Archive for Resources
January 20, 2006 at 12:50 pm · Filed under jQuery, Resources, Javascript
Javascript is becoming more and more important in today's web sites. With all the hype around web 2.0 (whatever that means), AJAX and Rich User Interfaces, developers will need better tools to work with Javascript. Here are two recent tools that I found to be extremely helpful:
jQuery
jQuery is a Javascript library that takes this motto to heart: Writing Javascript code should be fun. jQuery acheives this goal by taking common, repetitive, tasks, stripping out all the unnecessary markup, and leaving them short, smart and understandable.
An example:
$("p.surprise").addClass("ohmy").show("slow");
The above code snippet looks for all paragraphs that have a class of 'surprise', adds the class 'ohmy' to them, then slowly reveals them.
FireBug Extension
FireBug is a new tool for Firefox that aids with debugging Javascript, DHTML, and Ajax. It is like a combination of the Javascript Console, DOM Inspector, and a command line Javascript interpreter.
November 29, 2005 at 10:15 am · Filed under Resources, Misc
A list of ten things to keep in mind if you are considering a web startup. Here's a sampling:
#5: Be User-Centric
User experience is everything. It always has been, but it's still undervalued and under-invested in. If you don't know user-centered design, study it. Hire people who know it. Obsess over it. Live and breathe it. Get your whole company on board. Better to iterate a hundred times to get the right feature right than to add a hundred more. The point of Ajax is that it can make a site more responsive, not that it's sexy. Tags can make things easier to find and classify, but maybe not in your application. The point of an API is so developers can add value for users, not to impress the geeks. Don't get sidetracked by technologies or the blog-worthiness of your next feature. Always focus on the user and all will be well.
[source: evhead.com]
November 23, 2005 at 11:28 am · Filed under Resources, Ruby on Rails
Here is a nice list of Ruby on Rails tutorials that I found on another blog. It's a good place to start learning about Rails and see what others have done with this wonderful little (not so little anymore) framework.
[Top 12 Ruby on Rails Tutorials]
November 21, 2005 at 9:09 am · Filed under Design, Resources
Here's another good resource for the "non-designers" out there. Choose a base color and it'll give you recommendations for a nice color scheme.
[colormatch redux]
November 3, 2005 at 10:51 am · Filed under Resources
A few days ago I wrote an article about all the cool things people have been doing with Google Maps. The integration of the mapping services with other services is often called a "mash-up". These mash-up sites offer a lot of great and innovative services and they are made possible by the API's provided by the mapping sites.
Today I found out about the beta projects that Yahoo is working on. One project is a Flash based map which works very much like Google Maps. They don't yet have the Satellite view available, but I'm sure they are working on it. Much like MSN's Virtual Earth, Yahoo's version offers an array of cool new features that are missing from Google Maps. I love Google and all their great innovative technologies, and they are usually the first ones to get the products or services to us, but they always seem to be outdone by their competitors when it comes to features. Maybe they choose not to provide alot of features and keep things simple? No matter what, being able to plot multiple point on a map is very important and I think they definitely need to add that in. Anyway, I digress...
I won't bore you with any more opinions. Why don't you go and check out Yahoo's new map. And when you're done playing with it, see what others have done using Yahoo Map's API.
Oh and if you're interested in creating your own map mash-up, read this interesting article by Dan Theurer: How to build a Maps Mash-up
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