While following my Twitter feed today, I noticed a neat tool for Instagram that I wanted to try out on you. It provides an embedable feed of images from any user or hash tag.

The product - called SnapWidget - is sure to entice someone over at Instagram (or should I just say Facebook from now on?) to hand over a stack of cash. Much like Twitter did for their feed tool and TweetDeck.

Although that reminds me, I never posted regarding my excitement for Instagram. In the recent weeks, the company launched their Android application - expanding their userbase by millions overnight. I was one of these would-be users lost in a fog of inferior camera apps.

Now I have my own Instagram account, and a feed that is perfect for this little experiement of mine. Check out my images below.

(You many have to click here to see the embedded content.)

If you're a video watcher on nwherald.com, you probably noticed a slight change in our players. By slight, I mean they are completely improved.

Over the last few weeks, we've been working on moving our video production to the Brightcove platform; as opposed to hosting the video ourselves. Brightcove provides a comprehensive content delivery network (CDN), which transcodes our video into five versions to optimize your experience based on connection speed.

The player is also mobile-ready; which means it works great on iOS devices. It looks great on on iPad, and - well it looks great everywhere.

If you haven't watched NWH video lately, take a look at some of our ongoing features, including the Make it Popcast, Full-Speed Golf, The Huddle, and Fastest Four Minutes.

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Adam Nekola, Senior Web Producer at the Northwest Herald, is a big fan of the "Make it Popcast." You should give it a listen.

I enjoy taking phone calls from our readers. Helping them enjoy our web site is my job, and I don't like it when they are having difficulty.

That said, these issues are usually resolved after I ask the question "what browser are you using?"

In the last month, 2,800 people who visited our site would have answered with "Internet Explorer 6." The browser was made ten years ago. It's a travesty that anyone is still on it.

So bad, in fact, that Microsoft themselves want you to do something about it. The website http://www.ie6countdown.com/ has been around for a few months. Hundreds of companies have 'joined the cause' to spread awareness of this terrible browser.

Why? Web developers can't design for it any more. There are too many great things we can do with new browers, including Firefox, Chrome and even Internet Explorer 9.

If you don't have the latest version of these, get it today. Upgrade often. Even if you are using Internet Explorer 7 or 8, you are not up-to-date.

Just visit #ie6countdown on Twitter and you'll see the outcry to upgrade.

The Election Central countdown clock is nearing zero. Make your way to the polls to cast your ballot, and then back to nwherald.com to watch results come in.

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With this election, the Northwest Herald brings you a revamped results page. You'll be able to see it at 7 p.m. today when the polls close.

By revamped, we don't mean in style. It is actually quite similar to the results page of last spring's election.

The big new feature is an AJAX-powered backend, allowing you to get updated results without ever refreshing your page. The script is set to run every two minutes - as shown by a countdown clock on the page. Of course, you can click on a refresh icon to check results more often, but either way you will be able to watch up-to-the-minute results updated without ever needed to lift a finger.

This works very similar to sports websites that update scores and statistics as the game is happening. Instead, here you'll get your local race and referendum vote totals.

This feature makes our page more user-friendly for other reasons as well. We'll also be bringing you a live chat, beginning at 7 p.m. Dan McCaleb and I will be there moderating. Since there is no need to refresh the page, you'll be able to follow the chat easily.

So, sit back, relax, and strap it down, McHenry County voters. Primary election time starts now.

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Adam Nekola is the Senior Web Producer for Shaw Media's suburban group. The Election Central platform is also installed on the Lake County Journal, Kane County Chronicle, Morris Daily Herald, and Daily Chronicle of DeKalb - in case you are interested in any races in those areas.

A screenshot of the "Giant Legacy" project.

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This weekend our sports staff did an excellent job chronicling the 60th anniversary of the Hebron boys basketball state championship.

In case you missed it, the event was noteworthy because Hebron was the smallest school at the time to win a title. This was before the class system, when every school competed for one title. Hebron had less than 100 students.

I learned about the event about 10 days before the run date, and quickly decided it deserved a more eleborate web prescence. We responded with a simple landing page that gives you a quick look at their championship season.

One hidden feature on the page is a mouse-over effect on the mug shots of players.

With the help of local historians, we acquired some vintage photos and newspaper clippings from the team. They fit together nicely in a photo gallery.

The most interesting peice we put together was a video interviewing four starters. This was turned around very quickly and includes more newspaper clippings than the gallery. It also provides some great insight into their team.

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Adam Nekola is the Senior Web Producer for Shaw Media's suburban group. He enjoys doing projects on neat anniversaries like this, especially having the opportunity to look through old photos and newspaper clippings.