How to install Facebook Connect on your site

It’s been almost one year since Facebook opened Facebook Connect to all developers. Facebook Connect was not difficult to implement for us since Facebook made it super easy to put it on your sitein Sept 2009.
We, Stuff team has been considering to integrate Facebook connect with stuff.co.nz. So I had a deep look at the benefits and implementation. Here I would like to briefly summarize my investigation.

What benefits Facebook Connect delivers to us?

1.Traffic

Enable over 300 million Facebook users to share your content with their friends on Facebook. Let users publish a story, invite their friends, or send an event. Their friends then click back to your site.

2. Engagement

Users can immediately find their friends and engage. More friends leads to more activity and more pageviews. Connected users create 15-60% more content than users who have not connected with Facebook Connect.

3.Registration

Every website wants registration to be easy. We have 300 million users, simple registration, and robust data. By increasing traffic, user engagement, and registrations, you can grow your revenue and increase monetization opportunities.

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Keep Track of Your iGoogle Gadget

Google launched iGoogle gadget dashboard where developers can manage their gadgets and see detailed analytics about their gadgets' usage. Right now dashboard allows you to see user numbers over time, number of gadget loads in home and canvas view, as well a geographic break down of users.

On this page, you can add gadget of yours by URL – for some, you may need to click on a link in a verification mail – and then see weekly stats, your gadget ratings and more.

Below is a screenshot of the gadget I built for Stuff.co.nz,  you probably notice that the number of users has been dramatically increased in last three days, because the gadget  is amazingly ranking number 1 now if you search for “stuff.co.nz” in iGoogle gadget directory

Note though that the stats only show you how often a gadget is loaded, but that doesn’t mean the gadget is used, too... because it just happens to be loaded when the iGoogle page loads, which may be because the user just wants to perform a search, or make use of a gadget not yours. In that case, when Google calls this “page view” we need not be misled to think of it as a “normal” page view like one that would happen on actual website.

Win your logo on Stuff on Christmas Day

We are offering you the opportunity to show off your skills and design a logo which will be displayed on New Zealand's number one news website Stuff.co.nz on Christmas Day.

Here at Stuff, we highly value our readers and would love to see your creative contribution to the site. Show us what is important to you about Christmas, whether it be holidays, family, Santa or presents and explore your imagination. With a little bit of Christmas magic, you and the rest of New Zealand might see your design up on Stuff.co.nz, and one lucky winner will have their logo displayed on Christmas Day!


Here are some tips from our design team:

• Make sure your design complements the Stuff logo.
• Don't over-complicate it - simpler images often have the most impact. Keep in mind how your logo will look on Stuff.co.nz.
• Avoid commercial or copyrighted images.
• Feel free to use the space behind and in front of the Stuff letters, but try to maintain your design's overall balance.
• Be original and have fun!!
• Your design can be created using computer drawing or design software, or in pencil, crayons, felt tip or paint.

You can download the template here, and save your final copy as a .jpeg or .png or .gif, max file size 2MB.

How to enter:

To enter the competition, Email your submission to competitions@stuff.co.nz with your name, address, age (only provide if 15 and under) and daytime phone number before 5pm on 7/12/09.

Get ideas what previous Stuff doodle logos look like? check them out at here. and Good Luck!

网站COO应该掌握什么技能？

伴随着网络的飞速发展，各行各业都经历着从传统营销向网络营销的巨大转变。然而能够掌握运营技术，可以帮助网站取得效益的网站运营经理实在是凤毛麟角。即便在运营良好的网站当中，真正系统学习和研究网站运营技术的人才也为数不多，他们更多的是靠摸索积累经验，对网站的认识缺乏系统性，缺乏理论指导。在如此众多的网站应运而生的情况下，一定会对网站运营经理产生巨大的需求。

网站运营经理这个岗位究竟是个什么样的?　该了解些什么?　选择一个好的网站运营经理的标准是什么?　请看下面的图解，如果有什么要添加的，请告知我，谢谢！

Google Closure Compiler VS YUI Compressor

In terms of Javascript Compression, the YUI Compressor is designed to be 100% safe and yield a higher compression ratio than the other tools listed above. That’s why most of the JavaScript Frameworks use YUI Compressor to minimize their Javascript code.

