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Create Image-less Graphs And Charts

By Adam DuVander November 20, 2008 Categories: Visual Design

Example CSS charts

Adding beautiful charts to your site does not have to require a hefty server-side process or a third party service. With CSS and a little ingenuity, you can have the lightweight, easy to create visualizations of your data.

The design mavens over at Six Revisions have put together eight examples of CSS charts and graphs. Each one uses little to no images to create snappy bar and column chart. There’s even a scatter plot example and some standards-supporting, accessible sparklines.

Google’s Chart API is an alternative to rolling your own. Passing your data is almost as easy because it goes in an image URL. While you don’t have to pay for the bandwidth of the chart, the API still comes with some strings attached and Google can pull the plug whenever it wants. If you’re looking for 3-D or pie charts, the sort of stuff that can’t be done with CSS, that may still be your best bet.

See also:


Tags: charts, CSS, graphs
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Mac Viruses Continue to Lag Behind Windows Counterparts

By Scott Gilbertson November 20, 2008 Categories: Humor, Software & Tools

imac virusQuite a few software makers routinely release Windows versions ahead of Mac flavors — Skype, Google Chrome and Adobe Photoshop Elements to name a few — and now it seems that poor Mac users can’t even get a decent virus that’s on par with the threats Windows users face.

Yes, that’s right, there’s a new Mac virus lurking out there in the wild, but unless you’re incredibly stupid there’s no need to worry. The virus is technically a trojan, named Lamzev-A, which creates a backdoor for attackers to take over your Mac. At the moment the trojan disguises itself as video codec on what The Register calls “grumble flick” sites — that’d be porn to you and me.

Of course setting the new trojan loose requires quite a few steps on your part, first you need to download the file, then launch the resulting .dmg. Once the disk image is mounted, the hapless victim then launches the app, which proceeds to create the backdoor.

Along the way OS X will alert you that you just downloaded an unknown app and you might want to think twice about running it. Do people really install codec files from porn sites? Probably, but not many. In any case Trend Micro has already updated its software, so if you suspect you’ve been a victim of Lamzev-A try the online scanner.

While this may not a be a serious threat, jokes aside, it should be a reminder that, just because you’re running OS X doesn’t mean you’re totally immune. Just like we have no doubt Google will get around to release Chrome for Mac, there’s also a good change malware authors will get around to writing something truly scary for OS X.

After all, the very first computer virus was written for an Apple machine.

[Awesome iMac virus image courtesy of Trend Micro]

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How To: Watch YouTube Movies in Full 720p HD Glory

By Scott Gilbertson November 20, 2008 Categories: Multimedia, Software & Tools

YouTubePsst. Hey, wanna know secret? YouTube is offering 720p HD streaming on select videos.

We’ve already showed you how to hack YouTube URLs and embed codes to get higher quality video. While those tricks work on most videos, they only bump the resolution up to 480×360px — better, but still nothing close to HD.

Well, good news, as our friends over at Epicenter point out, some videos on YouTube are available in full 720p HD glory — the same format that sites like the iTunes Store and Netflix offer.

It turns out YouTube has been quietly offering HD for some time. The site began experimenting with 720p videos back in May of this year, though the selection was somewhat limited. But now that HD quality videos are more widely available on YouTube, the new option is getting more useful.

The trick to getting the hi-res versions is roughly the same as with the old, um, sort-of-hi-res option. First you have to apply the same URL hack, but this time the magic bit of code is &fmt=22. Tack that on to the end of a normal YouTube URL and, if an HD version of the video is available, then you’ll see it. If it isn’t, YouTube seems to fall back to the 480×360 video and then, if that isn’t there either, it goes back to the pixelated glory that is its trademark.

When it comes to embedding the HD videos things get a little more complicated. Here’s some generic embed code that seems to work:


<object width="480” height=”397“><param name=”movie” value=”(VIDEO EMBED URL)&ap=%2526fmt%3D22“></param><param name=”wmode” value=”window“></param><embed src=”(VIDEO EMBED URL)&ap=%2526fmt%3D22” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” wmode=”window” width=”480” height=”397“></embed></object>

The results can be seen here, starting with the HD embed, then the old “high quality” method and finally the good old default (note that the HD video requires Flash Player 9 or better):

Naturally, our favorite YouTube download solution, the Firefox add-on Video Downloader can grab the HD mp4 files for offline viewing. It also wouldn’t be hard to modify this Greasemonkey script to load HD movies automatically (where available); just download the script and change all the lines with fmt=18 to fmt=22. And be sure to check out the How To Wiki for more YouTube downloading options.

Here’s a shot of the downloaded mp4 file playing in QuickTime:

High Res YouTube

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Google Spices Up Your Inbox With New Gmail Themes

By Scott Gilbertson November 20, 2008 Categories: Software & Tools, Visual Design

gmail themesGmail has always been notable for its very all-business approach to e-mail, but with the service well established in the mainstream, Google has decided to add some more fun-oriented features. The latest is a series of themes that let you transform Gmail’s appearance to suit your whims — because nothing “spices up your inbox” like canned, swappable themes.

