There are more cloud based services out there, but since two days one in particular has caught my eye. Cloud coding. Just about two years ago, the mozilla foundation created Bespin. I have to admit, I never heard of it, not conciously anyways. Bespin has since then now moved on to a third name, but more on that later. Back then I was (and still am) perfectly happy with Eclipse. Eclipse extended by PDT, FDT and (the recently aquired) Aptana all hooked into an SVN let me code in full comfort.

But that bliss was kind of blown wide open on March 4th. A simple poll that has led to some frenetic searchning, reading and trying. It turns out that the browser based coding environment is already quite crowded. No FDT substitute is to be found yet, but I am sure that will come to fruition sooner rather then later as well. As a matter of fact I don’t think I have seen mention of any browser based coding environment that allows developers to compile something. But I am getting ahead of myself.

Given life, and the life that fills my own walls, I have to admit, that my exposure to the platforms I am about to link to is rather limited. But still I did install or run all of them and I have chosen a front runner, for myself that is, already.

Ace

Formally known as Bespin, then Skywriter and now ACE – this open source editor has a most intriguing installment over at Cloud9. It has one thing going for it, it is indredibly slick. It seems to have an impressive user base and it hooks directly into your GIThub. Finally the very impressive backers make it clear for why this platform is the front runner on the poll, the backers are non other then the before mentioned Mozilla foundation as well as ajax.org. Two names that undeniably have a lot of weight.
Support syntaxes: Javascript , HTML, CSS, XML, Python, PHP, Java, Ruby, C++, CoffeeScript

CodeMirror

Slick, clean and hassle free, are the first words that come to mind. This program takes some setting up on your end. This might also be a draw-back, especially having just been over at the Ace, where a simple sign up to Cloud9 gave me what I came for. But most developers, like myself are not afraid of a little tinkering to make things work I guess, so not all that bad again I guess. Also CodeMirror has one very impressive list of supported languages…I do personally have one issue with this platform, and I don’t know if it is reasonable or not, but as such, it seems to be a one man show. Surely not on the development front, but there is one name only that is fronted on the site, and one name alone. Much like with Ruby I like the product, but there is just something wrong…but again that might just be me , oh no wait, the poll result says otherwise for now.

Supported syntaxe’s : JavaScript, XML/HTML, CSS, HTML mixed-mode, SPARQL, HTML+PHP mixed-mode, Python, Lua, Ruby (unfinished), SQL, PLSQL, diff, Groovy, C#, Scheme, Java, XQuery, OmetaJS, Freemarker, Regular Expressions

Eclipse Orion

Again one of those big names. And as I said earlier, the simple name just makes me bias for it. Eclipse has been 1st choice tool since for ever. installing it, I was hoping that I would be able to implement any existing Eclipse libraries into it. But with the base install all that I could get to work was writing JavaScript and CSS. Maybe I am missing something, and I am sure I am, but I lost interest pretty fast, so the current installment,  just did not do it for me. So I am leaving the Supported Syntaxe’s out of this one. As such I will certainly keep a close eye on this one, but I will stick to Eclipse Helios and Subclipse for now

SourceKit

SourceKit is an implementation of the before mentioned Ace platform. It is directly integrated into Chrome (or Chromium for myself). And those of you that read me, know that I have a soft spot for this browser (though I have to admit that Firefox 4 Beta is looking incredibly promising). What really got me exited about this platform, and transfer a project to it, is how it ties in with Dropbox.com. So this allows you to work on your projects from one computer to the other. I think the user could be given the choice on which cloud space to use, UbuntuOne come to mind, but at any rate this truly looks powerful, and will, for now, be the tool I will play around with. There is one problem I do have with source-kit, it’s dropbox linkup and the whole cloud computing concept in general (yes I am looking at you Chrome OS). What happens if you are, god-forbid, in a net-less place. I did try myself, I unplugged my network cable and fired up source-kit, no error, not nothing, just a never ending attempt to connect to my drop-box. Why does the program not simply store my work in the local Dropbox folder that will synch as soon as I come back online, just a thought.As long the 100% up global spanning wireless network is not accessible by you and me, cloud OSes are just not the way that I see us going yet.

