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 29.june.2007 » Here's an entry worth staying up late to document » Potty training has commenced! Quite by accident, I might add.
We'd just finished eating lunch at a local taco joint (where Kobe eats) and it was time to change the bug's diaper (as usual, following a big meal).
I was unable however, to find a clean diaper anywhere. (Something I try to avoid, squirreling away spare diapers in every cubby hole imaginable).
Tore apart the car » no diaper anywhere. (First time that's ever happened.) Not good. So I say (after cleaning him up), "You gotta go pee here in the toilet." And he does an amazing job, if ya know what I mean. Better than I ever could've hoped for.
So we're high-fiving there in the bathroom. "You so totally rock, dude!"
(I've begun patterning my style of praise, you might've noticed, off Crush, the 150-year-old turtle featured in Finding Nemo).
This evening's entry continues in Ye Olde Rad Blog .. see here » Potty Training Commences!
28.june.2007 » Took the Bug to the movies today. (A first.) Seems like a small thing, but felt like something big.
We've stopped by the theater before today, but never gone with a specific movie in mind. Previous visits were merely intended to familiarize him with what it feels like to walk inside a (dark) movie theater .. so today (when it finally came) wouldn't be such a surprise.
 We saw Surf's Up (dude). Strong reviews. A flick about penguins who surf. Pretty funny. Made me laugh out loud several times.
The bug is still small enough that he can sit on my lap.
Before leaving the house I found the Surfs Up web site, and reviewed the main characters with him, so he'd be familiar with their names (Cody, Chicken Joe, Tank, Lani).
Today's entry continues in Ye Olde Rad Blog .. see here > The Bug's First Theater Movie (Sorta)
26.june.2007 » 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.
Much of my web skills to date have been acquired on an ad hoc basis, learning only what I've needed to know .. to accomplish a particular result/effect. I've simply not been very interested in learning the details of web mastery.
Yet
the Internet (or the Web, I should say) remains one of mankind's coolest inventions. And the web - as you know - is comprised, primarily, of web pages. So skills in this area might allow me to take better advantage of (indulge myself in) this evolving technology.
None of these skills, mind you, are particularly difficult to learn. It's not rocket science, but there *is* much material involved.
Like most people, I learn best by doing .. by having a project to which I can apply my new skills.
You might recall I've begun working on a new Guide to Norton Ghost, based on Ghost 12 (Rad NG12). This new guide will be layed-out with a CSS-based (table-less) 3-column liquid/fluid design (with header & footer), which I've selected from a variety of pre-coded templates available in Dreamweaver.
Today's entry continues in the blog .. see here » Upgrading Web Master Skills | New Technologies Presenting Challenges
 23.june.2007 » The Apostle Paul wrote (in 2nd Corinthians) > "There was given to me a thorn in the flesh..." Now I may not be an apostle, but I know that feeling.
With a little poetic license, using modern vernacular, this verse could be interpreted > "There was given to me .. a pain in the @ss." (the Rad translation)
I was supposed to get the bug this weekend. (Court order says I get him every other weekend.) I've been donating my Saturdays to his mom (trying to be nice).
She, unfortunately, doesn't respond well to nice. (Maybe she views it as a sign of weakness.) She only wants more, more, more. Anyway, I'm done being nice .. especially after she wouldn't let me see him Father's day (last week).
So I'm taking everything the courts granted me. His mom however, doesn't see it that way. She called yesterday, saying she was coming by to pick him up in the afternoon.
So I hid out with the bug. We found a quiet little park, that nobody knows about. I threw down some blankets and made a bed for him on the grass, in the shade, with a cool breeze blowing. There he slept nearly 4 hours (looking peaceful & beautiful).
Afterwards we went home. She musta been circling the block for 4 hours, cuz we hadn't been home more than 5 minutes, when we all decided to go to El Torito (Mexican restaurant) for dinner. I was taking the car seat out of the Rad-mobile and transferring it to the other car, when his mom pulled up.
Today's entry continues in the blog .. see here > A Father's Thorn in the Flesh | Weekend Visitation Snatched Away
20.june.2007 » 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 EDT. That's 11:06 AM for us Left-coasters. I hope this summer isn't oppressively-hot, like it was last year.
The word solstice comes from Latin > sun stands still. Cuz the sun appears to stop (for a few days) its north-ward movement along the horizon, if you watch where it sets every night.
Starting tomorrow, days begin to shorten. Autumn however, is traditionally my favorite season > warm days, cool nights, clean air & pumpkins.