We’ve been hearing rumors of Gmail themes for some time, but now it’s official. Of course, like most new features in Gmail, themes are rolling out slowly, so if you haven’t seen them in your account yet, be patient.

If your account has been blessed, click the settings link at the top left corner of the screen and then look for the new “Themes” tab.

Most of the new themes are simple color schemes as you can see in the screenshot above, but there are some image-based themes as well — one that turns your inbox into a retro notepad, some nature themes that change scenery over time, weather themes that reflect what’s happening outside, and a couple character themes like “ninja.”

Of course Gmail was already themeable using browser add-ons like Greasemonkey and Stylish, but the new themes are much more pixel-prefect and will work no matter what browser or PC you use to access your account.

The only thing that seems to be missing is a way for designers to create and upload their own custom themes, but we suspect something along those lines will arrive before too long.

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Make Your Site An iPhone App

By Adam DuVander November 19, 2008 Categories: Mobile

Webmonkey in an iPhoneYou can get most of the benefits of an iPhone application without writing a single line of Objective C. An open source project called PhoneGap lets your wrap your website in iPhone App goodness. And you can even charge for your creation.

Even more exciting than being able to easily create an app is getting access to some native iPhone APIs. Currently PhoneGap supports JavaScript access to the user’s location and the device accelerometer. Camera and vibration are still in the works.

There’s talk of being able to use a web form to create your app by submitting only the URL of your website. Currently, it’s a little more work, but easier than creating an app from scratch. You’ll still need to download the SDK and write your app in Apple’s XCode. The PhoneGap wiki has a hello world tutorial that should get you started.

One really cool aspect of the PhoneGap project is that it also supports Android and Blackberry. A write-once approach to mobile development is within grasp of the ordinary web developer.

[via John Resig]

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Tags: android, iPhone
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Let My Maps Be Your Geo Database

By Adam DuVander November 19, 2008 Categories: Platforms & APIs

Toss out that MySQL book. The only thing you need to store location data is Google Maps.

My Maps is a feature that lets you create your own mashup on a map. Once a map is created, it can be shared with a link, or in Google Earth with a KML file. And now, it is also available via RSS–GeoRSS, to be more specific.

My Maps UI for GeoRSS

GeoRSS from MyMapsWhile viewing any My Map, click the RSS link to see the GeoRSS version of the map. In addition to all the other information about points on the map, such as business name and address, you get latitude and longitude coordinates.

This RSS feed can then be read in by any script you write instead of making a database call. The Google Maps API can even call GeoRSS files directly, loading all your locations in a single line.

[via Tony Hirst]

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Tags: georss, maps
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Revamped CitySearch Makes Facebook Connect Look Useful

By Scott Gilbertson November 19, 2008 Categories: Software & Tools

citysearch betaCitySearch probably isn’t your go-to site for local searches. While the site can be useful, its current interface is more likely to start you reminiscing about the old Geocities network, than inspire a return visit.

But CitySearch is hoping to change that perception with a new beta version that brings the site up to web 2.0 speed with Facebook Connect integration, a coming iPhone app and much expanded local coverage.

The most noticeable change on the beta site is that CitySearch has re-organized itself by neighborhoods rather than just cities. In other words, you can now drill down all the way into, say, Chelsea, rather than just Manhattan. In short, CitySearch has taken a tip from our favorite local site EveryBlock.

Naturally the quality of the neighborhood-specific listings will vary by city and smaller towns rarely have neighborhood listings, but to give you some idea of the scale this change brings, consider that CitySearch previously listed 140 cities; the new beta site will cover 75,000 neighborhoods when it officially launches.

The other big news is the Facebook Connect integration. The most obvious use here is that you can write reviews on CitySearch using your Facebook username and password (and, if you allow it, Connect will put those reviews in your Facebook feed).

But a far cooler feature is that when you’re logged into CitySearch via Facebook Connect, your Facebook friends’ reviews will show up at the top of the list. Prioritizing your friends’ reviews over those of random strangers is by far the most useful thing we’ve seen anyone do with Facebook Connect.

CitySearch is also working to solve a problem quite common on the site (and perhaps even more common on competitor Yelp) — balancing reviews. With just about everyone gaming reviews to some end, it’s nearly impossible to know who to trust. The Facebook Connect features help, but your friends aren’t always going to have reviews of everywhere you’re interested in.

To help make it clear who is writing what in the reviews section, CitySearch has cordoned reviews off into specific categories — user reviews, business owner reviews and CitySearch’s editorial reviews.

It’s not going to completely stop people from gaming reviews, but it does make it considerably easier for business owners to combat widespread attacks and reply too bad reviews.

The last part of the revamped CitySearch is a collection of mobile apps. At the moment CitySearch has Gears-powered mobile app for Windows Mobile 5+ and plans to add support for the iPhone, Android and Blackberry when the new version of CitySearch is officially launched.

So do the new features make CitySearch a worthwhile stop on the “local” web? The answer is it depends what you’re looking for. The Facebook Connect aspect is very cool, but it’s only really useful if you have a lot of Facebook friends living near you. In terms of data, EveryBlock has much more to offer, but the new CitySearch stacks up pretty well against Yelp.

