// Internet Duct Tape

RSS feeds are like cookies (that are good enough for me). Best of Feeds is a weekly collection of the best stuff I saw on the Internet this week. They’re saved on delicious and stumbleupon and cross-posted to Twitter and Tumblr as they happen and then collected together on Saturdays. I don’t blog on the weekend so read these links instead.Subscribe to //engtech to see this every week (or get it by email).

• [JAVASCRIPT] Ext JS – JavaScript Library for Web Windows
  • Interesting javascript library for doing web windows. Has a nice spreadsheet display.
  • (javascript, ajax, web2.0, programming, ext)
  • (extjs.com, 3318 saves, 100 inbound links, 6 diggs)
• [JAVASCRIPT] Welcome to Tablecloth
  • Javascript code for doing quick table highlighting
  • (css, javascript, tables, webdesign)
  • (cssglobe.com, 1767 saves, 100 inbound links, 1247 diggs)
• [WEBDESIGN] 30 Usability Issues To Be Aware Of
  • common tips, good for beginners
  • (usability, design, webdesign)
  • (smashingmagazine.com, 1705 saves, 100 inbound links, 781 diggs)
• [SQL] A Visual Explanation of SQL Joins
  • Jeff, where were you in 1997 when I needed this!?
  • (sql, database, reference)
  • (codinghorror.com, 1069 saves, 67 inbound links, 9 diggs)
• [DESIGN] 10 Usability Nightmares You Should Be Aware Of
  • (usability, webdesign, design)
  • (smashingmagazine.com, 874 saves, 100 inbound links, 253 diggs)
• [DESIGN] So you want to create WordPress themes huh?
  • 16 how-tos on building a wordpress theme
  • (wordpress, themes, howto, design, webdesign)
  • (wpdesigner.com, 585 saves, 100 inbound links, 21 diggs)
• [SLEEPHACKS] Top 10 Ways to Sleep Smarter and Better
  • LifeHacker has the goods on beating insomnia
  • (sleephacks, lifehacks)
  • (lifehacker.com, 546 saves, 68 inbound links, 1489 diggs)
• [JAVASCRIPT] Help! I Don’t Know JavaScript!
  • Collection of intros to javascript
  • (javascript, tutorial, mootools, programming)
  • (blog.mootools.net, 470 saves, 10 inbound links, 27 diggs)
• [GAMES] Science Museum – Launchpad Online – Launchball
  • Very cool little physics simulator game.
  • (games, science, physics, fun, launchball)
  • (sciencemuseum.org.uk, 392 saves, 100 inbound links, 947 diggs)
• [GIFTS] 30 Frugal Gift Ideas to Show You Appreciate Someone
  • Holidays are coming up…
  • (cheap, DIY, lifehacks, gift, presents)
  • (zenhabits.net, 326 saves, 25 inbound links, 669 diggs)
• [CODE] 10 Things Every Programmer Should Know For Their First Job
  • General, but true.
  • (career, programming, tips, work)
  • (applematters.com, 172 saves, 19 inbound links, 4 diggs)
• [RUBY] Mr. Neighborly’s Humble Little Ruby Book
  • Another free Ruby ebook
  • (Ruby, ebooks, programming, rails)
  • (infoq.com, 53 saves, 33 inbound links)
• [WEIGHTLOSS] Geek Diet and Exercise Programs
  • All familiar links and photos to me, but still a good roundup.
  • (codinghorror, diet, geek, tips)
  • (codinghorror.com, 44 saves, 35 inbound links, 46 diggs)
• [INTERNET] The Life and Death of Jesse James
  • The scariest people in the world are the lonely people, and this true story strikes it home for me with full force. This is essential reading for anyone who spends a lot of time in internet culture.
  • (culture, internet, relationships, scary)
  • (laweekly.com, 40 saves, 18 inbound links)
• [RAILS] Two months with Ruby on Rails
  • Two months checkin with what he doesn’t like about Rails
  • (rails, programming, ruby, rubyonrails)
  • (t-a-w.blogspot.com, 39 saves, 10 inbound links)
• [BOOKS] Hard Work, No Pay: What’s the Point?
  • Petzold on being an author of programming books. Response to Jeff Atwood post.
  • (writing, programming, books, blogs)
  • (charlespetzold.com, 30 saves, 12 inbound links)
• [TWITTER] Twitter is Paying My Rent
  • Why Twitter is a great tool for a first class tech blogger.
  • (twitter)
  • (marshallk.com, 25 saves, 7 inbound links, 20 diggs)
• [BOOKS] Expert Advice: Websites for the Book Lover
  • Quite a few sites I hadn’t heard of.
  • (bestof, book, library, tips, websites)
  • (makeuseof.com, 24 saves, 4 inbound links, 20 diggs)
• [DELICIOUS] Readeroo
  • Simple browser extension for marking items “to be read” later and then marking them as read when you’re done.
  • (firefox, del.icio.us, delicious, extensions)
  • (monsur.com, 21 saves, 5 inbound links)
• [WEB2.0] Q&A: Foul-Mouthed Blogger Ted Dziuba Tells Why Most Startups Fail
  • Uncov in wired! What.the.fuck!
  • (fun, startups, web2.0, wired, uncov)
  • (wired.com, 19 saves, 31 inbound links, 4 diggs)
• [WEB2.0] Tim O’Reilly – Graphing Social Patterns
  • Liveblogging notes from Tim O’Reilly’s presentation.
  • (social, facebook, web2.0, socialsoftware)
  • (allfacebook.com, 9 saves)
• [BOOKS] When Completing a Book Depends on Someone Else
  • Blogging Heroes should be in print soon. I was interviewed for the book, not sure if I made it into the final cut.
  • (blogging)
  • (mikebanks.blogspot.com)
• [COPYRIGHT] Happiness In Slavery No More: Nine Inch Nails Goes Record Label Free
  • Fans and artists are learning to bypass the recording industry.
  • (copyright, drm, nin)
  • (parislemon.com)
• [FICTION] The ride home
  • From the article: ” People with happy lives don’t go on quests, they lead their happy lives.”
  • (writing, fantasy, dark, noir)
  • (beatsentropy.com, 3 inbound links)
• [CODE] Getting rid of the use global contstants file
  • Another post from my old friend who used to bring me subway cookies at raves.
  • (code, programming, cohesion, contstants, perl)
  • (dlowe-wfh.blogspot.com)
• [MARKETING] The Smart Way to Get Traffic and Links: Creating a Prospect List for Bloggers
  • This is the proper way to promote yourself with other bloggers. Get on their radar before you ever approach them about anything.
  • (blogging, marketing, permission)
  • (doshdosh.com, 3 inbound links)

