I’ve got some big news for you, dear Crashpod readers. Next Monday I become an employee of Google! I accepted an offer just before Thanksgiving to join their AdWords team as an AdWords Associate at the newly opened Ann Arbor, Michigan office. Obviously I’m thrilled about this opportunity and can’t wait to get started. As you all know, I’ve followed Google’s rise very closely for years now and being asked to join such a first-rate organization is an incredible honor.

I’ll still be writing for Crashpod and I think that my new position should lend a unique perspective on the technology and cultural trends that are developing around all of us. One of Google’s most amazing qualities is their ability to transform virtually every industry they touch. Their foray into advertising has been no exception and I’m looking forward to being a part of that process.

If you’ve ever tried Line Rider you will appreciate how amazing this video is. The simulator starts with a blank white screen that users can draw lines on using the mouse. Once you have your lines drawn, a little sledder will start going downhill at your upmost left line. There is no eraser tool and the physics dictating how your sledder will react are very sensitive. If the lines are too steep, he will wipe out. If they are not steep enough, he won’t have the necessary momentum and will get stuck. That’s to say nothing of the wild jumps, loops and scenery that this user has created. Bravo!

Here’s some other great creations:
Underwater Theme
Spelunking

Ryan and I are headed home for the weekend so the site will be pretty quiet for the next few days. We’ve got some big announcements after the holiday though, so be sure to stay tuned!

From both of us here at Crashpod HQ, have a happy Thanksgiving!

Web developers often use local servers to mimic the environments their code will eventually live in once it launches. OSX allows a wide variety of configurations to run code locally, such as XAMP, WebserverXkit, and good old fashioned Apache via the command line.

Another great entry into this list is MAMP, or “Macintosh, Apache, Mysql and PHP”. Much like the other solutions out there, MAMP provides an all in one package for your web server, database, and scripting language. MAMP brings a lot of polish to the table though, as it comes with phpmyadmin preinstalled making database administration a snap, and the ability to toggle between php4 and php5. A great finishing touch, MAMP provides an OSX dashboard widget that displays your server and mysql service status, as well as giving you the ability to start and stop those services on the fly. The one addition I’d make at this point is the ability to tie given directories to virtual hosts, rather than requiring the user to change their document root when ever they pick up on a different project.

Multiple project directories aside, MAMP is free, so give it a try: I’m finding it to be a great solution!