PHP-Princess.net » Software and Web Apps

Google+ Suspends Accounts

daynah — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 06:12:52 +0000

Google+ is the new shiny social network that was recently opened up by Google. I was as happy as every other geek who got an invite to get in. Within a week, I was addicted to the real-time status updates, happy photo-posting and tagging, and hacking, I mean, updating of my profile.

It was all fun and games until I saw “Your profile is suspended” when I logged in. Read more about my story on GeekBeat.TV..

First Look at Google Instant

daynah — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 17:26:38 +0000

Talk about instant! Google just rolled out Google Instant this morning. Now search results display as you type, bringing you results much faster.

To see it in action, go to Google.com and start typing. The search box then turns into the results page. And as you keep typing, the search results change, bringing you a step closer to what you were looking for. It’s pretty nifty! Note: not all users have this option available yet. It may take a few days before everyone sees the new feature.

Google Instant is a new search enhancement that shows results as you type. We are pushing the limits of our technology and infrastructure to help you get better search results, faster. Our key technical insight was that people type slowly, but read quickly, typically taking 300 milliseconds between keystrokes, but only 30 milliseconds (a tenth of the time!) to glance at another part of the page. This means that you can scan a results page while you type. (Google.com/instant)

Introducing Google Instant Video

Using Google Font API

daynah — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 17:10:09 +0000

One thing I learned at Google I/O that I thought was fun and exciting was their new Google Font API. What does this mean? It means I don’t have to add text to images using Photoshop anymore. I can just add it directly to the HTML code as plain text and it’ll look beautiful on the page.

This will (1) speed up page loads because text loads faster than images and (2) make the page more accessible (screen readers won’t need to piece together alt tags of images; instead, it’ll just read the text directly off the page. (3) The more text you have on a page, the more SEO-friendly it is.

Lucky for us, adding Google fonts to our webpage is quite easy. All you need is to know a bit of CSS and HTML, and how to copy and paste!

Step 1: Select Font

Go to the Google font directory and choose a font you would like to use. In the sample below, I picked the “Lobster” font.

Step 2: Get the Code

If you like the font, tab over to “Get the Code.” From there, you will get a sample code like this:

To include the code into your page, simply copy and paste this code into the header of your HTML page.

If you prefer to include the font it into your CSS stylesheet instead of your HTML header, you can use a code like this instead:

@import url("http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Lobster");

Step 3: Add some style!

Now that you have your font embedded onto your page, it’s time to give it some style. Create a CSS class and add in your font.

In this sample, I created a class called “prettyFont” and made it use the “Lobster” font to display, in huge red font. The alternative “arial and serif” font were added as a backup in case Google Font API was down; these web-safe fonts will display instead of Lobster in that case.

.prettyFont { font-family: 'Lobster', arial, serif; font-size: 3em; color:red; }

That’s pretty much it! Adding Google Fonts to your page is as simple as 1-2-3! You can also go even more wild and add shadows, shading, and anything else you can do with HTML + CSS.

For more information, see the Google Font API documentation. For more sample codes, check out Getting Started with Google Font API. And if you want to dive in deeper and add in italic, bold, and bold italic fonts, see their further reading section.

Google I/O 2010 Overview

daynah — Thu, 27 May 2010 19:16:14 +0000

Another Google I/O has come and gone, and I had a fabulous and geeky time there. The great thing about Google I/O is that it’s geared toward developers, so the sessions are usually code-based or overviews of new APIs and developments over in Google HQ.

Of all the things I learned about this year at the conference, the most exciting was learning what direction HTML 5 is heading in. Last year, I learned about the new and

This year’s conference was much bigger than the previous years. The conference sold out quickly with 5000 attendees. There were sessions going on in every room on the second floor of Moscone West Hall. I was most impressed with the bigger Developer’s Sandbox. It was 4 or 5 times bigger than last year’s. It was great talking to companies and developers who are already implementing Google products into their products.

Although I was drained from attending all the sessions, I didn’t want to miss the Google After Party. It’s actually a very geeky event with food and robots! The MakerFaire was in town and they had some amazing displays, robots, and man-powered machines all over the party.. definitely something you don’t want to miss while at the conference.

There was a lot of fun and excitement at this year’s Google I/O. There were many amazing announcements as well, including the Web-M project (standard video codec), new features in Android Froyo including support of Flash, Google TV, and our fabulous gifts for attending — the Sprint HTC Evo 4g — a gorgeous smartphone running Android!

Below is a summary of all the sessions I attended. For more information on each session, please follow the links to the Google Waves. The official YouTube videos will be coming soon. For more information about the conference, see the official Google I/O 2010 website.

Summary of each Session

Bringing Google to your Site – In this session, we got many different examples on how we can add Google to our websites. Some examples were using custom searches (now with auto-completion), Google Feed API, Adsense with AJAX (new), SideWiki, Buzz API and Google Font API.

Beyond Design: Creating positive User Experiences – In this session, I learned that there are 7 principles for creating positive user experiences: 1) Be fast 2) Be yourself 3) Engage in conversations 4) Be willing to give up control 5) Be polite 6) Be prepared for failure 7) Be reliable. Examples of these principles were also talked about.

