Thanks,
Icon Graphics Team

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The Command Prompt (or Terminal)

Listing all files and folders inside current folder

For those old enough to remember, back in the earlier days of computers, everything was done via a command prompt (or terminal). There was no graphical user interface (GUI) for anything, just commands and crude textual output. Now a days, computers offer both a GUI and a way to send commands directly. Odds are that your operating system is Windows (probably Windows 8 or 10), and within that operating system is a program called cmd. It allows you to send commands quickly and directly to the computer. The average user will probably never need to use cmd or anything else like it, but for developers, it’s one of the first tools in our toolkit. Being able to quickly maneuver between directories, list out their contents, create/edit/delete files is incredibly useful. It seems counter productive, but with enough practice one can become much faster at using the command prompt than they are at performing the same tasks with a mouse. Additionally, there are several other tools in the web developer’s toolkit that don’t have GUIs and require you to type commands directly.

A Text Editor or an IDE

Editing a PHP file in PHPStorm

There’s a running joke in the office that all I require to do my job is Notepad and Internet Explorer (IE). And there actually is some truth to that! When I first began learning how to code, I wrote it in Notepad and tested it in IE. Fortunately things have progressed greatly since then and now I depend on several different web browsers for testing and two pieces of software for code writing. The first is a basic text editor. I’ve tried several over the years, but my favorite has to be SublimeText. It allows me to quickly write code and offers support for features such as auto-complete and emmet, which allows me to type code in shorthand (so typing “mt” followed by pressing tab will yield “margin-top”, or “ul>li*3>a” followed by a tab would yield a 3 item long list of links).

The second piece of software is an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) called PHPStorm. All of our websites are written in, among other types of code, PHP. PHPStorm is like a text editor on steroids that’s built specifically for writing in HTML, CSS, Javascript, and of course PHP. The primary point of an IDE is to combine several tools and the functionalities of separate pieces of software into a single, unified environment. PHPStorm gives me quick access to a terminal, allows me to use version control, and even manipulate files. All  without having to leave the program.

FTP Clients

There are several ways to push code to a server, but one of the oldest and most used is the File Transfer Protocol (better known as FTP). Using a program like Filezilla or WinSCP, I can connect to a website’s server and begin uploading the website’s files. A good FTP client will also allow me to delete or move files on a remote server as needed. FTP can also serve as a quick way to backup or restore a site’s files.

Version Control

Version control is a relatively new addition to the web developer’s toolkit. To explain it as simple as possible, version control (usually in the form of a technology called git) allows a developer to jump back/forth between versions of a file with relative ease. For example, say I built a website with a blue background. I show it to the client and they want to see it with a red background. Upon seeing all of that red, they realize they’d rather have it be blue after all. With version control I can quickly and easily revert the file back to its original, blue form without ever having to touch code.

Inspector Tools

Using Firefox’s Inspector Tools to view the Google homepage.

Inspector Tools are another relatively new tool for web developers. In the old days if you needed to take a look at a site’s code for reference, you either needed to download the file and look at it directly, or use the “View Source” tool. Downloading a file can be time-consuming, and “View Source” is a very primitive tool. Web developers needed more, and the answer was the Inspector Tool. The tool allows a developer to safely view and manipulate the HTML, CSS, and Javascript on a website in real-time. This saves a lot of time as it allows developers to quickly try out changes without actually modifying the code. Additionally, the tools can be used to log site errors, track load times, and more. Chrome, Internet Explorer, and Edge all offer their own takes on the Inspector Tool.

In Summary

Of course this is just a short list of the most common tools used by web developers. New technologies and approaches are developed so rapidly that it can be difficult to keep up at times. And each technology or idea comes in multiple iterations. I love SublimeText, but others may prefer Atom. Most web developers use git for version control, but others may use SVN. There’s no shortage of choice of tools in web development. The joke, “If you don’t like the weather in Maryland, wait 5 minutes” is also applicable to web development. If you don’t like the tools available to you, just wait 5 minutes for new ones!

The post What’s in a Web Developer’s Toolkit? appeared first on Icon Graphics.

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I’m sure we’ve all seen this phrase when signing up for a new account online. In the earlier days of the web, there wasn’t as much concern about web security, making simple passwords quite common. But while plain passwords are easy to remember, they are incredibly unsecure.

Let’s take a look at the first five entries in SplashData’s 25 worst passwords of 2013:

1. 123456
2. password
3. 12345678
4. qwerty
5. abc123

Enticing though they may be, those five passwords could be guessed in under a second. And that’s just using just a desktop computer!

In our line of work, when handling client information online, we commonly run into passwords structured something like “arthur42.” Just a name or a word followed by a number. You might think that the number makes it secure, but in reality, it only makes the password minutely more difficult to crack. Rather than an instant guess, it jumps to 11 minutes. Capitalizing the “A” increases decryption time to a whopping 15 hours, but I think we can do even better.

Building a Better Password

When a website urges you to add a symbol and number to your password, you may find yourself wondering, “What good will that really do?”

