1. Start -> Run -> regedit
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE -> Software -> Microsoft -> Internet Explorer
3. Create key: View Source Editor (under Internet Explorer)
4. Create subkey: Editor Name
5. Change the data value for the default string to the path of the new editor. Example, for Notepad++.exe: c:\Program Files\Notepad2\notepad++.exe
6. Reset IE

Since this method changes the registry, I don’t take any responsability in these steps… backup the registry before touching it.

Do you get an “Application has failed to satrt because LIBMYSQL.dll was not found” error?

Easy, copy the libmysql.dll file from mysql folder to the sphinx/bin folder. This little trick can save you looooots of time.

Depois de bater muitas vezes com a cabeça ao testar um site utilizando o IE 8, descobri o mantra:

Quando se testa ao vivo (sem ser localhost), é utilizado o motor IE8.
Quando se teste localmente, localhost, o IE usa o motor de renderização em modo compatibilidade (IE7…) => barraca!

Por isso, se o site funciona bem no computador, mas ao submeter/sincronizar os ficheiros dá resultados diferentes (sobretudo a nível de CSS…), basta forçar que o IE use consistentemente o motor – forçar o modo IE7, testar e depois fazer o mesmo com o IE8 sem compatibilidade. Menos uma dor de cabeça ;)

There is a comparison site called Blind Search where you can submit a query to Google, Bing and Yahoo but you won’t be able to see which results belong to each company. Then, you’ll vote which one was the best engine.

I’ve had a few surprises… :)

One of the best ways to test your site for the IE market (let’s say, 80% of your visitors) is to install Multiple_IE. This program contains the dlls necessary to run old versions of IE in order to allow testing from IE 4.0 to the newest one. Give it a try!

LaLaClick is a web application to visualize and explore similarity relations of music artists. Warning: if you love music, you’ll get addicted to this site!

It works like this:

• The engine starts with the pre-loaded example: Radiohead. Music starts to play and some nodes appear on the screen.
• When no more nodes are added, you can simply select the option Clear All
• In the search band box, type the name of a band or singer and press the Enter key. Click on Add Aura. You can repeat the process over and over and produce a giant tree of alike artists.
• The nodes added, are bands somehow related to the name you typed! This way you can learn about bands similar to your taste :)

How does this work? Quite simple and interesting – the similarity is based on the principle that people who listen to this artist also listen to that one. The information about these “listening preferences” is powered by last.fm, a music community website which gathers about 20 million users.

1. Focus on people – their lives, their work, their dreams.
2. Every millisecond counts.
3. Simplicity is powerful.
4. Engage beginners and attract experts.
5. Dare to innovate.
6. Design for the world.
7. Plan for today’s and tomorrow’s business.
8. Delight the eye without distracting the mind.
9. Be worthy of people’s trust.
10. Add a human touch.

The main article explores every topic. It’s a must-read for any engineer!

I’ve been waiting for a decent javascript/css debugger…

http://www.opera.com/products/dragonfly/

I’ve playing around with the Google Maps API and I like it. Well documented, with nice examples. The question is: what’s the next step? How can I create value from it? :)

I’ve noticed a little tiny annoying bug: if you want to have more than one map with directions, you have to put them in the same table! If you close the table tag, only one of  the maps will be enable! The other one will be an empty, grey google map. (Some technical details: 1 – I don’t like to be forced to use table; 2 – I don’t understand… the map is identified in the DOM structure: why do I need to create a parent called table?; 3 – only one table tag? how can I put text or other elements, with putting them in table rows?!; 4 – how can I control the ajax request? try to write china and wait a couple of minutes for the result…)