Stand
Those who stand for nothing fall for anything.
-Alexander Hamilton
Aptana PHP support will be returning.
A while back Aptana, an open source development tool announced out of the blue that it would be dropping its core PHP support in favor of using the Eclipse PDT plugin. Something a lot of people including my self was upset with. Many of us use Aptana because we didn’t like the Eclipse plugin.
Aptana was then to contribute many of its features to the Eclipse project but development and cycles were just to slow.
Enter Aptana 3. This version of Aptana has been rewritten from the ground up. Including great FTP, Version support for GIT and SVN, IDE customizations. Aptana is still strongly pushing Ruby on Rails but has brought back core support for PHP.
As it evolves its nice to see the progress with code templates, code library’s, and I hope a great data explorer tool.
Take a look and try the beta.
Proof is in the pudding
When you finish school what is the next step?
Well if you are some of the lucky few who have that nailed down, you might have some contacts or relationships already established, you might partner up with friends and go out on your own. Regardless you will have little to show for professional work and your individual resumes will be lacking any real experience.
What are you supposed to do?
When you are looking to purchase new electronics you are not so concerned with what is in common with each model but more or less with what is over and above on not included.
A resume is a glorified list of achievements with any weakness left out, the only way to test out what is on paper is to see it in action. This brings me to the portfolio. Your portfolio is a culmination and execution of your work, your processes and shows your strengths. To the rite eye also reveals your weaknesses.
I don’t have any work to show.
Design the package before you work on the fine print. Get your portfolio nailed down before you work on the formalities of a resume. Many times you can talk through the details of your resume during an interview. Your portfolio should be the bait and your communication skills should be the hook.
Many potential employers will be looking for three or more years of experience in one particular area but what does three years really mean?
I could be doing the same thing wrong or poorly for three years. A number does not show your progress or drive to improve and succeed; your portfolio over time will do this for you.
If you don’t have a lot to show in your portfolio create the work, find something you are passionate about and think needs a change. Do the work, do the research and make something. For them or for your self, the portfolio does not have to show your paid work or real clients.
Some people will think that because the project was not “real” that it some how looses impact. Truth is all you lost was the experience in dealing with a client. You still executed your own process and creative thinking to solve the problem.
Just be ready to speak to those angles.
Flickr
I am not a professional photographer and do not wish to market my self as one, so I have decided not to post photos under my portfolio as I did previously. I will however be updating my blog from time to time, as I still feel my photos deserve some attention and I welcome the feedback!
So check out my photo stream!
jQuery Nivo Slider
This has been one of my favorite finds this year, I was able to use it on my portfolio as well as the Vision Creative site. The reason it was so attractive over some other jQuery options was its ease of use and its flexibility.
Gilbert Pellegrom made the script easy to use, adapt, customize, and style. Its documentation is straight to the point and applicable.