Monday, June 21, 2010

Technobrief #11

Summary: Recent findings of software, articles, and more.
CSS
Design
Fun
  • Cloth Simulation
    Andrew Hoyer simulates effects of gravity on a hanging cloth in JavaScript (beautiful!).
  • Spider 3D
    Interactive tarantula by Tomas Eriksson (freaky!).
Graphics
Internet
JavaScript
  • l10n.js: JS localization library
    Dion Almaer describes Eli Grey's JavaScript library that enables localization through the native JavaScript method intended for it (and gracefully degrading if the library is not present).
  • JavaScript sprintf
    JavaScript implementation of C-like sprintf function.
Jobs
jQuery
Podcasts
  • Boagworld
    A weekly podcast by Paul Boag and Marcus Lillington on building and running websites.
Programming
  • Fixing Internationalization in ASP.NET
    Jason Kester introduces a simmple way to add internationalization (i18n) support to your ASP.NET-based web site.
  • Solution Setup, Part Deux
    Hüseyin Tüfekçilerli covers such topics as versioning attributes, resource attributes, project naming convention, web project code and UI separation, and build output (see also part one).
Software (free)
  • Daniusoft Video Converter Free
    Somewhat limited version of the video converter that also allows you to crop and trim videos, merge two or more video clips, adjust video effects, etc.
  • Format Factory
    Multifunctional media converter that supports conversion of all media formats to compatible
    MP4/3GP/MPG/AVI/WMV/FLV/SWF (video), MP3/WMA/AMR/OGG/AAC/WAV (audio), and JPG/BMP/PNG/TIF/ICO/GIF/TGA (image). It can also rip video DVDs and music CDs to video and audio files. MP4 file support covers iPod/iPhone/PSP/BlackBerry format. (Note: This is my favorite free media conversion tool so far.)
  • HxD Hex Editor
    Very fast hex editor which can handle files of any size.
  • Komodo Edit
    Text/code editor that supports PHP, Python, Ruby, Perl Tcl, JavaScript, CSS, HTML and template languages like RHTML, Template-Toolkit, HTML-Smarty and Django (somewhat slow to start, but otherwise quite capable).
  • PicPick
    Screen capture tool that also comes with image editor, color picker, color palette, pixel ruler, protractor, crosshair and whiteboard.
  • SmillaEnlarger
    Small graphical tool for resizing, and especially magnifying bitmaps in high quality.
Tips and tricks
Web development
Web tools
  • Rebate Reminder
    Lets you keep track of your mail-in rebates.
  • Milo
    Lets you search for product availability at local stores.
  • NolaPro Free Accounting
    Free web-based accounting site (the tool is also available as a free Windows application).
  • Phonebooth Free
    Web-based inbound phone system that offers a local business phone number and sophisticated call routing, auto attendant, extensions, voicemail, and more. Free service allows 200 minutes of inbound calling per month (6 cents per minute thereafter).
  • Paper Rater
    Checks grammar, proof-reads, detects plagiarism, and does more.
  • SpeedTest
    Tests the speed of your Internet connection.
  • Terms of Service Generator
    Construct a sample Terms of Service based on your answers to the questionnaire.

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