gogogadgetearl . earl's thoughts

2009.04.21

  • so, according to a US DHS definition: if you "[reject] federal authority in favor of state or local authority", "are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration", or "perceive recent gun control legislation as a threat to [your] right to bear arms and in response have increased weapons and ammunition stockpiling", you can be considered a rightwing extremist.  also, "the possible passage of new restrictions on firearms and the return of military veterans facing significant challenges reintegrating into their communities could lead to the potential emergence of terrorist groups or lone wolf extremists capable of carrying out violent attacks"...that's right, the federal government is concerned that it's own military members will eventually turn on it.  sad times.

    so, since i favor state/local authority, oppose abortion, am a US military veteran, and am closely associated with those that have been making firearm/ammunition purchases from fear of potential gun control legislation -- does that make me a rightwing extremist?

    ...even if i voted for obama??  :-(        [2 comments]

2009.02.26

  • so, i was hoping to get a lot more content going with my site refresh at the beginning of the year...and then i slowed to a halt.  but i'm hoping that if i keep making promises, each new promise will further my resolve to actually do something with this site.  /stifle laughter

    so, in good faith, here is a list of things that i'm hoping to do with the site as soon as i get some time to work on it:
    • rewrite the site in django.  not that i think wordpress is bad - it's actually gotten pretty awesome.  but this site isn't really about that to me.  this site started out mostly as a "i want to teach myself this..." -type of venture.  it still is.  so now i want to teach myself django.  this rewrite will allow me to fix some things that i think were poor decisions on my part (detailed in some of the bullets below).
    • utilize jquery to bring some useful functionality to the site.  this is another "teach myself" venture, but i think it will help iron out the interface of my site.  the web is not very conducive to a fluid interface experience.  ajax and robust javascript libraries have sanded down a few of the rough edges, but most sites don't utilize those technologies to their fullest potential.  this brings me to...
    • create a fluid site experience.  digg.com is a great example of a site that has smoothed out the sharp edges of a standard web interface, but hasn't quite polished it.  on digg, each link to an article/picture/video/etc can be "dugg" by clicking a button that smoothly increments the number of "diggs" - without navigating to another page or even reloading the current page - using ajax.  of course, to digg any link, you have to be registered and logged in.  here's where digg.com drops the ball: if you're not logged in and click to digg an article, the site redirects you to login and then refreshes the page you were on -- forcing you to re-click to digg the link.  is there any particular reason why i need to perform the same action twice just to achieve the goal that i originally intended? /sigh  after my site redesign - if all goes to plan - there should be no redirect runarounds, no unnecessary page refreshes, and navigation should be easy and intuitive.  want to read the comments on a post? the comments link will expand the post area on the same page to show the comments.  want to add a comment but aren't logged in? type in a comment, click submit, and a login prompt will appear in the comment area, log you in, and automatically post the comment.  don't want to log in?...
    • allow anonymous commenting (with captcha).  when i originally created this site, i thought it was too self-promoting for a user's name to automatically link to their URL.  i figured that i only wanted people to post on my site if they were brave enough to share their real contact information.  i've since learned that decision seriously restricted the amount of people willing to comment and participate in discussions.  so...i'm dropping that.  i'm going to let people choose to post anonymously, or choose to register - and even choose whether their username links to their URL, their [spambot-protected] email address, or neither.  obviously, for the anonymous comments, i'll implement a captcha to slow down the comment spammers.
    • bring back the latest comments page (with configuration).  i had this for a while, but when i switched to wordpress, i dropped it -- i just didn't thave time to develop a new one.  since i'll be rewriting the site, i might as well include this feature again.  this time around, i plan on allowing you to configure how the comments are displayed: how many of the most recent comments? show the post for these comments? show all the comments on the posts? show only the last [number] of comments on the posts? only show the most recent comments (with only links to the posts)?  choose your own comment'venture.  :-)
    • introduce a ratings structure.  stars are overrated.  i think i'm going to go with d00d!s.  i'll also add a page that shows the top rated (all time/this month/this week/today), and include an andvanced filter where you can specify a minimum number of votes -- i hate it when i sort by rating and 30 items come to the top with "5 stars!" and only 1-2 votes.  :-/
    • finally integrate the tag structure.  wordpress has included tags since the last upgrade i made (a while ago).  i even typed tags in when i published posts, but i haven't implemented them on the user's end.  i suck, i know.
    • tweak the current theme.  ...or just code up a new one.  with the new added features of ajax'd comments, tags, and ratings...it's definitely going to require a few minor modifications.  plus, the visual design needs a refresh for clenliness and readability, IMO.
    • develop an iphone/mobile layout.  hey, while i'm at it, why not?
    • drop the ads.  i'm not making any money off of them anyway, so at best, they're just an eye sore.
    • drop the copyrights.  since when was i original?  if at any point i do put original content up here, i'll likely go with creative commons.
    • a few distant-future considerations:
      • favorites and bookmarks - users can mark a post as a favorite of theirs (up to 10 favorites), or bookmark a post to find it easily later
      • user pages - [for each user] displays top 10 favorites, bookmarks, ratings, a blurb describing themselves, and contact info...with the option to show or hide each one

