Seattle Publishing Journal
August 2009

As summer ’09 comes to a close and fall is just around the corner, we can all agree that this one will be memorable for both its highlights and its low points. In this issue, we share information with you about Ruby on Rails development (web 2.0 technology) and one of SP’s role models, who started in the printing industry and helped to found our nation.

Thanks for reading.

Cheers,
The SP Crew

IN THE NEWS

Road Sprinkler Fitters Union

In July, Seattle Publishing and Road Sprinkler Fitters Union, Local 669 signed an agreement for the development of their next generation database. This database will provide realtime secured data that will be maintained and shared among forty regional union organizers.

The Road Sprinkler Fitters Union is one of the oldest unions in the United States with national membership.

FEATURED PROJECT

WWISH-inc.com - SP goes social with this cutting edge web 2.0 site

Seattle Publishing and Women’s Wellness & Integrated Social Heatlh (WWISH) began the development of their next generation website in February. After many months of sweat, stress and many laughs, the website, WWISH-inc.com, is live. This website has the ability for subscribers to interact with each other by posting and sharing online stories. Also, subscribers can upload and share their videos on their individual pages as well as create online articles within the WWISH website.

By incorporating Ruby on Rails web applications and PHP programming, the site is packed with functionality and horsepower. This combination will provide the WWISH community of subscribers and service providers with the tools to connect within an online environment.

TIPS & TRICKS

What is Ruby on Rails (RoR) and why should you care?

Ruby on Rails is a Rapid Application Development (RAD) framework for building dynamic web applications such as Twitter.com, WWISH-inc.com and 43Things.com. RoR was originally written by David Heinemeier Hansson and was released to the general public in July 2004. Since its release, Ruby on Rails has gained a lot of press and developers’ attention.

One of the key philosophical principles behind Ruby on Rails is commonly expressed as Don’t Repeat Yourself (DRY). The idea behind DRYness is to minimize duplicate code. When you have duplicate code in different source files and later discover that the code has a bug, you would then need to update several files. If you strive for code reuse, you minimize the impact of a software defect to only one point in the source.

This philosophy and its ability to integrate with our Gutenberg Publishing System® is one of the reasons that SP has selected this language for web 2.0 development.

THE ART OF PUBLISHING

Benjamin Franklin Founding Printer

Decades before the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution was drafted, Benjamin Franklin had a long career as a publisher. At the age of twelve, Ben began to learn the business of printing by accepting an apprenticeship with his older brother James, who had set up a printing press in Boston. At seventeen he was a fully skilled printer, able to work in any print shop. At this point, Ben would leave Boston and find work in both Philadelphia and London. At the age of twenty-two, Ben opened his own printing office in Philadelphia and began publishing his most famous publications, The Pennsylvania Gazette, and his annual Poor Richard’s Almanack. During this time, he introduced many new ideas to publishing such as cartoons, illustrated news stories, and letters to the editor. He found the use of cartoons and illustrations important since many people in colonial times couldn’t read.

By 1731, Ben founded America’s first circulating library so people could borrow books to read even if they could not afford to buy them.

DID YOU KNOW...

Internships

SP has expanded its successful internship program to include marketing and programming positions. With a tight job market, many students and recent graduates are accepting internships to gain additional work-related experience. For the summer quarter we welcomed Melissa Patera, Marketing Intern, and Timothy Ting, Programming Intern.

 

The Gutenberg Publishing System's® namesake, Johannes Gutenberg, defined modern publishing when he blended 1400’s ink, type and mechanical technology to invent the moveable type press. With the same drive towards efficiency, Seattle Publishing’s database-driven system helps organizations manage their information and streamline the production process for print- and web-based publications.

Seattle Publishing, Inc. is a 36-year old company that blends current technology with time-tested publishing techniques. The company is a recognized leader in database-driven publishing and is constantly working to be the standard by which all competitors are compared.

Press Contact

Amber Zapffel
Seattle Publishing
206-903-1333
amber@seattlepub.com