Hi,

i wonder if someone still visit this blog xD

sorry for leave you behind, i usually use this space to share things or code that i discover that solve some common problems, but recently, i didn’t  discovered anything

i have been very busy working on hvc.com most of time, i’m playing the piano too on a little of spare time i have and trying to build some ideas i also i want to move forward.

nothing else more than that really, i hope i could have some other news the next time i write here, if you want specific updates about my projects, check our facebook page at Ipsilon Developments

see you

Regards,

Shadow.

Random Posts

Hi,

has been a while since my last post right? was not my intention, but a lot of things are going on recently, job and personal related stuff that consume me a lot of time, that didn’t left too much for this blog.

i just wanted to share some stuff i have been doing this last weeks:

1)worked 90% of my time on www.hvc.com improving stuff and making new features that will be launched soon, and you will be surprised with what i pulled from the hat this time

2) i improved the code of 7lay.net a little, still need to work on it a LOT, i need to figure out a way to improve the user experience and offer something different than the other portals with the resources i have

3) update the ipsilon developments site with links to our latest projects and stuff made. i think it looks nice, simple and showing what i made this past time, that is what really matters.

also we have now too the facebook page and the twitter profile if you want to follow and get the news of our latest developments

4)launched File2PDF.com a service to convert pdf files online, i’m planning to do a android client, but i dunno when i would finish with it

5)following a local trend for a youtube video, i launched TuPasman.com, a site that let you put on the protagonist screen any youtube video and share it.

and that’s it folks, i will have more news soon and probably some more useful post with more tech info will arrive too

Regards,

Shadow.

Random Posts

Hi,

months ago i wrote this post where i commented about a tool that adobe was developing that convert any fla into html5. on the same post i also talk about the eternal fight of flash vs html5 and the “end of flash”, i recommend you to give it a quick read. today adobe have released this tool to the public, you can download it from here

of course that the app is on a test phase, is not even a beta version, but i hope flash will continue the development converting it into a real product.

Regards,

Shadow.

Related Post

• Flash, the evolution
• Set wmode to flash and youtube iframe code with mootools
• Small game dev indie/groups/companies in argentina

Hi,

recently, visiting one of the most popular Anonymous site’s to check some of their news, got my attraction at the donate section, a logo that say’s “Bitcoin Accepted”, in my infinite curiosity, i made a click and i learned what bitcoin was and what i want to share with you.

What is bitcoin?

Bitcoin basically is a virtual currency, like mochimedia have the mochicoins, like facebook have their own etc.. but the difference remains in there is no issuer or centralized institution that control how much it worth, how much of this coins are on the market or if there are available or not. like the P2P systems, users run the program and handle the transactions, yours and others one, where you can send and receive bitcoins.

Who or how is the bitcoin value decided ?

As a decentralized currency, the value is made by the goods that can be exchanged with. there are several people and company that will accept bitcoins for services, products, licenses and there are even exchangers that will give you USD,EUR or others virtual currency’s for it. basically the value of the bitcoins is made by their own users.

How i can get the bitcoins?

there are several methods, the most effective is selling something (as a product or service) for bitcoins and with that, buy any other thing or exchange it for USD or other virtual currency in some exchanger. the other method, the hard one, is running the program and check the option “generate coins”, this will use the remaining process in your machine and generate the coins in some period of time. depending the difficulty level and the number of hashes per second that your machine can make, it will take from months to years to generate the first 50 BC. anyway, is free money, and you are contributing to the system.

Where you can exchange bitcoins for real, virtual goods or money?

you will find all the necessary info in their site you will find a large list of services and exchanger that could fit your needs. by the way, i’m also accepting donations in this currency too

there are some advantages and problems in the system that i will detail:

advantages:

*like is a p2p currency, if there are users that run the program and give to the coin a “value” it will live forever.

*like there is no central authority, cannot be taken down by anyone, and no one can screw you up (didn’t even the creator of the app) why the other clients will correct the problem or the variation.

