I used to pin my frequent websites into Chrome’s bookmark bar removing the descriptions, so that it looked like a row of favicons linking to the most useful websites.
The problem with this method is that bookmark bar only has space for 38 icons (maybe more for a larger screen) before they get sucked into the dropdown. The other thing is when you want to bookmark more then one URL under the same domain/favicon (github repos, for example).
* TBU
I attended Smashing Conference, an event for web designers and developers. Here’s a roundup with tools, tweets, quotes, links and slides.
Marked with #mustwatch are the talks that have been of the most interest for me personally. The videos of these talks should be available soon enough, and I will update this post with the links when they are released.
My early morning in Oxfordshire (got up at 4am to get there by 7:30 from London).
Read a lot to write better.
Crowdfunding and flexible pricing for publishers.
Users will use your app “wrong”, use the tools to see how.
Dispel your mistaken assumptions.
Solve real human problems.
Do the hard work to make it simple.
Use srcset for optimisation and picture element for art direction.
Web or native — try hybrid apps.
Everyone should have a different favourite browser, because web standards.
Debug HTTP and SSL with the tools.
Use flexbox in production right now — progressive enhancement (watch this video to learn how).
Make web apps work offline. Service workers!
silverbackapp.com — usability testing
fullstory.com — collect data about how users interact with your site
uie.com – usability materials
webpagetest.org — detailed page speed testing
luckymarmot.com/paw — REST API analysis for Mac, starting at $29.99
getpostman.com — API debugging
restclient.net — a debugger for RESTful web services
telerik.com/fiddler —web debugging proxy for any browser, system or platform
ngrok.com – a simple command line tool for allowing outside access to your local-environment
charlesproxy.com – enables a developer to view all of the HTTP and SSL / HTTPS traffic between their machine and the Internet
nwjs.io — framework for building hybrid apps (desktop applications in node.js)
addyosmani.com/blog/video-javascript-memory-management-masterclass — Javascript memory management masterclass by Addy Osmani
keynotopia.com — Keynote and PowerPoint UI design templates for everyone, not just designers
popapp.in — Useful for pen and paper wire-framing
jakearchibald.github.io/svgomg/ – edit and optimise SVG’s, example for talk on service workers
developer.chrome.com/multidevice/android/installtohomescreen
@fehler | A writer, designer and educator. Publisher of @readtinybooks and @getglyph.
Slides: Dropbox
How to read better. Enhance your writing by improving your reading skills and developing a richer mind.
@owltastic | web designer, lover of owls
Slides: Dropbox
Seeing things with your users’ eyes (and all the other means of perception) as a natural part of your workflow.
@clagnut | UX designer & web typography evangelist. Co-founder @Fontdeck & @Clearleft.
Slides: Dropbox
Great talk from perspective of designers and developers who worked on re-structuring and re-designing (i.e. making simpler and faster) the website of Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (rbkc.gov.uk)
Btw, do you know why Chelsea mansions are sooo expensive? :) Partly because of this:
The tips are:
@yoavweiss | browser tinkerer, WebPerf freak, RICG implementer
Slides: http://yoavweiss.github.io/smashingconf_oxford/#/
Hilarious, educational talk about responsive images, picture element and srcset. And previous version of this talk (from Smashing Conf 2014 Whistler) is already on vimeo.
#smashingconf If you’d like to learn more about responsive images, I’ve gathered a few useful links: https://t.co/3PiFrz34rF— Yoav Weiss (@yoavweiss) March 17, 2015
#mustwatch
@PeterBilak | designer @typotheque, publisher @WorksThatWork
Slides: Dropbox
New approaches to publishing.
@natalieyadren | Data Visualization. Product Specialist. Agile.
Slides: Dropbox
Data visualisation is a whole world. I had to miss part of this talk, but it surely was thorough. Reminded me of this :)
.@miriamquick & I made necklaces from air quality data! Higher level=spiky, see Bonfire Night? http://t.co/oxxkYuC4zO pic.twitter.com/xYEW4MzSSc
— Stefanie Posavec (@stefpos) March 11, 2015
@attasi | The creator of Macaw
Slides: http://macaw.co/hybrid/
@brucel | Opera Software. UK Web standards lovegod. Co-wrote Introducing HTML5.
