Madvilliany
Here is the latest ear pleasin': Madvillian - Madvilliany.
Monday, February 28, 2005
Sunday, February 27, 2005
Square Bracket Notation
One of the JavaScript things that was troubling me was how to refer to objects through a variable. This is useful if you want to programically say do this to that, but don't want to refer directly to this and that within a script.
function putFormVar(formName, inputName, inputValue){
myForm = document[formName];
myFormElem = myForm[inputName];
myFormElem.value = inputValue
}So I want to set the value of an element within a form to be something, but I don't want to write in the name of the form and the name of the element within the script. I can't just write "myForm = document.formName" because the script will literally look for a form on the document called "formName." (As an aside, I wonder when putting a period or other punctuation outside of quote marks will become acceptable, because when I meant "formName" but I had to write "formName." because of the whole "don't-put-periods-after-quotes thing. I guess I could have wrote it ". . . a form called 'formName' on the document.") In this case, I want it to look for something set in the variable called formName so if the invocation of the function was "putFormVar("myPrettyForm", "theFantasticInput", "mostDeliciousVariable");" the form it looks for is document.myPrettyForm. The way of doing this is using bracket notation instead of dot notation. If the var formName is set to myPrettyForm, then you can refer to that form as document[formName] instead of referring to it directly as document.myPrettyForm. It took me a while to figure this out. I figured it out reading this page: Square Bracket Notation
Utility Vehicle Scrotums
Amber and I are wrapping up a nice extended weekend of houseguests. The first was my mom on Thursday, then Paul stayed Friday night, and then Sara and Brian stayed last night (Saturday). One of the odd things in the world that they brought to our attention was the truck ball movement in Houston. Apparently the latest thing is to attach an artificial scrotum to the rear end of your vee-hicle. I looked it up online and they do exist: Truck Nuts, All Colors- Compare our Styles - A very Unique all Vehicle Accessory !
We had an extended discussion on the topic: Is the public display of testicles legal? Brian said he would be arrested if he displayed a reproduction penis or breast on this car. I'm not certain about that as those chrome truck ladies are certainly nude, albeit in silhouette. As a practical matter, it appears that they are selling these things and apparently they are out there in the wilds of Houston. Maybe I should have explored further in the website to see if they would ship a pair to Alabama?
Saturday, February 26, 2005
D2X and GPS
www.hardwarezone.com® :: Articles -Nikon D2X Review: "For photographers who are always on the road, Nikon implemented several features to help make their life easier. Yes, GPS support is back on the D2X. Using in conjunction with a proper GPS device (NMEA 0183 specification), such as those from GARMIN and MAGELLAN. This allows the shooting data of the image to be embedded with information such as latitude, longitude and altitude. The new optional MC-35 cable is required for connection to NMEA 0183-compatible GPS devices."
Friday, February 25, 2005
Pure JavaScript Forms: Step One
One of the things I've wanted to do for some time is to get server-side scripting code out of forms. Why do this? Typically, a form will have a lot of server side logic and variable writeouts and whatnot in it. Imagine a form that you update your contact information with. The server gets your info from the database, then writes your name in the value field of the name text box. To do that, the web developer puts code that operates on the server side into the html form. This is the messy part. To do this, the developer has made something that intermingles the server-side scripting language with html. While this is relatively easy to do, it becomes less easy to maintain. It makes it more difficult to shift from one server-side language to another. It makes it harded for a web designer to control the look and feel.
For step 1, I've taken a form that has multiple contexts (New, Update, Search) and put those contexts into one pure html form. At the top of the linked page, there are three links that control the context of the form. Whenever this is actually used, the server side script would set a java variable that sets the context. In the next steps I will set variables in the forms and work on displaying errors and mandatory fields using Javascript.
Thursday, February 24, 2005
XML.com: Sarissa to the Rescue
XML.com: Sarissa to the Rescue: " Sarissa, an ECMAScript library designed to stop those nasty incompatibilities"
More:
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Flickr Tags
So the pic I posted yesterday and blogged today about dropping my camera got two comments by people I don't know. I think they probably saw the poor camera under Flickr: Photos tagged with broken. One of the really neat things to do with Flickr is to browse by the tags people put on their pictures, like beer, pot, messy. Each time you browse public photos by tag, it also presents related tags. I found this funny cat picture under hotdog
Ouch!
