I have about 17 minutes before I find out if my cheese straws will turn out all right.
I hate this waiting.
So, the new rule is this: don't assume that the puff pastry I bought a year ago will be okay a year later. In fact, if it has freezer burn, it might be best to rush out to the grocery store and buy a new package, rather than try and make the stuff I got out of the depths of the freezer — because I was too cheap to buy real ingredients for this pot luck — along with some other fresh stuff and keep myself from panicking like I am now.
Short cuts — and being a cheapskate — is never worth it.
Better go check the oven, again.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
Hacking
I am finally getting some old, ugly web sites wrapped up, so I can work on my shiny new web site for the State of Kansas so-called Geo Portal.
I've been wanting to re-do the web site associated with my "Web Administrator" title since I laid eyes on it, but I've been working on other web sites since I started here, and the field is only new clearing.
This is the old site: www.kansasgis.org. Aside from some heinous code (try sending that sucker through the W3C Validator!), it is very dated, suffers from a design that is cluttered with too many fonts, its terminology is all specific to GIS geeks rather than the lay-person trying to find the free data offered by the state, and it is simply unreadable on IE6 at 800 x 600 resolution - a frightening majority of the users out there.
So, I'm finally making progress on the new site (which, I must admit, I haven't checked on IE6 yet), and it's pulling together rather nicely.
I stole a very nice solution for finding element locations on a page from this site, and was able to make definitions hover under the underlined text. That affect is so cool. (But I really have to check it in IE6).
The next fun thing will be embedding some of our map caches into a new catalog layout.
Looking forward to some seriously cool coding in the near future makes the darkening days of late fall, and the biting chill of winter, seem completely insignificant.
I love my job.
I've been wanting to re-do the web site associated with my "Web Administrator" title since I laid eyes on it, but I've been working on other web sites since I started here, and the field is only new clearing.
This is the old site: www.kansasgis.org. Aside from some heinous code (try sending that sucker through the W3C Validator!), it is very dated, suffers from a design that is cluttered with too many fonts, its terminology is all specific to GIS geeks rather than the lay-person trying to find the free data offered by the state, and it is simply unreadable on IE6 at 800 x 600 resolution - a frightening majority of the users out there.
So, I'm finally making progress on the new site (which, I must admit, I haven't checked on IE6 yet), and it's pulling together rather nicely.
I stole a very nice solution for finding element locations on a page from this site, and was able to make definitions hover under the underlined text. That affect is so cool. (But I really have to check it in IE6).
The next fun thing will be embedding some of our map caches into a new catalog layout.
Looking forward to some seriously cool coding in the near future makes the darkening days of late fall, and the biting chill of winter, seem completely insignificant.
I love my job.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Unbelievable
My Dreamweaver crashing problem? The one I ran CHKDSK for? Yeah - the problem is that a time-management related file gets corrupted after Daylight Savings Time ends.
This is the link. Can you believe it?
That support page is dated one year ago, November 5th, 2007. You'd think they could've patched the damn problem.
Unbelievable.
This is the link. Can you believe it?
That support page is dated one year ago, November 5th, 2007. You'd think they could've patched the damn problem.
Unbelievable.
I Live By Technology, I Die By Technology
I am standing at the window, blogging, because by the window is the spare laptop, and the spare laptop is plugged into the extra speakers, and my coworker and I listen to Slacker.com all day from this laptop and these speakers. Right now, Regina Spector is singing It Breaks My Heart, and I agree.
I am using this computer because my computer, the perfectly decent computer that has been a trooper the past 18 months, since my boss ordered it for me, has suddenly started crashing. As I have advised many of my friends in the past, I am now running CHKDSK (which will finish, hopefully in a half hour so), then I may defragment, though I doubt that is the issue.
The issue, you see, is a specific program — Dreamweaver CS3 — and it is crashing when it tries to write to the “Clipboard” memory of the Windows operating system. I know this because I can reproduce the problem over and over again. I believe it is a specific file — but it may be more than one file.
Because I am not just blogging while I wait for CHKDSK to run, I did manage to find this fascinating blog entry to suggest that the problem may not be with any corruption in the file on my harddrive, but rather with some badly formed CF or HTML code that is making the whole program freak out.
The truth is, I believe there is a very strong likelihood that the code is bad — because I know it is. I am hacking on an incomplete web site that has been under development since 2004, that must go live in January of 2009, and which has been hacked on by at least three other developers before I got my grubby little hands on it.
In short, the damn thing is a mess.
But this is what I do. In fact, I have won huge props since I started this job by doing just this: duct-taping, hobbling together and occasionally completely rewriting complete web sites that have languished in development hell, as the developers in this office have cycled through the past few years.
The worst part of this particular nightmare has been the extent of the complexity of the site, the amount that has already been done (however badly), and the total lack of documentation from the client. Let’s name them by their acronym: DWR. The reason why there’s no documentation: they don’t have any of the rules written down. You’ve got to be kidding me, right? But it’s true. And like them, I’m not writing it down, either — just the occasional comment here and there. Mine and my colleagues’ comments in this code may be all that exists to define the business rules of this application. It boggles the mind.
