(Update at end of post)

Check this great site out right now:

http://labs.ideeinc.com/multicolour/

Sweet, right?

After I discovered it, I started changing code on http://www.colr.org to link from colors and schemes to the multicolour search.

(Click on a color or scheme, then click the "more" button).

Awesome. Took about 20 minutes total.

You know who else has color searching? Istockphoto.com does. I hooked up colr.org to their site last year.

http://www.istockphoto.com/file_search.php?action=file&color=227,1,99

You know who else has color searching? Etsy.com does:

http://www.etsy.com/color.php

And theirs is awesome and fun.

But you know what sucks? I can't link to etsy's color search with colors passed as arguments.

Several months ago, I emailed the etsy folks, suggesting they add the ability to supply colors as arguments (like a search query).

On Feb. 2, 2007, Lloyd Dalton <daltonlp@gmail.com> wrote: Hello,

Your search-by-colors interface is very fun to play with.

I like to read Joel's stuff. But sometimes I disagree wildly, and this is one of those times.

He makes several points, one of which makes a bit of sense.

just build cool stuff, and wait for the hardware to catch up...we don't care about performance or optimization much anymore.

There's something to that. Remember when people cared about html page size?

Then Joel goes straight off the deep end.

So if history repeats itself, we can expect some standardization of Ajax user interfaces to happen in the same way we got Microsoft Windows.

His supporting arguments for this are:

• There are a buncha-buncha ajax frameworks out there, all of which do the same basic stuff

• An anecdote about Lotus and their 3D spreadsheet.

The lotus analogy is stupid as hell.

Website stats that show referrer information look similar to this:

51	51	 0.38%	http://www.google.com.mx/search

But if you have a Google Gadget that makes requests to your website, you'll see something like this:

...
9	9	0.47%	http://9.gmodules.com/ig/ifr
8	8	0.27%	http://22.gmodules.com/ig/ifr
8	8	0.07%	http://89.gmodules.com/ig/ifr
5	5	0.12%	http://34.gmodules.com/ig/ifr
5	5	0.18%	http://36.gmodules.com/ig/ifr
5	5	1.12%	http://38.gmodules.com/ig/ifr
...

When Google gadgets make requests for data, these requests are sent to a proxy server at Google, which then repeats the request to the original destination. This is because of the browser restriction that javascript can't make requests to domains other than the domain of the page it's on.

The proxy servers also cache the requests and responses.

This is an attempt at a standards-compliant, cross-browser, color select interface widget. It's written in javascript & css, and is fairly modular and customizable. Multiple independent color selects can exist on the same page.

It may be slightly jerky, because this site uses a different javascript library, which competes with the color select for handling browser events. The color select is a stand-alone piece of javascript, not tied to any library. See colr.org for an example of the widget on its own.

Update: Jonas Tampier contributed a javascript fix that fixes strange behavior when the color select is inside an absolutely positioned element. To update, replace your version of color_select.js with the current one.

Update: Andy Smith's code is now used for attaching events.

Calls for impeaching president bush have been appearing more and more frequently on the web. But I don't think it'll happen, because of the following:

1) It's tougher than you think.

Impeaching a sitting president is serious business. It's the last step before armed rebellion. Gentlemanly behavior goes out the window and politics becomes a bloody knife fight (even more than usual). All the favors get called in.

Most politicians go into public service as a career. They understand the constitution, but they aren't exactly eager to sacrifice their careers for it. They don't want that knife fight.

It's possible to change their minds, but tough.

Hey Cheney,

How long ago did you decide?

I bet it was last Halloween - the same day Lewis Libby was indicted for perjury.

You chose right then and there to spring him from whatever sentence was imposed, assuming a conviction could be obtained and upheld.

While we followed the trial, you planned the jailbreak. That was why you didn't testify - you didn't need to. In fact, better all around that Libby was convicted. It helped to have a fall guy to absorb the scandal.

Through the whole trial, you plotted. While the witnesses sat in the dock. While the jury deliberated. You smiled that thin-lipped smile and drew up plans.

I bet you told the defense to keep you off the stand. They wouldn't have got you in a courtroom for the world. You would have had to answer questions.

"Why don't you talk to the process improvement steering committee and ask them to create a flow diagram illustrating the problem?"

"That's like suggesting I pee up a tree."

In August 2003, I hiked with scout troop 95 across Isle Royale. It was a wonderful trip. The notes I took are recorded below.

If you're interested in visiting Isle Royale, see the information at the end.

Day 1

Morning conditions: Fog & mist, very wet.

The casino is a lousy place to stay overnight. I wish we'd known about the free campsites just down the road.

The 3-hour ride out to the island on the ferry Wenonah was nice. No seasickness, interesting conversations with other passengers. Some family groups, a girl scout troop.

We step onto the island at 12:30. After a short orientation and a .3-mile hike to Washington Creek campground, camp is set up by 2:00.

This is an experiment. I'm using an old scout pack from the 70's (I think), slightly augmented with modern technology.