So I dropped my camera while taking a picture yesterday morning. Fortunately, no serious damage appears to have been done. The lens barrel was pushed in at an angle, but I popped it right out. The lens cover had a hard time opening fully at first, but it has worked itself out. I've added the ugly leash it came with so I don't completely break it next time...
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
White Grubworms ooze black when you squish them
We found five of these little bastards when we were weeding our little 'garden area'. I guess these guys might have been to blame for killing all my pepper plants last year. I think they've been feeding on the roots of my rosemary tree.
Immediately, i threw down some granules that are supposed to kill/discourage grubs and watered it in. I didn't know what else to do. Sean, a friend here at work, tells me that i could have simply killed them as i found them and things would have been fine. I believe him, but i'd like to ask amber what her opinion would be? Did I do wrong be resorting to a 'treatment' immeidately? Would constant tilling over of the soil have been a better answer?
My big worry now is that of eating tomatoes and peppers out of the ground where i've put 'pesticides'. is this any worse than what i would get from a super-market?
Immediately, i threw down some granules that are supposed to kill/discourage grubs and watered it in. I didn't know what else to do. Sean, a friend here at work, tells me that i could have simply killed them as i found them and things would have been fine. I believe him, but i'd like to ask amber what her opinion would be? Did I do wrong be resorting to a 'treatment' immeidately? Would constant tilling over of the soil have been a better answer?
My big worry now is that of eating tomatoes and peppers out of the ground where i've put 'pesticides'. is this any worse than what i would get from a super-market?
Street Level
Here's a view from the street. This is actually the comp created by the ad company before the billboard went up, but it gives you a good idea of what it looks like in person.
This was a dream job for Anthony -- no rules or guidelines. Converse said do whatever you want. They are trying to promote art along with the company line. It pays great and it's free publicity for Ant. The Village Voice is going to run a piece about it, too.
Oh, here's a note to Colin if he's listening and other artists -- check out the Converse website for info about submitting your art to be on a billboard. Ant says he thinks you're talented enough to get this gig, call us if you want more info...
This was a dream job for Anthony -- no rules or guidelines. Converse said do whatever you want. They are trying to promote art along with the company line. It pays great and it's free publicity for Ant. The Village Voice is going to run a piece about it, too.
Oh, here's a note to Colin if he's listening and other artists -- check out the Converse website for info about submitting your art to be on a billboard. Ant says he thinks you're talented enough to get this gig, call us if you want more info...
Monday, February 21, 2005
The Best Streaming albums on the Net
These are a couple of albums available on the net, streamed to your desktop, best listened to with headphones, in a relaxed comfortable position.
M. Ward Transistor Radio
Earlimart Treble & Tremble
Mogwai Goverment Comissions
M. Ward Transistor Radio
Earlimart Treble & Tremble
Mogwai Goverment Comissions
Rancilio Mr. Silvia
I have had my espresso machine for more than a month now. I have proved to myself that I can spend less money at the local coffee shop and provide myself a good espresso or cappuccino more consistently and cheaper. While keeping myself way to caffeinated, staying up late and figuring out flickr.
chipotle lunch
We thought about leaving him at school for the whole day, but we couldn't stand the thought of having him in there while we had two bags full of stale bread. We whizzed him out of school and planned to go straight to hermann park, but got sidetracked when we remembered the chipotle on shepherd.
it was perfect; the place was empty he ran around while his mother ordered, but was lured back to the table with a promise of chips and a cup with water and a straw.
At hermann we fed the ducks, bought a jolly rancher flavored bomb pop and rode the train around the park. He threw a fit and had to be dragged from the train when it was all over. Maybe five agonizing (and somewhat embarassing) minutes later, he had forgotten all about it, and was running up the side of the hill, but not before he had a diaper change on the stage.
we visited the water clock (sundial) in front of the natural science museum and then headed to my sister's house so i could 'fix' her computer. a full day, today was.
it was perfect; the place was empty he ran around while his mother ordered, but was lured back to the table with a promise of chips and a cup with water and a straw.
