New In The Toolbox
TOAD for MySQL
Almost as feature rich as it’s namesake for Oracle, TOAD for MySQL is a wonderful addition to my development arsenal. This application gives total control over the database from a very well-designed and inntuitive interface. Those used to using TOAD for Oracle will be very pleasantly surprised. Once logged in, you can view entire schemas and their structures, import and export, write views, and even input data directly. I had several databases and tables built within an hour of having the thing up and running.
I’ve used the web-based PHPMyAdmin for years but always hated the security breach of running the MySQL client on the Linux host as well as having to move the entire PHPMyAdmin directory into and out of place each time I used it (to keep it hidden from hackers). MySQL-Front was a great little app that somehow got killed off quickly (apparently due to objections and threats of legal action from the folks at MySQL). The tools offered by MySQL.com simply cannot compete; in fact, I think they are fairly worthless compared with TOAD.
The downside to TOAD is that it requires, oddly enough, that the .NET 2.0 framework be installed on the machine. Not a big deal because I have it installed to support other applications as well. But this free application is a powerhouse and I find it hugely useful for designing, developing, and administering databases.
To get around the security issues of running the MySQL client on the host machine and also to connect remotely to the host, I create an SSH tunnel from my laptop into the machine I wish to access and then simply point TOAD to my local machine (127.0.0.1) where it gets forwarded to the remote host. Very nice solution that works at home and at work.
Ponderosa
Tabbed browsing has revolutionized the browsing experience. And now Ponderosa does the same for terminal emulators. I love this thing. I can customize this app to have all the features and display options of PuTTY or TeraTerm, but all the windows (sometimes many of them connected to many different hosts) all remain as tabs within one window. This application also requires the .NET framework but I have yet to investigate why that is so. Very sweet application and long overdue.
Performancing for Firefox
Performancing for Firefox is my latest find not only for great plugins to Firefox but also in the search for alternatives to blog posting directly within the WordPress interface. Launching Performancing splits the Firefox screen and provides a very rich editing environment along with bookmarks, page tools, metrics, and also includes all the configuration settings (like categories) from my WordPress blog. Highly recommended for offline blogging and as a replacement for Qumana.
Ruby on Rails
With all these groovy new tools at my disposal, a colleague and I plan to embark on a discovery of Ruby on Rails and how we can leverage that platform in our environment. Stay tuned.
October 28th, 2006 at 2:25 pm
Finally the sound of the swamp for MySQL – we feel the love!
It’s always troubled me that we LAMPers were so reliant on the phpmyadmin bit for working with our databases. You’re right on the money, it’s more often than not unsecured. Have some fun, google up the copyright string some time and you’ll find tons of unsecured installations, and those are just the ones that somehow google found.