Edit: Serendipity decided to password this entry originally. No idea why! :(

It’s been a few weeks since the last chapter was released and no doubt the masses (all few hundred of you per day) are wondering when the next one is due. I’ve been busy in getting myself back on the job market hence the delay, but I expect to get to another two chapters during the next week onto Surviving The Deep End.

In the meantime I really need to fix the remaining few bugs in the application hosting the book! As you may have noticed, everyone likes commenting on 1 January. No idea when these individuals invented Time Travel :) . I also intend adding a few informative bits of information so readers know whether a chapter is draft/final or something in between (most are in between takes).

In experimenting with making money (so I can buy that Macbook Pro) I’ll be adding some changes to how donations work. One main change is that while the current PDF file for the existing chapters will remain available (including future updates), PDF files covering the entire book to date will only be available to those who donate. It wasn’t the easiest decision to make since I like free things (who doesn’t!), but the online HTML book will always remain free, will always be updated, and will never go offline. That’s one thing that will never change. Those who have previously donated will of course be included.

The second facet I’ve been considering is boosting the appeal and effectiveness of the book as a whole by entering the screencasting market. I figure that with my Irish accent, my pretty Ubuntu desktop, and a cheap mic (to replace the ancient OEM cheaper than cheap one I have at the moment) I can make the whole deal even more appealing to those who prefer visual/audio instruction (and get my Macbook a little faster…like in 2010 instead of 2011). Of course, if I end up creating something truly bad (I’m a writer, not a presenter) I may let that fade away silently with some embarrasement never ever to be mentioned again :) . Still, would be fantastic to give it a shot – even if its a total disaster waiting to happen.

In the meantime I have my pimped out gedit open on a chapter detailing a “Hello World” example. I keep thinking that if we shot Ralph Schindler up on speed, and repeated those words constantly he might use them in the default index.phtml for Zend_Tool when it reaches the standard library. Would be a pretty short Chapter then :) .

In any case, if readers are aware of any other niggling problems with the book site give me a shout in the comments to this post (we’ll do our best to ignore my lack of design skills – they are a feature, not a bug!).