I’ve recently StumbledUpon just about the best list of free Mac software I’ve ever seen: 100 Incredibly Useful & Free Mac Apps by Mac.AppStorm. Very well organized, this list includes many apps that I’ve not heard of but have since added to my computer. If you scroll through the comments, you’ll find some more recommendations, including several strong recommendations for Alfred, as a QuickSilver replacement (as much as I loved QuickSilver, I’ve since returned to using LaunchBar, as QuickSilver isn’t quite reliable on Snow Leopard).

For the past couple of weeks I’ve been working full-bore on my next book, titled “Effortless E-commerce with PHP and MySQL” (the name has changed slightly since its original), which is why I haven’t been able to post much on the blog. I’m currently working on Chapter 5 , which is the penultimate chapter for the first of the two e-commerce examples being developed. Here’s how the first six chapters are shaping up:

Part 1: Fundamentals

Chapter 1: Getting Started

• Identifying Your Business Goals
• Researching Legal Issues
• Choosing Web Technologies
• Selecting a Web Host
• Using a Payment System
• The Development Process

Chapter 2: Security Fundamentals

• Security Theory
• PCI Requirements
• Server Security
• Using Secure Transactions
• Common Vulnerabilities

---——————

Part 2: Selling Virtual Products

Chapter 3: First Site: Structure and Design

• Database Design
• Server Organization
• Connecting to the Database
• The Config File
• The HTML Template

Chapter 4: User Accounts

• Defining Helper Functions
• Registration
• Logging In
• Logging Out
• Managing Passwords
• Improving the Security

Chapter 5: Managing Site Content

Recently, and I can’t remember why, I came across Yahoo!’s Design Pattern Library. Just like a programming design pattern describes, in code, an accepted way of handling a specific task, this library has almost 60 (at this time) examples for how to layout and handle common visual elements.

The patterns are organized by category: layout, navigation, selection, rich interaction, and social. For example, there’s a pattern for showing the availability of a person (like you’d see in IM) and another for how breadcrumbs should be used. Mostly the patterns are descriptions of what you should do, based upon what’s best for the end user. Many of the patterns do have links to code examples, although those will often make use of the Yahoo! User Interface library.

Part of the design pattern library is a stencil kit, available for OmniGraffle (the program I use), Adobe Illustrator, Visio, and other applications. Using this kit you can quickly create a mock-up of the user interface. And being Yahoo!, all of this is available for free.

Recently, and I can’t remember why, I came across Yahoo!’s Design Pattern Library. Just like a programming design pattern describes, in code, an accepted way of handling a specific task, this library has almost 60 (at this time) examples for how to layout and handle common visual elements.

The patterns are organized by category: layout, navigation, selection, rich interaction, and social. For example, there’s a pattern for showing the availability of a person (like you’d see in IM) and another for how breadcrumbs should be used. Mostly the patterns are descriptions of what you should do, based upon what’s best for the end user. Many of the patterns do have links to code examples, although those will often make use of the Yahoo! User Interface library.

Part of the design pattern library is a stencil kit, available for OmniGraffle (the program I use), Adobe Illustrator, Visio, and other applications. Using this kit you can quickly create a mock-up of the user interface. And being Yahoo!, all of this is available for free.

YouTube, one of the most significant players in terms of playing video online, recently weighed in with their thoughts on playing video via Flash vs. HTML5. For those that think all Flash is evil or that HTML5 will replace Flash entirely, this brings an interesting perspective. Which is not to say, of course, that there’s not a sound place for video through HTML5, but as it stands, there are many situations in which Flash will still be the best platform for video.