Software utilities

While searching for some CSS hacks for IE, I came by a very funny page on MSDN. I honestly forgot hasLayout. It’s unbelievable how many bugs IE has.  Some of them are corrected with IE7, but IE8 (which recently passed Acid2 compatibility test) will be more compatible with HTML CSS and other standards. Microsoft announced that super standard mode will be the default mode of IE 8. This changes a bit from what they stated before. Some say this could be the beginning of another browser war.

Yesterday I was searching for a way to build a tube amplifier (something like this iPod deck with tube amplifier) and found also this cool motherboard with a great audio section. Look, it’s made with a giant vacuum tube!! Seems it wasn’t a great success, since I’ve never heard of another motherboard like this… Look at the photos for a better view.

Maybe you wonder (as I did) what AC_FL_RunContent is. You could find it in many website using flash animations. It’s a script that gets called when you need to include such an object in a webpage. While you could use <embed> or <object> tags (with the former being deprecated in favor of the latter), you could have annoying problem if you (or you’re website visitors) are using a Microsoft browser. Using these navigation softwares, users need to explicitly enable ActiveX (or Flash) content, by clicking on it (an appropriate warning will be shown). Microsoft is removing this need, but until it is completely removed (also after, for those who don’t want/can’t to update), you should use this Javascript script (or an alternative one). They basically use document.write javascript function in order to write the <object>HTML code snippet to the HTML. This trick disable ActiveX activation, so you and your website users don’t have the annoying bar under IE.

Ever felt like youtube video quality is a little too low? Ever wonder how videos about a monorail (no, I’m not talking about the Springfield one) or a beautiful Umbrian panorama would look like? There a way to boost the quality of Youtube videos,. at the cost of an higher download time (which wouldn’t be an issue with today high speed connections). You just need to add &fmt=6 to the end of the url, such as:

from http://youtube.com/watch?v=CQzUsTFqtW0

to http://youtube.com/watch?v=CQzUsTFqtW0&fmt=6

This only works if the video has an high definition version, but you can add fmt=18 to automatically use the low def video if no HD in available.

Here a complete list (updated till Febraury 2008) of available TLD all around the world. A TLD is a Top-level Domain, i.e. the last part of a domain name. For example, our website is www.small-software-utilities.com, so its TLD is .com.

.aero = Aviation
.arpa = Address and Routing Parameter Area
.biz = Business Organizations
.com = Commercial
.coop = Co-Operative Organizations
.edu = Educational
.gov = US Government
.info = Open TLD
.int = International Organizations
.mil = US Dept of Defense
.museum = Museums
.name = Personal
.net = Networks
.org = Organizations

.ac = Ascension Island
.ad = Andorra
.ae = United Arab Emirates
.af = Afghanistan
.ag = Antigua and Barbuda
.ai = Anguilla
.al = Albania
.am = Armenia
.an = Netherlands Antilles
.ao = Angola
.aq = Antarctica
.ar = Argentina
.as = American Samoa
.asia = Asia-Pacific region
.at = Austria
.au = Australia
.aw = Aruba
.az = Azerbaijan

.ba = Bosnia and Herzegovina
.bb = Barbados
.bd = Bangladesh
.be = Belgium
.bf = Burkina Faso
.bg = Bulgaria
.bh = Bahrain
.bi = Burundi
.bj = Benin
.bm = Bermuda
.bn = Brunei Darussalam
.bo = Bolivia
.br = Brazil
.bs = Bahamas
.bt = Bhutan
.bv = Bouvet Island
.bw = Botswana
.by = Belarus
.bz = Belize

.ca = Canada
.cat = Catalan
.cc = Cocos (Keeling) Islands
.cd = Congo, Democratic Republic of the
.cf = Central African Republic
.cg = Congo, Republic of
.ch = Switzerland
.ci = Côte d’Ivoire
.ck = Cook Islands
.cl = Chile
.cm = Cameroon
.cn = China
.co = Colombia
.cr = Costa Rica
.cs = Czechoslovakia (not available anymore)
.cu = Cuba
.cv = Cap Verde
.cx = Christmas Island
.cy = Cyprus
.cz = Czech Republic

.de = Germany
.dj = Djibouti
.dk = Denmark
.dm = Dominica
.do = Dominican Republic
.dz = Algeria

.ec = Ecuador
.ee = Estonia
.eg = Egypt
.eh = Western Sahara
.er = Eritrea
.es = Spain
.et = Ethiopia

.fi = Finland
.fj = Fiji
.fk = Falkland Islands (Malvina)
.fm = Micronesia, Federal State of
.fo = Faroe Islands
.fr = France

