TechLifeWeb

What I’m reading and finding for December 3rd 2011 through December 6th 2011:

• CATS 1, KIDS 0 | Regretsy-
  regretsy.com
  - Helen Killer
  

  As you know, we have been trying to buy Christmas presents for kids in the Regretsy community.
  We took many applications, vetted them carefully and set about creating a giant gift exchange program, where you could buy a gift for the over 200 children we’re helping.
  We raised so much money that we found ourselves in a position of not just being able to send toys, but to send a monetary gift to the families as well. We hoped it might help them make their holiday dinners more special, or maybe pay…  show all text
• From Twitter – Amazing set of macro-photographs of insects. http://t.co/PmPgwV08
• Klout, My Story & Why Opting Out Was My Only Choice | Liz Strauss at Successful Blog-
  successful-blog.com
  - ME Liz Strauss
  

  It’s My StoryWhen I was growing up, what we knew about each other wasn’t called data. It was called interaction, stories, and information. It came in the form of experience and shared events, gossip and oral history, and reports and report cards. Not every story told about us was unbiased, accurate, or even true.
  In my youngest years, my dad taught me three guiding principles about such stories:
  Don’t believe anything you hear and only half of what you see.
  Consider the reliability of the so…  show all text

• From Twitter – Facebook Utterly Dominates Web Referrals. Article by Larry Seltzer. http://t.co/2PdrOIan
• The New Digital Divide-
  nytimes.com
  - By SUSAN P. CRAWFORD
  

  Most Americans can get online. But too many can’t afford high-speed access.
• Firefox faces uncertain future as Google deal apparently ends | ZDNet-
  zdnet.com
  - Ed Bott
  

  It hasn’t been a good year for Firefox. Mozilla has lost share to Google, it’s lost the loyalty of enterprise customers, and it’s lost key talent. And a deal with Google that supplied 84% of its revenue last year was scheduled to end in November. Can Firefox avoid a slide into irrelevance?
• From Twitter – 3d printer helps grow new bones http://t.co/HY4GF1Jf

Recently I posted an article about a great extension for Google Chrome to share to Google+ from Google Reader.  Of course the downside here is not everyone uses Chrome.  I’ve figured out a way to work around that and let people share from any browser using the Chrome send to feature and a hack of the Google+ Mobile interface. It is easy to implement with just a minute or two of your time. Here is how to do it:

Log into Google Reader.

Click the gear icon in upper right corner
Click the send to tab
Click Create Custom Link
Fill in the fields like this:
Name: Google+
URL: https://m.google.com/app/plus/x/?content=${title}%20-%20${url}&v=compose&hideloc=1
Icon URL: http://ssl.gstatic.com/s2/oz/images/favicon.ico
Click Save

Now when you are reading an article in Google Reader and wish to send it to Google+, click the Send To link at the bottom of your article. A drop down will open showing Google+. Clicking that will open up a new tab showing the title and url of your article. You can edit the text and change who you are sharing with. By default, the sharing is public. Then click post.

Is it perfect? Well, like my share from anywhere bookmarklet, the good part is that it should work just fine whether you use Chrome, Firefox or even IE. Probably others too but I haven’t tested it. The caveat is that it uses the mobile version of Google+ which if you want to post publicly is easy but takes an extra step if you want to just post to some of your Circles. The mobile interface doesn’t post links as pretty as the native method but at least this saves you some time.

Edit 11OCT11: A site called HowToNew figured out a method to do this an instead use the native Google+ +1 interface.

If you use the following in your URL field, clicking on the link will +1 the article and give you the chance to share it with your circles. This is similar to +1 on a page on the web. It does open another window or tab.

https://plusone.google.com/_/+1/confirm?hl=en&url=${url}

So, now you have 2 choices!

I’ve been spending more of my on-line time on Google+.  I love it because people share great things and it is really easy to add new great people to follow.

One wish I have is to have it be even easier to share things that I find around the web. Google has made it easy for sites to add a +1 button but it isn’t exactly easy to share content. It isn’t to copy a URL and paste it into Google+ but come on, shouldn’t computers help us out here?

