Happy Halloween

Flickr offers tools for uploading images

If you don't like working through a web interface for handling your Flickr account then you can use the standalone applications they offer for uploading and working with images in your Flickr account. Easy to install and even easier to work with makes this an option for the most novice users.

Also, Flickr has a pretty cool WinXP Explorer plugin that lets you 'Send To Flickr' right from within Windows Explorer. Can't get much easier than that. (look at the bottom of the tools page for the download and how to install here)

Flickr Uploader:
http://www.flickr.com/tools/

Gatineau is Microsoft's answer to Google Analytics

Microsoft will be releasing an analytics program similiar to Google Analyitcs at some time in the future. Right now its in an invite only beta called Gatineau.

Read all about it:
http://www.liesdamnedlies.com/2007/10/its-here.html

Link to beta invite:
http://advertising.microsoft.com/microsoft-adcenter-gatineau

Pause Animated GIFS in Firefox and IE

Have you ever been on a page with a ton of animated GIF’s, and all you’re trying to do is read the content? It can get quite distracting, but if you’re using Firefox or Internet Explorer just hit the ESC key. Doing so will immediately pause all of the animated GIF images on the page.

Never knew that. Wish I knew this a long time ago.

Link:
http://.../pause-animated-gifs-in-firefox-and-ie/

Add a survey or poll to your website

Poll:
Easy-Poll.com let you quickly and easily add a poll to your website. They store the results and you manage the poll through your account with them. Although you lose some control over the poll having all information passed to them, this is a drop-dead easy solution for the non-developers out there.
http://www.easy-poll.com

Survey:
LimeSurvey is probably the best open-source, PHP, survey script I have found. Its highly customizable and can handle most kinds of surveys you want to put up with ease. The down side, and there is always a down side, the admin area is kinda confusing and non-intuitive to use. Once you get past the admin area you will probably find that LimeSurvey works great. (oh and they have a very nicely designed website)
http://www.limesurvey.org/

List of more surveys:
http://.../Onlinesurveys/software.htm#freesoftware

Cfont Pro: Font Manager v3 released

The next version of Cfont Pro, font manager, has been released. This version brings some new tools and makes it compatible with Windows Vista, finally.

Whats New:

• Now supported on Windows Vista
• Redesign Font Browser to include an always displayed Folder Browser
• Brand new Quick Detailed Viewer lets you see all fonts with key information in a single location
• New Zoomer tool lets you see the details of any font and any character
• Added a Property Toolbar to let change some properties instead using the Property Window
• Glyph viewer lets you see how a font character is constructed

This version was going to include a lot more things but since I have some other projects that are taking focus I thought I would release it just to get people on the newer version.

Cfont Pro is Free

Link:
http://www.cfontpro.com/
or
http://www.veign.com/application.php?appid=101

Online website creator with Jimdo

Create your own beautiful website. It's really easy to create your own JimdoFree-Page: just sign-up, follow the link to your own Page, integrate pictures, videos and texts in seconds, change the design with a click, add as many pages as you want...and show your swifty JimdoFree-Page to your friends.

These are good for what they are for and that's simple website for you personal use. I would not recommend using a service like this for your business website but for a personal website or a website for a small organization it might work very well.

Link:
http://jimdo.com

Make Password back online

Make Password is back online after a server issue that caused it to not function properly. Thanx to a very helpful person it was brought to my attention and all is resolved.

Link:
http://www.maord.com/

100 Awesome High Resolution Photoshop Brushes

Title says it all. A collection of very high quality, print quality, brushes for Adobe Photoshop. Some of these brushes are amazing.

Link:
http://.../100-awesome-high-resolution-photoshop-brushes/

Google releases Code Search sitemaps

Google's Code Search helps users find function definitions and sample code by enabling them to search publicly accessible source code hosted on the Internet. You can tell Google about source code on your site by creating and submitting a Code Search Sitemap. A Code Search Sitemap is just like a regular Sitemap, and is submitted in the same way, but it does include some additional, Code Search-specific information.

Link:
http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/...

Strange Virtual PC 2007 behavior?