On November 5th, Google announced Closure Compiler for Javascript compression. The strongest part of the Closure Compiler is that it does not only remove whitespace but also it rewrites Javascript Code to make it smaller. It also optimizes your Javascript code to perform better.

I found a simple slides which compared the compression performance of YUI Compressor and Google Closer Compiler. It's worth taking a look at it.

Closure Compiler vs YUI Compressor

If you ask which one should you use? "Whichever you find best for you" I think is the general answer at the moment - YUI has been available longer so undoubtedly will be the one which currently being the best tool.

How to use HTML dl, dt, dd tags

Many web developers would love to create web design using table tags. In fact, by using HTML dl, dt, dd tags, you will save on writing more codes and add more semantic value to the content. Whereas table are best use for tabular data, and should not be use in listing data, web form or web layout.

If you are still creating list data using table, look below and compare on how to make your life easier with HTML dl, dt, dd tags.

It may both look identical, but look closely behind the codes.

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李开复博士《给创新工场求职者的一封信》

李开复博士的新一篇博文《给创新工场求职者的一封信》 看了文章，很受启发，同时也对自己的选择更加做出了坚定的信念。高薪并不一定等于合适，选择工作的时候更应该选择一份合适自己能力和性格发展的工作。我从中摘取两句话，值得回味一下：

你的第一份工作还是能给你带来很多震撼教育：它会潜移默化影响你究竟想过上怎样的一种人生。毕竟，我们每个人都没有聪明到可以计算到未来的每一步起伏变化，那么，你未来在面对那些重大而艰难的决策时，帮你做出决定的除了你个人的才智、经验，还有你的世界观。

我希望活得深刻，并汲取生命中所有的精华。然后从中学习，以免让我在生命终结时，却发现自己从来没有活过。

下面是文章全文转载：

创办创新工场的两个月里，我每天都在不同场合感受到国内创业者及有志于创业的大学生的热情与朝气。我们发出了大约三十封邀请，大多数也决定加入创新工场。这多多少少证明了我当初的想法：中国有着足够多的和我们志同道合的、人品好、有创业精神、扎实的计算机基础和团队合作精神的青年人。


不过，在我和很多青年朋友交谈时，我也看到很多人的疑惑——特别是那些尚未毕业但怀揣梦想的大学生。一些非常聪明的学生朋友也会有一些极为朴素的好奇：如果我可以加入一家已经成功的公司，直接过上很舒适的生活，为什么要创业？大学毕业后，是不是只有大公司才能帮助我成为一个卓越的技术人员？如果创业失败了，而我在这几年里又做出了很大的个人收入及私人时间的牺牲，是不是很亏？


其实，我一直这样告诉青年朋友们：毕业后第一份工作最重要的是你是否能够学习到最多，而不是其他。虽然很多人在学校里已经非常优秀，但你的第一份工作还是能给你带来很多震撼教育：它会潜移默化影响你究竟想过上怎样的一种人生。毕竟，我们每个人都没有聪明到可以计算到未来的每一步起伏变化，那么，你未来在面对那些重大而艰难的决策时，帮你做出决定的除了你个人的才智、经验，还有你的世界观。这些观念除了从小养成的部分，还有很大部分来自于你刚刚进入社会那几年受到的身边人的影响、遇到的工作挑战。那么，如果你希望成为一个优秀、健康的人，你应该让自己在毕业时就能置身于一个由正直而聪明的人组成的、有挑战的环境中去。这正是我在创新工场所希望营造的。


