Best of the Web: March 2012

I can’t believe that 2012 is three months old already.  This year is flying by so fast!

It seems like there has been a lot of great tech and web news over the last few months.  For your reading pleasure, here are 8 great links to keep you busy:

• Basecamp has become such a popular tool for project management these days that it’s almost become a “household name”.  Would you move your project management out of Basecamp and into Google Docs? Freelance Jam’s podcast hosts discuss the pros and cons of Basecamp vs. Google Docs and which one is the best solution for them in with this great video.
• How-To Geek has compiled a ton of great articles on how to customize and tweak Windows 7 to fix any annoyances you have, or add new features you might not know about.
• If you are a web developer you know that there are several popular web scripting languages. I am a PHP guy, but I have a lot of friends who swear by Ruby and Python.  This infographic takes Ruby, Python and PHP and faces them off against each other.  Which language do you prefer?
• I’ve used MYSQLi to connect to mySQL with PHP since I started using PHP, but over the last year or so I’ve heard other web developers rave about PDO.  I found a really in-depth comparison between the two.  This article has really opened my eyes to how powerful PDO is to use, and I’ll give it a try on my next project.  I have a feeling I am going to really like PDO once I get used to it.
• Mashable has posted an article featuring some of the best and funniest Wi-Fi network names that their users have submitted.  There are some great names here for your next Wi-Fi network.  My favourites are “Police Surveillance Van 2”, “Free Virus”, and “GET OFF MY LAN”
• Udacity is offering university level courses in computer programming online for free.  They offer courses from Building a Search Engine to Programming a Robotic Car.  These courses are great for new and experienced programmers alike.
• Rob Reid, the creator of the Rhapsody music service recently gave a TED Talk The numbers behind Copyright Math.  This video brings up great issues around copyright laws such as SOPA and how much money the music industry is losing due to piracy.
• In my daily broswing I recently came across an article called The Best Time to Buy Anything in 2012.  I always knew there were different seasons for different products, and this guide lays them out really well and is definitely worth a read if you want to save yourself some money this year.