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Movable Type v4.1 vs Expression Engine v1.6
I've been looking into installing the latest version of MovableType (blogging software) .. which happens to be v4.1 .. which is currently in beta3, which was released 2 days ago.The main reason I'm waiting for v4.1 is cuz (copy-n-paste from...
Learning About Web Hex HTML Color Schemes on the Winter Solstice
Winter solstice yesterday. Shortest day of the year (for those of us living in the northern hemisphere). The word solstice comes from a latin term » solstitium, meaning sun stoppage. Extra cool with a full moon tonight.The exact time (when...
First Trip to the Gym Since Hurting Neck in Mountain-Biking Accident
Returned to the gym yesterday. First time since I went sailing over the handlebars and landed on my head. It's been 10 weeks.Felt good to throw around some iron. Everybody came up, asking, "Dude, where you been?"Felt stronger than I expected....
Restored First Norton Ghost 12 Hard Drive Back-up Image (Recovery Point)
16.December.2007 » Restored my first Ghost 12 image today. (It worked!) You might recall the problems I've been having with the DC input jack on my laptop.Went to dinner last night and caught a movie. When I returned, the...
Andy Budd's Book: CSS Mastery
Still reading CSS Mastery. Very rich. It's much smaller (thinner) than the Head First book on XHTML+CSS I read earlier this year (only 250 pages vs 650), yet reads more slowly, because it contains much food-for-thought (regarding styling techniques).On nearly...
Andy Budd's CSS Mastery Book Really That Good? Initial Impressions + Web 2.0
Back in August, when I was researching the best book to learn CSS, I was suspicious of all the glowing comments at Amazon.com for CSS Mastery.I mean, they sounded too good to be true. I'm especially suspicious of reviewers who...
Matto's Mantra & Downloading Free Books from Wowio
Back when I was living in Pennsylvania, a friend there (Michael Matto) was fond of saying » "You'll be the same person 5 years from now except for: 1. the books you read, and 2. the people you meet." Along these lines, I stumbled upon a new site yesterday called » Wowio, which offers free books (for download, PDF format). I was skeptical at first, but it actually seems legit. You have to register (via valid email addy), and you can only download 3 books/day (enough for even the most voracious reader).
Thanksgiving 2007
I trust you and yours had yourselves a pleasant Thanksgiving, with lots of bird to eat, and other yummy treats. I spent the day with the Bug (just the two of us), so it was most enjoyable. After tearing up the local playground, the day's highlight came when we took his "froggie boots" to the Newport Back Bay. There we found a feeder-stream he could tromp thru (something new).
The Neck, Web Master Skills & Holy Frijoles
My neck is finally (after 6 weeks!) starting to loosen. I can turn my head side-to-side without pain, tho full range-of-motion remains elusive. Tilting » right-ear toward right-shoulder .. is the movement I now find most difficult. Feels like a steel cable (tendon?) connects my left shoulder to the base of my skull (on left side), restricting this (right-ward ») motion. Forcing this movement causes swelling (the next day) where my neck (left-side) connects to my torso. The swelling (raised ~2 inches) looks scarier than it feels. Nevertheless, I'm hesitant to stretch very far in that direction (.. like they want me to).
Continuing to Enhance Web Master Skill Set (XHTML, CSS, Dreamweaver)
Learning lots about (X)HTML, CSS. & Dreamweaver. For example, I finished reading the Head First book (cover-to-cover, all 650 pages). Currently half-way thru the Lynda.com Essential training video for Dreamweaver CS3 (Creative Suite 3). Also reading the Missing Manual on Dreaweaver (~1,000 pages), which goes into more detail than the video. All great stuff. Was surprised to read over at Coding Horror that the average programmer reads less than 1 (technical) book per year.
My First Halloween with the Bug (Dressed as Dorothy) + First Physical Therapy Session
Took the Bug trick-or-treating for Halloween. (A first for me.) He was dressed in a Dorothy costume (à la Wizard of Oz), complete with ruby slippers. Not an outfit I would've selected, but that's what he was wearing when I picked him up. Did it make me uncomfortable to see my boy wearing a dress? Uh, a little. But he's only two. If he were five, maybe I'd be more concerned. Everybody agrees on one thing » he would've made a cute girl. =)
New Identity » Good Dad + "Break Down the Subjects" (Bourne Ultimatum)
More people than ever told me today that I'm a good dad. Maybe this is something I need to hear. Seems like everywhere I went » the coffee shop, the bank, the library, Mother's market .. I ran into somebody asking, "Where's the little guy?" (Most I didn't even know.) Ironically, the last thing Tom & I discussed that day .. was prompted by a line from the Bourne Ultimatum, where Julia Stiles' character (Nicky) states » "They found they had to break-down the subjects before the training would take."
