Month: November 2008

Busy weekend (body count-wise) in our neighbourhood

Godalming is one of the more peaceful villages in the UK – so it is somewhat disturbing when we have had 2 incidents in one week.

– When we tried to go to the town event on Saturday large chunks of the town – including the Phillips memorial and the church grounds – were closed off with police tape. Apparently a girl had been found stabbed early in the morning according to the local grapewine. According to the BBC a man has been helping police with their investigations, and let off.

– Just after we left Guildford today police shot a man close to the city centre…not much more information so far…

Hm!

New module for the site – FancyZoom 1.1

I’ve just added FancyZoom to the site – it’s a really nice module, that changes the treatment of any thumbnail image on the site – and zooms it in place using javascript – such as the one below :

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FancyZoom 1.1
Thursday, February 07, 2008

Update: Version 1.1 released 2/8/08. Good bug fixes + Opera compatibility!

…so I fought back the charging Guanaco, immediately hopped on my paraglider, and basically caught the first flight out of Chile — but not without dealing with some cantankerous customs inspectors while drinking a cool glass of chicha. Really sorry it took so long! But hey, two years later, it’s finally done!
Smooth Javascript Image Zooming For Your Web Pages

This much-requested chunk of Javascript to zoom images inline, originally written for this blog but later rolled out to the Panic website and used for screenshots, is now polished up, bug-fixed, available for you to use on your website!

Designed to view full-size photos and images inline without requiring a separate web page load, FancyZoom’s raison d’être (French for “raisin-determination”) is providing a smooth, clean, truly Mac-like effect, almost like it’s a function of Safari itself. Since I originally wrote this script, there are now a lot of image zoomers to choose from (including a similar effect now on Apple’s own site!), such as the popular (and inspiring) Lightbox. So you might be asking: “Cabel, why use FancyZoom?” Well, here’s why!

Focused on the smoothest, most polished zooming animation possible
Automatically scales images from any image link, with no HTML changes
Preloads full-size images in the background on link mouseover
No resource-heavy Javascript libraries — 100% coded from scratch to zoom
Draws a nice drop shadow under the full-size image to offset it from the page
Uses Safari 3’s “box-shadow” feature to draw the drop shadow natively, no images required
Requires only two new lines of code in your HTML
Tested and works with Safari, Firefox, IE7, and IE6. (Looks better in modern browsers.)

[From cabel.name: FancyZoom 1.1]

The right to bear pocket knives – a petition I support

I carried my Swiss Army Knife on planes for many, many years – so I support the following :

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Maker Media’s Dale Dougherty, still guest blogging on Boing Boing, has posted an appeal to the incoming Obama administration to let travelers take pocket knives onto planes (if things like knitting needles and cork screws are allowed).

The following is a special message from American Security Theatre (AST), a group that seeks a dramatic reversal of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) policies.

We hereby petition the incoming Obama administration for a modest change, an immediate change that would signal a new direction for air travelers, a new freedom for frequent fliers. Here it is: recognize the need of Americans in the friendly skies to bear tools that fit in their pocket, by which we mean the ever-so useful pocket knife, also known by its brand names, the Swiss Army Knife and the Leatherman Multi-tool.

The Right to Bear Pocket Knives

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BlinkM MaxM

I’ve used BlinkM in my Arduino projects, and have been quite impressed with the amount of light they put out, but this new “version” – BlinkM MaxM seems to output crazy amounts of light, and should be able to be used as a replacement for some lightbulbs in some of my projects!

BlinkM MaxM, is BlinkMs bigger, crazy sibling. It’s an intensely-bright smart LED for prototyping that comes as a package of two components, a control module (MaxM Master) and a daughter board with three ultrabright LEDs (MaxM Blaster).

MaxM Master runs our unique firmware that creates virtually any RGB color, fades smoothly between two colors, and blinks in virtually any pattern. Like its smaller sibling, it requires almost no knowledge of electronics. Its powerful 1 amp MOSFET transistors can control the industry’s most power-hungry LEDs, while its 12 volt power supply lets it be run from a wide variety of power sources, making it perfect for prototyping automotive applications and low-voltage track lighting systems.

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[From thingm :: an electronic product studio: BlinkM MaxM]