Legend

• saves – number of people who bookmarked on http://del.icio.us
• inbound links – number of blogs who linked to it (max 100)
• diggs – number of people who dugg on http://digg.com

This Week at Internet Duct Tape

• What I’m Playing: PC, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360
  • I’m on day 10 of “one of those weeks” so I haven’t had time to fully develop the usual cornucopia of rainbow-coloured blog post ideas. All of my time has been spent on work and family with a smidgen of video game playing to decompress my brain. This isn’t one of those…
• The Holiday Spread – Group Weight Loss Game
  • This past weekend was Thanksgiving (aka Turkey Day) in Canada, which means seeing your family and eating a lot of food together. One of the favourite pastimes at any holiday is pointing out who’s gained weight and who hasn’t. This got me thinking: one of the principals of successful dieting…
• Best of Feeds – 34 links – programming, google, lifehacks, ruby, funny
  • Tags: blogging, estimation, free, funny, google, gtd, javascript, lifehacks, productivity, programming, rails, ruby, rubyonrails, search, seo, tips

This Week at IDT Labs

• [WORDPRESS] Extract Comments or Trackbacks only from the Comments Feed
  • I’ve created two Yahoo Pipes for building filters of the comments feed on your WordPress blog so that you can see comments only or trackbacks only. WordPress Comment Extractor WordPress Trackback Extractor
• [RSS] Tagosphere
  • Tagosphere is an example I created for Jon Udell that builds an RSS feed around a specific tag using delicious, flickr, technorati, and wordpress.com.
• [GTD] Distraction Free GTD UpdateNow with 36 applications + fixes some problems with apps that don’t support https .

Tags: blogging, design, fun, javascript, lifehacks, programming, rails, tips, usability, web2.0, webdesign, writing