*if there any trustful virtual currency, i think this is the best in the market.

problems:

*the “wallet” where you have the money, is stored in your computer, so you need to have a persistent backup solution, why if not you will lost your money

*like is in your computer, others can steal it

*like is a p2p network, the payments are not instantaneous, if you are not running the app, could take more than 10 minutes to get credited the transaction, and even then, is better to wait for some confirmations from the others node networks to be sure that is legit.

i think is a project to follow and support, using it, donating real or bitcoin money, and a good opportunity to those service providers to offer another payment method in their websites.

Regards,

Shadow.

Related Post

• How to avoid Stress and Stay motivated
• Monday Tips #1
• LG Mobile Developer Network

Hi,

in any web app (or desktop app) the security and store of password is a critical subject. there is a lot of solution out there for desktop and if you are around in the web development you will know the usual solutions as well. the hashing of the password is *usually* the most popular option (is discarded any attempt to store the password in plain text of course) and even that mysql have in-built functions as AES_ENCRYPT and AES_DECRYPT, i still think is insecure have any option to get the encrypted password in some way.

for the hash of the password, there are lot of popular functions, as md5(), sha1() etc.. and the big problem with all this functions is the advance of the processing units of our computers have made easier for the cracker to figure out the real password behind the hash.

recently, with the attacks that pletyoffish.com and other important webs have suffered i started looking for the strongest hash encryption i could find (in the past i used a combination of sha2 with a unique salt and a second pass of sha2). in this search, i realized that bcrypt was the best option here. knowing that, i looked for a class that could wrap that process and make it easier. then is when i found phpass.

phpass is a wrapper, that will use the strongest hash function available (in this case bcrypt) and if not, will go down with a combination of functions. is really easy to use, as you will see in the following examples:

Encrypt password:

$hasher = new PasswordHash(8, FALSE);
$hash = $hasher->HashPassword($pass);

Check password at login

if ($hasher->CheckPassword($pass, $hash))

in this example, you need to  provide the plain password and the hashed password that is keep on the DB.

if you have already a hashed password system for login, the transition should be painless, if not, i recommend you do it as soon as possible. this is better to any system you could make, really will make you sleep better at night and don’t wake up at night with the notice that your site has been hacked.

you will find more info in their tutorials and in their home page

i hope it help you in some way

Regards,

Shadow.

Related Post

• Improve Performance Tips
• PHP resize solution: phpThumb
• Creating images with GD in php

Hi,

today i was playing with inkscape, and i created some shiny balls to share with my readers are not a big deal, but could be useful for some project that you maybe have. the good thing about this shiny balls, is that you can just change the color of the ball itself (not of the white half transparent ellipses) , and you will have balls of any color

the file is on SVG format and the license of this is free for any purpose, commercial or not.

you can download it from here.

i hope you enjoy it.

Regards,

Shadow.

Related Post

• The mystery of the design process
• How To: install murmur and MumPI on debian lenny
• Simulate User Testing: Selenium IDE

Hi,

yesterday i received a email  from the android market (i’m subscriber as developer, i hope to launch a app soon ) saying that are introducing content level rating to the app’s listed at the android market.

the level contents available are:

- All
- Pre-teen
- Teen
- Mature

there is needed that all the app’s have set a content level before November 30, you can do it on your developer console at http://market.android.com/publish. if you don’t do it, the app will be marked as mature to ensure the user experience.

you can get more info about this change here: http://market.android.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=188189

Regards,

Shadow.

Related Post

• More developers can sell and buy android app’s
• 1 click root android
• Root your android phone with 1 click

Hi,

like the last year, i made a countdown widget for the EVA of this year

here is the code if you want it for your site:

<object width="446" height="386">
<param name="movie" value="http://shadow.y-developments.info/eva.swf"></param>
<embed src="http://shadow.y-developments.info/eva.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="446" height="386"></embed>
</object>

Related Post

• Photos from ADVA reunion #14

Hi,

yesterday, i got the invitation from rockmeit to test their new browser, so, here i bring you a review from my experience with it.

