Human Clock

Not sure why you would want a human clock but here you go.

Someone found a set of numbers then decided to put them to good use here. The numbers are made up of people. Kinda weird but curious none the less.

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Visual Overhaul of Learn Firefox

I suggest Firefox at any opportunity that I get and I actually know a few people that have just started using it. Sometimes starting out with a new browser can be a bit tricky. Not only that to really take advantage of Firefox you will want to get into a bit of customizing and installing a few extensions. Knowing where to start or a bit of a how to with simple tasks can be hard to find. But there is one site that I know of that fits all this and more, and it just had a bit of a face lift.

I have previously talked about Learn Firefox and recommend it as a good place to start. Being a regular reader of CyberNet I noticed that they announced a redesign of Learn Firefox. So I took a look, Wow! Guys, the new design looks fantastic and very simple to use. Aimed directly at the new user or the experienced tweaker needing some info. You can do a lot worse than Learn Firefox and now it is even easier.

I like the one page navigation from the front, no scrolling (on my screen at any rate 🙂 ). Plus a lot of time put in designing easy to understand buttons, making site navigation a breeze. Mainly a visual upgrade, but it is just that: an upgrade. All this info was there before, but now it might just be easier to find.

Nice job guys, keep up the good work!

Create Your Own Temporary Message Board

Now this is a bit of fun and actually quite useful. The service is called cl1p.net it provides a service that lets you create an instant message board or clipboard with a unique URL for access and number of handy and useful features. I am sure that there are uses for this that would present themselves to people on a daily basis. A great service to put in your bookmarks, you never know when you might need it.

To set up a message board or clipboard all you have to do is visit cl1p.net and follow the instructions which are very simple. You will see a box like this:

Fill in what you want the page URL to be after the /. Click the “Show My cl1p” button and you are done. There is no need to register, but you can if you want to to track your cl1ps. Once your page is generated (you should now be looking at it); there are a few options that you may want to activate.

The page is an Internet accessible clipboard or a message board, you select which on the right pull-down menu. The clipboard is the default. Copy and paste anything either plain text or HTML into the space provided. Or upload a file up to 2MB. Want someone else to be able to see the pasted text or file? Just point them to the URL. This is very useful. Say you were helping someone with some code for their blog or web page. You could get them to post their code on the “board”, edit it and then they could then reload and copy and paste it out to their page. Anyone that has tried to use Instant messaging for this knows exactly why this feature is so good. Plus it is way faster then email.

There are a number of options for how long you want the page open for from one hour to “as long as possible” (however long that is). You can change the title if you wish from the default to one that you prefer. I like the idea of being able to password protect the page as well in the “Security” options. Activating this for a message board enables moderation by the creator of the page and prevents others from modifying comments. Create an account to track your “cl1ps” or there is the option to buy the URL that you have essentially created. Enable HTML or plain text to suit your needs. Message boards are plain text which is a good idea.

At the bottom of the page is the option to upload a file up to 2MB, which might be an interesting way to share a file with a lot of people that you can’t host yourself. Finally you can adjust the number of lines that are viewable, save and print the text. Phew… loads of features for a simple page. But that is what makes it great. Good things are simplistic and easy to use and this fits all the requirements for that.

If you purchased the URL it could be a permanent message board for your blog readers. The good thing about this is that there is no registration required, no login, no email submission. You might get more comments from your readers by having one. If you had no blog then this might be a fun way to leave messages for your friends or have an asynchronous conversation. You could start a great flame war with this one, once the URL disappears your comments go with it and it is anonymous. These ideas are just off the top of my head and I am sure that people can think of much better ones.

The URL or page is accessible to anyone with Internet access, just point your browser to it and you can see the page you or someone else has created. Nice. This is also an advantage if you were working with someone in another time zone. Or you had friends that were in a different country. It is another way of communicating and collaborating.

I think it is a great idea and has loads of potential and an early start to a sound business model. In the future I would expect there to be advertising and such but that won’t take away from a great, interesting, simple and fun idea. The idea of accessibility and ease of use is an achievement. I can definitely see myself using this from time to time for a number of uses and a lot that I am yet to think of.

See the Rooster’s Rail Message Board Here [ http://cl1p.net/roosters_rail ] go nuts and tell me what you think about it.

UPDATE: Killed the Message Board it became a spam mecca. This post is getting on and the spammers followed it. Just glad that HTML was off 🙂 Please check out the service and create your own.

3D RSS and Websites: Not as Far Away as You Think

I remember as a kid seeing mock ups of this type of thing in films and TV. If you were to ask me back then if I thought it could ever be true I might have smiled. To my surprise today I have seen the exact thing that I thought would always be science fiction and it was not only fun but made me think of the possibilities.

The page created in 3D is the frontpage of Digg, Technology. Really it is a proof on concept. But in reality it could become mainstream. Sure it is not going to happen tomorrow. Nor is it going to happen with the technology that is the most popular at the moment (think mouse). But I could see it happening if things like eye tracking navigation ever take off. Being able to “explore” an RSS feed in this manner would be totally amazing. Mark an article read with a double blink… maybe. Combined with VR Headsets… Okay I am getting ahead of myself here. But you get the drift.

The thing that I could see happening and sooner, is further uptake and use of 3D controlers. They currently market these devices at the Google Earth hardcore user. But using the device to explore 3D RSS feeds or websites would be ideal and totally within the possibilities of today’s technology. I can see that this is where some of the market will direct their attention. However, it is a niche market in that it does not appeal to everyone, exciting at any rate regardless of the market.

I would imagine that exploring your data and things like RSS feeds in this way would involve a whole new level of thinking. I am not sure if that would be difficult or more intuitive. That would depend on what kind of helps were “built-in” to it. Notice the X and Y axis dots on this site? They are helps for finding your way. But in my mind I can see tags, clusters, sign posts and teleporting for linking content. Wow. Now this concept site takes on a whole new meaning!

So take a look at the page created by Michael Battle that has been expertly crafted and based on flash. A bit of science fiction (no-more) fun. I have had a think about where this might go and it really is exciting. Let your imagination go wild and think about what you would like to see. Because I thought I would never see it happen when I was young. Now I think anything is possible, so you might see something in 20 years that you thought you would never see as well.

Flash Creativity

I am not a huge fan of flash coding, in fact I hate it most of the time. It is flash by name and flashy by nature. It is in your face advertising and as loud and bold as you can imagine. Usually. But I would like to share with you a web site that is so far from this it would be classified as art anywhere else. It is so far removed from the stereotype of flash that I don’t even think it the same and yet it is.

The website does not have a name as such. It is a demonstration of the beauty that can be created using the flash code. From what I understand flash is difficult to code, if this is the case this web site is a stunning example of what is possible given the time and determination. I am sure this is some sort of on-line resume for a designer and creator of some sort as his name is in the title bar: Jonathan Yuen.

The website does not “do” much. It plays some relaxing music. It displays some rendered scenes. I sometimes just go there to look at the images that unfold as a “walk” through the created landscape. Believe it or not it is actually relaxing! It just flows as you discover about the page’s creator and what is important to him. Hover over the text to get the English version, hover for everything actually. I am reminded of a bonsai garden, very zen.  I just like it. You might think it pointless, but if you are a bit strung out take a visit. If nothing else appreciate the creativity and thought that has gone into the creation and design of this page, it is nice work.