Interesting Links from the Web - January 2010 Edition
Monday, January 25. 2010
I've signed up for "Project 52", and I've already missed last week, only the third week in. That being said, the whole point of Project 52 is to get people using their blog, to post more. There is a goal, but the ultimate goal is simply to post more.
A lot of my lack of success is simply trying to come up with real valuable content each and every week. I must realize that it's simply not going to be possible - at least not up to my own standards. That's not to say that I can't still post interesting things, just not necessarily the type of stuff I'd want to write about with gusto and enthusiasm - but still kinda cool. I mean, we learn things on an almost daily (if not hourly) rate as web developers. Why can't I simply zero in on one and discuss it? Or, perhaps mention all the neat things I've found in a particular week if I simply don't have time to write a full article on something I'm working on (which is what happened this past week - I was shipping furniture to my new house in a rental truck from out of state).
Anyhow, here are some interesting links that I've found (mostly from Smashing Magazine's Twitter account) within the past week or so (in no particular order):
- Why Mood Boards Matter: A look in to a quick way of getting a client on board with your end-result design without actually showcasing any direct portion of the site. An interesting approach that I had heard of and seen, but this iteration looks much nicer and more professional (the 2nd example).
- PostageApp: "The easier way to send email from web apps". This service offers a (currently) freely available (beta) API to send emails, also allowing for reporting services and debugging for such tasks. Quite the interesting little project, and could be extremely useful and handy.
- Uptime Robot: I currently am using mon.itor.us for my website uptime reporting. However, I originally signed up for the IM chat based alerting, and it only worked for the first two-three weeks. They adjusted the alerting mechanism to only alert via email when it had X number of consecutive bad pings...it might be time to evaluate a competitor, and here's one of them!
- jQuery Sheet: To quote their own description - "jQuery.sheet addresses the web-based spreadsheet or "websheet" in a different, simple, approach - using html, you simply load the sheet from a url, and you save it to a url... Simple. Or write your own approch. jQuery.sheet manages the sheet creation, viewing, and editing processes, you simply build your application around it." Quite interesting, and although I don't currently have a use for it, it's definitely something that I could see being very useful and powerful.
- Project Sikuli: This project is quite different. It appears (from a quick glance) to be a scripting language to help automate tasks. That's nothing new. The new part is the fact that it uses screenshot captures to do the scripting. Yes, that's correct. I honestly can't do it justice to talk about it, so check out the site and watch the video and read up on it if it sounds at all interesting.
- WhiteSmoke Writer 2010: The new version adds "writing review", which according to the quick animated Flash file on their homepage, might even be useful for me. It suggests changes to grammar to make a "negative sentence" neutral, or positive. This is something I sometimes have issues with when it was not intended. If I start a business of my own on the side, it's the last thing I want to do to my clients, so this might be worth a purchase, or at least an evaluation/consideration.
- SupportDetails.com: Although it's such an easy concept and execution (practically anyone could create this service), it's got a nice UI and...hey, I didn't think of it first. SupportDetails.com grabs the details of your current session data and allows you to mail it to someone. Let's say a website visitor is claiming there's this weird bug on your site, but you just can't see it. This could possibly identify the odd combination of software/resolution/settings that could cause the issue. At the very least, it's a simple and neat idea.
...and saved for last just because... The Ultimate PC Chair: I want one for work. Quoted from the linked blog discussing it: "NOTE TO MY BOSS – Dear Mr Boss, I am certain that my productivity would increase by 60,000% if you bought me this chair
DISCLAIMER: There is also a chance that I will be so comfy that I will fall asleep during work hours."
A lot of my lack of success is simply trying to come up with real valuable content each and every week. I must realize that it's simply not going to be possible - at least not up to my own standards. That's not to say that I can't still post interesting things, just not necessarily the type of stuff I'd want to write about with gusto and enthusiasm - but still kinda cool. I mean, we learn things on an almost daily (if not hourly) rate as web developers. Why can't I simply zero in on one and discuss it? Or, perhaps mention all the neat things I've found in a particular week if I simply don't have time to write a full article on something I'm working on (which is what happened this past week - I was shipping furniture to my new house in a rental truck from out of state).
Anyhow, here are some interesting links that I've found (mostly from Smashing Magazine's Twitter account) within the past week or so (in no particular order):
- Why Mood Boards Matter: A look in to a quick way of getting a client on board with your end-result design without actually showcasing any direct portion of the site. An interesting approach that I had heard of and seen, but this iteration looks much nicer and more professional (the 2nd example).
- PostageApp: "The easier way to send email from web apps". This service offers a (currently) freely available (beta) API to send emails, also allowing for reporting services and debugging for such tasks. Quite the interesting little project, and could be extremely useful and handy.
- Uptime Robot: I currently am using mon.itor.us for my website uptime reporting. However, I originally signed up for the IM chat based alerting, and it only worked for the first two-three weeks. They adjusted the alerting mechanism to only alert via email when it had X number of consecutive bad pings...it might be time to evaluate a competitor, and here's one of them!
- jQuery Sheet: To quote their own description - "jQuery.sheet addresses the web-based spreadsheet or "websheet" in a different, simple, approach - using html, you simply load the sheet from a url, and you save it to a url... Simple. Or write your own approch. jQuery.sheet manages the sheet creation, viewing, and editing processes, you simply build your application around it." Quite interesting, and although I don't currently have a use for it, it's definitely something that I could see being very useful and powerful.
- Project Sikuli: This project is quite different. It appears (from a quick glance) to be a scripting language to help automate tasks. That's nothing new. The new part is the fact that it uses screenshot captures to do the scripting. Yes, that's correct. I honestly can't do it justice to talk about it, so check out the site and watch the video and read up on it if it sounds at all interesting.
- WhiteSmoke Writer 2010: The new version adds "writing review", which according to the quick animated Flash file on their homepage, might even be useful for me. It suggests changes to grammar to make a "negative sentence" neutral, or positive. This is something I sometimes have issues with when it was not intended. If I start a business of my own on the side, it's the last thing I want to do to my clients, so this might be worth a purchase, or at least an evaluation/consideration.
- SupportDetails.com: Although it's such an easy concept and execution (practically anyone could create this service), it's got a nice UI and...hey, I didn't think of it first. SupportDetails.com grabs the details of your current session data and allows you to mail it to someone. Let's say a website visitor is claiming there's this weird bug on your site, but you just can't see it. This could possibly identify the odd combination of software/resolution/settings that could cause the issue. At the very least, it's a simple and neat idea.
...and saved for last just because... The Ultimate PC Chair: I want one for work. Quoted from the linked blog discussing it: "NOTE TO MY BOSS – Dear Mr Boss, I am certain that my productivity would increase by 60,000% if you bought me this chair
DISCLAIMER: There is also a chance that I will be so comfy that I will fall asleep during work hours."
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