PC should have Linux installed and not Windows.

Such is Google Chrome. Even though it’s built around the Webkit rendering engine – the same rendering engine used by Safari and Konqueror, Google still chose to work outside of the box. As a result, they managed to conjure a browser that’s apparently faster, more secure and hopefully more reliable. I haven’t used the browser myself yet but reading the Google Chrome comic book gave me an idea of how they did things.

Being a programmer myself, I believe that Google Chrome is the browser of the future – assuming of course that they really did all they claimed to have done in the comic book. But why haven’t I tried it yet? Well, sadly because it’s currently only for Windows. I will in time test it on my Windows XP and Windows Vista machine but that’s not in my priority list for now. Too bad Mac and Linux users will have to wait. If you want to give Google Chrome (beta) a try then download it here. With what they said Google Chrome is, I expect you to make a few adjustments with your browsing habits but it’ll be worth it.

Aside from being a Linux geek, Joe Barr is also an animal lover who’s fond of rescuing abandoned puppies. Knowing his love for animals, his wife Susan requested that donations be made to any animal rescue group in Joe’s name instead of sending flowers.

A former programmer, Barr has worked on everything from microcomputers like the TRS-80 Model I to IBM mainframes with acres of DASD, writing code in more than a dozen languages, including RPG II, 370 ALC, COBOL, BASIC, TIBOL, MASM, and C. Much of that experience coming in his 13 years with Ross Perot’s EDS.

As a writer, Barr first gained notoriety and, according to Ziff-Davis’ Spencer F. Katt, a cult-like following for his zine, The Dweebspeak Primer.[citation needed] Barr began writing about personal computing in 1994, and primarily about Linux and open source in 1998, when he began writing for IDG’s LinuxWorld.com. The MPlayer project made him even better known by dedicating a derogatory page to him in their documentation after he wrote a piece entitled MPlayer: the project from hell.

Source: Wikipedia

Such a man will surely be missed by the whole opensource community.

Thing is, CakePHP is good for newbies and oldies alike but it does need a little getting used to just as with any other “out-of-the-box” solution. This little learning curve is well compensated by the benefits that you get when you use CakePHP.

So, why am I, a hardcore text-editor programmer, telling you that this is good? I don’t use it but I have tried it and geez it was fast. You create a database according to specs and it maps the database to the application creating the needed code for adding, editing and deleting data. It practically cuts down code-writing to 50% if you ask me.

Best of all, just like with any opensource project on the net, it’s free. So if you like to do things fast and are not so concerned about being intimately connected with your code, then CakePHP will do the job for you.

Check them out at CakePHP.org

Although many versions of this game can be found online, I still chose to wrote my own version of the game so I can put it in this blog and let my dear readers solve it as well. The rules are the same so no need to worry about that. So without any further ado…

Click to SOLVE Petals Around the Rose HERE »

Share your experiences with the puzzle here »

Good luck!

Finally, a new and appropriate theme for this blog. Introducing the Stormy Skies WordPress theme. It’s designed for 1024×768 screens and supports widgets. The screenshot below shows the original look of the theme, with no graphics in the header.

I tested it on WordPress 2.3.3 and didn’t bother to test it in lower versions. If you’re using WordPress then feel free to give this theme a try. Download it here » Stormy Skies WordPress Theme Package.

Why the name Coders Cult?  Simple, this website is for coders a.k.a. programmers – experts, newbies and wannabes alike.  But why call it a cult?  Well, I’m not trying to put up a new religion but I think the word cult is way much cooler than the word group.  Don’t you agree?

While that explains the name, there might be some of you who’s wondering why I would spend time and effort in building this new site instead of playing with my toy airplanes.  The fact is I’d rather play but there are also more important things in life such as helping others which is basically the driving force behind this project.

I teach people to create websites through seminars and I realized that no matter how hard I try to share even the simplest form of coding, some of them are plainly bound to be lost in limbo wondering how I got from point A to point B.  It was at this point that the idea came to me – why not put up a support website for these students?  A place online where they can interact with each other and remain in contact with me and other fellow students?  This way, they can continue learning and the umbilical cord remains connected until they are finally confident and strong enough to stand on their own.

The Coders Cult Forum.  In addition to this blog where I plan to post tutorials and little snippets of code that just make life easier for the everyday coder, I also decided to put up a forum.  After all, a cult with no interaction is hardly a cult after all.  The Coders Cult Forum can be found at http://forums.coderscult.com/ and everybody can register and join the fun.  To make this forum more interesting, I am trying my very best to invite my colleagues and friends who are also experts in their own respective coding fields to join the forum and add to the overall knowledge pool of the site.

Well, there ya go.  Again welcome to this site and I’m looking forward to you coming back.