builder2

WatchOCR

markku — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 14:33:55 +0000

“WatchOCR is free OCR server for PDFs. Based on Knoppix, WatchOCR uses cuneiform, and exactimage to create text searchable PDFs from image only PDFs. Using the web interface, WatchOCR can be remotely configured to monitor a watched folder for newly scanned PDFs for OCR conversion. Leveraging the power of a liveCD distro, WatchOCR is the fastest way to get an OCR service up and running for your network.”

This seems a very useful way to get high–quality optical character recognition across all services in a network.

WatchOCR is a post from: builder2

autojump: Linux cd command on steroids

markku — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 09:25:11 +0000

autojump is “a cd command that learns,” one that programatically learns your favorite directories and allows you to minimize keyboard input to get you where you want.

autojump is a faster way to navigate your filesystem. It works by maintaining a database of the directories you use the most from the command line. The jumpstat command shows you the current contents of the database. You need to work a little bit before the database becomes usable. Autojump will listen and rank your ‘cd’ commands by frequency.

This seems like a good utility for commandline purists!

autojump: Linux cd command on steroids is a post from: builder2

Image Sliders

markku — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 11:18:23 +0000

Image sliders, like lightboxes, are just some of the useful presentational tools brought about by the growth in browser technologies and javascript frameworks. If you’re looking for one you can use for your blog, I recently found three robust solutions that should fit most needs: Nivo Slider, Coin Slider, and SlideDeck. You’d be surprised how extensible yet easy–to–setup these jQuery plugins are.

Image Sliders is a post from: builder2

Bulletproof MySQL Backups

markku — Mon, 31 May 2010 05:05:26 +0000

Doing database backups for MySQL can be as simple as commandline dumps, but complex deployments can make things well, very complicated. This guide on bulletproof MySQL backups can be very helpful if you think you’ll be going into the complex type of deployments.

Bulletproof MySQL Backups is a post from: builder2

Masonry: A jQuery Layout Plugin

markku — Sun, 30 May 2010 14:49:07 +0000

“Masonry is a layout plugin for jQuery. Think of it as the flip side of CSS floats. Whereas floating arranges elements horizontally then vertically, Masonry arranges elements vertically then horizontally according to a grid. The result minimizes vertical gaps between elements of varying height, just like a mason fitting stones in a wall.”

Masonry: A jQuery Layout Plugin is a post from: builder2

WordPress 3.0 Just Around the Corner!

markku — Sat, 29 May 2010 17:09:34 +0000

With yesterday’s announcement of the first release candidate for WordPress 3.0, it is almost certain that we will be blogging with a new WP version in a matter of days. Since this is a major release, be sure to check for compatibility especially if you run more than a handful of plugins.

WordPress 3.0 Just Around the Corner! is a post from: builder2

Mount Disks in Ubuntu

markku — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 08:40:04 +0000

I’m currently working on a server migration and doing backups at the same time, all this on a remote VPS, and I just realized I keep on forgetting how to mount disks in Ubuntu and Linux in general. This Ubuntu guide on Mount/USB was very helpful. Basically, these are the commands that come handy:

sudo mkdir /media/external sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /media/external

Or something close to that.

Mount Disks in Ubuntu is a post from: builder2

Creating a Plurk Bot Using PHP

markku — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 09:57:37 +0000

I’ve always wanted to create a bot for automated postings to Plurk just to get my karma rising, but I never got to coding it. Besides, that isn’t exactly acceptable behavior as some would see it. But here’s a complete guide to creating your own plurk bot using PHP.

Creating a Plurk Bot Using PHP is a post from: builder2

YoxView

markku — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 10:37:49 +0000

YoxView is another jQuery image viewer plugin that doesn’t look like your typical lightbox. Though there are too many lightbox options available, YoxView is among the few that have a built–in slideshow feature, which may come in handy for some sites.

YoxView is a post from: builder2

iPad & iPhone Fonts

markku — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 16:57:27 +0000

The recently released iPad and the iPhone have been revolutionary devices that change the way we access the web. As a result, web designers should be aware about the typeface options in both devices so you can properly declare them in your stylesheets without unnecessarily digging into @font–face embedding.

iPad & iPhone Fonts is a post from: builder2

SublimeVideo

markku — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 10:46:58 +0000

SublimeVideo is a javascript library you can use to serve HTML5 video to capable browsers while still retaining compatibility with older browsers, gracefully degrading to using a flash–based player. In many ways, it is similar to html5media, another library we featured a few weeks ago.

