techniQal support

Although this is not quite ready for prime time (some caching and config left to do), I figured I should get it out in the open.
Ski season is rapidly approaching, and if we get some snow, this could be invaluable.

I have updated my original mashup with some new features and functionality.
As before, clicking on a region will allow you to zoom into a region.

Once you click on one of the little images you get a nice info window with the ski resort’s current ski conditions as well as the current local weather.

You will also notice another tab hanging out there. Where available, I have tried to include live webcam images along with the snow and weather data. For most resorts, clicking on the webcam tab will display a recent webcam image from the resort. Arapahoe Basin had a particularly lovely image this afternoon.

Enjoy the new beta 2.1, 1.0, 0.001 version of this mashup HERE .
Also, remember that you can get live snow conditions on the map-free mobile version as well.
Mobile Ski and Snow Report

This is a short little “sitting on the bus” blog post .
This is the coolest product I have seen in a while.
http://techdigest.tv/2007/11/the_187game_arc.html

Video game and beer heaven.

All of the internet has changed, and youtube doesn’t stand a chance. The lolcatz and every other “cool right now” meme will be frightfully displayed on the best new site on the internet. Behold … giftube.com . Outside of the glut of pr0n gifs on the site, there are some funny images there. Giftube appears to be trying to tackle the convergence of social networks, youtube, internet memes, and the beauty of animated gifs. The only reason I am posting this at all, is so I would have a reason to include the image below. Enjoy.

As a soon to be parent, child based paraphernalia starts to permeate your being. On the web, at the store, in the magazine, you start to notice items and ads you would normally ignore. One cool instance of this, is the work of my ultra talented and creative sister. She hand makes children’s clothing that is both fashionable and funky. One of her items was also recently featured in children’s online fashion magazine small magazine

So if you have young children, check out and buy her stuff at http://www.soil.etsy.com .
You can also see one of her cool hats featured in the magazine HERE .

I just think her stuff is cool and worth sharing.

Google has taken another step forward on the path to rounding out their online office suite.
The rumored PowerPoint clone is available in Google Docs now, and is really easy to use.
It allows you to create really simple slides, really quickly. It’s strong point is definitely simplicity.
You won’t see embedded media or animations, or custom templates, but it does what it should do:
Make it easy to present an idea without having to be a Powerpoint ninja.
There are a few hiccups here and there ,(slide previews are funky), but overall it works very well.

Some of the cool features include:
1. Upload/convert existing .ppt,.pps(up to 10 mb), or email to your google docs email addr.
2. Export/Save as .zip gives you a nice html version that you can hack to your hearts content.
3. Online collaboration (same as other “Docs” types)
3. Start a Presentation.

This last feature is the one that hints at the cool things google could do with online office apps.
When you “start” your presentation, you are given a url that can be distributed to others you want to invite to view it.
Once they click on the link, you can see who is online watching, and they can follow along as slides change.
Integrate this with Google Talk or any other voip app, and you have free or nearly free, bare bones web conferencing.

After working in the conferencing industry, I learned that the key to having a productive meeting was simplicity.
The easier it is to get someone into the meeting, the easier it will be to keep their attention .
Too many times, people get distracted by the technology( for good or bad reasons), and end up missing the point of meeting on the web altogether: Conveying a message with a visual tool. This seems like a good way to keep the content simple and keep meeting attendees engaged. Everyone knows how to use a browser.

Check it out by going to docs.google.com

I finally got the lijit wijit hosted on wordpress.org.

What this means:
Adds a new distribution channel where hosted, or self hosted wordpress users can find the Lijit Wijit.
Sorry wordpress.com users—we’re not quite there yet.
If any updates or changes happen to the wordpress widget, I will update them on the official wordpress lijit wijit page, and on our new home at wordpress.org.

So head on over to http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-lijit-wijit/.
If you have used the plugin already, and you like it, create a wordpress.org account and rate the widget.

If you happen to be out on the internets looking for the best Lijit wordpress plugin, go there, download it, and rate it. Add a feedback comment while you’re at it.

