DabbleDB

With all the talk of Google Base, this site (heard about it from Mashable) seems to be a freeform database with some spreadsheet capabilities.

New Disney CG Movie: Swiss Family Robinson

Details are sketchy right now, but at least you can see a preview image:

Opera 9 preview for windows

There's a technology preview (translation - alpha release) of the new opera 9. It seems to be going after FireFox in a big way by matching feature for feature in FireFox's upcoming 1.5 release - including the Canvas tag! That can only be good news for us users as competition always tends to bring out the best (and worst) in people. I've even seen Canvas demos that were designed for Firefox work in Opera 9. Nifty. I'll probably never convert from Firefox, but to know that there are other browsers out there that support emerging standards like that makes me very happy.

A javascript database (using AMASS)

From Simon Willison's site come a link to a very interesting experiment using AMASS. Basically it's a javascript - based database. You can even run SQL queries against it. Nifty.

Moo.fx - javascript animation library based on prototype.js

Extra points for site design on this one. If you are looking for snazzy javascript animations, give this one a shot.

Web Two Point Oh! (mentioned on slashdot)

Wow! I created this little javascript page just a few days ago poking fun at the Web 2.0 phenomenon and posted a note about it to a single blogger (mashable). In 24hrs the site is mentioned across the web, and then today I see it talked about on Slashdot. How amazingly cool is that?

Behavior: using css selectors for javascript behaviors

Interesting idea - using css selectors for javascript behaviors instead of adding onclick, onmouseover, etc. etc.

Flash MMORPG update

The flash mmorpg I'm working on is not dead - by any means. I've been brainstorming ideas as well as starting on the basics of the ui. I think I have something special here and when it becomes more than just a few lines of code and a file or two, I'll post more info about it. My original idea is linked above.

Move over TinyUrl - here comes GiganticUrl

This is too funny. I'm sure by now you've heard of TinyUrl - which tries to create a shorthand link that redirects to some url of your choosing. Now we have the opposite case - a mo-hawnking huge url you can use to obscure a tiny link...

Here's the link to andrewwooldridge.com:
http://www.GiganticURL.com/url/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5hbmRyZXd3b29sZHJpZGdlLmNvbQ==aHR0cDovL3d3dy5hbmRyZXd3b29sZHJpZGdlLmNvbWFIUjBjRG92TDNkM2R5NWhibVJ5WlhkM2IyOXNaSEpwWkdkbExtTnZiUT09aHR0cDovL3d3dy5hbmRyZXd3b29sZHJpZGdlLmNvbWFIUjBjRG92TDNkM2R5NWhibVJ5WlhkM2IyOXNaSEpwWkdkbExtTnZiUT09YUhSMGNEb3ZMM2QzZHk1aGJtUnlaWGQzYjI5c1pISnBaR2RsTG1OdmJXRklVakJqUkc5MlRETmtNMlI1TldoaWJWSjVXbGhrTTJJeU9YTmFTRXB3V2tka2JFeHRUblppVVQwOQ==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

Blummy - bookmarklet panel

From the site:

blummy is a tool for quick access to your favorite web services via your bookmark toolbar. It consists of small widgets, called blummlets, which make use of Javascript to provide rich functionality (such as bookmarklets).

Web Two Point Oh!: Roll your own Web 2.0 company

I had a few minutes his afternoon and, after coming from the TechCrunch BBQ, thought I'd poke a little lighthearted fun at the current Web 2.0 phenom. Take it with a tiny bit of salt and a whole lot of friendly humor. Click the link above to create your own VC ready Web 2.0 company. If you have suggestions for more phrases please email me.

The Snowflake Method for Writing a Novel

I have many sources for the links I find, but sometimes a link just happens to show up (this time via LiveMarks ) that is pretty interesting. This is one such link. If you've ever found yourself at a loss in your creative project - be it a novel or game or Web 2.0 application, you might find this article to contain something to help break you out of the cycle.

Hoodwinked: Shrek meets Red Robin Hood

From the site:
An irreverent take on the classic story of Little Red Riding Hood where a karate-kicking Red, a sarcastic Wolf, an oafish Woodsman and a thrill-seeking Granny become allies in apprehending an evil 'cookie bandit'.

