Leon Atkinson

Thanks to the extra time provided by the holiday, I’ve finally put together a release of FreeTime 3, a pet project of mine for more than 10 years. This newest release is based on work I did on the software at Clear Ink from 2006 through 2009. Thanks to David Burk and Steven Nelson for sponsoring writing the code in the first place as their employee and more recently agreeing to donate the code back to the open source project. Their support is most generous!

FreeTime is a Web application written in PHP for MySQL that allows you to keep track of projects. It tracks comments, files and timesheet entries for projects divided up by clients and their divisions. Recently added features, not appearing in previous versions, include tasks, estimates and more reports. There’s also code that allows clients to log in to review work as if it’s a mini-site, but it hasn’t been tested in production. The most well-developed aspects of the application are related to timesheets, both gathering them from staff and then reporting on them.

I’m curious whether anyone will find the code useful, whether for educational or practical purposes. Its purpose was as a highly customized solution for Clear Ink, and it may have no utility outside the same type of consultancy. On the other hand, it could prove useful after some hacking. I would use it for myself if I do more consulting again.

You can download the source code from the FreeTime project page on SourceForge.

I bought Zend Framework in Action yesterday because the short tutorial isn’t quite enough to know how to architect an big application. I’m building an enterprise app at work for a client and picked ZF and YUI as core platforms. I’m pleased with the content of the book. Rob Allen is a fine writer and the organization of the text is logical.

Now that I’m about 80 pages into the book, I thought I’d grab a copy of the PDF version for easy reference whichever desk I’m sitting at.  The print edition comes with a “free” ebook. There are two ways to get this free ebook.

The way they want you to do it is as follows.

1. Cut open a folded paper in the front of the book.
2. Go to the URL printed on the paper.
3. Type in a code they ask you for out of 9×20 grid.
4. Type in another code from the grid.
5. Type in your name and email address.
6. Wait for the email to arrive.
7. Find the email in your spam folder.
8. Click on a link to start the download.
9. Rename the file from “gi” (wtf?) to something rational, such as “Zend_Framework_In_Action.pdf”.

However, you could do the following.

1. Enter “zend framework in action pdf” into Google Search.
2. Click to some blog.
3. Click the link into RapidShare.
4. Wait for your 30 seconds to expire since you are a “free” user.
5. Download the .rar file.
6. Expand whatever’s in the rar file. (I didn’t actually go this far).

Typing in codes from a grid is pretty annoying. I threw down $45 to get the book. Maybe they should just trust me and print a direct download link inside the text of the book. After all, we’re all only a couple of links away from downloading it from RapidShare. What would have been really cool was if I could have downloaded the PDF for free first and then bought the print version when I decided that the book was of great value. I had that exact experience with another author recently.

If you are going to buy Zend Framework in Action (and you aren’t in a rush like I was), you might use the Amazon.com link above. It’s a lot cheaper than buying it off the shelf at B&N.

I now have two apps live on MySpace, Random Advice and Random Band Names. The core functionality is exactly the same as what’s on Leon’s Random Generators. Both of them place content on your MySpace profile. You can see them in action on my profile page, myspace.com/leonatkinson.

It’s somewhat obtuse to get the apps on your own profile. Visit the app’s profile page (linked above). Click the button to add the app. Then, modify your profile and add the “module”. (I’m hand-waving a bit here). I think you must be upgraded to the 2.0 version of profiles.

Despite my bickering about how I was fighting with the approval process last month, I did get the advice generator active. The band names app was approved within hours. So maybe they like to hassle unproven developers. In any event, the advice generator has been live for less than a month and has 116 “active users”. I’m not clear if that means installs, or if people have activated the module in their profile. I can’t find any examples of profiles with it installed.

Many people suffer from migraines, a kind of storm in the brain that causes more than just headaches. I am one of those people. After I’d heard Mark Zuckerberg speak at last year’s Facebook developers conference, it occurred to me that sharing the experience might fit with his vision to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.

I had an app done in August but got distracted for several months. Over the Christmas break, I found the time to polish it up and release it. The main feature of the app is a personal database of migraine events with the aim to helping you discover patterns or triggers. In the context of Facebook allows you to automatically let your friends know you’ve had a migraine. That could lead to better understanding or just a feeling of comfort.

You can get started using the app by visiting the Migraines About Page on Facebook.

One advantage in waiting was the the new template bundles for the news feed is working flawlessly. In August it was brand new and buggy. I also had more fun with the Google Chart API. Once you get a few migraines recorded, I can generate a pie chart of how severe they are and a line graph of how many you have each month.

What a nice surprise! As a developer on the Facebook platform for more than a year, I get occational messages from Facebook about new features, such as the revolutionary Facebook Connect functionality that went live recently.  I was pleasantly surprised to find a note from the Platform Team thanking all 600K+ developers!

We wanted to take a moment and thank you for all of your great work and amazing applications that have helped make Facebook Platform the largest and fastest-growing social platform over the past year and a half. As we end 2008 there are over 660,000 of you worldwide building applications that give users more powerful ways to share and connect, and collectively your applications have reached nearly 140 million people.

It’s a stark contrast to the total lack of developer love shown by MySpace. I hope Santa leaves some coal in their stockings. I have no doubt there will be many presents under the trees of the Facebook Platform Team.

I am so very pleased to be working with Facebook in their mission to bringing people closer together. Little notes like this remind me of Mark Zuckerberg’s presentation last July and how I came away feeling inspired. So, to Facebook, I’d like to say, “no, thank you!”