google Archives - All the Billion Other Moments

Use Google Libraries 1.1.2

A new version of my Use Google Libraries WordPress Plugin is available, adding support for the upcoming WordPress 3.1.

A new version of my Use Google Libraries WordPress Plugin is available for download from the Plugin Directory, along with the full documentation and support forum. It mainly improves support for the upcoming WordPress 3.1 ((tested against RC1 and a recent SVN snapshot)) but it is still compatible with WordPress 3.0.

It seems that this is a popular plugin, as I’ve managed to end up listed as #517 in the WP Top 1000. I’m glad so many people have found it useful. If you’d like to support the development of the plugin I sure would appreciate it.

Use Google Libraries 1.0.6

Important upgrade to “Use Google Libraries” for WordPress 2.8

Required Upgrade for Users of WordPress 2.8

I’ve updated my Use Google Libraries plugin to support WordPress 2.8.

Disables script concatenation in WordPress 2.8, since it seems to have issues when some of the dependencies are outside of the concatenation.
Persists flag to load scripts in the footer in WordPress 2.8

If you’re using WordPress 2.8, you’ll want to upgrade ASAP. Download it from the Plugin Directory (or use the auto-update feature). If you find it useful, feel free to leave a tip.

Use Google Libraries 1.0.5

I’ve updated he “Use Google Libraries” WordPress plugin for better performance and compatibility.

Updated WordPress Plugin

I’ve updated my Use Google Libraries plugin. This version implements a pair of suggestions from Peter Wilson.

Use Google Libraries should detect when a page is loaded over https and load the libraries over https accordingly
Use Google Libraries no longer drops the micro version number from the URL. The reasons for this are twofold:
- It ensures the version requested is the version received.
- Google’s servers set the expires header for 12 months for these urls, as opposed to 1 hour. This allows clients to cache the file for up to a year without needing to retrieve it again from Google’s servers. If the version requested by your WordPress install changes, so will the URL so there’s no worry that you’ll keep loading an old version.

What are you waiting for? Download it from the Plugin Directory (or use the auto-update feature in WordPress 2.7+). If you find it useful, feel free to leave a tip.

Links of Interest (October 27th 2008 through December 27th 2008)

Awesomeness is always looking for you. But are you looking for it?: Writer/Podcaster J.C. Hutchins may very well be the king of turning life's lemons into lemonade. Who else would see a 6am wrong number as an opportunity to grow audience not just for himself, but for the caller as well?
Tags: JC Hutchins
History of the town of Abington, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement: The Internet Archive has a complete scan of this 1866 book by Benjamin Hobart, detailing the early history of the town where I grew up. Just stumbled across it by accident.
Tags: public-domain Abington Abington-MA history Internet-Archive Benjamin-Hobart
*New* Google Reader (12/05/08) Tweaks: If your finding the newer/cleaner/simpler Google Reader look to be harsher/cluttered/annoying then give this userstyle a try. The changes are subtle, but really bring Google Reader back to usable for me.
Tags: hacks, CSS, google, Google-Reader, userstlye, tweaks
Amazon Filler Item Finder: Have you ever realized your Amazon.com order would qualify for free shipping if only you could find something cheap to put you over the minimum? Amazon Filler Item Finder lets you search for qualifying items by price for just this purpose.
Tags: shopping, tools, money, amazon.com,

New WordPress Plugin: Use Google Libraries 1.0

Speed Up WordPress Using Google’s AJAX Libraries API

I’m happy to announce my new WordPress Plugin Use Google Libraries. This plugin loads a number of standard Javascript libraries used by WordPress from Google’s AJAX Libraries API CDN. What’s that?

The AJAX Libraries API is a content distribution network and loading architecture for the most popular, open source JavaScript libraries. […] Google works directly with the key stake holders for each library effort and accepts the latest stable versions as they are released. Once we host a release of a given library, we are committed to hosting that release indefinitely. […] We take the pain out of hosting the libraries, correctly setting cache headers, staying up to date with the most recent bug fixes, etc.

