CyberNet News » Web Sites

Online Syntax Highlighters Work Well With Evernote

Ryan — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 11:56:59 +0000

One of the things I’d really like to see come to Evernote is built-in syntax highlighting, which is something I bet a lot of developers would probably like to see. Until that day comes I will have to stick to online syntax highlighters that take my code and turn it into something that looks a little prettier. I can then copy their output, and since Evernote supports the rich text I can simply paste it into a note and the syntax highlighting style will be retained.

One of my favorite online syntax highlighters is Quick Highlighter. You just paste in your code, select the options you want such as line numbers, and the end result is some heavily beautified code. One of my favorite features with this particular syntax highlighter is that it can identify built-in functions, and at least with PHP it then hyperlinks to the appropriate manual page on php.net.

Quick Highlighter supports well over 100 different languages, and when viewing the output you can also grab the associated CSS/HTML. If you plan on using this on a website you could take the time to customize the CSS to your liking, and then later on you can just copy the HTML and use your own custom format that you created.

Quick Highlighter Homepage

Copy Plaintext in Wolfram Alpha Without an Account

Ryan — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 09:15:47 +0000

I love using Wolfram Alpha, but their recent push to get people to upgrade to their “Pro” version really started to turn me off of this awesome service. Sure the frequent popups asking you to “Go Pro” is pretty annoying, but what was even worse to me is that they disabled the ability to copy results without at least signing up for an account.

For Chrome users there is an extension called WolframAlpha No Pro that solves many of the new annoyances that were introduced to users who don’t want to setup an account or pay for the Pro subscription. Not only does it remove the popups you’d normally see, but it also enabled all the keys on the symbolic keyboard (used for writing equations) and also makes copying a plaintext version of the results easy with a large button.

Anyone that regularly uses Wolfram Alpha without a Pro subscription in the Google Chrome browser will find this to be a very worthwhile extension to have installed.

WolframAlpha No PRO Extension for Chrome

Easily Share Text, Images, and Videos With Others

Ryan — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 11:54:10 +0000

When you are looking for a way to share content with friends there is a seemingly infinite number of ways you can do it. Another option you should add to your list is JustPaste.It. This website doesn’t require a login, and makes it really easy to share text, images, and even videos (but only videos uploaded to another site like YouTube).

One of the nice features tucked away in JustPaste.It is the ability to import notes from Microsoft Word or Open Office, which will even import and include any graphics found in the document. You can use the rich text editor to make any changes, or you can switch over to the HTML view if you want full control over the appearance of the page you’re creating.

The catch with JustPaste.It is that everything you post is public, and since the pages you create aren’t tied to any account they don’t provide a way for you to delete notes that you’ve posted. Keep that in mind before you throw something up there, but on the flip side this can get you some publicity since they also have a page listing out their most viewed notes.

JustPaste.It Homepage

The Google Alphabet

Ryan — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 11:41:34 +0000

Google’s auto-complete feature tries to predict what you want to search for by looking at popular search terms for your area. I decided to make a list of the most popular search terms in the United States, which I was able to accomplish by manually setting my location to the United States rather than my specific city. As of February 2012 this is what the most popular queries were according to Google for each letter of the English alphabet:

A is for Amazon
B is for Best Buy
C is for Craigslist
D is for Dictionary
E is for ESPN
F is for Facebook
G is for Gmail
H is for Hotmail
I is for iPhone 5
J is for JcPenney
K is for Kohls
L is for Lowes
M is for MapQuest
N is for Netflix
O is for Old Navy
P is for Pandora
Q is for QVC
R is for Redbox
S is for Sears
T is for Target
U is for USPS
V is for Verizon Wireless
W is for Walmart
X is for X Factor
Y is for YouTube
Z is for Zillow

A lot of these items make sense based on their popularity, but I was a little shocked that the letter “i” came back with “iPhone 5″ instead of the more generic “iPhone” search query.

Get Amazon Price Drop Alerts Via Twitter, Email, or RSS

Ryan — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 11:52:01 +0000

There are several sites out there that can track price drops on Amazon, but Chintzee has some nice features that make it stand out from the others. For starters you can set up everything without needing to create an account. That includes getting alerted for price drop alerts by email, RSS, or by Direct Message on Twitter. If you opt for the Twitter method you’ll need to follow Chintzee first.

There are two things I really like about Chintzee. First, you can choose to only alert you when Amazon’s price drops for an item rather than one of their third-party merchants available on the site. That is really great if you want to make sure your item comes directly from Amazon.

The other thing I like is that they have RSS feeds available for all of the items. That means you can track price changes without ever giving out any of your personal information. Plus when you view the RSS feed the first time you’ll be able to see all of the price changes that have occurred over the past couple years.

Chintzee Homepage

Quickly Snap Full Page Screenshots in Chrome

Ryan — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 08:38:08 +0000

There are a lot of screenshot extensions for Google Chrome, and many include excellent annotation capabilities. For some users all of those features might be overkill, and that is where Blipshot comes into play. This is a one-click screenshot utility that works exactly how you’d expect it to.

