mysiteonline™ - iTechnology

Interesting Links from the Web - January 2010 Edition (Part 2)

nospam@example.com (Brendon Kozlowski) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:06:50 -0800

Twitter can be a real boon for learning new things and finding interesting little projects so long as you manage to follow the right people.

Sticky Footer: Alternative Approach - This takes an alternative approach using only a single conditional statement for IE and supports IE5.5+, with 100% valid CSS and HTML

Design Contract Template - A template for contractual jobs in design, alter to your own use (quite verbose)

15 Tips for Designing Tables - A nice resource on using CSS and JS to markup and add interaction to your tables, a nice new take on it with good examples

A review of Rich Text Editors - Not just your grandma's WYSIWYG Editor...great thorough review

An HTML5 Video Player - Created with JavaScript and HTML5 markup; no Flash here folks!

Microsoft's Translator Widget - This thing is the coolest translator I think I've ever seen. It loads the translated version progressively via AJAX without any new page load -- with a loading bar to boot!

Free SEO Toolkit for IIS - I don't use IIS, but for those that do, this would be an enormous help, watch the video to see (good to watch even if you don't use IIS)

Dygraphs - Interactive, zoomable, plottable, QUICK JavaScript-based graphing library - it might give Highcharts.js a run for its money on line graphs (it's basically all this does, unfortunately)

Vector Social Media Icons - I'm not usually one to be excited enough about icons to tell people about them, but the fact that the author supplied two versions of the icons in vector format is pretty darn cool (32x32 and 16x16; 32x32 never scales well to 16x16 size, and 16x16 size is made especially for that size and doesn't look good stretched out)

Revised Font Stack - Looking for more fonts to use in your CSS without requiring @font-face or sIFR? OS's have updated their default font base, check here to see what more options us web developers might have nowadays

jQTouch - "A jQuery plugin for mobile web development on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and other forward-thinking devices." Check out the demo, it's sick...in the good sense.

Free App A Day.com - For all you iPod Touch and iPhone users, check out this site for some free apps! (Don't say I never gave you anything!)

Interesting Links from the Web - January 2010 Edition

nospam@example.com (Brendon Kozlowski) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:12:50 -0800

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."

Picture "perfect" HTML to PDF

nospam@example.com (Brendon Kozlowski) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 10:13:20 -0700

...and by "perfect", I mean that whatever Safari's "Print Preview" mode would look like, that's what you'll get. This link is mostly for my own personal reminder, but someone else may find it useful too.

With this solution, based on the WebKit rendering engine, you can convert HTML pages to PDF with full CSS(3?) support by using a portion of the WebKit (Safari) rendering engine...oh, and it's open source.
BeeBole's solution to converting HTML to PDF with Full CSS Support

Server2Go - Apache, MySQL, SQLite, PHP and Perl all on a CD-ROM

nospam@example.com (Brendon Kozlowski) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:11:14 -0700

The title's a bit misleading, Server2Go also works on a USB drive as well (and like most portable webservers, runs better on a USB drive). However, that's not why I'm all excited about this.

Recently, our web host's newsletter stated that users with Wordpress-MU installed would no longer be able to run it on a shared webhosting plan, it was just too resource intensive. If it was desirable to continue running it, a private server plan would be required. We were using Wordpress-MU, only had 5 blogs, and it hadn't been touched in about 5 months. BYE BYE MU! However, there was a lot of useful information on 2 of the blogs, and I wanted to give the users an opportunity to save their work.

I had two choices:
1. Use a spider, like HTTrack to copy all of the rendered HTML viewable by random visitors, or...
2. Try to find a solution that would let the author log in, view any unpublished pages/posts, and still get some educational benefit out of using a well-known web-based product. (Note: I was only looking for something that works on Windows.)

There were a couple (2) hits from Google explaining how to do it all manually, and a few products that claimed they could do it (if you bought their product; the free version only worked for USB drives, not CD). Server2Go came up as my last opened tab from my search, and it was what I needed. It was free (I wasn't going to pay if I could do it myself manually - though I may donate), and even looked really slick, and was configurable.

It took me two tries to get Wordpress installed and working with Server2Go. I needed to change "localmirror" to 0 while installing it and change it when done, but I didn't do that...so I had to reinstall it all. Wordpress' export/import feature saved the hassle of moving from Wordpress-MU to a single, standalone install of Wordpress, and after that, it only took maybe 3 minutes to set everything up.

If you need to have a product presented on CD to a client, I'd highly recommend Server2Go. USB drives will always work, but run the risk of accidental editing/deletion. A backup plan is always good! ...this is just yet another tool for the arsenal.

LibraryH3lp - A communication gateway for Instant Messaging

nospam@example.com (Brendon Kozlowski) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 19:27:17 -0700

Libraries, and many other institutions, have a difficult time leveraging the ability to allow customers access to communicate with them easily, using one of the most popular online communication tools available: Instant Messaging.

