Noura Yehia: 45+ JQuery user interface plugins you must use

The web is different these days, i remember the days when anchoring (<a name="jumphere">) were considered as magic.
These days, following the overwhelming outburst of javascript frameworks, it's getting easier and simpler to generate extended, usable, fun and sexy interface.
This 45+ JQuery user interface plugins you must use list, is packed with some slick design and usability supplements that should be strongly condered when choosing a javascript framework and user interface guidelines for your application.

WireIt: Javascript wiring library

one thing i was always trying to figure out, is how to make lines in HTML/JS, after recently finding out about the Yahoo Pipes interface i came across this lightweight library that does the same thing, show objects are wired to each other.
There is an open source JavaScript library, which enables you to create this "wired interface", named WireIt.


WireIt is very well-documented & has some attractive examples.

Rails nil, null empty or blank object

From the rails Ruby Object extenstion, The Object#blank? is now covering nil, blank and empty responses.

so:

elad = nil
elad.blank? # true

and even empty containers

elad = []
elad.blank? # true

note: Remember that this is a Rails extension to Ruby's Object, so it will not work on IRB, but will on console

David Walsh: The most preferred Javascript Framework

David Walsh, one of my favorite RSS destinations, posted a poll a while ago in order to get a quick look over the preferred javascript framework in use these days.
Well the winner is JQuery, but not in a too wide margin from MooTools at the back, at least not as i thought it would be.
I personally voted for JQuery at that time, but since i switch frameworks depanding on the project nesecities, i think my vote is divided equally by MooTools and JQuery. Dojo was well at the back with only 2 (!!) votes and a close to 0% of vote share, kind of a surprise to me, i was really impressed by Dojo and was considering using it, or at least benchin' it out a little bit.

An alternative to MochaUI: a JQuery based virtual desktop

I am personally using mochaUI is my current projects, and it was one of the main reasons a started working with MooTools at all, but this alternative to a web based desktop implementation is also something to pay attention too.
Although MochaUI is far more feature-packed, i think that this basic JQuery implementaion can be a good start for starting off a new web based desktop application (Add some plugins, and ding! ready).

How much to charge? project estiamtion for freelancers

This neat little tool allows you to fill in a basic form with tasks and hours x rate calculation in order to know how much to charge for a project, cute, not more.

max indelicato:17 Distributed Systems and Web Scalability Resources

Well, scaling an application in my opinion, i like doing the dishes after a really big dinner, nobody wants to do it, but you have to.
Just leaving it there will only make the process of cleaning and washing the dishes worst, and might add some more problems on the way.
Max Indelicato stats in his blog a list of 17 Distributed Systems and Web Scalability Resources which makes it easier to understand and to implement a proper application scaling policy, and on time.

Drew Douglass: The 20 Most Practical and Creative Uses of jQuery

• 
  

  James Padolsey Color Switcher

  
  One of our sporadic writers, James Padolsey, has a nice feature on his website. A "customize" bar in the top right portion of the screen allows you to change the background color of the header.
  Visit Site
  
• 
  

  Dragon Interactives jQuery Navigation

  
  These guys are pretty much Gods of web design, and their site really proves it. Just have a look at the custom jQuery navigation they used on their homepage. Have you ever seen such a sexy navigation in your life?
  Visit Site
  
• 
  

  FamSpams FaceBox

  
  FamFamFam needed a custom lightbox like script for FamSpam (whew, say that three times). They ended up building what is now know as FaceBox, which replicates the effects of lightbox, but goes above and beyond by allowing you to load in static html pages, contact forms, anything you wish really! FaceBox is now a jQuery plugin after all the demand for their script.
  Visit Site
  
• 
  

  Grooveshark Widget Creator

  
  Instead of going with a typical flash menu/control menu, Grooveshark mixed it up a bit and built a custom jQuery script to allow you to make your own music widgets; pretty nifty indeed.
  Visit Site
  
