Categories
Posts

Introducing FRMT.me

[FRMT.me is an online CSS formatter][link] using the Extra Future house style rules, which I’ve yet to codify here but will soon. It is one of my 6-hour projects, and as such is considered a sibling to [Megaman II’s Intro in HTML, CSS, and jQuery][mm2].

House style on the name is to print the domain all caps and the TLD in lowercase, like so: FRMT.me.

[link]: http://frmt.me “FRMT.me Formats CSS”
[mm2]: http://extrafuture.com/mm2/

Categories
Posts

Megaman II’s Intro Animation In HTML

Created by yours truly. No Flash, just CSS, HTML5, and jQuery. The animation is very not smooth in Firefox, but works great in Safari and Chrome.

[You can check it out here.][link]

[link]: http://extrafuture.com/mm2/ “Megaman II Intro”

Using the scrollbar to bring the view upward was a stylistic choice, it could’ve just as (if not more) easily done in a single “screen”, but what’s the fun in that? The demo uses the jQuery [backgroundPosition-Effect][plugin] plugin to achieve the parallax scrolling effect, and the new Javascript audio capabilities introduced by the HTML5 group. The timing may not work very well on older machines.

[plugin]: http://plugins.jquery.com/project/backgroundPosition-Effect “jQuery Plugins: backgroundPosition-Effect”

Categories
Links

The Extra Future T-Shirt

[Buy one today.][link] Available in light blue or asphalt for a limited time only: One amazingly comfy t-shirt, one awesome logo, at the cost of $22.

[link]: http://extrafuture.com/shirts/ “Shirts by Extra Future”

Categories
Posts

Using la petite url With A Custom Short(er) Domain Name

Since I introduced the ability to us a different domain for your shortened URLs in [la petite url][la] 1.5, I’ve had several email inquiries about how to set it up. With that in mind, I’ve put together the following tutorial, which I hope will help those of you who need a push in the right direction.

[la]: http://extrafuture.com/projects/la-petite-url/ “la petite url”

## Step 1: Buy Your Domain

The first step we’ll be taking to set up a domain name for your la petite url links is the most important: Registering a domain name to use. It can be anything you like, but I’d personally follow these guidelines that I just made up:

* It should be, at a glance, vaguely related to your “main” domain name. extrafuture.com uses exfu.ws. [ignorethecode.com][lukas] uses http://ignco.de. Be clever, but not too clever.
* Stay away from weird TLDs, especially sketchy country ones. You don’t know when Asscracklvania is going to change the rules regarding their domain name registration, and then you’re out of luck with a bunch of broken links, which is the precise problem you’re using la petite url to combat.
* Try to stay under 5 characters not including the extension. Every extra character is chipping away at the advantage of a “shorter” domain.
* If you [use GoDaddy][godaddy] to register your domain, I get a small kickback, and that would really make me happy. You want to make me happy, right? I thought we were friends.

[lukas]: http://ignorethecode.net “Ignore The Code”
[godaddy]: http://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-3428994-10378406 “Register a domain name with GoDaddy”

The above are not hard rules, they’re just suggestions. Do whatever you feel comfortable with.

## Step 2: Configuring The New Domain

**If you manually control your web hosting** like some kind of nerd, you can simply set the new domain name (in my case http://exfu.ws) as an `alias` for your main domain name (in my case http://extrafuture.com, ‘natch). **If someone else is in charge of your hosting**, this is exactly what you need to tell them:

> Dear {Support Team For My Web Host},
>
> I have purchased the domain name {your short URL domain name}, and would like it to be configured as an alias for my other domain {your main domain name}. In short, requests to {your short URL domain name} should be treated the same as requests to {your main domain name}.
>
>
>Thank you,
>
> {Your Name}

Maybe you should send them a present, too. At any rate, be kind to your support minions, for one day your life may depend on them. They will probably tell you that you need to configure the DNS of your new domain to point to their servers. [Here’s a tutorial on how to do that if you registered with GoDaddy][tutorial], which I had nothing to do with.

[tutorial]: http://www.dewahost.com/tutorials/changedns/godaddychangedns.html “Godaddy DNS Tutorial”

If you know how to do this in the various Control Panel softwares that are out there, let me know. I have no idea, because I don’t use ’em.

## Step 3: Tell la petite url About Your New Domain

This one is easy as pie: Log in to your WordPress site, then go to Plugins, look for “la petite url”, then click “Settings” under it’s name. In the la petite url settings page, look under “Domain settings.” Click the “Custom domain” circle, and next to that enter in your new domain name, minus the http://. For me this would be “exfu.ws”. Once you’ve done that, click “Save Changes”, and wait for the changes to be applied. It’s only like a second. Don’t be so impatient. Ah, there it is.

You should be all set, now. If you have problems, concerns, or comments, address them to one of the contact methods listed at the top of this site.

Categories
Links

Kickstarter

[Kickstarter is an attempt at modern, crowd-sourced fundraising][link]. Post a project or idea with a set timeframe, and people can pledge cash. If your fundraising goal gets reached, you get the money. If it doesn’t, then everyone gets a refund. [Check out the introduction video][vid].

I could really see using this in the future.

[link]: http://www.kickstarter.com/ “Kickstarter ยป Projects”
[vid]: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ksrstaff/welcome-to-kickstarter “Welcome to Kickstarter”

Categories
Links

Did The Cubs Win Today?

My [single-serving][single] site, [didthecubswintoday.com][link], is covering the Chicago Cubs 2009 season with all-new guts. Game results are not easily tweetable, and navigation has been much improved.

[link]: http://didthecubswintoday.com/ “Did The Cubs Win Today?”
[single]: http://kottke.org/08/02/single-serving-sites “Single Serving Sites”