Web Development: jQuery Manipulation

Published on Aug 11, 2009   //  Web Development
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Web Development

jQuery includes multiple functions to manipulate the actual HTML of the document you are working with. For instance, you may want to “inject” some text into a specific element on the page. jQuery makes this, and more, very easy.

Today we’ll be going over a couple of the basic manipulation functions, while next week we’ll go over the more complex functions. The first function we’ll look at is text(), using this function, we can replace the current contents of the selected element, with the specified text. If you don’t specify an attribute, jQuery will return the current contents of the selected element to you.

While you can only use strictly text in the text() function, we can use html() to replace the contents with the specified HTML. Like text(), not specifying an attribute will return the current contents.

Let’s have a look at some examples of these:

[javascript]$("div").text(‘Hello world!’);[/javascript]

[javascript]$("div").html(‘<span style="color:red">Hello world!</span>’);[/javascript]

[javascript]if ($("div").text() == ‘Hello world!’) {
$("div").html(‘<strong>Hello world!</strong>’);
}[/javascript]

Great Gadgets: Microsoft Wireless Laser Desktop 3000

Published on Aug 10, 2009   //  Gadgets

mskeyboard

I don’t like cables. I understand that there are people out there who can’t stand the latency of wireless devices and, as such, prefer a wired connection for improved fidelity and accuracy, but I’m willing to make a few small sacrifices in that realm for the freedom offered by their wireless equivalents. Better still, you don’t really have to spend any more money to go wireless than you would with an equivalent wired device.

For example, you may be in the market for a new keyboard and mouse for your computer. Whether you’re going to use it with a laptop or a desktop, you may want to check out the Microsoft Wireless Laser Desktop 3000. You get a full-sized keyboard, complete with a numeric keypad and multimedia controls, as well as a wireless mouse in one comprehensive solution.

The keyboard comes with a “comfort curve” that is meant to make for a more comfortable typing experience and the wireless mouse makes use of high definition laser technology for improved precision and accuracy. Other features include four-way scrolling with the tilt wheel, enhanced function keys, five customizable mouse buttons, magnifier, and the convenience of standard AA batteries for power.

The Microsoft Wireless Laser Desktop is currently on sale for $29.99 on Amazon.ca. That reprsents a 57% savings. Buy an extra ten bucks worth of stuff and take advantage of Amazon’s free Super Saver Shipping too.

Weekend Projects – Keep It Simple

Published on Aug 9, 2009   //  Weekend Projects
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Weekend Project

This week we will be looking at 3 very simple yet very effective ways to improve your site. If you are not doing these currently then add them…

  • Make your logo clickable to your main page. If you have a logo or main header image and it is not clickable to your main page of that site then add it.
  • If you have a form with Country in it be sure to put US and Canada at the very top.
  • Go through and find any font on your site 10 or smaller and change it to be bigger.

Why make these changes? A lot of users leave sites due to confusion and frustration. The more you remove those frustrations the better experience your visitors will have.

In the Sphere: Success Edition

Published on Aug 7, 2009   //  In the Sphere
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To help pick up those spirits leading into the weekend, let’s have a look at some blog posts that describe how you can best achieve and maintain your success. This includes not only success in the professional realm, but also personal success as well.

Free Money Finance starts us off with a note about how you can make the most money in your career. While you may not have enjoyed trigonometry in school, it turns out that mathematics is a valuable skill. People in careers that involve mathematics, like engineering and accounting, tend to make more money that those that don’t. This echoes a sentiment that I had, saying that math plays a role in our lives, even if it is indirect. For instance, math is very powerful in corporate business.

Lesley Chang approaches the topic of mentorship, wondering if there really is a man behind every successful woman. Thanks to the recent social networking and social media, it seems that people are more willing to share their knowledge these days. This is regardless of gender, providing ample opportunities to both be mentored and be a mentor.

Jessica Gottlieb recognizes that there are certain biological factors that may cause someone to be overweight or obese, but this does not mean that they should be allowed a free pass on their health. Instead, Jessica believes that we should not keep our heads in the sand over the matter. Passing the buck solves nothing. Hereditary factors may play a role, but so do proper diet and exercise. No one said it was easy.

Jonathan Bailey takes a look outside his window and sees the sun shining, yearning for a day when he can leave his computer behind for a nice holiday. In doing so, he has put together a brief guide on how to take a blogging vacation successfully. Make use of guest writers and time-stamped posts… or do nothing. The world will not come to a crashing halt if you do.

The Simple Dollar offers an interesting take on how to best achieve excellence in your life and in your career. By taking a look at the Netflix culture, we can learn how to capture this kind of mentality in our own lives. Surround yourself with good people, actually value what you say you value, and understand that mistakes are a natural part of getting better.

Marketing 101: Sponsored Tweets

Published on Aug 6, 2009   //  Marketing Tips
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If you’re a regular reader of the major “make money online” blogs on the Internet, you may have heard about the recent launch of Sponsored Tweets. This new service comes from IZEA, the same company that brought us PayPerPost.

Many bloggers are already aware of different paid/sponsored post services wherein they can blog about an advertiser and be paid for it. Sponsored Tweets takes on a very similar format, except the advertising will be pushed through the user’s Twitter account. These ad insertions can either be pre-written by the advertiser or they can be organically-produced by the Twitter user, but in both cases, the sponsored tweet comes with full disclosure. Typically, this means that the tweet will come with the #ad hashtag or something similar.

Sponsored Tweets is not the first online service to do this. You may remember hearing about Magpie several months ago, though Sponsored Tweets comes with the backing of IZEA. In this way, it has a better chance of gaining traction, since IZEA will be marketing this service much more heavily and the user interface could be much more robust. However, it is still debatable whether there is enough value for the advertiser. Given the very nature of Twitter, it is far too easy for your advertisement to get lost in the mix and quickly forgotten.

Further still, just as was the case when sponsored blog posts first arrived on the scene, there could be a backlash from the Twitter community against users who have sponsored tweets as part of their stream. Only time will tell if this service picks up in popularity and becomes an accepted part of the Twitter experience.

What do you think of Sponsored Tweets?

WordPress Development: IRC Development Chats

Published on Aug 6, 2009   //  Development

WordPress Development

Taking a detour from our posts about theme development for this week, we’ll be talking about an aspect of the “core” development of WordPress itself. If you’re developing themes and plugins for WordPress, you may also want to consider helping developing WordPress itself. WordPress is open-source, and, as such, anybody can contribute code to it.

A good way to follow along (and have a chance to discuss) with the development of WordPress is to join the weekly IRC chats. During these IRC discussions, “core developers” (those who have the ability to commit changes to WordPress) and community developers (those who contribute code, without having commit access to WordPress) will discuss the development of the next version of WordPress.

A rough agenda for the chat is usually created a week before the chat. You can participate in suggesting items for the agenda here. These IRC chats happen every Thursday at 9PM UTC during the active development stages for WordPress. You can join in on these chats on the #wordpress-dev channel on irc.freenode.com using an IRC client.

If you’re interesting in the core development of WordPress, join in on these chats and voice your opinion (or just sit back and follow along silently, if you prefer).

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