Most Amazing Thing EVER!

[Serapth]

Ok, maybe slightly hyped, but this is something I created kinda by accident, that in retrospect is actually pretty damned useful.


Here it is!!!!

My games for sale:
http://www.flexamail.com/GetList.ashx?id=213


Impressive eh? Actually, it kinda can be. I call them Living Lists.

That there is a linked image that I can update on the fly, and everything changes. I can change the contents, add/remove, make it pink and purple, wider/smaller, whatever I want really... and it updates, regardless to where it is.

Even more so, using the existing framework I have with Flexamail, you can also share it, have multiple contributors, get notifications when it changes, etc... More so, you can send it in an email and each time that person opens that email they get the most current version automatically. Send out a wedding registry or gift wish list, that automatically updates as you add or remove from it... create a for sale list that you can post to multiple locations/forums/emails/tweets/that updates as you sell items on it, without having to go from site to site and all your changes push out at once. Have forum post that a group of people who aren't site administrators can edit.

If you happen to be a Flexamail user and want to play around with this list ( and help me demo), let me know your current email address in Flexamail either via PM and I will share out the above list. You can immediatly make changes and they will update on the second, be sure to sign your post. ;) Or you can create and post your own and have full control over fonts and colours on the fly. If you aren't a subscriber... why not? (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=11236&highlight=beta+project+flexamail) ;)

Let me know what you think... also, please, I hope a few people play along... will be fun to have a list changing up on the fly. Note to anyone visiting this thread, the contents of that graphics can change... a lot.


In all honesty, I hope this is something you guys will find useful.

[Serapth]

Bit of a how it works post.

First off, you need a list, you can either create one using email ( this is flexamail after all ). Send an email to list@flexamail.com with the subject set to the name of an new or existing list. In the body of your email, put your list items, then attach whatever files you want.

That, or you can log into the website, navigate to My Lists -> Click 'Create New List' and in the popup list, put your name then click "Add List".

http://www.flexamail.com/GetImage.ashx?id=1171

Then either email to list@flexamail.com with the subject set to your newly created list name and the list items in the body of the email, or click Add List Item, with the list name selected in the tabs above, type your text then click Insert List Item. You can use the toolbar for word style editing

http://www.flexamail.com/GetImage.ashx?id=1173

Now, you have your list, you can share it with other people if you want. Click Manage User Permissions, then type the users email address, click Allow User to Edit if you.. um... want to allow the user to edit, then click Add/Update. You can remove people on the fly later if you want.

http://www.flexamail.com/GetImage.ashx?id=1175

Now you have a pair of options, you can set Notifications On/Off ( get emailed if other people change your list ) or set Public Sharing, the one we are interested in. Click that.

http://www.flexamail.com/GetImage.ashx?id=1177

Once you've toggled public sharing on ( which does exactly what it says... no privacy anymore! ), you get a new and exciting menu... This is the public sharing menu. First one just pops up an alert with your URL. Preview opens the list in a new window. Email yourself creates an HTML email with your list and the image embedded ( good for sharing ). If you have configured twitter already, you can also tweet your list. Email, Preview or Show are what you want to use to get the url for posting on CoG.

http://www.flexamail.com/GetImage.ashx?id=1179

Finally, if you clicked Edit Default Public Link Settings, or go to the Settings Tab, you end up at the config page:

http://www.flexamail.com/GetImage.ashx?id=1181


Of course, this is a mail based app... you could get retrieved your list using getlist@flexamail.com with the subject blank for a list of your lists, or with the subject set to retrieve a specific list.

But wait, theres more!!!

Ok, no there isn't.

[Handmade.Mercury]

Neat! You're going to be loaded, one day.

[TheKeck]

I still use the image hosting all the time.

[LongStepMantis]

Is "I can't believe It's Not Butter" the CE? If so, you got a deal.

Neat find, thanks for the info!

[Serapth]

Is "I can't believe It's Not Butter" the CE? If so, you got a deal.

Neat find, thanks for the info!

... not really sure I would call it a find... I am the author ;)

[Handmade.Mercury]

Every time I visit this thread, that list is a different color.