Frontline Launches 25th Anniversary Season (PBS)
Frontline begins its new season today (25th anniversary) .. featuring a show titled » Cheney's Law, about the Veep's multi-decade campaign to expand presidential powers, especially following 9-11.
Sore Neck Following Mountain Biking Crash
Regarding Sunday's mountain biking mishap (see previous entry), I should be over the worst of it .. tho not yet out of the woods. Starting to feel human again. Neck still sore/stiff, especially left side. Got a headache, too, which I didn't have before. Weird. Otherwise, it's steady as she goes .. with Advil & Tigerbalm. (I'm done with icing phase.) My new mountain bike has disc break, which provides more stopping power (way more) than old bike. Two fingers is all it takes. Makes it easy to lock front tire .. which can send you sailing over the handlebars, especially on a steep decline.
Over the Handlebars (Ouch) » Mountain Biking Mishap
Mountain biking this weekend. Too much fun. Nasty spill. Crashed & burned. Ouch. Sore neck. My buddy Tom said, "Don't try to move." Asked me, "How many fingers am I holding up?" and what state we were in. I knew that stuff. (Three, California.) He's taken numerous first-aid classes. Maybe mild concussion. Was wearing a helmet. Nasty (bloody) scrapes left arm & leg. (Looks cool, tho.) I rode out. (Walked the gnarlier parts.)
5 Reasons Why You Should Back-up Your Hard Drive with a Cloning Program such as Norton Ghost
So how do you protect yourself against hard drive failure? There are various ways, with each method offering a degree of protection. But the *best* way to protect your data and your operating system is with an imaging/cloning program .. such as Norton Ghost (distributed by Symantec). An imaging/cloning program is like an insurance policy » hopefully you never have to use it. But if you do, you're glad you have it. One dead drive is all it takes to make a believer out of most people. Smart people learn from the mistakes of others.
More Goodbye Tears + "Dada's poops are stinked up!"
Last week I mentioned how the Bug cried when I brought him back to his mom .. and how that threw me for a loop, seeing it was a new development. This week wasn't such a shock, tho yesterday, again, brought more goodbye tears. (The Bug rarely cries. Real tears are rarer still.) Yet surprisingly, I'm still struggling to get a handle on this new twist. As we were leaving, another girl, who I've chatted with several times, walked over and told me she lived nearby, and that she had lots of cool play-stuff (e.g. jungle-gym, etc.) in her backyard, and that I was welcome to stop by with the Bug whenever I wanted (even if she wasn't home). While she scribbled her address on a piece of paper, the Bug shouted, "Dada's poops are stinked up!"
First-ever Mountain Bike Ride during Heat Wave Impairs Cognitive Function
At the coffee shop yesterday, I let my rock-climbing buddy (Tom) talk me into a mountain bike ride (my first ever). Unfortunately, yesterday brought a record-breaking heat wave. It was sooo freakin' hot. Tom estimated 105 degrees on the trails where no breeze blew. We didn't get started until after noon, finishing 3 hours later » smack dab in the heat of the day. (We stopped to fix his broken chain, then later, my flat tire.) This was the most physically stressed I've ever been. I actually noticed myself suffering impaired cognitive functions. For example, while Tom was fixing my flat, he told me to drink more water. So I walked over to *his* bike and picked it up, thinking it was my own.
Best Book for Learning Cascading Style Sheets » CSS Mastery by Andy Budd
With my current book (on XHTML/CSS) coming to a close, I've been cresearching books that deal solely with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) ... .. to determine which one might represent the next step in upgrading my web meister skill set. Here's what I found. Let's begin with end. The best book (for me) would be » CSS Mastery: Advanced Web Standards Solutions .. by Andy Budd (from Brighton, England. His blog is » here.). Sample chapter posted » here (600-KB, 20-page PDF dealing with Layout).
Download Classic Books (for Free) from PlanetPDF + Military-style Mass-Innoculations
Link worth bookmarking » PlantetPDF. Contains 7 pages worth of links to books (all free) .. with authors such as Dickens, Homer & Dostoevsky, and titles like Dracula &
Remarkable how much better I feel whenever I work-out. I even feel better about myself (psychologically).
Shirts fit more snugly (in chest & shoulders). Arms hang a bit heavier. Each step flows more easily, propelled by stronger legs ("wheels"). .. when in walks Jarrod (a regular there, who teaches Criminal Justice at one of the local universities).
