http://www.iamfiscus.com/blog/Web_News_in_My_World I just wanted to take some time to talk about some new web technologies I've been getting into. I officially set my default browser to Chrome yesterday. There are a ton of things about it that I love but the final feature was the drag and drop feature for Gmail, which always you to drag files from your desktop to the attachments section. Google has implemented this by taking advantage of HTML 5 functionality. Right now only Chrome 4, and Firefox 3.6 are supported. One thing that annoys is Chrome doesn't support the CSS @font-face tag, I know it's nothing big but just a pet peeve of mine. The other thing that drove me to Chrome for using it on the development side is an extension called Speed Tracer for testing website performance and I'm loving it. <br><br>If you are using a Mac you need to start using <a href="http://www.getcloudapp.com" target="_blank" >Cloud</a>. It is similar to DropBox in some ways, but way simpler to use. Basically it is a place to store documents, archives, music and videos. You can simply drag a file to the toolbar icon and it will automatically upload the file and put a shortened url in your clip board. It even gets easier you can set it to automatically upload screen shots, and you can use a hot key to upload whatever files you have selected. It will also shorten and save your bookmarks get for Twitter and Facebook posts. Something that is helpful is it will track the amount of clicks each link gets, which means you can track, which posts people find more interesting. Oh yea it does have an API, so when I dive into that more I'll write about it.<br><br>Finally (and I'm sure everyone is tried of hearing about it) is the iPad, I've made my mind up to get it. I find it funny so many people can't say why they want it or how it's going to "revolutionize the web as we know it", so I figured I'd list my reasons realizing that me getting it is a little overkill since I'll have the entire line of Apple products. <br><br>- I have tons of ebooks and I HATE reading them in Acrobat reader, I just need to hold something...<br><br>- The iBook Store not only am I code junky, I'm nerd book junk...<br><br>- Note taking - Now strangely I feel I have to write notes down rather them type them. Plus I love to doodle. With the <a href="http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-10443415-233.html" target="_blank" >iPad Stylus</a> and <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/writepad/id293033512?mt=8" target="_blank" >WritePad</a> I can do that and save it to one place.<br><br>- Time/Task Management - maybe instead of heavy note taking I just want to delegate my task. With HiTask already on the iPad I'm all set. That is until we(<a href="http://cl.ly/XlN" target="_blank" >Polarfin</a>) release Kahewt.<br><br>- Blogging - I'm hoping this motivate me to blog more often because I often find myself on the go and thinking of something to write about but I have to wait till I get home. I was going to build an iPhone app but the screen is so small it's almost pointless. However for the iPad I think it would be awesome.<br><br>- My age old excuse... I'll find something to develop on it.<br><br>Well there you have it my delusional reasoning for my future purchase. One thing I haven't seen but I'm hoping to see it soon is an iPad app for Cloud. Maybe something I can look into their API to whip something up. http://www.iamfiscus.com/blog/New_Portfolio_Site Sun, 1 Feb 2009 08:11:44 EST http://www.iamfiscus.com/blog/Flash_Catalyst_Sneak_Peak Check it out March 11, 12:00 noon et. More on Flash Catalyst at Adobe Labs.]]> Mon, 23 Feb 2009 10:09:52 EST http://www.iamfiscus.com/blog/Pixel_Bender_Experiments experiments and instructional videos.]]> Tue, 24 Feb 2009 08:06:52 EST http://www.iamfiscus.com/blog/Adobe_Meermeer browsershots.org. It looks to be all developed in Flex, which is awesome. Here is an article going into more detail]]> Fri, 27 Feb 2009 03:35:04 EST http://www.iamfiscus.com/blog/Enough_of_IE
This is probably due to the fact the IE is finally adding an Auto-Update Feature. Seriously it took them that long to figure out thats a good idea. What decade are they in.

If your still using IE please start using a real broswer, (like Firefox) or at least upgrade.

Another good article to read is Ten Things We can Do when IE 6 is Dead.]]> Wed, 22 Apr 2009 09:27:00 EST http://www.iamfiscus.com/blog/Swine_Flu_are_We_All_Gonna_DIE?!?!?!
Every year there is some kind of disease that will be the new bubonic plague and yet we survive(Remember SCARS). I do find himself watching the CDC infection map on twitter, more as a joke. That is until I saw this...



I figure if I have to protect myself I'm doing it in style. There are bunch of masks that artist Yoriko Yoshida did. So now I'm saying bring it on Swine Flu and I'll defeat you with my skull mask, or just wash my hands...]]> Fri, 01 May 2009 08:25:43 EST http://www.iamfiscus.com/blog/Congrats_Keith_and_Gina
I was honored to share this moment with them, and stand beside Keith. I wish them a lifetime of happiness, and congratulations. They are headed up to take a cruise through the Northwest coast, which I'm little jealous about, but I hope they have a safe and kick ass time.]]> Tue, 12 May 2009 08:43:03 EST http://www.iamfiscus.com/blog/Flash_Catalyst_and_Flash_Builder_4
Flash Catalyst I'm really excited for because it closes the gap of limited design features and the time consuming process to design a Flex/Flash app. It use to be you would either use CSS or create a Flash template for the components used in Flex. This made most Flex apps kind of canned in their design. Now with Flash Catalyst you can import a PSD, or AI file from a designer and export MXML code to be further developed in Flash Builder. I'm looking forward to diving into Flash Catalyst and see what it can do. In the mean time check out these tutorials from gotoAndLearn().
Flash Catalyst and Flex 4: Part 1
Flash Catalyst and Flex 4: Part 2
]]> Mon, 01 Jun 2009 11:02:32 EST http://www.iamfiscus.com/blog/Wonderland Check them out.



