One of the most exciting features in HTML5 is geolocation. With a user’s permission, websites will be able to tailor content to that user’s specific location. The applications for this could be huge – everything from promoting local events to targeted ads to “check-in” services like Gowalla and Foursquare.

There’s a simple demo here which showcases the functionality ( works in Chrome, Firefox 3.6, Safari 4 and Opera 10.5 – Internet Explorer won’t support most HTML5 features until IE9 comes out next year, unfortunately ). The browser asks for the user’s permission to use his/her current location and displays the appropriate Google map. No input required.

There are plenty of paid, third-party tools like ip2location that provide this functionality already, but as HTML5 starts becoming more widely supported they will largely be replaced by this open standard.

What’s new?

The biggest difference at a glance is the new control panel. The layout is much simpler, and the landing page is broken down into simple “Create”, “Modify” and “View” tabs. The interface is legible and easily customizable.

On the technical side, ExpressionEngine 2.0 is built on the CodeIgniter PHP framework, which gives developers access to a powerful library of features.

The downside is that existing sites will require a little fine tuning before they’re ExpressionEngine 2.0 ready. Also, third-party add-ons will have to be updated to work with ExpressionEngine 2.0. Some existing add-ons have not yet been updated, but there are a large library of ExpressionEngine 2.0 compatible add-ons at http://devot-ee.com/add-ons/ee2/

ExpressionEngine 2.0 is a big step forward for an already robust CMS, and we look forward to using it to build some amazing sites.

As great as the web is at causing distractions, it also has some amazing tools to stay organized. Cloud-based webapps are a great way to sync data across multiple locations without carrying a USB drive ( even if it is shaped like Darth Vader ).

Evernote

I hate post-it notes. I have several moleskine notebooks and a bad habit of misplacing them. Enter evernote. Every time I find myself writing notes, I add them to Evernote. My Evernote account is accessible from anywhere (I’m currently writing this post from Evernote on my phone) and it’s free.
http://www.evernote.com/

Dropbox

If you ever work remotely, Dropbox is a must. Dropbox gives you an online storage space similar to MobileMe’s iDisk. The major difference is that your Dropbox folder is synced across all your computers automatically, so all your files are ready to go wherever you are.
http://www.dropbox.com/

Things

Things is a simple to-do list app for the Mac and iPhone (sorry, Windows users). You can organize tasks by project, set due dates and sync to-do lists with iCal. My only real complaint is it doesn’t support Growl notifications out of the box.
http://culturedcode.com/things/

This isn’t a definitive list, just a few ways I have to keep up in a fast-paced environment.

-Justin