Random and Opinionated Thoughts

by: Jennifer Zelazny

Web Development

The Importance of User Defined Tests

When working on a large project or a seemingly simple task – I have come to realize it is extremely important to always get a test case (or test cases) directly from the client. As programmers and developers, we often have one idea of how something should work, while our clients have something different either […]

Hosting

Hello Bitnami!

After needing to get Redmine up and running and having nothing but problems with installing gems, I decided to take a look at Bitnami where they advertise “Deploy your favorite apps in the cloud and anywhere else.” I decided to give that a shot as well as to use Bitnami Cloud Hosting for some of […]

Food/Drink

Best Marinade: Liquid Gold

I love Mexican and in the past few year I have spent most weekends using the slow cooker, grill, or oven to roast something that fills our house with some amazing aroma thanks to Rick Bayless. One of my favorites though is something I found by watching one of his TV show episodes (Mexico – […]

Life

Fun Weekend of Cooking

I work hard all week and generally work harder on the weekends. I love cooking for my family and friends and this weekend I cooked up a storm. I made multiple batches of some of my favorites for holiday gifts, and then some fun habanero sauces for me and my hot sauce loving son.

Life

Enjoying the Pool in Florida!!

While our Chicagoland friends were walking in 0-10 degree temperatures, we spent a few days with family in Florida which was in the 80s. The kids spent as much time in the pool as we let them and were very happy to be warm and in the sun.

Hints

Hidden Skype Emoticons

Looking to make your Skype conversations a little more interesting? Check out hidden emoticons for Skype: http://www.skype-emoticons.com

CSS

CSS Font Families Made Easy

If you are looking for font family code – check out CSS Font Stack. You can chose your font, and with a click of your mouse – copy the entire family for your use.

HOWTOs

Transfer Backups to New Drive with Time Machine

A great article on how to properly move your Time Machine backups to a new drive: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5096?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US (You will need to follow the directions or you will get errors simply trying to move the files.)