    so, hopefully, these fieatures will keep your hopes up and my will up.  we'll see how it goes.  please feel free to comment or you can shoot me an email if you have any suggestions.  thanks guys!!        [0 comments]

2009.02.10

  • this is why i don't feel so bad about signing up for twitter after all.  in case you weren't aware, you can check me out on twitter @gogogadgetearl.  i actually update it more than i update this site.  /sigh        [0 comments]
  • so i installed itunes tonight to finally sync some things up with my iphone.  during the installation, the single progress bar reset itself no less than 10 times.

    seriously, Apple?  >10 times?  why even bother?  you might as well just put some big text up there saying:

    NOT STUCK STILL GOING!        [1 comment]

2009.02.05

  • So I got a new iPhone.  It actually wasn't planned, but it happened anyway.  I can't say I'm disappointed, but I think it's worth mentioning that I haven't been pining over it forever like a lot of people have.

    As a matter of fact, I'm posting this on the iPhone as we speak...erm, type? read?  Anywho, I'm diggin it so far, and I'll keep you guys posted on how I like it.  In the mean time, I've also signed up for Twitter, so hit me up @gogogadgetearl.        [0 comments]

2009.01.30

  • so there's a new meme floating around.  apparently xzibit and the rest of the pimp my ride crew have been known to make some fairly ridonkulous modifications to some of the cars based on the owner's interests (a ball spinner in the trunk of bowler's car? really?).  apparently, xzibit's format typically follows: "yo dawg, i herd you like grillin'...so i put a grill in yo glove box so you can be grillin' while you drive."  this has spawned all kinds of retarded 4chan lulz like this.  unfortunately, it doesn't end there.  in fact, i'm afraid it doesn't end at all.

    so here's one for you:
    yo dawg, i herd you like my site, so i put my site on my site so you can surf while you surf.
            [1 comment]

2009.01.14

  • so, burger king has a deal where you get a coupon for a free hamburger if you delete 10 friends from facebook.

    it's brilliant.  i love it.  have an insanely popular service/subculture eat its own tail -- all the while promoting your own product.  it's...beautiful.  :-D

    ...and if you just thought to yourself "well, you could just add them back as soon as you got the coupon"...you are precisely the butt of the whole joke.

    i love it.        [1 comment]

2007.11.07

  • most of you probably don't know this, but for quite a few years now, i've been protecting your email addresses from spambots -- well...those of you who have registered and commented anyway...

    a long time ago i was reading about how easy it was to scan a page and "harvest" all the email addresses from that page.  i thought to myself, "that sucks, i don't want spam bots getting my email address - and i bet the people who visit my site don't either."  so i did some research and discovered some javascript that will take an obfuscated email address and "unmunge" it.

