Anyone can play guitar and make widgets.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008 · 19:52 · 0 comments

While waiting for his baby to magically appear (I still don't know where those "things," come from) Lee Kelleher has been updating his blog and playing around on the internet. Lee made a blog post talking about a Mozilla project called Prism. Said post reminded me that I had installed it a while ago, and I haven't tried using it since because it told me that there was no program, only XUL error.

So, I reinstalled it. Now it works.

Mozilla's Prism takes those fancy web sites (or web apps), and lets them run in their own stand-alone window. Lee does a better job explaining what it does, and what he uses it for.

But I found a different use for it.

Prism+iPhone facebook site/Wizardry=Widgets!

Widget/Gadget, whatever. It's basically a small application that runs on your desktop, and just about gives you full access to a sexier version of facebook.

It's neat. Digsby notifies me when something happens on facebook, so I move my mouse over to the "facebook mini," window and check it out. No need to search through tabs, or wait for the monster that is Flock (it's built on Firefox) to respond. There are other pros, and even cons, but I'll let the, "Everything has to be in one window," kiddies argue that for you.

Now, most, but not all, sites have a mobile/iPhone formatted version, so you may check it while you're in the bathroom. Once you have Prism installed, run the the program to turn your favorite website into a, "program." Also remember to create a shortcut so you won't have to go through the set up process again and again.

...and again.

Remember to resize the window so it looks right, and not stretched out.

Name of Site - URL - (mobile version)

Note! Standard Mobile versions are dull and boring.

facebook - http://iphone.facebook.com - (iPhone)
Gmail - http://m.gmail.com - (Standard Mobile)
Google Reader -http://www.google.com/reader/m - (Standard Mobile)
Google Reader - http://www.google/reader/wii - (Wii Edition)
iGoogle - http://www.google.com/ig/i - (iPhone)
iGoogle - http://www.google.com/m - (Standard Mobile)


Oh, you get to set an icon for your new, "program," or you can use the standard globe icon, whatever. I spent hours making a desktop icon for my "facebook mini," Prism app, and I'm making it available for you to download. You have three to choose from (256x256), and you can find them here.

Enjoy.

Labels: cell phones, Digsby, Facebook, Flock, Lee Kelleher, Links, Mozilla, Prizm

Always late to the party.

Friday, February 01, 2008 · 12:50 · 0 comments

I want to take the time to welcome David Troupes' Buttercup Festival back to the online world. It was greatly missed.

The series was first brought to my attention back in 2003 when I was conversing with Bob Krzykowski (of Elsie Hooper fame). I was instantly drawn (hehe pun) to Buttercup Festival's art style. Simple looking characters on a detailed backdrop. The style takes me back to when I was a child. In those days, I was probably the only kid who was a Calvin and Hobbes fan, and Bill Watterson fan. Drawing his characters were easy. They looked a bit different because of one's artistic style, but have fun trying to draw Watterson's trees.

In 2005 Troupes (then going by the pseudonym Elliott G. Garbauskas) put the strip to bed, and three years later, it makes its surprise return.

The sad thing? Series like Buttercup Festival and Elsie Hooper reminds me of the sorry state the Sunday's comics section is in. It was recently cut down to four pages (from eight), and it's pretty sad that the best strip in the section is a rerun of a classic (read: Peanuts). Garfield isn't funny unless you remove his thought bubbles (You see how sorry Jon Arbuckle is, not the strip itself). Family Circus is just sitting there waiting to suck. Non Sequitur and Zits are the only things it has going for it.

Luckily, God made the internet on the eighth day, which enables me to roll my own section. Here is a list of the others I read. Some are no longer updated.

Ballad
Creased Comics
dinosaur comics
Penny Arcade
The Perry Bible Fellowship
Sh*thouse
Skinny Panda
xkcd

Labels: cartoons, Links

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