SublimeVideo is a post from: builder2

jQuery Crash

markku — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:35:57 +0000

Now here’s a jQuery plugin with an evil twist: jQuery Crash. With just Javascript through jQuery, this plugin will crash anyone using IE6, a not so subtle way of telling them to start using a better browser. Sick.

jQuery Crash is a post from: builder2

Pure CSS Speech Bubbles

markku — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 18:19:53 +0000

Just as the title says, speech bubbles done beautifully just with pure CSS.

All examples use simple, semantic HTML. No empty elements, no unnecessary extra elements, no JavaScript, no images (apart from that Twitter logo)…

Pure CSS Speech Bubbles is a post from: builder2

Uniform

markku — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 10:57:52 +0000

Uniform supposedly helps you produce “sexy forms with jQuery.” Essentially, it is a jQuery plugin that styles form elements and provides them a consistent look. A few designs are initially available as themes and it should be fairly easy to build your own from it.

Uniform is a post from: builder2

jquery-transmit

markku — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 12:34:24 +0000

jquery-transmit is a jQuery plugin used to produce a flash–based multi–file uploader for your pages, all this quite simply achievable:

$(document).ready(function() { $("#transmit").transmit("http://mysite.com/upload/"); });

Now there’s no need to dive into flash or swfupload configuration files, multi–uploaders can be as simple a few lines of code.

jquery-transmit is a post from: builder2

Plupload: Uploading Made Simple

markku — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:20:57 +0000

Plupload is an open–source tool that allows you to provide uploading functionality for your website. So what makes it special? It utilizes HTML5, Gears, Silverlight, Flash, BrowserPlus or normal forms, providing some unique features such as upload progress, image resizing and chunked uploads—all this transparently and without the developer’s intervention.

This project is from the guys who made TinyMCE, so I’m sure incremental updates will be regular.

Plupload: Uploading Made Simple is a post from: builder2

flashblockdetector: Detect Browser Flash Blocking

markku — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:58:51 +0000

flashblockdetector allows a developer to use javascript to check if a browser client is using flash blocking extensions. Using this utility, you can inform a reader to whitelist/disable flash blocking for your given site, in case you need flash functionality. I’m sure this is useful for those dreaming of building the next Youtube.

flashblockdetector: Detect Browser Flash Blocking is a post from: builder2

html5media:

markku — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:47:49 +0000

html5media is a javascript utility that you can simply call in your page’s header and use the generic HTML5 tag to display videos, without having to worry if your reader’s browser support HTML5 and the tag.

Usage is very simple. Place this code in the section:

After that, embedded movies can be added simply:

When HTML5 video is supported by a given browser, the file is served as is. Otherwise, a simple flash movie player is dynamically swapped in its place. Note however that encoding issues are still present, especially the H.264/Theora debate that plagues Firefox and makes it different to other modern browsers.

html5media: Tag for Everyone! is a post from: builder2

PHP & Perl Growing In The Enterprise

markku — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 18:34:41 +0000

Java and .NET has always dominated the enterprise but you’d be surprised at this CNET story that suggests PHP and Perl growing at such an impressive rate:

Overall, we see use of dynamic languages as growing significantly. This is due to several large trends. First, there’s definitely a widespread growth of skills around open source programming languages. There’s also a widespread acceptance of open source in the enterprise that didn’t exist even five to six years ago. And there are various respective inherent advantages of using dynamic languages–speed, flexibility, ease of use for developers, low-cost, and community support, just to name a few–that continue to push usage trends upward.

Now this is perfectly good news for the open source community!

PHP & Perl Growing In The Enterprise is a post from: builder2

PHP: Keeping Things Simple

markku — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:35:23 +0000

A lot of PHP programmers with moderate coding experience tend to get into the trap of “frameworks”. Usually, a newbie learns more and knows enough to create his own CMS, after which he “discovers” that a framework solves a lot of repetitive coding. Sometimes, it does. But you don’t really need all that.

PHP: Keeping Things Simple is a post from: builder2