[Serapth]

Neat! You're going to be loaded, one day.
This, I would not mind! ;) That day seems far away though. Plus, I am still afraid to open the flood gates... its once thing to support 200 users... when I hit 20,000 I am a bit afraid of what my code might do. In fact, I am a bit afraid what 400 users might do to my code...


I still use the image hosting all the time.
Glad to hear it! Got a few new features hopefully coming soon in the image hosting department. You really out to try ought the Lists stuff though, its quite fun and educational! ;)

[Hawkzombie]

... not really sure I would call it a find... I am the author ;)

lol, it made me chuckle too. I think I'll subscribe, if only to show support. Really neat thing you've got here.

[Serapth]

lol, it made me chuckle too. I think I'll subscribe, if only to show support. Really neat thing you've got here.

Come for the support, stay for the nachos! Actually, I hope you will try it out, its pretty unique, and I like to think pretty handy. Besides, unlike those dirty bastards that shalt not be named, we don't mess with your images!

[Serapth]

Every time I visit this thread, that list is a different color.

This is the power of dynamic! Text changes too... and not just by me.

[BrassGecko]

I see that my hideous purple and green text colors go to the list's default in the picture. :p

[BrassGecko]

http://www.flexamail.com/GetList.ashx?id=217

[Wraith]

When I hit Preview, it goes to: http://www.flexamail.com/GetList.ashx?id=null

Which obviously gives an error:
Invalid request

Using in Firefox, WinXP.


But I tried the next number after Brass Gecko's and it shows up fine (4.6MB):

http://www.flexamail.com/GetList.ashx?id=218

[Serapth]

When I hit Preview, it goes to: http://www.flexamail.com/GetList.ashx?id=null

Which obviously gives an error:
Invalid request

Using in Firefox, WinXP.


But I tried the next number after Brass Gecko's and it shows up fine (4.6MB):

http://www.flexamail.com/GetList.ashx?id=218

UGH, big mistake on my behalf. Amazing how a single line deleted can make such a big difference.

This error should be resolved. Downside to rushing things out....

Upside is, Im in beta so I can just say "Oops".

EDIT: Gecko, did you post 4.6 megs of Lazy fox jumping? ;)

Oh and I should mention this again, once you make your list public, it is PUBLIC! Anyone twiddling a few bits can easily read your lists. If you want your lists to remain private, do NOT click that button.

[BrassGecko]

But I tried the next number after Brass Gecko's and it shows up fine (4.6MB):

http://www.flexamail.com/GetList.ashx?id=218

EDIT: Gecko, did you post 4.6 megs of Lazy fox jumping? ;)

Oh and I should mention this again, once you make your list public, it is PUBLIC! Anyone twiddling a few bits can easily read your lists. If you want your lists to remain private, do NOT click that button.

.... what... what list is that!? The only lists I've made are that short one shown above, and one called something like "hgrlrllblerg" with like 4 gibberish entries that I deleted.

Edit: Mine's number 217. That absurd one is 218! Not it!

[Serapth]

When I hit Preview, it goes to: http://www.flexamail.com/GetList.ashx?id=null

Which obviously gives an error:
Invalid request

Using in Firefox, WinXP.


But I tried the next number after Brass Gecko's and it shows up fine (4.6MB):

http://www.flexamail.com/GetList.ashx?id=218


Oh, was that Wraiths list?

I was thinking right off the hop I should put a size limit on things... you always know theres that one guy.... :) That said, meh, bandwidth is cheap, computing is distributed and my processors have space right now.

Nice to see it did not cause a crash.


Oh, and this is why I didnt allow 72 point fonts and limit each word to a certain ( extremely high ) character limit, so people couldnt completely bork forum software with 192,090 x 180,000 images.


EDIT: No wraith, go to settings and tweak it to make it as hideously ugly as possible...

EDIT2: By the way wraith, is that one list item, or multiple?

[bapenguin]

Very cool! You using GD to render the graphic? I've been messing with text/image stuff with GD for a possible upcoming Co-Optimus feature. I want really pretty headlines. :D

[rein]

Another great feature. Keep up the good work.

[Xerxes]

I'll have to check this out. I like list.

