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Archives: [+]
Thursday, May 30, 2002
April archives are up (at long last). Just bought Peter van der Linden's Just Java 2 (fifth edition--for v1.4 of the JDK). Looking forward to devouring it.
A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, when I was just beginning to learn PHP and MySQL (and when I was getting fairly frustrated with outages at blogger), I rolled the beta of a web journaling system and, due to a momentary lack of creativity or a desire to obfuscate, dubbed it WheatBlog (which, the savy reader will notice, is also the name of the blog you're currently reading).
Time passed, as is its nature. WheatBlog languished. But recently, changes have been underfoot. I'd been thinking about rewriting WheatBlog from scratch. There were some fundamental things I wanted to change (like using htaccess for authentication instead of the custom--and probably woefully insecure--method that I devised, like using a truly relational database structure, like adding title s to posts and simple ways to query the archives, like doing most everything with custom functions). And, not a few days later, I got an email from this guy, who's been using his own souped up version of the WheatBlog code to run the news section of his own site. He requested to be added to the development team, which was cool by me.
So, there's no big news to report as of yet, but I'm fairly stoked to have some help on the WheatBlog project. And I think it might be fun to work on it again. I haven't had a coding hobby project in a while, so it'll be good.
[0 comments]
April archives are up (at long last). Just bought Peter van der Linden's Just Java 2 (fifth edition--for v1.4 of the JDK). Looking forward to devouring it.
A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, when I was just beginning to learn PHP and MySQL (and when I was getting fairly frustrated with outages at blogger), I rolled the beta of a web journaling system and, due to a momentary lack of creativity or a desire to obfuscate, dubbed it WheatBlog (which, the savy reader will notice, is also the name of the blog you're currently reading).
Time passed, as is its nature. WheatBlog languished. But recently, changes have been underfoot. I'd been thinking about rewriting WheatBlog from scratch. There were some fundamental things I wanted to change (like using htaccess for authentication instead of the custom--and probably woefully insecure--method that I devised, like using a truly relational database structure, like adding title s to posts and simple ways to query the archives, like doing most everything with custom functions). And, not a few days later, I got an email from this guy, who's been using his own souped up version of the WheatBlog code to run the news section of his own site. He requested to be added to the development team, which was cool by me.
So, there's no big news to report as of yet, but I'm fairly stoked to have some help on the WheatBlog project. And I think it might be fun to work on it again. I haven't had a coding hobby project in a while, so it'll be good.
[0 comments]
Monday, May 27, 2002
A little press for wheatdesign: An article on stock photography in digital-web magazine features a screen shot (scroll down a bit) of the computing page at wheatdesign.com (to show how we use an image from iStockPhoto). Cool.
Other important news, the first part of what will ultimately be a full translation (into Russian) of my bassbook has been published in an online mag called Bass Boom Bang. Big thanks to Rommy, the editor and translator.
[0 comments]
A little press for wheatdesign: An article on stock photography in digital-web magazine features a screen shot (scroll down a bit) of the computing page at wheatdesign.com (to show how we use an image from iStockPhoto). Cool.
Other important news, the first part of what will ultimately be a full translation (into Russian) of my bassbook has been published in an online mag called Bass Boom Bang. Big thanks to Rommy, the editor and translator.
[0 comments]
Sunday, May 26, 2002
More debate on jimformation about the (lack of) value of weblogs, including this guest piece by bwg. I didn't like the piece at first, as it begins by making a play to elitism, but if you read the whole thing, bwg actually supports the idea of blogging but also the idea of not taking it so seriously.
Move notes: What has happened to Hal Hartley? He used to be one of my favorite directors--quirky, odd, a bit pedantic at times, but always worth checking out. All of his moves up until Henry Fool are good (some of them, Surviving Desire, Flirt, and Trust are way beyond good). But Henry Fool was awful--long, self important, and unconvincingly acted. At the time, I blamed this on the lack of Martin Donavan in the lead role (a mainstay of Hartley flicks and one of the reasons they're often so good). But recently I sat through The Book of Life, Harley's first film since Nenry Fool. I was glad to see Martin Donavan back in the fray, but the film is terrible. And Hartley abandons his usual shooting style for something far worse (the addition of P.J. Harvey as Donavan's side kick doesn't help. She's a good singer. Her part in the film is so unecessary it's hard to tell if she's a good actress). I'm just at a loss. [Wheat hangs his head and cries].
