Author: Stan Shinn

Any site designer knows that testing your web site across multiple browsers is key. But not only has the market become very fragmented regarding the number of browser, but there are also several popular VERSIONS of browsers running around as well -- each with their own quirks. Here are some current browser stats:

According to http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp (January 2007)

• IE7: 13.3%
• IE6: 42.3%
• Firefox: 31.0%
• IE5: 3.0%
• Safari: 1.7%
• Mozilla: 1.5%
• Opera: 1.5%

According to http://www.webreference.com/stats/browser.html (January 2007)

• IE7: 13.12%
• IE6: 31.37%
• IE5: 1.71%
• Firefox: 28.79%
• Safari: 2.5%
• Mozilla: 2.04%
• Opera: 1.65%

Based on this, IE6 & 7, and Firefox should be in your testing regimen. If you further break down the Firefox users you'll see that you should probably also test Firefox 1.5 & 2.0 since both have a strong following. On the other hand, the differences in standards support between Firefox 1.5 & 2.0 is not that great.

What do you think should be tested?

Project plans lay out a defined series of steps to accomplish a goal. Most software development methodologies produce an undesirable goal—failure. The 60% failure rate is not just dumb luck, it is the natural consequence of the methodology. To change the outcome, we must change our methodology!

I’ve witnessed failed projects which did not achieve business results. Despite experience and planning, many times the best efforts still turned into the worst results. Developers typically lack a good road map to navigate their project to a successful end. This lack of direction dooms the project before the first line of code is even written.

Don’t become another victim of project failure—adopt a proven software development methodology!

Productivity guru Franklin Covey often talks about 'sharpening the saw' -- taking time to get training, focus, and get inspired to achieve new levels of greatness. Landmark Education Business Development offers business services dedicated to creating new levels of business results. Their services and technology allows them to partner with clients to design and implement organizational initiatives that produce significant, sustainable change in a surprisingly short period of time.

Particularly interesting are their landmark courses to aid in this endevour.
Landmark education empowers an organization to generate extraordinary business results while creating an exceptional quality of life for its people. Landmark seminars aligns business operations with business strategy to ensure agility and performance. Having the environment of a landmark forum allows an organization immediate clarity. Learn more:

• www.ilovepossibility.info
• www.landmarkeducationasia.com
• www.lebd.com

• Foxit - Opens PDF Files Fast
• iTunes - Useful for Podcasts
• Hosts - Remove All Ads (Windows)
• Juice - Popular iTunes Replacement
• OpenOffice - Fast MS Office Clone
• gCalc - Replace Your Calculator
• GAIM - 11 Instant Messengers in 1
• RA - Replacement for Real Player
• GIMP - Powerful Image Editor
• Audacity - Powerful Audio Recorder
• ClamWin / FreeAV - Free AntiVirus
• Adaware / Spybot - Remove Spyware
• HTTrack - Download entire Websites

And of course I highly recommend Google's tools such as Gmail and Google Documents and Spreadsheets.

The new Apple iPhone debuted with a splash. While it will not be available until June, this revolutionary new device marks the beginning of a new electronics 'arms race' not seen since the iPod debuted. The iPhone features a touch-screen interface and a slim profile, merging the iPod's hallmark sleek Apple design with next-generation cell phone functionality. The iPhone doubles as a wide-screen iPod with 8 GB of storage space for music and video, and includes productivity tools, along with location-based features.

The first model will be expensive, but recall the first generation iPod. This is but the start of many new devices, and ergonomically designed to please customers in a way only Apple can do.

Read more about the Apple iPhone at Wirefly.com.

Consider a less-than-successful project in which you’ve participated. Did the project run aground because the developers didn’t know how to program?

Projects can be technical successes but business disasters. Ask any end user who patently rejects the software IT has labored to produce for them, and they’ll quickly say—"This software isn’t what we needed!"

Thus the problem. Typically, at project kick off end users are asked what they need. Then IT goes off for a few months, and after the rigors of quality assurance testing, the end users finally get their hands on the software.

Now, the user gives real feedback, but it’s too late. You’ve already exhausted the budget and timeline for the project. More time and funding are needed to add the features end users really need, but it is too late to recover. The abacus ticks off another failed IT project. The only thing saving you from losing favor is IT’s pre-existing perception as a fickle monster, fed often but only intermittently able to deliver high-impact, successful systems.

This highlights the need for Agile project management techniques.

Supply chain management is a complex business function which covers the process of each part of the product manufacturing process (the 'supply chain'). Choosing the best supply chain management software is crucial for enterprises to be able to control and streamline their business. In business where the product margins are thin, the benefits of even small gains in efficiencies can be materially beneficial.

Supply chain management software allows companies to control the cost and delivery time of the manufacturing of products. High end SCM software will include features such as:

• Procurement Process
• Manufacturing Flow Management
• Distribution
• Outsourcing & Partnerships
• Performance Measurement

For more information on the value of supply chain management software and how it can assist in resource planning for the manufacture of products read this article on Supply Chain Management Software.

After Internet Explorer 7.0 was released in October it has quickly climbed to claim a 25% market share in the US (largely due to it's rollout via Windows Update). This makes it the second-most used after IE 6.0 in the United States, according to Microsoft's IE Blog. Microsoft claims more than 100 million users have installed Internet Explorer 7.0. By contrast, Firefox's U.S. market share was slightly below 16% six months ago (though it likely has increased since then).

Look for IE7's market share to continue to increase with the retail launch of Windows Vista at the end of this month.

Read more at The Tech Report

Anyone who has worked on web sites that use open source MySQL database will appreciate a good tool to manage and create your databases. WordPress is my CMS of choice for most pet projects, with Expressions Engine coming in as the tool of choice for most higher-end projects that demand a more robust feature set.
I was sad to see MySQLFront (an open source but aging tool) be deep sixed and not be supported as an open source project. Enter Navicat.

Navicat has been downloaded more than 1,100,000 times and ranked as the most popular MySQL GUI in download sites such as http://download.com.

It features an intuitive interface and provides a set of useful tools to import/ export, backup/restore data, Synchronize databases, etc.

Navicat is known for its ability to import/export Access, Excel and other popular files, backup data, building query and creating report. Navicat is sophisticated enough for professional developers, yet easy to learn for new users.

I particularly like to use it to import and export the entire database schema for my web sites. I can easily copy and duplicate a new site from an pre-existing site -- something only a database tool like Navicat can let you easily do.

Some features Navicat includes:

• - Visual Query Builder
• - SSH and HTTP Tunnel for remote database connection
• - Database transfer from server to server
• - Data and Structure Synchronization
• - Data backup and restore
• - Import/ Export of most popular data formats to and from MySQL
• - Tasks Scheduling and Easy-to-use wizards tool

To learn more, visit http://www.navicat.com

For a free trial, Download Navicat MySQL GUI Management Tool.