What is RockMeIt?

RockMeIt is a browser, based on chrome, focused in the social networks. different from the normal browser, their interface has been changed integrating services as facebook and twitter, to get/set update to those social networks. the purpose of this browser is to make the share of content more easy for the user.

Installation

RockMeIt comes in a small installer of 500kb (windows version, there is also a mac version available), that after you open it, start downloading the browser itself and install it.

rockmeit first login screen

after the normal installation process you get a facebook login form. this is why rockmeit depends from a facebook app to make work their addons, so you need to login into your account and allow the access of the app to your personal data. after that, the browser start normally and you are ready to use it.

Features and tools

rockmeit home page

as i say before, this browser is based on chrome, so they aspect will be like it. but the main difference are all the new buttons and features that have integrated.

most of the functions are on the sidebars at the left and right. the left bar is used for the facebook integration, have 2 modes, the default one will be listed first your contacts that are online, where you can chat with them, or see their activity and interact with it like you are on facebook (leaving comments, clicking like’s etc..). if is there no online users, you will see your contacts, ordered by online status in the first place and then alphabetically. from that bar, clicking in each user give you the chance to also mark them as favorite, and the user will be placed also on the second bar mode. is easy to switch from bar’s mode using a button at the top of the bar.

rockmeit recent activity facebook

rockmeit facebook chat/add user list

from the popup that open ups each time you click a contact, clicking in any item  of their activity as others profile’s, status etc.. give you the option to open it in a new tab. also, at the bottom you can add more (to the favorite user mode).  at the top of the left bar, you will see your facebook profile picture, clicking on it give you the option to update your status, and if you also integrated a twitter account, you can send it to your timeline too. from that popup you can also change your facebook chat status and even logout if you want.

rockmeit status update

the right bar have the same purpose as the left, but is not all facebook related, there you have the option to see your facebook feed and in you also log in a twitter account, you can see a your timeline. the facebook feed is the same as in the site and the recent activity if your contacts at the left bar. the feed of the twitter account is presented like many twitter clients, as a list, with the options to retweet, reply, and share (on twitter or facebook). it have a filter to see your mentions/reply’s and support multiple twitter accounts too.

rockmeit twitter timeline

from the right bar you can also add the feed of any website. as you see in the image below, you can add it writing the url or if you are visiting the site or have visited it in this session, you can choose it from the recent sites list. after you add it, a new icon will appear at the bar, if there any update, the icon will show the number of updates in a small number at the bottom right.

rockmeit add feed popup

at the top of the right bar, let say at the same horizontal level as your facebook profile picture of the left bar, you will see a envelope icon, i thinked at the first it was for email integration, but not, is a invitation system to invite other to use rockmeit. the first time i used it, i have 3 left, and i don’t know how this is re-filled. by the way, you can only invite those who are your facebook contacts.

rockmeit invitation widget

after detailing the features of both main vertical sidebars, are other things i like to point out about this browser, as you can import your bookmarks, saved passwords and history from firefox, ie and google toolbar

rockmeit import bookmarks

between the direction bar and the google search input, you have a share button, this let you share the web that you are seeing, in facebook or twitter, and in case of twitter, you can the url is automatically converted in a short one, seems to be using a service propriety of  rockmeit. the popup have a option also to share the link as a message, with any of your facebook contact.

rockmeit share link with a message

as last of the new features/tool, there is the google search input, different from the ones on other browser as firefox, it do not open automatically in a new tab, it show the result in a popup, as all the others, and also support the suggestion that google offers on chrome and in their web. of course you have the option to open the result’s list on a new tab, and each time you click on a result, will open of course in a new tab.

