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May 19th, 2009 No comments

ati-radeon-1ghz-graphics-processorAMD has recently announced the launch of their factory overclocked graphics processor that

is the first in the world to cross the 1 GHz barrier. ATI Radeon™ HD 4890 utilizes advanced GDDR5 memory and a 1 GHz clock speed to deliver 1.6 TeraFLOPs of computing power. The 1 GHz ATI Radeon HD 4890 is all set to deliver new levels of performance in ATI Stream applications such as video transcoding and post processing. The new graphics processor is air-cooled and that’s another first for AMD.

“Throughout the 40-year history of AMD, we have continually focused on technology firsts that deliver superior value to the customer,” said Rick Bergman, senior vice president, Products Group, AMD. “The 1 GHz ATI Radeon HD 4890 continues that tradition by increasing the performance and compute power of our flagship single-GPU solution, ensuring a great experience whether our customers are playing the latest DirectX 10.1 game or running GPU accelerate

10 Free CAPTCHA scripts and services for websites

May 18th, 2009 No comments

In the past days I received several requests from my readers to suggest some CAPTCHA scripts and services quickly to embed into a web page. This post proposes a list of ten interesting scripts and services you can use to provide protection from spam bots and ensure that only humans perform certain actions.

1. reCAPTCHA
captcha(1)

reCAPTCHA is a free service which helps prevent automated abuse of your site (such as comment spam or bogus registrations) by using a CAPTCHA to ensure that only humans perform certain actions.
2. Securimage
captcha(2). 

Securimage is an open-source free PHP CAPTCHA script for generating complex images and CAPTCHA codes to protect forms from spam and abuse. It can be easily added into existing forms on your website to provide protection from spam bots. It can run on most any webserver as long as you have PHP installed, and GD support within PHP. Securimage does everything from generate complicated CAPTCHA images to making sure the code the user entered was correct.
3. WebSpamProtect
captcha(3)

WebSpamProtect allows you to instantly add verification image (CAPTCHA) to your web site and protect your forms against spam robots. In order to protect your web form, this system requires that you install a small piece of code onto your web page. The code requires that your web site support PHP, Perl, ASP or ASP.NET. Basic plan is free but you can buy a Premium, Advanced or Professional paln with a little expense.
4. Cryptographp

captcha(4)
Cryptographp is a PHP script for generate captchas. Cryptographp limit the robots bombarding spams and automating the forms: spaces members subscriptions, guestbooks, forums… This script is free and does not use any database. It is compatible with PHP >= 4.3.0. Cryptographp also exists into plugins for WordPress, wpMu for WordPress, Symfony and Guppy.
5. CAPTCHA-Service
captchas.net provides CAPTCHA images and audio files you can use in html-forms. To use this technology, your web pages have to be generated dynamically in any programming language PHP, ASP, Perl, Python, JSP, Ruby.
6. WP Captcha-Free
 captcha(5)

WP Captcha-Free blocks comment spam by using a combination of time-based hash (a.k.a. Time Based Tokens, TBT) and JavaScript (AJAX). When a comment is posted the plugin validates a hash based on time (and some other parameters). Comments posted via automated means will not have a hash or will have an expired hash and will be rejected. Unlike using a captcha, this does not place any burden on the commenter.
7. ProtectWebForm
captcha(6)

ProtectWebForm is a service to add CAPTCHA images and audio files on your website. You have to create an account, generate your CAPTCHA type with all the desired parameters and include it on your web pages.You can also use it on your WordPress template with this plugin.
8. ProtectWebForm
OpenCaptcha is a simple web service which requires no special configurations or modules. Basic installation is cut-and-paste, and requires no ability to program image manipuation scripts. New fonts, image algorithms, and distortions applied weekly.
9. Form-to-email script protected by Captcha
captcha(7

This form-to-email script is intended to collect data from an HTML form and send it to a specified email address using a CAPTCHA script to stop spam. It works with any kind of HTML form and you can use it multiple times on your pages.
10. freeCap
freeCap is a GPL CAPTCHA script to stop spam. It has been used on any form on any kind of website. It does require some knowledge of PHP to install, though there are several captcha plugins for forum and blog software listed below.