Slides: http://brucelawson.github.io/talks/2015/blink-ie6/
#mustwatch
And the best slide of the conference goes to
@codepo8 | developer evangelist – all things open web
Slides: Dropbox
The most enjoyable mystery speaker! Great talk, slides and the followup discussion.
@zomigi | Author of books Stunning CSS3 & Flexible Web Design. UX Designer at Booking.com
Slides:
http://www.slideshare.net/zomigi/leveling-up-with-flexbox-smashing-conference
PDF:
http://zomigi.com/downloads/Leveling-Up-With-Flexbox_SmashingConf_140319.pdf
Deep flexbox talk with production code examples. Enjoyed it. There’s a great followup blog post in Zoe’s blog: http://zomigi.com/blog/leveling-up-with-flexbox/
Video of the talk:
https://vimeo.com/channels/smashingconf/124796320
#mustwatch
@lornajane | PHP and API specialist dev/consultant, book author
Slides: https://speakerdeck.com/lornajane/http-debugging
This was interesting. Lorna introduced many useful tools have been mentioned (HTTP related links in the beginning of the post).
Stages of debugging – Denial – Frustration – Disbelief – Testing (curious stage) – Gotcha
#mustwatch
http://www.aerotwist.com/ | Googler who noodles with code and design, helps people fix performance, UX and UI issues.
Slides: https://speakerdeck.com/paullewis/making-a-silky-smooth-web Website: http://aerotwist.com/
Great talk on performance. Also, check out this super smooth website: aerotwist.com
#mustwatch
@polledemaagt | Changes companies like IKEA and KLM to be less about ads and more about acts
Slides: (to be updated)
@rilan | UX Designer on @googlechrome #MakeMunich cofounder & Head of http://www.designj.am
Slides: (to be updated) “User research is going to change what you make and how you make it.”
– What users are thinking?
– What is this?
– Do I trust you?
– What are you offering me?
– How do I get it?
@rilan
Didn’t expect another talk on user research to be so engaging. Lots of user research tools mentioned. And this awesome animation.
#mustwatch
@jaffathecake | Developer advocate at Google.
Slides: (to be updated)
“Lie-fi is like being offline, but it trolls you pretending to be online” – @jaffathecake #smashingconf — Hungry Geek (@TheHungryGeek) March 18, 2015
Great talk and the followup discussion. Will update this post with a video link as soon as it’s available. Check back in a couple of weeks maybe.
#mustwatch
Photos from Smashing Conf Oxford 2015 gallery by Marc Thiele:
https://flic.kr/s/aHsk9fLuZ7
Smashing sketches by Elisabeth Irgens:
http://elisabethirgens.com/2015/oxford/
Follow me on twitter to get updates.
This little browser extension called ZenMate for Google Chrome™ allows to access a website that is blocked for you due to censorship or geographical restrictions, such as Facebook for China or Songza for non-US residents.
ZenMate not only removes location restrictions by tunneling your traffic through the ZenMate Cloud but it also fully encrypts all traffic with the highest security standards.
Today I’m going to share my favorite tools for managing music library, as well as listening, streaming and discovering music.
There’s a bunch of streaming services, players and apps avaliable for various platforms. However, I’m not going to list them all. I’m going to only describe favorite ones, and hopefully, someone will find this useful. Sharing your experience and suggestions is more then welcome in the comment section:)
(MIH for “make it happen”) helps front-end developers to debug and optimize their webpages on iPad and iPhone. It’s an iOS web inspector and debugger that makes various dev tools accessible right on the device you are testing on.
There are tons of Chrome extensions I’ve been trying out and testing. Few of them made it into the Chrome toolbar and I’m using them every day. Here is the list of my currently active best chrome extensions 2013. Hopefully, you find something interesting for yourself.