HOW TO visualize approximate radial distance from a fixed point on a map

The Twitter Location Search app utilizes Google Maps to show approximate radial distance from a specified point on a map

If you are an API developer, this tool can be useful to visualize approximate radial distance while dealing with location-specific queries.

The Twitter Search API supports a parameter called geocode that returns tweets by users located within a given radius of the given latitude/longitude for a given search term.

The parameter value is specified by "latitude,longitude,radius", where radius units must be specified as either "mi" (miles) or "km" (kilometers).

The maximum limit for the radius is not specified in the API docs but the Advanced Search feature on Twitter has 1000 as the upper limit.

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Render "cross-domain" content on the client-side with JSONP feeds & jQuery

When websites provide Feeds of their content, they not only allow that content to be read through Feed readers like Google Reader but also let other sites consume that content programmatically. These feeds can be in various formats like RSS, Atom, JSON, JSONP.

Instead of scraping content from sites they don't own, developers can use RSS, Atom & JSON feeds with server-side programming languages to display that content on their own sites.

JSON stands for JavaScript Object Notation. The advantage with JSON for developers is that it can be directly translated into a JavaScript object. No parsing is necessary to get at the data.

A client-side programming language like JavaScript can however not be used to load a feed if the domain from which the feed is originating is not the same as the site where it is going to be consumed programmatically. That's were JSONP comes in.

The P in JSONP stands for "padding". A JSONP feed is same as a JSON feed except that the feed provider pads the results with a bit more information. JSONP wraps the JSON-formatted response in a function call named by the developer. It allows "cross-domain" feed content to be used via a callback function.

A JSONP feed can be consumed easily using the jQuery ajax() & getJSON() methods.

There is a great explanation of JSONP in the freely downloadable book jQuery Succinctly -

JSON with Padding (JSONP) is a technique that allows the sender of an HTTP request, where JSON is returned, to provide a name for a function that is invoked with the JSON object as a parameter of the function. This technique does not use XHR. It uses the script element so data can be pulled into any site, from any site. The purpose is to circumvent the same-source policy limitations of XMLHttpRequest. 

Using the getJSON() jQuery function, you can load JSON data from another domain when a JSONP callback function is added to the URL. As an example, here is what a URL request would look like using the Flickr API. 
http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/photos_public.gne?tags=resig&tagmode=all&format=json
&jsoncallback=?  

The ? value is used as a shortcut that tells jQuery to call the function that is passed as a parameter of the getJSON() function. You could replace the ? with the name of another function if you do not want to use this shortcut. 

According to the ProgrammableWeb website, which has been doing a great job of cataloging web-based APIs, there are currently 360 services that offer JSONP feeds. This is good news for jQuery developers.

Related:

• Create a dead simple Twitter feed with jQuery
• Simple PHP Proxy: JavaScript finally "gets" cross-domain!

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Free Online To-Do List apps

A global LinkedIn survey of 6580 professionals revealed that 71% of women & 60% of men keep to-do lists

..LinkedIn found professionals working in agriculture claim to be most productive: 83 percent stated that they regularly fulfill most of all of their planned tasks. The regularity of routine (due to sunlight, seasons and the fact that if you don’t feed the pig, the grass, the chickens… well, they die) is real motivation to get your to-do’s done and something those of us outside of agriculture can learn from.


Here's a list of web-based free To Do List apps that you choose from -

1. Gmail Tasks (mobile version) 
2. Simplenote 
3. ToBeeDo 
4. Ta-da List 
5. Todoist 
6. voo2do
7. Remember the Milk 
8. Toodledo (see Toodledo's comparison of popular TO DO list apps)
9. Producteev 
10. TodoListMe 
11. Todo.ly 
12. Workflowy 
13. Task Resolver 
14. GQueues 
15. Focuth 
16. Organisr

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An overview of ACS, ADFS, WIF

Notes from the TechNet Windows Azure AppFabric Access Control Service (ACS) Academy video series -

