One of my myriad ideas/schemes/projects has finally been "completed." Rather, by "completed", I mean that I'm ready to throw it to the wolves and see what they have to think.

I created an alternative RSS feed for Digg using their API and a bit of PHP. It is designed to streamline the "Digg Experience" and eliminate the need to come into contact with the comments section of the article. In other words: the feed links directly to the article in question.

However, should one desire to view the inanity that tends to hemorrhage from the comments, there is a link back to them with the current comment count inside of the entry body. The current Digg count (in yellow and brown!) is listed ahead of the description of the article, and the entries can be sorted by sub-category.

Also, there are links to DuggMirror, Coral Cache 8080 and 8090, and Google Cache, to ensure that the story has a chance to be read even after suffering the "Digg Effect".

To make this feed as versatile as possible, I set up a website with a form that allows for some feed customization. You can choose one of the six available categories (All (w/ videos), Technology, Science, Gaming, World Business, Sports, and Entertainment), and a number of entries (5, 10, 20, 40, 50, 100). The link is on the giant RSS Feed button and refreshes from the form via a mouse over.

This project is very much a work in progress, and so any and all constructive thoughts, comments, and suggestions are welcome.

Link

Microsoft did something nice in releasing Virtual PC 2007 for free. In honor of this gesture, I decided to play around with a virtual version of XP. However, I was suddenly bored and thought of playing pinball while waiting for it. Then the thought of the cheats arose...

Here's the result (I achieved the rank of 'Admiral' before I got bored and made it TILT!):


Instructions for doing this completely useless activity yourself:
0) Start installing XP (on either your physical or virtual machine).
1) Hit Shift+F10 to bring up the command prompt
2) Navigate to c:\program files\windows nt\pinball3) Run pinball.exe
4) Type 'hidden test' and hit enter.
5) Use the mouse to drag the ball around and dominate.

I was looking up associative arrays for PHP (for a random project) and stumbled across a Family Guy reference on W3Schools:


Link

Perhaps it was the subject matter, or my highly caffeinated state, but I found it hilarious.

The Official Firefox Fans Group [GCC Chapter] has a table in the Student Activity Center at Grove City College to help spread Firefox to the masses.

What is it:
Firefox is a browser that is an alternative to Internet Explorer. Despite Microsoft's improvements in the last release, it still falls short when compared to Firefox in terms of features and security. First of all... to experience it, you need to download it (click the magic button):


Proxy Setup:
- Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> Network -> Settings..


- Select "Manual Proxy Configuration"
HTTP Proxy: proxy.gcc.edu
Port: 8080
- Check "Use this proxy server for all protocols"



Extensions:
Extensions are one of the strongest features available in Firefox. They are user created solutions to common problems, annoyances, etc on the internet. Whether it is blocking seizure inducing advertisements or fixing your own fat fingers when typing a url, there are extensions tailored to help you beat The Internets on Legendary (sorry... terrible joke).

Extension Examples / Essentials:
- QuickProxy - Adds a proxy button to your status bar to easily switch it on and off.
- Linkification - turns plain text links into fully clickable ones.
- TabMixPlus - Provides an extra set of options to customize tabs.
- URLFixer - Fixes minor errors when typing urls: e.g. turns .con into .com
- IETab - able to view pages inside Firefox as they would be displayed in IE
- Adblock - Blocks ads on websites
- Adblock Filterset.G Updater - automatically updates your Adblock database to block more and more ads.
- Searchbar Autosizer - Resizes the searchbar as you type.
- PDF Download - Greets you with a prompt of what to do when you click on a PDF (Download, Open, View as HTML).

Install these extensions all at once with this installer (guaranteed to be spyware/malware/adware free... etc): Install Extensions.

I'm not usually one for embracing either the machine or Web 2.0. However, this video is a beautiful depiction of what the internet should be.

What does this look like to you? One of the most popular sites on all of the Internets or a heavy handed attempt at collecting Google AD-ollars?

I like to start my day with a mug of coffee and the news before my first class at 8:00 am. However, when I was reading Digg this morning, I noticed a few changes I had previously missed (when did they change the UI?). The page I looked at had a new look, and it was decided an improvement except for the enormous amount of wasted space. On a whim, I switched over to IE (inside of Firefox of course) to see what exactly Digg was doing.

Thus spawned my idea. There are a lot of things I don't like about Digg. The childish comments, the advertising, and the general atmosphere that is so reminiscent of high school. However, those gripes aside, Digg does have quite a few interesting stories. To avoid those unpleasant elements, I use the RSS feed. However, that only helps me weed out the stories that I don't care about.

What we need is an alternative RSS feed. Something that looks like this (inside of RSSOwl at least):


What it has:

• Article title and summary
  
• Links directly to article.
• Has a convenient Digg-it button.
• Has links to mirrors inside the feed.
  

What it doesn't have:

• Submitter name
  
• Advertising
• Comments

Tags: Digg, RSS

This is my first freeware app. It just takes a list of tags from your clipboard and returns a set of html links for Technorati Tags in its place. Nothing spectacular, this program is mostly just to make my life a little bit easier.

Instructions:
1) Copy your comma delimitated list of tags.
2) Run TechnoratiTagGenerator (hopefully with Launchy)
3) Paste the code block into your blog.

Download (Windows Only)