Isolationism

First, let me state that I am a relative noob at working with JavaScript—and to be blunt about it, event-driven programming gives me a headache (on top of having to work with JavaScript at all, that is).

My most recent challenge was how to fit event handling into an object-oriented design approach; I wanted to load an image from a new URL (e.g. it isn’t already embedded within the HTML page), then get the loaded image’s dimensions for use elsewhere in a larger application.

(more…)

I decided today that I would move my so-called “web assets” to DreamHost; the decision having been based chiefly on a few additional perks there combined with a few minor frustrations at the previuos joint. Any hosted sites are still on the old server and will stay there for at least the next few months unless you request otherwise; there’s no rush to migrate so I’m leaving things as they are over there. This website, on the other hand, has already been moved—and I doubt anyone was out there to notice the transition, anyway.

In the coming months I hope to spend some time cutting my teeth on a few Python projects to gain greater familiarity with the language and how it applies to the web (so far my experiences have chiefly involved writing lengthy shell-scripts for work, and the odd fiddling around with Boodler); I still like CherryPy but it seems as though TurboGears or Django might be better choices for me based on their sophistication and provided features—but it’s still too early to tell. Whichever I choose, at least now I’ll be able to host my projects on a public site without having to saturate my DSL connection to my home server.

A few friends and acquaintances are still stuck on pMachine and are considering converting to WordPress. I wish I could tell you the conversion is as simple as installing WordPress itself. What follows are a few suggestions on how to go about it, though, that might ease your transition somewhat.

(more…)

My better half has relaunched her website, Dreaming in Reality, after having switched over to using WordPress after five years of using pMachine. We managed to successfully convert all of her posts not only from pMachine but from Blogger as well (which she had used for six months or so until late 2002). The process was a little tricky—not least because the domain that used to host the conversion script from pMachine -> Wordpress is now gone (thank you, Google cache)—but it’s done now.

(more…)

I upgraded the site to WordPress 2.1 this evening—sorry for the little bit of downtime; I set it to upload then cooked dinner.

The new code managed to coax the EventCalendar plugin into each post repeating itself several times, so I’ve disabled it for now. Other than that, everything should be back to normal. Sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Congrats to the WordPress team on another landmark release.

I let this one slip through the cracks even though it happened a few weeks ago: The newly redesigned Critter Jungle website was quietly launched in November. Critter Jungle, if you don’t already know, is a lovely privately-owned pet shop in Hampton Park Plaza in Ottawa (near where Carling meets the Queensway); The proprietors are family friends, so this was a one-off project in my spare time.

The main goals of the redesign were to change the appearance of the site to bring it in line with more current design trends such as elastic page width and easy-to-read content, less garish choice of colour (now that web-safe colour is effective unnecessary since everyone out there is using true-colour display modes), and to emphasize a change in direction for site content. We also wanted to make the site easier for the customer to manage, and increase accessibility and usability.

(more…)

My amigo MCM over at Push the Third Button Twice posted a reaction to an article on The Mu Life titled, Did You Read The Article? MCM raises an interesting point about how we shouldn’t judge books by their covers, or blogs by their fame (or lack thereof).

I think I’ve already stated my position on Digg users making worthless contributions to story discussion threads, so no argument there. I also agree with MCM’s conclusion: Blogs shouldn’t just be discounted because they’re “petite frites” compared to commercial news sites.

(more…)

It’s finally the weekend and none too soon: My week hasn’t been especially bad (but not especially good either. Kind of so-so) but today could have gone better—Squeaker wanted to be entertained at 4 in the morning, I had a fun visit at the bank with my financial advisor (I think I’ve decided I prefer going to the dentist), and I’m dog-tired well before my usual bedtime.

I’ve been slaving away this week at lots of Python code, too—it’s the worst kind, to boot; I’m refactoring my own old code, which is a thankless job if ever there were one (although I am adding a number of extra little switches and things for efficiency, better error handling, output verification, etc.). When you’re already pressed for time on a product release schedule, trying to explain to your manager that you’re trying to leave maintainable code that could mean literally hours of saved time per week from those that employ it regularly is pretty awkward when he knows the old version worked (no matter how old and busted you think it is).

(more…)

A good friend of mine (with apparently better eyesight than my own) over at Push the Third Button Twice made a recent editorial post about a new trend against, in the Blog Herald’s own words, “blogging for money,” which I think should be rewritten to “knowingly blogging biased content for financial gain” (but then I should talk because the Blog Herald is obviously a way more successful blog than mine. I wasn’t even thinking of the word “sensationalism,” why do you mention it?).

MCM (A.K.A. Mr Andrews) suggests that the blogger’s mores already encapsulate this so-called “Honour Pledge” (with or without the ‘u’, as you please), and that the internet will act as a unified force against any foul play on the part of the blogger and disgrace their name (and, presumably, the blgo). My gut reaction is to want to agree with him.

(more…)

Not that Digg is exactly my favourite news site—I think its’ “unedited” approach allows far too much chaff through the nearly non-existant filters: Myriad duplicate stories, bad (or non-existant) writing, too many exclamation marks, rampant use of superlatives, all caps, etc. (e.g.: “OMG WORST SITE ON THE INTERNET!!!” being an accurate summary)—but it would be a shame all the same to see it tumble under the likes of News Corporation, that entity which is ‘famous’ for Fox News, and their moderately recent online acquisition, MySpace.

Rupert Murdoch is evidently catching on that the Web is a potent medium and is buying up assets quickly (although Digg has some respite for now as nobody was willing to lay down the 150 million they were hoping for)—but I find myself wishing he would leave it alone.

(more…)