I have noticed a strange behavior in Virtual PC 2007 running on Windows Vista Business. When I start it, it always appears in the system tray. Then, if I right click on the icon and select the "Show Virtual PC Console" command, the program is shown in the taskbar, but it is minimized and I'm unable to restore the normal window

Link:
http://...Strange_Virtual_PC_2007_behavior.aspx

SyncToy v2.0 Beta

SyncToy 2.0 Beta for Windows is available as a free download from the Microsoft Download Center. The easy to use, customizable application helps you copy, move, rename, and delete files between folders and computers.

Whats New:

• Dynamic Drive Letter Assignment: Drive letter reassignment will now be detected and updated in the folder pair definition.
• True Folder Sync: Folder creates, renames and deletes are now synchronized for all SyncToy actions.
• Exclusion Filtering Based on Name: File exclusion based on name with exact or fuzzy matching.
• Filtering Based on File Attributes: The ability to exclude files based on one or more file attributes (Read-Only, System, Hidden).
• Unattended Folder Pair Execution: Addressed issues related to running scheduled folder pairs while logged off.
• Folder Pairs With Shared Endpoints: Ability for folder pairs associated with the same or different instances of SyncToy to share end-points.
• Command line enhancements: Added the ability to manage folder pairs via the command line interface.
• The SyncToy engine has been rearchitected to provide scalability and the ability to add significant enhancements in future releases.
• Sync engine is also more robust insomuch that many single, file level errors are skipped without affecting the entire sync operation.
• Sync Encrypted Files: Sync of Encrypted files works when local folder and files are encrypted, which addresses the common scenario involving sync between local, encrypted laptop PC folder and remote, unencrypted desktop PC folder.
• 64-Bit compatibility
• Folder pair rename
• Sub-folder Exclusion Enhancements: Descendents creates under excluded sub-folders are automatically excluded.
• Folder Pair Metadata Moved: Folder pair metadata removed from MyDocuments to resolve any issues with server-based folder pair re-direction setup.
• Removed combine and subscribe actions.

Link:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...

EURion constellation

The EURion constellation is a pattern of symbols found on a number of banknote designs since about 1996. It is added to help software detect the presence of a banknote in a digital image. Such software can then block the user from reproducing banknotes to prevent counterfeiting using colour photocopiers.

Pretty interesting on the mechanism that copy machines use to detect and block the copying of a banknote.

Link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EURion_constellation

Google has a 'Supported IMAP Client List' help section

Does this mean Gmail will provide support for IMAP?

Link:
http://mail.google.com/...

Quantum cryptography

Elections were transmitted using a secure encryption encoded by a key generated using photons -- tiny, massless packets of light. Since this method uses physics instead of math to create the key used to encrypt the data, there's little chance it can be cracked using mathematics.

Link:
http://.../quantum-cryptology.htm

Offset your computer purchase by planting a tree

Dell thinks that users will pay extra to offset the carbon dioxide emissions when purchasing a computer. Would you?

Microsoft Tester Center

The Microsoft Tester Center showcases the test discipline as an integral part of the application lifecycle, describes test roles and responsibilities, and promotes the test investments required to deliver high-quality software.

Link:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/testing/default.aspx

PayPal Fee Calculator

So simple, so useful, why didn't someone come up with this sooner. PayPal Fee Calculator will let you quickly determine what PayPal's cut will be on a transaction. The nice thing is they offer a way to say I want to receive this much, so how much do I have to request to get the amount I want and still cover PayPal's fees.

Link:
http://www.ppcalc.com/

Top 15+ MySQL Managers and Tools

Aqua
A management tool for the MySQL relational database w/ administration capabilities and a database query tool. The visual administration features provide users the ability to browse and modify database structures, including schema objects, database storage and maintain database security. An integrated query tool allows users to quickly create, edit and execute SQL queries and scripts.


