JQuery Utility Functions - $.map()
A lot of devs use JQuery nowadays without realizing how many little utilities are sitting inside of it. You can save yourself some coding time, and a fair number of bytes, if you understand what's...
View ArticleJQuery Utility Functions - grep()
JQuery's documentation can be a little light sometimes. Today we're looking at an underused core JQuery  function: $.grep()First, the weird name. If you're not a Linux nerd, you should know that grep...
View ArticleStop Enforcement of Patents Without a Publicly Available Product
http://mobileopportunity.blogspot.com/2011/08/case-for-software-patents.htmlHe takes a long time to get to it, but I 100% agree:restrict the right of "non-practicing entities" (patent trolls) to sue...
View ArticleHow to Root the HTC Evo Shift 4G
Sprint blocks their forums from viewing by non-logged-in users; this same information is posted at:http://community.sprint.com/baw/message/329584But you probably can't view it. Here it is reposted: How...
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Kintera.org/Blackbaud.com infecting its users - on its donation page
I recently tried to donate money to a friend's charity. The page is hosted on Kintera.org, which includes a form to collect credit card info, and a Java applet that shows who else has donated recently....
View ArticleSurviving Google's Blogpocalypse
I attempted to login to my Google Apps version of Gmail one day and was instead presented with a page I couldn't circumvent. Over 20 checkboxes, several tabs that didn't look like tabs, and a lot of...
View ArticleGoogle's Dart
Google's Dart looks pretty cool.http://www.dartlang.org/docs/getting-started/It borrows (and improves) the only thing I like from PHP - shorthand for variables and expressions in strings:'Hello $name'...
View ArticleNoSQL - Where's It Going? Where Should It Go?
The NoSQL movement is either saving web platforms or a major nuisance, depending on what kind of developer you happen to be. Either way, the way we store data is shifting. There are the old stand-by...
View ArticleHow To Convert All Text To Lowercase In Google Spreadsheets
We consume a lot of table-like data from clients that has a lot of human error in it. Often this is big enough that manual fix-up isn't fast enough (more than 100) but not so big that some more...
View ArticleWith the Internet, We're All Street Performers
There are many articles online that echo the MPAA talking points about PIPA and SOPA, the Senate and House versions of a law that gives media companies the right to command law enforcement to go after...
View ArticlejQuery.each()
jQuery.each() has many forms and functions, and the documentation is lacking. Here's what the documentation has to say about it:http://api.jquery.com/each/.each(array, function(index,...
View ArticleHP m6 1045dx Review
The HP m6 1045dx was recently on sale at Best Buy for $699 - that's about $770 with our massive 10% sales tax here in California. I mention the cost because for some reason you can't buy this machine...
View ArticleWriting HTML/CSS on a Mac
HTML/CSS beginners often ask me what editor to use, and I ask them whether they're on a Mac or PC - they're invariably on a Mac and I have zero answers. In the past I've told people to use Smultron, or...
View ArticleStatistics - Who Pays to Gather the Numbers?
Recently, Nate Silver became a darling of political media. He not only predicted who would win the Presidential election, he even predicted each individual state's vote within 2%, and who would win...
View ArticleLoad select Dropdowns with Data, Read It With jQuery
I create a lot of little background admin sections to the sites I build, and often times these little admin pages are quick one-off pages I never planned on having, but they're a convenience. The...
View ArticleGetting Started with Google Closure on Windows - 2013
Google Closure Library, Buried AwayGoogle has a library of highly tested, highly performant code called Closure that's been open source for several years now. I don't see a lot of examples of people...
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.Net's Built-In JPEG Encoder: Convenient and Terrible
Those coding in .Net may not have discovered the System.Drawing namespace, which lets you load up an image in any popular web format (gif, jpg, png) without writing any extra code, manipulate it in as...
View ArticleWindows 8 Review
I have Windows 8 (a forced decision due to a tragic red wine incident). If others are on the fence about getting it, here's my summary:Windows 8 is like someone sat down to add functionality like touch...
View ArticleGetting Formulas to Stick in Google Spreadsheets
I admit I overuse Google Spreadsheets - I use it for all my estimates, tracking tasks, many things I should use much better task-specific tools for.With that admission out of the way, my overuse leads...
View ArticleHow to Revert Chrome's New Tab Page
How to Solve ItIf you just want to solve this, here you go. If you don't know what the problem is, jump down to Chrome's Bad New Tab Page Update below.SolutionVisit chrome://flagsCtrl+F for...
View ArticleStop Writing Press Releases
A number of our clients ask us to publish Press Releases. In the past, we've quietly questioned the value of this activity while proceeding with the task. Going forward, we're telling clients: Don't...
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Is ProtonMail Actually Secure?
The service is described as having 2 passwords: One you use to access your inbox (basically a list of encrypted emails), and a second password to decrypt your emails. The second detail makes it...
View ArticleStephen Colbert Is In For a Big Ratings Failure on Election Night, and it's...
Colbert moved to CBS with a big younger-than-35 audience, one that is the lion's share of the "Cable Cutters" category. That means they watch online. And if you don't give them a simple way to watch...
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