My little pasture on the web. | The Moo-log (blog) of Mark

October 28, 2012
by mark
0 comments

Upgraded to windows 8?

if you did, you need to learn this basic shortcuts to make the transition easier:

Winkey: toggles between Start Menu and last app
Winkey + D: opens Desktop
Winkey + C: opens “Charms” bar
Winkey + E: opens file explorer
Winkey + F: searches for files
Winkey + I: opens the Settings charm (to shut down your computer, for example)
Winkey + Z: opens “app bar” (the menu user interface that is normally hidden when interacting with a Windows 8 app)
Winkey + X: opens the “power user” menu (which includes programs and features, power options, event viewer, system, device manager, disk management, computer management, command prompt, task manager, control panel, file explorer, search, run)

June 6, 2012
by mark
0 comments

Javascript: A better alternative to setInterval

setInterval can be bad js because of its nature to continuously get called rather the methods inside is lagging or not.

setInterval(function() {
	doStuff..
}, 100)

A better approach is to use a self executing anonymous function.

(function() {
	
	doStuff..

	setTimeout(arguments.callee, 100)
})();

The only problem is that arguments.callee is deprecated so a work around is to name the anonymous function.

(function blah() {
	
	doStuff..

	setTimeout(blah, 100)
})();

June 6, 2012
by mark
0 comments

Javascript: The most popular JS pattern

The most popular JS pattern actually comes from jQuery source.

(function(window, document, undefined) {
	doStuff..
})(window, document);

May 28, 2012
by mark
0 comments

GIT learning resources

Still using SVN? It’s time to switch to GIT. Here is a round up of resources:

Roundups
- Git Roundup by @kevinSuttle http://answers.oreilly.com/topic/801-how-to-learn-git-a-link-roundup/

Walkthroughs
- Git, the Simple Guide http://rogerdudler.github.com/git-guide/
- Gitimmersion http://gitimmersion.com/
- Github’s help documents http://help.github.com/
- Let’s suck at Github together by +Chris Coyier http://css-tricks.com/video-screencasts/101-lets-suck-at-github-together/
- Git for Designers http://hoth.entp.com/output/git_for_designers.html
- Think Like a Git http://think-like-a-git.net/ via +Ryan Anklam

eBooks
- Pro Git http://progit.org/book/
- Git from the Ground Up http://ftp.newartisans.com/pub/git.from.bottom.up.pdf
- Getting Good with Git http://rockablepress.com/books/getting-good-with-git via +Paul de Wouters

References
- Gitref http://gitref.org/
- Github’s help documents http://help.github.com/

Articles
- A Successful Git Branching Model http://nvie.com/posts/a-successful-git-branching-model/

Clients
- Git Tower http://www.git-tower.com/
- Git Box http://www.gitboxapp.com/

Training
- Online Github Training https://github.com/training/free

Originally posted here: https://plus.google.com/103751101313992876152/posts/XRT3CsuwBTo

May 23, 2012
by mark
0 comments

Auto refresh browser during web development

The more I am doing web development, one thing I do more then anything else is to update my html/css/javascript code, save, switch to a browser and refresh.

This become tiring so I started looking for the best app that watches a folder for changes and updates the browser automatically.

The Best solution out there currently is CodeKit, which not only solves my basic issue but also does a lot more. It’s main purpose is to support preprocessing. Very handy when you start using more advanced features like sass, less or jade.

The only draw back to code kit is that it requires Mac Lion OS. This is a problem since my work computer has snow leopard. If you are in this situation then there is a second recommendation

Live reload does pretty much everything Code Kit does but runs on snow leopard. From reading both features, CodeKit has better performance since it utilizes the new features only found in Lion.

CodeKit will run you $20 while Live reload cost $10.

March 27, 2012
by mark
0 comments

So you need a typeface?

Here is a cool poster designed by Julian Hansen that helps you find the right typeface for your project.

“So you need a typeface. Start out by choosing the kind of project that you’ll need your typeface for”

November 20, 2011
by mark
0 comments

Javascript: OOP in javascript using Objects and prototypes

Javascript does not support real oop and classes but you can fake it and get the similar effects using Objects and prototypes.

First, to create a “Car” class with some properties, make a function Car and set internal properties using “this” reference:

function Car(s, w) {
  this.speed = s;
  this.weight = w;
}

To add methods to your Car class, use the prototype to that class and assign then anonymous functions:

Car.prototype.go() {
 console.log("car speed is : " + this.speed);
}

Car.prototype.stop() {
  console.log("car weight is : " + this.weight);
}

Here is an example of your Car class being used:

var car = new Car(65, 2000);
car.go();
car.stop();

If you are coming from actionscript or any other modern programming language, you are probably laughing, but this is how it goes and it is the future of the web.

October 18, 2011
by mark
1 Comment

Actionscript 3: Pass multiple parameters defined in external file to ExternalInterface.call()

There was a situation where the javascript function name and the number of parameters to it was defined in an external JSON file. Since the number of parameters was dynamic, we needed a way to have ExeternalInterface call with the correct number.

The solution is simple.

in the external file, pass in a string of the function name and all the parameters:

"myFunctionName,param1,param2,param3"

and in your actionscript code

	var myString:String = "myFunctionName,param1,param2,param3";				
	var paramArray:Array = myString.split(",");
	ExternalInterface.call.apply(null, paramArray);

The secret is the apply() method. All functions in actionscript is a type of object with couple of built in methods, and the apply() method allows you to pass in an array.

Test with a simple alert in your html wrapper

<script>
  function myFunctionName(value1, value2, value3) {
    alert("myFuncName fired : " + value1 + value2 + value3);
  }
</script>

Another way is to pass an object with the paramters you need attached to it and cycle thru that in javascript.