To that end, I have put together this bookmarklet to make sharing easier.

If you aren’t familiar with bookmarklets, they are links you add to your browser’s Bookmarks Toolbar. The idea is that you save the link below to your bookmark bar or favorites. Then when you are out on the web and want to share a page with your Google+ followers, you click the link in your bookmarks and it will grab the title and URL of your page, open a new window and let you compose a post to Google+.

Is it perfect? The good part is that it should work just fine whether you use Chrome, Firefox or even IE. Probably others too but I haven’t tested it. The caveat is that it uses the mobile version of Google+ which if you want to post publicly is easy but takes an extra step if you want to just post to some of your Circles.

How to get the bookmarklet

First be sure that your Bookmarks bar is turned on (see below if not)

Drag this link: Share to G+ up to your Bookmarks Toolbar.

UPDATE 29OCT11: New version! See the update at the end of this post.

A note about Bookmarklets in Chrome: Seems there is a bug in Google Chrome that doesn’t automatically set the title of a bookmarklet so you just get the default icon. The icon will work just fine but if you want a title next to it so you remember what the link does, simply right-click on the icon in your bookmark bar and click edit. Add a name like “Share to G+” (without the quotes) and then click OK. Update 29oct11: Since the original post, Google has fixed this issue.

How to turn on the bookmark bar in various browsers
To turn on the Bookmark Bar in Chrome:

• Click the wrench icon on the browser toolbar.
• Select Bookmarks.
• Select Always show bookmarks bar.
• (or ctrl+shift+B)

To turn on the Bookmarks Toolbar in Firefox:

• On the menu bar, click View, select Toolbars, and then select Bookmarks Toolbar.

To turn on the Links bar in IE:

• On the menu bar, click View, select Toolbars, and then select Links.
• Note: in IE, it might be easier for you to right-click on the link above and then select ‘Add to Favorites’. Then in the dialog that pops up, choose the links folder.

Usage
When you are on a page and you click the bookmarklet you will see this screen. See the notes on it for more information:

UPDATE 29OCT11: New version does a +1 and Share using the interface well are all used to in Google+! Now your shares don’t look like they are coming from the mobile interface. Drag this one to your toolbar:
+Share on G+

Sites that I found interesting for November 14th 2009 through November 16th 2009:

• From Twitter – Creative! RT @jeffisageek Wow that is pretty sweet! RT @geektrooper Probably the Greatest Tauntaun Costume EVER! http //bit.ly/2rQTHZ
• Freeware Files: Five Mozilla Jetpack Add-ons to Fuel Your Firefox – Jetpack add-ons use a combination of HTML, CSS, and Javascript to deliver new features and functionality directly through the browser.
• From Twitter – RT @SarahPrevette Great Start-Up Tool Kit – includes a term sheet creator http //bit.ly/kTVrj (via @AngelSoft)
• The History of the Internet in a Nutshell –
• From Twitter – via @davidcohen RT @tferriss Perhaps the most incredible sunset photo I've ever seen http //su.pr/1fbvdv via @gmc
• 10 Things You Need to Know About WordPress 2.9 – By and large, this release is a plugin developers release with lots of new APIs and abstraction. However, there are significant additions for theme designers and users as well. via @Technosailor
• From Twitter – via @trishussey Wow-RT @shelisrael Broadcast Pioneer NBC being bought by cable finalist Comcast. An important era is ending. http //bit.ly/48590E
• From Twitter – Hands-On: Chumby Classic vs Chumby One
• Hands-On: Chumby Classic vs Chumby One – Anyone have a Chumby? I need one. For no real reason, just do.
• From Twitter – via:@Scobleizer: Lists are metadata about YOU that you don't control. They show what other people think of you. Check out yours here: http://bit.ly/4zgxOq

A little bit ago I asked my followers on Twitter the following question:

If you know me, you will know why this page is a fail…hint: nothing to do with the look of the page http://traveler.nationalgeographic.com/

Head over there and take a look. Did you find it? I really hope so. I’ve written about this before but it is time to talk about it again. Actually I am kind of appalled that things like this are still happening in this day and age. Not my intention to pick on National Geographic or any other site. Merely used as a demonstration.