At hermann we fed the ducks, bought a jolly rancher flavored bomb pop and rode the train around the park. He threw a fit and had to be dragged from the train when it was all over. Maybe five agonizing (and somewhat embarassing) minutes later, he had forgotten all about it, and was running up the side of the hill, but not before he had a diaper change on the stage.
we visited the water clock (sundial) in front of the natural science museum and then headed to my sister's house so i could 'fix' her computer. a full day, today was.
Figured out Flickr Exporter for iphoto
When you choose the plug-in folder from what you downloaded you can't choose the 'first' folder. You must choose, rather, the folder that is just beneath the 'root', if you will. Once you do that, the dialogue box below will appear when you export from iphoto (shift+cmd+e)
Chloe Looking Out Window
This weekend seems like the first where we are really getting moved in and operating in the house. The major construction projects of the closet refinishing and bathroom painting are done. We still have to fully move into the clothes closets and move me out of clothes boxes, but I wear the same thing every day so it isn't a pressing task. Amber started putting up things on the walls Sunday and continued today. I've been working on cooking manageable meals where cleanup happens right before and after eating.
It is interesting to me how non-trivial the little things in life are. It is almost like turning round a sisyphus-ian task where before you pushed a rock up a hill only to lose it and see it roll down, after you push it up for the sheer joy of watching it roll down.
It was a warm day in Austin and I opened up the front windows to let the breeze flow through the house. Chloe enjoyed hanging out on the sofa and barking at the occasional bird, squirrel, or any other passerby.
Freda Board
Sunday, February 20, 2005
Points of Contention: To Refrigerate or Not
Items I have refrigerated but other people think should not and items other people have refrigerated that I thought didn't belong in a refrigerator:
- Unopened Mayonaise
- Peanut Butter (opened or unopened)
- Bananas
- Newman's Own Olive Oil and Vinegar salad dressing
- Cookies
- Unopened white wine
- Opened red wine
Halo Face
Amber says I get "Halo face." It is this glazed look of too much video game playing. In the picture, we're making Saturday go by too fast. It was kind of a wet and cool day anyway.
Bean Soup Ready to Boil
- 2 cp Black Beans
- 2 Quarts Water
- 1 Onion, Chopped
- 1 Ham Hock equiv stuff from Pensey's Spices
- 2 Cloves Garlic
- .5 tsp thyme
- .5 tsp oregano
- 1 tbsp mystery red pepper powder your mom brought back from Eastern Europe
- 1 OXO Veggie Boulion Cube
- 2 Bay Leaves
- Juice of 3 lemons and 3 limes
Prepare Beans: Rinse and peck through them all. Boil about 2 quarts water and let stand for an hour.
Prepare Soup: Drain and rinse beans. Put beans in stock pot and add 2 quarts of water and all ingredients except for the lemon/lime juice. Bring to boil, forget about the whole thing for a bit and then bring it down to a simmer for an hour and a half. Remove the bay leaves. Remove 3 cups of beans, puree, then mix back in. Leave the whole thing simmering for a couple hours until dinner time. Serve with little cubes of pepper-jack cheese which melts right in and a bit of the lemon/lime juice on top.
Pepperidge Farm Brussels Cookies
Once you've had your first luxuriant taste of Pepperidge Farm Distinctive Cookies, nothing else will do. More than a treat, they're a rewarding and pleasurable experience. Set some time aside for yourself and the unique blend of cool mint and rich chocolate of Mint Brussels Cookies. You'll see why they're the ultimate reward. Distinctive Cookies are available in a number of exquisite varieties for the many reasons you deserve to treat yourself right every day.I'm wondering: Who eats this stuff every day? Each "cookie" is like a largish deep-fried communion wafer stuffed with an Andes Mint. How do they manufacture this? Who came up with the text for the wrapper? How high were they?
I guess I should have taken a picture.
Amber and I are Sunday-breakfast-and-the-Times-ing at JP's Java. The place looks like maybe it was formerly a diner and we are eating in a glassed in section neat a main drag (Speedway maybe?). Outside the window from where I am sitting is a new Triumph Bonneville T100. It is a little bit of a modern classic. There are no fairings covering the guts of it, the little engine is exposed within the black frame under a white and black gas tank. If it weren't so cleam it might be an antique, not only out of style, but that is has carburators leading into the motor case that doesn't fill up too much of the frame. The frame and steering mechanism are not crude, but still harken back to the time in which people were hand-making these things and figuring out what is the best way to put it all together. I think the oil-cooler is probably a modern touch that would be a hot-rod option on a standard unit.
