From CWE/Sans. If you work on software in any capacity, you need to read this.

If you’ve visited the Urban Mainframe website a few times, as opposed to reading the articles in an RSS reader, you may have noticed that the layout of the front-page recently changed. I have opted for a more compact format for the page and have reworked my Loop so that I can adjust the page a little more easily.
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What makes it remarkable is how well the software works. This software never crashes. It never needs to be re-booted. This software is bug-free. It is perfect, as perfect as human beings have achieved.

A couple of months ago I wrote about how I’d modified my WordPress 404 page to be a little bit more useful and informative to any reader unlucky enough to encounter it. Amazingly that article was deprecated almost as soon as I’d published it as I had continued to refine and supplement the code I’d described there. Furthermore, I had added some more functionality to the page for better “possible match” suggestions. So in this article I’m revisiting the custom 404-page to describe the changes I’ve made since the previous installment.
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These are worth keeping an eye on: Structure Synth is a simple language for writing recursive scripts that can generate complex structures. Think of it like Processing, but in 3D. Sunflow is a rendering engine that excels at realistic lighting. [via]

Damn, I wish I were smart enough to be employed by Fog Creek. Their new offices are cool as hell - I’d never leave work! Hire me Joel - I’ll code for free!

CSS files can quickly become very long and large files take time to load. Cats Who Code have compiled 3 interesting ways of compressing CSS files by using PHP. But I have to ask, why not just GZIP the files on the server prior to delivery - isn’t that how we’re supposed to play?

PHP is one of the most popular programming languages for the web. Sometimes a feature-friendly language can help the programmer too much, and security holes can creep in, creating roadblocks in the development path. Here are 5 tips to help you avoid some common PHP security pitfalls and development glitches.

As a programmer/web-designer I dip into a diverse range of programming languages and frameworks. I often find that I get locked into a specific coding grammar/syntax and that it is then difficult to switch to a new one. This is when I find the following cheat sheets invaluable (and indeed comforting).

• Subversion (SVN) - 293 KB PDF
• Regular Expressions (RegEx) - 648 KB PDF
• mod_rewrite - 563 KB PDF
• PHP - 556 KB PDF
• CSS - 316 KB PDF
• HTML - 563 KB PDF
• Ruby On Rails - 753 KB PDF
• HTML Character Entities - 959 KB PDF
• JavaScript - 453 KB PDF
• MySQL - 348 KB PDF
• RGB Hexadecimal Colour Chart - 199 KB PDF
• OS X / Linux / Unix
• Photoshop CS3
• WordPress Reference Guide
• WordPress Help Sheet
• jQuery
• XSS (Cross Site Scripting) Prevention Cheat Sheet

NOTICE: This article is deprecated. While the article is still valid it no longer accurately describes the current 404-handler used on this website. Please also read the later article, A Better 404 - Redux, which contains updated information.

After reading Ian Lloyd’s The Perfect 404, I’ve revamped my “Not Found” error page to be a little bit more useful because, as Lloyd writes, “a user-friendly website will give you a helping hand.” Previously my 404 page simply stated that an error had occured and offered links to the home-page and archives. I knew I could do better than that! Continue Reading…