• 
  

  CSS-Tricks Fade-In Navigation

  
  CSS-Tricks, by Chris Coyier, is next up on the list with a wonderfully simple and creative jQuery navigation. When the links are hovered over, instead of immediately changing colors, jQuery is used to help the color fade slowly to the desired color.
  Visit Site
  
• 
  

  David Walsh Link Nudge

  
  Developer David Walsh of DavidWalsh.name implements an extremely simple to use script to give your links a little nudge on hover. The script utilizes the strong animation capabilities of jQuery triggered on hover. Check out the links in the sidebar and in the footer to see the effect in action.
  Visit Site
  
• 
  

  CarrotCreative-Custom Sites Lightbox

  
  If you check out the CarrotCreative website, you will actually notice two really unique jQuery effects. Firstly, if you click on sites in the upper left, you will see a unique application of a 'lightbox' like effect listing their sites and icons. Secondly, if you click on any navigation links, you will notice there is no refresh, but that the new page just slides in from the right. Cool stuff!
  Visit Site
  
• 
  

  BrightCreative Portfolio

  
  Another "two for one" special, Bright Creative uses an extremely subtle glow effect in their navigation that is very calming and warm. In addition, all of their portfolio pages have a tabbing effect, so their is no need for the user to refresh the page every time - thanks to AJAX and jQuery.
  Visit Site
  
• 
  

  Incredible Login Form

  
  Not too long ago, Connor Zwick wrote us a nice tutorial that demonstrates exactly how to build an amazing drop-down login form.
  Visit Site
  
• 
  

  Application Scroller by Aviary

  
  It would be an insult to call this a type of 'marquee' (shivers uttering that word). Instead, Aviary came up with a very nice looking and functioning 'scroller' to showcase a lot of text in a small amount of space. Even better is that the scroller will degrade gracefully is javascript is disabled.
  Visit Site
  
• 
  

  Featured Fade Effect by DesignFlavr

  
  DesignFlavr, known for their great sources of design inspiration, put together a simple fadeIn/fadeOut script to showcase their featured artwork and corresponding descriptions. Also, they've used the lavalamp plugin quite well on their main navigation.
  Visit Site
  
• 
  

  Hv-Designs Fade In RSS Icon

  
  On the Hv-Designs homepage, you will notice the the RSS icon starts off as an outline/sketch of the actual image. Then, when hovered, the rss icons 'glows' into place.
  Visit Site
  
• 
  

  Asylums Custom Scroller

  
  Besides being an absolutely hilarious website, Asylum has their own sweet 'featured articles' scrolling script. It's hard to put a finger on why this one is so nice, but that is probably because it behaves slightly differently than most scrolling scripts. It almost seems to snap into place after you give it a click.
  Visit Site
  
• 
  

  5 Javascript Tricks Made Easy with jQuery

  
  Brian Reindel created a webpage showcasing 5 custom scripts you can use however you like. The article takes ideas and previous javascript techniques frequently used and utilizes jQuery to make them powerful, compact, and easy to read.
  Visit Site
  
• 
  

  Codas Entire Website

  
  Coda is well known for its amazing UI and site design. It set a fire under the jQuery plugin community by inspiring many developers to re create their page tabbing effect. In addition, they have a wonderful on hover effect on the links located in the header.
  Visit Site
  
• 
  

  Clark Lab Fading Effect

  
  ClarkLab is a well known and very successful author on ThemeForest. If you visit his portfolio below, you will notice the large header images eventually fade to the next, showcasing all of his latest work. The fade effect is so well done and subtle, you barely notice the new image showing up.
  Visit Site
  
• 
  

  Rob Young | E is for Effort

  
  Designer and Art Director Rob Young used a unique idea of displaying his artwork on a simulated Mac screen. Then using jQuery scrolling effects, each new page slides into the page view as if it is being loaded on a computer.
  Visit Site
  