MySQL Quick Admin
A kinda of clone of phpMyAdmin. Has full support for managing databases and tables online through its clean interface (from what I can tell). This might be a good solution for someone not wanting the often complex and overwhelming interface of phpMyAdmin.

phpMyAdmin
phpMyAdmin is a tool written in PHP intended to handle the administration of MySQL over the Web. Currently it can create and drop databases, create/drop/alter tables, delete/edit/add fields, execute any SQL statement, manage keys on fields, manage privileges,export data into various formats and is available in 54 languages. This is the standard for managing MySQL database online.

MySQL Query Browser
The easiest visual tool for creating, executing, and optimizing SQL queries for your MySQL Database Server. The MySQL Query Browser gives you a complete set of drag-and-drop tools to visually build, analyze and manage your queries.


MySQL Administrator
A powerful visual administration tool that makes it easy to administer and monitor your MySQL environment and gain significantly better visibility into how your databases are operating. MySQL Administrator now integrates database management and maintenance into a single, seamless environment, with a clear and intuitive graphical user interface.


MySQL Workbench
a database modeling tool for MySQL. You can use it to design and create new database schemas, document existing databases and even perform complex migrations to MySQL. Not a lot of movement with this project in a very long time and the reason why DB Designer Fork should be checked out first.


DB Designer Fork
DB Designer Fork is a fork of the fabFORCE DBDesigner 4. DBDesigner is a visual database design system that integrates entity relationship design and database creation. DB Designer Fork generates SQL scripts for Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL and FireBird.


Navicat
A powerful MySQL database administration and development tool that is not only sophisticated enough for professional developers, but also easy to learn for new users.


EMS SQL Manager for MySQL
A high performance tool for MySQL Database Server administration and development with a state-of-the-art graphical user interface with well-described wizard system.


Zmanda Recovery Manager for MySQL
Simplifies the life of a Database Administrator who needs an easy-to-use yet flexible and robust backup and recovery solution for MySQL server.


TurboDbAdmin
A single-page solution for exploring and editing databases from a browser. Edit data just like you would in a desktop application, without submit buttons or page refreshes.

Toad for MySQL
A database development and administration tool that provides productivity features for rapidly creating and executing queries and managing complex database systems.


SQLyog
An advanced GUI frontend to MySQL. Includes Visual Query Builder, Visual Schema Designer, Smart Autocomplete, Intelligent Code Completion, Scheduled Data Synchronization, Powerful Migration Toolkit and much more.


WinSQL
WinSQL can talk to any database for which you have an ODBC driver and be the one interface to manage them all.

Applications Manager's MySQL
Applications Manager's MySQL monitoring feature has the ability to connect to the database source & monitor various system table column values, collect data, etc. and also notify through alerts, if the database system properties are beyond a given threshold. Applications Manager provides a web client that allows you to visualize MySQL monitoring data from your database tier alongside your application tiers.


HeidiSQL
An easy-to-use interface and a "working-horse" for web-developers using the popular MySQL-Database. It allows you to manage and browse your databases and tables from an intuitive Windows interface.

Digg It

Quick test from Windows Live Writer

Trying an offline blogging application called Windows Live Writer to see how well it works. Reason is I want to do some bigger and better blog posts that will take time to generate and an offline blogging application will help.

Link:
http://get.live.com/betas/writer_betas

IDEA: Online service to distribute your development assets after your death

What I have been thinking about is all the websites, software and other internet assets that would be lost due to its owner death. How do you preserve assets that others, in your family, may not know what to do with when you die.

If you look at Veign's stuff. Veign has 8 online application, 5 full blown websites that support a specific community, 7 freeware applications and many code samples in my dev library. What would happen to this stuff if something happened to me. I would want the stuff passed along to someone else who I thought would keep the stuff alive, for free, as I intended.

I thought there was a need for a web service where keys (passwords), files (source code) and instructions where kept in a highly secure, encrypted state with a list of other users who would get parts or all of the information upon something happening to me. Basically, withing my account I have my assets and my recipient's. I can divide my assets up against my recipient's who would be notified upon my death (email, snail mail).

The service would be marketed as a way to preserve the assets of the internet and keeping the original developers intent alive even after their death.

The "I will try and contact you and if you don't respond then you are dead approach" that some current services employ would not work since I would be asking people to entrust very sensitive information to the website service and prematurely releasing this information could be devastating for the owner.

