onfocus

Hey, it's Weblog BookWatch Top 10!

I thought it would be interesting to see which books are being mentioned most frequently on weblogs. Weblog BookWatch keeps track of weblogs that flow through the recently changed list at weblogs.com and searches for links to Amazon.com. Then it looks at the ISBN in the link's URL, and counts the link as a mention of that book. The most fequently mentioned books show up on the Top 10 list, with references to the weblogs that mentioned them. It's only looking for books right now (not CDs or other products), and only looking for links to Amazon.com.

Update: To answer Jason's question, yes I'm scraping Amazon to get the book information. They don't offer it through their API yet.

Thanks to weblogs.com for the great service (and for offering their list in XML). And to Amazon.com for the book info.

similarly, Google released their API—ya know, in case you hadn't heard. It feels like the Web is taking its next step. (Or maybe it's just the big sites catching up.)

Amazon is offering an XML Platform for developers so they can integrate Amazon's best-sellers into their websites. If you're an associate, log into the associate site for more info. This is an interesting step toward Amazon becoming a Web Service. They're ahead of the curve, and really understand how the Web works. I can't wait to see how they expand this.

An independent developer has already written a Perl module called Business::Associates that works with the new platform.

this rocks: DayPop is tracking Amazon Wish Lists. (I have one of those.) The next step is to be able to filter a list like that by my friends—or by groups of domain experts in various subjects. (imagine: this is what the top 50 web designers [as voted by their peers] are wanting to read. or doctors. or indy musicians. or anthropology students. etc.)

Are we getting the whole story from the Middle East? According to CNN, "In Ramallah, Israeli forces raided the offices of several news organizations and one U.S. aid organization Monday, using gunfire and explosives to enter the buildings, according to eyewitnesses." (CNN and Fox News among them.) And this AP story contains an Editor's Note at the end: "This story was submitted to the Israeli military censor, who ordered significant deletions." [via Democracy Now] I'd like to hear people at news organizations talk about how much they're able to report.

Add Link Titles

I wrote a script to solve another one of my pet design peeves. And I figured, why not share it? When a new window pops-up, especially for comments on weblogs, many times there is no status bar. Then, when you mouse-over a link, you can't tell where you're going to end up if you click that link. You either have to click it and take your chances, or right-click the link and view properties to find the URL.

This new way to view URLs will save a few clicks. I created a browser extension that will set the "title" attribute of every link on the page to the value of the "href" attribute of that link. So when you mouse-over a link, like this one, you'll get a little window (similar to alt text for images) with the full URL for that link. To activate this feature on any page, you'll just need to right-click anywhere and choose "Add Link Titles" from the menu. Here's a script that will install the menu extension:

Add Link Titles Setup
(right-click, Save Target As..., then double-click to install.)


What the new context menu entry looks like.

This is for Internet Explorer on Windows machines only.

I live outside of DSL range so I use a standard dial-up modem every day. Being bandwidth-impaired can be frustrating at times, but it could be better if more sites practiced some minor low-bandwidth courtesy.

My top design pet peeves are related to forms and have simple solutions:

a) It's fine to have a JavaScript focus() in the page's onLoad event, but if there are a bunch of graphics on the page, I've probably already filled out five fields by the time the page fully loads. Once all of the graphics finally load, the focus takes the cursor away from the field I'm working on and places the next five characters I've typed into the initial field...where they don't belong. Then I have to erase those characters, find the spot where I was on the form, and continue. And I'm not going to wait until all of the images load to start filling out the form–and neither is anyone else. If there are a bunch of images on the page, skip the "convenient" focus().

b) I don't mind images instead of standard form buttons, but for pete's sake, pre-load any graphic form elements with JavaScript so they're the first images that show up on the page. Once again, I don't want to wait for every other image to load before I can find the submit button. Most likely I'm done with the form by then and ready to move on.

It feels like I'm in the minority of Internet users with only a dial-up connection because just about everyone I know has DSL. But I'm actually in the majority. According to this article: Broadband Slowed by High Prices, "By the end of 2002, only about 15 million to 16 million U.S. households will be using a broadband connection — out of roughly 66 million homes with Internet access."

The weather was freaking incredible this weekend. For a few weeks every year, the weather hits damn near perfect in this part of the world. The hills are still green and wildflowers start blooming everywhere. Now is the time, and I spent most of the weekend outside taking advantage of it. The lawn is mowed, the garden is ready to go, and some plants have been planted. I went for two hikes this weekend, with today's the most spectacular: a four mile trail at Point Reyes with some great views. We saw deer, elk, snakes, rabbits, giant slugs, ducks, cranes, and only four other hikers on the trail. I took pictures.

it's later than you think it is.