WebSite posts

Filed under: Developer, Blogging, Troubleshooting

A list of dumb things to check

by Jason Clarke Nov 17th 2009

We've all been there; we've got a problem with our server, laptop, PC, website, or blog, and have tried to solve it for hours with no success. At some point, we reach that point where we're absolutely certain that it's just some dumb thing that we're overlooking or forgetting to check. If you've ever found yourself in that situation, you'll probably want to bookmark a list of dumb things to check.

It's a list of (now 36) stupid things to check that you may have overlooked, compiled by Tom Limoncelli with input from members of the SAGE-Members mailing list. For anyone that hasn't found themselves in this situation, it will seem like a ridiculous concept. But for those of you out there that have been there, I bet you're thinking "awesome" like I am.

So, what's missing from the list? What's your best troubleshooting tip? Let us know in the comments.

Tags: blog, dumb thing, dumb things, dumb-thing, dumb-things, DumbThing, DumbThings, pc, server, stupid things, stupid-things, StupidThings, tom limoncelli, tom-limoncelli, TomLimoncelli, troubleshooting, website

Filed under: Fugly Friday

Fugly Friday: RogerART

by Victor Agreda, Jr. Feb 27th 2009

I would be remiss in continuing this series without a stop at RogerART.com -- a throwback on the web in so many ways. Run by Earth Citizen Roger Drowne, the site is all text and GIF's, they way HTML 1.0 intended. Roger's message is pure, I'll give him that. He revels in being consistently lumped into the "worst" website category, which I think is terrific. Roger has some painting ability with traditional media, but judging from his digital artwork, it leaves a bit to be desired, I think.

Roger eschews the tradtional top nav for a blast of text and GIF goodness that'll have you scrolling down in no time -- a convenient list of links to his other sites (also replicated at the bottom of the page in case you missed it). If you're color-blind (as I'm sure Roger would prefer) you won't be able to read random portions of the page. That's because random words are randomly colored random web-safe colors.

If you brave a scroll down you'll find quite the menagerie of crappy animated GIF's and half-assed Paint artwork. Roger's text will also have you checking your default settings, but don't worry: it's all part of the plan. Some text should be gigantic, and some text should be just overly large. You'll have a ball playing "is this a link" too, since there's a lot of blue text. Luckily, all URL's are using the default HTML spec in a handy blue with underline... you'll just have to wade through the sea of SMS-like gibberish to find them.

So sure, RogerART is a design abomination -- but is it art? Let's turn to our dictionary.app definition of kitsch:

kitsch |ki ch |
noun

art, objects, or design considered to be in poor taste because of excessive garishness or sentimentality, but sometimes appreciated in an ironic or knowing way : the lava lamp is an example of sixties kitsch | [as adj. ] kitsch decor.

We have a winner! Here's hoping Roger continues to refuse professional design help for at least another 10 years.

Tags: design, fugly, rogerart, website

Filed under: Fun, Internet, web 2.0

Fake Name Generator Creates Your Alter Ego

by Lee Mathews Jul 2nd 2008

Anyone who has gained super powers through radiation exposure, cosmic rays, or scientific experimentation gone wrong knows how painfully difficult it can be to conceal your identity after the fact. Fortunately, there's a web site that will help you make the process much, much simpler.

Fake Name Generator does so much more than what its moniker implies. Not only will it create a (usually) convincing new name, but it'll also give you a corresponding address, phone number, mother's maiden name, phone number - even a social security and visa number. Though we're not entirely sure it's a good idea to go passing those around.

The clever engine will even piece together an email address and domain name for you AND check to see if they're available. Now that's useful. If you're going for a safe, secondary online identity you may as well have a convincing email to go along with it.

At last we're safe to use our powers for good without fear of being discovered by our nemeses!

Tags: anonymity, fun, privacy, web2.0, website

Filed under: Utilities, Web services, web 2.0

Trendrr - compare and share social data

by Jay Hathaway Mar 25th 2008

There are plenty of comparison tools for site traffic. Given a few minutes, we're willing to bet our readers could create a graph of a site's popularity over time. But what about graphing an artist's plays on MySpace or YouTube, how often people write blog posts about each presidential candidate, or how many people are seeding a file on BitTorrent? Trendrr lets you graph, compare, and mash up this kind of data with ease.

Trendrr makes graphing simple by including a drag-and-drop scratchpad that lets you edit and compare graphs with a minumum of effort. The system is based on the RESTful api, which means advanced users can hack together their own trends - there's an example on the site of graphing your computer's CPU usage over time. For everyone else, though, the list of built-in data sources includes popular sites like eBay and YouTube. Don't miss the gallery of popular graphs, which are sometimes informative and sometimes just funny.

Tags: social, Trendrr, trends, trendspotting, web, web 2.0, Web2.0, website

Filed under: Fun, Internet, Web services, Time-Wasters, web 2.0

LOLinator: let LOLcats redesign your site of choice

by Danny Mendez Jan 18th 2008

There has always been one major problem with the internet: it's run by humans instead of LOLcats. Sadly, the government isn't into LOLcats, so we'll never see the dream realized. There is, however, a simulation effort. I'd like to introduce the LOLinator.