• ACS or Access Control Service is a cloud service that abstracts authentication & lets you focus on app development rather than on plumbing
• ACS is part of Windows Azure Platform - a service within AppFabric 
• ACS offers federation with Internet identity providers (like Windows Live ID, Facebook, Yahoo, Google) & corporate identity providers (via ADFS v2.0) 
• Federation means you can outsource authentication to industry mature identity management systems
• ACS implements federation and trust for web apps using industry standards protocols.
• ACS can use WS-Federation, WS-Trust, OpenID, OAuth 2.0, OAuth WRAP and SAML 1.1 and 2.0, SWT token formats
• ACS works for Web and Web services architectures
• The core functionality of Access Control Service (ACS) & Active Directory Federation Services or ADFS is STS or Security Token Service
• Both Access Control Service (ACS) & Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS) can be used to implement SSO or single sign-on
• ADFS is an on-premises STS & is part of the AD in Windows Server.
• ADFS is both an on-premises Identity & Federation provider. ACS does not manage identities 
• ADFS relies on Active Directory for identity management but it can federate with non-MS enterprise identity providers like Oracle Identity Federation, CA Federation Manager & more
• ACS & ADFS integrate seamlessly
• ACS can serve Private Cloud, PaaS Cloud (not just limited to Windows Azure Platform due to its implementation on open standards) and SaaS Cloud needs
• ACS is not limited to consumption by Windows Azure deployed apps; any modern app platform hosted on PaaS cloud providers can consume ACS
• ACS can serve cloud deployed apps, on-premises apps, mobile device apps
• WIF or Windows Identity Foundation is a .NET runtime that runs as part of your web application or service.
• WIF is available as a free download
• ACS & WIF perform protocol & token heavy lifting so that you can focus on your authorization logic
• ACS does heavy lifting for handling protocols like WS-Federation, WS-Trust, OpenID, OAuth 2.0, OAuth WRAP, Facebook Graph
• ACS can issue normalized SAML & SWT tokens 
• You can control authorization access via the ACS Rules Engine & WIF
• WIF parses incoming tokens & exposes a convenient .NET API
• WIF provides design time tooling via FedUtil wizard tool
• WIF offers extensibility through configuration sections, custom toke handlers
• Using Rules Engine, you can control what claims get into the token & which Identity providers can provide authorization
• Windows Identity Foundation (WIF) offers Role-based access control (RBAC) & Claims-based authorization
• 2 ways to Administer ACS - via Management Portal & Management Service
• Management Portal - accessed through Windows Azure portal
• Management Service is a service that exposes OData endpoint & offers additional functionality not available via Management Portal
• ACS can be managed manually and programmatically
• 4 Key components of ACS:
  • Security Token Service (STS) - it issues tokens for clients that they use to present to the application in order to be authenticated
  • Management Portal - UI for administering ACS
  • Management Service - API/endpoint that is used for management automation. Everything you can do with the Management Portal, you can automate via the Management Service
  • Token Transformation Rule Engine - allows configuration based token transformation 

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Vent your anger drawing your own "rage comics"

NY Times has a nice article on Rage Comics -

When you get angry, you can lash out or seethe inside. 
Or you can head to the Web to assemble and publish a cartoon to share some of that rage. Many people with little to no artistic ability — but with some pretty funny tales — do that in something called rage comics. 
...
They have created a genre of Internet humor that, unlike the Keyboard Cat or Rickrolling, two famous Internet memes, continues to grow nearly five years after its obscure beginnings. Today, thousands of rage comics are posted daily. Most are the creations of anonymous people seeking not fame, but an audience with whom they can air their dark wit. Popular themes are public embarrassment, private shame in the bedroom or bathroom, and most of all, the unbearable burden of dealing with other people’s stupidity. 

RageMaker is a popular browser-based rage comic editing and publishing tool that you can use once you have dialogues for you cartoon characters ready.

Here's my first attempt at creating a rage comic -

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Archive tweets & favorites with Google Reader

There are numerous ways to archive tweets but rather than use yet another tool, I prefer using Google Reader to preserve the tweets I mark as favorite on Twitter.  Google Reader can preserve your tweets, favorites or those of others from the time you subscribe to a corresponding Feed.  

You can access any individual public users timeline or their favorites in RSS, ATOM, XML and JSON formats:

https://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/<username>.rss

https://twitter.com/favorites/<username>.rss

Replace the username in the links above with the Twitter handle.

