Friday, December 21, 2007

An open source JavaScript library: q12

I've written some JavaScript utility functions as part of my ongoing wiki/note taking application. It is growing into a full fledged Ajax application with a web server and now a minimal Ajax library which I've decided to release as a separate open source project.

From the project's front page:

I found myself needing a few common utilities as I was writing an Ajax application. Rather than use a heavyweight or verbose library, I wanted something compact that minimized the amount of typing I needed to do. This is where the name q12 comes from, just three little keys up there in the upper left corner of the keyboard.

This library provides functions for the following:

  • Basic DOM manipulation
  • Asynchronous HTTP requests with callbacks
  • Class methods and inheritance
  • Base64 encoding and other forms of data escaping
  • AES encryption
Writing your own Ajax library is also a great way to learn JavaScript (IMHO). I'll be making little tweaks as I work further on my project, it's getting quite close. I think I've probably said that before but rewriting from scratch tends to set one back a bit. Third iteration's the charm?

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

One Laptop Per Child, Give One Get One

If you are looking for a cheap, power efficient, portable laptop for wireless web browsing and programming, like I was, consider the XO Laptop from the One Laptop Per Child association. I ordered one to keep and one as a donation through the Give One Get One program. It looks like it will be a lot of fun, I'm especially interested in the wireless mesh networking and social aspects to using the laptop. Some of the the music software looks like fun as well.

I'm ordering one for mostly selfish reasons, but this is probably my first computer purchase which will benefit someone else. Who knows, perhaps a child in a developing nation will discover a new world of seemingly limitless possibilities through programming just like I did as a child. This is my personal take on the vision behind this unique program. The opportunity to order one is slipping away fast, the offer to buy one and give one away ends December 31st. Let me know if you've ordered one, perhaps we can organize a laptop party (Arne I'm looking at you ;-)