OpenBD (CFML) on Google App Engine - Live Meeting June 8th, 2010 at 7pm ET

Just wanted to quickly blog that Matt Woodward and I are presenting on OpenBD on Google App Engine tonight at the Mid-Michigan CFUG at 7pm ET (about 30 minutes from the time of this posting).

Where: http://breeze.msu.edu/mmcfuggoogle  (Enter as guest)

When: June 8th, 2010 - 7pm ET

Description:

If you want to take advantage of the power of cloud computing but want to focus on applications instead of server infrastructure, you owe it to yourself to check out Google App Engine. Google App Engine lets you deploy applications to Google's infrastructure with the push of a button, and the best part is that for many applications it's entirely free of cost.

In this presentation we'll discuss both the benefits and downsides of living in the cloud, outline how Google App Engine differs from other cloud solutions, and demonstrate how to build and deploy a simple CFML application to Google App Engine using Open BlueDragon, which is the only CFML engine compatible with Google App Engine.

If you're interested in running your CFML applications in the cloud come get in on the ground floor, because with a few simple tips and tricks, it's all clear skies.

Steve Jobs hates Flash -- A prediction of 2015

This is why there's a stench of panic hanging over silicon valley. this is why Apple have turned into paranoid security Nazis, why HP have just ditched Microsoft from a forthcoming major platform and splurged a billion-plus on buying up a near-failure; it's why everyone is terrified of Google:

The PC revolution is almost coming to an end, and everyone's trying to work out a strategy for surviving the aftermath.

via antipope.org

Everything is cloud this and cloud that. The PC is dying and Apple is building their walled garden to fend out the PC zombies. Definitely worth to read the entire post by Charlie Stross -- it's a prediction of the personal computing / Internet in 2015.

Speaking at cf.Objective() 2010

I've been invited to speak at cf.Objective() 2010.  I am co-track chair for Tools & Integration track on the conference's content advisory board. I've gotten a sneak peek at the line up of sessions and speakers -- this year looks amazing!  This is definitely one CFML conference you do not want to miss.  I'm proud to announce that I will presenting on the following topics.

Speedy Websites Through Better Front-End
We'll be using tools like YSlow and Google Page Speed to diagnose issues in which we can improve the front-end performance of a website.

Open Source Tools for Debugging
The title is pretty self-explanatory, but we'll be looking a variety of tools that can be used for debugging web applications.  Everything from Javascript to HTML to webservices to file systems to Java.

Living in the Cloud: CFML Applications on Google App Engine
I'm co-presenting this with Matt Woodward.  Cloud based computing, while a buzzword these days, is something that very compelling. So come see how cloud computing differs from traditional application development and how it can open up a different world for your applications.

Simplicity, Integrity and Velocity: What's New in Mach-II
I'll be co-presenting this with fellow Team Mach-II members Matt Woodward and Kurt Wiersma.  We'll be looking at the all the features in the almost ready for gold release of Mach-II Simplicity (1.8), what is already there for Mach-II Integrity (1.9) and hopefully a sneak peek at Mach-II Velocity (2.0).

I'll be sharing more on my presentations in the next few weeks, but take the moment to take advantage of the early bird pricing for cf.Objective() ends on January 29th -- so register now!

Slow Custom Domain on GAE

I recently deployed an application to Google App Engine (GAE). Accessing the application via the appspot.com subdomain was fast however the custom domain consistently was slower (sometimes 5 seconds versus 200ms). I believe the issue is that custom domain was set up on the same day and that the DNS has not propagated through the internet completely. This leads to some crazy routing to Google's network.

I'll wait a while longer because I ask the Google App Engine group (not much else other than this explanation is mentioned in the searches I've done). I'm going to reboot my local wireless/wired routers.

SES URLs on OpenBD GAE

I've been working on a brochure style site for a friend this week.  The budget is nothing and I'm doing this as a favor for my friend so it's my time. Instead of doing the same old, I decided that I should try something new and learn since I'm donating my time.  I hope to be posting more about using Google App Engine (GAE) as free hosting for CFML applications.  GAE is cloud computing and it does turn the usual concept of building applications on its head.  Since GAE's daily http request limit for the free account is 1.3M requests, I don't foresee any issues with overing over our quotas.

The application I'm building is using Mach-II Simplicity (1.8) and is running on Open BlueDragon (GAE Edition).  My friend wanted to use SES URLs so I investigated to see if the SES URL filter that is usually bundled with Open BlueDragon was commented out in the web.xml file.  It was not even present in the file (whereas in the normal OpenBD edition it is commented out) so I was a little nervious this wasn't going to be possible.  Instead of wasting time researching, I used GAE's nifty one click (ok, it's two clicks and your Google account password) deployment option to just try by testing it.  Here is the snippet I added in my web.xml right at the top after the <web-app ...> node:




<filter>
    <filter-name>SearchEngineFriendlyURLFilter</filter-name>
    <display-name>SearchEngineFriendlyURLFilter</display-name>
    <description>SearchEngineFriendlyURLFilter</description>
    <filter-class>com.newatlanta.filters.SearchEngineFriendlyURLFilter</filter-class>
    <init-param>
        <param-name>extensions</param-name>
        <param-value>cfm,cfml</param-value>
    </init-param>
</filter>
<filter-mapping>
    <filter-name>SearchEngineFriendlyURLFilter</filter-name>
    <url-pattern>/*</url-pattern>
</filter-mapping>




Bam! I deployed it to the cloud and it worked.  SES URLs on OpenBD GAE is a go!  Thought I would share it with the world.