The Decline Of Yahoo Infographic
Friday, November 12th, 2010 | Business, InfoGraphic, Yahoo | No Comments
Well, it was about time someone came out with this – It’s an infographic charting the rise & fall of Yahoo!
[via scores.org]
Google Releases Mod_pagespeed For A Faster Apache!
Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010 | code, google, Open Source, Tools, Utilities, Web Hosting, WebApps | No Comments
Running your website or app off a small VPS or old computer? Want to speed up load times? Google can help! Today Google released a new apache module called mod_pagespeed that implements over 15 server optimizations that supposedly can reduce page load times by up to 50%! Some important features of mod_pagespeed are an improved optimized cache as well as minimized payload size and a reduced number of client-server round trips. This is ideally aimed at small businesses and those hosting on low/shared resources, perfect for any DIY developer (or even small hosting company) however Google has already been working with huge tech companies to implement the module on an enterprise level.
Big services like GoDaddy.com and the Cotendo CDN have already implemented the module on their own networks of servers.
Here’s a side-by-side video comparison of the Google Adsense blog with and without mod_pagespeed:
It was a piece of cake to install, just follow the instructions on the official Google Code page for mod_pagespeed.
Find out who else is hosted on your IP
Saturday, September 18th, 2010 | Research, Site Information, Tools, Utilities | No Comments
Ever wonder what other websites were hosted on the same IP as yours (this might be useful if you’re using a shared hosting account to see just how crowded the server you’re on really is)? Heck, ever wonder what other websites might be on a competitors IP or domain name? Well you might already be aware of a few websites which have claimed to be able to provide this data, which is essentially just a reverse-ip check, however not only have most of them been fly-by-night websites (meaning they’re no longer around), or they don’t seem to be able to display all the results. Worry no more! A site i’ve been using for a long while now just keeps getting better and better when it comes to finding the complete list of domain names hosted on any IP, and even lets you enter in just the hostname you’d like to lookup (no need to have to convert the domain name to ip, it does it for you). The site is called My IP Neighbors and couldn’t be easier to use, just go to the website, enter in the ip or domain you wanted to lookup and bam, there are the results!
My-IP-Neighbors.com – My IP Neighbors lets you find out if any other web sites (virtual hosts) are hosted on a given web server.
Looking For Privacy On The Web?
Sunday, June 13th, 2010 | Hack, Security, Tools, Utilities | No Comments
If you’re like me then you probably spend more time working on your laptop outside of your office than inside. This also includes surfing facebook on your iphone while waiting in line at the coffeshop. By now you probably already know of just how insecure wireless really is, but how can you ensure that no matter where you are, you’re safe?
Simple answer: a VPN service.
It acts as a secure connection between your computer or iphone (or any electronic device for that matter, including your boxee, etc..) and them, sending out requests to websites, email accounts, etc.. all through THEIR secure connection. Stops people from being able to sniff your connection, stops people from stealing your data, most importantly, it can also enable you to use service like spotify which are currently only allowing certain countries to sign up. Don’t worry, VPN services are typically cheap, so what you need to look for when choosing a VPN provider is the options and level of security they provide.
How many different countries do they have VPN accounts available in? What level of security do they use?
I’ve used a few different services through the years, even attempting to run my own via openvpn, but so far the easiest (and well, cheapest without losing security features) one has been overplay.net. They’re widely known for their strong level of anonymous/secure surfing not to mention their ability to access location restrictive TV content. Anyhow, they’re worth at least checking out. The service is only $9.95 a month and you get access to all their vpn servers spanning 20 countries around the world. Not to shabby right? Ohh, and not to leave out – they accept paypal..
Transparent App Development – the Panic Board
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 | API, Business, computer graphics, Mashup, Project Management, Tools, Tracking, Utilities, visual effects, WebApps | No Comments
While there are probably a good number of apps that I use on a daily basis, there are only a few dvelopement companies behind these tools that I actually have a strong admiration/nerd-crush for. One of these companies is Panic, creator of my all-time favorite FTP client and Web Development tools Transmit & Coda. On their blog they typically show-off upcoming features, status updates on various projects and just all-around random shit that they find interesting online. Trust me, while it’s definitely a company blog they’ve got a loyal following thanks to the interesting posts that pepper the typical product/marketing dev. updates. This is a prime example. They just posted a pic/feature-list on a new project that they’ve been working on that’s an easy-to-digest project status-board, or as they’ve called it “the panic board.” Primarily using AJAX this status board will give any team member privy to their internal network a one-screen update on where in the development cycles any number of projects might be in. Not only that but according to the blog it also incorporates streaming twitter updates, email announcements, the company calendar and even the local Tri-Met Bus Arrival calendar for employees who rely on the bus to get to and from work (hey, they’ve got an API, why not use it?!). The blog post then goes on to make any data nerd squeal with the admission that they’re using a 46″ Samsung LCD Video Wall Display to keep the team within eyeshot of the status board. Very cool.
Now by no means is this the first or even one of the first examples of global ‘status board’ type pages that have been setup for both internal and external use. One of my favorite examples of a public project status page is the one featured on the right in the header image, found over on the Culture Code company website. These are the guys behind the OSX & iPhone to-do application called “Things.” They’ve created a project status page in the form of an airport arrival/departure screen. What’s cool about this is as the user you’re able to see not only the status on various product updates, but also see who in the company is working on that particular issue and when they last updated the sheet.
Other notable one-page project update tools is one recently put in place by the Boulder office of ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky, shown below.
It’s a quick way of seeing how far along any given project is in the office, sorting by account, due date, job-type, Creative Director or Producer assigned to the piece. It’s also got a status bar so if you’re across the room you can see at a glance whether or not something has already started (or is about to be finished). They apparently have this sucker projected on the main wall in the inner-depths of the office. Having been forced to deal with so many archiac ways of managing projects at advertising agencies, this is definitely a step in the right direction (if you’re a project manager/producer/in the traffic dept.). I’m sure the creatives will hate this visual reminder of what work they haven’t done yet….so bonus points are awarded there. What it needs though is some color, maybe even little avatars/graphics to help people find specific types of projects without having to scan the entire board…just a thought.
