ReactionDynamics

And I just couldn't help myself:

Go on, conform. You know you want to. Faceyourmanga.com

Ever wanted more than just dumping the content of the node you're in, or it's additional variables? In Drupal you can still do this using a basic PHP command, get_defined_vars() . Open up any of your template files and paste the following code in (generally just page.tpl.php). [sourcecode language='php'] print '

';
print_r(get_defined_vars());
print '

'; [/sourcecode] The result is a dump of all variables available to you in your theming work!

The number of Twitter services and applications continues to increase as more individual developers, software houses and businesses come online. Here's a few interesting ones:

Services

1. Twitterfeed - Twitterfeed brings RSS to Twitter. Used to notify twitter of updates to your sites feed.
2. Summize - Search twitter conversations of points of interest
3. Twittergram - Twittergram enables sending a small mp3 via twitter. Also includes an API.
4. TwitsLikeMe - TwitsLikeMe claims to be able to find people based on similarities in tweet history
5. TwitterMail - Enables posting to Twitter via a special email address. Has neat functions like scheduling.
6. TwitterStats - Keep an eye on your Twitter use here
7. Twittervision - Connecting tweets to a physical location with Google maps
8. Twist - Examine trends on Twitter
9. TwitterCal - Send events to Google Calendar via twitter.
10. Remember the Milk - A great Twitter enabled reminder service! Build entire to-do lists, update them from Twitter, and recieve them anywhere!

Applications

1. Twhirl - A popular Twitter client for your computer. Uses Adobe Air.
2. Twitterfox - A Firefox addon that notifies of tweets, replies and messages. Formerly TwitterNotifier.
3. Power Twitter - Another addon plugin that enhances Twitter with video, flickr embedding, Tinyurl unwinding and more.
4. Twitterbar - A Firefox addon that enables tweets right from the address bar of Firefox.
5. Twitterlicious - A Windows Twitter client. x86 and x64 versions available.
6. Twadget - A Windows Vista Twitter client that enables posting from the Vista Sidebar
7. Twitterific - A Mac OSX Twitter client, also available for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
8. TwitterPod - A Mac OSX Twitter client with the ability to store messages.
9. gTwitter - A simple GTK+ based Linux Twitter client
10. Pwytter - A multi-OS Twitter client. Supports Mac OSX, Linux, and Windows with support for 14 languages.

In recent months, Twitter has got something of a beating from bloggers worldwide about frequent downtime, feature reductions and timeouts. Originally, I was dismayed and somewhat (perhaps irrationally) angry at the ongoing Twitter problems, but strangely, and unlike many bad services in the past, I didn't drop Twitter. It was only after a long think about why I'm still on Twitter. Then it hit me. I'm on Twitter still because of it's ease of use, the 3rd party tools around it, and the people I follow that encapsulate my interest. Identi.ca is conceptually just as good, being an open platform, but there's something not quite as interesting as Twitter about it, and I guess it boils down to the myriad following Twitter has. Twitter has gained a massive following, from bread and butter users, to businesses, government, and developers. Followers using the service remain closer to the individuals/activist groups/news outlets/brands/companies/bands or whatever else they enjoy. Useful services have been built on it's API, which although suffering from Twitter's problems, is robust enough to accommodate development, giving back far more than Twitter itself and adding value to the community. Think of all the services that revolve around or add to Twitter. There's Summize (recently acquired by Twitter), Tweetstats, Twitterfeed, amongst many, many others. Through clever use of these tools, businesses can use Twitter to analyze trends online, position themselves appropriately, and hear what people are saying about them. These points are why people remain on Twitter, not just for the personal frippery, but for the relationships between individuals and business that can and are built on the system. It's not perfect, but it works. For now.

There has been a lot of criticism dumped on new (formerly 'stealth') search engine 'Cuil' (pronounced 'Cool', meaning 'Knowledge' in Irish) with prolific bloggers, analysts and experts the world over giving it an overwhelmingly negative rap.