But this is what I get for moving out of the hell of a publicly traded company (and the joys of Sarbanes-Oxley compliance) to the loosey-goosey world of working for the state. On the one hand, I have a lot more freedom. On the other, I am screwed by the freedom to be undisciplined.
And so it goes.
It must be time to break for lunch. I’m outa here.
I am using this computer because my computer, the perfectly decent computer that has been a trooper the past 18 months, since my boss ordered it for me, has suddenly started crashing. As I have advised many of my friends in the past, I am now running CHKDSK (which will finish, hopefully in a half hour so), then I may defragment, though I doubt that is the issue.
The issue, you see, is a specific program — Dreamweaver CS3 — and it is crashing when it tries to write to the “Clipboard” memory of the Windows operating system. I know this because I can reproduce the problem over and over again. I believe it is a specific file — but it may be more than one file.
Because I am not just blogging while I wait for CHKDSK to run, I did manage to find this fascinating blog entry to suggest that the problem may not be with any corruption in the file on my harddrive, but rather with some badly formed CF or HTML code that is making the whole program freak out.
The truth is, I believe there is a very strong likelihood that the code is bad — because I know it is. I am hacking on an incomplete web site that has been under development since 2004, that must go live in January of 2009, and which has been hacked on by at least three other developers before I got my grubby little hands on it.
In short, the damn thing is a mess.
But this is what I do. In fact, I have won huge props since I started this job by doing just this: duct-taping, hobbling together and occasionally completely rewriting complete web sites that have languished in development hell, as the developers in this office have cycled through the past few years.
The worst part of this particular nightmare has been the extent of the complexity of the site, the amount that has already been done (however badly), and the total lack of documentation from the client. Let’s name them by their acronym: DWR. The reason why there’s no documentation: they don’t have any of the rules written down. You’ve got to be kidding me, right? But it’s true. And like them, I’m not writing it down, either — just the occasional comment here and there. Mine and my colleagues’ comments in this code may be all that exists to define the business rules of this application. It boggles the mind.
But this is what I get for moving out of the hell of a publicly traded company (and the joys of Sarbanes-Oxley compliance) to the loosey-goosey world of working for the state. On the one hand, I have a lot more freedom. On the other, I am screwed by the freedom to be undisciplined.
And so it goes.
It must be time to break for lunch. I’m outa here.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
I Text and I’m (almost) 40
Beyond the fact that Barack Obama was far and away the best candidate for president, one of the many analyses of his election success has pointed to his appeal to young voters, to the text-messagers, to the hip up-and-comers.
The portrayal of this demographic as being young, I think, is a little misleading. Yes, the majority may be young, but there is a trend I think, that includes the tech-savvy 40-somethings. Unlike the undergrads applying for tech jobs at my office, I have not been "using Windows all my life". (Scary to think that the Windows operating system has been around since the early 90s, and that some freshmen are actually younger than the single-threaded Windows 3.1 operating system.) They were still teaching typing on IBM Selectric typewriters when I was in high school. I was corrected by a coworker as we were talking through these facts: the modern term is keyboarding, not typing.
But I digress. Even though I was not born with a silver mouse in my hand, I still learned, learned well, and have continued to adopt new technology continuously into my life. Not only do I have a cell phone, but I know how to use it. I quit paying for a land phone line as soon as I got a cell phone — over five years ago. I’ve been surfing the internet from my home for well over a decade, and I’ve had broadband access for over 8 years. (Yes, as an early adopter of the cable modem, it was frightfully expensive in 2000 compared to what they cost now, but it’s been running constantly the entire time. In hind sight, it was a good investment.) I have had a wireless network in my house for about 5 years now.
All the polling done during this election was to land line phones. The demographic of tech-savvy adults — the continuous adopters who can afford to embrace the advantages of new technology — the demographic that includes me: we are completely off the radar.
I think it was telling that Obama’s campaign adopted many of these new technologies to great success. I think the hidden story is not just that this appealed to young people. I think the hidden story is that this appealed to the forward-thinking, change-embracing, moderately affluent Americans (call them "middle class", if you will — those with the disposable income to upgrade their cell phone every other year or so) who finally see a politician stepping forward with the times, not lagging a decade or more behind it.
And that fact cuts across age, race, and gender.
The portrayal of this demographic as being young, I think, is a little misleading. Yes, the majority may be young, but there is a trend I think, that includes the tech-savvy 40-somethings. Unlike the undergrads applying for tech jobs at my office, I have not been "using Windows all my life". (Scary to think that the Windows operating system has been around since the early 90s, and that some freshmen are actually younger than the single-threaded Windows 3.1 operating system.) They were still teaching typing on IBM Selectric typewriters when I was in high school. I was corrected by a coworker as we were talking through these facts: the modern term is keyboarding, not typing.