Thursday, February 17, 2005
It isn't easy being a doggie
Amber and I washed Chloe at the self-serve dog wash (Dirty Dog self serve dog wash) around the corner this afternoon. I think the concept is neat, but Amber says it is easier and cheaper for us to just wash her in the bathtub. Amber is the expert among us on the topic of dog washing and my role in the effort mostly consisted of taking pictures and keeping Chloe from jumping out and hanging herself on the retaining leash. I'm mildly fascinated by the things that go into animal care. There were waist-high gates throughout the place, presumably to keep a dog on the loose from getting to far. There was a set of stairs on rollers for a dog to walk up into the wash, probably a must for really heavy dogs. The place was really well thought out and set up for the purpose of getting your doggie clean.
Beer Goggles
The Tavern takes an inordinate amount of time to make their food compared to the quality of it. The hamburger was delicious, backyard style, toasted white bread and soft hot ground chuck. The fries were cold, oily and mealy on the inside. The replacement set they brought out weren't much better. I'm glad they took a long time to fix them though, as it made for a nice time to hang out and catch up with Taggart, Liz, Todd and Paul.
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Trailer
The trailer for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Movie is up on Amazon. I am a HUGE fan of the books and am therefore dissapointed to see that in the trailer Zaphod Beeblebrox appears to have ONLY ONE HEAD! In my opinion some of the funniest scenes in the books are when Zaphod's two heads clunk together...
sigh....
sigh....
Mark and Grill
So Todd and I went up to Mark's place to help him unload this grill from his truck yesterday. It was about 500 pounds, according to Mark. The round thing to the left of his initials is an engraved seal of Texas. It was built by TCI (Texas Correctional Industries), which mostly builds stuff for the state, but state officials can also order from their catalog. This was a gift to Mark from a state official because Mark is "his favorite chef in Austin." Afterwards Mark treated us to a baked Halibut dinner from the fish he caught in Alaska. CLick on the picture for more pictures.
I AM AN UNCLE!!!!
I am an uncle! I am an uncle!!!! My sister Susan just gave birth (9 days early!) to Devin Alexander Naoroz-Mercado. He weighed in at 7 pounds 10 ounces. He was born in the wee hours of the morning. He was crying heartfully and healthily. I am so happy for my sister and her husband- and for my mom and dad - and for me- and for the world.Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Valentine's Day dinner
The wrinkled little guitarist warbled in the background strumming free the notes of an era gone by. He was smartly dressed in a black and white houndstooth jacket, his tie a bright red exclamation point. His gray hair was slicked back with minty pomade, I imagined, and his moustache, a whisp of an eyelash on his lip.
The room was packed but cozy, the decor like an elegant old lady's smile. The waiters bustled about busy as bees yet we were warmly greeted, embraced by familiarity, as if visiting family from out of town.
This was the type of place that takes you by surprise, a secret interlude of gutsy dining in a city stocked with brand name restaurants. We walked into the lopsided building greeted by a carefree open door exposing a full view of the kitchen. The cook was too busy to notice those coming and going. A real stove, the kind you find in a house full of hungry growing men, puffed away in the center of the room, it's top laden with glistening pots and pans whose handles excitedly pointed our gaze to every corner of the room. Heated scents swirled and spun in a heady dance out of the kitchen and the small house dispersing it's rich fragrance into the cool night outside. Hovering about this steamy island, the cook in a splattered apron, lovingly caressed his treasures with burnished spoons and stealthy knives, coaxing forth the trembling blossom of bliss from within their boiling depths. We had to turn away with a blush on our cheek, our breath halting as if we'd just witnessed young lovers in the throes of a heat sparked moment.
We squeezed into a mini table, exhilaration floated high in the air with the cheesy red foil heart balloons that cluttered above our heads. Killy ordered a bottle of wine; Red of course, nothing else would do. And we murmurred to each other, this and that, unimportant mementoes spoken only to add our color to the musky air. The guitarist made his way from room to room, but selflessly left his notes to trail behind, a crumb for the hungry. At one point, we called him. After an inquiry, we learned the appropriate way for requesting a song. And we did. The guitarist seemed surprised at the request. An intention heralded from older times, one he knew well enough to coax me in to join. The wine was strong, the sauces rapturious, the song swelled in the air and was caught up with the balloons, to merrily dribble down again upon our thirsty faces, shiny with joy.
