iGoogle Gadget: Launch Pad v2
Posted on October 8, 2009
Version 2 of Launch Pad is now available! This version can be customized. You can choose which icons you want to appear, you can customize the size of the icons and you can choose if you want the links to open in the same page or pop a new tab or window.
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Permanent Alias in Mac Terminal
Posted on October 2, 2009
Anyone attempting to use the Terminal in MacOS X quickly realizes that doing so requires cryptic codes and long strings to accomplish simple tasks. One solution, for repetitive tasks, is to create aliases. An alias allows you to type a shortcut that the Terminal converts into the full set of tokens. For example, going up one directory in the tree requires the user to type, “cd ..”. You can make an alias that allows you to use “..” without the “cd ” and does the same thing. This can be done temporarily by typing alias ..=’cd ..’ at the command line. Doing so causes the alias to be created for the current session. But once you close the terminal, the alias is gone.
To make permanent aliases in the Mac OS X Terminal (shell) you will first need to VI (a Linux text editor) a file named .profile in your home directory. To do so, open Terminal (which goes to your home directory by default) and type:
vi .profile
Doing so opens .profile in the the VI editor. To start typing in the VI editor, press the “i” key (i as in eye). Then type the following:
alias la='ls -la'
Save the .profile file by pressing:
Esc and then Shift ZZ
Quit and re-run the Terminal. Once running type “la” at the command line and you should get a directory listing just as you would have had you typed “ls -la”.
Once you have proven that this is working for you, you can start adding other aliases to the .profile file. Here are some I like:
alias cls='clear' #old MS DOS
alias ..='cd ..' #up one level
alias ...='cd ../..' #up two levels
alias zap='rm -i' #remove file with warning
You can push new aliases into .profile without opening the file in VI. To do this, type the following at the command prompt:
echo alias e=\'exit\'>>.profile
# don't forget the \ characters before the single quotes.
# The \ escapes the quotes so that they are pushed into the file.
You don’t have to include the comments (i.e. #up one level).
Linux uses this same process but the aliases are stored in ~/.bashrc
iGoogle Gadget: Launch Pad
Posted on March 6, 2009
Version Update: version 2 exists here
Yet another Google Gadget! I made this gadget because I got tired of the Google menu not having the item I wanted and because I prefer launching the Google services such as Calendar and Gmail in a new window or tab.
To add Launch Pad to iGoogle, simply click the [+ Google] button below.
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iGoogle Gadget: PowerSearch
Posted on March 3, 2008
OK, now I am hooked on Gadgets! I made what may just be the coolest iGoogle gadget ever; PowerSearch! PowerSearch is a gadget you can add to your iGoogle home page and it allows you to search all of the most popular sites right from your home page. You don’t have to go to Amazon to search for a book or eBay to search for you next collectible find-of-the-year. You just go to your home page and search from there. Currently there are 34 sites you can search and you are always welcome to request others.
You can set any of the searches as the default simply by clicking the little down arrow icon and choosing “Edit Settings”. The search you set as default is the one the selection box will go to automatically.
To add PowerSearch to iGoogle, simply click the [+ Google] button below.
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iGoogle Gadget: Case Changer
Posted on March 3, 2008
Another iGoogle gadget from the Clark Consulting labs. This one is a useful tool that allows you to quickly convert text into all UPPER CASE, all lower case or will Upper Case The First Letters Of Each Word. This is a handy gadget if you want to force email addresses to lower case before you add them to your address book, or if you want to convert someones name from BOB JONES or bob jones to Bob Jones. Enjoy!
To add Case Changer to iGoogle, simply click the [+ Google] icon below
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Vista SideBar Gadget: UltimateSearch
Posted on February 6, 2008
Here is my latest creation: UltimateSearch. The purpose of the UltimateSearch gadget is to provide a one-stop-shop for all your searching needs. UltimateSearch uses a prefix system rather than having you click a check box or change your settings constantly. For example, if you want to search Google for the term “widget”, you would type “g.widget” into UltimateSearch and hit the Enter key. Viola…Google results for the term will appear in your browser. If you want Yahoo!, you type “y.widget” and so on. To download UltimateSearch or to find out more about its search capabilities, visit the UltimateSearch web page.
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Regular Expressions
Posted on July 11, 2007
TextPad® is a powerful, general purpose editor for plain text files. I have used it for years and recommend it highly. One of the best features is that you can do ‘find and replace’ requests using regular expressions.
I found a good set of regular expressions for finding phone numbers in text files. In the interest of saving you from reinventing the wheel, here they are.
The “^” character means that it will find only phone numbers that begin at the first character of the line. If you don’t want that, remove the “^”.
For numbers formatted like ###-###-#### or ###.###.####
^[0-9]\{3\}[-.][0-9]\{3\}[-.][0-9]\{4\}
For numbers formatted like (###)###-#### or (###)###.####
^[(][0-9]\{3\}[)][0-9]\{3\}[-.][0-9]\{4\}
For numbers formatted like (###) ###-####
^[(][0-9]\{3\}[)][[:space:]][0-9]\{3\}[-.][0-9]\{4\}
PsPad is another great text editor. It has an FTP feature that allows you to work on files on a server in real-time. The regular expressions for PsPad are as follows:
For numbers formatted like ###-###-#### or ###.###.####
^[0-9]{3}[-.][0-9]{3}[-.][0-9]{4}
For numbers formatted like (###)###-#### or (###)###.####
^[\(][0-9]{3}[\)][0-9]{3}[-.][0-9]{4}
For what it is worth, TextPad is a better utility if you are trying to clean up text files. PsPad is better if you are working on files that are on a web server. I use PsPad for development and TextPad for things like regular expression finds.
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QuoteMe v4.1 (PHP)
Posted on June 19, 2007
{{LEARN PHP HERE}}
The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. - Mahatma Gandhi
As one of the most powerful and robust quote scripts on the market, QuoteMe v4 is easy to install and quick to deploy. QuoteMe v4 allows you to produce a database of the quotes you want to use and has an administrative interface that provides you with a way to manage your quote database. You can extend the capabilities of QuoteMe v4 to pull from and manage multiple quote databases.
QuoteMe v4 does not use MySQL. Instead, QuoteMe v4 uses what is called a “flat file” database. This is a fancy name for a text file that lives in a folder on your web server. In the past managing text files that are in a database format was time consuming and tedious work. One missing item can cause the entire database to malfunction. With QuoteMe v4 all you have to do is login and edit the database using the easy to use administration tool.
Take a look at these screen shots: Login | View | Edit
QuoteMe v4 comes with easy to follow instructions and as always you can ask for help at any time by clicking the Support link found in the menu.
Download the QuoteMe4 script here (14kb) Current Download Count: 4050
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God Speaks - JavaScript Version
Posted on June 7, 2007
JavaScript version of the God Speaks billboard script.
This is a script that I wrote to display the quotes that surfaced on billboards across the country. These billboards contained quotes from God and the source of the billboards is still a mystery.
View the script in action
Download the script here (< 2kb) Current Download Count: 2010
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Validate/Format Phone Numbers
Posted on October 16, 2006
The purpose of this script is to format and validate Telephone Numbers in a form field. The script strips all non-numeric characters and then validates that the remaining characters are sufficient to make up a valid phone number. If there remaining string is 10 characters in length, the script then formats by adding a “-” after the third and sixth digits. Resulting in a mask like ###-###-####.
The example script does the validation/formatting onBlur, meaning when the cursor leaves the Phone Number field. You can also set the event to happen onSubmit or onClick of the Submit button, etc.
View the script in action
Download the script here (< 2kb) Current Download Count: 5434
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