What I’m referring to here is RSS Auto-discovery. Auto-discovery is the magic behind the scenes of your blog or web page that lets modern browsers like Firefox and IE discover your feed URL. If you use Firefox I am sure you have noticed the feed icon in the address bar. It looks like this:

The code needed to do that will look something like this very simplified version:

<html>
<head>
<title>This is my Blog</title>
<link rel=”alternate” type=”application/rss+xml” title=”RSS”
href=”http://www.myblog.com/feed”>
</head>
<body>

In the <head> section of your page you should have a <link> element. Written just like the one above with all the other necessary bits of ‘rel’ and ‘type’ will work the magic. Of course the link to your feed should replace the URL I have above. And be sure it is the feed you want people to use! You may have a feed that is auto generated by WordPress but if you have signed up with Feedburner, you probably will need to update the template on your blog.

One more quick thing…. that National Geographic page does have a feed. Did you find the link? It is buried at the bottom of the page. Don’t do that.

Update: Forgot to post a link to the specifications on RSS discovery: http://www.rssboard.org/rss-autodiscovery Thanks Randy!

Sites that I found interesting for August 18th 2009

• Windows 7 includes support for Dolby Digital Plus – Microsoft has added support for Dolby Digital Plus in most versions of Windows 7. The Plus version of Dolby Digital not only supports higher bit rates than the classic Dolby Digital, but it also offers better sound quality at the same bit rate — it is not lossless like Dolby TrueHD though
• Google Chrome 4 launches with bookmark synchronization – Google has just announced a brand new version of Chrome in the Dev channel that includes Bookmark synchronization.
• Mozilla Rids of .Net-hatin' Firefox 3.5, Replaces it with a Friendlier Version – As long as you're running the most recent version of Firefox, this looks to be a moot issue. Released earlier this month, Firefox 3.5.2 appears to play nice with .Net,

Sites that I found interesting for June 30th 2009 through July 2nd 2009:

• Leaping from Windows XP to 7? Some important stuff to consider – There are a number of important issues to consider before making the jump to Windows 7 on an existing Windows XP machine. via @edbott on Twitter.
• Benchmarking Firefox 3.5 – Firefox 3.5 is fast, all right, but not fast enough to beat Google's Chrome and Apple's Safari.
• BackTweets – track your urls on twitter – This is a brilliant way to see who is linking to your site from Twitter. This is now part of my Information Monitor because it outputs in RSS. Via @steverubel on Twitter.

Sites that I found interesting for June 24th 2009 through June 25th 2009:

• DIM: Digital Image Mover – DIM only does one thing, but it does it well: it copies files from your camera’s memory card to a destination directory determined by your storage scheme. If any directories need to be created in the process, it will create them. In addition, the file can be renamed while it is copied to a more “useful” name than your camera might have provided.
• Major features of each Windows 7 version (SKU) revealed – via @joshpollard on Twitter
• Let's make the web faster – Google Code – Plugin for firebug on Firefox. via @nrek on twitter

Sites that I found interesting for April 2nd 2009 through April 5th 2009:

• Late Roman village found near Salzburg – Workers found the remains of the village which is thought to date back to the 5th to 7th centuries at a 6,000-square-metre site for construction of a home for pensioners at Anif-Niederalm in the Flachgau region.
• Troys Twitter Script for Greasemonkey – Nested Replies, Custom Search Tabs, Autocomplete, Pagination, RT button, Media Embed, URL Expansion, Hash Tag Search Links, Social Links
• Behind the scenes at Netflix – Pictures of a Netflix warehouse operation

Sites that I found interesting for March 16th 2009 through March 18th 2009:

• Amazon Sued For Kindle – Amazon.com was sued today by Discovery Communications for patent infringement by its Kindle e-book reader, the parent of The Discovery Channel and Animal Planet.
• Students tie £56 camera to balloon and send it to edge of space to capture stunning images of Earth –
• Twitter Search Results on Google for Greasemonkey – It displays the most recent 5 tweets for the query that you are search for, giving both real-time Twitter search results and Google results on the same page