[Serapth]

Very cool! You using GD to render the graphic? I've been messing with text/image stuff with GD for a possible upcoming Co-Optimus feature. I want really pretty headlines. :D

Nope, its all native windows GDI+ stuff. In the end, the drawing code was actually brutally simple. I probably spent 3x the lines of code figuring out how big things were ( string/font measurements, spacing between, etc... ), then a bit longer trying to figure out why text was so damned fugly ( the defaults are horrid... like DOS 5 horrid.

[Serapth]

I'll have to check this out. I like list.

PM me with the email you signed up with, and I will share it with you. Ditto to you too Rein, you can use this as a sandbox.

[Serapth]

Lists is actually a feature my wife and I both use daily, partially dog fooding, partially because its been bloody handy. I have an iPhone and she has Blackberry, and we have a Grocery list shared between us, both with notification turned on.

One of us can literally be shopping for groceries and the other can add to the list from anywhere, and due to the notification, we will get it basically instantly. Whatever you can do to not having to talk to each other! ;) Actually, if you are married/coupled, you probably already see the advantages to this... its amazing how actually difficult it can be coordinating the buying of stuff....

Granted, we are both pretty tech savvy people... setting up the same system for my parents... just wouldn't work. Thats actually the nice part of the generated email from a list. We ( my wife and I and other tech savvy family members ), can maintain and share a list between us and just send a public version off in email to our folks to follow, so they are always up to date, without having to do anything scarier than open their emails. You will notice if you mail to yourself a link, then make a change, the change automatically propagates when you reopen the email.

[LongStepMantis]

... not really sure I would call it a find... I am the author ;)

You just lost a sale on I Can't Believe It's Not Butter.

I skimmed your post and thought it was something preexisting with flexamail that you had just discovered. I've never used it, so I didn't question.

Well then, good job on "creating" this. There, you happy now!? ;)
Seriously, that's cool and good job.

[Wraith]

Re: jumping foxes, I thought I'd try something big to test it out. I think it was 4 list items, all the same.

Put it in spoilers to avoid wasting bandwidth unnecessarily.

Will change it to eye-scarring colors later. (on mobile now.)

[OUX]

... not really sure I would call it a find... I am the author ;)

Build me a bridge to Fantasia.

[Dorkandproudofit]

Build me a bridge to Fantasia.

Or better yet, Terabithia! :D


That's all I came in here to say. Awesome idea, though, Ser--could you lend me your yacht and summer estate once you're rich off this?

[Serapth]

Or better yet, Terabithia! :D


That's all I came in here to say. Awesome idea, though, Ser--could you lend me your yacht and summer estate once you're rich off this?

I hereby promise, that should I succeed to the level of yacht ownership, I will allow you to borrow it. WIth that said, I am a very very very long way away from that.... first I probably need to stop losing money ;)

[Banacek]

Very cool! You using GD to render the graphic? I've been messing with text/image stuff with GD for a possible upcoming Co-Optimus feature. I want really pretty headlines. :D

Make sure to check out ImageMagick as well. There is a lot you can do with it, and it's easily integrated into PHP.

http://php.net/manual/en/book.imagick.php

[Serapth]

Make sure to check out ImageMagick as well. There is a lot you can do with it, and it's easily integrated into PHP.

http://php.net/manual/en/book.imagick.php

ImageMagick is amazing, more so for how long its been around. My first job out of school I worked on an online bank investing site... this was in the days before ASP, or PHP, and most everything dynamic was written using cgi. On of the things I had to do was dynamic stock graphing based on live stock feed data and it was written in c using Imagemagick. That was in 1996... pretty amazing that a library from those days is still around.

Then again, I used a library called Allegro ages ago, and it is still around, ironically the guy that created that library ended up being one of the major players behind XNA.

[Banacek]

ImageMagick is amazing, more so for how long its been around. My first job out of school I worked on an online bank investing site... this was in the days before ASP, or PHP, and most everything dynamic was written using cgi. On of the things I had to do was dynamic stock graphing based on live stock feed data and it was written in c using Imagemagick. That was in 1996... pretty amazing that a library from those days is still around.

That's amazing. I didn't realize that it was around for so long.