jQuery: CrossSlide Plugin
Posted by admin | Filed under Web
Not your standard image crossfader, this plugin can do basic fading between images and even a ken burns effect using jQuery.
http://www.gruppo4.com/~tobia/cross-slide.shtml
Tags: jquery
[jQuery] Seek Attention
Posted by admin | Filed under Web
This jQuery plugin is similar to Safari 3’s find feature. It will darken everything on the page except for the element you specify. Validation is the most obvious use for this, but I’m sure there are more.
Also, it doesn’t just highlight an element, it can pulse and the overlay can be in any color. You can even confine the darkened area to one element, so you could just darken the form on the page with the invalid element.
http://enhance.qd-creative.co.uk/demo/seekAttention/
Tags: jquery
Flowplayer
Posted by admin | Filed under Web
A slick, free flash video player for custom sites. Supports streaming, full screen, playlists, and its all accessible from Javascript.
Check out http://www.flowplayer.org/ for your next project.
Tags: Flash
Flickr Video
Posted by admin | Filed under Random, Web
Flickr recently released a new feature which has caused a bit of an uprising. The videos can only be 90 seconds long, and are higher quality than many websites. Currently, only Pro accounts are able to post these videos.
Here’s an example of a video posted to the service:
The argument against videos on flickr seems to be “youtube is just for video, flickr is just for photos.” I know youtube has gotten a bit of a bad name with so much less-than-useful content. This is probably what most people are afraid of Flickr becoming. But 90 seconds isn’t long enough for an effective rant. The simple fact that flickr video isn’t free will keep most whiney teens away.
The next argument being used is how much bandwidth it will take and the site will turn into molasses. Well there seem to be a lot of videos on there already, with no slowdown. The site is owned by Yahoo, not the neighbor next door – they know what they’re doing.
There are actually petitions with over 2600 signatures to remove video from Flickr. I expect a lot more signatures from selfish people who want to take away a great feature from probably millions of people who love their videos. No one’s forcing them to post video, it hasn’t affected the quality of the service, and the time limit is too short for the average whiney teen in their 30’s.
Picasa handles videos along with photos, why shouldn’t online storage of our media have everything in one place?
Tags: flickr, Photography, Web
Google Maps Street (US Only)
Posted by admin | Filed under Web
Originally uploaded by clompers
Google has rolled out a new feature that allows you to see a virtual tour of streets in major cities in the US. To avoid the complaining from other countries about why their cities haven’t been photographed, Google has blocked access to this feature to anyone not in the US. I suppose some would say it’s to prevent access to a terrorism tool, but then how did I take this screenshot from Canada…? http://maps.google.com
This is nothing compared to the new 3D view Microsoft has just come out with where you can see 3D buildings in some major cities. However, that only works in windows. http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/05/28/microsoft-live-takes-new-york-3d/
[Via Petah]
Tags: Web Apps 2.0
Google buying Feedburner for $100 million
Posted by admin | Filed under Web
It seems the best web apps are being bought out, and now its Feedburner’s turn. They are being sold for $100 million to Google. Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated into Google.
[Via Techcrunch]
Tags: Web Apps 2.0
Coda – Streamlined Dreamweaver
Posted by admin | Filed under Apps, Web
I’ve been coding in Dreamweaver for several years now, and while it worked fairly well, it always felt like I was using a sledgehammer when a screwdriver would do. I never use the database connections, and as a coder I rarely use design view. The built-in ftp is by no means advanced, and it was slow to boot.
Panic’s new app for the Mac called Coda is rapidly becoming my favorite environment for developing. I hate reading long paragraphs, so I’ll split this up…
Pros:
- Split a window up to 4 times horizontally or vertically, and different documents, previews, css files, terminals, and reference books in each pane.
- My newest favorite feature: a function index. Some php scripts can get very long, so it is great to have an index pane.