The LOLinator is a website designed by an underground effort of LOLcats to show the world what an LOLcat internet would look like. It takes any website and sends it back to the LOLcat home base, where LOLcats work quickly and efficiently to create a simulation of an LOLcat version. A couple websites we recommend running through the system are Apple.com, Apple.com/store, and Microsoft.com.

The image above shows what an LOLcat run Download Squad would look like. Personally, we think it's an improvement, but the discrimination against cats in the workplace would never land us any cat employees. What a sad world we live in. Oh yeah, if you have any suggestions for sites to run through the LOLinator, please leave them in the comments.

Tags: LOL cats, LolCats, redesign, site, web2.0, website

Filed under: Internet, Utilities, Web services

Test Everything! - Test your website with over 100 tools

by Todd Ritter Dec 27th 2007

Serving as a webmaster's Swiss Army knife, Test Everything! allows you to run a bunch of different tests on your website and domain name, ranging from Alexa traffic details to CSS validation. To use, simply type in your website's URL, select a category, and check the boxes next to the tests you want to run. When you've selected all of your tests, click the "Test website!" button and wait for your test results to be generated. The Test Everything! site will then return a helpful aggregation of links to each of the specific tests you chose.

While some tests like the "Crapola Web Translator" aren't very useful, Test Everything! lets you run over 100 tests in one fell swoop. Our favorite tests (aside from standard HTML/CSS validation) include "Server Info" which displays info like your webserver's IP address and OS, "Website Speed Test" which shows how fast your specified URLs load, and the "Test your web design in different browsers" test which, well...you know.

[Via makeuseof.com]

Tags: css, html, test, validation, website

Filed under: Design, Developer, Web services, web 2.0

QuickRibbon website announcements

by Chris Gilmer Nov 22nd 2007

Want to wish a happy holiday to your web site's visitors today? Or put up a spiffy little banner announcing the birth of your child or pretty much anything else? QuickRibbon is an online tool that allows users to plug in a few choices and get a nifty ribbon banner that can be displayed on websites to announce something special. No fiddling with code and images, this online tool does almost all the work for you.

All you have to do is type in what text you want to appear on your ribbon, and its color. Next, choose a ribbon style and colors and enter a link to the ribbon for when it's clicked. QuickRibbon then spits out a JavaScript code that can be easily placed in the body of html docs.

Of course, if a ribbon isn't something you are after, you can always redesign your logo to meet Web 2.0 standards, or maybe just stay clear of this phase altogether.

Tags: quickribbon, web2, web2.0, website

Filed under: Design, Fun, Internet, Web services

GIFTube, welcome back to the 90's internet style

by Chris Gilmer Oct 31st 2007

Remember that craze back in the early days of the internet? The early 90's. You remember, the time when the animated gif was a cult phenomenon? Well, like pogs, they are back.

Move over YouTube, GIFTube is your one stop shop for everything animated gif. Users upload and share their creations or findings to make their MySpace pages, websites and blogs as flashy as they can through the provided web 2.0 embed code. Have a snazzy GIF or something saved from the internets early days? Submit it for entry into the directory. But please, do us all a favor and just browse the site, do not use these on your website. Thanks!

It seems that the new age of animated GIF's drops the flashy text and symbols in favor of some questionable adult GIF's on this site. So browse the GIF library at your own discretion.

Tags: blog, design, embed, gif, internet, website

Filed under: Business, Internet, Web services, web 2.0

Bartering online with Giventake

by Chris Gilmer Oct 16th 2007

Do you have something kicking around you don't want but which somebody could still get some use out of? Why not barter?

Goods and services have been exchanged for other goods and services since the stone ages. It's a simple way to trade items between parties without cash. Giventake takes the process online. The website lets people trade items for something they have a use for. Users start off by registering and searching out what they are looking for. When the goods have been found, connect with the owner, work out an exchange and make a deal.

The site has items listed from antiques, books, collectibles, computer equipment, games and jewelry in 26 different categories, largely focused in India. There are no fees involved with using the Giventake service.

Tags: barter, giventake, goods, services, trade, web2, web2.0, website

Filed under: Internet, Blogging, Web services, Search

Track your browsing history with hooeey

by Chris Gilmer Oct 16th 2007

Have your ever been randomly searching for something online, only to realize you closed a window and cannot for the life of you remember what website you were on? You might be able to check your browser history or use a bookmarking tool. But what if you want to share your browsing records and let other users see where you've been?

Hooeey lets you record eveyr site you visit. You need a hooey account and a browser toolbar in order for hooey to do its thing. The toolbar then tracks the sites you have visited in online folders allowing you to check out analytical reports and share links.

So if you are up for letting friends know where you have been, hooeey will gladly share your browsing patterns with them.

Tags: analytical, bookmarking, delicious, google-history, hooeey, search, toolbar, tracking, website

Filed under: Business, Internet, Video, Web services

HowStuffWorks finds a new home at Discovery

by Chris Gilmer Oct 15th 2007

HowStuffWorks has gotten Discovered. The nine year old website that basically explains how stuff works, has been bought by Discovery Communications, the company behind the Discovery Channel, TLC and Animal Planet for $250 Million.

