Over the past month or so I have been uber swamped and as a result my blogging has fallen to the wayside. Of course time and the internet waits for no man, so there have been a whole slew of interesting sites that have come to my attention. Because of this and my lack of time, I have a stock pile of things that I am very excited about and want to share, hence this post. Feel free to let me know about any cool sites or resources that you have encountered that you think may be helpful as well.
Google: Oh Google…
In what seems like a never ending stream of gooie deliciousness, Google never ceases to amaze with what seems like a never ending supply of of web-based goodies.
google+: In case you have not heard, the web is a buzz with Google’s new “Google+”. Dubbed Google’s answer to Facebook, Google+ is Google’s run at social media. Currently only offered to a select few googlers (to create buzz of course, no pun intended), Google+ is though to reinvent how we use social media. If you want to get in on it early, you can ask someone who has it to share a link to one of their posts, and that should do it.
swiffy: Totally overshadowed by the release of Google+, this is an AWESOME new tool! This tool will take any SWF and turn it into an HTML 5 object that you can reuse whenever and wherever you want. For more details about swiffy, check out this Google Blog post about it: http://googlecode.blogspot.com/2011/06/swiffy-convert-swf-files-to-html5.html
what do you love: This is a fun idea, and a return to Google’s idea of simplicity. I am not sure if this will catch on or not, but this unique site is a spin on the traditional web search. Once you have entered your query, Google breaks the results down into sections like latest news, google earth, find query results near you, etc. None of the features are really “new” per say, but the way it is presented is more digestible and fun.
Rant: Google’s new “look”… wtf?
What ever happened to the idea of simple elegance. I love Google for its minimalistic beautiful and elegant design. As a matter of a fact I usually site Google as a great example of successful minimalist design whenever I am teaching an intro to web class or a class on web design principles. So what is up with their “new look”?!? Are they intimidated by the glitz and glamor found along the sides of the information superhighway, the strip mall kitschy chic bling of consumerism? Needless to say I am not a fan of the “new” Google.
Cool Tools
Here are a couple interesting tools that you may enjoy:
candybar: This is a neat application (for Macs of course) that allows you to totally customize your Dock. Add spaces, change application icons…full control.
let me google that for you: We have all had that client or relative that asks a question where your answer is “just google it!”, though of course you end up saying “sure I can help you with that”. Well this fun site is a bit of a slap in the face to knock a little web sense into the person asking the all too obvious question. Check it out.
Useful Resources
With the onset of HTML5, CSS3 and the trending towards heavy user interativity, there are more and more useful resources popping up all over the internet to make development easier. Here are a few
css3please.com: This is a great resource for creating CSS3 styles. This site will generate cross browser CSS3 rules. All you need to do is copy and paste!
border-raduis.com: Much like the above this web tool lets you create elegant CSS3 rounded corners. The catch here is that you can preview what the changes will look like before bringing the code to your site.
scriptsrc.net: This site is a useful one to keep bookmarked. It holds links to many of the major JavaScript libraries and tools hosted by Google, so you dont need to sift through Google’s API or documentation to locate the link to the library or code that you want to include in your project.
button maker: This is a really cool resource made by Chris Coyier to create HTML and CSS only buttons that look great! The buttons are fully customizable and all you need to do is copy and paste to deploy them.
html-ipsum.com: This resource is another nice resource for while you are developing. Need a UL or OL with dummy text, maybe a P or a FORM this site has it.
font squirrel : This is a wonderful resource for CSS3 @font-face. FontSquirrel in general is a great resource for all things web font, but this page in particular is awesome!
Tags: Bad Design, Google, Tricks of the Trade, What's Hot, Whats New
Splist for jQuery: I am very excited to announce my jQuery plug-in -