I think a two-key process would work better where both keys have to be 'turned' to mark you as dead. Then you can give out these keys to people within your family or, for a simple charge, put the keys within the service who you turn the keys upon proof of death (actual person verifies).

leave your thoughts...

IDEA: Social Shopping website

Create a website that attempts to simulate or bring to the internet the same experience that women have when going shopping together. Allow them, through a website, to shop together, compare products, discuss products and see what each other is looking to buy.

I see shopping online as a very solitaire experience when it doesn't need to be. Create a Social Shopping website where you create a group of other users that you shop with. If nobody is online you shop as your normally do now. If someone in your group is online you get to shop with them (if you want) and have a more social shopping experience.

thoughts?

Windows 7 teaser video

Catch a glimpse of Windows 7 (no UI) or what MS is calling MiniWin:
http://.../eric-talk-demo-windows-7-minwin/

Password strength value added to Make Password

Make Password has been expanded to included a Password Strength value that can be added to the generated password list. This value is a number from 0 to 100 with 100 being a very strong password and 0 being a weak password.

I think this can help when people are creating large lists of passwords as you will now know the strength of the password.

Want something else added or have comments about Make Password then please feel free to drop by the Forum.

Link:
http://www.maord.com/

40 Tips for optimizing your php Code

1. If a method can be static, declare it static. Speed improvement is by a factor of 4.
2. echo is faster than print.
3. Use echo's multiple parameters instead of string concatenation.
4. Set the maxvalue for your for-loops before and not in the loop.
5. Unset your variables to free memory, especially large arrays.
6. Avoid magic like __get, __set, __autoload

Plus 34 more at:
http://reinholdweber.com/?p=3

New Google Analytics features

Whats new:

• Google Analytics to track site search activity
• Google Analytics Event Tracking capability
• Outbound Link Tracking feature

Read up:
http://.../exciting-announcements-at-emetrics.html

CDEarth clutters up Digg

Seems like CDEarth is using Digg to push their own website in an attempt to propogate the, in my opinion, fraudulent business practices.

Read about CD Earth does:
http://.../cdearth-thinkall-one-big-scam.html

How strong are your passwords?

Microsoft has an online Password Strength Checker that will let you know. If your passwords are too weak, or you are looking for password ideas, then check out the article on How to create strong passwords.

Also, if you're looking to make a whole bunch of passwords at a single time then check out Veign's Online Password Creator.

Link:
http://.../protect/yourself/password/checker.mspx

Stop catalog junk mail with Catalog Choice

Catalog Choice is a free service that lets you decline paper catalogs you no longer wish to receive.

Link:
http://catalogchoice.org/

How to Fake a Google Page Rank 10

1. Buy a domain.
2. 301 Redirect the domain either in you .htaccess, PHP header (anything server side) to a page with the desired page rank. It’s better to redirect to something relevant. For example, if you are doing a mortgage site, redirect to a mortgage site.
3. Link to the page with the redirect from another of your sites that gets regularly spidered by Google. Since you use the Alexa Toolbar, you should have several sites that are spidered daily by google.
4.....

Full story:
http://.../how-to-fake-a-google-page-rank-10-or-any-pr-you-want/

New WebRunner Browser by Mozilla

Mozilla cutout all of the frills to give people a one site at a time browsing experience that doesn’t even have an Address Bar, bookmarks, forward/back operations, or many other things that you have become accustomed to a browser having.

At first I thought why. Why would you need a single window that can view only one website at a time with no way to type a new website in. Then they mention web2.0 apps. What a great idea for a quick kiosk application. Web2.0 apps are taking on desktop applications in every area and a simple webbrowser is just the ticket for better simulating a desktop application with a web app.

Link:
http://.../new-webrunner-browser-by-mozilla/

Urchin may not be so dead

I posted last week about the story of Google acquiring Urchin stats and letting the application die. Well it would seem that Google may be releasing v6 of Urchin shortly.

In case you are wondering, Google acquired Urchin and used an Urchin product to produce and release Google Analytics.

