Data entry hell.

We’ve all been there. It’s the place where a team of 17 enters information off of handwritten expense forms into a database. It’s the no-man’s land where your summer interns type in the results of three months’ worth of records requests. It’s you combining summer camp listings from no fewer than 12 spreadsheets, each with its own adorable little quirks and styles.

Often, newsrooms tackling these kinds of monster projects turn to the least-common denominator method in the name of convenience. Generally, that means using Microsoft Excel spreadsheets or an Access database ...

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Does this describe you? - Interested in learning about data-driven Web development - Stuck with a Windows box and no hope of getting something not blessed by IT - Curious, but a little nervous, about jumping feet first into Linux - A little nervous about jumping feet first into server setup - A little nervous about installing all the stuff you need If it does, then have I got a deal for you. Presenting the painless, totally free, hold-my-hand instructions to get you from crappy IT-blessed Windows install to full-blown open-source development environment that won't destroy what you have and won't require anything ... Read more ...