Technology – Page 8 – Brandon Moeller

Linkpost 05.17.08

Been surfing a lot lately. Here’s what I’ve been reading up on.

Web standards | Here’s the rationale behind the push for Web standards, the main reason I need to learn more about CSS.

Wired.com on Google Friend Connect | Betsy Schiffman wrote an article which alerted me to Google Friend Connect, an attempt by the Web giant to offer code to Web folk like me to allow us to integrate social networking Web sites into our own Site. Imagine being on my page and having MySpace or Facebook controls at your fingertips. Not quite sure what it is yet, as it hasn’t been released, but I asked to be notified by Big Brother Google when it happens.

Google Docs | In the meantime, I should probably take a look at Google Docs sometime.

Snap. I just trademarked my face. | Oh, wait, that was Apple. Ha.

RSS on iPod | Now, that looks like an interesting concept.

iPod customization, et. al | More food for thought.

Free audiobooks? | More for the iPod.

Free classic audio books | iPod geek.

I need a new Word Press theme.

Word Press theme # 1 | I have grown tired of my theme, so here’s a bunch more to look at.

Word Press theme # 3

LifeHacker.com | I need to RSS this.

Braintied.com | Where did it go?

A Web mystery | Pawel Ciszewski: an entrepreneur or a Web site killer?

Schipul.com | A good Houston Web company.

Tendenci content management | Schipul’s content management system.

Creative Leak | An interesting art community, created by a lead designer at Schipul.

Leila Dallal | My friend, Leila, is an artist. Here is some promo material

Black-Eyed Susan | The official drink of the Preakness. It’s good. But two parts sweet and sour, not three – please. It’s good frozen, too.

Sabai Thai Cafe | Kim suggests this place for dinner.

CSS: Rotating header, etc.

I found some CSS links today:

CSS code-writing applications

How to create a CSS-based rollover image effect

…

And then I found an interesting article about fostering online communities which contains the quote of the day:

“Any time you construct specific rules of engagement, they are instantly open to interpretation and circumvention, and we want our members to negotiate their place with each other, not with The Authority.”

But then I found what I was really looking for. A nifty way to make the main image on my home page change every time it is refreshed in a user’s browser, lending a new feel for when people come back to pay it a visit. I heard about this nifty tool from Nathan Smith. Here’s a look at it in action.

It was made possible by a genius named Dan Benjamin, and was first showcased on his journal A List Apart.

Here’s a direct link to the PHP script that makes it all possible, but really, go ahead and click the “A List Apart” link above to get the full picture of what you’re getting into first.

I can’t wait to get started on this. So, excuse me while I put down some code. Â Oh, and Obama has North Carolina but Hillary leads in Indiana. Shudder.

TV taught me …

Elektra is a piss-poor action flick. Yawn.

There are at least 25 memorable swimsuit moments.

Kelsey Grammaer is the producer of Medium, a decent show that involves this woman who dreams the future and who got mad at her husband for knowing something he didn’t want to tell her because he’s a nice guy.

Jay Leno still reads headlines.

Robert Downey Jr. is Iron Man.

Niles was instantly attracted to Daphne when they first met on the Lifetime 11 p.m. rerun.

ScribeFire : Testing

ScribeFire :: Firefox Add-ons
… I’m blogging this entry from this page on the Mozilla.org site, thanks to my new Scribe Fire add-on for FireFox. My favorite browser. A browser that makes sense. A browser that is constantly being developed by a happy community of geeks. A browser that makes me glad to be alive. OK, you get the picture. Woo-hoo!

Stuff I’m looking at today …

Here’s a list of links to sites I’ve checked out today, as I blindly searched for ways to make my Web site – particularly WordPress and Plogger – look better.

I really like the Ardamis AIR theme for plogger, so I might give that a whirl tonite.

Brandon

Here goes:

Plogger : How to bypass collections screen:
http://www.theblog.ca/plogger-collections

Good looking ploggers:
http://photos.benjarriola.com/
http://media.almirun.com/photos/

Plogger badges/ WordPress widget?
http://joshua.almirun.com/tech/web/goodbye-flickr-hello-plogger

Web design “cool tools”
http://www.position-relative.com/category/cool-tools/

Plogger themes:
http://www.ardamis.com/2007/07/05/plogger-beta-3-theme-air/
http://www.ardamis.com/2007/09/10/plogger-3-theme-broadway/

Plogger rolled nicely into WordPress example:
http://www.lifeofreilley.com/about/

Wordpress themes:
http://www.ardamis.com/2007/06/03/apricot/

Arkanoid: The reunion

An hour and a half. Level 17. My reward, this umbrella. Total bliss.

A recent stroll at the mall with that certain someone resulted in a conversation about video games. I’m not talking about those bloody adrenaline-rushing 3-D spectacles of modern programming and cross-marketing that now passes for the genre. I’m talkin’ dunh dunh dunh dunh dunh Dunh, DUNH. Doo-doo Doo-doo Doo-doo. Nintendo. The original. NES. What seemed like the sole reason for my existence during a good chunk of the more formative years.

Ah, yes. So I tried downloading the former NES Emulator I had on an old machine ages ago, but I’m glad it wouldn’t work on VISTA because who wants something called NESticle.

After finding a virtual NES java Web site, I stumbled upon NEStopia and this large collection of games. The version of Arkanoid is particularly rewarding because it has infinite lives coded right into to it to ensure hours of seamless fun.

I may never leave the house again.