I see two more recent films listed at imdb (I live in the midwest; it takes a while for independent films to make their way here in rental form). I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
[0 comments]
More debate on jimformation about the (lack of) value of weblogs, including this guest piece by bwg. I didn't like the piece at first, as it begins by making a play to elitism, but if you read the whole thing, bwg actually supports the idea of blogging but also the idea of not taking it so seriously.
Move notes: What has happened to Hal Hartley? He used to be one of my favorite directors--quirky, odd, a bit pedantic at times, but always worth checking out. All of his moves up until Henry Fool are good (some of them, Surviving Desire, Flirt, and Trust are way beyond good). But Henry Fool was awful--long, self important, and unconvincingly acted. At the time, I blamed this on the lack of Martin Donavan in the lead role (a mainstay of Hartley flicks and one of the reasons they're often so good). But recently I sat through The Book of Life, Harley's first film since Nenry Fool. I was glad to see Martin Donavan back in the fray, but the film is terrible. And Hartley abandons his usual shooting style for something far worse (the addition of P.J. Harvey as Donavan's side kick doesn't help. She's a good singer. Her part in the film is so unecessary it's hard to tell if she's a good actress). I'm just at a loss. [Wheat hangs his head and cries].
I see two more recent films listed at imdb (I live in the midwest; it takes a while for independent films to make their way here in rental form). I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
[0 comments]
Saturday, May 25, 2002
I've been playing around with new skins for Winamp and Mozilla. For Winamp, Quick Tune is the best I've found. It's a pretty good cop of the Mac iTunes program. For Mozilla, Pinball gives a bit more color to the gray modern look and also uses less screen real estate.
Jimformation is back.
[1 comment]
I've been playing around with new skins for Winamp and Mozilla. For Winamp, Quick Tune is the best I've found. It's a pretty good cop of the Mac iTunes program. For Mozilla, Pinball gives a bit more color to the gray modern look and also uses less screen real estate.
Jimformation is back.
[1 comment]
Sunday, May 19, 2002
I saw The Man Who Wasn't There today (official homepage). It's one of the most moving films I've seen in a while. I'm not sure when I last did a movie roundup, so some of these may be duplicates: The Others (delightfully creepy), Thirteen Ghosts (probably not worth your time), Ocean's 11 (solid entertainment), Mulholland Dr. (good if you like Lynch. I'm still puzzling over it).
[0 comments]
I saw The Man Who Wasn't There today (official homepage). It's one of the most moving films I've seen in a while. I'm not sure when I last did a movie roundup, so some of these may be duplicates: The Others (delightfully creepy), Thirteen Ghosts (probably not worth your time), Ocean's 11 (solid entertainment), Mulholland Dr. (good if you like Lynch. I'm still puzzling over it).
[0 comments]
Saturday, May 18, 2002
Just so I don't forget it: the designomatic (via inflight correction). Today, BTW, is my birthday (the 32nd one, but who's counting?).
This past Thursday, in a marathon six hour session, Nancy recorded basic tracks (eleven of 'em) for our forthcoming new album (as yet untitled). We should have the it done and out the door in a few weeks.
[1 comment]
Just so I don't forget it: the designomatic (via inflight correction). Today, BTW, is my birthday (the 32nd one, but who's counting?).
This past Thursday, in a marathon six hour session, Nancy recorded basic tracks (eleven of 'em) for our forthcoming new album (as yet untitled). We should have the it done and out the door in a few weeks.
[1 comment]
Susan Kare designed most of the icons and fonts that made the early MacOS so intuitive and beautiful. She also did work for the 3.x versions of Windows and OS2/Warp. If you've used a computer in the last ten years, you'll recognize her work (via coudal.com. While you're at coudal, check out their Museum of Online Museums)
[0 comments]
Monday, May 13, 2002
Surfed Zeldman's exit gallery today to find that assembler.org rides again (note the "xlat" subdomain). Also meant to mention that OpenOffice has reached version 1.x of it's handy office suite. I've been using the speadsheet (Calc) and have been very happy with it. In terms of speed and stability, OpenOffice beats out its commercial counterpart, StarOffice, hands down. Thanks to Sun for creating this project.
One of my favorite sites, jimformation has gone down for a redesign. Why can't people just leave their archives up while they redesign?
[0 comments]
Surfed Zeldman's exit gallery today to find that assembler.org rides again (note the "xlat" subdomain). Also meant to mention that OpenOffice has reached version 1.x of it's handy office suite. I've been using the speadsheet (Calc) and have been very happy with it. In terms of speed and stability, OpenOffice beats out its commercial counterpart, StarOffice, hands down. Thanks to Sun for creating this project.
One of my favorite sites, jimformation has gone down for a redesign. Why can't people just leave their archives up while they redesign?
