thoughts

Not always greener.

Blog

That whole "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence" thing?

Totally applies to a house remodel.

What the designers and architects and magazines and builders and showrooms don't tell you, however, is how things will look and work day to day.

Take stainless steel appliances, for example. Wow, they look great on the showroom floor. They look AMAZING in the pictures.

They look like ass with little kid and big kid and small adult and large adult handprints all over them. And those thing are a pain to keep polished sparkling clean, and who would want to keep them that clean anyway?

And that sink? That stainless steel, double sink with the deep bowl on one side? As far as sinks go, those are gorgeous. I love them. I want one in every house I own.

And you know what?

They are impossible to keep clean.

That deep bowl? Try washing a full sink full of dishes. Leaning over into the deep sink puts a strain on the lower back. Oh, boy, after a day of cooking, I'll be happy for the "I cook, you clean" rule for all the non-dishwasher pots and pans I might use.

Which is not to say, I don't totally love the stainless sink I have in the house. I totally do. It's lovely and beautiful and great given it's only me in the house so I have few dishes to wash. The water splotches and general non-perfect surfaces tell me I'm using the sink. It's being used for its purpose and, you know what, I *get* to use this lovely sink. I think that's awesome.

So, while the grass is greener where you water it, the stainless steel is perfect where you use it, even when it has smudges on it.

thoughts 2011 05 28

Chalkwork Collection icons
http://www.mezzoblue.com/icons/chalkwork/collection/
Free for personal, 99 for commercial

Blueprint generator
http://ianli.com/labs/blueprinter/
For adjusting column width & count and gutter width

PaNu
http://www.paleonu.com/
getting started
paleonutrition - emulating the evolutionary metabolic milieu

Public data sets.
http://jacquesmattheij.com/Free%2C+Public+Data+Sets

CSS Click Chart
http://www.impressivewebs.com/css3-click-chart/
CSS properties by example

YepNope.js
http://yepnopejs.com/
Conditional loader for JS feature replacment (polyfill, shims, etc.)

Think Stats, Probability and Statistics for Programmers
http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkstats/

Open Data Pilot Project
http://www.data.gc.ca/default.asp?lang=En&n=F9B7A1E3-1
Government of Canada data for all sorts of things

Parsing Techniques, A Practical Guide
http://www.few.vu.nl/~dick/PTAPG.html

npm package list
http://npm.mape.me/
Oh. My.

Compress PDF
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/automator/compresspdfworkflow.html
Option in the Save as PDF box

Open Source data mining software
http://www.junauza.com/2010/11/free-data-mining-software.html
Including Orange, RapidMiner, Weka (written in Java), JHepWork, KNIME.

AppsFire
http://appsfire.com/
Visual display (on an iphone!) of app collections, who has what installed, who is using what

Catalog Choice
https://www.catalogchoice.org/premium
Similar to Green Dimes, removes addresses from junk mail lists

Wirify
http://www.wirify.com/
http://www.volkside.com/2010/12/introducing-wirify-the-web-as-wireframes/
View a web page as a wireframe, extracting major elements into grey blocks
Free and pro (exports) version

Instagram add-ons
http://www.4muladesign.com/creative-blog/instagram-roundup-of-the-latest-innovations/
stickers to posters to prints

Touch gesture reference guide
http://www.lukew.com/ff/entry.asp?1071

Node.js modules
https://github.com/joyent/node/wiki/modules

Automating JavaScript Testing with QUnit
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/scriptjunkie/gg749824.aspx

Chameleon
http://chameleonproject.org/
clean room implementation of the UIKit by Apple

Isotope
http://isotope.metafizzy.co/index.html
jquery plugin for dynamic layouts

Kellan's slideshow by interesting
http://www.flickr.com/show.gne?api_method=flickr.photos.search&method_params=min_taken_date|1295664643;max_taken_date|1295758800;sort|interestingness-desc;safe_search|1

Timeline
http://www.simile-widgets.org/timeline/
Web Widget for Visualizing Temporal Data

Google Chart API
http://code.google.com/apis/chart/

25 Startup Post-Mortems
http://www.chubbybrain.com/blog/startup-failure-post-mortem/

guryjs.org
http://guryjs.org/
JavaScript library simplifying creation of HTML5/Canvas apps with chain based interface.