很多年轻人愿意加入一些成熟的公司。无论中国过去三十年成长起来的优秀公司，还是外国那些财富500强，都很有吸引力：不错的薪酬、良好的福利、健全的体系，以及大众熟悉的品牌……我当然知道这些东西都很好，但它并非适用于每一个人。有一些人，他们是天生的“创业者”，天生的“特殊的人”。


看看你自己是否属于这些“特殊的人”：你相信可以通过自己的努力来让这个世界变得更好；遇到各种现实生活中的问题与困难时，你更多思考的是解决问题的方法、积极地去让现状变好，而不是抱怨与忍耐；你更愿意将工作视为一次激动人心的旅途，而非日复一日的庸常无聊的糊口方式；你愿意用自己的方式去尝试、探索这个世界，而不是人云亦云，遵循常规……


如果你认为自己符合以上这些标准，那么进入一家成熟公司对于你很可能将成为漫长的消磨。毕竟，无论多么伟大的公司，当它的体系已经形成，初出茅庐的年轻人是不可能参与到最核心的创新工作中的，也更难突破既有的规范。就像你不能想象比尔·盖茨在IBM里开发出Windows，如果拉里和谢尔盖从斯坦福毕业之后加入了雅虎，他们也就不可能创造出Google。


还有一些人可能会问，开复你自己也曾经在苹果、微软、Google这些大公司工作，为什么今天反过来说它们并不适合一些人？我非常乐于承认，我在这些了不起的公司学到了很多东西，但就像我加盟微软是开创其中国研究院，加盟Google是为了创建Google中国，这种经历已经很像创业，可并非每个人都能获得类似的机会。而且，我以前的太多同事已经证明：创业者就是创业者。我在每一家公司都有很多极为优秀的同事最终告别了令人羡慕的生活，去从零开始创建属于自己的天地。比如我在苹果的同事Andy Rubin后来去创办了Danger手机公司最后成为Android，我在SGI的同事Mike Ramsay创立了Tivo，我在微软的同事Rob Glaser创立了RealNetworks，而今年热门的创业公司FourSquare和RedBeacon都是前Google员工创建的，还有谷歌中国的员工也创立了Babytree、Light-in-the-box、浪淘金、欧酷、Papaya Mobile等公司。那些不安于室的人总会去接受使命的召唤，只是早晚问题。


有些人认为，大公司能让他们专心于技术开发，能够获得更多的培训机会。但他们没有意识到，工作并非读书，毕业后最好的学习不是来自课堂式的“培训”，而是来自“learning by doing”的实践。工科的同学，毕业后最好的学习就是投入一个有用户价值，有商业模式的产品的研发。在这样的环境中所学的技术是真本领，不是纸上谈兵，解决的是真问题，而不是toy problems。那些真正有意义的产品是能最大程度上影响最多人的生活的，它们绝不仅仅因为技术先进，还因为它们是人们最需要、最在意的。想想那些真正的“颠覆式创新”，个人电脑刚刚诞生时，效率远远不如大型机，而YouTube的视频效果也大大不如电视，但它们契合了大众所需，并彻底的改变了世界。如果你想创造最好的技术，你一定要被推到用户面前，理解他们所想所需，尽你所能满足他们。


对于那些感叹“为什么创业公司为什么没有五星大厨和龙虾鲍鱼？”，我希望你们看得更远一点。创业公司拿着得代表投资者信任的资本，花每一块钱时必须问问自己：“如果是我自己的钱，我会这么花？”，因为作为公司股东和主人翁，这个公司确实是自己的。在创新工场，我们没有五星大厨和美食，但是我能够承诺的是我会和你们一起住二星酒店，吃十元的饭盒。我也会把你们当我的家人，带来公司我回台湾买的美食，或者我自己做的烧饼或牛肉面。