To track your own timeline with updates from your follower, try this -
https://api.twitter.com/1/statuses/following_timeline.rss?user=<username>

Search results for your keywords or hashtags can also be tracked.  

With Google Reader's "Send to" feature, you can post links from a subscribed Twitter feed to other social networking sites like Facebook, Reddit, Delicious etc.

Also see:

• HOW TO add hashtags while auto-publishing posts to Twitter
• Google Mobilizer Bookmarklet - view just text of web pages from Twitter links
• New hands-free Twitter interface: Brain-computer

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Cloud Computing - Questions & Answers

Compiled from multiple resources that I've gone through over the last few months:

* What is Cloud computing?

• Cloud computing is Internet-based computing, whereby shared resources, software and information are provided to computers and other devices on-demand, like electricity.

* What are the key features of Cloud computing?

• Pooled resources - Available to any subscribing users
• Virtualization - High utilization of hardware assets
• Elasticity - Dynamic scale without CAPEX (capital or upfront expenses)
• Automation - Build, deploy, configure, provision, and move, all without manual intervention
• Metered billing - Per-usage business model; pay only for what you use

* What are the benefits of Cloud computing?

• Economic - shift of capital expenses (CAPEX) to operational expenses (OPEX), and the potential reduction in OPEX associated with operating the infrastructure.
• Agility benefits - not having to procure and provision servers
• Efficiency - time-to-market advantages
• Security

* What are the different types of Cloud Services?

• IaaS, Infrastructure as a Service  - Environment for building a native application. Users create Virtual Machines (VMs) on demand. Ex - Amazon EC2 (runs about 1 percent of the entire internet)
• PaaS or Platform as a Service - Environment for building a managed application with an IDE with a rich class library that xecutes in a runtime container. Ex - Google’s AppEngine, Windows Azure, SalesForce AppForce & Heroku (Ruby focussed)
• SaaS, Software as a Service - Packaged software application. Examples - Salesforce, Google Apps, Office 365, Zoho, IBM Lotus Live

* List some scenarios where Cloud computing can be utilized?

• Low-tech example: corporate website 
• Medium-tech example: backup and file-storage systems
• High-tech example: new product development 
• VMs for a Dev/Test lab
• Disaster recovery
• Deadline-driven, large compute problems. Ex - Washington Post
• Large data set, high-compute scenarios. Ex - Eli Lilly
• Online web presence and community. Ex -Virgin Atlantic

* In which scenarios is Cloud computing unfit?

• Legacy systems
• Applications involving real-time/mission-critical scenarios
• Applications dealing with confidential data

* List some concerns about adopting cloud computing

• Security
• Performance
• Availability
• Hard to integrate with in-house IT
• Not enough ability to customize
• Worry that on-demand will cost more
• Bringing it back in-house may be difficult
• Regulatory requirements prohibit cloud
• Not enough major suppliers yet

* What is a Private Cloud?

• Cloud platform used by a single organization

* What are the benefits of SaaS for users?

• Faster deployment
• Usage-based pricing
• Less financial risk
• Reduced need for on-premises resources
• Easier upgrades

* What are the risks of SaaS  for users?

• Requires trusting a SaaS provider
• Can raise legal/regulatory concerns
• Can limit customization
• Can be harder to integrate
• Can have lower performance

* What are the benefits of SaaS for Software Vendors?

• Offers potential to reach new customers
• Can sell directly to business decision makers
• Can provide more predicatable revenue
• Can lower support costs
• Provides more knowledge about how customers use the application

* What are the risks of SaaS for Software Vendors?

• Must demonstrate real value
• Revenue builds up more slowly
• May lessen ability to sell customization
• Requires significant business changes

* What are the computing paradigm shifts that led to the evolution of Cloud computing?

• Shift from mainframes to client-server to web
• Data center evolution through hardware & networking improvements
• SOA - Things that humans did through browsers that interacted with a web server are now done machine-to-machine using the same web-based standard protocols
• Virtualization - Server virtualization transforms or virtualizes the hardware resources of a computer including the CPU, RAM, hard disk, and network controller—to create a fully functional virtual machine that can run its own operating system and applications like a physical computer. 
• SaaS - business model innovation

Resources:

The Cloud at Your Service

Pluralsight: Cloud Computing: The Big Picture

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