There are many problems, such as:

Multiple Protocols (AIM, ICQ, YIM, GIM, Jabber, IRC, MSN, etc...)
Inability to transfer conversations to another staff member more capable of handling a question or issue
Software compatibility
Operating System compatibility
Web-based communication tools for these protocols

So what's left out there?
Continue reading "LibraryH3lp - A communication gateway for Instant Messaging"

Sharing an Internet Connection with a Cell Provider

nospam@example.com (Brendon Kozlowski) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 10:29:58 -0700

An interesting question came up on the Web4Lib daily-digest today. I replied directly to the author (I think, never understand how listservs work) but I thought I'd share this anyhow as it's not a hugely sought-after solution. Note: there are probably other, better ways to do this. Comments and other solutions are welcome. I am under the assumption you are using Windows XP (if anyone wishes to make alterations for Vista or another OS, you're more than welcome in the comments - if Linux and not using the shell, please specify which distro).

The question:

Has anyone tried to network an internet connection that involves a Verizon PC card in a laptop. Ideally I would like to be able to have 2 or 3 laptops sharing that one connection, but I have no idea where to start!

Hopkins County - Madisonville Public Library

My response:

You would need 2 other components:
- 1 crossover cable (it's a CAT5 cable with slightly different wiring)
- 1 "splitter", so a hub, switch, or router.

If you use a wireless router, you'll only need the one cable. If you use a hub, switch, or regular router you'll need a standard CAT5 cable for the other computers to connect to.

Connect the crossover cable to the LAN port on the back of the laptop.

Connect the other end of the crossover cable either in to a single computer, or the "splitter"'s "INTERNET" port.

In Control Panel, go to "Network Connections".

CTRL+CLICK on the two network connections you want to be sharing (the Verizon, and the Local Area Connection).

Right click on one of the two, choose "Bridge Connections". (I can't verify what to do to finish the bridge as I only have one connection on my PC at the moment. A quick internet search could probably tell you.)

If the "splitter" you were using was powered on, you may have to wait a moment for it to get an IP address, otherwise you can always power cycle it to renew its IP. The same goes for the PCs if you don't know how to force it to get a new IP.

I *think* that should do it. If I missed something from memory of when I did internet sharing, you can just do an internet search for examples or tutorials on "network bridging winxp". Switch out "winxp" for whatever OS you might be using if otherwise.

I hope this can help someone looking for a solution - or at the very least, get them on the right track. I am assuming here that the cell provider is not using the LAN port (either a USB or PCMCIA port).

Update: I believe I've enforced some stricter SPAM filtering on my blog (i.e.: any at all). At the very least, I guess I'm now more popular? Sorry for any inconvenience. Comments are enabled once again.

Pingie: Free RSS to SMS Messaging Service

nospam@example.com (Brendon Kozlowski) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 09:02:59 -0800

While using Mon.itor.us to monitor the uptime of my websites' uptime, their IM messaging has not worked for me for quite some time now. They offer SMS messages for a fee as an alternative, but that's no fun considering it costs me $0.15 per SMS as it is. I just came across Pingie, a FREE service that will send an SMS to your phone when it encounters new posts from any feed. Lo and behold, Mon.itor.us provides an alerts feed. Yay.

Pingie.com

OpenID going more mainstream?

nospam@example.com (Brendon Kozlowski) — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 09:02:22 -0800

OpenID, a way for website visitors to easily identify themselves without giving up personal information, has been adopted by Yahoo, and one of Yahoo's subdivisions in Flickr. If you own an account at any Yahoo or Flickr site (mail.yahoo.com, Geocities, Flickr, Yahoo! Stocks, etc...), you can now use these accounts as an OpenID server!

What's this mean, exactly? Well, I won't get in to the technical details (or the "cool" factor), but it means, to me, that most likely other competing companies (Microsoft, Google, and a few more) will be jumping in on the bandwagon to provide OpenID (and hopefully OpenAuth) functionality. Microsoft's Live database would be easily used for this, and we all know the think tank at Google will have this soon enough - I'm actually surprised Yahoo! beat Google to the punch.

Regardless, this is good news all around.

Source: http://jeremy.zawodny.com/blog/archives/009856.html

Interesting Links from the Web

nospam@example.com (Brendon Kozlowski) — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:25:40 -0700

Yup, still doing design work - but I'm not dead to the world, especially the world wide web. Because of that, I have run across quite a few interesting links to share - some are web programming related, some are helpful day-to-day applications (written for the web), and some others are just interesting.