对那些感叹“为什么创业公司薪水不如最高的跨国企业？”，我也希望你们看得更远一点。选择创新工场，你走的是盖茨、拉里和谢尔盖的路，而他们是这世界最富有的人。我从来不建议人们为发财而创业，但不妨反过来想，钱本身就是一个由市场机制做出的评判：你创造的价值越大越稀缺，人们就越愿意为之付费。因此，我们只给员工合理的薪水，却相当慷慨的给他们相当多的干股和股权，这才是未来价值最大的部分。虽然这种回报并不确定，但我真心相信每名工程师都可能成为创业者和企业的主人，也可能为自己创造巨大的财富。


当然，商业世界并非充斥着光辉灿烂的成功者，还有很多失败者。即使最乐观的说法，就算创新工场帮助你提升成功概率，缩短产品周期，失败的概率依然远远大于成功。真的应该用自己人生最宝贵的几年时光参与到一次前途未卜的创业旅途中吗？


这是一个你必须自己回答的问题。有些人只用几秒钟就可以得出答案，有的人则会思索一生也无法说服自己。但当你确信自己真的愿意走上这样的旅程，并以正确的、正规的方式创业，无论你最终取得了何种程度的商业成功，相信你一定能够学到非常多的东西。当你全心投入创业，每天你都要解决大大小小的种种问题，这会帮助一个富有才智的年轻人迅速成长。


退一万步说，即使失败了，会怎么样呢？别忘了，即使今天被全球商界视为偶像的乔布斯，在他30岁到45岁期间，也有过被苹果驱逐、创建NeXT失败，经营Pixar动画公司被好莱坞无情打击的连续的挫败经历，但他扪心自问，自己依然热爱科技业，依然愿意以创建公司的方式改变这个世界，并坚持前行，他才成为日后那个创造iPod和iPhone的乔布斯。


乔布斯的一生，就和梭罗说的一样：“我希望活得深刻，并汲取生命中所有的精华。然后从中学习，以免让我在生命终结时，却发现自己从来没有活过。”


也可以反过来说，如果你希望过上一个安稳的生活，如果你每天考虑的都是如何还上房贷和车贷，如果你安于现状，如果你畏惧失败，那即使你既聪明又有商业头脑，可能你也不应该接受那些创业公司的邀请。这样你可以得到安稳的一生，但是也放弃了让自己人生更丰富多彩的一种可能性。


最近的两个月，我自己也在寻找走上一条与以往不同的道路的方法。我和我的同事们每星期工作70个小时，去优化创业公司的每一个环节（比如和很多一般创业公司只能仰视的大公司谈成合作），致力于减少影响创业者的外力（比如招聘、工商注册、税务、法务甚至房屋租赁……），去挖掘每一个人才（数次我写信给毕业生的父母），从而让创业者可以最大程度的专注。而我由此获得的，是和许许多多拥有一流想法的人进行深入而有趣的探讨，一起探索让这个世界与以往不同的可能性。所以，如果你符合我在前面说的标准，又愿意得到和我一样的头脑上与精神上的丰富收获，那么，你应该重新做一道算术题：“知名大公司+优厚的薪水+安稳的工作+舒适的生活”，和“属于你的公司+丰厚的股票+快乐的打拼+改变世界的机会”，究竟孰轻孰重？

YUI CSS Framework Tutorial

Accidentally,  I discovered iGoogle is using YUI CSS framework, being curiosity I've been digging around it, found that YUI CSS framework is very powerful, It's a very useful because has a lot of possibilities of grids and it also has a online grid generator to help fast start.

The CSS Frameworks are not for CSS starters (newbies)! They are for people who know CSS but want more organized approach.

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Stuff.co.nz logo -- Guy Fawkes Night

Stuff logo today reminds you today is Guy Fawkes night! Enjoy the fireworks tonight everyone!

Guy Fawkes Night is an annual celebration on the evening of 5 November. It marks the downfall of the Gunpowder Plot of 5 November 1605, in which a number of Catholic conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, attempted to destroy the Houses of Parliament, in London, capital of England.