Developing with HTML 5 – This session was great since the presentation itself was written in all HTML 5 tags and coding. If you flip through the presentation, you can try out the bleeding edge features available for browsers in the near future. Some new HTML 5-specific tags and features are offline data storage, JS APIs, ,

5 iPhone Apps to Celebrate Earth Day!

daynah — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 22:12:37 +0000

Happy Earth Day! This should be an occasion to celebrate everyday and you can use the following iPhone/iPod Touch apps to do just that! Love Mother Nature and you’ll be surprised at how much she’ll love you back.

The Power of Green by Con Edison Here’s a beautifully made app that has great tips on how to save money in your home and office while going green! Tips include Weatherization, Heating, Cooling, Water Heating, Lighting, and Appliances. Included are 101 flashcard tips, 6 videos, and a checklist for you to keep your updates.

21st Office This app tests if you’re working in the 20th or 21st century! It asks you a series of questions in topics of Commuting, Business Meetings, and Reading. Then it examines your working habits and gives you a summary on what currently do, and how you can improve. There’s also a lot of great tips added by the community.

GoodGuide is an app that helps you find safe, healthy, and sustainable products while you shop. How does it work? Simply scan the barcode of the item with your phone and the product’s details will display. These details include ratings for health, environment, and their social responsibility.

The Lorax – Dr. Seuss is a wonderful ebook that’s perfect for Earth Day! It’s about a character who cuts down all the trees in the forest to make clothes. The Lorax warns him that his actions are hurting everyone, but he doesn’t listen. There’s a great moral to the story that will certainly engage young minds to help Mother Nature more. It’s a great story with beautiful animations and a narrator who reads to you!

iRecycle an excellent app to find your nearest recycling centers and green events. Simply type in the item you want to recycle and it will find the nearest location that would accept it. Links to green tips and articles from Earth911.com can also be reached within the app.

iPad/iPhone App Review: Words With Friends

daynah — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 06:17:07 +0000

If you enjoy word games like Scrabble and Boggle, then you’ll love Words with Friends. One of the first games to be released on the iPad App store launch day, it has become a popular hit among iPhone, iPod Touch, and now iPad users.

The object of the game is to make as many words as you can with the 7 tiles given to you. Each game is between two players, where each player takes turns creating words by putting their tiles on the board. The board is filled with bonus spots — Double Letter, Triple Letter, Double Word, and Triple Word, so be careful where you put your words! Play all 7 of your tiles in one move and you get an extra 35 point bonus. Get the most points at the end of the game and you win!

This is a causal game that goes back and forth between the two players. There is no time limit for a move and you are notified via push notifications when it’s your turn. A great feature in the game is the chat window, where you can talk to your opponent in an sms-like window.

Like with most games, there are some improvements that can be made. One would be to increase the amount of games you can have queued up. Players do not need to respond to moves right away, which can be good and bad. It’s good because there’s no pressure on either players. It’s bad because players may forget about the game and not respond for a few days, weeks, and longer. This wouldn’t matter too much except that you can only have 20 games going on simultaneously. So if you want to play with more active people, you may need to resign some of the games. By resigning, you also lose that match.

Another improvement that needs to be made is the speed of the server’s response. When you submit a move or update your games, the data takes a while to transfer. I believe it depends on how many transactions are made, which can vary at different times of the day.

Also, there’s currently no built-in dictionary in the game. But players can arrange their tiles on the board and when they think they have a word, hit submit. The move will be made if it is a word, and will alert an error message if it is not.

Overall, this game is highly addictive and so much fun to play. It’s a great way to keep in touch with your friends and build your vocabulary while you’re at it! Try the free version for the iPhone/iPod touch and see how hooked you get!

The various versions are compatible with one another so you can play Words with Friends with your friends, no matter which versions they’re using. The difference between the HD version and the iPhone/iPod Touch version is that the board fills up the entire screen and the chat and menu panels appear as layers over the board game. In the iPhone/iPod Touch version, a new screen shows up for each task. The free version is optimized for the iPhone/iPod Touch and has ads on top of the board and a bigger ad once you make a move.

Words with Friends for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad versions are linked below:

Words with Friends (Free Version) for iPhone/iPod Touch / Free
Words with Friends (Full Version) for iPhone/iPod Touch / $2.99
Words with Friends HD (iPad Version) / $2.99

If you want to play sometime, my username is ‘daynah.’ :)

iBrite for your iPad!

daynah — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 19:16:28 +0000

If you’re like me, this iPad app will bring you back to the good old days of your childhood. Remember the Lite Brite toy? It comes in fancy designs now, but I remember the old rectangle version. Check out iBrite the app for your iPad. I like this version since there’s not tiny pieces you need to pick up when you’re done playing. ;)

The app will be available in the iTunes App store on Friday, April 23rd. For more information, please see iBriteApp.com.

iBrite Trailer

Lite Brite Commercial from the 80′s

And just for fun, here’s an old Lite Brite commercial from the 80′s:

Alice in Wonderland iPad eBook

daynah — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 18:05:16 +0000

Have you ever read “Alice in Wonderland” like this? Tilt, shake, and tap your iPad to see what Alice and the Wonderland characters will do next. Try it out for free with the lite version on your iPad. If you like it, the full version is available for $8.99. It’s a fabulous way to read an eBook.. don’t you think? :)