]]> Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:57:58 EST http://www.iamfiscus.com/blog/iamFiscus_Redesigned
I've had a lot going on lately so I figured I'd recap a bit. I recently went to Aachen Germany, to learn about PSQL and integrating with the MIS system HiFlex. They have a great API that is very well documented so if you have some time check it out.

I'm now contributing on the polarfin blog. I will also keep my blog more up to date. I have been spending a decent amount of time researching hybrid mobile applications, so I wrote an article on it at polarfin if you want to check it out. One of the tests I'll be doing is creating a mobile app for personal use, and maybe be one to mimic this site just for fun. I'll keep posting on my progress, but that's all for now.]]> Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:57:58 EST http://www.iamfiscus.com/blog/New_Features
Drag to Share:

On both the blog and portfolio page, when you hover over an image you can click to drag. Once you begin dragging you can have the ability to share via Twitter, Facebook, Delicious, or Email. Drop the thumbnail over the icon you wish to share thru, and it will take you to the posting section.

Social Media Connections:

There is a strip just above the footer of each page that shows my most recent post for my favorite social networks. If you hover over the social media icon it will slide across the screen, and reveal the post.

Comments:

I installed the facebook comments widget, as a quick solution for posting comments. You have to login using facebook connect, then you can post similar to how you would on facebook. NOTE: there seems to be a bug in Safari 4, which stops the comments box from appearing. I'm currently looking into it and have been asking questions on the fb developers forum, so I hope to have a solution soon.

Some things have changed:
- I'm now publishing my RSS feed through feedburner.
- The portfolio page is now has a filtering feature for different categories.
- Contact me by the tab drop down in the header.

That's it for now check back soon.]]> Fri, 05 Feb 2010 11:22:08 EST http://www.iamfiscus.com/blog/Readernaut I joined readernaut today, which is a web app that acts as a social site for the books you are reading. It is a very cool simple web app, and I have become addicted pretty quick. You can search all the books you have read, plan to, wish to, and have finished. You can even track the progress of the book you are reading to the rest of the world. I've heard they will implement a widget to post to twitter or you can use an RSS service like twitter feed to do it.

One of the things I'm most excited about is the fact that they have an API. So I'm swapping the gears icon in my social bar for a readernaut one. So from now on you can easily see what books I'm currently reading.

If anyone else is interested in doing something similar check out these links:
Readernaut API | Google Groups
Building A Readernaut Widget]]> Sat, 13 Feb 2010 02:10:38 EST http://www.iamfiscus.com/blog/New_Version_of_Appcelerator polarfin or check out their website.

Along with this new version they have also released new training as well. If you visit the Appcelerator University you can sign up to hold a meet up and get free t-shirts. Once you sign up you can get a presentation to show at the meet up, an material to go over. They suggest doing a one hour introduction to get everyone familiar with the the tools.

Next they suggest having you build an app from the ground up. Their Kitchen sink app will help familiarize you with a bunch of the tools and API's they use.]]> Tue, 23 Mar 10 09:22:47 EST http://www.iamfiscus.com/blog/Web_News_in_My_World
If you are using a Mac you need to start using Cloud. It is similar to DropBox in some ways, but way simpler to use. Basically it is a place to store documents, archives, music and videos. You can simply drag a file to the toolbar icon and it will automatically upload the file and put a shortened url in your clip board. It even gets easier you can set it to automatically upload screen shots, and you can use a hot key to upload whatever files you have selected. It will also shorten and save your bookmarks get for Twitter and Facebook posts. Something that is helpful is it will track the amount of clicks each link gets, which means you can track, which posts people find more interesting. Oh yea it does have an API, so when I dive into that more I'll write about it.

Finally (and I'm sure everyone is tried of hearing about it) is the iPad, I've made my mind up to get it. I find it funny so many people can't say why they want it or how it's going to "revolutionize the web as we know it", so I figured I'd list my reasons realizing that me getting it is a little overkill since I'll have the entire line of Apple products.

- I have tons of ebooks and I HATE reading them in Acrobat reader, I just need to hold something...

- The iBook Store not only am I code junky, I'm nerd book junk...

- Note taking - Now strangely I feel I have to write notes down rather them type them. Plus I love to doodle. With the iPad Stylus and WritePad I can do that and save it to one place.

- Time/Task Management - maybe instead of heavy note taking I just want to delegate my task. With HiTask already on the iPad I'm all set. That is until we(Polarfin) release Kahewt.

- Blogging - I'm hoping this motivate me to blog more often because I often find myself on the go and thinking of something to write about but I have to wait till I get home. I was going to build an iPhone app but the screen is so small it's almost pointless. However for the iPad I think it would be awesome.

- My age old excuse... I'll find something to develop on it.

Well there you have it my delusional reasoning for my future purchase. One thing I haven't seen but I'm hoping to see it soon is an iPad app for Cloud. Maybe something I can look into their API to whip something up.]]> Wed, 21 Apr 2010 09:27:00 EST