    so, i've created a php function in my wordpress theme that obfuscates every email address it writes to the page and then the javascript will load in your browser, scan the page, and deobfuscate it.  for example, if your email was 'you@domain.com', then the php function would obfuscate it by replacing the punctuation and throwing in some buzz words like this: 'not_you_remove-this_at_nowhere_domain_dot_com_buzz'.  then the javascript scans the page and corrects all the email addresses by removing all the buzz words.  i have created some custom buzz words in both scripts so 99.9% of all spam bots won't be able to figure out the pattern.

    since the spambots only scan the source code, the javascript never runs in a browser, so they only harvest obfuscated and useless strings.

    i hope this makes you guys feel a little more comfortable when you leave a comment.  :-)        [1 comment]

2007.09.10

  • so i've been considering buying a BMW.  i know that statement conjures up many different impressions of me, but i'm truly only interested in the machine.  in every review i've read, BMW seems to be, literally, "the ultimate driving machine".  the "unexpected power", the "solid construction throughout", the "handling that begs for curves", and "the way the vehicle just connects the driver with the road" is all i've read about BMWs.  to add to that, everyone i know that has ever owned a BMW has always said it's the best car they've ever driven.  that speaks for itself.  so, honestly, the emblem on the front could say hyundai - as long as it's the same machine, i'd buy it.

    i'm certainly not looking at new bimmers - i'm not making that kind of money yet. :-P  i'm looking more at 2002-2005 330i sedans.  the 330i was first offered in 2001, but i'll give it a year to get all the new-model kinks worked out.  from what i can tell, very little was changed in the 330i from 2002 to 2005, so the biggest difference between those model years would be the mileage.  that doesn't concern me as long as it was maintained well -- nearly any car nowadays can get 300k miles easily if it's properly maintained.

    so all this begs the question: how do you own a BMW without looking pretentious?  like i've mentioned, i could care less about what people think about me because of my car - so how do i shed the BMW vanity?        [3 comments]

2007.09.04

  • i usually do all of my web design/coding in dreamweaver, but i've been looking for something more.  dreamweaver is a great program, i'm sure, but i've always felt like it was only "good enough".  to add to that, i don't need a WYSIWYG editor, i just need a robust text editor with a good bit of configuration options.  finding a cheaper [read: legal] solution would be nice, too.

    so, i've been checking out new text editors.  i get really picky about how my code looks, and i go to great lengths to get it looking right even while i code it (wasting a good bit of time indenting & spacing when i should just be coding).  so i've been looking for something that will soothe my OCD when i code my xml/html, css, javascript, and php - especially if it will format my code as i type.  here's a few features that i'm looking for (either natively or with some configuration):
    1. the basics: syntax highlighting, file tabs, etc.
    2. can autoclose brackets, braces, parentheses, and xml/html tags
    3. can autoindent the contents of block statements and multiline xml/html tags, then balance the braces/parent tags (as i type, not with TIDY)
    4. can autosuggest/autocomplete context-sensitive information
      1. xml/html elements & attributes (autocompleting the ="" on attributes, too)
      2. css properties & property-specific values
      3. keywords & built-in functions in whatever languages i'm using
      4. variable names (on-the-fly, so when i declare a variable, i get a drop-down suggestion for that variable name as i type it on the next line)
      5. autosuggest/autocomplete support for css, javascript, and php that is in-line with [x]html
    5. code folding
    6. code snippets/abbreviations
    7. robust customization of the display & behavior of the interface
      1. line numbers in the margin
      2. margin selection (not bookmarking or code breaks)
      3. drag-to-arrange tabs
      4. close buttons on all tabs
      5. etc...
    2 & 3 are fairly important because the more typing/formatting an editor will do for me, the the more time i can spend actually coding.  4 is crucial, i feel, because the more an editor autosuggests/autocompletes for me, the less typos i have, and the less time i spend typing the same tags, the same properties, the same functions, and the same variables...over and over.  for programmers/coders, that's huge.