How to implement a Post-to-Wall Facebook-like using PHP and jQuery

May 18th, 2009 No comments

In the past months I received a lot of request to write a tutorial for beginners in order to explain how to implement a Post-to-Wall Facebook-like. So, I prepared this very simple example which helps everyone understand how to implement this feature in a website using just some lines of PHP and JavaScript code.

Take a mind, every post in the Facebook Wall contains a lot of information (user, sender, message content, date, number of comments, …):

facebook(1)

But how I said, this tutorial is for Ajax/jQuery/PHP beginners. So I decided to simplify the original Wall using just a single information: the message content.

In this tutorial we have these files:

– confing.php (database connection parameters)
– index.php
– insert.php
– jquery.js

How the Wall works?

 

facebook(2)

index.php contains a form with id "submit_form" with an input text with id "message_wall". When an user submits a new message. Then the new message is appends to top of the ul list with id "wall" with a nice fade-in effect (with jQuery). Ok, now take a look at the code.
1. index.php
index.php is very simple and contains just simple HTML code:

<form id="submit_wall"&gt;
<label for="message_wall">Share your message on the Wall</label>
<input type="text" id="message_wall" />
<button type="submit">Post to wall</button>
</form>
<ul id="wall">
</ul>

The <ul> list with id "wall" is the "container" of messages which are posted into the wall.

2. JavaScript Code
Open index.php and include jQuery in the <head> tag of the page:

<script type="text/javascript" src="jquery/jquery.js"> </script>

…then add this simple function to enable Ajax functionalities to insert the message posted from the user into a database table without reload the page:

<script type="text/javascript">
$(document).ready(function(){

$("form#submit_wall").submit(function() {
var message_wall = $(‘#message_wall’).attr(‘value’);
$.ajax({
type: "POST",
url: "insert.php",
data:"message_wall="+ message_wall,
success: function(){
$("ul#wall").prepend("<li style="display: none;">"+message_wall+"</li>");
$("ul#wall li:first").fadeIn();
}
});
return false;
});
});

</script>

.prepend(…) is a jQuery function to insert elements inside, at the beginning, of a specific element (in this case UL list with id wall –>$("ul#wall")). When the new message is added into the list is hidden (display:none). Then it appears with a fade-in effect:

$("ul#wall li:first").fadeIn();

ul#wall:first: gets the first li element (the last added) into the ul list with id "#wall".

3. insert.php
insert.php contains some lines of PHP code to insert the new message into a database table. In this example I created a table WALL with just one attribute "message". PHP code is very simple:

<?php
if(isset($_POST[‘message_wall’])){
/* Connection to Database */
include(‘config.php’);
/* Remove HTML tag to prevent query injection */
$message = strip_tags($_POST[‘message_wall’]);
$sql = ‘INSERT INTO WALL (message) VALUES( "’.$message.’")’;
mysql_query($sql);
echo $message;
} else { echo ‘0’; }
?>

Categories: Programming Tags: , ,

6 Flexible jQuery Plugins To Control Webpage Layouts Easily

May 18th, 2009 No comments

Controlling layouts with CSS is a big subject these days as after dropping the table support, it is clear that the current capabilities of CSS is not enough to develop complex & flexible layouts with ease.

There is CSS Template Layout Module which offers exciting features but it is in a draft status.

Until we get those new features, there are various solutions that are developed with jQuery to manipulate page layouts for faster & cross-browser results.

Here is a collection of 6 jQuery plugins to manage page layouts easily:

 

jQuery Masonry

jquery_masonry

Masonry is like the flip side of CSS floats. Floats arrange elements horizontally then vertically, Masonry arranges them vertically then horizontally. And the result is no vertical gaps between elements of varying height.

The plugin is almost totally managed with CSS rules. It uses jQuery’s outerWidth() and innerWidth() methods to calculate the margins & paddings of elements.

UI.Layout

jquery-ui-layout

This is a plugin to create desktop-like layouts. It can b used to create any UI look from simple headers or sidebars, to a complex application with toolbars, menus, help-panels, status bars, sub-forms & more.

jLayout

jquery-layout

The library provides three layout algorithms:

  • border, which lays out components in five different regions
  • grid, which lays out components in a user defined grid
  • flex-grid which offers a grid with flexible column and row sizes.
css-template-layout

 

jquery-css-layout

The plugin aims to offer a similar functionality with the CSS Template Layout Module (which is currently in a draft status).