No, Shrek doesnt really meet Red, but it's in the same animation style as well as the irreverent humor. Looks like it'll be good for a laugh or two.

Viridian - creating an RPG in 40 hrs

A person after my own heart. Veridian is going to creat an RPG in 40 hrs of programming. I cant wait to see what he/she comes up with. You should read the blog to follow along as well.

TechCrunch bbq - a blast

I went to the TechCrunch bbq last night and it was a blast. To see all of those people who are passionate about their ideas, and finally able to meet up with other folks who either share their passion or are keen on seeing what's next for Web 2.0. I got to see some very cool things such as meebo and talk to some folks who may change the world - such as the buy from communitywalk - a way to create your own personal maps.

ColourMod

What a great tool -- picking colors has never before been as - colorful. Or fun! Check it it out.

GET LAMP : The Text Adventure Documentary

From the site:

GET LAMP is a documentary about Text Adventures (later Interactive Fiction), the storytellers who created them, and their unique place in the history of computer games. It is being created by Jason Scott, director of "BBS: The Documentary", located at bbsdocumentary.com.

AJAX Massive Storage System

This article describes a very clever use of flash to allow basically unlimited storage of data on your user's browser (with their permission of course). Think cookies on steroids.

Peer 2 Peer Storytelling

Here's an interesting article talking about many ideas that are near and dear to my heart - storytelling, online games, and creating a system where you can create your own "world" but also come visit mine as well.

Play Atari MULE online

I found this on XanderMol.com: Relive the good old days of yesteryear by playing an internet-enabled version of Atari MULE. I personally never played this game, but appearantly folks who did were pretty avid about it. Two stars for retro gaming goodness.

Nifty DHTML and CSS tricks at HedgerWow

This is a site from a fellow Yahoo employee and DHTML coder who's got some pretty nifty tricks on his site. I especially like the ability to dyamically add ellipses for firefox users.

Simple Design Tips for Non-Designers

Do you feel more comfortable with coding than poking about in Photoshop or Illustrator? Frustrated that all of your work looks like it came out of a bad samples CD? This article offers up some simple rules of thumb for non-designers.

Flexarcade - make your own coin-op

Ever want to have your own coin-operated game? Feel like you have a great game that would be perfect for selling via arcades? You might find this an opportunity to create a new game or make more sales off one of your older games.

TextDrive Snippets

What a neat idea. You can post code snippets for any language, tag them, then share them with other folks. Like a publically available scrap sheet, or a way to distribute little pieces of code. Perfect for us javascript types.

They should combine this with TinyURL.

Flash 8 - the new golden age of Flash

Flash is entering a "golden age". With stunning performance improvements, and amazing new capabilites like this demo. Remember in console rpgs you'd see the "Mode 7" view - where you could scroll around and go from place to place in semi 3-d?

Just wait till Flash developers really "sink their teeth" into Flash 8 (and 8.5).

VR Mag - 3d website navigation

This site uses quicktime VR in an innovative way to present it's website navigation. Zoom around on top of a beautiful mountain to select floating panels of information. Kinda interesting.

WolfenFlash - Wolfenstein in Flash 8

First off, I'm assuming you've played Wolfenstein. I'm even assuming you've played the "original" version - on an old PC, after having painstaking fiddled with the memory on your machine, etc etc.

Ok, now that most of you have left the room, those select few of you left will really appreciate just how "cool" this is. And really shows off the power of Flash 8... whoo hoo!

Yahoo - blogs as news sources

In this day full of announcements - heres another really awesome one from the Yahoo Search Blog:

Today we've begun the integration of blogs in Yahoo! News Search. Now when you search on Yahoo! News you will see blog results as well as content from thousands of trusted news sites. The experiences and opinions published on blogs make a great addition to the mainstream news people read everyday. And major world events are further fueling the growth of blogs as platforms for anyone who wants to have a public voice. At times, even everyday bloggers beat the mainstream media to a story.

In addition to blog posts, we will also be including Flickr photos and links from My Web, tapping into a large grassroots media network. By bringing mainstream and personal media together we can offer a greater variety of sources and viewpoints to the millions of people who want to find out what’s going on in the world.


Here's another link with more info.

