Technobrief #11

Summary: Recent findings of software, articles, and more.

CSS

• CSS 2.1 and CSS 3 Help Cheat Sheets (PDF)
  Two useful cheat sheets that will help you quickly look up the right CSS 2.1-property or an obscure CSS 3 property.
• Less.js Will Obsolete CSS
  Dmitry Fadeyev explains how to improve CSS using the LESS preprocessor.
• Modern CSS Layouts: The Essential Characteristics
  Focuses on the broad underlying concepts that you need to know to create successful CSS layouts using the latest techniques (see also Modern CSS Layouts, Part 2: The Essential Techniques).
• The Principles Of Cross-Browser CSS Coding
  Louis Lazaris describes what he believes are some of the most important CSS principles and tips that can help both new and experienced front-end developers achieve as close to a consistent cross-browser experience as possible, with as little CSS code as possible.
• The State of CSS3 in Email Templates
  Ros Hodgekiss goes through two CSS3 properties you can use in your email templates, alongside some practical examples.

Design

• Typographic Design Patterns and Best Practices
  Identifies best practices for working with type, such as choosing serif vs. sans-serif fonts, picking font face, light or dark background, font sizes (headlines, body), etc.

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

• iconFinder
  Collection of free icon sets (see also Free icons!).
  
• morgueFile
  Public image archive.

Internet

• Google Experts Answer your SEO Questions
  Transcript of an interview with the Google search quality team: John Mueller (Webmaster Trends Analyst, Google Zurich), Matt Cutts (Webspam Engineer, Google California), Zareen Kazim (Strategist, Google India), Koteswara Ivaturi (Project Manager, Google Hyderabad) and Kaspar Szymanski (Strategist, Google Dublin).
• Non-Latin TLDs Spotted in the Wild
  Don't be surprised when you see URLs containing Russian and Arabic characters (e.g. http://وزارة-الأتصالات.مصر/).

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

• 10 Questions to Ask Your New Manager
  Jurgen Appelo suggests 10 questions that you may want to ask your hiring manager.
• Why Engineers Hop Jobs
  Ted Dziuba (humorously) explains why.

jQuery

• A jQuery UI Growl/Ubuntu-like Notification Widget
  Eric Hynds demonstrates the use of a small, yet effective, jQuery notification widget.
• jQuery 1.4.2 Visual Cheat Sheet
  A very useful reference for the jQuery API and usage.
• jQuery Globalization Plugin from Microsoft
  Scott Guthrie describes the prototype of a new jQuery Globalization Plugin that enables you to add globalization support to your JavaScript applications.
• jQuery Templates and Data Linking (and Microsoft contributing to jQuery)
  Scott Guthrie shows a prototype of client-side templates based on jQuery.
• My 7 jQuery Articles on Script Junkie
  Collection of excellent articles by Elijah Manor that covers topics such as jQuery debugging, history and back button support, writing plugins, and more (you can start with Six Things Every jQuery Developer Should Know).
• Uniform
  Masks your standard form controls with custom themed controls to make the look similar across various web browsers. It works in sync with your real form elements to ensure accessibility and compatibility.

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

• How to Fix your Slow Internet Connection
  Amit Agarwal explains how to troubleshoot slow internet connections.
• Skip the DVD Trailers & Go Straight to the Movie
  Amit Agarwal suggests several methods of skipping trailers when watching DVDs on DVD players, as well as computers.

Web development

• 2010: Web Fonts Are Here and Ready to Use
  Brad Neuberg explains how to incorporate recently released open source fonts from the Google Font Directory in your web site.
• ASMX and JSON – Common mistakes and misconceptions
  Dave Ward explores a list of common misconceptions and potential pitfalls when it comes to using ASMX services for AJAX callbacks.
• Conditional-CSS
  Web-based utility allows you to write maintainable CSS with conditional logic to target specific CSS statements at both individual browsers and groups of browsers.
• Online Regular Expression Tester
  Allows you to test JavaScript-based regular expressions.

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.