As I learn more of Joomla’s ins and outs, it’s getting easier to develop for it. The component I am working on right now is for a client and was specifically tailored to that client. But I can see it being the basis for a much larger project. I think I might want to turn it into a product management extension. I’m thinking it will be open source with paid support. Might bring in a little change, hopefully enough to pay for the server hosting the downloads but not expecting anything.
Please comment with features you would like in a product like this so I can plan them in for the initial release.
By the way, a big thank you to ircmaxell on the IRC Joomla channel for all the help. Show some support for a great resource: www.joomlaperformance.com
I use Firefox. I stopped using IE awhile ago after I realized how much better Firefox is. IE7 does a pretty good job most of the time, but Firefox is so much better when you can throw extensions, useful extensions at it.
I am a web developer. I make web sites (<- I never know if that’s one word or two). Part of making web sites is viewing them on as many browsers as possible to make sure everyone gets a consistent experience when viewing the site. Some of the extensions I use help with that.
Now on to the list (it’s not too long) sorted by what I think is most important/useful first:
- Firebug
This is probably the best extension out, even if it is buggy at times. If you don’t develop web sites, then you probably don’t use this or would have heard about it. But if you do develop web sites, and you don’t know how to use this, then you need to get in the know. Firebug is the most useful tool in your library. It will greatly improve your quality of life. Thank you to the developer’s of this.
Now only if it worked in Firefox 3 perfectly…..
- Foxmarks Bookmark Synchronizer
Ever since I found this little gem, my surfing is so much easier. Now all of my bookmarks are synced across the 3 and up computers I use (Home, Work, Laptop, Virtual machines). I could use something like del.ic.ous or some other social networking site. Or I could even write my own script that would sync them, but why bother when this handy extension does it for me? I don’t care about sharing my bookmarks with people, and some of them I don’t want to. So this extension is great for me.
- Google Notebook
Google Notebook is a pretty useful because it lets me write notes and access them anywhere I have a computer with an Internet connection. With this extension, I can access my notebook even faster. I can just click “Open Notebook” in the lower left hand of my browser and instantly my notebook pops up in the corner. There’s even a right click context item that sends the current page to my notebook for later viewing (it saves a link to the page). I can store code, tips, reminders, any text I want to use later. Saves having to carry around an actual notebook.
- Web Developer
I only use a few features of this one, but that’s only because I haven’t played with all the features yet. Every time I try a new one, this extension gets better. It lets me block JavaScript, view the CSS for a page in it’s entirety, provides quick links to validate the page I am on through W3C, and many other tools I am still learning. Combined with Firebug and my web development life is almost a breeze (well not really since I still have to write all the code, but it does make debugging the visuals of a page so much easier).
- PDF Download
Not the most used extension, but good nonetheless. No more opening PDFs in the browser and bogging everything down unless I say it can. I normally use it to save the PDF to my computer, which should be the default action but isn’t always. I can also view the PDF as HTML.
- StumbleUpon
If Firebug and Web Developer are the tools of my trade, StumbleUpon can be described as the rust on my tools. This extension slows my work down. But maybe in retrospect, it speeds it up too. StumbleUpon will randomly take you to a page others have said are good. You define the categories of sites you would like to browse then hit Stumble and you are on your way. Great way to kill time, but really only if you have the time to kill, which I rarely do. I sometimes spend too much time on sites StumbleUpon sends me too lol.
- Adblock Plus
This would have ranked higher except that, once again, I am a web developer. Sometimes its me putting those awful, awful ads on pages. But to give myself a bit of credit, most of the sites I work on don’t have unnecessarily obnoxious ads since they are mostly corporate sites. Some of my personal sites (like this one) will from time to time have Google Ads, but those are plain text ads, not like the ones on Myspace or Facebook. I can’t really use this extension too much because I need to see the ads at time, but when I don’t need to this is great for getting rid of all that junk. If you aren’t a web developer then this should be at the top of your list.
- Download Statusbar
This one is only a minor one but a welcome one. It adds a counter to the bottom right of Firefox and lets me know when my downloads are done and how many are still going. Not much more to it than that.
- Google Send to Phone
Sometimes its easier to type a text message on my computer. What can I say, I text a lot.
- Nasa Night Launch
I’m throwing this one my list of extensions even though it’s a theme (although themes are considered extension in Firefox). This is purely a cosmetic thing. My home computer is Vista and has a nice dark theme going for it so having my browser match is nice. Even when I was running XP, I had the Royale Noir theme (which is pretty close to my current Vista them) so I had this theme too. It even works on my Linux boxes.
Well there’s my top 10 (and consequently the only 10 extension I use). If any of these sounded interesting to you, try them out and let me know your experience with them. If you don’t like them you can always uninstall them. Firefox makes that extremely easy. To get these, go to Firefox’s add on page at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/
I don’t know if it’s Joomla’s wackiness or the MVC model in general but I am still having trouble wrapping my head around the whole concept. At times it seems clear, but then I’ll read something and it blows my thinking out of the water. I think it could be a good concept, maybe I even use it at times already, but right now it seems to only add more steps to something that’s already complicated.