• 
  

  Web Designer Wall

  
  Besides being a visually stunning website, WDW features some unique custom jQuery scripting to add classes to certain elements on hover. Check out the effects when the rss and navigation items are hovered over.
  Visit Site
  
• 
  

  KomodoMedia

  
  I've saved my absolute favorite site for last. First, just look at that design, it's wonderfully unique and comforting. Using one of the most creative jQuery scripts I have ever seen, KM has a 'foliage-o-meter' slider where sliding it either increases or decreases the foliage and design of the theme, depending on the direction the slider is moved. For an easter egg be sure to check out the source code!
  Visit Site
  

Free Legal Documents, Contracts and other stuff

if you need a real, professional legal document, go to a lawyer!

Now that we are done with the warning, i want to recommend a very good free online pdf and other document collection site, and specifically it's rich legal category, i found some pretty good documents over there. enjoy.

Tim Bray: Ruby is the Leading Language for Web Applications

A pretty while ago in fact (Apr 2008), i wonder what the status is right now..
"In his keynote talk at the recent Silicon Valley Ruby Conference, Sun’s Tim Bray asserted that “PHP and Ruby are the languages of choice for new web apps.” Coming from most people, this wouldn’t be a remarkable comment, but given that Tim is Sun’s director of web technologies, it is worthy of note. Java wasn’t even on Tim’s list, much less his recommended solution."
from Building Web Apps (subscribe to their RSS, recommended!)

Blog future plans

I have been trying for quiet a long time to get a move on Mephisto as my blog and to my own domain and get out of blogger for good.
Well, i finally bought eizesus.com which was supposed to host this blog and another blog in Hebrew dedicated to bring Rails to Israeli programmers (as well as a forum system).

So meantime, until i do the move and move the new blog and forum into production iv'e moved this blog to a subdomain at http://blog.eizesus.com, the old blogger url is still available but i suggest you update your bookmarks so later on there won't be any problem when i will drop the Blogger account at all.

yougetsignal.com: Great web2.0 tool

i just love those web2.0 small time project, where people make their own application for something they wanted, and it turns out to be a Tsunami of digg hits.
yougetsignal.com is a great website with some various network tools for checking connectivity, domains, hosts, and traces (even phones) all of that within a great UI design.
really nice, and in the owners words:

YouGetSignal.com is a collection of network tools that I started working on in late September of 2007. The name of the site, YouGetSignal, is a nerdy play on a line of broken English from the infamous "All your base are belong to us" cut scene.

Free file hosting

I hardly use my box.net account anymore, not since i started to seriously use GoogleDocs and transfer almost all my domains to GoogleApps, mostly because of the fact that all the files i uploaded were documents.
But still, for anyone who might need this kind of service, here is a list of free file storage and hosting services

Free Shell Accounts

There are many uses for shell accounts, i prefer to use them for my legal needs only (MySQL, mail bouncing...), and although some people misuse this utility quiet ofter, i still think people be familiar with it.

Check out the free shell services

Looking for a RoR team

Well, it's time to move on and work on marketing my new application (can't tell you what it is yet :) ), but i need a dedicated, professional Rails+Client Side development team to support the final stage of development, and to continue supporting further changes.
I heard about people getting teams in India, and some companies offer services for out-sourcing code, but i prefer at the moment to find a team (india, USA doesn't matter) that will support my application and will be ready to put some real work into it.
anyway, if anyone is interested, post me a message on linkedin.
basically the skills i need are

* Ruby on Rails experience (2.x)
* Client side (JQuery, MooTools, MochaUi is a great plus).
* CSS and some basic design capabilities.
* DBA (MySQL, Oracle experience will be a great advantage).
* Amazon AWS+S3+EC2 experience.
* ability to work remotely.

i will prefer a whole team, rather than finding these skills in specific programmers and building the team myself.

UPDATE: All positions are filled, thank you everyone!