Citizensheep » Cool stuff http://citizensheep.com/blog Michael Grimes lives in Birmingham (UK). This is his blog about anything that he fancies. Sun, 05 Feb 2012 23:40:27 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Creating Database-driven Apps with Sinatra http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/08/20/hello-sinatra-using-sinatra-in-ruby/ http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/08/20/hello-sinatra-using-sinatra-in-ruby/#comments Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:00:12 +0000 Michael http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/08/20/hello-sinatra-using-sinatra-in-ruby/

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    • ]]>     Sinatra itself has useful help pages, but (so far) this the best tutorial I’ve found.

    Creating Database-driven Apps with Sinatra

    ]]>     http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/08/20/hello-sinatra-using-sinatra-in-ruby/feed/ 0     Web Designer’s Checklist http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/07/18/web-designers-checklist/ http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/07/18/web-designers-checklist/#comments Sun, 18 Jul 2010 08:01:06 +0000 Michael http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/07/18/web-designers-checklist/

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    1. HTML5 Readiness
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    • ]]>     An up-to-date set of comparison tables for browser support of CSS3 selectors and HTML5 properties. It doesn’t include IE9, because they have a whole separate page of tables previewing IE9 support for HTML5 and CSS3.

    Visit Web Designer’s Checklist

    ]]>     http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/07/18/web-designers-checklist/feed/ 1     YUI Graded Browser Support http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/06/25/yui-graded-browser-support/ http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/06/25/yui-graded-browser-support/#comments Fri, 25 Jun 2010 15:00:09 +0000 Michael http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/06/25/yui-graded-browser-support/

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    • ]]>     This page has been around for a good while. I’m flagging it up now because I’m trying to build up a sort of toolkit and primer for colleagues managing websites; the rather unsophisticated ‘every user should have exactly the same experience on our website’ is – sadly and surprisingly – still a common attitude.

    This explanation of Graded Browser Support and ‘progressive enhancement’ from Yahoo! is well put and, coming from Yahoo!, adds credibility to our arguments for it.

    Visit YUI Graded Browser Support

    ]]>     http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/06/25/yui-graded-browser-support/feed/ 2     Arguments for open local data http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/06/03/arguments-for-open-local-data/ http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/06/03/arguments-for-open-local-data/#comments Thu, 03 Jun 2010 11:01:17 +0000 Michael http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/06/03/arguments-for-open-local-data/

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    1. A council might publish open data, but how does it encourage good use of that data?
    2. Releasing local data: what are the challenges?
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    • ]]>     One of the challenges facing proponents of open data is persuading others of its value; particularly persuading the custodians of data that making it publicly available is a valuable thing to do, and is in their interest to do it.

    Dan Slee (Walsall Council) and Stuart Harrison (Lichfield District Council) and myself have compiled some arguments for open local data for people to use when faced with making the case for it.

    We’ve also put together the Local Data wiki, so that this work can be continued collaboratively.

    Visit Arguments for open local data

    ]]>     http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/06/03/arguments-for-open-local-data/feed/ 0     A Beginner's Sinatra Tutorial http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/05/31/a-beginners-sinatra-tutorial/ http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/05/31/a-beginners-sinatra-tutorial/#comments Mon, 31 May 2010 17:00:11 +0000 Michael http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/05/31/a-beginners-sinatra-tutorial/

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    • ]]>     In my desperate attempt to grapple with Ruby people keep introducing me to new and 'better' ways to use it, before I've had a chance to understand what I was doing with the previous one they lauded. Currently under my nose is Sinatra, which would probably be great if I understood what I was doing. Anyway, this tutorial seems to make more sense than Sinatra's own help pages.

    Visit A Beginner's Sinatra Tutorial

    ]]>     http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/05/31/a-beginners-sinatra-tutorial/feed/ 0     HTML5 Readiness http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/05/19/html5-readiness/ http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/05/19/html5-readiness/#comments Wed, 19 May 2010 17:01:34 +0000 Michael http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/05/19/html5-readiness/

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    • ]]>     This is a very nice demonstration of what HTML5/CSS3 is capable of, and shows how ready the various browsers are for it.

    Visit HTML5 Readiness

    ]]>     http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/05/19/html5-readiness/feed/ 0     Education Eye – Mapping Innovations http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/05/19/education-eye-mapping-innovations/ http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/05/19/education-eye-mapping-innovations/#comments Wed, 19 May 2010 16:02:37 +0000 Michael http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/05/19/education-eye-mapping-innovations/

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    • ]]>     Education Eye is a pretty tool from Futurelab, showcasing online educational innovations.

    “Education Eye is a free, engaging and easy-to-use online space that gives access to a wide range of useful and relevant innovations across educations’ varied communities. Connecting people with innovative uses of digital technology, new resources and new approaches to teaching and learning to help inspire further innovation in education.”

    Visit Education Eye – Mapping Innovations

    ]]>     http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/05/19/education-eye-mapping-innovations/feed/ 1     Nibbler – take a taste of your website http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/03/29/nibbler-take-a-taste-of-your-website/ http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/03/29/nibbler-take-a-taste-of-your-website/#comments Mon, 29 Mar 2010 15:01:45 +0000 Michael http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/03/29/nibbler-take-a-taste-of-your-website/

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    • ]]>     Nibbler is a free online tool for testing websites. Give it a URL and it will test five associated pages against a range of criteria. It's still in Alpha, and I haven't looked closely to see how it actually works, but it could be very useful as part of a web developer's toolkit.

    Visit Nibbler – take a taste of your website

    ]]>     http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/03/29/nibbler-take-a-taste-of-your-website/feed/ 0     Building Britain’s Digital Future: ‘a chance to reinvent deliberative democracy for the modern age’ http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/03/22/building-britains-digital-future-a-chance-to-reinvent-deliberative-democracy-for-the-modern-age/ http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/03/22/building-britains-digital-future-a-chance-to-reinvent-deliberative-democracy-for-the-modern-age/#comments Mon, 22 Mar 2010 17:01:28 +0000 Michael http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/03/22/building-britains-digital-future-a-chance-to-reinvent-deliberative-democracy-for-the-modern-age/

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    • ]]>     In response to Gordon Brown’s speech on ‘Building Britain’s Digital Future’, Ben Whitnall of Delib asked if interested parties would like to group together to take a lead:

    ‘let’s get some interested people together and help design the future of digital deliberative democracy for the government. It’ll be faster, better and, with any luck, more pubby’.

    As you know, I’m very interested in looking at how we can be using the internet for effective citizenship; so I’m definitely up for this. If you are too, please leave a comment on Ben’s post.

    Visit Building Britain’s Digital Future: ‘a chance to reinvent deliberative democracy for the modern age’

    ]]>     http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/03/22/building-britains-digital-future-a-chance-to-reinvent-deliberative-democracy-for-the-modern-age/feed/ 0     Google Reader – Play http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/03/19/google-reader-play/ http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/03/19/google-reader-play/#comments Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:00:13 +0000 Michael http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/03/19/google-reader-play/

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    • ]]>     This appears to be Google's belated answer to StumbleUpon, which has been around for ages. It claims to find cool stuff on the internet based on your interests. I quite like it, but it's bloody hard to find. There was a temporary message in Google Reader shouting 'Try it now!', but that's now gone and I can't find any link to it in my Google profile. Hence this bookmark.

    Visit Google Reader – Play

    ]]>     http://citizensheep.com/blog/2010/03/19/google-reader-play/feed/ 0