The new site is Tech Soapbox
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February 28, 2006
So while browsing around the 'new' Ask.com I ran into their Map section. Hrmm I thought - with their fancy AJAX menu had something slipped in here?
After a bit of testing - color me impressed.
First off, I live in Canada. That immediately puts almost 50% of services on the web out of reach. Movie times, traffic info, etc etc - oh how I wish I could use them, but alas I can't.
So first thing - search for my old address.
An immediate big difference over Google. Instead of asking me 'did you mean?' the system automatically picked what it thought was the smartest choice, and had a little list of alternatives. Good start.
Furthermore, the map interface just seems a bit cleaner. I think the combination of the over-sized font + bold font weight + translucent popup made it look a bit nicer. to me. The colors also seemed a bit less bland. I also liked the zoom in controls - again, they seemed nicer.
So right off the bat I want to see how well it handles directions. Big plus here. Instead of having to click on a link, I Just 'add a location'. This of course opens up a lot of avenues - instead of just doing Point A to Point B, you can now do Point A to Point B to Point C to Point D and so forth. On top of this, the system remembers your recent locations. Why type in again when you can click! The location are easy to erase.
It doesn't end here. You can also see driving versus walking directions. In a developed downtown like Toronto, there are a lot of one way streets. It is nice to differentiate between a driving route and a walking route. Great job separating the two. You can also 'play' a drive through where it goes through instructions from each point to the next, showing you every time you have to change roads/directions.
Furthermore, removing locations is a snap. I decided to remove Point B, and the system automatically showed me directions from Point A to Point C.
All of this wrapped up in snazzy AJAX. I did not run into a single page refresh. Everything reloads inside the page. The only time the page 'refreshed' was when I did my initial search. After that, everything was brilliantly packaged within.
The system comes with a mix of street, mixed (hybrid), and aerial (satellite) views. All were strong for me in Toronto. In the top right are quick links for Print, Email, Bookmark, and Link to this page. When viewing Aerial view you also buy a print through GlobeXplorer. The Bookmark linked worked perfectly in both FireFox and Internet Explorer. The Email link was just a direct mailto: - I would have preferred a nice DHTML popup form. Speaking of which, if you do go directly to a link (example), a nifty little AJAX animation is seen as the left menu 'slides out'. You can then click on the sidebar to make it disappear so you only have the map. Again, a very nice touch. And best of all, my scroll wheel works for zooming in/out. Fantastic!
In conclusion, I have to say that this is the slickest map system I have seen online. I cannot speak for the US and/or international coverage outside of Canada, but what I have seen has impressed me greatly.
Just waiting for the API 
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February 26, 2006
While never good at it, I have always had a soft spot for Chess. A truly thinking person’s game, chess lets you spend away your time just flexing your brain. And really, we just don’t get to flex our brains enough.
So when I ran across an AJAX driven Chess board I was rather excited. And as I progressed, the excitement only grew.
To note, I first ran across this site when it got frontpage on Digg. While it did admirably survive and stay online, the game was very buggy. I could not see the game pieces half the time, and my opponent couldn’t see half our moves.
But I revisited it a few days after, and it is a wonderful game. The homepage is as simple as can be, and it has a dynamic iframe/chat where you can talk to find a random opponent.
Creating a new game is as simple as can be. Just click on the link, enter in a room name, and instantly get transported to your new game (provided the room name is not taken of course). As the creator, you get to choose if you are white or not (white goes first). Once in, you idly wait until someone joins. The game is multiplayer only.
The game itself is very easy to play. Click on your chess piece, click where you want it to go, and viola. Wait for your opponent to do the same, and repeat. While doing moves, the game also records all moves on the right (I never did understand what they meant, but it is a nice touch – more on that later).
The game of course comes to a conclusion when you checkmate. There is no direct checkmate checking – my poor hapless opponent lost quickly (of course!), and every move he attempted resulted in a warning of 'Not possible - would be chess.'
The game also has some very nice touches:
Firstly, replays. Because it records your moves, you can watch a replay of your game. Even better, you can also copy paste replays from sites like ChessGames.com. For the true fan, a great way to learn from others.
The game also boasts a freestyle mode. Just an empty chess board where you control every move. A good way of playing vs a friend on the same computer.
Furthermore, the game remembers you after you quit. After the vicious drubbing I gave my opponent, I revisited the website, and was notified that the game had ended, along with a list of moves. This 'auto-save' option also is a great way of playing for an hour, leaving, and then coming back to renew the chess game.
Lastly, the entire game is open source. Released under GPL, right now you can only get the core javascript, but there is a promise that the rest of the source code + documentation will be released soon.
A great way of showing off what AJAX can do, AJAX Chess is definitely worth checking out.
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February 24, 2006
Any serious web developer knows how important it is to make sure their website looks great in all browsers. But that is no easy task - common solutions (and used by me previously) include buying a Mac and installing various software packages, using online sites (especially to view what it looks like on a Mac), or just harassing your friends.
I ran into SiteVista a few months ago, and whew am I happy I did.
The site is wonderful. It allows you to input a URL, and their system will test across 12 different browser versions, three different resolutions, and three different color depths in showing off what your site will look like. Support browsers include IE4-6 (including IE5 for Mac), NN4-8, FireFox 1, Safari 2, and Mozilla 1.7. Resolutions supported are 640x480, 800x600, and 1024x768. Color depth support is 256 colors, high color, and true color.
The entire system is packaged into one very slick system. Once logged in (I have a monthly account), just enter your url, choose what browsers/resolutions/colors you want tested, and away you go. You can opt to immediately view results, where, driven by delicious AJAX, the site will update the thumbnails as they happen. Even better, you can opt to retest a specific test (eg 800x600 resolution). Even better, the system takes a normal window screenshot, and also a full-page screenshot (which is the entire document, even if it includes scrolling). Brilliant! Best of all, you can opt to be emailed when test results are confirmed. Simple and easy - I like it.
All tests are stored and archived online so that you can quickly and easily view them again if needed. The system also provides some raw statistics from w3schools to help you gauge the browser, resolution, and color distribution. Not a big deal, but a nice little touch.
My only qualm about the system is that there is no 'check all' option. It frankly drives me mad when I see more than 5 checkboxes and a website does not have a 'check all' option. Bad SiteVista for making me click excessively! One thing that might be nice would be to use lightbox (or offer it as an option) when viewing test results.
The 'tests coming soon' have me really excited. Loading speed and color blindness will be wonderful tests, and I look forward to those
This app is highly recommended. I have been using it for almost 6 months now, and it has been worth every penny.
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February 13, 2006
Read about iBegin and what it aims to do.
February 6, 2006
I'm updating, but no promise I will keep on updating. Will try my best. My iBegin project is rounding out better every single day, and hopefully I can get that launched before March rolls by.
Onto FullHits ...
Fullhits is basically TinyURL without the page refresh. Put in the URL, click 'Make Tiny', and shazam, your fullhits short URL is ready. The link itself is devoid of any advertisements.
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