Caribbean Web Development » tools and resources

Internet Explorer 8 Release Candidate 1 Ready

CaribWebDev — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 21:28:46 +0000

A near-final version of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 8 was made available for download today. The free browser is only available for users of Windows Vista, Windows Server and Windows XP with Service Pack 2 installed. Microsoft has been steadily improving Internet Explorer 8 which has been in development for a few years with Beta 1 and 2 versions of the browser being released in March and August last year respectively.

Although still the most dominant web browser Internet Explorer has seen it’s market share slowly being chipped away by Mozilla Foundation’s Firefox web browser and with Google’s recent and swift entry into the market with Chrome.

Download Internet Explorer 8 here.

Twingly – Seach Engine for Bloggers

CaribWebDev — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 17:02:31 +0000

Twingly is a recently launched search engine that only displays results from blogs when queries are made. Twingly prides itself on being spam free unlike similar blog search products and combines various social and web 2.0 features into a functional service.

Twingly has it’s own blog ranking system similar to Technorati that ranks blogs via popularity but takes it a step futher by seperating blogs into language categories, want to find the most popular German, Spanish, Sweddish, French or Danish blogs? Now you can with Twingly. Blog profiles, search result voting and link tracking are some of the other fearures of Twingly.

Twingly has done a good job of indexing the many blogs curently online but in case a blog is not listed a user can simply add it by pinging the site for inclusion. It will be interesting to see how this blog search engine develops in the future.

Google Chrome out of beta only for Windows

CaribWebDev — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 05:41:40 +0000

In a surprise release Google has decided to drop the beta from Google Chrome and has enough confidence in the progress of the web browsing software for an official version ready for the browsing masses. Make no mistake that this is a buried release however, Chrome was released in beta format just over 3 months ago but has been revised, updated and re released over a dozen times since. It is very evident that Google had and continues to prioritized Chrome’s development.

Google Chrome Logo

Challenge to Internet Explorer and Firefox

Microsoft’s Internet Explorer or IE is the most popular browser but critics argue that this is mainly because it comes bundled with Windows. IE is followed in a distant second by Mozilla’s Firefox which is mostly used by tech savvy users attracted to the speed and customizable nature of Firefox. Google reports that over 10 million users are currently using Chrome which one of it’s most potent promotion tools being the heavily trafficked Youtube where the users are asked to download and try the new browser. Google is also expect to approach PC manufacturers in order to get the now out of beta version of Google Chrome installed on new computers before reaching the hands of customers.

WordPress 2.7 Launches – Coltrane

CaribWebDev — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:34:18 +0000

Wordpress has released a new version of their popular blogging platform. Wordpress 2.7 or “Coltrane” main new feature is an overhauling of the backend user interface of the software. Since the last redesign of the Wordpress interface in version 2.5 many users had been vocal with their dissatisfaction with the design and layout. It’s too early to say now but so far there have been nothing but praises for the new interface and new features such as sticky post – which allows bloggers to to “stick” a post to the top of their blog no matter it’s post date.

A very informative video was also released with wordpress 2.7 that details it’s new features, the inspiration behind the changes and much more.

iPhone Website and Application Simulator

CaribWebDev — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:00:19 +0000

The Apple iPhone has emerged as a successful mobile phone product in recent times. Millions of iPhones have been sold and that means there is a sizable number of web users worldwide who navigate the internet on their iPhone. If you are an iPhone application developer, thinking of becoming one or would just like to see how your web page looks when displayed on an iPhone then the iPhone simulator at TestiPhone.com would come in very useful.

The iPhone web simulator tools has been tested and works with Internet Explorer, FireFox and Safari in Windows. TestiPhone.com is powered by iPhoney; a free open source iphone web simulator for web designers.

Google Site Search offers new Index Now Option

CaribWebDev — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:03:14 +0000

Google Site Search is a hosted indexing solution that provides public businesses with access to Google’s search functionality and technology. For a while now however customers have complained about how slow the actually indexing of pages were especially for individuals with websites who often get updated with hundreds of pages at a time and need the information on these pages accessable to website visitors and potential customers as quickly as possible.

Now the Site Search is getting a much need speed boost with the introduction of On-demand Indexing, which lets users refresh search results for Web sites with the click of a “Index Now” button.

How much does Site Search Cost?

Site Search costs $100 a year for an company with up to 5,000 web pages and 250,000 search queries per year, with prices increasing to $2,250 a year for up to 300,000 pages and 500,000 queries per year. For more than 300,000 web pages interested companies will have to set up a relationship with Google for search services.

Via – Marketing Pilgrim and Cnet News

Using Twitter to Enhance and Promote your Website

CaribWebDev — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 03:30:35 +0000

Twitter is a web 2.0 micro blogging service with a big focus on social networking. Users of the service have the ability to write and receive short messages called “tweets”. You can decide to receive updates from users by following then from their profile page and users wishing to receive your updates can do the same. Updates can be sent and received via the Twitter website or through RSS, email, cellphone messages and a host of third party services.

Twitter was created in 2006 and in recent months have exploded to become a very useful tool for having a presence on the web. Creating a profile for your website and publishing updates related to the content of your site can go a far way to creating relationships with your visitors as well as allowing them an alternative way to acces your website.

Many websites have already been taking advantage of Twitter and a little time and effort you can grow your followers on Twitter who might find every update or link posted through your profile useful, but the fact that they subscribed shows that they have an interest in the topic your website covers and they will certainly click through to topics that grab their interest.

Beta version of Google Chrome Browser launched

CaribWebDev — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 20:22:56 +0000

Google has official released their own web browser named Chrome. Google Chrome is an open source web browser which intends to provide greater stability, speed and security than existing browsers, while still remaining a simple efficient and easy to piece of software with a minimalistic user interface.

Google Chrome Logo

The Beta version of Chrome for the windows platform was launched today in 43 different languages with Linux and Mac OS X versions coming in the very near future.

Download Google Chrome
Learn more about Google Chrome and it’s features
Launch post on Google’s Official Blog

Software Download Record for Mozilla Firefox

CaribWebDev — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:14:45 +0000

From 18:16 UTC on June 17, 2008 to 18:16 UTC on June 18, 2008, 8,002,530 people downloaded Firefox 3, the latest version of Mozilla’s popular web browsing software allowing Mozilla to claim a place in the Guinness book of World Records for the most downloaded software in a 24 hour period. Firefox 3 boasts a long list of upgrades especially as it relates to a secure experience while browsing the internet.

Mozilla is looking to gain market share in the web browsing market from it’s main rival Microsoft’s Internet Explorer who recently released a beta version of their upcoming upgrade and other browsers like Safari and opera.

World Record Announcement

Firefox 3 release candidate 1 launches

CaribWebDev — Tue, 20 May 2008 23:00:19 +0000

After many months of development, beta testing and according to Mozilla over 14, 000 updates the first release candidate of Mozilla Firefox web browser is now available for download and testing. Download and evaluate the latest beta version of the popular open source browser in your native language at the Firefox website and be sure to read the official RC1 release notes.

Release Notes Excerpt

This Firefox 3 Release Candidate is a preview release of Mozilla’s next generation Firefox browser and is being made available for testing purposes only.

Preview releases are published to collect feedback from Web developers and our testing community before advancing to the next stage in the release process. The final version of Firefox 3 will be released when we qualify the product as fully ready for our users.