Disconnect
http://www.disconnect.me/
safari / chrome browser extension to block google and facebook, among others
Open source, code on Google
http://code.google.com/p/byoogle/source/browse/trunk/google/chrome/disconnect/

198 ways of non-violent action
http://www.aeinstein.org/organizations103a.html

892 ways to partition a 3x4 grid
http://www.dubberly.com/concept-maps/3x4grid.html

Safe CSS Defaults
http://nimbupani.com/safe-css-defaults.html

Bolefloor
http://www.bolefloor.com/en/#p=gallery
Amazing wood flooring that follows the grain of the wood (somewhat)

MicroVentures
https://www.microventures.com/
when you want to play at being an angel investor

arXiv
http://arxiv.org/
science papers

javacript gotchas
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/scripting/javascript-gotchas.aspx

Single page websites
http://designrfix.com/inspiration/single-page-websites-50-awesome-examples

jQuery 1.6 cheatsheet
http://jquerybyexample.blogspot.com/2011/05/download-jquery-16-visual-cheat-pdf.html

JS mistakes to avoid
http://www.ifadey.com/2011/05/javascript-mistakes-you-must-avoid/
of note, event delegation

GA event tracking guide
http://code.google.com/apis/analytics/docs/tracking/eventTrackerGuide.html
For client work

thoughts 2011 02 01

HTML5 Outliner for Opera
https://addons.opera.com/addons/extensions/details/html5-outliner/1.0/?display=en
For Opera

Learn Python the Hard Way
http://learnpythonthehardway.org/index
52 exercises in all: 26 cover just input/output, variables, and functions. / 26 cover logic (boolean algebra, if-statements, while-loops, etc.)

Eloquent JavaScript
http://eloquentjavascript.net/
General introduction to JS and programming in general.

How to create an opera extension from scratch
http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-create-an-opera-extension-from-scratch/

Appeals court says warrant needed for email
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20025650-281.html

First-class functions
http://benalman.com/grab/452694.png
Functions can take functions as arguments as well as return them.

// a "factory" of sorts.
function makeLouder(fn) {
  return function (a) {
    return fn(a) + "!!!";
  };
};

var loudAbs = makeLouder(Math.abs);

loudAbs(9000) // "9000!!!"
loudAbs(-9000) // "9000!!!"

Bootstrappers Breakfast
http://www.bootstrappersbreakfast.com/
Breakfast with other entrepreneurs, discussing problems and solutions

17 Lessons from Seth Godin about new marketing
http://www.flowtown.com/blog/17-lessons-seth-godin-can-teach-you-about-the-new-marketing

Data visualization of sports champions
http://www.chartball.com/Posters.html

Copyblogger ipad apps for writing
http://www.copyblogger.com/ipad-writing-apps/

Code editors for ipad
http://www.readwriteweb.com/hack/2010/12/code-editors-for-the-ipad.php

thoughts 2011 01 15

Catching up on a list of pages, links and the like...

CSS De-Compactor
http://johndyer.name/lab/cssdecompactor/
Debug CSS files by expanding all definitions

List of Incubators and Accelerators
http://launch.is/blog/2010/12/16/complete-list-of-incubators-and-accelerators-like-y-combinat.html

Five data blogs to read
http://radar.oreilly.com/2010/12/5-data-blogs-you-should-read.html
Measuring Measures, Dataists, Flowing Data

Browserling
http://browserling.com/ announed at http://catonmat.net/blog/launching-browserling
Cross browser testing in a browser

David Airey's wordpress theme
http://www.davidairey.com/theme/
WP

Why is this even necessary?
http://www.wpbeginner.com/plugins/changing-themes-transfer-seo-settings-with-seo-data-transporter/
To change THEMES, you have to export your SEO settings? That's fucked up and a retarded architecture.

Plugin for JS namespacing
http://jweir.github.com/namespace/

1140 wide, 12 column grid
http://cssgrid.net/
"Fluid all the way to mobile"

Radi
http://radiapp.com/
HTML5 + vector + video beta app for Mac OS X

VIM from novice to professional by: Derek Wyatt
http://ontwik.com/tools/vim-from-novice-to-professional-by-derek-wyatt-p1/
Web casts that visually teach VIM

Why I quit WoW and started working out
http://www.pixelpoppers.com/2010/12/doing-my-dailies-why-i-quit-wow-and.html
I wish Kris would read this.

Prettify CSS
http://procssor.com/

emacs mode to send http requests
http://fresh.homeunix.net/~luke/misc/emacs/http-twiddle.el
heh.

Headless full-stack testing using Node.js
http://zombie.labnotes.org/
#nodejs

Client-side jQuery-centric dev links
http://blog.codylindley.com/links

Express JS
http://expressjs.com/
node.js framework

Test Apache rewrite rules
http://martinmelin.se/rewrite-rule-tester/

I find this frightening.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19971-prion-disease-can-spread-through-air.html
The study shows test animals can develop Creutzfeldt–Jakob equivalent diseases via the air.

to do in 2011 01

Things I want to try in January

hourly tracking

Mindful living, from http://f91w.com/, "every hour my watch emits a chime. this is my signal to become mindful, document the moment, and decide what to do with the next hour. this site is an archive of such moments."