The Good

Cuil presents search results in a nice, neatly formatted way (perhaps falling short of truly intuitive), with a categorical breakdown of search results, called 'Drilldowns'. It's fast, for an index of a claimed 120 billion pages, and as yet is (as far as I can tell) free from ads and sponsored search results. The interface encompasses useful, modern navigation elements such as tabs, and neat AJAX auto-suggest that supplies permutations of common search terms. The in-line thumbnails are potentially a great feature, as they could enable users to find what they're looking for quicker being a visual aid rather than just text.

The Not So Good

However, where Cuil shines well on the arguably superficial interface standpoint, it falls pretty heavily on what should be (and what they state is) their most important feature. General relevancy. It may be that I'm simply too used to Google style results being close to what I'm searching for, not always exactly correct, but pretty close. However with Cuil, I'm often presented with a list of results that don't seem to come close to what I'm searching for, and even the thumbnails that could help me, are quite wrong. For example, if I enter the term 'Mount Gambier', a specific and unique place, the search results are quite well done, especially the "drilldowns" which ooze good relevancy. I'm given a list of South Australian regions, nearby South Australian towns, cities and wine related links for which the regions around Mount Gambier are known for. However, if I make my search term more general, lets say 'monkey' the results are very different to what I'd expect. I'm hit with pop-culture references, movies, and mostly strange "drilldowns". I would be expecting a Google-esque search, which provides me with a link to Wikipedia, telling me what a monkey is. Much better in this case.

My Issue With The Negativity

My problem with it all is the ultimate, and unavoidable comparison between Cuil and Google.  Google began in an age where there wasn't the sort of instant web we have today. Word didn't get around as quickly for Google's problems till far, far later in the game. With Cuil, where scorn could be heaped on and seen by interested parties immediately - instantly and perhaps unfortunately damaging Cuil's reputation. I think Cuil's problems are intrinsically it's own, but also feel it doesn't deserve to be written off. It's specific results with unique-ish terms such as people and places aren't bad, I've definitely got worse from Google and even Yahoo.

Summary

Done right:

• Interface is simple, modern and effective
• Speed is very good
• Large index, theoretically means more results.
• Decent new take on the age old web search
• No ads

Done wrong:

• Search relevance needs work, both in results in general and images returned
• Failure to take into account the effects of social media community rejection across the board
• Failure to undergo extensive (and necessary) staged development (alpha, beta, and consultation with users and tech experts on expected search relevancy)
• Branding is soft, slightly clichéd, Web 2.0 logo that is prone to misspelling
• Perhaps should have purchased Cool.com

One of the major techniques in CSS is the use of CSS sprites to replace list item link elements (such as RD's menu above) with images. However in Firefox, those link elements when clicked produce an ugly outline around the link element. This is also evident for embedded flash objects such as sIFR when selected. It's really simple to remove these, either apply the following code in your CSS file to all links, or apply to your specific set of CSS Sprites. All we're doing is forcing no outline for these elements.

[sourcecode language='css'] a, a:active, a:hover, a:visited{ outline:0; } [/sourcecode]

To remove the outline from flash objects such as sIFR, use the following variation:

[sourcecode language='css'] a, a:active, a:hover, a:visited, embed, object{ outline:0; } [/sourcecode]

After years of dithering and hard introspection I've finally decided to begin a blog again with a different focus. Welcome to ReactionDynamics, a blog and portfolio site based around my life and work!

What Happened?

For those who don't know me, or those who asked me why I gave up blogging, I used to be a blogger on several sites years ago, when the blogosphere was all shiny and new. I was passionate about topics dear to me, and some readers took it so seriously that I had to shutter my doors for fear of IRL retaliation. Things got out of hand, but additionally my life took a huge turn and I couldn't devote huge amounts of time that I used to spend. I'd been studying. I was all over the place. Reactionary, and full of fire. In some ways, I still am, but it's been tempered with a little more wisdom.

Why the Blog?

In the intervening years, I've learned a lot about work, life, technology, and the web in general. I'm active in the new wave of 'social media', what I call 'share media'. The web is now what I design and write for a living, and is what I'm passionate about. I needed a new outlet, and a new beginning, for that creativity and passion I've held back, and this site will serve as the hub for that. I hope you stick around and become a regular reader, but even if you don't, I hope you take something away from the knowledge and discussion I will produce on here. Ohh, and excuse the emptiness, I'm just moving in and there's plenty to be done :)