To dine, to dine with love and gusto, a rare priviledge, a humbling blessing, I was forced to cast my gaze down in reverance to such sweet and delicate notes of love. Every bite was a mountain top reached, every sauce soaked piece of country bread, enlightenment, the wine was endless, our fingers reached across the table, sight was inside out, sound was a pillowed storm.
Killy and I intend on making this our place, to share with each other, to experience alone, to offer as a gift to those we love. This was our unspoken pact.
There was no longer a need for words.
The room was packed but cozy, the decor like an elegant old lady's smile. The waiters bustled about busy as bees yet we were warmly greeted, embraced by familiarity, as if visiting family from out of town.
This was the type of place that takes you by surprise, a secret interlude of gutsy dining in a city stocked with brand name restaurants. We walked into the lopsided building greeted by a carefree open door exposing a full view of the kitchen. The cook was too busy to notice those coming and going. A real stove, the kind you find in a house full of hungry growing men, puffed away in the center of the room, it's top laden with glistening pots and pans whose handles excitedly pointed our gaze to every corner of the room. Heated scents swirled and spun in a heady dance out of the kitchen and the small house dispersing it's rich fragrance into the cool night outside. Hovering about this steamy island, the cook in a splattered apron, lovingly caressed his treasures with burnished spoons and stealthy knives, coaxing forth the trembling blossom of bliss from within their boiling depths. We had to turn away with a blush on our cheek, our breath halting as if we'd just witnessed young lovers in the throes of a heat sparked moment.
We squeezed into a mini table, exhilaration floated high in the air with the cheesy red foil heart balloons that cluttered above our heads. Killy ordered a bottle of wine; Red of course, nothing else would do. And we murmurred to each other, this and that, unimportant mementoes spoken only to add our color to the musky air. The guitarist made his way from room to room, but selflessly left his notes to trail behind, a crumb for the hungry. At one point, we called him. After an inquiry, we learned the appropriate way for requesting a song. And we did. The guitarist seemed surprised at the request. An intention heralded from older times, one he knew well enough to coax me in to join. The wine was strong, the sauces rapturious, the song swelled in the air and was caught up with the balloons, to merrily dribble down again upon our thirsty faces, shiny with joy.
To dine, to dine with love and gusto, a rare priviledge, a humbling blessing, I was forced to cast my gaze down in reverance to such sweet and delicate notes of love. Every bite was a mountain top reached, every sauce soaked piece of country bread, enlightenment, the wine was endless, our fingers reached across the table, sight was inside out, sound was a pillowed storm.
Killy and I intend on making this our place, to share with each other, to experience alone, to offer as a gift to those we love. This was our unspoken pact.
There was no longer a need for words.
New Camera!
I just got a new camera, a Canon SD200. It is just about identical to Amber's tried and true S200, but with a bit more resolution, a larger screen and smaller overall size. It isn't as tiny as the SD10 everyone else has, but I'm kind of ham-handed anyway....
A Flash Widget: SlideShow Pro
SlideShow Pro - Photo Gallery Component for Flash MX 2004 This started as a pretty slick script by Todd Dominey. It has grown into something completely more capable. I haven't tried it out yet, but will post again once I have. The original script was really nice.
Sunday, February 13, 2005
A Pretty Good One From Friedman
As a geo-green, I believe that combining environmentalism and geopolitics is the most moral and realistic strategy the U.S. could pursue today. Imagine if President Bush used his bully pulpit and political capital to focus the nation on sharply lowering energy consumption and embracing a gasoline tax.
No Mullah Left Behind
Also, from the NYT Book Review
The bull artist, on the other hand, cares nothing for truth or falsehood. The only thing that matters to him is "getting away with what he says," Mr. Frankfurt writes. An advertiser or a politician or talk show host given to [bull] "does not reject the authority of the truth, as the liar does, and oppose himself to it," he writes. "He pays no attention to it at all."
