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Scriptalizer.com updates: yuicompressor 2.4.1 and CSS combination/compression

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 06:15:00 GMT

Couple quick notes on Scriptalizer.com:

I think it is cool that the app has quietly worked its way up to almost 40,000 KB of trimmed white space/carriage returns/etc (and even earned itself 18 diggs as of this post).

Today I rolled some updates out to the site. Scriptalizer uses the yuicompressor to do its minfication so I updated the jar to the lastest available version (2.4.1).

Now offering CSS combination and compression! There is an additional file upload element on the form now. Allowing you to upload multiple javascript and css files for combination and minification/compression.

Enjoy and PLEASE let me know if there is any odd behavior.

Thanks for reading!

AJL

Combine and compress your javascript files: Scriptalizer.com

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:37:00 GMT

After creating a custom tag and minifier component (using YUICompressor) I decided it would be a pretty neat service to offer to everybody. Last night I scrounged up a website and called it Scriptalizer.com.

If you want to test what cf_scriptalizer does to your javascript before you actually use the tag, you can try out the generated script provided by Scriptalizer.com.

NOTE: All source files uploaded is immediately deleted once generated.

Problem: WAY too many javascript files. Solution: cf_scriptalizer

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 15:44:00 GMT

Information about a custom tag to combine and compress javascript files.

Create a custom pod with Sproutbuilder

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 14:44:00 GMT

Sproutbuilder is a new application that recently rolled out in a beta status. Basically it allows you to create widgets in a pretty nice Flex interface.

From their howitworks page:

Building a sprout is easy. Choose from dozens of pre-built templates or start from scratch. Drag-and-drop shapes, text, images, video, and more. Then add components such as slideshows, jukeboxes, and countdown clocks, as well as interactive services such as chat (Meebo), phone (Ribbit), fundraising (ChipIn), and more. Once you’ve got your content in place, use advanced editing and navigation tools to perfect your sprout.

Ultimately you end up with an embed code, like this

<object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0" width="180" height="171" id="sUAAKe0cDAJqAatXf"><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><param name="align" value="middle" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#ffffff" /><param /><param name="movie" value="http://farm.sproutbuilder.com/17661/load/UAAKe0cDAJqAatXf.swf" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" src="http://farm.sproutbuilder.com/17661/load/UAAKe0cDAJqAatXf.swf" width="180" height="171" wmode="transparent" align="middle" bgcolor="#ffffff" /></object> <img style="visibility:hidden;width:0px;height:0px;" border=0 width=0 height=0 src="http://counters.gigya.com/wildfire/CIMP/Jmx*PTEyMDE3OTA5NTUxMDcmcHQ9MTIwMTc5MDk1NTY5MSZwPTEyMDc*MSZkPTE4MjgyJm49.jpg" />

Now, to add it to your InstantSpot site...gotta tie that in right :)

Log in to the control panel and click on the Widgets section.

Then, once you are there, you can click to add a pod, reorder, deactivate, etc...

Then, on to the end result...go look at your Spot.

My uncle's first shirt.woot.com sale

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 03:22:00 GMT

How cool?! My uncle, Jim, has been creating pieces of art in various forms for as long as I can remember. Lately he has been creating t-shirt designs. Tonight at midnight, his first approved shirt.woot.com design goes on sale.

He has titled this piece Feed The Whale.

Jim describes it as "a kind of Haida and Tlingit
Indian influenced thing"

From what I hear, the shirt will be a creme american apparel shirt.

Very cool, and way to go Jim!

Check out more of Jim's art at his flickr page here.

"Friend Only" Blogging...A New InstantSpot Feature

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 19:08:00 GMT

Example of one of the levels of permission that can be applied to blog entries on InstantSpot.

Star Spangled Banner Sung Backwards!

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 19:36:58 GMT

Wow, this took some serious memorization and trial/error I bet.