Vista GUI style (Web) Navigation with CSS
Tripoli: A Generic Standardized CSS "framework" (I use this loosely) to keep your CSS and markup clean, and cross-browser compatible
Deliverables That Work: Design Description Documents
LitmusApp - A new website app from Salted to check compatibility between browsers AND email clients
How to Price Your Web Application
Mint: Free Finance Tracking Tool

Notable links with similarities to those above:
Vista GUI with CSS
Paid-for Financial Tracking

Oh Boy! Someone defined Web 3.0!

nospam@example.com (Brendon Kozlowski) — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 09:59:15 -0700

I suppose it was only a matter of time. At least he did start off the definition stating that Web 2.0 was simply a marketing term and not an actual thing...

Check out the Video of Google CEO defining Web 3.0.

dp.SyntaxHighlighter Updated

nospam@example.com (Brendon Kozlowski) — Mon, 14 May 2007 08:34:11 -0700

Many people use the syntax highlighting script, dp.SyntaxHighlighter. I use it for this blog, SitePoint uses a modified version in their articles and blogs, and Yahoo might even use something similar (not entirely sure). Either way, after a while with no updates (and he was updating quite a bit some time ago, so much that it was actually annoying keeping up with the releases). On Friday, May 11th, a new update was released. It's a pretty large update as it now supports both the PRE and TEXTAREA tags. I personally would prefer to use PRE, but the script historically used TEXTAREA as the enclosing HTML tag. The author also moved the code and homepage over to Google Code.

What are you waiting for? Check it out!

Google Analytics Revamped

nospam@example.com (Brendon Kozlowski) — Wed, 09 May 2007 05:55:45 -0700

Google announced yesterday that their website analytical service is getting an overhaul to allow for easier use, better analysis, and a better overview. I think the new look is a big improvement over the current view that I now have (and have had).

To read more about it, read the Google Analytics' Blog or the entry on Mashable.com. The new version will be rolled out to all current customers within the next few weeks, so if you don't have it yet (myself included), please be patient.

Links for the Week

nospam@example.com (Brendon Kozlowski) — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 07:52:16 -0700

Print a selective portion of a web page with CSS and the DOM
A really old article, but a goodie: Typography: The trouble with EN n' EN (and other 'shady' characters)
Some interesting CSS tips/links
From the same source as above, but some AJAX tips and tricks
Linked to from the interesting CSS tips, Got API.com is a web-based developers reference to a VAST amount of documentation
Also linked from CSS links/tips -- CSS Positioning Lesson
Dynamically loading Charts (bar, graph, line, pie, etc...) using XML/PHP (or CFML, ASP(.NET), Perl, etc...) and Flash

Some interesting finds...

nospam@example.com (Brendon Kozlowski) — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 09:36:56 -0800

It's not that I've been enormously busy lately, I just haven't had much to talk about that I felt would be interesting. Today, I ran in to two neat things, and remembered another one.

1 - Ever wanted to allow collaboration within your department (teleconferences on-the-road, telecommute, etc...)? From a quick view of this project, it appears that (with difficulty, mind you), you can...for free* (cost of hardware and labor not included!)! Check out 1videoConference for more information. They have a project page on SourceForge.net (also linked to from their homepage).

2 - While recently trying to figure out if there's an easy way to implement syntax highlighting in an HTML textarea box that is cross-browser compatible, I found ECCO, a web-based text/programming editor. There are plugins to Firefox that do similar things, but this one looks more promising. I honestly don't see a whole lot of merit to this, but it's definitely a really cool proof of concept with some amazing coding (and/or JS hacking).

3 - phpMyBackupPro has recently released a new version after a very long hiatus. I was looking for a quick means to run backups on our MySQL server(s) and didn't want to have to use a GUI to do so...why would I want the troublesome bother of a win32.dll kernel panic error when a database backup was going to run, and getting data is rather simplistic anyway from the command line (and I was too lazy to write my own batch scripts). I found this... It's actually really handy. It allows you to dynamically select which databases/fields you want to backup from any number of different servers...it'll also do error checking to be sure that you're configuration files are properly set. I run a batch script to call the CLI version of this PHP script each Friday night after the library is closed (at slow usage times), and then another batch script to transfer those GZ compressed backups from off my machine to yet another server that gets backed up every few days (you could always let the script delete backups older than X days, and simply copy the backups to an external server, that way there are 3 unique points of failure instead of 2).

There you have it, some possibly useful, somewhat interesting things to report on. Have a great week!

Server Monitoring

nospam@example.com (Brendon Kozlowski) — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 11:58:33 -0800

While wandering around the web, I somehow accidentally came across a free service that allows people to monitor their servers for free. Free has always been a nice "selling" point for me... Anyhow, this service allows me to send HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, SIP, TCP, UDP, IMAP, SMTP, POP3, PING, and DNS all for a specified IP or domain (and/or subdomain). I can create reports, allow more than one person to view the resulting information (I think), do some benchmarking, subscribe to feeds on my data...and it can contact me in various ways in the event of any failures:

Contact Options:

SMS (cellphone)
Email
ICQ
Yahoo
MSN
Google Chat

...sorry, no AIM (yet)...
Continue reading "Server Monitoring"