July, 2009


29
Jul 09

Google’s Custom Search Engine: Unsung Hero of Search Tools

Sometimes you want to search for something, but only within a specific set of sites. For example, Smashing Magazine recently posted a list of 45+ Excellent Code Snippet Resources and Repositories. Occasionally, I find myself opening several tabs to search through a few of my favorite sites from this list in hopes that someone else has already figured out the best way to do something; so I decided to make a custom search engine.

Google provides an easy to use tool for building a “customized search engine” that only searches the sites you specify. Google Custom Search may not receive a lot of hype around the internet, but it is a very simple, yet powerful resource. Continue reading →


13
Jul 09

7 jQuery Plugins You Should Use on Every Website

David Walsh recently posted a solid list of 7 MooTools Plugins You Should Use on Every Website. Many of his posts use jQuery, but since this one focused on MooTools, I thought I would put up a list of some jQuery plugins that perform similar tasks. This is not a jQuery vs MooTools post — just a list for sites that already use jQuery. Continue reading →


11
Jul 09

Fever – My New Favorite RSS Reader

I was reading through my RSS feeds a few weeks ago and I came across a few posts referencing Shaun Inman’s Fever app. I use google reader, but I often try alternatives. NetNewsWire is very powerful and Times looks clean, but neither of them worked for me as well as Google Reader. I decided to take the chance on fever and I haven’t looked back since. Continue reading →