I like the idea of having as much separated out as possible providing the cleanest code, but I also hate it at the same time because you have to reference so many different files to see the whole picture. Overall I still am not sure about MVC programming but maybe with time and more practice I’ll come to like it better.
Ah the joys of ordering things online. I like ordering stuff online because I usually get a pretty good price on things and I love the feeling I get when I receive something good in the mail. It sucks getting bills in the mail (which is why I have changed most of my bills to paperless statements) but love getting useful and fun stuff. I got my Zune, my digital camera (first one I got not counting the camera on my phones, which is amazing considering how into tech I am), lots of cell phones, and well lot’s of other stuff. It sucks paying shipping charges but these are usually balanced out by the lower prices so its ok.
However, the one notable exception to all this is buying tickets to event’s like plays and sporting events. These places do NOT give you a discount for ordering online. In fact, they make you pay MORE for the tickets. They also make it race to buy them. First you go to the site to find the event. Then after you have found it (if you can), you have only a few minutes to buy the tickets before you lose them or have to start over. If you can manage to buy them in the precious few minutes you are given, you are charged fees up the ying yang. First there is a convenience fee of a few dollars – convenience for ordering online? They are saving money because they don’t have to have a ticket sales person manning the box office 24/7 and they charge us for their savings? Talk about a double profit. Then there is a processing fee, and a printing fee (for printing on your own printer no less).
Just to give an example, I bought tickets to an A’s game today at mlb.com but it looks like it’s using the same system as Ticketmaster. Here’s a breakdown of what I payed:
- Tickets: 2 x $13 (bleacher seats because that’s where my date wanted to sit and we are going to be late so didn’t want to pay for the really good seats for half a game)
- Convenience fee: 2 x $4.50 (1/3 the price of the ticket for the convenience of ordering at home)
- Order Processing fee: $4 (It’s a computer taking and process the order. I wonder how much that computer makes an hour)
- Delivery fee: $2.50 (This is so I can print the ticket on my printer, using my ink and paper and then handing it to myself. I love how they charge me to give myself my ticket)
So the grand total for this order was: $41.50. $41.50 for tickets that cost by themselves $26. A nice 60% markup (I think that’s what it is). Unbelievable.
Ever run a Google search for your name? I did and I found a former supervisor’s recommendation for me: http://markcelsor.wordpress.com/2008/02/21/eddie-monge-and-andy-christensen/ That was really cool and brightened up the already good day I have been having (with a small blemish or two though). A big thanks to Mark Celsor.
Eddie came to Clear Ink with a strong IT background and a strong desire to learn about Internet marketing technology, but he quickly blew us away with his ability to jump in and take on complex technical projects for large clients like Autodesk and Hewlett Packard. Eddie also has a strong ability to see the bigger picture and suggest tactics to make projects run smoothly and efficiently. He will be an asset to your organization.
I just finished watching Superman Returns for the, get this, second time! I know, I know, that’s a lot. Well it is for this movie. First time I saw it I was extremely disappointed, and a little angry. Ok maybe more than a little. The thing that angered me that wasn’t even Superman related was that Cyclops got destroyed like a 3rd rate superhero in Xmen 3 because James Marsden wanted to do this crappy excuse for a Superman movie instead of Xmen?!?!?! What a waste of Cyclops. He could have come handy in that mutant brawl.
Anyway, back to Superman Returns. What in the world is going on? Superman has a kid with Lois Lane and she doesn’t even know he is Clark Kent? That’s some great role model there. Yeah knock up some chick who doesn’t even know your real name and then leave for 5 years. Way to set an example there Man of Steel.
Instead of getting a Superman kicking some serious ass after being away for decades, we get a horrible love story, pyschological story about Messiahs, missing fathers and the inability to return things to the way they were when you run away. Boring. We got all this cool CGI stuff now and all it does it make Superman fly around looking fake. That’s awesome. The greatest thing ever. ::rolls eyes:: They threw in the bullet blocking scene just to say they did something. Maybe they should have used to the money they spent on making a stupid cornfield that was in the movie for about 2 seconds to make it better.
At leat the score was decent, and only then because its the same score from the last Superman franchise. They must have figured it worked for Star Wars so maybe it’ll work here. And it did. Too bad the rest of the movie didn’t.
I went to see Forgetting Sarah Marshall last night. It has Kristen Bell, one of the hottest actresses in Hollywood so I figured why not, especially considering the backdrop is Hawaii so there would probably be some decent amount of time of her in a bikini. And there was. And it was awesome! However, she was not the actor/actress in this movie showing the most skin. That award would go to Jason Segal. I think I saw more of him (all of him), then I did of Kristen Bell. It’s like someone saw him naked and thought, that would be a great movie idea. Let’s do it. Sometimes people, it’s not always the best idea to just go with something.
I’m not sure how much of the movie I can review without giving it away so I’ll just keep it short. Overall though, I thought the movie was decent. Maybe 3 out of 5 stars. Not bad, but not the best movie out there. If you like Kristen Bell or Mila Kunis, then you should definitely see this movie. I will give one blurb about Jonah Hill in this, I think he is getting pretty big billing for the movie but he is such a minor character that he could have been left out and the movie would have functioned better. Not his greatest performance. I thought the singer dude was better and way funnier.