So while I am waiting for Eclipse to eclipse them all…Ace is the platform, and SourceKit is my favored flavor of it.But as of yet, not having any auto completion, no extending of my own classing and intelligent importing just does not make this a viable solution yet. But I am sure there is more to come…

So there you have it, the cloud is growing and growing. Exiting times indeed…

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The Story of Cap & Trade from Story of Stuff Project on Vimeo.

To see the entire site see here: http://nassibou.atspace.org/

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Chrome SEO by Sean Bannister

“The Google Chrome SEO Extension. Make your SEO tasks easier with Chrome SEO Tools, includes ‘all’ the stats and data you need.” These are their own words. I like using it to write down initial numbers, then showing off new ones at a later stage. In general a great tool to evaluate SEO efficiency (Or the lack there off when in a pitch).

Webpage Screenshot by Amina

I remember way back when I was at a web shop that shall remain unnamed (but not unlinked off course) there was a brilliant colleague of mine (again unnamed and this time unlinked) that had this awesome tool that would allow him to send any URL into it, and on the other end, lo and behold, a jpeg (maybe a PDF I don’t quite remember)  would come out, and not only of what was visible in the crummy browser window, no the entire page. Head to footer. Well this tool does the same, great when doing a round of QA any type of HTML and CSS.

Pendule by Christian Frey

Is there any developer can really make their way around without the Web Developer tool bar extending so many Firefox Browsers out there? I would think not. And the amount of times that I have tried convincing a colleague about the speed advantage of Chromium, but being told that the web developer tool bar is missing. Well the Pendule extension holds most of the tools I appreciated so greatly from the Web Developer Toolbar.

Firebug Lite by andrei.pervychine

Continuing down the same line, many developers can not do without Firebug either. Though I have never really needed it, as I am a CharlesProxy kind of guy. But just to stuff you on that one two, there is a Firebug for Chromium as well. As a matter of fact there are two separate developers working on an adaptation (maybe time to join forces guys)?

My Shortcuts by Thomas Hunsaker

Though I am still not convinced of the whole cloud hype (now that even Balmer swears to it, something fishy must be going on) I have been using GoogleDocs for a while now, just for it’s portability. Being able to move docs from one workplace to the other without any machine, being able to collaborate on docs etc really speaks for itself. This extensions just ads customizable dropdown of shortcuts to my favorite apps in the google cloud.

Chromed Bird by cezarsa

By far my favorite Twitter client for Chromium. Simple slick, and it does the job, enough said about that. Few words for the extension I have probably been the most faithful to.

goo.gl URL Shortener by giakomino

Why did I choose this URL shortner over the others you ask, well because it was there. And it, like the extension above, does the job. The Options I just started exploring a few days ago, so I will leave it at that.

On a closing note there is one essential extension that I am still looking for. I am looking for a proper delicious implementation. There are, obviously heaps and loads of those that claim they can please me. But so far no good. Yahoo’s own Firefox extension is still the one to measure by, but for Chromium there just isn’t one yet. If you know of any, let me know, also any other extensions you think I should use, please feel free to share…

Will 3D change cinema for ever?

The Observer conversation: James Cameron’s Avatar is the biggest box office draw in history and is expected to triumph at the Oscars on Sunday. But how much of its success is due to the fact it was shot entirely in 3D? And what does this mean for the future of entertainment?

Participating:
John Lyus – heyuguys.co.uk
Matt Bochenski – littlewhitelies.co.uk
(the forver/still young) Jonathan Cresswell – britishgaming.co.uk

On a completely (and not so) different note, I would, at this point, like to ask the guardian.co.uk to allow embedding of their videos.