Jonathan suggested I use a twitter account to record the actual moment documenting part, as i can do it via text, ipad, iphone, computer, etc. Then, set up a site (subsite) to pull the twitter feed to my servers. I can certainly keep the twitter stream private, if I want to, or keep it public and have it mirror to my site.

write up 11:11

Of course, first thing in January, I also want to write up the 11:11 statuses I've been doing all year. Of course, that means *finding* all of them.

redo blog

Upgrade to Drupal 6 at least, maybe Drupal 7, not sure about that.

launch TG

Because, really, that's what this is all about, right?

And...

Yeah, there are a billion other things I want to do in January, and if I list all of them, I'll be spinning my wheels at the overwhelming number of things I want to do. So, this list is it. These are the things I want to do in January.

Mostly.

Thoughts 2010-07-14

Web developer tutorials
http://pelfusion.com/tutorials/54-awesome-tutorials-to-satisfy-the-appetite-of-any-web-developer/

How to make a bookmarklet
http://betterexplained.com/articles/how-to-make-a-bookmarklet-for-your-web-application/

Two JS tools: jquerify & selenium source RC
http://orangevolt.blogspot.com/2010/02/2-tools-improving-javascript.html

Blank theme resources
http://designm.ag/resources/blank-themes-templates/

Drupal FileField Sources - FileField extension to upload files via CCK field
http://drupal.org/project/filefield_sources
drupal

Adobe floral brushes, including some swirls
http://www.youthedesigner.com/2010/03/31/ultimate-collection-of-free-adobe-photoshop-floral-brushes/

Javascript syntax highlighter
http://www.oriontransfer.co.nz/software/jquery-syntax/index.en

Jonathan Snook's Digital Web author page
http://www.digital-web.com/about/staff/jonathan_snook/

smush-it losses image minimizer
http://www.smushit.com/ysmush.it/

Helicopter training start guide
http://philip.greenspun.com/flying/helicopter-first-lesson
http://philip.greenspun.com/flying/helicopter-training

Websecurify
http://www.websecurify.com/download
Code: http://code.google.com/p/websecurify/
"integrated web security testing environment, which can be used to identify vulnerabilities by using advanced browser automation"

Web based tools for startups
http://blog.flexvite.com/2010/03/30/12-cheap-or-free-web-based-tools-your-web-startup-know-about/

Development resources, not so sure about this list
http://www.catswhocode.com/blog/10-sites-developers-should-have-in-their-bookmarks

WP cheat sheets
http://www.bestpsdtohtml.com/15-useful-cheat-sheets-for-wordpress-design-and-development/

JQuery grid plugin
http://www.trirand.com/blog/

jQuery fontscale plugin
http://www.byrnecreative.com/blog/fontscale/

Sammy: RESTful evented JS
http://code.quirkey.com/sammy/index.html
jquery based

jQuery LongURL plugin
http://benalman.com/projects/jquery-longurl-plugin/

Video players for sites
http://www.instantshift.com/2010/05/14/21-free-video-players-for-your-website-and-blogs/

In theory, 35 drupal modules a site needs (35? ugh)
http://www.padizine.com/blog/35-drupal-modules-you-absolutely-need/

Learn new skills!
http://www.marcandangel.com/2010/05/24/top-40-useful-sites-to-learn-new-skills/

Fluid Grid
http://fluid.newgoldleaf.com/

Drupal Searchlight views-based search
http://developmentseed.org/blog/2010/may/27/searchlight-views-driven-approach-pluggable-search-drupal

Canon Powershot SDK
http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK

Touch screen stencils and other resources
http://www.kickerstudio.com/blog/2008/12/touchscreen-stencils/

thoughts 2010 05 29

Drupal wrapper around the jPlayer JavaScript library
http://drupal.org/project/jplayer
This library provides an HTML5-based player, that uses a Flash fallback for browsers that do not yet support it.

Search farther back than public timeline / 10 days
http://snapbird.org/

Seven of the Best Open Course Resources For Entrepreneurs
http://www.flowtown.com/blog/seven-of-the-best-open-course-resources-for-entrepreneurs

Students Turn Plastic Crap into Clean Electricity
http://www.good.is/post/northwestern-students-turn-plastic-crap-into-clean-electricity/
project landfill reclamation

thoughts 2010 03 26

Web Design checklist
http://www.findmebyip.com/litmus/
list of CSS3 support for various browsers

Pages