Friday Funkfest Nov.09.2007

So, in an attempt to add some stuff to my blog that I think people might enjoy, I am going to write an entry every Friday, called the Friday Funkfest.

What is the Friday Funkfest, exactly? Well, one of the things I absolutely love to do is customize my Windows box with different programs, wallpapers, extensions, etc, and I love visiting really great looking sites, I thought I'd spread a little bit of the love around share some of my faves.

So, with that said, let's get started on our first Friday Funkfest...

(Gorgeous) Website of the Week

Dibusoft (http://www.dibusoft.com/)



Even though this site is in Spanish (and unreadable to me), it's very tasty on the eyes. The subtle blue hues, the contrasting yellows, and the playful illustrations all work together to make a really awesome looking website.

(Useful) Website of the Week

What should I read next? (http://www.whatshouldireadnext.com/)



Having been an avid reader for my entire life, I've always loved finding new stuff to read. One of the things I've always had trouble with, however, was finding a new book to read after I finish one.

This site tries to solve that problem by suggesting titles similar to the one you just read. These are based off of user contributed lists, and the site searches through people with similar tastes and compiles a list based on what you just read.

So, for instance, let's say you've just finished reading The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, and you want something similar to spend your time with. You would just enter in the Title (Importance of Being Earnest) and Author (Oscar Wilde), and you'd get a nice list of recommended books.

This is especially great if you're trying out a new author or genre, and discover that you really enjoy it.

Application(s) of the Week

 

Directory Opus (http://www.gpsoft.com.au)



I can't say enough about this program. It's a Windows Explorer replacement that is by far better than any other one I've found.
For one, it actually replaces the Win + E shortcut that launches Windows Explorer.
It also supports multiple panes to copy between. There are seriously WAY too many options, and configuration possibilities.
It's ~$60 but it was worth every penny.
Here are some of the features that I use on a daily basis:
*Lock step navigation between two panes (let's say I have two identical directory structures on different drives, I can load them up each in a pane, and when I drill down into a directory in one pane, the other pane goes with it)
* Multiple tabs (each pane can have unlimited tabs with different directories)
* Vista-like breadcrumb address bar
* When you go up a directory, it highlights the previously visited directory
* Built in FTP support, and saves unlimited site profiles for those FTP accounts
* One-click copy/rename between directories
* Click a file to rename it, and highlights only up to the extension (also like Vista)
* Vista-like checkbox mode (each file gets a checkbox next to it so you can select it that way)
* Middle mouse click to select multiple files/directories
* Press ctrl to automatically copy a dragged selection between directories
* New find dialog box, with support for wildcards OR regex
* Super fast built in zip compression (with support for adjusting compression levels)
* Start typing anywhere in a directory, and it will do a Firefox-like find as you type, and match the entire string (not just the first letter, which is how it is by default)

And a TON more. I really suggest you give the trial a whirl. You shall become addicted.

To balance out the paid program choice, I am going to include a freebie recommendation as well.

Texter (http://lifehacker.com/software/exclusiv....php)



Texter has literally saved me hours of work typing, hundreds of thousands of characters, and been an overall boon to me.

What's it do? Let's say you're constantly writing the same text over and over again. Most of us programmers do.
Texter lets you assign a snippet of text to almost any key combination.

I'll give you an example. In Javascript, I am constantly writing anonymous functions. Instead of always having to type out function(){} over and over, I've assigned a hotkey to the following key combination:
fun + TAB, so every time I type the word fun, and press TAB, it automatically replaces it with:
function() {
   
}

I also have this set for btw to replace it with "by the way", ttyl with "talk to you later", etc. I am constantly mispelling the to read teh so I've set up an "instant" replacement to automatically correct it for me.

I've done this with CSS properties (db+TAB prints out display: block;, pa+TAB prints out position: absolute;), etc.

It also allows you to write replacements that execute special keys, so for instance, I can write a hotkey called css that when I type css+TAB, it creates an entire new rule, like so:
.selector {
}
and highlights the word "selector" for me, so all I have to do is start typing the selector.

This program will rock your world. I recommend downloading it (it's open source and free).

And that is it for our first Friday Funkfest ladies and germs.

Thanks for visiting.

 

Blogs
I like the first site you mentioned. I actually blogged about this site today on my blog:
http://www.wishlistr.com/

My Blog: blog.joshuamcginnis.com.

I really like the cartoony graphics.