    obviously, i haven't found all of those features in one editor yet - that list asks a lot.  however, i have discovered a highly configurable editor called scite.  scite comes through great with 1, 4d, 5, 6, and 7a & b.  2 & 3 can be accomplished with some intermediate scripting & configuration (i believe), but 4 will take some advanced scripting & configuration to implement.  so why do i like it?  for all of it's options.  there are so many ways to configure scite, it'll make your head spin.  and it has a pretty robust extension system, too.  i think it has tons of potential.

    unfortunately, one of the major drawbacks of scite is that i can hardly find any community for it.  there are no scite forums, few readily-available plugins/extensions, and practically no advanced documentation/examples for APIs and scripting.  i've sent a message to the project owner over at sourceforge.net, offering to host a forum for scite/scintilla.  we'll see if he responds.

    in the meantime, i'm going to be teaching myself more about scite thru trial and error.

    if anyone knows of an editor that meets most/all of my feature requests above, PLEASE tell me about it.  if you don't want to register to leave a comment, then at least email me.  thanx!!        [2 comments]

2007.07.25

  • so, i got a little aggravated just a few weeks ago when i mis-typed a URL and instead of getting a DNS error page, i got a Charter search page!!  needless to say, i was not happy about it.  i then learned in the Charter ToS, that any non-encrypted information, including the web pages i navigate to and even the search terms i type into google, can be aggregated and "shared with" (sold to) "charter affiliates and business partners".  how about them apples?

    now get this:
    http://vancouver.cs.washington.edu/

    i think i'm going to start encrypting everything i view/send on the interwebs.  /sigh        [2 comments]

2007.07.16

  • man, i think wikipedia has infected my brain.  i've been catching up on a book that i read halfway through but haven't touched in the last 2 years.  and every time i come across a name of a person, place, or object that i recognize, but don't fully remember, i just wish it were a link that i could click on to read a full article about it.  man, that would be helpful.

    sheesh...i guess i'm a lost cause...  :-)        [4 comments]

2007.06.29

  • so i'm contemplating a creative commons license for this site.  the more i read up on creative commons, the more i realize that full, legal copyright is ridiculous and doesn't reflect my actual desires for the content on this site.  i'm considering the attribution-noncommercial-sharealike license, but i'm open to suggestions if you can thoughtfully explain why.        [4 comments]

2007.06.22

  • you know who frustrates me to no end?  bill o'reilly.  his blatant disregard for rationality is sickening.  he embodies everything i dislike about america: ignorance, arrogance, stubbornness, self-righteousness, condescension, closed-mindedness...i can't *stand* it!  [don't get me wrong, i love america -- but you have to admit, most of the said traits are fairly rampant in our society.]

    and the worst part is when guests on his show start sharing facts or rational logic that contradict his point-of-view, he starts yelling at them, calling them names, and sometimes even has their mics cut off -- as if to prevent his viewers from being tainted by "truth".  wtf??

    i can't wait until i've reached the point where i can laugh about how sad this guy is, but right now, i would really just like to stab him in the face...you know, in the most "turn-the-other-cheek"-way possible.  ::sigh::  :-/        [2 comments]

2007.05.08

  • ok, so here's my thoughts on music...

    i love, love, any kind of music that the artist pours themselves into.  not something that was written that they perform...something that seeps straight from their soul into their instrument.  where they don't just play an instrument, they translate their love, anger, joy, and pain into beautiful sounds.  i pine for music like that.  perfect examples of artists that treat their music as such: fiona apple, muse, stevie ray vaughn (his rendition of little wing is in my top 3 songs of all time), tool, jimi hendrix, peter gabriel, jeff buckley, and a few others.