Squidoo - finding meaning

From the site:


Squidoo makes it easy for you to create, share and discover meaning online. It's a co-op of everyday experts, called lensmasters, who build lenses on topics they care about. What's your topic?

Gada Be (search)

Bleeding, cutting edge news for you. This is a meta search engine that does lots of heavy lifting behind the scenes and is pretty nifty. I mean releasing something out of the box with a Firefox plugin and a Konfabulator widget is way cool. The new way of releasing products!

CribCandy

This is an interesting "application" of lists + tags. You use the Wists platform to help choose products that are "cool" and then browse them via this site.

Yahoo podcasts

I love where I work. Where else can you start the day with a totally cool new site dedicated to something as awesome as podcasting? Every day there's something new here, and today it's this podcast site. What's cooler for me however is not just the site, but since I already have YME - I can finally listen to "everything" - streaming, podcasts, songs, etc. all in one place. Yeah I sound like I'm imbibing the cool-aid a bit much, but in all honesty - this stuff is relevant, fun, and actually useful to folks. Go find a podcast on whatever derivative interest you have and check it out. Fun stuff!

Freeware and Open Source Software directory

These folks want you to learn more about the net, and to use more OSS. Two worthy goals for a nicely designed site. Check them out if you are looking for free and open source alternatives to your IM, Word Processor, etc.

Laszlo Hosting!

I wonder why it's taken so long for there to be a hosting provider for laszlo apps. However, the wait seems to be over with ArrowBreeze. I know next to nothing about them, but they seem to know enough about Laszlo to be able to offer different kinds of hosting accounts. Check them out.

Watch the first 9 minutes of Serenity!

Not sure who vividas is, but I saw this on digg, and it's amazing. Watch fullscreen video high quality the first 9 minutes of Serenity. Very cool. After you're done - go see it in the theaters. After that, perhaps go pick up the new Serenity Role Playing Game

Make your own SETI station

If you have any old satellite dish lying around you can become an amateur radio astronomer. Check it out. - (found this on digg.com)

Digg Spy

This is a very addictive page. Basically it allows you to see every few seconds what other Digg users have voted on since you last checked.

Another big Web Apps list

This list is - appropriately enough - called the Unofficial Web Applications List.
More Web 2.0 apps whee!

Survey Results

Thank you all so much for responding to my survey! I got some great responses which have helped me decide what direction to go in creating a game. It's looking like this will be a Laszlo based Action RPG with Retro graphics. (Plus alot more).

Look for more details soon.

The 11th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition

Interactive fiction holds a dear place in my heart. It's like the reptillian brain of what could become an amazing new kind of application. Dont get me started. Anyway go download some of the games and become a judge.

Build your own social apps: Ning

I always thought it would be cool to have a site like this - where you could build your own apps easily and "clone" them. Check out Ning - it seems to allow you to create social apps quickly and somewhat more easily than just "on your own".

The Open Content Alliance

From the blog post:

Is Open Content the next step in the traditions of Open Source and an Open Network? Many people seem to think so (and wouldn't it be great?). Working with libraries, government institutions, archives, technology companies, web companies-- and we all are saying the same thing-- it is time to have more great material available on the Internet and to be able to have it be open and free.

Congrats to my co-workers who worked hard to get this out the door in a timely fashion. Great work!

(also, here's a link to the open archives site - which tries to collect links to all the other "open archives".)

NaBazTag the internet enabled rabbit

Many many folks are going to overlook the significance of this little device. It's always on the net, it modifies itself based off on internet information, and it's a cute little toy. I'm envisioning some amazing animatronic dragon that sits at your computer using silent muscle wires and engages you in an intelligent conversation about some blog or podcast. A cyber-familiar that brings into the "real world" the data you typically just see on a screen. This is the beginning of that. Smart Objects.

I need your help!

I'm going to start designing an RPG for the web. But I have many possible ways of implementing it, and I'm not sure which way to go. I need your help! Help me decide which "platform" would be the best for creating an online web-based RPG:

Click here to take survey

It's only 3 questions, and I would highly value your help!

A basic RayCaster using Canvas in Mozilla

I was thrilled to see this. Using canvas to create a basic RayCaster engine. I cant wait to see someone create a full fledged browser game using canvas.