On our table he laid a copy of today's Los Angeles Times, and points to an article titled (big letters) » War protest in O.C. ends in 6 arrests. (Front page of the California section - Part B. Yeah, he was one of the 6.) Returned to the gym yesterday .. first time in 6 months. You might recall, 6 months ago, when I tweaked my back, how bad that suk'ed. (See entry titled » Falling Apart at the Seams.).
Felt good to throw around some iron. I went straight to the BACK exercises, beginning with deadlifts. No romance in this flick. Not a single kiss. I applaud the filmmakers for not trying to make their film all things to all people.
My favorite shot .. comes early on .. camera slowly zooms in .. .. over reporter's left shoulder, who poses a question. Increasingly the scene becomes muted, dark, shadowy .. until they show only a guy's eye (his right eye), which consumes most of the screen. The man sitting across from the reporter then says, "Okay, turn off the recorder." [Cut to next scene]. Broke up recent blog entry (about Navy Nuclear Power school) into two parts. The original grew too long for a single page. Also added heading titles (not needed with shorter entries).
Still reading Head First XHTML/CSS book. Learning about CSS. Already know most of this, too, but definitely best chapter yet (far as learning useful info).
Also .. been trying to get off the bean (as you might recall). Not going very well. The mere idea of quitting makes me wanna drink more .. (cuz I can't be sure tomorrow won't be the day I really quit). Far from being coddled, Nuclear officers were taken to task and held responsible.
Do you recall the fiasco at Abu Ghraib prison? .. the one where the officers in charge claimed ignorance? before fingering the enlisted folk? That would've never happened under Rickover's watch. He would've had their officer nuts hanging in his office by sunset.
Nobody told Rickover, "Sir, I uh, didn't know that was going on ..." .. uh, not if they wanted to keep their jobs. In Rickover's Navy, not knowing about something (ignorance) is *worse* than condoning it. Half-way thru new (650-page) Head First XHTML/CSS book. Completed first 7 chapters, which cover all things pertaining to HTML/XHTML (the *structure* of a web page, such as setting up » headings, paragraphs, images, links).
Chapter 8 (« 3-MB PDF), which I'm starting now, begins discussion of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), which is cooler than (X)HTML, cuz it deals with *presentation* (as separated from structure). Before becoming a dad, I had a job where one of my bosses spoke often & enthusiastically about his kids (teenagers at the time). Despite my best efforts (to suck-up to the boss), I had difficulty relating to his stories.
I remember thinking, "If I ever have kids, I need to realize that people who don't (yet) have kids might have trouble relating." Played Rad-dad the last few days. This was the first time I changed *no* poopy diapers. Woohoo! All poopies went in the toilet. (A beautiful thing.) Let the celebration begin.
He seems to enjoy this new activity. "Dada, come look," I hear him call from the bathroom. Eyes gleaming with pride. High-fives ensue. Quickly tho, he dismisses me with a wave » "Dada go away." (Plea for privacy.) Sometimes he even slides shut the door behind me. Been studying new "Head First" book on XHTML/CSS .. currently ~200 pages into it (1/3rd way thru), now reading chapter 5.
Haven't seen much new material I don't already know (having learned most of my tricks from viewing the source of other web sites). Tho I have learned bits-n-pieces of cool info from the book, especially regarding the names (terms) of things (.. which I've been using for years). Been reading a new book on XHTML/CSS. O'Reilly claims its books in the Head First series represent a "learning experience." (not a reference)
Slow down. The more you understand, the less you have to memorize. Take time to ponder the implications of what you're learning.
Pictures help you learn better than text, cuz the brain is tuned for images (not text).
Spent the first full weekend with the Bug (Fri-Sat-Sun) in several months. I had previously been donating my Saturdays to his mom .. but decided, recently, to take more time with the little guy.
Never ceases to surprise me how much depth to the relationship it adds by spending consecutive days together. Nothing like a big chunk o' time to develop the father/son relationship & bond. Very satisfying. While researching what books might help, two stood out:
Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML, by Eric & Liz Freeman, Dec 2005, 694 pgs
HTML, XHTML, and CSS, 6th Ed, by Liz Castro (Barcelona), Aug 2006, 456 pgs
The Head First book has an Amazon.com Sales Rank of 1154 (at time of this writing, rankings fluctuate constantly). The Castro book comes in slightly higher at 1110. Both are Amazon BestSellers. Been upgrading my web master skills recently, to include proficiency with HTML, XHTML, CSS & Dreamweaver. I'd also like to become familiar with JavaScript, PHP & SQL-based databases, such as MySQL.