[youtube LbkNxYaULBw]

Catfish Noodling...wow

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 17:46:04 GMT

Ok, so I had heard of this sport called noodling from my wife's uncle (he's from Oklahoma). I guess I believed that somebody might have done this once or twice, but as it turns out its pretty common, in some places :).

Basically, it boils down to a person finding a catfish hole and sticking their hand down in it until a catfish bites onto it... ?!!?

[youtube tb5kEEcJqKM]

From Wikipedia:

Although the concept, catching fish with only the use of the arm in the water, is simple enough, the process of noodling is more complicated. The choice of catfish as the prey is not arbitrary, but comes from the circumstances of their habitat. Flathead catfish live in holes or under brush in rivers and lakes and thus are easy to capture due to the static nature of their dwelling. To begin, a noodler goes underwater to depths ranging from only a few feet to up to twenty feet, placing his hand inside a discovered catfish hole. If all goes as planned, the catfish will swim forward and latch onto the fisherman's hand, usually as a defensive maneuver in order to try to escape the hole. If the fish is particularly large, the noodler can hook the head around its gills.

And of course, this wonderful scene wouldn't be complete without "Girls Gone Grabblin". Notice there is plenty of banjo music to go around in this video.

[youtube a82Iuh4jXZg]

XKCD Strikes Again! (hilarious)

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 21:32:53 GMT

Social Networking Bill in North Carolina: This could cause problems.

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:49:29 GMT

I just ran across a story today that was reporting that around 29,000 sex offenders have been found on MySpace.com. There was a mention of North Carolina's Senate Bill 132 which could possibly effect a lot of websites.

Senate Bill 132 is targeting social networking sites in an effort to reduce access for children without parental consent.

§ 75?40. Requiring parental permission for minors to access commercial social networking Web sites

According to the way this bill defines what is and isn't a "Commercial Social Networking" site, it might actually ultimately include web sites that only have a little social aspect mixed in, but don't consider themselves a traditional social networking website.

The Bill's Definition of a social networking site:

A commercial social networking Web site is an Internet Web site that:

Is operated by a person who derives revenue membership fees, advertising, or other sources related to the operation of the Web site;
Facilitates the social introduction between two or more persons for the purposes of friendship, meeting other persons, or information exchanges;
Allows users to create Web pages or personal profiles that contain information such as the name or nickname of the user, photographs placed on the personal Web page by the user, other personal information about the user, and links to other personal Web pages on the commercial social networking Web site of friends or associates of the user that may be accessed by other users or visitors to the Web site; and
Provides users or visitors to the commercial social networking Web site mechanisms to communicate with other users, such as a message board, chat room, electronic mail, or instant messenger.

A commercial social networking Web site does not include an Internet Web site:

That provides only one of the following discrete services: photo?sharing, electronic mail, instant messenger, or chat room or message board platform; or
The primary purpose of which is the facilitation of commercial transactions involving goods or services between its members or visitors.

Proving Age Isn't Easy

There are countless problems with determining a person's age, or even identity, over the internet.

How are we supposed to know if the kid hasn't just nabbed Dad's credit card from his wallet while he was asleep?

How are we supposed to know when we need to get "parental or guardian permission" of this new user?

I know this isn't a new problem to solve...it just could become a problem I will have to worry about soon.

I Don't Like Sex Offenders Either

My concern with this bill shouldn't be construed that I don't want to protect children from monsters. But do we really need this law?

If this bill gets passed, the only thing that will be accomplished is the "slowing down" of our beautifully (and rapidly) growing internet world.

Sex offenders will still prey on children who don't have parents that are involved enough to actual be a parent.

A great use of an InstantSpot site

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 19:21:51 GMT

Here is an example of one of the more creative uses of an InstantSpot site. This user created a "living resume" of sorts. If I was looking to hire a marketing guy, I would have to seriously consider this guy!

