I've decided to take the plunge and move my blog over to www.wordpress.com

I've been with spaces for a couple of years now and have always been frustrated with it's limited functionality. After really battling to add a simple tracker image and having to resort to a nasty solution, I've finally made up my mind and decided to move my blog.

Please update your bookmarks etc to http://strennery.wordpress.com
My feed can be found at http://strennery.wordpress.com/feed/

I hope to see you over there!

Looking at the Google Personalized Homepage css file, Zach Leatherman noticed that it is using YUI Grids CSS, released under BSD by Yahoo!. Google use it silently without mention of YUI or the BSD license which states clearly that "Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.". Here is an idea for the next YUI Implementation Focus.

Link

This is a must purchase!

Link to Engadget Live from Macworld

After being a Vodacom 3G user for the last 18 months or so, I've finally converted to ADSL. Our brand new line was installed today after only three weeks. The service I've received from Telkom has been actually pretty good with frequent calls and status updates.

I've signed up for a prepaid account with WebAfrica and purchased a Netgear wireless router. After a little help from the guys at work, I'm up and running. So far so good! The speed is ok, connection seems reliable and being able to quickly connect from anywhere in the house is awesome!

Be sure to check out this new video detailing Scrybe's features.

link

There are some significant changes including:

• $() is now $get(): This means that you can play nice with libraries such as prototype. It is really interesting that Microsoft took this step instead of saying “screw it. why should we change because of you” and instead decided to play really nice. If you do not care about prototype and co, you may prefer the simplicity of $()
• Performance: “We have spent time optimizing the network traffic size of client JavaScript callbacks to the server. Controls like the UpdatePanel, UpdateProgress, and Control Toolkit controls no longer emit xml-script by default, and instead just emit 1-2 lines of JavaScript (which can help significantly reduce the network traffic size on the wire). We have also moved from using JavaScript closure-based classes to using prototype-defined classes in the core type system, which we’ve found reduces memory usage for most common application scenarios.”
• File size: They took time to modularize the JavaScript, and you can download various parts and pieces instead of just the kitchen sink. I wonder if VisualStudio will be smart and auto include what you really need?
• Browser Support: Safari is now officially support, with Opera in the works
• Better Debugging Experience: They did a couple of things to help with the hell that can be JavaScript debugging: “1) By moving our JavaScript class definitions from being closure-based to prototype-based, you can now use the existing Visual Studio 2005 script debugger (and/or other existing JavaScript debuggers) to better inspect and step through JavaScript objects. Closures previously hid a lot of inspection information.

  2) We invested a lot of time putting together an automated JavaScript build environment that enables us to produce two versions of all of our JavaScript files: a retail version that is optimized for performance and download size, and a fully instrumented debug version that is optimized for helping you catch issues with your code during development. Every function within the debug version of our script files now includes parameter and argument validation code that verifies that the function is being passed the correct arguments before running, and that will assert with stack trace information if not. This can help to more easily pinpoint errors with your JavaScript code early, and hopefully significantly improve JavaScript debugging.”

• Lots of Improvements in the Client Script Library Stack: “a) Simpler client JavaScript event model. It is now easier to define and attach events on the client. Object events are also now created on demand to reduce startup time and the size of the working set. b) Simpler Component, Behavior, and Control types. APIs can now be used without first needing to instantiate their related objects, and on-demand semantics have been added to improve performance. c) Client networking improvements. Default callback functions and method-name semantics provide a much easier way to perform common asynchronous callbacks. d) Membership and Profile APIs. Simpler APIs for interacting with the Membership and Profile APIs from client-side JavaScript are now supported.”

Link

Being a web and UI developer, I'm always on the lookout for something that really blows my mind. Scrybe is it! Its an online organiser that has some truly amazing features:

• Seamless off line access - without any installations
• Rich and fast like a desktop
• Intuitive zoomable calendar views
• Organize your thoughts with bookmarks, web snippets, images and files
• To-do lists integrated with your calendar
• Share and collaborate with friends and co-workers
• Elegant, compact and handy print formats
• Easily work across multiple timezones
• Import and export from other apps easily. Your data is yours!

This really has me excited. I've registered for the beta, which starts this month and will blog my impressions as soon as I get an invite, holding thumbs! The offline feature together with the zoomable calender are the features I'd most like to see. From what I've seen in their video, I'd say this is a must buy for Google.

Link. You have to see this!

Be sure to give this new search engine a visit. Ms. Dewey breaks all boundaries and gives a human face and voice to the common task of Internet search. Will this be the future of UI? Kinda reminds me of the Minority Report.

Link

Link to Reuters Article

• New ways of viewing your library. A cool technology bought from CoverFlow has been implemented.
• iTunes will now automatically download album artwork.
• New UI for iPod settings, preferences etc.
• Movies, the iTunes Music Store renamed to the iTunes Store is selling movies
• Games for 5th Gen iPods

Download

• iTunes version 7
• Movie Store, buy and download movies from $9.99
• New iPod Nano
• New iPod, widescreen, virtual wheel etc.

Link

Today sees the availability of two new beta 2 downloads.

Windows Media Player 11 Beta 2
Firefox 2.0 Beta 2

Here are two great examples of just how powerful Ajax can be.

• Gucci has just relaunched a awesome looking site built using the script.aculo.us framework instead of the usual flash. It feels exactly the same as a flash site with all the bells and whistles.
• Qooxdoo (pronounced "cooks-do") has released version 0.6 RC 1. The LGPL javascript framework has a rich set of widgets and supports namespaces, events, drap and drop and layouts. Be sure to check out the demos especially the "at-a-glance demo"
  

and the winner is Firefox!

Link

from Neilsen//NetRatings, the Internet media and market research firm:

• 72 per cent of US home internet users have broadback connections (up from 57 per cent a year ago).
• 9.2 million Web users (6.6 percent of U.S. adult Web users) downloaded an audio podcast from mid-June to mid-July.
• 6.7 million users (4.8 percent) published blogs.
• 5.6 million online adults (4 percent) have downloaded a video podcast.
• Podcast downloaders tended to be young (18-24 year olds are 72 per cent more likely to download) and geeky (four times as likely to visit Slashdot and Wired News).
  

Pick 'n Pay are currently beta testing a new music download service called Pick 'n Play. The Microsoft IE only offers a selection of tracks for R8.99 each as well as mobile games, ring tones, wallpapers etc.

I've been invited to be a beta tester, otherwise referred to as a crash test dummy on the site. As a tester, I've been allocated R15 to purchase and download tracks.

All music sold on the site has DRM and requires Windows Media player to be installed on the client machine. Tracks can be moved to portable players and are allowed to be burned to CD up to 5 times.

With the absence of iTunes in South Africa, there is a huge market for cheap music downloads. If Pick 'n Pay are going to satisfy this market remains to be seen. I remain skeptical.