Going back to our example above, let’s try adding another number and a single symbol. “Arthur423$” would take 58 years. That’s 1,411 times longer than the password above! While that’s definitely an improvement and you’re vastly better off using that than “arthur42,” we can still do better.

The reason these simple passwords are easy to crack is because the automated tools used to crack them have a huge dictionary of words to pull from. They’ll automatically (and very quickly) try those words and variations on their spelling and capitalization while also trying to append numbers to them until they finally get a match. So while adding a “$” or “3” doesn’t solve our problem, you can see how utilizing symbols and numbers can greatly boost the security of your password. Less than a second to 58 years is quite a jump!

So, what would we consider to be a good, strong password? I personally use a random password generator that just now gave me “M$j%$@gXSN2Le*O.” Using the same parameters used to gauge “arthur42,” it would take your average desktop PC 16 billion years to crack it. Since that’s 3 billion years longer than the age of the universe, I think we’ve found our secure password.

Remembering a Better Password

“M$j%$@gXSN2Le*O” may be secure, but it’s not very easy to remember. Some people come up with memory tricks to remember their passwords, but that’s not always possible. So what are our options? How can we be secure, but not have to rack our brains trying to remember dozens of super-complicated passwords?

Personally, I use a password manager. A password manager is a program that keeps track of your passwords for you in an encrypted database. It only requires the memorization of one super strong password to be given access to all of your accounts. Now, this may seem like an “all your eggs in one basket” approach, but any good password manager will require multiple means of verification (commonly known as two-factor authentication). That way you — and only you — can have access to your passwords.

My preferred manager at the moment is KeePass, which allows you to store your passwords in a secure, encrypted database file. To unlock that encrypted file, you can utilize up to 3 methods of verification: encryption key file, password, and Windows account verification (which will limit access to the database to the user who created it). I utilize the encryption key file and a strong password. The downside to KeePass is that it requires a good bit of setup and a little extra know-how to use it effectively.

A more user-friendly method is LastPass, which exists as a website and browser plugin for managing passwords. The major advantage LastPass has over KeePass is the browser plugin detects what site you’re attempting to log into and auto-populates the login form for you. The major disadvantage is that your encrypted passwords are stored on a 3rd party’s server rather than locally on your own machine. But since LastPass also offers two-factor authentication via several mobile apps for an extra layer of security, it’s still a strong option — and much preferable to “arthur42.”

In Summary

While prompts to create a stronger password may seem like an annoyance or inconvenience, the value of a strong password cannot be overstated. The easiest way for someone to gain unwanted access to your email, social media, or other online accounts is by guessing your password. The weaker the password, the easier this becomes. Tools like LastPass and KeePass can be very helpful for utilizing strong, complicated passwords without the hassle of having to memorize them.

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Welcome to Icon Graphics.

What’s new?

When we designed our last website, the world was a different place. Smart phones were in their infancy. Tablets were something you wrote in with a pen. Chrome, one of the current leading web browsers, didn’t even exist.

But all of that’s changed now. The web — and business at large — is far more interactive than it used to be, thanks in large part to social media, blogging, and the ever-changing nature of the web and business culture alike. Fortunately, as the online world has grown and changed, so have we. Here’s a look at what you can expect:

• Our site is now fully responsive and easy to navigate on any device. Learn more about responsive web design!
• We’ve updated our portfolio to show the breadth of work we’ve published — and to give you a better idea of what we can do for you. We’ve been around for over 20 years, so we’ve got a lot to show.
• We’ve expanded our news section to include updates about Icon Graphics along with inspiration, tips and tricks, and more. You’ll learn about our design process, how design can help grow your business, and how our team is involved in our community. Subscribe to our newsletter through the link in our footer and never miss an update!

What now?

• Take a look at the services we offer. Our experience and longevity in business gives us an edge and understanding that’s hard to come by.
• Get to know our team. We work together to give you the best possible design solution.
• Follow us on social media. We’re active on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.
• Subscribe to our newsletter to receive Iconography news, tips, and motivation.
• Connect with us to see what Icon Graphics can do for you. We’d love to sit down and talk with you about your business needs and how we can help you achieve your goals.

Looking forward to seeing more of you in the future!

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• Read the press release.
• View the atlas online.

The post Potomac River Atlas Available Online and In Print appeared first on Icon Graphics.

The Hagerstown-Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) officially unveiled the new Potomac River Atlas at the Board of County Commissioners meeting on Tuesday May 28. The project was a collaboration of the county’s GIS Office, Icon Graphics and the CVB.

Copies of the atlas are available at the Visitor Welcome Center for $5. Look for the new site in June!

Read the press release.

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Cell Magazine is the leading trade publication for the scientific community. The Johns Hopkins scientists submitted the cover design created by Icon Graphics as a graphical representation of the scientific report published that week by Cell Magazine.

Cell Press is committed to improving scientific communication through the publication of exciting research and reviews. Senior scientists and researchers worldwide turn to Cell Press each month to stay abreast of the latest and most salient scientific discoveries. The full issue of Cell Magazine and the article can be viewed at www.cell.com.

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