31st march 2006

i can't believe it's not javascript

this is beautiful. stu nichols has created a css only image gallery that you won't believe is... well, css only.

so very, very simple, but so bloody clever, cool and nice.

take a look at this thing of beauty.

related:

css,

web dev

permalink:

http://www.oneplayer.co.uk/06/03/31/i-can...

31st march 2006

"oh ruby...

... don't take your love to town"

y'know, having a blog opens up a whole world of opportunities. like being able to quote kenny rogers for instance.

anyway, i was at the latest carson workshop yesterday, to hear geoffrey grosenbach talk about ruby on rails. i've not really looked at rails, or ruby for that matter, before and it looks really interesting. certainly gonna have a real play with it soon. so watch this space to see how rubbish i am.

related:

blog,

ruby

permalink:

http://www.oneplayer.co.uk/06/03/31/oh-ru...

29th march 2006

css = cadaverous style sheets?*

your style sheets looking a bit... well.. fat? no problem. css tweak is a personal trainer for your styles which will have them looking fitter, leaner and more athletic than ever before.

just browse for you css file, tell the tool what to tweak, and away you go. best to leave 'leave my layout alone!' blank though.

* apparently cadaverous means corpse like, or gaunt. it was the closest think i could get to skinny, beginning with a "c". so sue me.

related:

css,

web dev

permalink:

http://www.oneplayer.co.uk/06/03/29/css--...

28th march 2006

well, i'll be debuggered

it's rare that i ever need to debug my javascript or ajax apps as i always get it right the first time. ahem. however...

slayeroffice have released a fantastic little script that will overlay any webpage, and display a collapsed list of all the javascript wonderfulness currently referenced on that page - functions, strings, objects, numbers, whatever.

but there's more. slayeroffice aren't asking you to download this script and reference it on every app you're currently developing. oh no, that would be so old school. this thing works as a bookmarklet. simply add this thing to your bookmarks and you can immediately run it on any page you're viewing. now that's clever.

take a look at this thing on slayeroffice.

related:

ajax,

javascript,

web dev

permalink:

http://www.oneplayer.co.uk/06/03/28/well-...

24th march 2006

for cool geeks. like me. obviously.

some superb t-shirts over at cascadingstyleshirts.com. apparently they are the "fashion home of the discerning web builder", and i'm not going to argue.

the copy is as good as the clothing. they tell us that their "asynchronous screened cotton messaging system improves user experience and ensures compliance". as for my favourite shirt, 'respect the dom':

"this is the best shirt. because people will ask you what the dom is. and you'll sort of know but you'll have trouble describing it. so you'll just sort of sneer and get defensive and act superior."

brilliant. i gotta get me one. and practice my sneer.

related:

css,

laugh,

sites,

web dev

permalink:

http://www.oneplayer.co.uk/06/03/24/for-c...

24th march 2006

paint my pixels! for cash!

as much as i envy/admire the guy who came up with the million dollar homepage, he really does have a lot to answer for.

the latest one? paint my pixel. or to give it's full name, 'send me cash and i'll stick a 10px by 10px coloured gif on my site'.

what angers me about this thing - and some of the other that have come after million dollar homepage - are the statements they use to justify these things. paint my pixel tells us we can "own a piece of the world's first internet painting". gosh! and, it's actually an amazing experiment in the power of 21st century mass media - "can thousands of people all over the world work together to create a single painting, using only small blocks of colored pixels?"! wow, whatta guy!

at least send the suckers a shirt saying "i painted a pixel and all i got was this lousy t-shirt. oh, and a 10x10 coloured gif".

related:

rant,

sites

permalink:

http://www.oneplayer.co.uk/06/03/24/paint...

23rd march 2006

ooooh, friendly delete confirmation

joe vasquez has come up with a lovely little script at d3eministry.net. y'know when your developing and testing a web app and everytime you want to delete something you go through the old javascript alert box saying "are you sure you want to delete this"? this can be a real pain in the arse if you're interacting with a database, and everytime you want to delete a record, you get that popping up. well, joe has written a little script that you can put in your apps that'll change the 'delete' button to something like 'really delete?' after the first click. much more friendly. and, if you're on windows like me, you don't get that "duh!" alert sound on top of your itunes everytime you want to get rid of something.

take a look at his script.

related:

ajax,

web dev

permalink:

http://www.oneplayer.co.uk/06/03/23/ooooh...

23rd march 2006

don't judge a book by a oneplayer review

ajaxian has put something up about wrox's new ajax book, "professional ajax" (isbn: 0471777781). although i haven't read any of the reviews it mentions, it claims that they are generally positive.

i've had the book for almost a fortnight now, and have gone through most of it, and i'm not that impressed to be honest. perhaps it's simply that it's the first ajax book that i've read - there aren't many around at the moment, although there are several planned over the next few weeks - but, in my opinion, there was very little new information here. once the book covers creating an xmlhttp object (which it then uses the author's zxml library - incidentally available to download at www.nczonline.net/downloads/ - to do for the rest of the book), it's essentially a javascript book. but maybe that's the issue. i mean, what exactly does the term 'ajax' cover, if it isn't simply using javascript to do things that we didn't (sorry, should that be "i didn't"?) do 12 months ago? i don't know.

anyways, i maybe digging myself into a hole here, but the point is, i'm not particularly impressed with the book, but i may have been expecting something different. it's just my opinion. perhaps it'll change as i get deeper and deeper into the book. or when everyone comes out and says "it's brilliant!" and i inevitably jump on the bandwagon.

related:

ajax,

web dev

permalink:

http://www.oneplayer.co.uk/06/03/23/dont-...

22nd march 2006

"you don't really listen to that do you?!"

mates and colleagues of mine, ben and tom, pointed me at last.fm today. after installing a small app for your default audio player (itunes for me) this thing lists all of the music that you play on your machine, and creates lists, charts and personal radio stations based upon what you're listening too. and yeah, it's free. very clever and very cool.

my favourite feature allows you to click on a track that you've listened to, and find out how many other people have listened to that track, and what percentage of the people who have listened to that artist have played that particular tune. completely useless, but addictive.

of course, the downside is that everyone can see what you're listening to. needless to say, i haven't played my grease megamix since i signed up.

if you want, take a look at the rubbish i listen to.

related:

sites

permalink:

http://www.oneplayer.co.uk/06/03/22/you-d...

15th march 2006

"what you waiting for? christmas!?"

good news from ken kutaragi - or kenny-baby as i call him - at sony. the ps3 will ship worldwide in november. i know what you're thinking - "everyone else is saying it's bad news! what are you on?!". well, y'see, i trusted what that analyst said in january. what did he say? refresh your memory.

all of a sudden - kind of - sony actually tell us that we may be playing one of these babies by christmas. if we get pre-ordering now, or buy our sleeping bags in preparation for spending the night outside dixons in bluewater anyway.

and isn't it nice to hear that they're going to release it *worldwide*? i hate the fact that we in europe get everything last. well, ok, not bird-flu, but anything gadgetty. it's like being at school and being picked last for a football team.

so, for me anyway, sony's press conference was good news. and we haven't even mentioned the psp getting a camera, voip, etc...

you can read a more sensible look at sony's announcements at engadget.

related:

gadgets

permalink:

http://www.oneplayer.co.uk/06/03/15/what-...