While learning about reddit, I discovered Josh Carter’s multipart/mixed weblog. His recent entry on focused applications was spot-on comparing large, often too feature-rich applications like Microsoft Word with focused applications like 37 Signals’ Ta-Da List. I have an upcoming personal project for which Basecamp will be an ideal tool, so I’m anxious to start playing with some of these new web apps. Josh also mentions that Ta-Da List exports lists in Markdown format which is a big favorite of mine.
From Jeff Barr’s blog, I found the “AJAX Translator“, a proof of concept using Ajax techniques to provide live translation from one text box to another. This translation-as-you-type looks like a neat alternative to the form-based translators like Babel Fish. I think this type of translation would be handy for instant messaging; the translations aren’t perfect, but it might be a nice aide for users who don’t speak the same first language.
Today Yahoo! and SixApart announced that Yahoo! small business web hosting customers can now run Movable Type: Now you can get the power of Movable Type for blogging from a web host you trust: Yahoo! Small Business web hosting. All the features you need, with no installation required. It looks like you can get web hosting for as little as $9/month, so this might be a good solution for those who don’t want to fiddle with the details of installing Movable Type. Users in that group should probably also check out TypePad which at the cheapest level is about $5/month.…
At work I’ve gotten quite adept at creating different user accounts for testing and reproducing bugs, especially for international. Not being able to read any language other than English, I usually use navigation tricks such as: Copy and paste chunks of text into Babelfish Follow along with the US/English flow in a separate browser For cases where those tricks aren’t sufficient (for example, English vs Intl flows are different or have different fields), I’ve found a third option: Use the Firefox Web Developer Extension! The web developer extension is considered a “must have” for anyone doing web development. In this…
A major update to Yahoo! Maps has just been released in public beta, with an all-new interface, more dynamic navigation, multi-point driving directions, and better local/traffic integration. I haven’t had a chance to dive into this too deeply, but the buzz seems to be pretty positive so far. The real power should come from the new developer interfaces. The previous maps interface (now called the “Simple API”), was handy for showing semi-custom maps with your own data, but on Yahoo’s site. The new APIs also let you embed maps on your site or application, so the range of possibilities is…