Here is my entry to the blogday 2007 excitement.
This is kind of hard for me because I tend to read tons of popular blogs, and rarely add a new one into the mix.
But I have toiled and thought long and hard, and this is all I came up with:

• Your Vegan Mom:
  This is a great blog by a Vegan mother named Trina from LA. I found her via our popular blog feature on lijit.com.
  Her blog is a treasure trove of vegan recipes. I am not vegan(I am vegetarian), but the recipes she has on her blog are beautiful and flavorful.
  She is able to appeal to veggies, and carnivores alike with her creative recipes.
• Post Secret:
  Oldie but goodie. The great thing about this blog is the guilty pleasure of reading other peoples thoughts. Voyeurism can be fun.
  I always meant to get the book—never did.
• Subtle Exchanges by Fabian Stelzer:
  Forwarded to me by co-worker/CTO of Lijit, Stan . Fabian talks tech/attention , and was involved with both Lijit and it’s predecessor, Outfoxed.
• Bug Blogger:
  This is the blog for the in BETA Bug Labs.
  I recently started following these guys—they are doing some ground breaking stuff with hardware.
  Stick around for my next blog post—it will talk about them!
• Lijit Explore Feature -For this one, I ran through the new Explore feature available on my Lijit Wijit, and randomly clicked on a blog that looked interesting.
  And the winner is:
  Davor’s Technology Blog:
  Davor writes about technology, macs, software, all kinds of stuff. Right up my alley really.
  To tell the truth, I should have used our new feature to find all of my new blogs. I think that is what I will use it for from now on.

So ends my foray into International Blog Day. Be sure to visit BlogDay.org, and remember if you get involved to tag your post by adding http://technorati.com/tag/BlogDay2007.

So I am just about to complete my second week working for the best search company on the planet. I am now working for Lijit Networks in beautiful Louisville, Colorado. Although my previous development on the Lijit Wijit plugin for wordpress, was pre-lijit, I will continue to update and work on it via my blog. So if you are looking for instructions and download details on the Lijit wordpress plugin, just click the link “Lijit Wordpress Wijit” . All further updates will live there from now on.

Feel free to send an email if you have any problems, and make sure you head over to Lijit.com to make sure you are signed up, and that your blog is wijitized.

As part of playing with the widget system in the newer versions of wordpress, I decided to take some of my sidebar content and widgetize it.
My first try is a widget that allows you to add the Lijit Search Wijit to your sidebar.

1. Simply download the file below and unzip the plugin
2. Upload the myLijit.php file to your /wp-content/plugins directory
3. Login to your wordpress admin console and activate the plugin
4. Go to Presentation management, click on the Widgets tab, and you can drag it to any location on your sidebar
5. Edit the widget by clicking , select the title for the widget block, and specify your Lijit username.
6. Enjoy

Download the code

If you want to learn how to build your own wordpress widget, I followed the code and the tutorial at Blue-Anvil .

UPDATE:
Something I should have mentioned about this plugin. This is built to work with Wordpress 2.2.* automatically . The latest version of WP contains a built-in sidebar widget plugin.
For earlier 2.* versions, you need to install the Wordpress Widgets plugin before your sidebar will be “widget” enabled.

A full tutorial and links to download the plugin, are available at http://automattic.com/code/widgets/use/ .
It should be fairly easy to install , if you have access to your wordpress installation, and use either the Classic, or Kubrick themes.

Some things to remember when following the tutorial:

1. Backup your default theme files before copying the new theme files to your wp-content/themes folder.
2. Activate the Wordpress Widgets plugin

If you really want a widget enabled sidebar, you can also go the route of upgrading to 2.2.

I am trying out some new themes, and have upgraded wordpress to the latest version. This is causing me some headaches with page load time, and some other gotchas with plugins and such. So if the site seems weird, that is normal. I hope to have everything in better shape soon.

I really like the latest theme I am playing with. By N.Design Studio, it features good looking MacOS styling, and even features a widgetized sidebar, with drag and drop re-sorting, and collapsing. Hopefully it will continue to work for me.