It's time once again for snippets! This edition is focused on updates.

• The bug in Verbatim has been fixed! The original problem was that the program couldn't read XML files on other servers due to the same origin policy. That has now been fixed, and files can be read from anywhere. As an example, here's Verbatim loading a poem file from freetzi.com.

The modification itself took only a few hours to program. Finding the approach was the hard part! It seemed like I was looking through an endless array of methods to allow Javascript to load programs from other domains. I'm really pleased with the solution I found, as it allowed me to keep the program working the same as far as the user was concerned. The same XML files that worked with it before still work with it now in the same way. Even better for me, I didn't have to rewrite the manual or reshoot any of the instructional videos!

I've also fixed a minor bug in the memorize text section. Originally, if the lines were hidden when you changed the chosen piece or number of lines, the poem wouldn't be displayed, and the only way to bring it back was to restart the program. Now, even if the lines are hidden when you change the piece or number of lines, the lines and title will display correctly.

Speaking of the programming itself, Verbatim uses several techniques that might be of interest to my fellow Javascript programmers. They're all detailed in the srouce code, but I also thought I'd include them here for those who are interested:

• Centering an image that's wider than the screen
• Detecting an iPhone or iPod Touch user on your site
• Preventing a div from overlapping other elements
• Reading variables from a URL
• Trimming a url to get just a file name
• Using CSS to autospace elements on a toolbar
• Using Yahoo! Pipes, Jquery and JSON to read XML files from other domains