fHold
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Posts by fHold
Atomic Web – the iPad’s best browser
May 12th
After toying with the lite version for a day or so, I happily dropped a dollar for the full version of Atomic Web – an alternative browser for the iPad. Where the Opera Mini browser differs from Safari on the iPhone in speed (and, er, variety), Atomic Web differs from Safari on the iPad in features. Yes, yes – the iPad isn’t a laptop, but its screen is a lot bigger than its smaller cousins and that in and of itself makes the lack of features in Safari even more evident.
Firstly, there’s full screen mode. Granted, it’s only a half an inch here and a quarter inch there, but that real estate adds up when you’re used to a 15″ or 17″ (or bigger) screen. Atomic Web is highly configurable, including themes, ad blocking and private mode, and 2-finger gestures and a 3-finger tap that can be assigned to over 15 different shortcuts. It also comes packed with the ability to save a web page and view source.
I’m a big fan of the Facebook and Twitter integration (and come to expect it, really), though it seems as though the biggest crowd-pleasing feature is tabbed browsing. For all of the thought Apple puts into UI, I think they dropped the ball by not even including tabs as an option.
I haven’t found the browser to be buggy, and the closest thing to a complaint I have is that you can’t make it your default browser – something I don’t think Atomic Web has any control over at all.
Atomic Web has replaced Safari as my iPad browser of choice – for now at least.
NetBeans, jQuery, and MS Intellisinse
Apr 12th
I recently abandoned Aptana as my IDE of choice (for a variety of reasons, not just an incredibly confusing process…). Recommended to me was NetBeans, currently in version 6.8, and though I’m still learning my way around, so far, so great.
As if I wasn’t already keen on intellisense – or as the rest of the non-Microsoft world calls it, code hinting – you can now find vsdoc.js files on the jQuery download page for some of its libraries (as of this writing there’s one for 1.4.1 but not 1.4.2). Why mention this? Well, it just so happens that the aforementioned IDE NetBeans knows how to work with these Visual Studio documents so long as they are in the same directory as the included library. Nice.
Well, almost. Unless I’m doing something very wrong (happens a lot) I can’t get the jQuery intellisense to work past the first link in a chained expression. For example:
// works - brings up intellisense
$("#test_p").cs
// not so much
$("#test_p").css("color", "#FF0000").ht
Another drawback of this combo is that the automatic reference of the intellisense doesn’t seem to work if you are including a library located in a folder above the current one, e.g. a “common” folder in your localhost. I tried to move the NetBeans metadata to another location as well, to no avail.
Until I can get this working more smoothly, I’ll continue to use the online jQuery API – perhaps a better resource anyway…
Apple’s “Latest Creation” – the iPad
Jan 27th
After tons of speculation and unmet expectations from who-knows-how-many previous Apple Events, the masses seemed satisfied today as the company that brought us all those iThings added to its list of revolutionary products by unveiling it’s “latest creation” – the iPad.
Once you get over the name and look at what this thing is capable of, particularly it’s iPhone-like features and compatibility, it’s hard to argue against it’s potential for being the leading netbook out there (if you can even classify it as such). Before this event I was convinced there was absolutely no need for a netbook in my household – now I’m not so sure. I have had a lot of the Kool-Aid already, after all.
Just please – whatever you do – don’t sit on it…
jQuery Cookbook – A Must Read
Jan 17th
Firstly – it’s an ermine.
Secondly, this book is a hands-down essential part of your collection if you are at all interested in / develop with the jQuery library. Authored by no less than 19 “jQuery Community Experts” including heavy hitters like Cory Lindley, Remy Sharp, and Mike Hostetler, The jQuery Cookbook compliments nicely other jQuery staples, such as Learning jQuery 1.3 and jQuery in Action.
If you are a front-end developer and have yet to use jQuery at all, it’s well worth trying out – it’s powerful, intuitive, extremely stable and, as this book so skillfully helps to demonstrate, very useful.
“…you’ll learn patterns and practices from a dozen of the leading developers who use jQuery for everything from integrating simple components into websites and applications to developing complex, high performance user interfaces.” – back cover, jQuery Cookbook.
Companies Can’t Wait for Apple to Sell Card Swiping iPods…Really
Jan 6th
Ever since going into an Apple Store last week and seeing their new iPod Touch-based POS system first hand, I knew it would only be a matter of time before other retailers started to daydream about how such a system could work for them too. Though Apple hasn’t decided whether they’re going to sell an EasyPay-like app and hardware (which includes a barcode scanner and card swipe built slickly into what amounts to an iPod jacket or sleeve), rumors abound that they’re making moves to do so.
Now at least one company is tired of waiting.
Simply Swipe It now has an app that can process transactions through EPay and Authorize.net, and is also offering for pre-order an accessory card swiper called QuickSwipe that looks like it clamps onto the sides of a Touch. From the image on their site it looks to be aesthetically a far cry from what Apple Store employees are toting around, but it’s proof that Steve Jobs and Company don’t have the “use your finger to sign here, please” market cornered just yet.
