General Archives

Feb 3

trakt.tv – like last.fm but for tv and movies!

trakt.tvSo I’ve been neglecting something cliche for quite a bit as I’m sure you have noticed. Rest assured I’m not sitting idly by and the time has been well spent. I’ve been working on trakt these past few months.

trakt helps keep a record of what TV shows and movies you are watching. Based on your favorites, trakt recommends additional shows and movies you’ll enjoy. This works as a plugin for XBMC media center that automatically scrobbles all tv shows and movies you watch. We also have plugins for MediaPortal available with several more media centers in the works.

What make trakt better than other “check-in” sites?

Well, the main thing that sets us apart is automatic and realtime scrobbling of all shows and movies. Some of the other sites out there like getglue and miso require a manual check in from your phone or the website. With trakt, we automate that so you don’t even have to remember to check in, the website will just sync up and track silently in the background.

If you don’t have a supported media center (btw, we are definitely focused on expanding our supported media centers), you have the option to manually mark a show as watched. In that sense, it is kinda like a check in and makes the site useful for everyone. There is also the concept of adding something to your library. This means you have the show or movie, but you haven’t watched it yet. When you browse the website it will indicate everything you’ve watched and have in your library so its super easy to see new things to watch.

Community

The trakt community is over 2100 members as of this post and is very active with discussions, ratings (love/hate), and members building up their watching history. We have a full featured API that community members are already leveraging to create custom mashups of their data. Interesting ideas that have been explored include customize charts of your history, mobile apps, and 2 way syncing your entire media collection with the website.

We’re actively developing the social aspects of the site including recommendations, facebook integration, and twitter integration. Stay tuned for that.

Give it a try!

This is a just a quick overview and update why something cliche has been devoid of new content lately. Check out http://trakt.tv and sign up for a free acount! Also follow @trakt for updates!

Comments Off
Aug 19

Rules to code by, Part 1

When I code things myself and especially when working with code that other’s have written, here are things I always think to myself.

Just a few friendly tips to keep in mind for your next project. These are in no particular order, just as I thought of them.

 
 
 

  1. use comments so others can understand what you are doing
  2. do not use any Dreamweaver generated code as your example (in most cases, do the opposite)
  3. use a JavaScript framework (my favorite is MooTools), no need to re-invent the wheel for things like ajax
  4. try and stick to one framework instead of mixing MooTool and jQuery
  5. don’t make functions with a million arguments, just pass a single array for readability and flexibility (think MooTools style)
  6. use tabs not spaces
  7. use all lowercase filenames and directories
  8. even worse, don’t name files in one case and code them in a different (ever heard of a case sensitive filesystem?)
  9. use associative arrays where it makes sense, such as multi dimensional arrays and objects (see this post)
  10. honestly, who uses Spry anymore?
  11. CSS hacks and IE conditionals are cool and all, but learning to code CSS better will almost eliminate any hacks you’ll need
  12. keep admin and front end code separated except for shared functions
  13. test in all the browsers you need to support
  14. code for standard compliance first, then fix as needed for Internet Explorer (see #11, in most cases IE will work well if you code well)
  15. avoid flash for things like menus that can easily be accomplished using HTML and CSS
  16. avoid inline JavaScript and instead use an external file to keep the HTML clean and maintainable
  17. don’t use inline CSS either
  18. make sure to secure your ajax pages, don’t want anyone messing with your database
  19. keep mobile platforms in mind when thinking about usability
  20. public pages should function in IE6, but I’m not too concerned about them looking good

Well, those are 20 things I just thought of. I’m sure I’ll think of more and when I do there will be the inevitable part 2 post.

2
Jan 11

LT is ready for the playoffs

This is not relevant at all to this blog, but since I am a huge Chargers fan I just had to post this.

 

Comments Off
Dec 16

This is the first post

MeWelcome to my new blog – something cliche.

While working on a project at work one day, I came to the realization that I have lots of tips, tutorials, and ideas to share about web development and design. I search the internet each and everyday looking for help and I’ve come across tons of great blogs to help me get stuff done. I’m adding another resource to the mix by starting something cliche.

Let me back up a sec and introduce myself. My name is Justin. I’m a senior software engineer for WebAssist and am located in the San Diego, CA area. We specialize in Dreamweaver extensions plus pre-built PHP solution packs (DW not required). I’ve been doing web stuff for over 10 years now. Concerning web development, my skills and interests are pretty broad. If I had to choose some skills to feature they’d be PHP, CSS, JavaScript (including MooTools), and MySQL. I like to think of myself as a developer with the mindset of a designer. I enjoy everything from straight coding to full blown HTML/CSS production work. If its web related, I’m interested.

Now something cliche will definitely focus on web development and things I’ve learned over the years and various projects I’ve worked on. However, I’ll have some posts on other subjects including iPhone development, the mobile web, music, and even personal finance. Basically, if its interesting and I think you will benefit from reading it, I’ll blog about it. I might even throw in some posts about the Chargers for good measure!

If you want to contact me, your best bet is @barnt on Twitter. You’ll also see me around on the WebAssist forums and blog. I’ll get this disclaimer out of the way and point out this blog is not affiliated with WebAssist and the posts are mine and blah blah blah. I encourage all readers to leave comments and discuss posts with each other. In fact, I would really appreciate it if you can leave any suggestions – including topics you’d like me to write about, design/functionality of the blog, or whatever – in either the comments, or message me on Twitter.

Spread the word that something cliche has just been unleashed!

Comments Off