The script simply parses the mentioned CSS rules & displays the content accordingly.

Columnizer

 

jquery-column-plugin

The plugin automatically converts any content into a newspaper-like column format.

A default clumn widt or a static number of columns can be defined & the rest is almost done by itself.

EqualHeights

 

jquery-equal-heights

Creating equal height boxes or content holders is mostly a challenge with CSS. The plugin makes this process easy by simply calling a function.

Impressive Silverlight Visualizations With Source Codes – Descry

May 18th, 2009 No comments

Descry is a project to demonstrate the power of data and information visualization as a communication tool.

Currently, there are 4 examples provided, all built with Silverlight & come with the source codes.

visualisasition

There are also 2 very nice articles shared on visualization:

  • Visualization Trends For The Noosphere
  • 5 Tips For Building Effective Infographics

Slideshow JS: Unobtrusive JavaScript Slideshow

May 18th, 2009 No comments

Slideshow JS is a free JavaScript library which helps creating an image slideshow with ease.

slideshow_js

It is totally configurable via markup & does not require any scripting. Although the download package comes with various styles, the look & feel of the slideshow can be completely customized.

The library is built with jQuery & it is unobtrusive. It offers several options like:

  • number of seconds each image will be displayed
  • if the images will be displayed automatically or manually
  • image counter & controls activation
  • if the images will be displayed randomly or in an order
  • & more..

Work With Colors In 3D: ColoRotate

May 18th, 2009 No comments

ColoRotate is a free web-based service that helps to work with colors in 3D, in real time & offers an unique experience.

colorotate

Using the application, you can quickly see the multidimensional nature of colors and the relationships between colors.

With ColoRotate, you can create color palettes & save them. Its quick drag-and-drop interface to adjust hue, brightness & saturation helps you customize the colors with ease.

And, palettes created can be imported & exported in Adobe Swatch Exchange (ASE).

ColoRotate is also a color community where it is possible to browse & search themes created by other users.

P.S. You may also want to check  Learn About Color menu of ColoRotate where it is possible to find valuable information on color like:

where it is possible to find valuable information on color like:

    * How do we perceive color?
    * Color models
    * & more

Categories: Designing Tags: , ,

Prism Firefox Extension

May 18th, 2009 No comments

prism

We have tweetdeck, twhirl and few more other out there to bring our favourite social network functionality to the desktop, but do you want to bring any of your favourite website into your desktop like gmail or youtube? if you do, this news is for you. Mozilla has released the version 1.0 of prism firefox extension. It is an extension for firefox which allow you to transform your favourite web application to the desktop ones.

    * Access web apps from system taskbar or dock, Prism apps run directly on your desktop and can be accessed just like any other application
    * Rock solid web app stability, Prism apps run separately from the browser, so they stay upeven if your browser doesn’t
    * System tray icon and dock badges, On Windows, the system tray icon can be changed to give information about application

There are two ways to use Prism, A Firefox extension or a standalone application. For Prism Firefox Extension, Once you have installed the extension and restarted the browser, you can turn any web site into a Prism application by choosing “Create Application for this Website” in the Tools menu. Standalone Prism Application, download and running the app, then simply fiill out the URL of the website you want to turn into an application, give it a name and select where you want the shortcut to be created, then click OK, and you done

Categories: Webmasters Resources Tags:

Web Design Inspiration from 35 Korean Flash Websites

May 16th, 2009 No comments

The Design Inspiration has published an article of Top 35 Inspirational Korean Websites. As a web designer, we would like to design something that really standout. By doing that, we need to widen our eyes by looking at different kind of design style, so that we can get infinity and variety of inspiration.

Oriental websites and European websites are so different, because the designers have different culture and experience. You should be very familiar with US and European design style by now. It is a good idea to get some inspiration from Korean style websites as well.

inspirational-websites

Tokenizing Autocomplete Text Entry with TokenInput

May 16th, 2009 No comments

TokenInput jQuery Plugin allows users to select multiple items from a predefined list, using autocompletion as they type to find each item. You may have seen something similar on Facebook or TextboxList by Devthought.

There is an intuitive UI for selecting multiple items from a large list, the layout is fully in controlled with CSS, and easily customisable. Also, the result caching reduces server load. Users can select items using the mouse or keyboard. TokenInput jQuery Plugin is released under GPL2.

liststyle