Cloud Samurai

Gmail Notes 2.x

2010-01-07T04:44:00.000-08:00

UPDATE: Version 2.2 has been released and improves the look and feel of the note within Gmail, adds an "Add Date" feature, and brings an option to "Unauthorize" Gmail Notes from accessing Google Docs (on the Options page).UPDATE: Version 2.1 has now been released and brings with it some changes to the User Interface. Instead of inserting a Gmail Notes widget for sign in and adding a note, an icon

Gmail Notes - Google Chrome Extension

2009-12-15T00:23:00.000-08:00

UPDATE: Gmail Notes 2.0 has been released. Please post bug reports and feature requests there.I just published, Gmail Notes, a Google Chrome (Beta Version must be installed) Extension that gives users the ability to associate Notes with conversations in Gmail. This post is intended to act as a page where users can file bug reports and I can answer questions. I'll update this post with more

Methods Plugin 0.1

2009-07-20T04:01:00.000-07:00

Since my introductory post on the Methods Plugin, I've improved the API and published it to jQuery's Plugin Directory.The latest 0.1 version now adds 2 methods to jQuery: addMethod for adding methods and methods for retrieving the methods you added. Let's jump into some example code to explain it better. In this example I'll create a function that returns a jQuery object which has custom methods

Better Objects Using jQuery

2009-07-08T02:51:00.000-07:00

I've been working almost exclusively with JavaScript building single page applications recently. jQuery has made developing the apps enjoyable but one area I find a bit awkward is creating complex objects.Classes work well but can be cumbersome when creating a user interface since the object reference returned from the constructor is not a DOM node but a JavaScript object. Therefore, in order to

Upgrading Dell Mini to Ubuntu 8.10 + Netbook Remix

2008-11-16T13:29:00.000-08:00

Since I want to upgrade to Ubuntu 8.10 and install the Netbook Remix, the first hurdle to overcome was the lack of a built-in optical drive. The folks at the Ubuntu Mini blog have a great post about upgrading the mini to Ubuntu 8.10 and provide details on installing Ubuntu from a USB Drive.Unfortunatley, their instructions on using the built-in "Create a USB startup disk" resulted in a "Missing

Dell Inspiron Mini Has Arrived

2008-11-16T08:29:00.000-08:00

The Dell Inspiron Mini I ordered back in mid-September (over 2 months ago) finally arrived. The wait time was atrocious and I don't really believe Dell's excuse about a global shortage of components causing the delay (other orders for the mini were still shipping much faster) but its water under the bridge. Plus I can vent in the customer satisfaction survey they sent me.The size of the unit

Nice JavaScript Animation

2008-11-14T00:02:00.000-08:00

I just popped over to Ubuntu's site to download the Intrepid Ibex (Ubuntu 8.10) and saw a very well produced animation made entirely out of JavaScript. I'm not at all surprised to see that Flash was snubbed (given that Ubuntu is Open Source) but was impressed with the smoothness and quality of the animation.Nicely done!

Enumerating Objects in JavaScript

2008-11-07T00:17:00.000-08:00

Enumerating through objects is something I only occassionally do in JavaScript, but when it does come up, I always find it a bit unintuitive. Here's some sample code for the future me that is faced with this task again:var dataObject = { foo: "bar", one: "fish", hello: "world"};var key;for (key in dataObject){ document.write("Key: " + key ", Value: " + dataObject[key]);

Victoria Open Web

2008-10-22T21:35:00.000-07:00

The Victoria Open Ajax & Web 2.0 group held its first hack night earlier this month. Not a bad start and we figured out how to proceed with this loosely coupled group. In November we will be having another hack night and tackling Greasemonkey scripts. Hopefully we'll actually write some code and learn a bit at the same time. Meeting details coming soon-ish.What is the purpose of the group? I

Why Lenient Browsers are Evil

2008-10-17T23:43:00.000-07:00

Evil might be a strong word, but it accurately conveys my frustration with web browsers and how their overly forgiving parsing rules can lead to a lot of wasted time.The particular browser leniency I am talking about is the auto-insertion of the element into an HTML table. Given that I try to use semantic markup whenever possible, I rarely use tables and therefore my knowledge of table

Victoria Open Ajax & Web 2.0 Developers

2008-09-23T21:38:00.000-07:00

A new group of geeks is forming in Victoria known as the Victoria Open Ajax & Web 2.0 Developers. For some time now, there has been a Vancouver Ajax & Web 2.0 Developers group that would participate in regular "Hackathons" and organize other events for learning and information sharing. Being based in Victoria makes it difficult to participate in these events, but it turns out there are enough

Netbook Blogs

2008-08-19T13:23:00.000-07:00

Netbook is the latest term for the growing variety of small and inexpensive notebook computers that are taking the computer industry by storm. Naturally, as a web developer that beleives Web Applications will be the most common type of application a computer user interacts with, I'm interested in these gadgets too. So much so that I wanted to share two blogs that cover the industry and its

Google Hosting JavaScript Libraries - But Don't Forget the Hash!

