Monthly Archives: March 2010

Wordoid: Creative (Domain) Naming Service

I probably don’t need to subject you to another rehash of “Oh, it’s so difficult to find domain names. All the good ones are taken…” You’ve likely heard that story at least a few times by now.

Wordoid.com is a website that hopes to help you solve that problem. Enter a word, set the language, maximum length, and a few other options, and out comes a list of “wordoids.” Wordoids are, as the name suggests, made-up words that sound just like they could be real words. Words like underful, intendings, outwittery, or, conspiffy. It’s an easy way to find suggestions for a catchy domain name. (Outwittery sounds like it should be some sort of Twitter-connected word game…)

I wonder how they generate the words. My best guess is some sort of Markov text generator.

Apple to Launch a Mobile Ad Platform on April 7th?

There have been some interesting rumors going around in Apple land again. MediaPost is convinced that Apple is going to announce a mobile ad platform called “iAd” on April 7th. Precise details of the system and its features could not be discerned at presstime…

WordPress HTTP Request Class

Many WordPress plugin and theme developers eventually find the need to have their application make HTTP requests to a remote server. One example would be to make calls to the Twitter API, which involves making GET and POST requests and collecting the XML/JSON response.…

BlogBuzz March 27, 2010

Google to Offer Users a Way to Opt-Out of Google Analytics Tracking?

A somewhat vague post on TechCrunch, linking to a Google blog posting of equal nebulousness, suggests that Google will soon be releasing a browser plugin to enable users to opt-out of being tracked by Google Analytics. Over the past year, we have been exploring…

Blockbuster to Still Get New Releases, While Netflix and Redbox Have to Wait

Back in January I mentioned that Warner Brothers was pushing Netflix and Redbox into deals where they would not receive new DVDs until 28 days after the release date. (WB being under the impression that making it more difficult to rent films will cause…

Viacom Uploads Their Content to YouTube While Suing Them for it Being There

For the last couple years, there has been an ongoing legal battle between YouTube and Viacom. Viacom has been protesting their content’s presence on YouTube, demanding that they do more to prevent clips from being uploaded, and referring to the site as a bastion…

My Idea for Canonical WordPress Plugins

There has been no shortage of debate over the plans to include canonical (or “core”) plugins in WordPress. While I haven’t fully decided what my stance on the matter is, I do have an idea for what the concept should become. Core plugins shouldn’t…

BlogBuzz March 20, 2010

CommentBits: WordPress Comment Templates for Cheap

Styling comments isn’t exactly the most fun part of building a new WordPress theme for your blog. That’s the reason for CommentBits. For $7 you can get a pre-made comment template, complete with PSD files. Or you can get a lifetime membership, with access…