Link:
http://.../google-urchin-v6-rumored-to-launch-today/

Defraggler - a new kind of disk defragger

It differs from other defrag tools on the market, by enabling you to quickly and simply defrag the files you want to, without having to process the whole drive. Simply run it, select the file and defragment in seconds. No more struggling with the Windows defragmentation tool!

Its currently in beta and I would recommend waiting for an official release before trying it. Something about a beta disk defragger that makes me nervous.

Link:
http://www.defraggler.com/

Frostwire is a free solution to Limewire Pro

Frostwire is a spinoff of the Pro version of Limewire. Instead of downloading one of the free, open-source compiles of the pro version of Limewire, which I have heard is not legal to distribute, try Frostwire. Its clean, legal and looks just like Limewire.

Frostwire, in simple terms, is a Peer-to-Peer application very much like Kazaa except clean. It allows you to connect with other users on the network to trade files (music and porn mainly).

Features of Frostwire:

• Completely Free & open-source
• Firewall-to-firewall transfers
• Turbo-Charged Download Speeds
• Absolutely NO Spyware or Adware
• Connects to more sources
• Creative Commons license support
• Max. speed network connections
• Junk Result Filters
• Community Chat Rooms
• iTunes Integration
• BitTorrent Support
• Proxy Support

Frostwire:
http://www.frostwire.com/

CDEarth = ThinkAll = One Big Scam

(leave a comment if this helps you)

It would seem that the notorious and underhanded company ThinkAll has opened their doors again under a different company name called CDEarth.

For those who don't know ThinkAll, here's an excerpt from my original post exposing them:

ThinkAll.com may not be what you are expecting. Although the CD's are sent to you free (pay shipping only) your CD's must be sent back to them within 10 days or your credit card will automatically be charged. Not only that you are signing up for a membership where they automatically send you CD's and charge your credit card if not returned after a very short evaluation period.

It would seem that CD Earth is doing the exact same thing. They are selling software that they say is Free software, as listed in the page title and in the footer under the FreeSoftwareCD.net, and automatically enrolling you in a Software Library Club, as listed in their Terms of Service. The Software Library Club is charging $14.99 per CD that you keep beyond 25 days that will automatically sent to you every month and they will charge for shipping these CDs to you every month.

By introducting you to our friendly company through this FREE CD Offer, we hope you will take the time to learn more about us. You'll get this CD for FREE and an additional FREE Software CD that you select on the next page (2 FREE Software CDs in all) with a no obligation, free twenty-five day test-drive of our Software Library Club

I bet you didn't know this when you requested a CD and paid the $2.95 shipping charge. Did you know you were giving them permission to automatically charge your credit card every month for CD's that are not promptly returned to them and which includes a $5.95 shipping charge?

For those who may not have noticed the Terms of Use here is the part you need to know:

6. Software Library Club Membership and Billing. CD EARTH provides numerous products, services, and software in connection with its business. With respect to software provided hereunder, there is a discounted, non-refundable shipping and processing fee of USD$2.96 for the initial four CD software set. You may keep any two CD's free of charge from the initial set. The other two CD's in the first set are yours to review during a 25 day trial period which starts the day you receive your CDs. If for any reason you decide the complete set is not for you, simply visit us at www.cdearth.com/freecd before your 25 day free trial expires. You will need to follow the instructions at such web link to indicate your intention to return two of the CD's and you will not be charged for the two trial CDs. If you elect to keep all four CD's or you otherwise fail to comply with the foregoing instructions, you will be billed to the credit or debit card provided the price of $14.99 for each of the two trial CD's.

As an added benefit and to help you expand your computer software library, about every seven weeks after you receive your first set you will receive another specially selected four trial CD software set to evaluate for just USD$5.96 shipping & processing, as long as your account is active and in good standing. For each such recurring shipment, you will have the same full 25 days from the day you receive them to review all four trial CDs. If you elect to keep all four CD's in the recurring set, you will be billed to the credit or debit card provided the price of $14.99 for each of the four trial CD's. You can cancel your participation in this program at anytime just by visiting the website www.cdearth.com/freecd. There is no obligation and no minimum required purchase.

