Michi Knows

I launched two more Google parodies: Rainbow Google and Annoying Google!

Rainbow Google is just a pretty demonstration of dynamic stylesheet modification. It was actually extremely hard to code — it took me about 8 hours of JavaScript hell. On another day, I’ll go over how I did it. This site adds a colorful spray of colors to the text on the page (see screenshot).

RainbowGoogle.com

Annoying Google was about 10 minutes of work since it was just a super simple version of Rainbow Google’s code. Search queries and results are jumbled so that their letters are in random capitalized states… LiKe ThiS.

AnnoyingGoogle.com

If you have suggestions or ideas, please let me know!

I installed a plugin today called WPtouch, which provides a custom layout for your blog’s iPhone visitors. I was pleased by how simple the plugin was to install and how gracefully it “just worked.” Normally, I don’t bump plugins, but this one was just too well executed to ignore. It even integrates with AdSense and supports YouTube embeds correctly!

If you have a blog, try it out.

What this site looks like on an iPhone.

(EDIT: also check out this post for information on Annoying Google and Rainbow Google!)

Hello, I’m here to announce two new websites of mine: Epic Google and Weenie Google. They’re extraordinarily simple ideas. Feel free to mischievously make it the home page of your friends.

Unlike the last idea of mine (Google Loco), I made sure these pointed to domains that didn’t have “Google” in them. I did not enjoy the fact that Google blacklisted my Loco domain (A tip for the rest of your parody makers out there)!

For a brief period, the site was down. I was moving to a more permanent host. Special thanks to Brian for hosting my sites all these years. =)

Anyway, yes, I do keep this site in mind. And for any of you paying attention, I hope it’s not the end of the (open source database) world that Oracle bought Sun. I think it’s funny that Oracle just bought Sun for a price that puts MySQL’s value at 1/7th Sun’s value. Maybe instead of buying up MySQL, Sun should have been focusing on their own business strategy. And they did it during the hardest possible economic times. Moronic.

Oh well. As they say, “when the tide goes out, you can see who’s not wearing shorts,” right? I do feel bad for MySQL though. They dodged the Oracle Bullet only to get caught under the Oracle Steamroller.

My coworker just made this one up and I had to share because I love corny humor:

Q: What drug does a programmer do?
A: Hextacy.

This is totally un-techy, but I came across a very interesting post about putting on makeup.

To summarize the article… Take a look at the “after” picture.

Now look at the “before” picture. I still can’t believe it’s the same person.

Being a guy, I was never conciously aware that makeup could change someone’s looks so dramatically (aside from the professional jobs on movie sets). Amazing!

A funny Craigslist post (now deleted):

Web Designer/Programmer Needed
Reply to: job-483872814@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-11-19, 4:51PM EST
Must have specific database and Web-development experience to include in-depth database management and Web design services. Experience with government clients providing extensive data management and document tracking support a plus. Must have strong computer programming skills across a wide range of platforms/software programs to include:

• PHP5
• ColdFusion 5, ColdFusion MX
• Classic ASP, ASP.NET
• Visual Basic, VB.NET
• HTML, DHTML, XML
• CSS
• Adobe Flex
• JavaScript and VBScript
• Zend Studio
• ColdFusion Studio
• Visual Studio .NET
• Dreamweaver MX
• Front Page
• Acrobat PDF
• Content Management
• Photoshop / Image Ready
• Quark Xpress
• Flash MX
• Fireworks MX
• SQL / PL/SQL
• SQL Server 2005
• Access
• Oracle
• Paradox
• Informatica Data Analyzing and Procedural Mapping
• PC (Windows XP)
• MAC (OS X Tiger)
• UNIX
• Novell Netware5
• Internet Information Server 5
• SQL Server
• MS Windows Server 2003
• ColdFusion Server & Administrator
• Microsoft Office User Specialist
• Corel OfficeSuite

Please email resume and links to websites you have created or on which you have collaborated, to be considered.

    * Location: Williamsburg Area
    * Compensation: Negotiable
    * Telecommuting is ok.
    * This is a part-time job.
    * This is a contract job.
    * OK to highlight this job opening for persons with disabilities
    * Principals only. Recruiters, please don’t contact this job poster.
    * Please, no phone calls about this job!
    * Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.

That’s like pretty much every single web technology plus random experience with Corel.

Check out my email download queue today…

Mozilla Labs just released a new feature called Prism. The most interesting aspect of this announcement is that Mozilla is attempting to formally “upgrade” the web application development process from what it was since the web was born. While their new technology introduces no new significant features to web development, it strongly encourages web 2.0 style development by completely removing the navigation links and address bar.

Prism is an application that lets users split web applications out of their browser and run them directly on their desktop.