To use Blipshot all you have to do is click the camera icon in the Chrome toolbar. A screenshot will immediately be taken, and when it is done you will see something along the lines of what’s in the picture above. A thumbnail of the site you were viewing is set off to the right side in an overlay, and saving it to your computer is as easy as dragging the image on to your desktop (or into a folder), or right-clicking on the screenshot and using the Save Image as option. If you decide you don’t want the screenshot just click anywhere in the gray/dimmed part of the page (away from the snapped screenshot) and it will immediately get discarded.

The Blipshot Chrome extension is an great demonstration of how easy it can be to take a full-page screenshot of any website.

Blipshot Chrome Extension

Multi-Purpose Online Utilities

Ryan — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:16:13 +0000

I’ve seen some websites before that try to rollup multiple utilities under a single domain, but the tools they provide are normally the things like a tip calculator that you don’t need to use very often. The 1DL.US site is different because they have a wide variety of very useful tools that all become just a click away. Plus most of the functionality is available to you without registering for a free account.

Here is a list of utilities they have available without signing up for an account:

Your IP address is shown in the upper-left corner of the screen
YouTube: Generate a link to a specific time in a video
PC Info: Information about your browser and OS
Remote Support: A utility that you and someone else can use to provide remote technical support.
News: Basic interface for RSS feeds, weather, and the top viewed YouTube video of the day
Chat: Create an IRC channel
Pastebin: Share a link to a block of text (optionally password protected)
Password Utilities: Test a password’s strength or generate a password
URL Shortener: Generate a short URL
Image Hosting: Upload and share a small number of images
Disposable Email: Get a fresh email address every 24-hours

As you can see there are some really useful utilities crammed in this site, and I highly recommend saving it to your bookmarks.

1DL.US Homepage

Get a Free Wake-Up Call

Ryan — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:50:28 +0000

You know how some hotels will give you a wakeup call if you’re worried that you won’t wake-up in time? Well, you can get the same kind of service using a site such as Wakerupper or WakeupDialer. Both services will call you at an exact time you specify, but each have their own benefits. And both don’t even require an account for you to start using them.

WakeupDialer is convenient because it is fast and completely free. Just enter in your phone number and the time you want a call to come in the next day (you can’t schedule a call for the same day). It even appears to automatically select your timezone, but you can confirm that it will be calling you at the correct time by looking at the “Click here to call …” button which tells you the amount of time it will be before your call will come in.

Wakerupper is nice because you can specify the message you want played back when the call comes through. You can also schedule calls for the same day which is convenient for using this as a reminder service rather than just for a wake-up call. The downside is that the service only appears to be free for the first 10 calls to your phone, which means frequent users will have to sign up for a plan to continue using it.

So you can use the service that sounds right for you, but remember that both of these only work in the US and Canada.

Wakerupper Homepage
WakeupDialer Homepage

Create a Real-Time Photo Stream with LiveShare

Ryan — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:21:11 +0000

There are all kinds of photo sharing websites out there, but the concept behind LiveShare is really interesting. It all starts with a photo stream that is created by you or a friend, and then gets shared out among anyone you want. These streams can be private so that only the people you invite can view/post to the stream, or they can be public so that anyone can view/post to the stream. In order to post photos, however, you’ll still need a LiveShare account.

Any photos that get added are instantly pushed out to everyone viewing the stream on the web or with one of the mobile apps. The thing that some people may not realize is that no one is able to delete a photo stream from the site, but you can remove individual images that you’ve uploaded. The creators of the service consider a photo stream a “living document” which is why they don’t let you delete it.

The service is really easy to use, and with the iPhone/Android apps almost everyone in your photo stream should be able to upload photos they take on their phones. If you like the idea of a real-time photo stream then LiveShare is definitely something you should checkout.

LiveShare Homepage

Forward a Temp Email Address to Your Real Email Address

Ryan — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:06:26 +0000

Last month we wrote about a cool website that would let you generate a temporary email address that gets forwarded to your real email address. After a period of time that you specify that temporary address would expire so that you don’t have to worry about getting spammed later on down the road. Unfortunately that service isn’t available any longer, but we have found another that accomplishes almost the exact same thing.

MeltMail lets you generate a temp email address that forwards to any address you specify, and you can choose whether it remains valid for 3, 6, 12, or 24 hours. This is a great way to keep your real email address anonymous without having to monitor another Inbox. There is also an iOS app available so that you can easily create the temp email address on-the-go.

The only thing this lacks compared to the other service is a limit on the number of emails the address can receive. I thought it was a nice touch that the other service would let you, for example, only receive one email at the generated email address before it was automatically disposed of. Hopefully that’s something the developers will consider adding to MeltMail.

MeltMail Homepage and iOS App