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 emissions.
Today's entry continues in the blog .. see here > First Day of Summer; Rad-mobile Passes CA Smog Check.
19.june.2007 » A security vulnerability was reported for the forum software (YaBB v2.1), as posted at iDefense Labs...
... which allows attackers to register with Administrator privileges by "setting the values of certain variables to contain certain characters." (Nice of them not to spell-out how to implement the hack.)
Attackers can then wreck all manner of ugliness.
I discovered the vulnerability last night, but couldn't implement the fix, cuz other mods I've installed had modified the original source code of the files I needed to patch (register.pl + profile.pl).
The patch searched for (some of) the flawed code, but couldn't find it, cuz it had been modified by another mod. Actually, the first 8 steps proceeded fine. Only the 9th and final step errored. But unless the entire fix can be implemented, the patch refuses to install.
At 11PM last night, I was tired and not thinking clearly, so I disabled the registration feature (to help mitigate the vulnerability) and went to bed.
Today's entry continues in the blog .. see here > YaBB Forum Security Vulnerability Patched
17.june.2007 » Father's day. Was kinda hoping the bug's mom would offer me the day with him, cuz this isn't normally my weekend.
But when she came to get him Friday, it didn't happen. Things between us lately haven't been exactly a day at the beach (or a walk in the park). So, can't say I'm completely surprised, tho really thought she'd come through in the clutch.
 Perhaps I should note that Mother's day weekend, was *my* weekend with the bug, and I donated (gladly) the entire thing to her. (Most would assume this is the thing to do, right?)
So normally, you might expect this generosity to be reciprocated. But "normal" is not how I'd describe this relationship.
I really am trying (for the bug's sake) to normalize relations with his mom, but progress is .. uh, fleeting .. along with hope (of normalizing).
I find myself dealing with her as you might an institution, such as the DMV > unpleasant but necessary. You rather not be there, but
you gotta stop by from time to time.
So you do what you have to .. or more accurately, (you do) what you can. Take nothing personal. Any ugliness > just part of the system.
Today's entry continues in the blog .. see here > Father's Day 2007 | Not So Happy, Could Be Worse
 16.june.2007 » Converted this page (you're reading) to XHTML 1.0 Transitional (from HTML 4.01 Transitional). You can see for yourself by clicking the button to your right.
Thought it would be a piece of cake, since Dreamweaver comes with the feature: File > Convert > XHTML 1.0 Transitional.
After conversion tho, the text in this center column (you're reading now) became center-justified (yuk!), but only in Internet Explorer & Opera. Everything looked fine in Firefox & Seamonkey. (Text here should be left-justified.)
Couldn't figure out why. (Pulled out much hair trying.) Finally solved by adding > text-align:left to the CSS page. (Shouldn't have to, tho .. since left-justified should be the default.)
Then I tried to validate, but got 8 errors. Resolving some of them was a pain. Initial attempts to correct only introduced more errors. =/
Eventually however, I whittled them down, one by one .. 8 > 7 > 6 .. valid! And all new web pages, of course, will be crafted to XHTML 1.0 Transitional specs.
I enjoy learning about new technology (and especially how to use it). But I don't enjoy doing things that show no perceived benefit. For example, it's unlikely you observed a difference between the page you're reading now and the one posted here yesterday.
Still feels good tho, to upgrade the site's home page to the latest version of the language that rules the web.
The new blog - BTW - produces pages that are (also) XHTML 1.0 Transitional (by default).
12.june.2007 - Installed Norton Ghost 12 last night, and (successfully!) created my first Windows-based back-up image (which Symantec terms a Recovery Point) .. of my laptop's system drive .. to a 500-gig Seagate external USB drive (from Newegg).
 If you've been Radified for any length of time, you know how we stress the importance of backing-up your hard drive with a cloning program, such as Ghost.
The Rad Community forums have become the de facto Ghost support forums on the Web, frequented by people smarter than me, who graciously lend their experience.
We even have one of the program's original developers stopping by (from New Zealand), sharing insights, along with other wizards, who all possess their particular niche of expertise.
I've been pooh-pooh'ing the notion of Windows-based back-up images ever since Ghost 9.0 first arrived on the scene (for reasons detailed > here),..
.. but figure it's time to join the 21st century, and gather some experience with these newfangled (Windows-based) imaging tools.
Today's entry continues in the blog .. see here > Installed Norton Ghost 12 & Created Back-up Image, called a Recovery Point |