[0 comments]
Saturday, May 11, 2002
I checked out a two-DVD set called American Roots Music from the public library. It's really great. It starts with spirituals and work songs, then spends a long time on classic country music before moving through folk, blues, and the early days of rock. I haven't finished all of it yet (the final two episodes are on Cajun and Tejano music), but it's really solid exept for the very beginning, which is a touch slow.
Seems there's been some resolution in the battle between NuSphere and MySQL (here's an overview of the controvery, if you're unfamiliar with it). The GPL issues are still to be tested, but the judge agreed that MySQL AB (the company that makes MySQL) have the sole right to their name. I don't know if it was a legal outcome or not, but I noticed that mysql.org is now safely back in the hands of mysql.com (if you do a whois lookup, you'll see that ownership has changed back to MySQL AB).
Though I doubt many congressmen [sic] or representatives from my country would know the GPL from a hole in the ground, but Peruvian congressman Edgar Nunez has become an eloquent spokesperson for it and is behind a bill that would require the Peruvian government to move away from proprietary software entirely. Refreshingly enough, Nunez's main arguments have much less to do with the freedom (as in cost) of free software and much more to do with its intelectual freedom. (here is the letter from Microsoft's Peruvian manager, Juan Gonzalez, to which Nunez was replying above).
[0 comments]
I checked out a two-DVD set called American Roots Music from the public library. It's really great. It starts with spirituals and work songs, then spends a long time on classic country music before moving through folk, blues, and the early days of rock. I haven't finished all of it yet (the final two episodes are on Cajun and Tejano music), but it's really solid exept for the very beginning, which is a touch slow.
Seems there's been some resolution in the battle between NuSphere and MySQL (here's an overview of the controvery, if you're unfamiliar with it). The GPL issues are still to be tested, but the judge agreed that MySQL AB (the company that makes MySQL) have the sole right to their name. I don't know if it was a legal outcome or not, but I noticed that mysql.org is now safely back in the hands of mysql.com (if you do a whois lookup, you'll see that ownership has changed back to MySQL AB).
Though I doubt many congressmen [sic] or representatives from my country would know the GPL from a hole in the ground, but Peruvian congressman Edgar Nunez has become an eloquent spokesperson for it and is behind a bill that would require the Peruvian government to move away from proprietary software entirely. Refreshingly enough, Nunez's main arguments have much less to do with the freedom (as in cost) of free software and much more to do with its intelectual freedom. (here is the letter from Microsoft's Peruvian manager, Juan Gonzalez, to which Nunez was replying above).
[0 comments]
Thursday, May 02, 2002
Some fun play by play commentary from the Microsoft trials (via dangerousmeta!). Watch Microsoft's MIT shill wiggle (and come close to purgering himself) as States' attorney Kevin Hodges challenges him to name any other OS, besides Windows, where web browsing is bound to the filesystem in such a way that it cannot be removed (spoiler: there isn't one).
[0 comments]
Some fun play by play commentary from the Microsoft trials (via dangerousmeta!). Watch Microsoft's MIT shill wiggle (and come close to purgering himself) as States' attorney Kevin Hodges challenges him to name any other OS, besides Windows, where web browsing is bound to the filesystem in such a way that it cannot be removed (spoiler: there isn't one).
[0 comments]
I caught Training Day recently. It's a good film that dramatizes a real ethical dilema and contains some great acting by Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke. Snoop Dogg has a cameo as a drug dealer (big stretch for him, eh?) that's suprisingly good. Macy Gray does well in her even smaller part. I found Dr. Dre a bit stiff, though.
I also caught 2001: A Space Odyssey. It was the first time I've ever seen it, and I was terribly dissapointed with it. I scanned around the net to see what others thought of it and there seems to be a clear division between those who think it is the best film ever made and those who were simply bored with it. I'm in the second category. The movie itself is visually stunning. Every shot is beautifully composed. Unfortunately, filmaking is, or should be, about more than setting up beautiful shots. The acting is stiff. The story, in as much as there is one, is minimal and only minimally interesting. And the pace is ridiculously slow. I say all of this as someone who likes good science fiction films and as someone who generally likes Stanley Kubrick's work (hell, I even liked Eyes Wide Shut). There's a lot of snobery out there about this film (people who like it tend to think that people who don't are stupid rubes incapable of "getting it"). I gave it a fair shake. I went into it wanting to like it. I hear the book it's based on is good and the movie is enjoyable if you've read the book. But since I haven't had that pleasure, I have to judge it on it's own. And, to me, it comes up wanting.
[0 comments]
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