But I digress. Even though I was not born with a silver mouse in my hand, I still learned, learned well, and have continued to adopt new technology continuously into my life. Not only do I have a cell phone, but I know how to use it. I quit paying for a land phone line as soon as I got a cell phone — over five years ago. I’ve been surfing the internet from my home for well over a decade, and I’ve had broadband access for over 8 years. (Yes, as an early adopter of the cable modem, it was frightfully expensive in 2000 compared to what they cost now, but it’s been running constantly the entire time. In hind sight, it was a good investment.) I have had a wireless network in my house for about 5 years now.
All the polling done during this election was to land line phones. The demographic of tech-savvy adults — the continuous adopters who can afford to embrace the advantages of new technology — the demographic that includes me: we are completely off the radar.
I think it was telling that Obama’s campaign adopted many of these new technologies to great success. I think the hidden story is not just that this appealed to young people. I think the hidden story is that this appealed to the forward-thinking, change-embracing, moderately affluent Americans (call them "middle class", if you will — those with the disposable income to upgrade their cell phone every other year or so) who finally see a politician stepping forward with the times, not lagging a decade or more behind it.
And that fact cuts across age, race, and gender.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
The McCain I Remember Respecting
So I watched John McCain's concession speech after sifting through the national tallies and the local poll results (Way to go Lawrence! You supported public transportation by 70%! Ya-hoo!), and watching Obama's acceptance speech.
The man who conceded the election to the first president-elect of color, who called for unity, who spoke of his pride for Obama as an American, and for his pride in America, that is the man I remember thinking of as a great Republican candidate for president. The man who blamed himself for the failings of his campaign, who hushed the crowd in consternation when they booed Obama (frightful), that's guy I defended back in April, who I thought would fight a good campaign, who would talk about issues, who would stand by his record of election reform and calls for an ethical campaign.
Where was that guy these past few months? I have no fucking idea. And I am deeply disappointed that he failed to show up, and allowed his campaign flunkies and that lipsticked pit bull of a running mate turn on the hate-mongering, lie-spewing machine that makes the Republican party seems so distasteful.
He totally sold out. I hope he's thinking about that, and thinking about the damage he's done, and maybe — just maybe — he's thinking about what he can do to fix it.
The man who conceded the election to the first president-elect of color, who called for unity, who spoke of his pride for Obama as an American, and for his pride in America, that is the man I remember thinking of as a great Republican candidate for president. The man who blamed himself for the failings of his campaign, who hushed the crowd in consternation when they booed Obama (frightful), that's guy I defended back in April, who I thought would fight a good campaign, who would talk about issues, who would stand by his record of election reform and calls for an ethical campaign.
Where was that guy these past few months? I have no fucking idea. And I am deeply disappointed that he failed to show up, and allowed his campaign flunkies and that lipsticked pit bull of a running mate turn on the hate-mongering, lie-spewing machine that makes the Republican party seems so distasteful.
He totally sold out. I hope he's thinking about that, and thinking about the damage he's done, and maybe — just maybe — he's thinking about what he can do to fix it.
5 am, Wednesday, November 5th
Yesterday was the 2008 presidential election, Tuesday, November 4th. When I went to bed, it was still too close to call, but the numbers were hopeful, and Barack Obama was ahead in electoral votes. But Indiana and Florida were still too close to call.
I haven’t turned on the TV or the radio and I haven’t checked the internet, yet. I want to hold on to this moment for yet a bit longer, and remind myself of what I’m thinking.
Right now, I am hopeful that after 8 years of short-sighted and self-righteous mismanagement and horrifying foreign policy, that America — the America I fantasize about sometimes — will have risen up out of its doldrums and resoundingly elected, in unprecedented numbers, a black man to the presidency of the United States. The American I fantasize about will have swept aside the negativity of John McCain’s traditionalist Republican campaign (for which I am inclined to fault his advisors more than him), swept aside the obvious ineptitude of the beautiful but dangerous Sarah Palin, and in a landslide victory America will have elected a Harvard-educated Everyman with a background in legal ethics and community activism who worked his way to the top, and barely acknowledge the low tactics of his opponent.
I am almost afraid to look.
But I have to post this now, and then I can see if the results are in, and if the beginning of a new era in America is finally here.
I haven’t turned on the TV or the radio and I haven’t checked the internet, yet. I want to hold on to this moment for yet a bit longer, and remind myself of what I’m thinking.
Right now, I am hopeful that after 8 years of short-sighted and self-righteous mismanagement and horrifying foreign policy, that America — the America I fantasize about sometimes — will have risen up out of its doldrums and resoundingly elected, in unprecedented numbers, a black man to the presidency of the United States. The American I fantasize about will have swept aside the negativity of John McCain’s traditionalist Republican campaign (for which I am inclined to fault his advisors more than him), swept aside the obvious ineptitude of the beautiful but dangerous Sarah Palin, and in a landslide victory America will have elected a Harvard-educated Everyman with a background in legal ethics and community activism who worked his way to the top, and barely acknowledge the low tactics of his opponent.
I am almost afraid to look.
But I have to post this now, and then I can see if the results are in, and if the beginning of a new era in America is finally here.
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