Why do I think its ThinkAll? They are based in Texas, sell the same software and has the same manager that ThinkAll had.

Here is the detailed company information (same manager as ThinkAll):

Manager on Filing Document:
Yury Mintskovsky

Manager Address:
{snipped} N. Dallas Parkway, Suite {snipped}
Dallas, TX 75248 USA

Registered Agent:
Incorp Services, Inc.

Address:
{snipped} Brazos Street, Suite {snipped}
Austin, TX 78701 USA

In my opinion CDEarth.com / CD Earth, LLC should be avoided as its nothing more than a scam. The software, I have been told, is junk and you would be better off searching google for free alternatives.

here some Free downloads I gathered:

• Home and Office Downloads
• Graphics Downloads
• Internet Downloads
• Creative Downloads
  

Stay Away! Spread the word and Digg This.

Periodic Table of the Internet

Link:
http://...periodic-table-of-the-internet.html

Feed me Seymour: Gmail to 6GB by Jan 2008

The Official Gmail Blog has announced that Gmail's storage counter has received a much-needed bump in its storage growth rate, which will put Gmail storage at 6GB by January 2008. Additionally, the premium Premier Edition is seeing a jump to 25GB from 10GB.

Link:
http://.../gmail-storage-to-6gb-by-january-310231.php

Online floorplan design application

Floorplanner is the easiest, quickest, and best looking way to create and share interactive floorplans. Using point-and-click, drag-and-drop tools, you can make your floor plan in minutes, and rearrange it as often as you want. Then you can save, send, and print your designs to share them, or place them on your own website.

Interesting. Not only can you create a floorplan but you can add and rearrange furniture. What a cool way to plan a room.

Link:
http://www.floorplanner.com/

(as found on DonationCoder)

Always Be Releasing (ABR) approach to software development

Something I have been noticing with software development and the software's user base is that more and more users expect software to be in a constant release mode (which I call Always-Be-Releasing approach). That is, they really don't like the older, more traditional methods (very much like what Microsoft does) where a version is released and any fixes are passed down through patches with new version coming every year or more. It appears that the software release approach used by Open Source where the developers are constantly and consistently releasing new versions (even if its just a dev/snapshot build) is a much more desirable, and in some ways, an expected approach.

If you were to release updates to your application(s) on a daily/weekly basis, even with just minor changes, your users will think the application is always being worked and gain a level of confidence that is hard to come by now. There are just too many dead-applications cluttering the software database websites, the search engines and the software review websites. Users want to make sure the time they invest in learning an application is not going to waste.

The days of a software title release every year or 6 months just doesn't cut it anymore and only upsets your users. Stay in an Always-Be-Releasing state and you will find you users are much happier, contribute more with suggestions and develop a stronger loyalty to your company and software.

Thoughts, leave a comment...

A complete, free CD burning solution with CDBurnerXP

CDBurnerXP is a free application to burn CDs and DVDs, including Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs. It also includes the feature to burn and create ISOs, as well as a multilanguage interface. Everyone, even companies, can use it for free. It does not include adware or similar malicious components

Very nice and a complete CD burning solution. It always amazes me at what developers make available for free.

Link:
http://www.cdburnerxp.se/home

Microsoft and Zend juice PHP for Windows

Zend Technologies, the industry's PHP steward, today delivers the first fruits of its collaboration with Microsoft while expanding the companies' relationship.

FastCGI is an alternative to the Common Gateway Interface (CGI) and follows work by Zend in turning the PHP engine to boost the performance on Windows servers of web applications written using PHP. In the past, Microsoft has claimed a performance boost for PHP of up to 20 per cent using FastCGI.

Link:
http://.../microsoft_zend_server_core/

IDEA: A website to help me remeber who you are

This idea I really haven't had the time to flesh out properly but the gist of the idea is a website geared towards mobile devices that lets you capture the images of people you meet so you can recall them later on. With more and more mobile devices supporting a web browser it would be nice to be able call up a website that helps jog my memory on who somebody is and how I know them. Would also be nice to know its someone's birthday, what their spouses name is or any other information that helps me get into a conversation with someone.