.ga = Gabon
.gd = Grenada
.ge = Georgia
.gf = French Guiana
.gg = Guernsey
.gh = Ghana
.gi = Gibraltar
.gl = Greenland
.gm = Gambia
.gn = Guinea
.gp = Guadeloupe
.gq = Equatorial Guinea
.gr = Greece
.gs = South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
.gt = Guatemala
.gu = Guam
.gw = Guinea-Bissau
.gy = Guyana

.hk = Hong Kong
.hm = Heard and McDonald Islands
.hn = Honduras
.hr = Croatia/Hrvatska
.ht = Haiti
.hu = Hungary

.id = Indonesia
.ie = Ireland
.il = Israel
.im = Isle of Man
.in = India
.io = British Indian Ocean Territory
.iq = Iraq
.ir = Iran (Islamic Republic of)
.is = Iceland
.it = Italy

.je = Jersey
.jm = Jamaica
.jo = Jordan
.jp = Japan

.ke = Kenya
.kg = Kyrgyzstan
.kh = Cambodia
.ki = Kiribati
.km = Comoros
.kn = Saint Kitts and Nevis
.kp = Korea, Democratic People’s Republic
.kr = Korea, Republic of
.kw = Kuwait
.ky = Cayman Islands
.kz = Kazakhstan

.la = Lao People’s Democratic Republic
.lb = Lebanon
.lc = Saint Lucia
.li = Liechtenstein
.lk = Sri Lanka
.lr = Liberia
.ls = Lesotho
.lt = Lithuania
.lu = Luxembourg
.lv = Latvia
.ly = Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

.ma = Morocco
.mc = Monaco
.md = Moldova, Republic of
.mg = Madagascar
.mh = Marshall Islands
.mil = US Military
.mk = Macedonia, Former Yugoslav Republic
.ml = Mali
.mm = Myanmar
.mn = Mongolia
.mo = Macau
.mp = Northern Mariana Islands
.mq = Martinique
.mr = Mauritania
.ms = Montserrat
.mt = Malta
.mu = Mauritius
.mv = Maldives
.mw = Malawi
.mx = Mexico
.my = Malaysia
.mz = Mozambique

.na = Namibia
.name = Individual names
.nc = New Caledonia
.ne = Niger
.nf = Norfolk Island
.ng = Nigeria
.ni = Nicaragua
.nl = Netherlands
.no = Norway
.np = Nepal
.nr = Nauru
.nu = Niue
.nz = New Zealand

.om = Oman

.pa = Panama
.pe = Peru
.pf = French Polynesia
.pg = Papua New Guinea
.ph = Philippines
.pk = Pakistan
.pl = Poland
.pm = St. Pierre and Miquelon
.pn = Pitcairn Island
.pr = Puerto Rico
.ps = Palestinian Territories
.pt = Portugal
.pw = Palau
.py = Paraguay

.qa = Qatar

.re = Reunion Island
.ro = Romania
.ru = Russian Federation
.rw = Rwanda

.sa = Saudi Arabia
.sb = Solomon Islands
.sc = Seychelles
.sd = Sudan
.se = Sweden
.sg = Singapore
.sh = St. Helena
.si = Slovenia
.sj = Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands
.sk = Slovak Republic
.sl = Sierra Leone
.sm = San Marino
.sn = Senegal
.so = Somalia
.sr = Suriname
.st = Sao Tome and Principe
.su = USSR (not available anymore))
.sv = El Salvador
.sy = Syrian Arab Republic
.sz = Swaziland

.tc = Turks and Caicos Islands
.td = Chad
.tf = French Southern Territories
.tg = Togo
.th = Thailand
.tj = Tajikistan
.tk = Tokelau
.tm = Turkmenistan
.tn = Tunisia
.to = Tonga
.tp = East Timor
.tr = Turkey
.tt = Trinidad and Tobago
.tv = Tuvalu
.tw = Taiwan
.tz = Tanzania

.ua = Ukraine
.ug = Uganda
.uk = United Kingdom
.um = US Minor Outlying Islands
.us = United States
.uy = Uruguay
.uz = Uzbekistan

.va = Holy See (City Vatican State)
.vc = Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
.ve = Venezuela
.vg = Virgin Islands (British)
.vi = Virgin Islands (USA)
.vn = Vietnam
.vu = Vanuatu

.wf = Wallis and Futuna Islands
.ws = Western Samoa

.ye = Yemen
.yt = Mayotte
.yu = Yugoslavia

.za = South Africa
.zm = Zambia
.zr = Zaire (not available anymore)
.zw = Zimbabwe

Some of them are not used anymore, or specific parameters must be met in order to regiseer a domain name.