See here » Ye Olde Rad Blog 4.
First entry from the new blog posted here » First Post with Movable Type 5.0
[ Older blogs » Ye Olde Rad Blog II .. and Ye Olde Rad Blog v1.0 ]
Test update to MySQL 5.1.51
Test Feb 14, 2017
No, my fellow technoluster. Something far more enticing. And seductive. See » HERE (.. but only if you're 18).
No, your eyes don't deceive you. That's right » a screen-shot from phpMyAdmin showing the tables of a MODx database using the UTF-8 character set and utf8_general_ci collation. Smokin', ain't it?
"But, Rad. I thought you said that was impossible?" It is! .. For mere mortals.
"How did you ever pull it off?" Well, I can tell you that banging my head against the wall produced only limited success. It may've even impeded the process. (I can't remember.)
To be honest, I'm not really sure WHAT the magic-bullet was. Cuz I made a number of changes (including enabling suPHP) .. which I'll tell you all about. I learned a lot. But first, I need to take care of some biz .. and get some coffee. (Was up pretty late last night. Where did I put that Advil?)
]]> I bet you could probably use a cold shower, yourself .. after ogling over that image. (Drool-city.) Supermodels simply can't compete with the sex-appeal of a racy UTF-8 database. Sorry, doll-face.]]>MySQL is the world's most popular database software for web-based applications (.. such as CMS's & blogs & forums). It's what I use. It's the only database system I've ever used.
The Rad VPS (« physically located downtown Chicago) uses the cPanel/WHM control panel to help administer the site. cPanel makes it stupid-easy to create a new MySQL database.
You simply » enter a descriptive name for your new DATABASE (such as » rad_modx) and click the button labeled 'Create Database.' cPanel talks to MySQL and creates the database for you. Viola! Done. Too easy.
To use your new DATABASE, you'll also need to create a USER (such as » rad_modx, conveniently same as the database_name). Give this USER a password and click the button labeled » 'Create User.' Voila! Done creating new USER.
Lastly you need to assign a particular USER to a particular DATABASE. You do this by selecting both from their respective drop-down menus (one lists all available DATABASES, the other all possible USERS) and clicking the button labeled 'Add.'
Then you assign to this USER the appropriate PRIVILEDGES (normally ALL) necessary to perform the database functions. Click the button labeled 'Make Changes' and you're done. Voila! As if this weren't easy enough, cPanel even has a wizard to walk you thru these steps.
So, in order to configure a database to work with a particular web application (such as Drupal or MODx), you need 3 pieces of info:
Couldn't be easier. Tho I sometimes forget the final step of actually assigning the USER to the DATABASE (after creating both). Creating new DATABASES is not something I do on a regular basis.
RADIFIED currently uses 5 databases. Three for the blogs » 1-each for the 3 different versions of Movable Type I have installed .. based on v263 (installed 2003), v335 (installed 2007) & v432 (installed 2008). Another for Drupal (2008). And 1 for MODx Revolution (beta5), which I installed a few days ago.
The Rad forum, which uses YaBB, doesn't use a database. (At least not yet.) Might be worth noting here that Movable Type, Drupal, MODx & YaBB are all OPEN SOURCE (better than free) .. as is MySQL.
While installing MODx a few days ago, I noticed they include an option to test your database connection & credentials .. to see if MODx can access it okay.
]]> ••• today's entry continues here below •••In addition, this feature also displays the CHARACTER SET and COLLATION settings used by your database .. something I've never seen before.
For my MODx database these values were listed as:
Uh, Swedish? Say what? Something must be wrong, right?
In researching character sets and collation, I learned there are many possible character sets to choose from. A character set is sort of like an alphabet. Different languages use different alphabets.
Each character set has many collation options (tho only one default). But the default character set for MySQL seems to be » latin1. And the default collation setting for the latin1 character set is » latin1_swedish_ci.
Note that each char_set has a limited number of possible collation options. Using collation options from a different char_set is not allowed and will generate errors that will cause mysql to shut down (as you'll see).
Surprisingly, the default 'swedish' collation setting works fine in most English-based applications. But there are better options, especially since the web is an international venue.
The character set » utf8 would be best (from an international standpoint). UTF-8 is the charset I use on the home page, and for all my new web pages. The default collation setting for the utf8 character set is » utf8_general_ci (which Drupal uses). Another good collation setting for utf8 would be » utf8_unicode_ci .. which is probably the ultimate international option.
So let's change our newly created database (for MODx Revolution) to the utf8 character set. And we'll use either utf8_general_ci or utf8_unicode_ci collation. Good idea, right? (Before we actually install MODx or create any tables in the database.)
Be afraid. Be very afraid. You're about to enter the world of database black magic. Our whole aim here is to adopt an international posture (via the web).
And you know what happened to the developers at Shinar when they tried to build their project with an international character set. Wasn't pretty. Management put the kibosh on that project and sent the enterprising programmers packing.
Now I enjoy doing stuff like this. Changing. Tinkering. Tweaking. Cuz that's how I learn. But sometimes you get lumped-up in the process (as the Shinarites will confirm), and walk away with nothing but lumps to show for your efforts.