It is primarily marked in the United Kingdom where, by an Act of Parliament called the Thanksgiving Act, it was compulsory until 1859, to celebrate the deliverance of the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland; but it is also celebrated in former British colonies including New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and parts of the Caribbean. Bonfire Night was celebrated in Australia until the mid- to late 1970s, when sale and public use of fireworks was made illegal and the celebration was effectively abolished. It is also celebrated in the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. Festivities are centred on the use of fireworks and the lighting of bonfires.

Description from wikipedia

CSS Font Size Conversion Chart

• “Ems” (em): The “em” is a scalable unit that is used in web document media. An em is equal to the current font-size, for instance, if the font-size of the document is 12pt, 1em is equal to 12pt. Ems are scalable in nature, so 2em would equal 24pt, .5em would equal 6pt, etc. Ems are becoming increasingly popular in web documents due to scalability and their mobile-device-friendly nature.
  
  
• Pixels (px): Pixels are fixed-size units that are used in screen media (i.e. to be read on the computer screen). One pixel is equal to one dot on the computer screen (the smallest division of your screen’s resolution). Many web designers use pixel units in web documents in order to produce a pixel-perfect representation of their site as it is rendered in the browser. One problem with the pixel unit is that it does not scale upward for visually-impaired readers or downward to fit mobile devices.
  
  
• Points (pt): Points are traditionally used in print media (anything that is to be printed on paper, etc.). One point is equal to 1/72 of an inch. Points are much like pixels, in that they are fixed-size units and cannot scale in size.
  
  
• Percent (%): The percent unit is much like the “em” unit, save for a few fundamental differences. First and foremost, the current font-size is equal to 100% (i.e. 12pt = 100%). While using the percent unit, your text remains fully scalable for mobile devices and for accessibility.

Here is a chart that will help you find the conversion of pt,px,ems and %. The chart is good for an approximation, font size can change based on font, and operating system.

Points	Pixels	Ems	Percent
6pt	8px	0.5em	50%
7pt	9px	0.55em	55%
7.5pt	10px	0.625em	62.5%
8pt	11px	0.7em	70%
9pt	12px	0.75em	75%
10pt	13px	0.8em	80%
10.5pt	14px	0.875em	87.5%
11pt	15px	0.95em	95%
12pt	16px	1em	100%
13pt	17px	1.05em	105%
13.5pt	18px	1.125em	112.5%
14pt	19px	1.2em	120%
14.5pt	20px	1.25em	125%
15pt	21px	1.3em	130%
16pt	22px	1.4em	140%
17pt	23px	1.45em	145%
18pt	24px	1.5em	150%
20pt	26px	1.6em	160%
22pt	29px	1.8em	180%
24pt	32px	2em	200%
26pt	35px	2.2em	220%
27pt	36px	2.25em	225%
28pt	37px	2.3em	230%
29pt	38px	2.35em	235%
30pt	40px	2.45em	245%
32pt	42px	2.55em	255%
34pt	45px	2.75em	275%
36pt	48px	3em	300%

For those of you who are still using pixels, it’s about time you made the switch to ems or points. Why should you use em for font sizing?

The simple answer is scalability. If you have a have a site that you want accessible to multiple audiences then use em’s. By multiple audiences, I mean those using mobile devices, like a Blackberry or iPhone. Also, this means that those users of the later generation….alright, older people, with bad vision…can see your website in the exact proportions you intend. What I mean by this is, if you hold CTRL and use your mouse wheel, or go to “view > text size” in Internet Explorer, your font size will be fully controlled by the user and not by you, ruining your design! Using ems will make all your sizes become proportional to the original settings! This will help retain your font-sizes despite what a browse or user decides to do to it!

Here is a little trick that will help you so you don’t have to remember the chart above.

body { font-size: 62.5% }

This will make 1.0 em the same as 10px.  So if you wanted 12 px. would be 1.2em, nice and easy.  Hopefully this will help you out.