And this makes him, Mr. Frankfurt says, potentially more harmful than any liar, because any culture and he means this culture rife with [bull] is one in danger of rejecting "the possibility of knowing how things truly are." It follows that any form of political argument or intellectual analysis or commercial appeal is only as legitimate, and true, as it is persuasive. There is no other court of appeal.
On Bullshit
Let's go daddy! Let's go!
Sunday mornings, we go over to a friends condo in montrose and watch their 18-month old son while they go to church. Normally, carol plays with the boys while i noodle around on the laptop or watch sunday morning cartoons on pbs. They return an hour later and we sit around chatting for a bit before we head out the door ...normally, we go home.
This time carol wanted to take a detour and see if the Sunbeam bakery (one of those cheap bakeries) on Washington Ave. was open. Going east on Washington, i was already in the turning lane to go north onto studemont when she asked to go to the bakery. So once i made the turn i got on Center lane, approaching the bakery from behind.
If you've never driven down Center Lane (running parallel to Washington to the north) you should really take the time do so. It is an idustrial warehouse street lined with metal scrapyards, pipe distributors, concrete plants, and other heavy industry businesses. The bakery was closed, but instead of heading home, we drove down Center Point snapping photos here and there: a big white 'e' on a red backgroudn; a big green and yellow machine; some railroad ties ...
We took a left on Sawyer, intending to head back towards I-10 and home, but then to my left i saw this and jerked my wheel into the artists lofts that housed it.
This is pretty big (5 mb) but totally worth it, i swear. I had never seen this in Houston.
Update: The busts are here. Texas native, David Adickes, is an internationally renowned sculptor and painter. His artwork and scultpures are displayed in 10 major art museums across America. He's also the fellow responsible for the huge Sam Houston sculpture on I-45 near Huntsville.
Friday, February 11, 2005
iPhoto and Printing 4x6's
I have been having a problem printing borderless 4x6 prints out of iphoto for awhile now. Each time i would print, i would choose the borderless 4x6 driver for the epson and go from there. Each time, the print would come magnified as if it were trying to print it on an 8x10 sheet of paper. Ugh!
I couldn't figure it out. It never occured to me that i had to go to 'page setup' and choose the driver there, THEN go to the print dialogue box and choose the driver there as well. But that isn't it. If you were to do just that you would get 4x6 prints with 1/8" borders on two sides. Before you even send the print command, you have to go into edit mode and constrain your image to 4x6 using the crop tool.
Seeing that i (or any other person) would want to print more than one photo in this way, it would make sense that the 'constrain to 4x6, etc ..." command would be available in the 'batch' option. Alas, it is not. Assuming that this is nothing more than an apple script, does anyone know enough of apple script to add this functionality?
How Do I Know What's Food?
I was looking at a strip of caulk that Amber had removed from the bathroom tile and started thinking, "hmmm, I bet Chloe would try to eat that." Dogs try and eat a lot of things. They are a lot like babies in that way. However, somewhere a long the way I learned that a lot of stuff was not for eating. Hamburger=Yum; Plywood!=Yum. But it isn't quite as simple as that. There seems to me to be a lot of material within the world that I would not conceive of eating and then another class of material that could perhaps be food but that I instantaneously think, "not food" based on life experience.
Thursday, February 10, 2005
From Post Oak to Greenway Plaza to the Med Center
One of the things I liked about Houston was its artificial geography of architecture. The buildings give the place a scale and establish relationships between the regions.
I Need A Bluescreen
So Todd and I were viddychatting this morning and he demonstrated this funny thing where if he is working in a window in front of the iChat window, then it looks like I am peeking over the window. So I'm thinking this afternoon, it would be so cool to have a video demonstration of something, and the person doing the demonstration would occasionally peak over whatever is being demonstrated and point key aspects of it out.
Wednesday, February 9, 2005
Tuesday, February 8, 2005
New Version of ColdFusion: MX 7
Woo Hoo: Macromedia - Products : ColdFusion MX 7. I guess Macromedia is keeping everyone guessing by stealthifying the version numbers with the whole "MX" thing and then adding the version number again? I think MX 7 is much better than MXtream! or something like that.
Bigger & Bigger
This is a flickr post. Hats off to adolph for turning me on to this.