The way I see it working is I meet someone, capture their image into my mobile device, image is automatically pushed into my account in the website. Later on I login and update the person's information and 'tag' this person for easy retrieval later on. To retrieve the information I can capture the image again, and with the use of facial recognition software on the server, recall a persons profile.

There are so many time I meet someone and I either can't remember their name or can't remember how I know them or details of this person.

Like all other ideas posted here I am just throwing this out there. Good or bad idea it doesn't matter, as I am just purging my mind of things that I think would be cool to have developed.

Names for it:

• FaceBase.com (as in a Face Database)
• RememberYou.com
• RemindMe.com

Your thoughts on this? Leave a comment

Winamp 5.5 10th Anniversary Edition

Winamp has release a 10th anniversary edition that contains:

• 29 New Additions
• 34 Improvements
• 46 Fixes

If you look back over the 5.0 version, which has been out for many years, this is the largest update ever. Seems that AOL has been holding on to updates and fixes to make this a more special version.

Why release a 10th Anniversary edition today? It was released on 10/10 at 10:00am.

Link:
http://www.winamp.com/

Enter a URL to see what time it takes to download

HTML Page Breakdown will evaluate the speed at which a webpage will load in a browser. You will see the total time and the breakdown of where the slow points are.

Link:
http://tools.itscales.com/cgi-bin/pma-dl

When Google acquisitions go wrong: the disappointing story of Urchin

In March of 2005, Google acquired Urchin Software Corporation, a San Diego-based web analytics company. A few short months later, Google Analytics was unveiled, which was based on "Urchin On Demand," Urchin's javascript-based "Software as a Service" (SaaS) web traffic analytics solution. Urchin customers were generally thrilled about the acquisition, because it was assumed that it meant great things were in store for all of Urchin's customers. In reality, Urchin's core customers have been ignored, product development has stopped on everything but Google Analytics, and companies are wondering why Google took the money and, well, ran.

Link:
http://google-acquisitions-go-wrong-disappointing-story-of-urchin

Steve Ballmer lets the cat out of the bag

A team of Microsoft spokespeople have been working throughout the day to devise a plausible explanation for a comment made by CEO Steve Ballmer during a company gathering in the UK, which on its face appears to say it is considering litigation against users of Red Hat Linux for copyright infringement.

Read more:
http://...Microsoft_Scrambling_to_Explain_Ballmer_Comment/

The Standard PHP Library

The goal of the Standard PHP Library-or SPL, for short-is to provide a standard library of interfaces that allows developers to take full advantage of object-oriented programming in PHP 5. This library of interfaces creates a standard API for certain kinds of built-in functionality, allowing your classes to interact with the PHP engine in a much more seamless manner.

Link:
http://.../2565-The-Standard-PHP-Library-SPL

Yet another online radio station database with iHeard

iHeard is another organized database of online radio stations. Well organized and very ease to use makes iHeard something worth checking out.

We [iHeard] do not host or stream radio stations, we capture and store rich meta data about each station and connect listeners with stations around the world.

Link:
http://www.iheard.com/

Take screenshots of any webpage with thumbalizr

With thumbalizr you can take screenshots of any webpage you want.
Use it for your presentations, documentations, visualisations or your webpage.

Just enter the target-URL and press the "thumb it"-button. Wait a moment and a screenshot of the desired page will be taken. You can choose between a screenshot with a fixed height of the screen or the complete webpage.

What's real cool about this tool, unlike a lot of these simple online tools, is that they have exposed an API so you can automatically have thumbnails generated on your website or blog.

Link:
http://www.thumbalizr.com/

Internet connectivity across the world

The first rendering displays the relative densities of Internet connectivity across the globe. The stronger the contrast, the more connectivity there is. It is immediately obvious, for example, that North America and Europe are considerably more connected than Africa or South America. However, it is important to note that this only reflect density of connections, and not usage. Hundreds of people may utilize a single connection in an internet cafe, often the only form of connectivity people have access to in developing nations.

