Miro Video Converter

By dpearson

Been reading up on the <video> tag in HTML5 this morning and came across the Miro Video Converter.  Gotta love open source software.

Google Code University

By dpearson

Google Code University

Google just listed a series of lectures and tutorials used by Google Engineers called Google Code University.  Gotta make sure I take some time to look at all the video options in HTML5.

HTML 5

By dpearson

Found a cool summary of HTML5 over at focus.com. Gotta get me a “Teach Yourself HTML5″ book sometime this summer.

HTML5 Graphic

I Want An iPad!

By dpearson

I Want An iPad!

Just saw this neat application for the iPad on Mashable called Captains Log. Looks like you can check facebook, twitter and other social networking sites with it.  Currently green with envy.

XnView and NConvert

By dpearson

Taking a class this semester on Web Usability over at Metro State and the instructor is using a lot of open source tools. One of them I haven’t used before is called NConvert, used to convert and edit images quickly. I figure I’ll give it a try and them post again about it if it’s useful.

Microsoft Expression Web SuperPreview

By dpearson

Heard about a pretty neat web developer tool in my “Writing for the Web” class last night called SuperPreview. It’s a free tool from Microsoft. (Yeah, I was kinda surprised too. Don’t see the words “Free” and “Microsoft” in the same sentence too often.) Gives a nice preview of you HTML page in multiple browser types and versions. Have to give it a try over the next couple of weeks.

Woopra – Real Time Web Analytics

By dpearson

Just added Woopra to my WordPress Blog. Heard about it on Net@Nite Episode 123. Have used Google Analytics in the past, which worked pretty well but heard that this shows a lot more real time data. I plan on posting more about this after I’ve used it for a week or two.

More Dropbox Functionality

By dpearson

Need to tell my HTML students about this simple and free hosting solution from DropBox. Just upload and index.htm file plus any other images, stylesheets and supporting HTML files to the public directory of Dropbox and you’ve got yourself a free website. I slapped this basic site together in five minutes (yeah, it’s pretty simple but I just wanted to demonstrate how to use it) and then used TinyURL to create a psedo-custom URL of http://tinyurl.com/dropbox-site.

Web Developer Toolbar Update

By dpearson

Just saw that version 1.1.8 of the Chris Pederick Web Developer Toolbar was released. Was trying to run a previous version under Firefox 3.5 but had some problems. Looks like this works just fine. This is a must have for web developers and designers. One quick note, it was easier to install directly from the Chris Pederick website than through the Firefox Add-On option.

Web Design Portfolio Blog

By dpearson

Found a great website I have to remember to include in my Visualization Portfolio class called called The Design Cubicle. Lots of good, practical articles like:

• 16 Tips to Improve as a Graphic Designer
• Anatomy of a Successful Website
• 20 Questions to ask Clients before Designing