We have to write an install for our product, so I’m rediscovering the spotty MSI documentation again. I just wanted to link to this page for formatting options for properties.
For example, if you want to get the directory that the component “web_core” got installed to, you can use [$web_core].
If you would like to get the path to a specific file, you would use something like [#fileid].
There are more formatting options available, but I tend to use these the most.
A List Apart, 37signals, Daring Fireball,
and Coudal Partners are implementing a very interesting ad campaign. They are selling ad space on all of the sites and calling the service the Deck. There is limited space for ads (6 ads per month) and each ad gets rotated across all of the sites. Now the way I see this, is that it is a benefit to all involved. The Deck provides specific advertising of products/services that the owners of the 4 sites pre-screen and deem useful. This will maintain a high quality for the ads. The ads will be very targeted to the people who are visiting the sites. This opposes Google’s ad method that targets each specific page differently across a website, rather than targeting the type of people who visit that site.
Now, along with giving the four sites an immediate monetary bonus, an ad campaign like this should also draw more visitors to each site. I know it that it worked for me. I hadn’t heard of Daring Fireball or Coudal Partners, but because I respect both A List Apart and 37signals, I will probably start visiting the other two sites. Actually, I’ll subscribe to their feeds and determine if they’re worth reading after a trial period.
Another interesting note about this method is that it does not guarantee the number of clicks per ad. In fact, their method is to not charge by how many clicks you’ll get. Rather, they’re basing the success of the ad program off of the number of page views that the four sites bring in. From the statistics that they claim alone, you can be sure that your ad will be seen by the people that crowd that you want.
Anyway, this seems like a great example of taking advertising into your own hands. I’m sure this will be much more successful for each company, than revenue from a mass advertisement system like Google ads. Plus people are more likely to respect ads put on a site like this. I’m curious how long it will take them to integrate some sort of ads to the feeds…
I have been thinking of how to increase perceived performance for web
apps lately and came up with a nice (and simple) optimization for large files. I’ll
use an image gallery as a conceptual way to get my point across. I’m
not currently aware of any image galleries that do this, but I think it
would improve the user experience. Most (if not all) image galleries
have a main interface involving multiple pages of images. For this
example, we’ll consider that the user is currently viewing page 1. The
basic premise is that by using AJAX, we’ll load the images for page 2
into a hidden div on the page. The main reason for using ajax is so
that we can do all of the prefetching after the page has finished
loading. That way, we don’t hurt the performance of the visible page
in any way. The browser will cache the images and when the user
decides to view page 2, the images will not have to be re-downloaded.
For this example, I will use the prototype javascript library to handle
some of the details of the AJAX request, etc. If you prefer to use
your own library to accomplish the same thing, you wont hurt my
feelings 🙂 Also, keep in mind that this is just a proof of concept and could be modified for much more complex use cases.
In order to allow the current page to be downloaded and processed as
normal, I hook the load event for the current window. This gets fired
after the page has finished loading, so the user will be able to view
and interact with the page before we make the AJAX request to get the
next group of pictures. The result is that downloading the pictures for the next page in the gallery is transparent and doesn’t affect the user experience.
function PreLoadImages()
{
new Ajax.Updater(‘LoadImagesHolder’, ‘/GetImagesService.aspx?PageId=2’, {asynchronous:true});
}
Event.observe(window, ‘load’, function() { PreLoadImages()});
</script>
The html that gets returned from GetImageService.aspx is essentially just <img> tags. The previous code block inserts the returned html into a div with an ID of LoadImagesHolder:
So putting it all together, the main page would look like the following. For sake of space, I omitted the main html representing the image gallery.
<script language=”javascript” type=”text/javascript”>
function PreLoadImages()
{
new Ajax.Updater(‘LoadImagesHolder’, ‘/GetImagesService.aspx?PageId=2’, {asynchronous:true});
}
Event.observe(window, ‘load’, function() { PreLoadImages()});
</script>
</head>
<body>
<!— *****************
** The main image gallery html would go here
***************** —>
<div id=”LoadImagesHolder” name=”LoadImagesHolder” style=”display:none;” > </div>
</body>
</html>
The other hidden bonus to this method is that it works with all browsers that support AJAX.
I have tested and verified it with Firefox 1.x and IE 6.x. So anyway, I hope this helps someone make the web seem faster.
Fun… According to this, these are my 2006 predictions:
Last year I made several predictions that now seem ridiculously round.
But a few ideas were pretty close. I’ve got a feeling that 2006 will be
a big year, and here are some of the reasons why:
I setup a LLC this past year and after seeing this article for Illinois, I figured it would be worth describing the steps for how to set up a Limited Liability Company in Wisconsin. I am not a lawyer and I’m just providing this as information. Please consult a lawyer and or a CPA before following these steps.
That about sums it up. After all of that is taken care of, it’s time to work on generating some income 🙂
I enjoyed reading this… maybe you will to. http://fuckchristmas.org/
Exciting times! Ruby on Rails 1.0 has been released. This includes, among other great features, Scriptaculous 1.5 and Prototype 1.4. I am honestly more excited about this than the .net 2.0 release….
In an effort to broaden my post categories….
I was talking with a very wise friend of mine a while ago and we got on
the subject of why bird poop is white. He started off describing
that humans have one of the most inefficient bodily waste
systems. We have seperate functions for excreting liquid and
solid waste… As a result, our kidneys excrete nitrogenous wastes as urea which ends up getting dissolved in urine…
On the other hand birds are unable to urinate so their kidneys excrete
nitrogenous wastes in the form of uric acid. Uric acid has a low
solubility with water, so it comes out as a white paste. Combine
that white paste with some intestinal output and you get white bird
poop sprinkled with little black bits.
I can’t help but think that the way I approach people has changed in
the last year or two. I rarely think of various people as my
superior… I respect people who deserve it, but I will not bow down to
someone just because they hold a title.
Along those lines, I have come to an enlightenment of sorts with how I
approach girls these days… Rather than try to approach them in an
effort to just have sex, I’ve changed to where I approach them as if I
were their friend. I find this approach works much better
overall. Getting my drunken self to follow this logic is another
thing entirely, though 🙂
I just got out of a 5 hour meeting with the owner of the company that I
work for. Among many discussions, we had one about the art of
coding. The current mindset is that people who work with software
should be treated the same as people who stamp widgets. By that,
I mean that they should be expected to work 8-4:30 and put in overtime
if you’re behind schedule. What we tried explaining was that it
actually hurts performance if you force software developers to work
more hours (without pay). If you give them more freedom in hours,
the chances are pretty good that they’ll end up working more than 40
hours anyway.
But we came to a conclusion that working on software is similar to
writing music. Sometimes you’re just in a zone and are very
creative. Other times, you’re not. Putting in more time
doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll get that much of a return.
In fact, it could work against you.
So through that, we realized the value of a product plan. With a
product plan, you’re accountable for features, etc by certain days…
If you get them done, great. If not, then you put in extra time
to get them done. All without forcing hours or anything.