2008-05-28T22:16:00.000-07:00

JavaScript libraries are great. Anyone that has done a significant amount of JavaScript development knows that using a library is the only sane way to develop an application. However, the downside has always been that the hefty size of the libraries leads to slower loading applications.I've often discussed with colleagues that a potential solution is to have a "mega-performant" 3rd party site

Tips to Drink More Water (and earn nerd points)

2008-05-13T08:51:00.000-07:00

Drinking water is good for you. However, this post isn't about trying to convince you of that. Instead let's assume, like me, you want to drink more water but find it difficult to consume eight 8-ounce glasses per day.To help me drink more water I need a glass of water at my desk and a reminder to actually drink it. The reminder is a crucial part because I have had a bottle of water sitting at my

Get Ready for Google Apps Engine - Learn Python and Django

2008-04-09T08:53:00.000-07:00

I've recently began learning Python and the Django Web Framework for a project I am working on. And with Google's recent App Engine announcement it seemed like other developers might be interested in learning these technologies too.My first bit of advice is keeping an open mind. If you have never written Python code before, but have a background in other languages like Java or PHP, you are in for

Open Web Vancouver

2008-03-30T18:11:00.000-07:00

Open Web Vancouver is coming April 14 & 15 to Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre. I'll be attending this year and I'm quite excited as I haven't had the opportunity to attend many web conferences in the past.The sessions look great and I am particularly looking forward to:Google GearsOpen Street MapOpen SocialReusable Components in DjangoRIA with Open StandardsSocial Camp 1, 2, and 3

Firefox 3 Beta 4 and Prism 0.9 Work Very Well

2008-03-11T22:31:00.000-07:00

As promised, here is a follow up on my previous post about running the latest version of Prism as an extension. Good news is: Prism on Ubuntu actually works now.It would seem that installing Firefox 3 beta 4 from the Mozilla site solved a lot of the problems I was having. So far I haven't had any problems creating Webapp shortcuts for the Google Apps I use and as an added bonus it is easy to

Prism: Now an Extension for Firefox 3

2008-03-07T21:30:00.001-08:00

Mozilla has announced that Prism version 0.9 is now available as an extension for Firefox 3. See the official Mozilla Labs announcement or Marke Finkle's Blog for more information.Installing the extension is simple but does require Firefox 3 since it relies on Firefox 3's ability to allow other applications to use its XULRunner platform. As an Ubuntu user, the simplest way to install Firefox 3 is

Ubuntu Brainstorm For The Win

2008-02-29T21:25:00.000-08:00

The new Ubuntu Brainstorm site has been launched and is off to an enthusiastic start. In a nutshell, this site gives users the ability to submit and vote on ideas for Ubuntu. The site has been live for less than 2 days and has already received over 1500 submissions. It will be interesting to see how Ubuntu development balances the desires of enthusiastic users and Canonical's needs.One novel idea

Cloud Samurai: New look for Atomeo

2008-02-15T16:06:00.000-08:00

If you are reading this post from an RSS Reader, head on over to Atomeo Cloud Samurai to see the new "Cloud Samurai" theme. With previous blogging attempts I got wrapped up in the development and maintenance of the blogging platform (yes, I'm talking about you WordPress) and hardly posted to my blog. With my latest attempt at blogging I decided to use Blogger and focus on the content. So far this

Douglas Crockford's Proposal for HTML5

2008-01-21T11:13:00.000-08:00

I was reading through a blog post and found a link to Douglas Crockford's Proposal for HTML 5. It's a quick read and very high level but interesting nonetheless. Overall, the theme is small tweaks to HTML that will have a big impact on making web application easier to develop and safer to use.If you have a passing interest in understanding how this portion of the web might evolve, I'd recommend

Photos From Japan

2008-01-18T17:39:00.000-08:00

I wouldn't be much of a geek if I didn't snap this shot of a Red Panda (Firefox) at the zoo.And here is a picture of a Tanuki (Japanese Raccoon Dog) at the zoo. Fans of Pom Poko should appreciate this. Getting a picture of this nocturnal animal required the zoo keeper throw some food into the pen and wake him up.

Get Bleeding Edge Apps for Google Apps For Your Domain

2008-01-09T08:14:00.000-08:00

If you are a happy Google Apps For Your Domain (GAFYD) user but miffed that regular GMail users (non-GAFYD) get the latest and greatest app enhancements before you, fret no longer.This may be old news to some but I just found out that it is possible to opt into receiving the latest features for GAFYD at the same time as your non-GAFYD counterparts. To do this, go to your domain Control Panel,

OpenWRT: Very Impressive

2007-12-08T13:39:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post to tell my two readers about the OpenWRT project. This is a Linux-based community driven project that provides an alternative Operating System for some routers. Wikipedia offers a pretty good overview of what the project is about.Since you rarely interact with your router, except to configure it, you might not see a point to installing a new OS (firmware as it is frequently

Semi-Transparent (Dithered) GIF Slows IE

2007-12-06T14:33:00.000-08:00

I recently had an odd page performance problem in IE6 & 7. The page redraw was quite slow on window resize and the page would react very slowly to mouse hover events. I spent hours investigating JavaScript bugs and possible mark-up issues with no success. In the end, removing a dithered GIF from the style sheet did the trick.Once again, I was baffled by IE's shortcomings (did I mention all other