I haven’t been this excited since I got my first python script to work. The reason is that I’ve recently been messing around with a technique for creating javascript widgets or badges, popularized by Kent Brewster and known as Case Hardened Javascript. You can read more about Kent’s excellent work here. Essentially, case hardened javascript is all about segregating your widget from the rest of the web page. It allows you to embed a widget in virtually any webpage using a single line of javascript, without needing to worry about whether the javascript will have an adverse effect on your page.

The widget below shows all “gigs” posted on craigslist relating to web development in the last 24 hours. The data initially comes from a Yahoo Pipe, which you can access here. That’s also the reason why it takes so long to load. The Pipe actually pulls the RSS feeds from each craigslist locale, which means it’s accessing something like 75 different feeds. I should probably figure out a way to discretize those feeds. In any case, the widget can be added to any website via this code:
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://hibbittsconsulting.com/published/Widget3.js"></script> Feel free to use it on your own site, just copy & paste the above code and place it wherever you want it to show up in your html body.