Web Development Evolved just got better

Firebug 1.2b1 for Firefox 3 RC1 has just been released!
This is good news because I have been having so many problems with 1.1 that I ended up disabling my favorite Firefox plugin (and actually the only plugin I use). But from the Firebug announcement it sounds like the problem might have been coming from FF 3.0b5...

I even tried an alpha version of Firebug 1.2 but couldn't figure out what was wrong with it, I couldn't disable it... turns out that they have redesign the interface and there is no 'disable' option anymore.

Firebug - Web Development Evolved » Blog Archive » Firebug 1.2b1

iPhone Webapp Buttons

While toying around with the idea of building a webapp for the iPhone I came across the need to build the equivalent of a checkbox. The problem is that checkboxes are a bit too small to be used accurately with fingertips and Apple has already come up with the perfect solution, the cool sliding ON/OFF switches that you find on the iPhone native apps.
So I tried to duplicate the switch in a browser, just using HTML, CSS3 and a bit of javascript.
I'm pretty happy with the results, I even managed to animate the switch. Until iPhone 2.0 gets released in June (with safari 3.1 for iPhone) you will only be able to see the animation on the desktop version of Safari 3.1 (unless, of course, you are already running the iPhone 2.0 beta)
The switch could still use better colors and gradients, but it will do for now.

Link

I'd love your feedback if you come up with a better idea.

Brand new Google Reader for iPhone

The new Google Reader interface for iPhone is out!
It is a LOT faster than the previous version, it loads the posts inline when you open them so there is no page reloads.
It only has the "Share" and "Mark as read" options so far, but like the post says, it's the first public beta.
And it even comes with a neat icon when you save the bookmark to your home screen.
Point your iPhone to http://www.google.com/reader/i/

The perfect iPhone webapp

I've been hearing about Twitter for a while, and couldn't figure out what the big deal was. I mean who is around a computer often enough to update their status?
Wouldn't most of the Twitter worthy updates happen right when you're not around your computer anyway?
Well, I just came across the coolest webapp... www.hahlo.com
I might just start using Twitter myself.Now, if only I had anything interesting to say...

Here's my Twitter feed

AT&T Wireless website on the iPhone

I finally got an iPhone (yeah, yeah I know the 3G one is coming out soon...)
Anyway, as I was browsing through all the settings when I clicked on the button that links to the AT&T Wireless Account site (under Setting > Phone > AT&T Services > AT&T My Account...
How could AT&T, being the only iPhone wireless carrier in the US, not have a site that is designed (or that would at least work) for the iPhone?
First of all the page is way too big for the small iPhone screen, you can barely see the login box. So anyway, you zoom in and try to enter your phone number. Oops, looks like the poorly written javascript code that is supposed to take you to the password box when you've typed 10 digits isn't working on the iPhone... You get stucked and can't do anything.
I reloaded the page several time and finally got 'unstuck'. But oh wait, the last digit of my phone number was a typo, gotta go and correct it before I try to login, right? Nope, the same javascript code seems to be preventing me from using the backspace button!

Way to go AT&T! Great job on that crappy website!

Gmail and Firebug

I finally had access to the "new" Gmail interface today.
The new Contacts piece is nice, although I would have liked to see a way of easily merging contacts.
Anyway, this caught my attention:


Clicking on the fix link will take you to https://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=77355

I guess monitoring the XMLHttpRequests must slow down Firefox.

A Classic Kinda Guy

I must be boring. I'm sitting in front of my computer drinking a Coke Classic, eating Lay's Classic and listening to old music on my iPod Classic...

Inland Empire Google Map of Bridges

"In the wake of the recent disaster in Minneapolis, many Americans are asking themselves how safe their local bridges are. And, for the mountain communities, bridges provide a vital link to the valleys and surrounding area.

RIMOFTHEWORLD.net obtained a copy of the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) 2006 National Bridge Inspection Program Report on 1,738 bridges in the mountain communities and surrounding valley and high desert areas. Of these bridges, 127 were found to be structurally deficient" by officials.

View the map

Point 'n Click Google Maps Directions

I recently started playing with the Google Maps API, and thought it would be a cool idea to be able to get directions between 2 points without having to enter any address or location, just by clicking on the map. This is a really rough version, but I'll probably add some more features in the next few days. Let me know if you have any ideas..
[link]

HTML_AJAX goes Beta!

Today we released the first beta version (0.5.0) of HTML_AJAX. This is a pretty big milestone as it means that future versions of the API will be backward compatible.
The next big thing to do is to improve the documentation, so if anyone feels like helping, please do so (http://www.htmlajax.org). You can install the latest version by using "pear install -f HTML_AJAX"

Hands On: Understanding AJAX

ComputerWorld.com has an excerpt from Joshua Eichorn's new AJAX book "Understanding AJAX: Using Javascript to Create Rich Internet Applications".
It looks like Amazon.com already has the book in stock, I'll be ordering myself a copy this week.

HTML_AJAX 0.4.1 Released

This new version of HTML_AJAX was released on 06/13/2006. It is mostly a maintenance release with a few bug fixes. If you're still using 0.4.0 you might want to upgrade.
The library seems to have stabilized a lot in the last few months, so we will now concentrate our efforts towards the first beta release.

Release notes are available here: http://htmlajax.org/HTML_AJAX/release-0.4.1

Finally

I finally decided to get my own blog. I doubt that I'll be editing it very often but it can come in handy sometimes. So here it is...
I also made some good use of my Google Page Creator account today, I posted pictures of us and Natalie (http://laurenty.googlepages.com/nataliefaith)
I spend some of my free time working on AJAX stuff. I've been using HTML_AJAX (http://www.htmlajax.org) and I've also been helping with the project.