- Changes made to a site are tracked so you know which files were changed before uploading
- Edit remote files directly – great for fixing that typo before the client sees it
- The file browser is a real file browser where you can create folders, rename files, open with a specified app, etc.
- Its easy to forget all the possible css properties, so Coda organizes all the properties into groups and drop-downs. As a coder I prefer CSS Edit for CSS, and Coda even lets you right-click a file and edit in your favorite editor
- For the people who know *nix, there’s a built-in terminal for ssh connections
- The preview window uses WebKit and adds javascript and DOM inspectors
- Code hints as you type as well as syntax highlighting and code snippets – even shared editing over Bonjour.
- The trial only counts days you open the program – very nice!
Cons:
- Find and replace only works in the current document. There are times when I rename a folder and have to update all files with the new path, which currently cannot be done with Coda.
- The excellent reference manual requires an internet connection. Believe it or not, I don’t live online. I run a local web server to develop sometimes – the internet can be distracting.
- I’ve had issues with ftp uploading all files to the root folder of some web hosts, though a reply to my support request says this is fixed in 1.02 with a publish command.
Hints:
- If you’re used to coding in Dreamweaver like me, you may remember selecting a block of text and pressing tab to indent it all at once. In Coda, the shortcut is CMD-] to indent or CMD-[ to reverse it.
- Explore the menus and preferences for hidden options and features.
Take a look at the website for visuals and download.
Tags: Development, mac, Shareware
Web Hosting
Posted by admin | Filed under Web
I’ve been with Dreamhost for over a year now, and despite some downtime they seem to be doing pretty good. I’m always on the lookout for the best hosting value, and I’ve been hearing about MediaTemple and how its supposed to be so much more reliable, but why do they have such outageous ping times in comparison?
Tags: Web Apps 2.0
Apollo ushering in the next generation of apps
Posted by admin | Filed under Apps, Web
[Apollo is now named Adobe AIR]
I’ve always like the web for its interaction; the ability to make everything interactive. I’m not talking drag and drop, but more working with databases and such – the things we expect of desktop applications. Finally the ultimate “mashup” of technologies is in alpha and it allows web apps to behave like a desktop program.
One of the benefits of having a desktop program installed is interacting with the filesystem on your computer. Forget about the malicious side of that and think of the possibilities. One sample application called Maptacular will read vcard files (contacts) from your computer and plot them on Google Maps.
More sample applications include an RSS reader, a webpage structure analyser, and one that lets you draw over anything on your screen.
Adobe’s Mike Downey did a demo of an eBay-branded Apollo application. It showed a nice interface for browsing, integrated webcam support, and even creating auctions offline which are posted when you reconnect. [Watch it here]
One of the biggest benefits is there is only 1 browser to code for, which happens to be the same one used by Apple’s Safari, WebKit. Apollo will be supported on Windows and Mac, and behave the same on both, with Linux support coming a bit later. Web designers and developers are always struggling to get the site working in all major platform/browser combinations, but eliminates that problem, saving time and money.
My first thought is a CMS for client websites. Imagine giving the client a CD which just works. It doesn’t matter if they still have IE 6 or if they have a Mac.
For me and I’m sure many others, it will be fantastic to be able to create applications which don’t require learning more programming languages like C++ or Java. I could use just HTML and JavaScript, although flex looks to be well supported in Apollo.
Not only is this runtime going to be free, Adobe plans to contribute back to the WebKit open source project with any bug fixes and developments they can.
Now it is still in alpha, which means it could be changing before being released (first half of 2007), but you can find all the details and downloads at http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/apollo/. After you’ve installed the runtime you can download some sample applications from http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/Apollo:Applications:Samples.
Tags: Freeware, mac, Software, Web, Web Apps 2.0
Adobe Photoshop… Online?
Posted by admin | Filed under Web
Adobe has already created an online video editing tool called Adobe Remix, but they want to beat the competition to a good online photo editor in the next 3-6 months.
More on c|net
Tags: Photography, Web Apps 2.0