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1. Software is a poor organizing principle for digital production.
2. Digital literacy should reach beyond the limitations of software.
3. Discourse should not be trapped by production technologies.
4. Accommodate and forgive the end user, not the producer.
5. If a hi-fi element is necessary, keep it dynamic and unobtrusive.
6. Insist on open standards and formats, and software that supports them.

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The same goes for developers for whom the only way to distribute their content legally is the AppStore.

But it is not Apple’s refusal to embrace the open source universe and the hordes of developers who apparently stand at the ready, but rather the so called battle of the titans that the iPad’s release supposedly kicks of.
Let me admit at this point that I am really looking forward to my first meeting with this newest Apple-Gadget.

Apple has always wanted to depict themselves as the outsider, or the troublemaker, the different thinkers (call it what you want)…they have always been that annoying kid on the block that nag others for this and that (The year-old get a mac ads). But for the first time (that I can remember) a launch of a new product does not seem to have the unison wow-effect. This really gives me hope.

The iPad provides the ultimate browsing experience? (get used to the blue lego’s)

Adobe on their side, made the first step towards this handheld market, when they announced that Flash CS5 you can now compile your FLA directly to the iPod (and with that, I would assume, the iPad).

For years now, it has been clear that the web, as such, will move out of the browsers, and on to platforms. Why is it then then that people like Lee Brimlow (who calls himself a Platform Evangelist) are screaming so loud. A few years ago Adobe launched Air, allowing Flash developers to deploy their Flash creations in a whole new way. Yes there are now browsers that do not display Flash, but honestly, what would a full fledged Flash/Video website like Tackfilm look and feel like on an iPad. I have problems believing that the either a pod or a pad would be able to make this the memorable experience it could be.  In any case, I think this is a question of choosing ones battlegrounds. I think Apple should definetely look into making the Flash player an option, but it not being there by default really does not bother me that much. Give people the choice of what they want to do with their new gadget. But then again has choice ever been in the interest of closed source system or platform suppliers.

The iPad And Chrome OS Netbooks Are On A Collision Course

What I really found interesting in this Techchrunch article was that they where seeing this as a start of an attack of Apple vs Google (and their highly anticipated Netbook) with Microsoft suffering in the middle. The question is, is Microsoft really suffering? If this really is a Mac vs Google issue, doesn’t this mean that Apple has lost focus. Have they become too confident by opening a war on a second front? A two front war is rarely won by those that start it. Is Apple really ignoring the most basic advice of Sun Tzu, who said “Never ever divide your army into two and never fight on two fronts at the same time”. I guess only time will show how this will turn out.

There is not really any point to my post, it is more of a message in a bottle really. Now I’ll throw it out into the sea, see if it’ll land on somebodies shore.

If used properly pipes.yahoo.com is clearly an incredibly powerful tool that allows you filter any kind of data feed, combine it with others and pretty much do anything you want with it. I wish I had some time to play around with it…

http://pipes.yahoo.com

1971–Daniel Ellsberg, a top-level Vietnam War strategist, concludes the war is based on a decade of lies. He leaks 7,000 pages of top-secret documents to the The New York Times, a daring act of conscience that leads directly to Watergate, President Nixon’s resignation and the end of the Vietnam War.

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I have to admit, that I did not manage to hold out and updated when the release candidate was ready last week. But now it’s official, the even faster Karmic Koala is packed, ready and good to go. And ‘go’ it does. Faster then ever. I am with Ubuntu since 5.10 and have never looked back…
I can do everything that I did before, I game, I program, I surf (wirelessly always – there is an evil rumor about Linux/Wireless troubles). And all that in the knowledge that my files and my operating system are safe. I can adapt the OS to my own needs, wants and moods. And on a side note, that might some less, but I have learned my way around Terminal which in turn has given me the ability to manage my servers directly through SSH. What can I say…I am a geek, and I’m lovin’ it.

Try out the LiveCD option which loads the entire operating system into your computers memory for voyeurism sake…

Get your free Ubuntu now…