Like most people, I learn best by doing .. by having a project to which I can apply my new skills.
I'm finding these newfangled XHTML/CSS pages significantly more complicated to work with than the old (simple) HTML ones I used with the original Rad Ghost guide. Summer solstice tomorrow. First day of summer. Longest day of the year (or shortest, if you live south of the equator). Sun enters sign of Cancer.
The exact time (when the sun reaches its northern-most position, and turns around to head back south) will be 2:06 PM Eastern daylight time. That's 5:06 for us Left-coasters. I hope this summer isn't oppressively-hot, like it was last year.
In other news, the Rad-mobile got smog checked today, something we do here in California every two years. Takes 15 minutes. Costs $60. Car passed, easily, with less than half the allowable emission. Six Apart (6A) has released version 4.0 (beta) of its Movable Type blogging software, with a final Open Source version scheduled for release this summer. Sweet!
There will also be a separate commercial version (with tech support) released along with the eagerly-awaited open source version.
The big question on everyone's mind seems to be > "Will an open source version allow Movable Type to make up ground it lost to WordPress (very popular open source blogging software) following 6A's decision to license v3.x?" Been playing Rad dad last few days. The bug is getting to that age where he knows what he wants (and what he doesn't want). No longer can I just grab him and do what I want. Now he must be dealt with.
Been looking into Virtual Private Servers (VPS) .. by trading emails with Lunarpages support to learn how that deal that works.
Odd how Basic Hosting (which I have now) comes with 350 gigs of storage (which few will ever use) & costs less than 10 bucks a month. Yet a VPS account only comes with 20 gigs storage (still way more than the 2 or 3 I need) .. tho costs $40/month. Seems like the numbers are backwards (you pay more, but get less). So I asked why. Their response: A big part of Indulging Your Technolust involves learning how to use cool software. Once you have your hardware dialed in, and your system backed up (crucial step), it's time to become proficient with your favorite programs.
After you install WAMP (running as localhost) you'll notice in phpMyAdmin (where you set up your MySQL databases) a warning that says you have no root password, saying this is not secure and should be corrected soon as possible. Test of the new Rad server. If you can read this, you're getting the *new* server. Could be my imagination, but this one feels a little zippier. No?
The new Rad server is a Dell PowerEdge 2650 (PDF), sporting dual-Xeons @ 2.8 GHz, with 6 gigs memory & SCSI RAID disk storage, running... Heading out for a bike ride, but first I wanna share > the bug is no longer stuttering. Everybody told me not-to-worry, but it still bothered me.
He stuttered for ~ a month. Broke my heart. No more, tho. You can't imagine the sense of relief. (Happy days here again.) Regulars might recall a dream I had last year, in November (the 14th, to be precise) .. which said .. well, here are my exact words:
Had a dream last night that Barack Obama was on the verge of becoming the first black president (way ahead in the polls), but was assassinated right before the election (similar to what happened with RFK). The dream seemed real. Would be weird if it came true. Exercise, Bizarre Dreams & Advanced Web Construction
Jarrod Arrested for Protesting the Iraq War
Returning to the Gym After 6-Month Layoff
Bourne Ultimatum | Rad Film Review
Various Topics » Nuclear Nightmare, Learning XHTML/CSS, Trying to Quit Coffee, Dog to Wed in Prague
U.S. Naval Nuclear Power School | An Inside Look - Part II
Mid-way Review of Head First XHTML/CSS Book
Difficulty Relating to an Enthusiastic Parent | Skinny-dipping in the Baptistry
Musings on Being a Part-time Dad & Milestones in Potty-Training
First Impressions of Head First XHTML/CSS Book
Theory of Learning Behind the Head First Series of Books (from O'Reilly)
First Full Weekend Visitation in Months | Fireworks
Best Books for Learning the Basics of Web Site Design (XHTML + CSS)
Upgrading Web Master Skills | New Technologies Presenting Challenges
First Day of Summer; Rad-mobile Passes CA Smog Check
Six Apart Releases Version 4.0 (beta) of its Movable Type Blogging Software
Learning Dad Tricks & all about Virtual Private Servers (VPS)
Proficiency with Software & Setting Root Password for MySQL Database in phpMyAdmin under WAMP5
Site Move to New Upgraded Web Server Complete
The Bug No Longer Stuttering
Disturbing Dream: Barack Obama Assassinated
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