Adolfo IV tried fish soup tonight. "That's NOT good," he stated emphatically.
Adolfo IV tried fish soup tonight. "That's NOT good," he stated emphatically.
Test Two
This is a test of the Flickr to Blogger posting tool. I took this picture at a Sears Auto Center while waiting for my battery to be replaced. The Sears is 1950's vintage. One of the service techs said that it still has the shelter below the building.
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Monday, February 7, 2005
Mac OS X Hacking Tools
I was reading Mac OS X Hacking Tools and thought, "I could use the "/usr/bin/say" command to make the iBook at the Houston office speak to people in the server room." Then I thought a little bit more and thought, "I wonder if 'Mac mini Hosting' is going to disable the speakers on those buggers. Otherwise, they are going to have a whole bunch of computers whispering to the system administrators, 'Psst, hey, reboot me!'"
Grown-up Things To Do
One of the grown-up things I've been doing for a while now is putting money into a retirement account. I've also been reading more of the sales literature that the retirement account folks send me every now and then. In the latest brochure, I'm struck by the similarities between financial services and pharmaceutical advertising. It is beneficial stuff, but it is also stuff that makes people and corporations very wealthy. Likewise, the benefits seem concrete, but the risks are hazy and buried in booklets of small type.
In today's ad there is a misleading graphic comparing how much of a difference it means to someone investing the same amount earlier in the year. It uses a non-proportional bar chart to accentuate the difference. The message is about changes in the tax structure:
- Higher contribution limits let you save more.
- Recent tax breaks give you more to save.
- The Benefits of increasing your contributions early in the year.
Latest Carl Deal News
I chatted with Carl a while back about his Google link problems. Basically another photographer by the name of Carl Deal was getting higher page rank than Carl. I suggested that he get everyone he knows to link to him and start a blog and do Flickr and whatnot. He redid his meta info and got people to link to him and today he iChatted and said that he is back on top of the Google Search: Carl Deal. So buys, link to carldeal.com whenever you can!
Calling all Photographers!
Hey everyone,
Well, it finally happened. I have a deal underway to publish my first gardening article in a major regional gardening magazine. It's called People, Places, and Plants and is put out by the same people who do the Victory Garden on TV...
The story is about Robert de Niro's rooftop garden and they are looking for photos of roof gardens... They pay pretty well, several hundred for the photo at least. Do any of you have anything that would work for this? The back drop would have to be something generic enough that you couldn't tell it was not actually taken in New York City.
Thanks -- I'd love it if I could work with one of you on this and future gardening articles!!
Well, it finally happened. I have a deal underway to publish my first gardening article in a major regional gardening magazine. It's called People, Places, and Plants and is put out by the same people who do the Victory Garden on TV...
The story is about Robert de Niro's rooftop garden and they are looking for photos of roof gardens... They pay pretty well, several hundred for the photo at least. Do any of you have anything that would work for this? The back drop would have to be something generic enough that you couldn't tell it was not actually taken in New York City.
Thanks -- I'd love it if I could work with one of you on this and future gardening articles!!
Saturday, February 5, 2005
Mac Mini Co-Location in Austin?
Check out this outfit here in Austin that offers co-location service for your mac-mini...
Friday, February 4, 2005
Thursday, February 3, 2005
Tuesday, February 1, 2005
Hey! dog........thats my ass......sheesh.
Hey Paul,
heres the dumb answer to your question, which you have alreadythought of.
Use you PSD. file as a template. Save the other files off of it.
TODD, I love the coffee movie.
for anyone interested in music, I recently came across an album that after listening to it, had the full and honest desire to tattooo its sound acrosss the landscape of my life. to me it has the sound of what pure and honest love.
the band is called - IRON AND WINE, album - OUR ENDLESS NUMBERED DAYS.
It is so completely wonderful.
heres the dumb answer to your question, which you have alreadythought of.
Use you PSD. file as a template. Save the other files off of it.
TODD, I love the coffee movie.
for anyone interested in music, I recently came across an album that after listening to it, had the full and honest desire to tattooo its sound acrosss the landscape of my life. to me it has the sound of what pure and honest love.
the band is called - IRON AND WINE, album - OUR ENDLESS NUMBERED DAYS.
It is so completely wonderful.
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