Let me clarify. I'm NOT talking about CHANGING the char_set and collation of a database that's already in-use, which already contains tables with data. That's a whole 'nuther animal. And good luck to you if that's what you want. I've read many pages about doing just that. (May the database gods have mercy on you.)
I'm talking about something much simpler » creating a NEW database (MySQL) with the utf8 char_set (not latin1) .. and collation set to either utf8_general_ci (the default for utf8) OR utf8_unicode_ci.
Actually, I'd prefer utf8_unicode_ci for its maximum international appeal, but I'd probably opt for utf8_general_ci, since that's the default for the utf8 char_set. I stumbled across several pages talking about BUGS when using something other than default collation for a given char_set.
Here's what I want » When I click the 'Create Database' button in cPanel's MySQL module, I want it to spit out a database configured for/with the utf8 char_set and utf8_general_ci collation. And of course, I want all my previously created databases (latin1) to work with whatever changes are required to make that happen.
I don't want to have to edit the database settings AFTER it has already been created (with latin1_swedish_ci collation). That would be asking for trouble.
Now, I told ya all that to tell you this. My observations. I noticed, while snooping around in phpMyAdmin (a front-end GUI to administer your MySQL databases) .. that all my databases use latin1_swedish_ci collation (as you might expect) EXCEPT the one for Drupal .. which is set to utf8_general_ci.
Now, I didn't do anything to change that (from the default of latin1_swedish_ci, like all the others). Heck, I didn't even KNOW about collation until installing MODx a few days ago. This tells me the application itself has the ability (somehow) during installation to dictate the char_set & collation.
I also noticed, on the 'Operations' tab in phpMyAdmin, for the Drupal database, that the Collation setting specified at the bottom of the page .. is set to (reads) » latin1_swedish_ci.
Yes, the Drupal database, which phpMyAdmin says (on the page where you actually view the tables) is using utf8_general_ci collation .. the setting for collation on the 'Operations' page specifies latin1_swedish_ci.
Make whatever determination you want from this apparent contradiction. But it tells me the 'Collation' setting located at the bottom of the 'Operations' page (which you could theoretically use to change/set the collation of a selected database) is more-or-less worthless.
Here's another data-point that leads me to believe that this 'Collation' setting on the 'Operations' page in phpMyAdmin is krap. I deleted my whole MODx install and started over. (Cuz I was having weird problems.) New database. New install directory. New everything. BUT! I changed/set this Collation setting (in phpMyAdmin) for my new database to utf8_general_ci (from its previous setting of latin1_swedish_ci).
When I installed MODx the next time, it AGAIN detected latin1_swedish_ci. "No!" I said (talking to the MODx installer). I set that database to utf8_general_ci. I tried to configure the MODx installer to use the utf8 char_set & utf8_general_ci collation. But every time it gave me an error and refused to continue.
So. I tried (ever so sheepishly) changing the settings in the MODx installer to latin1 and latin1_swedish_ci. And sure 'nuf, the MODx installer said, "Bingo! Now ya got it right!" and let me continue with the installation.
So this tells me the 'Collation' setting located at the bottom of the 'Operations' page in phpMyAdmin .. is worthless. It also tells me the MODx installer will not configure these settings for me (as Drupal did), as some have suggested it might.
All the while, I was trading emails frantically with the tech support guys at WiredTree (who are normally wizardly), asking them if they know anything about how to change the DEFAULT char_set and collation settings for MySQL.
One guy says he found some info located in a file called my.cnf. Says he changed the setting there to utf8_unicode_ci and that I should let him know if it works. So I log back into cPanel and create another database. Listed however, under 'Collation' on the 'Operations' page in phpMyAdmin, the newly created databse says » latin1_swedish_ci. Rats!
But now I know that setting is more-or-less bunk. Cuz my Drupal database ALSO says latin1_swedish_ci here, but it's not. So maybe the same thing applies to my new MODx database. Let's hope.
So I go ahead and install ANOTHER version of MODx (and point it to my new-new database) .. to see what the installer says. Ugh. It says also » latin1_swedish_ci. Now I'm starting to feel beat-up, like the boys at Shinar.
So I put aside MODx and databases and take a breather. I decide to blog about my experience (which is like geek therapy) while it's still fresh in my mind .. cuz it might help some other poor sap who finds himself in a similar situation. Good karma. When I fire up Movable Type however, I get a big fat error (in bright-RED letters, no-less) .. saying MySQL is toast.
So I write back to the tech at WiredTree and tell him. He changes the my.cnf file back to the way it was before and Movable Type magically starts working again. He wrote:
Your MySQL service was not running. This was caused by the last entry in the mysql configuration file: default-collation=utf8_unicode_ci
This was causing MySQL to fail, as described in the MySQL error log:
091231 01:04:56 mysqld started
091231 1:04:56 [ERROR] COLLATION 'utf8_unicode_ci' is not valid for CHARACTER SET 'latin1'
091231 1:04:56 [ERROR] Aborting
091231 1:04:56 [Note] /usr/sbin/mysqld: Shutdown complete
So, that's where I'm at. Lumped up, but loving the stability of latin1_swedish_ci database collation.
