I recently had to do some research in the latest SEO trends for a company project and I thought I’d share the outcome with you. Read on to find out what experts are considering do’s and dont’s for 2013. Continue reading
Google Reader – my favorite website is shutting down – what are the alternatives?
The Facts
In a move that I fail to understand Google announced on the Google Reader blog that they will be shutting down their service for good on 1st July 2013 due to ‘decreasing number of users’. I and many others probably don’t think of course this is the real reason, Google Reader is one of Google’s cheapest to run products but it probably hinders parts of their greater agenda to push their social media platform Google+ (i.e. if you subscribe to an RSS feed you don’t need to follow the page on Google+ to get updated, so removing your RSS reader might push more users to Google+). Continue reading
PhpStorm – an IDE worth its name
I recently switched to JetBrains PhpStorm as my main IDE for PHP/HTML/JS/CSS development. I tried many solutions in the past such as Dreamweaver (please don’t try it), NetBeans, Aptana, Eclipse PDT, before settling with Zend Studio for quite sometime and finally a couple of months ago I gave ZendStudio the boot and switched to PhpStorm. I am currently using version 6.0 from the Early Access Program (the current stable is version 5) – and I am planning to buy it once 6.0 final is out. Continue reading
LaserVex – Very Challenging HTML5 Puzzle Game
LaserVex is a very challenging optics based game. Each level has one or more laser sources, a series of mirrors, a number of targets all on the same plane. The aim of the game is to hit all targets just by moving the mirrors around without moving the laser sources. It sounds and looks simple at first but after going through the first 4-5 levels you will start facing some real challenges. Its one of the hardest puzzle games I’ve played in a while.
It has a lot of potential and should be made available as a mobile app. The graphics are lacking a bit (its all lines basically on a canvas) and the controls need some work (moving a mirror requires yo to move both vertices) but the gameplay makes up for it.
If you don’t have time to waste please don’t try this game. You’ve been warned.
Check it out here.
How to take screenshots in Windows 8
Microsoft added a nice feature to Windows 8. Just hit Win + Prt Sc and you can get a full screenshot saved directly to your Pictures/Screenshots folder in 24 bit PNG format. No more fiddling with Paint or Snipping tool. Oh, and this key combination will also take screenshots of Metro apps not just Desktop.
Nexus 7, iPad Mini and iPad 3 Drop & Water Test – Which survived?
SquareTrade have done their ‘scientific’ drop test for the (almost) latest tablets. You should generally ignore whatever the guy is saying since he’s utterly biased (he says iPad mini survived when you can clearly see the screen got cracked all the way. Then they go ahead and submerge each tablet in water, all of them survived this test, Apple’s products remained on while in water, while Nexus 7 powers down (which is the correct thing to do when any electronics get dropped in water). The guy automatically suggests Nexus 7 doesn’t work but you can clearly see that its booting.
Android 4.2 Photo Sphere feature – a real innovation
Android 4.2 comes pre-installed on LG Nexus 4 which was announced yesterday (which seems like a great phone for its price, Quad Core Snapdragon S4 SoC, 2GB RAM, 720p display, 4.7inch screen and all the usual bells and whistles for 299 USD). One of the new features of 4.2 is the upgraded camera app which has a new shooting mode called Photo Sphere. It’s the next evolutionary step in the Panorama mode that digital cameras and camera-phones had for years, it allows you to shoot multiple photos from a single point and it automatically stitches them together seamlessly without any user effort. Unlike panoramas, it works both vertically and horizontally at the same time and you don’t really need to align edges manually, just keep shooting to fill in the gaps. After you are done you can navigate your photo sphere the same way you’d look around in Google Street Map. View the video below to get the idea:
This feature will probably be copied by the usual suspect and it won’t be long before your friends start sharing their ‘surround’ photographic experiences on Facebook; now all we need is Instagram support so users can start ruining their Photo Spheres as well.
What’s funny about this is that the statement and the result are correct if you think about it logically, but in everyday life if you follow the instructions correctly people will think you’re stupid 
Windows 8 is out – how to upgrade?
Windows 8 is now out in retail and if you are a legit Windows XP/Vista or 7 user you are entitled to a 39.99 USD upgrade. You can visit this link to download the Upgrade tool. Assuming you are still running the original Windows version your PC came pre-installed upgrade to Windows 8 will be straight forward. Apparently its even possible to upgrade if you have the Release Preview installed and a valid Windows XP/Vista/7 key (which is usually printed on a sticker on your laptop or desktop).
Unfortunately In my case I installed Windows 8 Enterprise Trial when RTM came out which is valid for 90 days (and has almost expired by now). That version cannot be directly upgraded and there’s no way on earth I will reinstall the bloated version of Windows 7 that came pre-installed on the laptop by Asus (I did create re-install media and probably have it somewhere but as i recall Asus tool filled 5 DVD’s). The only upgrade path I could take will involve re-installing the Release Preview and use my Windows 7 key; but I’d rather not lose the configuration and apps I have installed on the current installation which is after all final but just time-limited.
It seems you can still download the Release Preview ISO directly from Microsoft here for 64bit and here for 32bit. Now all its left is to find a way to trick it into downgrading Windows 8 Enterprise Trial RTM into Release Preview (which could possibly be done by changing cversion.ini)and then using the upgrade tool to purchase a Windows 8 license and upgrade to Windows 8 Pro retail.
I’ll run my experiments tonight after work and hopefully post a step by step guide if I get it done.
FineUploader: A well-thought HTML5 file upload component
FineUploader is a modern open source file upload component available for free to use in any web project. It uses the HTML5′s XMLHttpRequest2 object which allows asynchronous file uploading through the browser and has progress report (i.e. you can see how much of the file has been uploaded at any instant) without the need of server-side support or Flash. It also works with older non-HTML5 browsers down to IE7 by using the hidden iframe upload method – so no backward compatibility problems.
I’ve been using plupload until now but I’m giving FineUploader a go in my current project, plupload even though its extremely powerful its very heavyweight and its licensing is not as open as FineUploader’s. It’s very quick to setup, just include one CSS, one JS file and instantiate the uploader with a single Javascript statement and you are good to go. On the server-side, they provide out of the box file receiver implementations for PHP, node.js, Python, .NET, Java and even Coldfusion (People still use that?).
Latest version can be obtained from its Github page and you can view demos at FineUploader.com.