Wednesday, August 3, 2011

‪Google Search with Instant Pages‬‏ - YouTube

‪Google Search with Instant Pages‬‏ - YouTube

The latest version of Google's Chrome browser has a very nifty feature, Instant Pages, that gives the impression that your computer's connection to the Internet is very much faster than it really is - nearly instantaneously fast, on most sites that I have tested.



As demonstrated in this video released today, Instant Pages essentially assumes that the number one top-ranked search result will be the actual site with the best answer to your search query. Chrome pre-loads that page in the background, and on most pages I've tested, this translates to nearly instant access to that page.

Unlike some similar pre-loading utilities that made the rounds online back in the late 1990's, which pre-loaded every single link on a page, so that the next page loaded would seem to load faster than usual, this technique should not product undue stress on the old "Interwebs."

Chances are, the top-ranked search result IS the best site, and this could translate to some serious time savings for heavy Chrome users, and Internet professionals who are online all the time.

If you're not a Chrome user, download it and give it a try. It's fast, free, extensible - and fun. 

Friday, July 15, 2011

Wappalyzer - Chrome Extension Analyzes Website Tools

Wappalyzer - Home



As a web designer and developer, this is such a cool tool... A free browser add-in for either Firefox or Chrome, Wappalyzer will analyze the website you are viewing, and tell you pretty quickly what content management system, javascript library and other tools that site is using. The tool can detect literally dozens of tools used to build today's websites. 

For example, the screen capture above shows that the website http://connect.bushtec.com is built on WordPress, using jQuery, SWFObject and has Google Analytics installed.

The pop-up windows shown above doesn't show unless you click the Wappalyzer icon in your Chrome toolbar.

Here's an article about the Wappalyzer Firefox add-in.