Or, in plain English, it should make your site load faster. It could also make other people’s sites load faster too, if they’re also using this plugin.

Supported Libraries

Any WordPress themes or plugins that load any of these libraries via enqueue_script() should automatically take advantage of Use Google Libraries.

Why not give it a try?

There’s nothing earth shattering here, but my goal was do one thing and do it well. You can read the documentation and download the plugin from the Use Google Libraries page in the WordPress Plugin Directory.

Links of Interest (August 16th 2007 through August 22nd 2007)

Launch: Google Earth Adds Sky: Google Earth adds a “Switch between Sky and Earth” button. The Sky view is made up of over 1 million photographs. Nice!
Sigler v. Hendrix Webscab Smackdown: On September 19th 2007 Terry Bison will moderate a debate between Scott Sigler and Howard Hendrix revolving around releasing works of fiction online for free (you know, webscabs).
That Yawn After Lunch Is Perfectly Normal: Feel sleepy after lunch? Here’s why. I agree with the suggestion of a short nap. Around 2pm on weekends I usually hit a wall, after which I’m not productive. A 10 minute nap is enough to stave that off for me.
Where you fall in poll of U.S. reading habits: Apparently one in four Americans read no books last year. Those who did, read four on average. I wonder if the poll took audiobooks into account.
Warner Bros. Follows the Yellow Brick Road: Warner wants to create a new Oz film. Todd McFarlane is involved. I love the Oz books. I do not have high hopes for this movie.
Sucking it up with the new Roomba: C|NET looks at the new Roomba 500 series from iRobot. We’re pretty happy with our existing Roomba. My kids talk to it sometimes.
The Best Software for Mac OS X: I’m new to Mac OS X, but this looks like an worthwhile list of applications.
Author King ‘mistaken for vandal’: Stephen King was mistaken for a vandal when he started signing books in an Australian book shop. I admit I’ve imagined having books on the shelves and just going in and signing them. Never really thought it through though.

Links of Interest (May 24th 2007 through May 31st 2007)

Feed Your Television: Google Reader has added support for the Nintendo Wii (yeah, I’m bit behind on noticing this one).
Potter buffs may soon be able to visit Hogwarts: J.K. Rowling OKs a Harry Potter theme park in Orlando, FL. That could be fun. Unfortunately most of the article is about the upcoming book 7, but it sounds like it would be part of Universal.
Sci-fi writers join war on terror: Homeland Security calls on Sigma, a group of Science Fiction writers (including Jerry Pournelle, Arlan Andrews, Greg Bear, Larry Niven and Sage Walker) put together to advise government officials.
squirrels with lightsabers: as adviertized
Programming: How to build a Firefox extension: Occasionally I go looking for an extension to do something, fail to find it and start thinking I should write it myself. Maybe next time I will.
How To: Maintain threaded view in Thunderbird: I’ve been looking for this for years and I didn’t even know it.
Interface elements for jQuery: “Interface is a collection of rich interface components which utilizes the lightweight JavaScript library jQuery. With this components you can build rich client web applications and interfaces with the same simplicity as writing JavaScript with jQuery.”

Links of Interest (May 8th 2007 through May 10th 2007)

Top 5 Roomba Hacks: Videos of some interesting Roomba hacks. Seeing a family of Roombas sing “Frosty the Snowman” is a riot (and only a little bit creepy).
17 Web 2.0 Sites Optimized for Your Wii: A nice selection of sites to visit on your Wii.
Sun?s Take on OpenID: Sun is offering trusted OpenID’s for all employees.
Spoon-Bending ‘Paranormalist’ Illegally Twists Copyright Law: Uri Geller v. YouTube. Great headline.
Hi, I?m a Marvel?and I?m a DC: Parody of the “I’m a Mac.., and I’m a PC” ads with comic book action figures.
Top 17 Search Innovations Outside Of Google: Interesting overview of search technologies.