On PHP Version Requirements

I learned something rather disturbing yesterday. CodeIgniter 3.0 will support PHP 5.2. To put that in context, there hasn’t been a supported or secure version of PHP 5.2 since January, 2011. That’s nearly 4 years. To me, that’s beyond irresponsible… It’s negligent… So I tweeted about it (not mentioning the project to give them the chance to realize what the problem was):

I received a bunch of replies. Many people thought I was talking about WordPress. I wasn’t, but the same thing does apply to the project. Most people agreed with me, saying that not targeting 5.4 or higher is bad. But some disagreed. Some disagreed strongly. So, I want to talk about that.

FUD and Flames And Trolls, Oh My!

Last weekend I gave the opening keynote at PHPNW14. The talk was recorded, and no, the video isn’t online yet. The basis of the talk was centered around community and how we can come together (and how we are drifting apart). But there was one point that I mentioned that I think requires further thought and discussion. And that point is that there is far less trolling going on than it may seem at first glance.

Our Failure As An Industry

In the April issue of the PHPArch magazine (also published on her blog), Elizabeth Tucker Long wrote a really interesting editorial piece coining a concept she called Security-Driven-Development. She (quite correctly) identified a problem in the current development community where security has become an after-thought (if it’s thought of at all). This isn’t a new concept, in fact it’s a concept that I and many others have been preaching for quite a while now. However I’ve been coming to realize that I’ve had it wrong the whole time. And I think the entire industry is getting it wrong today.

Upcoming Talks - Spring 2013

It’s been a little while since I’ve posted anything here or on YouTube. I’ve been working on some interesting ideas that hopefully will be pretty decent, so it wasn’t time wasted. But I figured now would be a good time to tell you about some upcoming speaking engagements that I have, and where I’ll be over the next few months. So with no further adue:

On Equality, Sexism and an Even Hand

Over the past 3 or 4 days there’s been a huge upturn on Twitter and in the community bashing Web and PHP Magazine for giving away T-Shirts (and tweeting a photo) with a double-entendre at PHPUK. A lot of banter going back and forth from those like Cal Evans who went so far as to pledge never to go to another conference sponsored by the magazine, to Stefan Koopmanschap who basically thinks it’s no big deal. (note: these are my interpretations from their posts). I think the whole thing has grown WAY out of proportion…

Change: A Two Faced Devil

There’s nothing as universally controversial in this world as change. Change can be (in aggregate) for the better or for the worse, yet people will always be split down the middle. Some will believe that the change is a good thing, and others will see it as a bad thing. Often your view points will be dictated by your perspective and how the change will directly effect you. When it comes to software projects and change, what’s the right thing to do?