Link:
http://chrisharrison.net/projects/InternetMap/

Robots.txt file for an SMF forum

To reduce the duplicate content issue with your SMF forum and the Google index (or any search engine) you should include the lines below (between the dashes) into your Robots.txt file. This will block all pages which can be considered duplicate from getting into a search engine index and/or get removed if already added.

--------------------------------
User-agent: *
Disallow: /forum/index.php?action=activate
Disallow: /forum/index.php?action=admin
Disallow: /forum/index.php?action=arcade
Disallow: /forum/index.php?action=calendar
Disallow: /forum/index.php?action=collapse
Disallow: /forum/index.php?action=deletemsg
Disallow: /forum/index.php?action=editpoll
Disallow: /forum/index.php?action=help
Disallow: /forum/index.php?action=helpadmin
Disallow: /forum/index.php?action=lock
Disallow: /forum/index.php?action=login
Disallow: /forum/index.php?action=logout
Disallow: /forum/index.php?action=markasread
Disallow: /forum/index.php?action=mergetopics
Disallow: /forum/index.php?action=mlist
Disallow: /forum/index.php?action=modifykarma
Disallow: /forum/index.php?action=movetopic
Disallow: /forum/index.php?action=notify
Disallow: /forum/index.php?action=notifyboard
Disallow: /forum/index.php?action=pm
Disallow: /forum/index.php?action=post
Disallow: /forum/index.php?action=profile
Disallow: /forum/index.php?action=register
Disallow: /forum/index.php?action=removetopic2
Disallow: /forum/index.php?action=reporttm
Disallow: /forum/index.php?action=search
Disallow: /forum/index.php?action=sendtopic
Disallow: /forum/index.php?action=splittopics
Disallow: /forum/index.php?action=stats
Disallow: /forum/index.php?action=sticky
Disallow: /forum/index.php?action=trackip
Disallow: /forum/index.php?action=unread
Disallow: /forum/index.php?action=unreadreplies
Disallow: /forum/index.php?action=who
Disallow: /forum/Themes/

Disallow: /forum/*.msg
--------------------------------

/forum/ should be replaced with the path to your forum

What is a robots.txt file:
http://www.robotstxt.org/wc/robots.html

HealthVault from Microsoft beats Google to the punch

When it's your job to protect your family's health, you need every advantage. Imagine if you had a way to collect, store, and share the health information critical to your family's well-being.

HealthVault is the new and FREE way to do just that.

Imagine controlling the flow of your health information. Whether you need to search the Web for the most up-to-date treatments, catalog existing health records, receive test results, or monitor current physical readings — HealthVault gives you the control you need.

Link:
http://www.healthvault.com/

Best of Screensavers

Link:
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/.../screensavers-best-of/

Search Analytics

Compete's Search Analytics are the starting point to build search marketing campaigns that create brand awareness, drive site traffic and increase sales.

Features:

• Discover new keywords you should be bidding on
• Find the gaps in competitors' search strategies
• Invest in terms that drive the most engaged visitors
• Track your performance against competitors and peers

Link:
http://searchanalytics.compete.com/

Microsoft Office Goes Online

Read the full story over at SarahInTampa's blog:
http://www.sarahintampa.com/sarah/2007/10/microsoft-offic.html

This is something I have been giving a lot of thought lately. What will the software world look like in 5 years? In 10 years? Will desktop application development be needed anymore for software built for the masses? Will everything move to the online world? Google and Microsoft think so.

The online world and online applications have so many benefits that it may be an inevitable future and the reason I have realigned myself to websites and online applications. Slowly the hurdles of online applications are being overcome, like offline work (see Google Gears) and as more are addresses, like security, the need for a local application will become less.

What are your thoughts? How would you like having you sensitive data processed online?

Why so silent?

I am traveling for the next couple of weeks part for business and part for pleasure. The first half of the trip is to Champaign, IL to do some work with a local company. The second half is off to CT to visit family. Road trip.

If you see me on the road get my attention some how - lets see if anyone can find me (car pictured above with the license plate of Veign and tinted windows). So going from Champaign, IL to near Waterbury CT on Friday Oct 5th / 6th and CT to Columbia, SC on Oct 13th/14th.

Catch me if you can...