    one thing that really bugs me about modern music, though, is the fact that it is so focused on lyrics and less on the music.  don't get me wrong, i understand and fully respect good lyrics and the need to use different words and unique language to get a point across...however, the majority of modern music has become more "poetry set against instruments" and less "true music".  seriously, when was the last time you heard a truly great guitar or piano solo?  i challenge any of you to find me a guitar solo that lasts more than 2 minutes (par for classic rock) on any album that went gold in the last 5 years.  i'm betting that's going to be a tougher challenge than most people would imagine...

    i know the lyrics to less than a fraction of the music i listen to.  to me, the voice of the lead singer is just another instrument...and i'm fine with that.  they could be singing about little pink ponies or how to change a tire for all i care, i just want the notes, the chords, the harmonies, and the dissonance to unchain my mind, my heart, and my soul.  that's what music is to me.  :-)        [8 comments]

2007.03.06

  • you know what really freakin' annoys me?  i have my google preferences set to open my search results in a new window.  so when i do a search i click on the first link, it opens in a new window...great!  i go back to the search results window and i click on another link - but that link opens up in the same new window as the first - essentially negating the fact that i opened the first link in a new window.  ARRRRRGH!!  why do you do this to me google?

    I especially hate it when i'm using firefox [99% of the time].  i'll have a window open with a google search for one topic and a new tab opened for one of the results.  I'll open up a second window, do a google search for second topic, click a link, and the same new tab for the first result - in the other window - will change to the page that i clicked on in the second google search.  W-T-F google??        [7 comments]

2007.02.14

  • well, i almost saw $250 [or more] go down the drain in an instant last night.  i recently ordered a dual-core AMD Athlon X2 4600+ to upgrade my current machine at home.  it came in the mail yesterday, and i decided to install it (along with a new cooler).  the old cooler [stock] was stuck to the old processor [AMD Athlon 64 3200+] -- it could still slide side-to-side [due to the thermal grease], but it wouldn't lift on any side.  i ended up [accidentally] removing the old cooler and the old processor in one fell swoop - without unlocking the processor slot.  owell, no pins broke off in there.  so i unlocked the slot, installed the new proc, locked the slot, installed the new cooler, and turned the machine on.  just after the POST screen, the machine informed me that the new CPU wasn't recognized by my motherboard's current BIOS.  oops - i forgot to update the BIOS.  ::sigh::  so i remove the new cooler, and then try to remove the new processor as carefully as possible.  well, i didn't do it carefully enough...because i dropped it...from about 2 feet...back into the case.  CRAP!!  i pick it back up and realize that i bent a good ~15 pins.  CRAPx2!!  at least 8 of them were bent more than 45 degrees.  ::sigh::  well, with nothing left to lose, i decided to get a toothpick to try to un-bend them.  it worked, and now the new proc is in my machine running seemingly fine.  ::whew::  who knows how long it will last...but it's working for now, so i can't complain.  :-)

    yeah, n00b sauce.        [3 comments]

2007.02.08

  • for no particular reason, i've decided to list my top 5 tv comedies.  if you enjoy my sense of humor, you'll definitely enjoy these shows...

    5. family guy: yes, it only made #5.  i used to place it at #1, but lately i've been less than impressed with it.  i don't know if my tastes have changed, or if seth macfarlane's wit is running dry - or both - but the newer episodes just seem obligatory.  formula: setup line + random flashback + [pop culture reference | slightly shocking action/statement | unexpected/retarded action by peter], rinse, repeat...pepper with stewie and brian singing.  going back and watching the older episodes, it's nearly the same thing.  i still love it; it's still in my top 5; but it's growing old.

    4. futurama: a wholly under-appreciated genius of comedy.  the funny thing about it is that i don't really know why.  i can't pinpoint what makes it so funny.  maybe it's because the show doesn't follow a formula [that i've noticed], or maybe it's bender's relentless "that's what she said" in the spanish fry episode, or maybe it's the constant homages to star trek - i dunno.  i do know, however, that i really love this show.

