Visual timer app update

Back in July 2014, I made a small visual timer application for my PhD defense (45 minutes presentation in France, and then unlimited time for questions from the jury). It is a pure SVG graphic created with Inkscape, embedded in a lean html page, with some bits of javascript to control the animation. Also, it is meant to be fully responsive: it scales nicely on laptops, tablets and smartphones.

Visual timerApp update

This week, I've spent some time to update the app to significantly improve the useability. Beyond a strong visual refresh, key improvements are:

  • full offline mode support: no more need of an Internet connection after the first usage. This is achieved using a AppCache manifest file.
  • new pause/resume control button.

How to use the timer

This timer simply works in a (recent) browser: http://éole.net/timer/. On a desktop/laptop computer, using the fullscreen mode gives the best result.

Source code

The app is available under a CC-BY-SA license. Source code is on GitHub: https://github.com/pierre-haessig/visual-timer

Possible future updates

I may take the time to add the necessary manifest file to turn this web app into an actual hosted Firefox OS app.

A small web app for house loans

house-loan-iconOver the last few weeks, I've started to play with jQuery Mobile to build a small web app for mobile phones, and in particular my new Firefox OS phone (ZTE Open C). I've built a simple interactive calculator for house loans.

For now, the app is in French only (I don't know if house loans follow the exact same rules in other countries): "Calculette de prêt immobilier".

The app is hosted for the moment at http://éole.net/immocalc/ and it should be usable with any recent browser (mobile, tablet or desktop). Also I may take the time to package it for the Firefox Marketplace for a true offline usage.