Software Engineer

Juan Moran Blog word cloud

I´ve been using wordle to create “word clouds”. It´s a funny thing to do since it displays an image with those words  that have greater prominence  in the source text (for instance, your blog RSS). You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes.

I’ve been using some tools for mysql administration (either web or desktop applications), the more used are:

1. phpmyAdmin: default web administrator in many bundle installations, useful, basic; not ajax-y which sometimes makes me feel like that’s a boring place to be.. kinda ugly too, Still backup function are easy to find and use.
2. turbodbadmin: nice web application with ajax all around, looks like a desktop applications and it is very efficient.
3. SQL Yog: desktop application, very easy to use when you try to copy a whole database from a server to another remotely.

Here you will find some other tools and overviews about them.

Here some useful tools for web applications:

1. Ajax loading application: here is some nice feature for web developers that allow us to create some animated gifs which can be used when some ajax request is in process. Why is it important? Because we’re showing the user that something is actually happening when she/he has requested something and there is a waiting time needed to show the expected results.
2. Tiled backgrounds designer: web designers can used this to generate some professional backgrounds with patterns that now is a trend. Apart from being useful, it’s a nicely developed web 2.0 application since you can post your background, there is community sharing and voting and it’s a usable and efficient application. It will definitely rank in my choice for web applications

Taken from dailyblogtips.com, here is a some sound definition for blog:

A blog is basically a type of website, like a forum or a social bookmarking site. As such it is defined by the technical aspects and features around it, and not by the content published inside it.

The features that make blogs different from other websites are:

• content is published in a chronological fashion
• content is updated regularly
• readers have the possibility to leave comments
• other blog authors can interact via trackbacks and pingbacks
• content is syndicated via RSS feeds

Wikipedia in the other hand has this:

Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (artlog), photographs (photoblog), sketches (sketchblog), videos (vlog), music (MP3 blog), audio (podcasting), which are part of a wider network of social media. Micro-blogging is another type of blogging, one which consists of blogs with very short posts. As of December 2007, blog search engine Technorati was tracking more than 112 million blogs. With the advent of video blogging, the word blog has taken on an even looser meaning — that of any bit of media wherein the subject expresses his opinion or simply talks about something.

I would add that logging allows to share information and create a community, which are the basis of web 2.0.

Here some results of Danni Dover’s investigation about blogs:

Reviewing adobe edge newsletter, I found spectra news viewer which is a top system and usable in multiple ways, here is more information taken from msnbc website

Spectra merges the news spectrum and the color spectrum into an expansive news viewing experience. With comprehensive live news coverage, striking design, complete customization, dynamic browsing, human body interaction and many other unique features, Spectra brings A Fuller Spectrum of News to life in our most immersive extension yet.

• 
  Select msnbc.com topics from
  the news channel palette.
• 
  Your Channels manages
  active news topics.
• 
  Left, right or scrollbar flips
  through summaries and images.
• 
  View full content instantly with
  Full Story or later in NewsCollector.
• 
  Newscollector lets you save stories
  for later viewing.
• 
  Word Filter using search words
  or topic names.
• 
  Orbital Settings adjusts speeds
  and presentation order.
• 
  Auto Mode takes you on
  a 3D journey into the Orbital.
• 
  Use your webcam
  for human interaction.

Here there is a presentation about how Google Trifecta tools (optimizer, webmaster and analytics) can improve your web exposure and management.

From youtubes description:

Recording of the Google Trifecta webinar held on July 8, 2008. Speakers provide introductions to Google Webmaster Tools, Google Analytics, and Google Website Optimizer and answer common questions. Individually, each tool offers valuable and actionable information about specific aspects of your site; combined, you get a comprehensive understanding of both your visitors and your pages.

In the past, I wrote about the importance of forms and how to build them properly. In this article, from catswhocode.com , are presented some little but key features that can change user experience when using forms.

Some of them are:

• Calendar
• Web 2.0 form
• Resizable textarea
• Ajax login form
• Mootools Form Validation
• Custom checkboxes, radio buttons and select lists
• Multiple select
• Form Validator
• Textboxlist with autocompletion