    3. the office: this show is so great because it emphasizes the subtle humor in life.  my sense of humor is weird.  i don't really laugh at the guy that got hit in the nuts with a football, i laugh at the fact that there are now 3 other guys on the ground with him laughing their heads off.  that's why i love this show.  you don't really laugh at michael's hijinks, you laugh at the other people's reactions.  it's not the joke that's so funny, it's the fallout.  i love it.  it was hilarious to see dwight discovering that all of his office supplies were in the vending machine, but it was even funnier to see that his way of retrieving them was to pull some change out of his pocket.  golden.  :-)

    2.  scrubs: if there were any show that describes what goes on in my head on a day-to-day basis, this would be the show.  all the random daydreams, all the recurring jokes that just never go away, all the blatant honesty - that's my life.  the only difference is that i work in a cubicle and they work in a hospital...and my life doesn't involve all the sex scenes, either [i'm married].  otherwise, if you ever wanted to experience what it's like to be earl for a day, watch scrubs.

    1. arrested development: the most brilliant of all tv comedies.  too bad fox cancelled it.  [side note: i'm going to just start watching all the shows fox cancels.]  you can still catch reruns on G4 and i'm sure you can find a torrent for all 3 seasons - but it's dead now.  the producers have made it obvious that, despite the critical acclaim and high DVD sales, they're not going to return to production.  it's a shame, the show had some of the most brilliant writing i've seen on any show...ever.  i've never seen such organization and comedic creativity.  the writers were able to create 2 completely separate hilarious situations, then have those situations meet near the end to create a totally new hilarious situation that is even funnier than the first 2 put together.  i would give an example, but the writers were so careful to create the setup for each situation, it would ruin the hilarity if i tried to condense it here.  you should just see for yourself.  you won't be disappointed.        [0 comments]

2006.11.21

  • as you guys probably noticed, i was gone all last week.  i was in tampa, florida for microsoft project server 2003 training.  tampa was fun, but boy is project web access a terrible tool.  check out these screwy permissions.  you'll notice that you can choose to neither allow nor deny them [go offline from project web access], or you can both allow and deny them [user defined 3] -- and you can save the permissions like that, no questions asked.  it's terrible.  the user defined permissions are out of order [3, xxxx, xxxx, 1, 2?], and to add to that, they are completely undocumented: we have no idea what the user defined permissions do...even microsoft's official project partners [our trianers last week] don't know what they do.  ::sigh::  even funnier is the way they shortcut-key some of their options.  you know how some controls/menus have an underlined letter that you can press alt+[letter] to access, right?  like how you can press alt+f to access the file menu [because 'f' is easy to remember for 'file']?  check these letters out.  the 'y' in 'they'?  the 'b' in 'by' [what about the 'b' in 'below' at the top of the form]?  the 't' in 'to'?  wow, those are easy to remember.  the 'b' in 'by' really reminds me of giving view permissions for managed resources.  sheesh.  to give you an idea of how inconsistent project web access is, sometimes the save/cancel buttons are on the top of the page, sometimes they are on the bottom, sometimes 'save' is labeled 'update', and sometimes there is an 'update' button in the middle of a page that doesn't really update until you click 'save' at the top/bottom of the page.  wtf??

    thank-you microsoft for giving us a tool that is more confusing than it is useful.  :-)        [0 comments]

2006.09.18

  • ok, so i lied.  a little over 2 weeks ago, i said that i'd have the new layout finished and deployed by now.  well, as you can see, i haven't.  my development has been halted by 3 things: busy at work, busy in the evenings, and sick for the past week.

    so, i haven't been able to work on the new layout much (if any at all).  don't worry, i still plan on doing it, i just haven't done it yet.  i apologize for my slow progress, and i hope that you guys understand.

    thanx!        [2 comments]

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