« December 2005 | Main | March 2006 »
February 23, 2006
Bookmarklets Old and New
Note: The bookmarklets in this entry are designed for Firefox.
According to Wikipedia, a Bookmarklet is:
"A small JavaScript program that can be stored as a URL within a bookmark in most popular web browsers, or within hyperlinks on a web page."
Here is what the bookmarklets in my browser currently look like (outlined by a red rectangle):
As you can see, it is now very easy for me to post something to del.icio.us, email a page, look up something on Wikipedia, etc. All of these bookmarklets have integrated Javascript that pop up windows for search queries or use text that I have highlighted on the screen as the query input.
I have been using bookmarklets for a long time, but had never actually written any myself. Here are 2 new ones that I hope someone will find useful. To install these, drag the links to your Bookmarks Toolbar.
1. Calculator - This bookmarklet either pops up a window asking you for an equation or uses the text currently selected on the screen as the equation and then shows you the result. This may be handier than opening a Calculator program every time you need to do a simple calculation. To test, install this bookmarklet, highlight the following text, and run it: 6 * (5 / 3) - 3 + (7 / 2)
2. ROT13 Encrypter / Decrypter - ROT13 Encryption is a very simple encryption scheme that is used on newsgroups and on my new favorite site Geocaching.com. Here is a description of how it works and why it is used. Much like the calculator bookmarklet, you can either enter the encrypted / decrypted text in a popup window or select the text on the screen first. To test, install this bookmarklet, highlight the following text, and run it: Pbatenghyngvbaf! Gur obbxznexyrg vf vafgnyyrq.
Here are the ones I use that other people have made. These are links to the pages describing the bookmarklets, not the actual bookmarklets themselves:
Posted by Chuck at 02:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 07, 2006
RSS - What is it and why do I need it?
A friend recently asked if I could explain RSS (Really Simple Syndication) in a non-technical way as a blog entry. Apparently, he had heard that it was useful but didn't really know all the details. So Chris, as well as others who come to this site but rarely understand what I am talking about, this is for you:
I read a lot of websites that are updated frequently as well as some that are rarely updated at all. These sites include blogs, news, photo galleries, technology tutorials, etc. Right now, I would estimate the number of sites that I frequent to be around 30. Think that's a lot? Once you download an RSS Reader, your list will quickly increase.
Some sites, like Digg, are updated continuously through the day. Others, like Wall Street Programmer are only updated once every few weeks, but I still would like to know when. That is why there is RSS.
Before RSS, I would have had 30 different browser bookmarks. Then, several times throughout the day I would have to check each bookmark to see if there was any new content. On most sites, there would be nothing new, but I would still have to take the time to check. That would have been very time-consuming.
Fortunately, all 30 of the websites I frequent also offer an RSS Feed. This means that I can add all 30 feeds to my favorite RSS Aggregator and with a click of a button can find out which sites have new content and which do not.
In other words, by clicking a single button, my RSS reader will check all 30 sites, one after another and alert me if there is a new news story, blog entry, photo, etc. in any of them. So instead of taking 10 minutes to check for new content on 30 websites, I can take 10 seconds, which gives me much more time to write blog entries which people besides myself might read.
If you have your own blog, you more than likely already have an RSS feed that is automatically updated every time you add an entry. This is true for LiveJournal, Blogger, WordPress, MovableType, etc.
I recommend you that you check your favorite websites for RSS Feeds. They may be labeled as XML, Syndicate This Site, RSS, Live Feed, etc. Then, download an RSS Reader like Sage or SharpReader and see how much time it saves you.
If you have any questions, post a comment and I will post a response.
Posted by Chuck at 03:03 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack