2-17 Weekly Links

I spend a lot of time reading feeds in Google Reader, browsing links in Delicious and overall hunting for great sites and articles to read. Here are some of the best links I’ve came across this past week.

JSFiddle

JSFiddle is basically a sandbox area to test html, css and javascript in the browser. I can see many uses for it, mainly for those who hang out in irc or pass around code a lot. Would be simple instead of sending somebody a pastie, you could send them a fiddle link with working html, css and/or javascript instead of just a pastie with theory code. I came across another site called JS Bin that does the same but just with javascript.

Front End Package

A great article on “Why You Should Build A Front End Package” from Design Shack. Its a pretty long article but touches on some good thoughts on building a front end package including better collaboration, standardization and quality control.

Uniform

We all know selects, radio and checkboxes in form can look a little ugly by default. Uniform provides “sexy forms with jQuery”, turning those once ugly form controls into some sexy elements. This is not the only javascript around to help make forms look better. Niceforms is another that I’ve come across and I’m sure there are many others.

Sketching & Wireframing Kit

If  your into wireframing everything then this kit from Janko At Warp Speed might be just for you. It provides plenty of elements for wireframing including forms, navigation, media controls, icons and banner place holders. If you have to knock out several UI concepts in a very little time then using a kit like this could help.

History of the User Agent String

I have always wondered why Mozilla appeared int he user-agent string for all browsers. For some reason its something I’ve always thought about but never searched for the answer. A few days ago I came across this article on NCZOnline which gave a great history on what I thought was a mystery but turns out to make sense (I guess).

Photoshop Filters Explained

A co-worker posted a great article yesterday explaining some of his most used Photoshop Filters. He also showed some examples of the filters and the difference they look when applied. I had never used the displaced filter before but must start exploring it now. Besides writing articles he has also released a ton of iPhone wallpapers at FlyingNowhere.com that are worth checking out.

Visual Effects: 100 Years of Inspiration

I ran across this video yesterday on YouTube that showcases the awesome history that visual effects have had in the past 100 years. Its amazing to see how they have improved and what they had to work with so many years ago. Was also nice to see some of the green/blue screen aspects of newer videos. Its a video you want to watch.