Thanks to Todd Sharp of cfsilence for this blurb... "InstantSpot is a next generation Social Blogging/Networking site - but it's not just a profile page or a blog - it's much more. InstantSpot is a completely free entire website for you and your family/friends. You can blog, interact with your friends via messaging, post photo galleries, manage an online calendar, even customize the look and feel of your Spot via the Style Manager. Don't know CSS? No problem! Head over to the InstantSpot Design Exchange at http://www.isdx.net and check out some of the cool custom CSS templates that our users have uploaded. There's a growing library of templates to choose from, and if you sign up at ISDX you can even preview any of the designs live on your Spot before taking the plunge and installing it."

Example of a poor use of AJAX

Mon, 11 Dec 2006 16:36:40 GMT

I am by no means an expert when it comes to AJAX, but even I can spot a poor use of it when I see it. Check out Authorize.Net and notice the mouseovers on the tabs in the lower-middle content area ("Merchants","Resellers","Developers"). As you roll over each tab you will notice an AJAX loading gif along with "Requesting Content".

Now, AJAX is cool don't get me wrong. We have found many great uses for it. But, in this case why wouldn't they just swap divs? I think Rob Gonda (or was it J.J. Garrett) predicted an AJAX hall of shame...I wonder if this one would be a candidate?

Gone are the days of charging the user...?

Tue, 28 Nov 2006 17:10:45 GMT

The thought of charging a user for use of your Internet-based product/service seems like it might be quickly becoming a thing of the past. Google (among others) has steadily been offering more and more feature-rich applications for FREE. For example, if you ever wanted to sell web mail or stat tracking you might just want to reconsider your efforts.

I think that the onset of such awesome free services has conditioned our average internet user to expect everything for free. Would you pay for an account on one of the blogging sites? (Or more specifically, would you pay a monthly fee every month to have a blog somewhere?) Can you imagine actually paying for a Hotmail account?

I have read some opinions that the days of making money off of advertising are dwindling. Maybe because the user is numb to ads?. I'm sure there is some sort of bell curve to this trend, but even if we are the downside for ad-revenue monetized services there is still a lot being spent (see MySpace+Google).

So, what happens if our users become so blind to the advertisements and so spoiled by the awesome free stuff? Do we try to entice even MORE users to “please take this free thing, please!” in order to make up for the reduced cpm rates? Or is it time to start charging again?

EDIT: On reread it sounds like I am complaining...I am not. I personally enjoy a lot of the great free stuff out there and hope it continues. I was just contemplating how to realize some income off of such a service (like InstantSpot ) while keeping it free (and of course bada$$).

The Buttonator -- cool (free) AJAX button creation app

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 14:36:41 GMT

I just stumbled across this site so I haven't had a chance to make use of it yet, but it seems like it might be a great tool to keep in the collection.

You get to choose from around 30 buttons, drag and drop one of your choice into the "Button Preview" section and edit your text/color etc, then you can download that button as a .gif image.

Oh yeah, and best of all...it's free (I like free stuff)

Robots and main page accessibility

Tue, 15 Nov 2005 06:00:00 GMT

On my quest towards e-stardom (aka a relevant and content-rich website), I realized that the navigation towards my older "news items" was somewhat lacking. My solution for this problem was to create a side bar menu that would contain all of the news item titles in descending date order (aka newest first).

A day or two after this change, I began to notice a positive side-effect to including all of these titles as links on the main page...The robots (spiders) were crawling all through my site! I'm not 100% sure, but I can't imagine how this increased indexing would hurt my chances of being returned in some search results.

In a possibly related subject, a Google search for 'Aaron Lynch' now returns this page in the top 10 search results (#6 as of this entry) and an MSN search returns www.AaronJLynch.com as #3!

Does anybody want my autograph?

UPDATE 1/25/06: Either Google has changed my ranking somehow, or my switch to BlogCFC has harmed my accessibility somehow. I now turn up on like page 5 or something terrible. Back to the drawing board!