Archive for the ‘Software’ Category

jQuery: AJAX File Uploads made easy

jQuery is an incredible Javascript library. It allows programmers, as well as other web developers with less programming experience, to develop high-end Javascript and AJAX features on their websites. Many situations require or benefit from software written from scratch, but other situations do not. For most Javascript functionality, writing your code from scratch isn’t worth it or necessary, and that’s where jQuery comes in. jQuery isn’t necessarily easy. The more customization you want, the more specific your requirements, the longer it will take you to get it right. But even if you have the time and experience, jQuery doesn’t do everything for you.

Many people are curious about how to perform a full AJAX file upload using jQuery. Some users have noted that HTML 5 supports AJAX file uploads, however most websites aren’t written in fully support HTML 5. Other users have also shown exactly how to do this using methods such as hidden iframes, and a Javascript XMLHttpRequest() object.
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Windows 8 apps running in the background, using memory and CPU when they are not supposed to?

Microsoft has touted their new Metro Apps as a key feature of Windows 8. Metro Apps have a bit of a mixed reputation. On one hand, they provide some much overdue features to the Windows line. On the other hand, they don’t really live up to the hype, and in many instances they are useful only because of other software shortcomings.

But Microsoft has given one claim to Windows 8 Metro Apps that, until today, I found to be true. (more…)

Windows 8 Metro Apps: Compensating for other problems

Windows 8 apps can be very useful, but their reputation and usefulness is mixed.

After a few months of using Windows 8, I find that one of the main reasons Windows 8 Apps are useful is because of shortcomings in other software.

For example, we want to use Windows 8 apps to play streaming music like Pandora, or to look at Facebook. But those are pretty lame reasons to develop and use a whole new App platform. I mean, those are already available in a format called “the web” and accessible using something called a “web browser.” So why do we prefer the apps over the web versions? In these cases, the Apps trump the web-based version simply because of computer resources. Having a browser open just for Pandora can drain battery and hurt performance, and the same applies for many other programs and web services. (more…)

jQuery: Tips for Beginners

jQuery is an incredible Javascript framework, but it can also be a bear to learn, and a bear to write even for an experienced user.

Writing Javascript and AJAX code from scratch can be extremely time consuming, and it’s important to keep inn mind that Javascript only accounts for 1/5th of your web application, maybe less, and wasting too much time on your Javascript should be avoided. In addition to Javascript, you’ve got CSS and HTML to write, as well as your server side language and DB language (ie. PHP and MySQL). That’s 5 language to manage, 5 languages to incorporate, and that’s without even considering mobile apps.

On top of that, you’ve got 4 major browsers to test your code in (IE, Firefox, Chrome, Safari), and it all becomes a bit of a blur when you’ve been working on a project for some time. (more…)

jQuery .load() complete callback function doesn’t work properly

jQuery’s .load() method supports an optional callback function called when the request is complete. However, you might find that the complete callback function doesn’t work properly.

The jQuery .load() documentation shows 2 optional arguments to the .load() method.

The first optional argument is “data”, which is described as “A plain object or string that is sent to the server with the request.”

The second optional argument is “complete”, which is described as “A callback function that is executed when the request completes.”.

The examples on that page present some confusion, by showing this example:


$('#result').load('ajax/test.html', function() {
alert('Load was performed.');
});

The problem with that example is that the “complete” callback function is shown as the 2nd argument, not the 3rd. (more…)

jQuery: show hidden layer not working using show() or fadeIn() functions

Q: Using jQuery, I cannot get a hidden layer to show or hide using the $(“#layerID”).show() or #(“#layerID”).fadeIn() functions.

A: Although there could be several reasons for this, one common problem is that you have set your DIV’s style attribute to specifically hide the layer using “visibility:hidden;” and “display:none;”. In many Javascript implementations, in order to change that value, both of these attributes must be set explicitly in the “style” attribute. For example:

  • <div id=”layerID” style=”visibility:hidden;display:none;”>text</div>

Traditionally, you would use javascript to modify the style attribute in order to show the layer.

However jQuery is slightly different. If you explicitly set the style attribute to “visibility:hidden;display:none;” then jQuery will not be able to show the layer. The solution is to remove the visibility attribute from your style tag, so only the “display:none;” attribute is left. For example:

  • <div id=”layerID” style=”display:none;”>text</div>

An alternative would be to use jQuery to hide the layer upon page load. For example, here is your DIV: (more…)

Windows 8: Where are my Desktop Icons?

Have you been wondering where your Desktop icons are on Windows 8?

Curious why Windows 8 desktop doesn’t show your files and folders?

Microsoft made some major changes with Windows 8, but it also made a lot of very small changes. By default, Windows  does not show any icons on your desktop. This can be very confusing, especially when you browse to the Desktop through the File Explorer and can see your icons just fine.

There are 2 different places for Desktop Icon settings in Windows 8

  1. All Desktop Icons: Right Click on the Desktop and go to “View” > and then click “Show desktop icons”. This will show any file and folder icons and other special icons that are located on your desktop.
  2. Special System Icons: Right Click on the Desktop and go to “Personalize” and then click “Change desktop icons”. This will allow you to enable or disable icons for special system folders such as My Computer, Recycle Bin, and User’s Documents. You also need to enable “Show desktop icons” per #1 above in order to see these icons on the Desktop.

Keep in mind that the Desktop will be much cleaner by leaving the above options set to default. Also keep in mind that in order to show system icons on the Desktop, you need to enable “Show desktop icons” per step 1 above.

 

 

Windows 8 Battery Life: Better or worse than Windows 7?

The official word on Windows 8 battery life is that it is improved over Windows 7 battery life.

The first reason for this is that the Windows 8 core uses less RAM than Windows 7.

The second reason is that Windows 8 Metro Apps do not run in the background. Rather than consuming resources when they aren’t in the foreground, they are essentially paused in the background.

While both of those claims appear to be true, the overall claim that Windows 8 battery life is improved may not be completely true, and if in fact battery life is worse on Windows 8, it may also not be Microsoft’s fault. (more…)

How to improve Windows 8 Battery Life

Windows 8 battery might be worse than Windows 7 for some users (read more) but regardless of the reason, you’re probably reading this article because you want to improve battery life on your Windows 8 laptop or tablet.

There are a variety of angles you can attack this problem from, but you need to start by considering what is taking up your battery life to begin with:

Hardware

Most likely culprits: Your LCD Display, old battery

Other likely culprits: Wifi, Bluetooh, Hard drive(s), memory

Software

Most likely culprits: Software that came with your PC, start-up garbage

Other likely culprits: Open programs, system clogged with temporary files

Working through the problems

So let’s start at the top, and work through the problems (more…)

History Lesson: How Facebook Apps made Facebook successful, then destroyed it

Facebook Apps: Do you care?

That just about sums up what people think of them.

When Facebook Apps debuted many people were confused. People began asking “Why do these apps exist?” “and What can I do with these apps?”.

But then something happened. The apps became crap, and people started asking a different question: “Why are these apps so dang annoyng?” and “How can I use Facebook but ignore all this App garbage?”. (more…)