This is a collection of some of the programming-centric things I tinker with when I'm not hard at work.

Flickr

AutoSmile for Flickr

AutoSmile is a Greasemonkey-powered client script that users can install on Firefox. It translates standard ASCII emoticon character combinations into 16x16 image emoticons, automatically and seamlessly. It also provides a "Live Preview" feature that shows you what your comment will look like as you type it.

Upcoming Flickr Tool: "Phote For It"

I'm looking for Flickr users who would like to help test my next Flickr tool.
Firefox users only.
Email me if you're interested: brian@shaler.name.

Digg

Digg RADAR

Expanding from the Map of the Digg Community, I set up a real-time feed from Digg, showing little thumbs-up icons whenever a user "Diggs" (votes on) a Digg story. Of course, this piece also implements the coordinates system from before, so the icons appear on the map where the Digging user is located. I named it "Digg RADAR" after it was completed, because the final product reminded me of, well, a RADAR.

DiggStatus

DiggStatus is a small utility that calculates the average usage statistics of Digg users and compares them to the statistics of a selected user. It utilizes PHP, MySQL, Flash, and XML. A couple weeks after launching DiggStatus, I released a report containing statistical analysis of the data the tool had collected. The article is here.

DiggTaggr

DiggTaggr is a Greasemonkey-powered 3rd party Digg tool that searches for and displays links to Digg stories that are relevant to the one being viewed.

DiggTaggr Data Visualization

It's no mystery that I am a fan of data visualization. 7 weeks after the public launch of DiggTaggr, I decided to challenge myself to display the 115,000 requests by several thousand unique users in the most interesting way possible. The results? Here.

Mapping the Digg Community

Part of the purpose of any social web site is to build a network of friends. Using the recently released Digg API, I created a map of Digg users and how they're connected to each other. If you are a Digg user, use the search feature to find out if you were included in the making of the map. If you were, a marker will be placed on the map indicating where you are.

No-Comment Digg RSS Feeds

No-Comment Digg RSS Feeds are the solution many Digg users have been looking for. The Problem: Quite often, popular Digg stories get hundreds of user comments. This contributes to a slower page load time as well as browser stability issues (when especially excessive). The Solution: All 106 of Digg's standard RSS feeds can be requested through this filter that will alter the URL to the story to a page on Digg that shows the story information, but omits the comments (The "Who Dugg or Blogged It?" tab). The Result: Much quicker access to Digg from your RSS feeds. It's also very easy to select the feed you want (out of all 106), in 2 clicks or less!

Flash Eye Candy