once you have accomplished that task, you should be ready to read this posting about the all elusive Intranet Application and how it is defined as well as how it differs from an Internet Application. Perhaps the first distinguishing aspect of an Intranet Application is that it is not as widely accessible as an Intranet Application is. If you recall from my article What Is an Internet Application, it is accessible by the general public at large. You at least have access to a login function to the application and alternately you have additional information or features that are made available on the publicly accessible portion of the application.
An Intranet Application is much more...
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By Ira Smith on
8/19/2007 3:54 PM
Now that you have some ideas of what attributes you seek in a hosting provider, it is time to consider the other piece of the puzzle which is what attributes you seek in the hosting package itself. When I use the term hosting package, I am referring to such things as the amount of disk space the package you sign up for provides to you, the amount of bandwidth you get, and all the other aspects that revolve around the actual package or service you sign up with the hosting provider for.
Some providers have a number of packages to choose from and then if your needs for a billing period exceed the confines of the packaged item then a fee will be added for the additional capacity you used. Typically the packages offered will be pretty substantial ones which you would not exceed unless your site has really grown in user base and content. If you have a package deal and start to experience excesses in usage, that is a good indicator it is time to start looking at upgrading your package.
Other providers also...
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By Ira Smith on
8/19/2007 3:53 PM
A while back someone suggested that it would be good to have an article on the subject of selecting a hosting provider. The user who made the suggestion did so after we had a rather lengthy conversation in a support forum on the subject. Their note of confidence in my knowledge of the subject matter was flattering, and for that I do thank them.
During the time that has passed since the suggestion was made, I have put a lot of thought into how I could present the material in an organized manner that would be helpful to anyone who cared to read it. This article is the product of those thoughts. The first version of this article was published on my original web site located at http://www.irarichardsmith.com in 2004. This article is a revised edition of the original, modified to present the content in a single document rather than a series of web based articles.
This article will not provide the name or location of the one best or ultimate hosting provider. Such...
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By Ira Smith on
8/19/2007 3:46 PM
In this second installment of the multi-part series on content management systems I will be covering two topics, what I refer to as the database backend and the binding glue. These two items work in combination with each other as the workhorse components of any cms package and so it makes sense to present them together in the same installment.
The Database Backend of CMS Systems
The database is the first of a pair of features that empower CMS packages. The database stores most of the web sites content. Also stored in the database are the sites user preferences, security settings, your configuration settings, and much more. Having the content on line within a database makes the task of adding more content to your site or editing existing content very easy on you, the site administrator.
You no longer need to create individual web pages with the content embedded in the page or edit existing web pages just to get at the content of the site. Instead you use the graphical interface tools provided...
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By Ira Smith on
8/19/2007 3:45 PM
In this final installment of the multi-part blog series on cms systems, I will cover some of the portal packages that I am familiar with and cover how cms packages have grown over time to fit special needs potential users might have. In covering packages that I am familiar with, these are packages that I have used or are currently using on some of my own web sites.
Portal Packages I Am Familiar With
So where does one begin their search for a CMS with the knowledge imparted in this article? While I can’t attempt to review each and every portal package out there, I can discuss to an extent a few that I am familiar with. This does not mean I endorse them over the other possible choices. It simply means that I have some first hand knowledge from working with them.
My site of http://www.irarichardsmith.com is a Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP based site which uses the PostNuke system. The development team in charge of the core PostNuke system has developed...
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By Ira Smith on
8/19/2007 8:44 AM
My goal in this multi-part series of blog postings is to present you with the overall view of what Content Management Systems (CMS) are and in general how they work. While I will discuss a few of the more well known systems, this is my no means meant to be an in depth article on the specifics of any one CMS package. The knowledge you will gain from this article will help you understand the technology and concepts behind CMS packages and this should help you make an informed decision when selecting a system for your web site.
The original basis of this information was a series of articles I wrote and published on my first web site of http://www.irarichardsmith.com in late 2003. As technology changed and as new systems have come to my attention, I have been keeping this document updated to reflect those events. The information you are now reading is the most current edition of my efforts.
The original articles were a pretty big hit on my site. Rarely...
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By Ira Smith on
8/11/2007 12:41 PM
There is no mystical spell to be cast upon an application to make it secure. No one single party or solution can be delegated the sole responsibility of making an application secure. Everyone from the software architect, programmer, network specialist, to the end user is responsible for application security. We as programmers have perhaps the greatest degree of responsibility because it is up to us to build secure applications and do so in such a manner that the user experience is not hindered by our efforts.
Writing Secure Code Second Edition should be your starting point in developing more secure applications. The first section of the book provides groundwork for understanding how to begin your security development process. Next you will move into learning about coding techniques that will help you develop more secure applications. You progress from there into even deeper secure coding techniques. The book rounds things out in the final section by addressing areas of special consideration.
...
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By Ira Smith on
8/11/2007 12:40 PM
You have many tools available for use in the software requirements gathering and documentation process. Which tools you use will be determined in part by the methodology used be in Agile or one of the other many forms out there. Many of the methods for requirements gathering utilize something called a Use Case.
While the name of the document may be in a singular format, in reality you will write many Use Case documents to capture the functionality or operation of the system under design. The nature of the Use Case and the variety of software systems being designed means that there is no one size fits all way to document a Use Case.
The book Writing Effective Use Cases provides information on a variety of ways in which to construct your Use Case documentation and you then adapt the methods from the book to fit your specific needs. The author, Alistair Cockburn, is a well know individual within the Agile methodology camp and writes in a style that is both informative and easy...
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