On the surface, it seems like a browser without a location bar. The main thing is that it allows web application the hooks that regular applications have such as being direct links in the application menu. But even that is replicated with modern operating systems by using shortcut links. It is superior to just visiting a regular website using a browser in a two ways:

• If an application or Firefox crashes, it doesn’t crash the other instances. Each application runs as its own standalone instance with its own link in the task bar.
• Customizations or extensions per application are now possible. For example, you might see an extension specifically for Facebook or YouTube that works in the application environment without cluttering up your Firefox install.

Mozilla has greater ambitions for this project, as it is indicated that this is the first in a series of ”experiments” on web-desktop integration:

…we’re also working to increase the capabilities of those apps by adding functionality to the Web itself, such as providing support for offline data storage and access to 3D graphics hardware.

They state that they have no intentions of doing these things using proprietary technologies as proposed in Adobe’s AIR or Microsoft’s Silverlight.

In short, by keeping this a separate piece from Firefox, it frees them from cluttering up their browser. By keeping it separate, they can cater to the needs of desktop applications as eventually (in the long term), whole sites might be applications you would need to open with this tool before you could use the off-line features (Firefox just gets you to the site).

At least, that’s my take on this.

I recently got an iPhone. I now understand why it is rated so highly by its owners. It lives up to its hype, and blows away all other phones. I am not going to even talk about the iPod feature of the iPhone since it’s irrelevant to me.

Interface

I was very happy with my Blackberry until I got an iPhone. The iPhone has an amazing interface. Everything is so dead simple to understand. I thought the trackball on the Blackberry was slick, but the touch interface on the iPhone is about as intuitive as it gets. I can delete emails amazingly fast (swipe right, tap on delete button), and scrolling through long lists has never been faster or more accurate.

The single most confusing aspect of a phone is its interface during a phone call — something the iPhone has fixed in a way no other phone can. The Blackberry is just as guilty as all other phones: when someone else calls in and you want to hang up and switch to the other person, how that is done is not obvious (honest, I still don’t know how). This exact scenario happened on my very first phone call on the iPhone, and I figured out what to press within the two seconds when I looked at the screen to see what to do next. The interface is really thought out.

Construction

With the Blackberry in one hand and the iPhone in the other, I can see just how “cheaply” the Blackberry was built. While it has a nice metal-looking pair of side panels, the entire thing is actually made of plastic, and in a matter of months, it wore down quite a bit. While time will tell how the iPhone holds up, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that the iPhone’s glass screen and aluminum casing will hold up to scratching much better than a plastic shell.

Keyboard

And the keyboard – the point of contention for most potential buyers – is amazing. The first time I tried the keyboard in the Apple store, it was only “okay” at best. It is hard to let go of the Crack-Berry once you are used to its mini-keyboard. But after using the iPhone for one day, I can type very fast on it, and with only one finger. Its auto-correct feature is very smart, and once you learn to trust it, typing is as fast as you can spell out letters.

The Camera

I hate how the iPhone’s camera is activated by a button the screen. Why can’t it use the sound adjustment buttons on the left side? QA must have missed this obvious annoyance.

Photo manipulation is as fun and easy as Steve Jobs made it look during his famous keynote.

Browsing the Web

This is hands down a victory for the iPhone. The browser is as good as they say, and it’s refreshing to be able to see full web sites on a mobile device again. On the Blackberry, the web feels like it got filtered through a coffee can and you are stuck in 1995.

I’ll go in and also mention Google Maps here: The zoom and pan functionality work amazingly well in a touch screen environment. If I hadn’t seen Google Maps before, I would think Google Maps was designed for the iPhone.

Battery Life

The battery life on the Blackberry is amazing, especially on the 8800 series. I know from experience. I haven’t had enough time with the iPhone to claim much in this department. From what I have seen, it can easily go an entire day of playing music, regular phone usage, and minor Internet browsing on one charge and still have more juice.

EDGE Network

EDGE sucks. My Blackberry was also using EDGE, so both phones blow in this regard. But at least the iPhone can leech wireless connections (the newest Blackberries do this too).

Conclusion

The key aspect that makes the iPhone great isn’t the iPod integration or the full-featured web browser: it’s the user-interface.

I can safely buy this for my dad and know he could use it. My Blackberry, in all its simple interface glory, still had many little quirks that made it hard to figure out (for example, on the 8700 hiding or moving icons took me weeks to discover, and in the 8800 putting the phone in silent mode isn’t a one button operation).

It’s a great phone for the casual user because of its media capabilities, but it can double as a productivity phone thanks to its email and browser capabilities. I’m the target demographic for an iPhone (currently have a smart phone, don’t carry an iPod due to bulk, can spare $400), and I can imagine there are a whole lot of others in my shoes who have yet to personally try an iPhone.

The iPhone is going to easily take 1% of the market. And that isn’t even considering what happens when they drop the price to $300 later next year (January capacity increase, September price drop).