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Xobni Puts the Social Web in Your Outlook Inbox

By Scott Gilbertson November 19, 2008 Categories: Software & Tools

xobni sidebarThose of you stuck using Microsoft Outlook for e-mail will be happy to know that the Xobni Outlook extension has been revamped with new integration tools for Yahoo Mail, Facebook, Skype and Hoovers.

Xobni (that’s “inbox” backwards and it’s pronounced “zob-nee”) already integrated with the LinkedIn social network and the new options bring the add-on closer to what Bill Gates himself has called “the next generation of social networking.”

All of the new tools will be available in your Xobni sidebar, though what’s available depends on which service you’re using. Yahoo Mail fans will be able see and search their mail, contacts and attachments. Unfortunately sending and receiving mail will still require a trip to the browser (Yahoo Mail’s API is somewhat limited).

The Facebook tools are the most interesting and they work much like the LinkedIn options. Whenever you receive e-mail from someone who has a Facebook account the sidebar will show their current status message, profile info and picture. Naturally there are links to the person’s actual Facebook page.

Perhaps more useful is the Skype toolbar, which offers one-slick access to send instant messages, SMS messages or make Skype calls.

Back when Xobni first came out of beta a number of users complained that the add-on drastically slowed down Outlook. From our limited testing of the new version (we’re not regular Outlook users so comparing speed is difficult) that appears to have been fixed. While Xobni still obviously increases Outlook’s memory usage, performance wasn’t drastically affected.

Xobni is a free add-on and requires Microsoft Outlook 2003 or Outlook 2007. You can grab the latest version from the Xobni site.

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Why Adobe ‘Configurator’ Will Revolutionize The Way You Use Photoshop

By Scott Gilbertson November 19, 2008 Categories: Multimedia, Software & Tools

configuratorFor newcomers, Photoshop can seem like a labyrinth. The photo editing app is very powerful, but with great power comes great complexity — figuring out how to do what you want can take longer than actually doing it.

To help make Photoshop more flexible and bit easier to work with, Adobe has just released Configurator — an add-on that makes it easy to customize Photoshop panels to suit your needs.

The customization options mean that you can take your favorite menu items, actions, palettes and other tools and create your own easy-to-access panel. All the menu items and tools in Photoshop are available within the Configurator panel builder, and adding then to your custom panel is as simple as dragging them into your creation.

While the customization features are very nice, the real power of Configurator lies in the ability to swap your creations and download tools from other Photoshop users. The packaged files work much like Flash extensions — just download the panel and double click the file so that Extension Manager can install it. Restart Photoshop and the new panel will be available at Windows >> Extensions >> (Panel Name).

Take the sharing idea a bit further and Configurator might make the web-based Photoshop tutorial obsolete.

Rather than simply spelling out the steps necessary to get a certain look for your images, Configurator allows Photoshop gurus to package their entire workflow as a script, create a panel to run the script and make the whole thing a one-click download.

For example, Photoshop maven Russell Brown has put together a panel that walks you through the process of of creating lenticular images — Brown’s panel includes instructions and then simple one-click buttons to execute the actual steps (screenshot, download panel).

Configurator panels can even have embedded live video files, which allows you to watch video tutorials in Photoshop and follow along using your own images — no more flipping between the browser and Photoshop.

To see Configurator in action, check out Nack’s video demo, which shows some of the possibilities. At the moment there aren’t any available, but keep an eye on this Adobe Exchange page to find out what others are doing with Configurator.

Configurator is a free download and you can grab it from Adobe Labs. Configurator requires Photoshop CS4.

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Microsoft to Offer Free Virus Protection Software for Windows

By Scott Gilbertson November 19, 2008 Categories: Software & Tools

windows logoMicrosoft plans to offer Windows users a new antivirus package designed to protect the OS from viruses, spyware, rootkits and trojans. The new software is tentatively code-named Morro, and will be available for free to Windows XP, Vista and 7 users sometime in the second half of 2009.

The new software will reportedly use very minimal resources, which means it should work well with older PCs. If fact, Microsoft says Morro has been specially designed for older PCs and low-spec machines popular in developing nations. In addition to its minimal processor demands, Morro has been developed to use very little bandwidth, making it ideal for those without broadband connections.

Morro will replace Microsoft’s current, paid service, Windows Live OneCare, which has been available on a subscription basis for $50 per year.

While a free, antivirus solution that ships with Windows would be a boon for the average user, it could also mean trouble for third-party software solutions. Given that a bundled solution could raise antitrust concerns — and would no doubt see competitors like McAfee and Grisoft reaching for the lawyers — Microsoft will be offering Morro as a separate download.

Assuming Morro can deliver decent security it should be a welcome free addition to Windows, but we don’t suggest throwing away your third-party software just yet. Antivirus software suites will likely continue to hold an edge over Morro by offering additional handy tools — like password managers, identity theft protection and browser-based phishing protection.

Still, if you’ve been running Windows with no antivirus software at all, Morro will no doubt be better than nothing, and it’s hard to argue with free.

[via Slashdot]

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