Finer Things in Web

Good news, everyone. Tumblr’s Fan Mail feature is rolling...

chartier — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:09:22 -0600

Good news, everyone. Tumblr’s Fan Mail feature is rolling out; I just got it.

Couple quick thoughts: the interface is nice and simple, but there doesn’t seem to be any auto-complete mechanism built into the address form. The only addressing aid I ran into is when I typed a blog name that I knew was wrong (finerwebb)—an error told me “Sorry, you can’t send this blog Fan Mail at this time.”

There are options to reply and delete Fan Mail, but not to publish. Apparently this is supposed to be Tumblr’s new Twitter DM-like feature, as people were using Submit way too much to send each other private messages via Tumblr.

If Tumblr has to process media for your post (typically a video...

chartier — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 11:20:06 -0600

If Tumblr has to process media for your post (typically a video you upload), it displays this homage to the early days of TV to convey your media is still in the oven. A “Processing” item also appears in your blog’s sidebar to collect all posts with media that’s cookin’.

Ben Gold: YouTube now lets you adjust the video speed?...

chartier — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 09:40:06 -0600

Ben Gold:

YouTube now lets you adjust the video speed? Interesting.

The website for Fantastical, a smart menu bar calendar utility...

chartier — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 09:37:06 -0600

[Flash 10 is required to watch video.]

The website for Fantastical, a smart menu bar calendar utility for the Mac, uses some clever animation to draw your attention to its interface and features.

Android Police displays a QR code on mouseover for most links...

chartier — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 16:01:14 -0500

Android Police displays a QR code on mouseover for most links (including links in the body of the text), allowing you to easily snap and do something with them on your device.

Anyone know if they’re using a commercially available plugin (either free or paid) to do this?

Google Voice now offers automatic spam filtering

chartier — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 09:42:41 -0500

Google Voice now offers automatic spam filtering:

From the Google Voice help document:

If you get unwanted calls, you can choose to send the caller directly to voicemail, treat all calls from a particular number as spam, or block the caller.

Michael Villar used some clever HTML5 canvas skills to create a...

chartier — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 11:11:08 -0500

Michael Villar used some clever HTML5 canvas skills to create a fun experience for his new site.

via Beautiful Pixels

Google+ recently introduced games that you can play in a browser...

chartier — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 13:49:40 -0500

Google+ recently introduced games that you can play in a browser as long as you have Flash installed. But before you start each game, you must agree to grant it access to a list of information that Google+ presents in a very clear list.

Google+ also presents the game developer’s email address for direct contact—not a contact form, or an offsite link. An email address.

Apple Store taken down overnight for Order Status beautification...

chartier — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 11:03:28 -0500

Apple Store taken down overnight for Order Status beautification - AppleInsider

Clicking the “Removable panel off” link on...

chartier — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 11:19:25 -0500

Clicking the “Removable panel off” link on Apple’s product page for the redesigned Mac mini will cause the bottom panel to subtly rotate, as if you had to remove it in the real world, then disappear.

Tumblr Staff: Pro Tip: Hold Option (Alt in Windows) while...

chartier — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 13:47:40 -0500

Tumblr Staff:

Pro Tip: Hold Option (Alt in Windows) while editing an Answer post to expose some extra publishing options!

Google+ has some great mobile web app polish to make it behave...

chartier — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 08:32:00 -0500

Google+ has some great mobile web app polish to make it behave like a native app. For example: if you’re viewing a friend’s profile, then tap on their name in a post, the page doesn’t needlessly refresh or lose your place at all. Same goes for when you tap an app in Google’s new app tab along the top of its mobile pages. Nothing happens, because you’re already there.

The Reeder for Mac site leverages some impressive HTML animation...

chartier — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 16:36:00 -0500

[Flash 10 is required to watch video.]

The Reeder for Mac site leverages some impressive HTML animation tricks.

Update: Thanks to Brett Taylor for this one: just like on a Mac, you can Shift-click to experience the animation transitions at roughly half speed.

When posting a new status message on Facebook, it displays a...

aayush — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 15:41:47 -0500

When posting a new status message on Facebook, it displays a lock icon with a downward pointing triangle next to the Share button. Clicking on it brings up a menu that allows you to make that status available for everyone to view, restrict it to your friends of friends, or to just your own friends.

If you click on the Customize option, it brings up the window displayed above. Here, you can make your status visible to specific people or to all the people on one or more of your friends lists. Alternatively, you can go in the opposite direction and restrict certain of your friends from viewing that status.

On a social network like Facebook, where you are simultaneously friends with not just your real life buddies but also friends made online, acquaintances, family members, and colleagues from work, this feature gives you powerful ways to filter your posts for just the people you want.

Facebook’s share bookmarklet now offers more options for...

chartier — Wed, 11 May 2011 13:07:20 -0500

Facebook’s share bookmarklet now offers more options for where to share something you found, including a friend’s wall or a group you participate in.

The New York Times’ Chrome-optimized layout requests up to...

chartier — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 10:20:32 -0500

The New York Times’ Chrome-optimized layout requests up to 50MB of storage space for saving stories locally.

⌘⇧D sends mail in the MobileMe mail web app just as it does in Mail.app in Mac OS.

valhallaisland — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 14:40:37 -0600

⌘⇧D sends mail in the MobileMe mail web app just as it does in Mail.app in Mac OS.

If you stop using Gmail’s Priority Inbox feature for a...

chartier — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 09:06:43 -0600

If you stop using Gmail’s Priority Inbox feature for a couple weeks, then return, it welcomes you back with a one-click cleanup option that de-prioritizes a bunch of your old important mail. The amount of mail that gets shifted from your priority inbox to your regular inbox is unspecified, and there is no undo option.

Tweet Nest - archive your Twitter account

chartier — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:50:00 -0600

Tweet Nest - archive your Twitter account:

A self-hosted web app, similar to ThinkUp, that lets you archive, browse, and search your Twitter account. You’ll need your own web host, PHP 5.2, and MySQL 4.1.

via Chris Bowler

When saving a bookmark to Pinboard, the feature-packed “anti-social” alternative to...

chartier — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 08:00:07 -0600

When saving a bookmark to Pinboard, the feature-packed “anti-social” alternative to Delicious, you can use Markdown in the bookmark’s notes field.

via Brett Terpstra