Our very own Chris Lea, architect and driving force behind the Virb infrastructure and startup rock-star consultant passes on his priceless knowledge on how to bulletproof your MySQL backups. Follow Chris’s instructions on Think Vitamin and you will rest easier knowing that you have good, safe backups of your database.

Think Vitamin is the official blog of Carsonified, a long time (mt) partner . Think Vitamin is a member of the Smashing Network and overall awesome resource created by the prolific web professional, Ryan Carson

After 14 days, over 600 AMAZING entries and countless hours of judging some of the most impressive uses of jQuery ever gathered in one place, we finally have our Grand Prize, MacBook Pro winner… David Kaneda and his jQTouch plugin.

David describes it as “a jQuery plugin for mobile web development on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and other forward-thinking devices.” We describe it as a totally awesome way to make your iPhone web apps behave more like native apps, and enable developers everywhere to leverage the power of jQuery for rapid web development.

To check out of all of the winners, head on over to the contest page, and stay tuned to our twitter for the next (mt) giveaway… coming soon.

Special thanks to jQuery, and our awesome group of judges!

Jquery and (mt) Media Temple are welcoming the release of JQuery 1.4 with a much celebrated launch, one day at a time.  What’s that mean?  Starting on January 14th (the B-day of JQuery) the JQuery team will release exclusive bits of code and content from 1.4 every day, for 14 days.  (mt) Media Temple will be matching that excitement with a daily JQuery contest, awarding hosting prizes and one grand prize winner!

(mt) has enhanced the security of customer accounts with a new feature called “Support PINs”. Requested by users desiring stronger privacy for their passwords, “Support PINs” allow customers to optionally generate temporary passwords inside the AccountCenter. This new measure keeps your password both verbally and electronically private inside an encrypted database at all times.

Check out our KB for more information on how it works! Thank you.

It’s time for some more news about the GRID. In this session, we’ll cover:

• Gen 2 Upgrade – 100% complete!
• MySQL stability
• More processing power
• Email improvements
• Cluster 6 — Coming Soon
• Updated 1-Clicks
• (cs) update

Update! Here are the lucky winners!

@pegexplores: Winning Image

@gosquared: Winning Image

@TheDeveloper: Winning Image

@nuxnix Winning Image

FOWA London stands as a major, hard hitting examination of the roles and impact of web apps on our internet lives.

We’ve been working with Mr. Ryan Carson and his multifaceted company, Carsonified, for years and never underestimate the innovation and relevance of their blog, events and overall approach to the internet. The “Future Of” events are no exception. Each year they bring shockingly relevant content regarding everything internet.

As part of our partnership with Carsonified, we often throw a VIP/Speaker Dinner for the “Future of” events. This time around, they’ve given us a few Full Conference Passes to give out to our clients and friends with an added bonus! Here’s where you come in…

Cooler weather sharpens the mind. We look forward to absorbing and sharing fresh ideas and possibly cocktails in the next couple of months at these innovative events…

We had the good fortune to talk to web type guru and long-time (mt) friend, Jason Santa Maria about Typedia — a genius “must-use” resource for anyone looking for inspiration in twenty-six characters. Interview after the jump…

Our own Chris Lea talks Virb, (mt) culture, and serves up some tasty treats about upcoming products with .net magazine. Check it out!