This move, combined with the another recent purchase, Treehugger.com pushes Discovery's web strategy by enabling them to bring their large amount of content to the web which includes over 100,000 hours of documentary. Discovery's own array of websites have not been terribly successful in drawing traffic, hence the acquisition of targeted properties that do have a successful online following.

HowStuffWorks founder Marshall Brain has built the site's content primarily around topics that are the results of searches performed in Google.

Tags: content, discovery, google-searches, howstuffworks, marshall-brain, MarshallBrain, treehugger, video, website

Filed under: Business, Design, Fun, Internet, Productivity, Web services

Plan your trips at TripCart

by Chris Gilmer Sep 19th 2007

As the weather slowly shifts from summer to fall, many of us are left thinking about traveling south for some sun. With plenty of trip planning websites out there, TripCart focuses on combining all attractions into a single convenient location.

When the time to getaway rolls around, check in with TripCart. This travel website focuses on attractions that would be interesting to hit up when traveling in the U.S. Select a destination and TripCart pulls up Google Map with pinpoints of places to check out, including hotels, places of interest, theme parks, shopping, golf, sporting events, nature/parks, zoos and aquariums. It certainly takes the hassle out of visiting multiple locations for vacation planning.

Even more useful are the in depth descriptions of cities and the locations around where you are searching. Great if you have never been to the area before.

[via profy]

Tags: google-mashup, map, maps, travel, travel-planning, tripcart, vacation, website

Filed under: Business, Internet, Productivity, Web services

Create a simple webpage fast and free with Jottit

by Chris Gilmer Sep 18th 2007

If you have ever had the need to create a quick and dirty webpage for a last minute party, or even to provide more information for the item you are listing for sale on Craigslist, Jottit could be your savior.

Users start off on the plain and simple Jottit home page. All that is provided is a textbox where users can input any text they wish. When you click "Create a page," text will then show up on an editable page in a wiki-like format. From there, pages can be edited and revised as well as marked private, public (viewers would require a password to edit it) or open so that anyone can edit and view it as they wish. Jottit then provides a unique URL in which the page can than be accessed.

It doesn't stop there however. Users can then customize things even further with Jottit's settings. Users are given the option of creating a full website with multiple pages and a URL that is easier to remember. i.e. http://downloadsquad.jottit.com/ with numerous subpages that have images, video and anything else that can be accessed with an embedding code option to create a better user experience and more robust web presence.

To check out more of what is possible with Jottit, visit our sample page at http://downloadsquad.jottit.com

Tags: jottit, web2, web2.0, webpage, website

Filed under: Business, Developer, Internet, Web services, Yahoo!, Search

Yahoo! opening up to developers

by Chris Gilmer Sep 12th 2007

Yahoo! is the next big company planning on opening up its source code, giving application developers more power in creating tools that engage users. The company has already opened up access to their email letting third parties create widgets that access address books and mail services, but is planning on rolling it out on the Yahoo! homepage and other services.

To a large part, the future of successful online services depends on companies listening closely to what their customers think. That's why many companies are handing over the keys to outside developers and letting them run with anything that makes people stay interacted with the site longer.

Yahoo!'s move is long overdue, but at least they are jumping in the game now to make their stickiness factor increase. We hope.

Tags: api, developers, website, yahoo

Filed under: Internet, Text, Blogging, web 2.0

Link and steal thoughts at Podobo

by Chris Gilmer Sep 4th 2007

What's on your mind? Podobo wants to know! Then they are going to mash it up and link your ideas and thoughts up with someone that thinks the same. Useful? Maybe.

Podobo is a simple online website where people can basically jot down their thoughts and ideas via a mobile device, or the web interface. Picture a micro blog format like twitter where people can instead use your thoughts for profit. Its free to join, and you are guaranteed to have all of your thoughts stolen.

But, keep in mind you can also steal the ideas and thoughts of others. Looking for an idea for a short story, poem or blog entry? Click on the tag cloud and get some inspiration.

Tags: blog, micro blog, MicroBlog, podobo, twitter, web2, web2.0, website

The World's Hardest Game 2.0 - Time Waster

So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do. Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game. The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

View more Time Wasters

Featured Galleries

Defective by Design, London: Protest Pictures

Download Squad at the Crunchies After-Party

Android First-look: Amazon.com MP3 Store

Flickr Pool

www.flickr.com

Download Squad bloggers (30 days)

#	Blogger	Posts	Cmts
1	Jay Hathaway	100	5
2	Lee Mathews	76	20
3	Sebastian Anthony	67	220
4	Brad Linder	32	2
5	Jason Clarke	28	0
6	Paul O'Brien	8	0
7	Grant Robertson	6	3
8	Dolores Parker	6	2
9	Victor Agreda, Jr.	6	1
10	Nik Fletcher	5	0
11	Matt Heerema	3	0
12	Download Squad Staff	1	0
13	John Burke	1	0

More Tech Coverage

Control Shift It's all about the experience
Somewhat Frank Perspectives on tech as it fuses in everyday life
Switched Gadgets, web news and commentary
Urlesque Exposing bits of the web

Download Squad