Top 10 Web Developer Libraries

Cameron Olthuis: I decided to make a list of the top libraries that I have come across or that I personally use. Libraries can be a web developers best friend. They are great resources to learn from and can save hours and hours of time. These libraries include JavaScript, Ajax, Colors, PHP, and CSS. These should be in any web developers bookmarks, so go ahead and look through these libraries and bookmark your favorite ones. The list is in no particular order.

Digg launches version 3.0

At a hipster bar in San Francisco at 5 p.m. today, Digg unveiled its official version 3.0, which will launch on June 26. To the surprise of nobody (since Valleywag leaked screenshots of a beta), Digg now lets users flag more than just tech stories. The new categories are World & Business, Entertainment, Science, and Gaming.

The product also bookmarks video files, which shouldn't be a big deal (a bookmark is a bookmark, I would think), but given the growing traffic in this media type, some special treatment might be called for.

Finally, since Digg is now covering more content areas, some of which may not be of interest to all users. The site will now allow users to personalize the front page so that they see the categories they're interested in and not the ones they don't care about.

Will Digg's position as a clearinghouse of what's important among tech-heads translate to the broader audience of people interested in more topic areas? While many think Netscape's new quasi-social-bookmarking site is a Digg rip-off, the fact is that Netscape has an impressive audience, and its new Digg-like features will likely help Netscape remain relevant to its users.

I imagine that Digg's new categories will help its audience grow a bit, although I expect that Digg will remain primarily a service for a particular subset of users (geeks), who, of course, have interests that go beyond technology. If anything, this new move by Digg will keep it from losing its loyal users to other well-rounded bookmarking sites. But I, for one, do not really want Digg to become the bookmark site for the entire universe of users. Digg has a great, focused community today. Diluting it by bringing in masses of new nongeek users will not make it better.

Opera 9 Gives You the Control

Opera Software today released Opera 9, its newest Web browser for PCs. You can download it free in more than 25 languages for Windows, Mac, Linux and other platforms from www.opera.com. Opera 9 enhances the way you access, share and use online content by including innovative widgets - fun, small and useful Web programs - and support for BitTorrent™, the popular file distribution technology. Even while adding these improvements, Opera 9 maintains the security and speed millions of Opera fans have come to expect.

Google Announces limited test on Google Labs: Google Spreadsheets

Today Google launched a limited test of Google Spreadsheets on Google Labs, our technology playground where we showcase a few of our favorite ideas that aren't quite ready for prime time. Google Spreadsheets is a free, secure service that enables users to quickly and easily create, store and share basic spreadsheets on the web.

Designed for users who create basic spreadsheets that need to be shared or updated by several contributors, Google Spreadsheets enables:

Increased accessibility: Spreadsheets are securely stored on the web so that they can be accessed from any computer. Using Google Spreadsheets on the web also avoids the need to install any software on the local computer.


Real-time collaboration: Google Spreadsheets can be shared, updated and edited by several users at the same time, in real-time, saving users from the hassle of manually consolidating multiple spreadsheets from others. Users can also chat while editing or viewing the same spreadsheet and control who may edit and view their shared spreadsheets by listing the specific people by email address.


Easy importing: Users can upload spreadsheets or information from other desktop applications (.CSV and .XLS formats supported) with a click of a button.
Google Spreadsheets will be available to a limited number of users on the Google Labs page at labs.google.com. We will regularly send invitations to users on the waitlist on a first-come, first-serve basis.

For more information please see today's Google Blog post at http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/06/its-nice-to-share.html.

Google AJAX Search API available in beta

Google has released a new mashup software in beta.

Version 0.1 of Google AJAX Search API is now available for free download.

The Javascript library allows developers to create embedded search modules that can dynamically search over multiple Google media (Web, Local, Video etc.) and include the results directly alongside other Web site content, such as a blog.

Google does not recommend the software for use yet in mission-critical Web sites, but it is seeking out user feedback through a discussion board dedicated to the new program.

Eventually, Google AJAX Search API will be integrated with advertising, Google's Web site said.

BROWSERS > Yahoo launches customized IE 7 beta

The lines are being drawn in the search wars, with Yahoo and Microsoft squaring off against Firefox and Google.

Yahoo has launched a customized version of Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2, which has Yahoo search built into the browser.

The customized browser sets Yahoo.com as the default home page on the primary tab, while Yahoo Mail automatically loads in the secondary tab. The Internet giant used Microsoft's Internet Explorer Administration Kit to customize IE 7, according to a Friday post on IEBlog.

Although Yahoo's customized browser presets the home page and search to Yahoo properties, "users can easily change the settings, just as they can with the standard version that [Microsoft] ships," according to IEBlog.

Last month, antitrust regulators investigating Windows Vista appeared satisfied with Microsoft's plans for the operating system, including IE 7's search box, which defaults to Microsoft's own MSN Search.

As part of its status report on Microsoft's antitrust compliance, the U.S. Department of Justice said it had reviewed the search box and concluded that Microsoft's implementation "respects users' and (computer makers') default choices and is easily changed."

Google last month claimed that IE 7's default to MSN was anticompetitive. The search giant has a close working relationship with the Mozilla Foundation, whose Firefox browser competes with IE 7.

Web 2.0 Has Corporate America Spinning

What every CEO needs to know about the array of new tools that foster online collaboration -- and could revolutionize business.

Red Hat creates social networking site