rockmeit google search

The good things, and the ugly ones

i need to say that my experience is quite positive, the browser answer really fast, the open of the popups is clean and nice, whiteout delays or if there any to get some info, it don’t bother to the user. they integrated really great the 2 sidebars, have the correct width to not bother the normal navigation and leave a lot of space for the browser. including links to open the content in a tab everywhere is a good thing, but is even greater when they put it in places where do not bother the user when don’t want to use and easy to find at the same time. the chat integration is nice, i feel like using msn, what in my case is a good, thing, i feel it like a normal IM and not the horrible FB chat. the constantly focus on share content is great, in other browser you need to copy, the url, go to facebook/twitter site/client , paste the url (and sometime short it manually) and just then share it. it takes 3-4 steps and minutes to do it. rockmeit have simplified the process in 1 step and seconds to do it. including a “rss feed client” to say it in some way at the right bar, another great idea, i abandoned to use rss feed why i need to open a separate program and if is a add-on for ff, it is usually bothersome. they make the interactivity with the web more enjoyable than before, that is what i feel using it.

anyway, is not all greatest things here, i have founded corruption on the facebook chat using it, the messages disappear, and you need to minimize/maximize the window to see it right. lack of integration with mail systems (at least gmail, but would be great to have any that supports pop3/smtp), maybe this is asking too much, but the email is a important item not only in life but also on the social networking spect, nothing have been able to replace the email till now. is ironic that they simplify the process of sharing, but if you have a twitter account, you need to share the thing 2 times if you want it in both places, lack of a option to share in both places with 1 action. even that the rss feed work perfectly, needs more integration with popular services as flickr, youtube etc.. where you can see the feed but also login with your account and make actions from there (as like facebook), they UI that they designed have the potential to embedded any web service there and simplify the user actions and make better they experience. i don’t like how is the process to access to your reply’s/mentions on twitter, is not obvious and i just found it by luck, also you can’t send DM or share content via DM.

Conclusion

as i say again, my experience is quite positive, i enjoyed using it and it feels nice using it, i’m attached to FF as i have my dev tools there but if not, i will really using this. i think they made a great progress with UI, even that they need to improve some aspects. for now this project is on closed beta, but i think anyway that they’ll need to open a plugins supports, in that way, the integration of sites will be more easy, less work for them to code and maintain and better browser for the user.

i hope this help you in some way and i wait your comments below

Regards,

Shadow.

Related Post

• each() function in mootools don’t process associative arrays
• Stronger Passwords: NakedPassword
• The mystery of the design process

Hi,

just today, seeing some news sites, i discover this video where adobe at the MAX 2010 show that is developing a tool that converts a .fla file into html5. seeing the video, i need to say that is a awesome thing and i feel excited about this new way that adobe is approaching the problem between the flash platform and the upcoming html5 standard. also i would like to express some opinions about the subject.

Flash as a tool, not as a platform

if you look on google for “flash vs html5″ or “the end of flash”, whatever you want, you will found a lot of articles complaining about how flash made our lives miserably, with his bad performance, his closed source code, the impossible integration with search engines etc.. but what the people forget in this era of fights for what is the best technology, is that flash allow us to bring the web (and after years, to other platforms) the interactivity, rich applications, games, video etc… but the most strong point in flash is that is the only tool that let you make content fast. is easy for the designer, why you have a well designer interface, integrating a timeline and a vector editor and a lot of other tools. is easy for the developer, why actionscript have classes as movieclips, bitmaps, etc… that let you handle the resources easily making rotations, transformations, etc…

the path that adobe is taking is the right one, sooner or later, html5 will be a reality, the people is using more and more the web for their day to day activities, and only in the PC, from several types of devices, and different from the era when the web was building, when the only king was IE, now we have a lot of strong competitors that i suppose they will respect the standards and implement the correct interpretations for the html5 code i think.

the AIR project was a good idea, but is too big and complicated, even for adobe, trying to adapt a client to all platforms, when it didn’t even worked flawless in the PC, is a impossible mission. stick with a universal standard, that will work in all devices, where the interpreter is even build by other companies, just focus in make a tool that let the people produce content easily.

i’m excited about this news, and i hope adobre will continue this path and focusing his efforts on this matter

Regards,

Shadow.

Related Post

• Wallaby is here !
• New contests to develop android games with flash
• Actionscript: ExternalInterface