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Filip Mares


technically me

Filed under: Guides

The New TechCrunch Redesigned Header is in My Face

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You may hate or love the new TechCrunch blog redesign. I for one am indifferent about the matter. I read most of their articles on Pulse. I do like the header collapsing from the giant pixelated logo to the more compact one while scrolling. Neat! 

 While inspecting how they went about this, I discovered something I had never seen before in CSS. The header has an astrological astronomical z-index of 2e+06. This equates to 2 followed by 6 zeros (2,000,000). 

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This got me thinking. If you really want your design to stand out and make an impact, it has to smack users right in the face. Therefore, adding a high z-index. 

After digging around for a little while I came across this post explaining how the maximum supported z-index in modern browsers is 2,147,483,647. If you can afford the extra characters in your CSS, I say do it!

Happy styling,

Filip

Console.fm: A Guide to Download the Tracks for Free

I recently came across Console.fm. A great little project to organize streams from Soundcloud into genres with a little social layer on top (chat). I was interested on how the site worked, so i dug a little deeper only to find out the tracks are widely available to download through a little hack.

Note: The following steps are written for Google Chrome, but it should work in other browsers with Inspector-like functionality (Firefox + Firebug, IE Dev Tools, etc.).

  1. Browser to Console.fm and login with your Twitter account. 
  2. Select a Genre.
  3. Right-click on a track in the list. Click 'Inspect Element'.
    0screen_shot_2011-07-12_at_10
  4. Once the Dev Tools console pops up from the bottom, you can clearly see the stream link from SoundCloud.
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  5. Right-click it and click 'Open Link in New Tab'. 
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    I 
  6. In the new tab, you'll be presented with an embedded audio file. Pause it. Right-click and click 'Save Video As'.
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  7. Name the MP3 whatever you'd like.
Voila! Not sure how long this trick will work for. Enjoy!

Filip

Make Google Chrome Canary the Default Browser on Mac OS X

  • Launch Safari
  • Apple -> Preferences
  • General -> Default Web Browser
  • Select “Chrome Canary” from the drop-down menu
via aaltonen.us

I love Google Chrome as my default browser, but ever since version 11 I've been having problems with it. I quickly switched over to the Canary builds and been living life on the bleeding edge since. Unfortunately, Google doesn't allow you to make it the default browser on OSX. I found this great little guide that provides a workaround.

Enjoy!

Install Apps from iTunes Store That Aren't Available in your Country

iTunes Apps Not Available

There are quite a few good apps in the iTunes App store that, unfortunately, aren’t available to international users.

Step 1: Launch the iTunes program and, if you are logged in, sign-out of your Apple iTunes account (Store –> Sign-out).

Step 2: Scroll down and click “Change Country” – select the United States flag.

Step 3: Now search for the name of the app that you are looking to install on your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch. For this example, let’s try installing Adobe Ideas or iBook (both apps are available for iPhone and iPad but limited to US customers).

Step 4: iTunes will now require you to sign-in with your AOL, MobileMe or Apple ID. Instead of logging-in with your your existing Apple ID, click the “Create New Account” button and accept the “Terms and Conditions.”

Step 5: Use an email address that’s different from the one that’s linked to main Apple account. Under Payment Methods, choose “none” for the Credit Card section, give some dummy address and you’ll then receive a verification email.

Step 6: Click the link in that verification email and you’re done. To recap, you have now created a US based iTunes account and this will let you you can download any free app from the iTunes store even if the app is not available in your country.

via labnol.org

This little hack works for FREE apps in the iTunes store. Anything that is paid requires a credit card with a billing address in the country. I used this trick recently to finally get the Last.fm app for the iPhone. Great music recommendation service that is available in Canada, yet the app is not. Very strange. Just a heads up Pandora and Hulu apps do not work as they check your current location.

Tips on remembering names

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You know those times when you see someone you've met before and you try to introduce them to someone else. Two things happen:

  1. You remember their name and you have a smooth intro.
  2. You totally blank out and you make an ass of yourself.

With the number of people I meet at socials #2 tends to happen sometimes. I've stumbled across a great article on Forbes listing methods of remembering names.

  1. Repeat some one's name when shaking hands with them. (Best method I have applied and helped. All you have to do is remember to actually do it.)
  2. Turn some one's name into an image. (Not my style)
  3. Spell their name out. (I usually connect this tip to #7)
  4. Connect name to with information about person. (Most of the time I am introduced to certain people and have this information off the bat.)
  5. Wordplay. (Too grade-school for my taste. Doesn't work with some name.)
  6. Introduce yourself and spell out your name. (I feel this would be too awkward to actually use on a regular basis.)
  7. Record the name on paper and notes on where you met. (LinkedIn is your best friend. Once i see some one's name either on a profile, or on a card, I've got it somewhere in my head.)
  8. Ask for the name if you blank out after introduction. (Honesty is the best policy. We are all human after all.)
  9. Introduce the person you're with first, forcing the 'unknown' to introduce themselves. (Always my 1st resort, although i have been in situations where the 'unknown' did not introduce themselves leading to more awkwardness. I feel that filling in the person you're with on the situation quickly prior to the 'unknown's' approach helps solve that problem. They can ask what their name is and what they do, taking you out of the equation.)

Happy Socializing! Source