I love all Swedes. I'm going to have Swedish pancakes for breakfast. Swedish meatballs for dinner. Heck, I might even vacation in Sweden this summer. Swedish collation might not be very international, but it works.
In closing, if we all spoke the same language, none of this would be necessary.
And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.
And the Lord said, Behold, they are one people and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do, and now nothing they have imagined they can do will be impossible for them.
Come, let Us go down and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another.
Later I might offer my first impressions of the MODx Revolution CMS (beta5). UPDATE. I've had a few requests for a list of versions for the software involved. See here:
For more along these lines, here's a Google search preconfigured for the query » change mysql database character set collation default settings latin1 swedish utf8 unicode phpmyadmin
]]>I indented & right-aligned every other link .. to make them easier to read. What do you think? When the links were all lined-up together & left-aligned, they seemed too .. similar.
Eventually I'd like to include a representative graphic for each guide/link. But for now, I just wanted to create a page that contains a repository of the links to all our guides.
On a related note, I've been looking more deeply into MODx, the Content Management System (CMS). They are fixin' to release a new version (complete-rewrite, from the ground up, based on PHP5) .. called » REVOLUTION. (Current version is called » EVOLUTION.)
Drupal would be cool, but it's way too sophisticated for what I need. I don't want/need a PhD in CMS's. Here's a MODx site, for example. (I used to live in Lancaster, PA .. the heart of Amish country. Nice people there.)
I'd like to become intimately familiar with a good CMS .. as another skill to add to my digital toolkit. Only way to do that is » use one daily.
The good people at MODx claim a 'Release Candidate' version of REVOLUTION will be coming » "Winter 2009" (.. which is now). [ Notice how the words 'Summer 2009' have been lined-out. ] UPDATE » They just changed the RC date to "Spring 2010". Hmmm.
The MODx site is running REVOLUTION. I'm in no hurry, tho. Rather make a good decision than a hasty one.
]]> ••• today's entry continues here below •••I was reading about MODx today and found this paragraph particularly interesting, especially the last sentence:
The focus of any content management system is that the end user must be able to create web sites that can be self maintained without any programming knowledge. A CMS makes it simple to create the kind of sites that are generally known as Web 2.0. Web 2.0 just means that sites in which the content being displayed is created by the end users and not the developers of the site.
*That's* what 'Web 2.0' means? I never heard that before.
ExpressionEngine is at a similar juncture .. close to releasing a complete rewrite of a popular CMS .. that is also long overdue. I'm interested in these products cuz they both claim to simplify the process of customization, making a designer's life easy. Interesting that new EE 2.0 is still compatible with older PHP 4.x while MODx REVOLUTION requires PHP 5.x (.. just like the upcoming Drupal 7).
A side-by-side comparison of ExpressionEngine 2.0 vs MODx 2.0 (REVOLUTION) would be a valuable study, since the two applications appear to target a similar audience. Maybe I should do this in a table (if no one else has already), since I've already done much research.
Oh HERE's big news » looks like EE will cease offering a free ("Core") version EE 2.0. They'll still offer the free/core version of EE 1.x (v1.68). The cheapest EE 2.0 license is termed 'Freelancer' and costs $100. Seems like bad timing, given the current economy.
The Rad VPS has PHP 5.2.5 installed. I might upgrade to v5.3.1, which is the latest version (released last month), since that's what they recommend (for REVOLUTION). Might also upgrade Apache while I'm at it. (2.2.14 = latest, released October.) UPDATE » both upgrades complete.
Downloaded my first SVN build (bleeding edge) using TortoiseSVN. A new experience for me. (I like learning new tricks.)
You do this (I learned) by simply right-clicking (on desktop) and selecting 'SVN checkout' from the context menu. Then paste the URL into 'URL of repository' window, with 'Fully recursive' option selected as 'Checkout Depth'. TortoiseSVN will put all the files in a folder on your desktop (or whatever location you happen to select).
I installed MODx Revolution beta 5 (released 15 Dec 2009). More on that in another post.
For more along these lines, here's a Google search preconfigured for the query » modx revolution cms content management system
]]>The exact time when the sun reaches its southern-most point = 10:47 AM PDT. Interesting how they can pinpoint the exact moment.
Today is the longest night of the year (most hours of darkness). Starting tomorrow, the days begin to lengthen. The seasons are caused by a tilt (23-degrees) in the earth's axis .. as we make our annual trip around the sun.
Of course, if you live down in the southern hemisphere, everything is reversed. Today is your first day of summer, with the longest day of the year. Summer solstice.
Consider this » the earth is 92 million miles from the sun (give or take a few mil). Let's call that distance » the 'radius'. We can calculate the distance of our annual orbit by using the formula for the circumference of a circle » pi x diameter .. which = 3.14 x 184 million, which means we travel » 578 million miles every year (around the sun) ..
.. at a speed of 578-MM / 365 days per year = 1.58 million miles per day, which = .066 million miles/hour, which equals » 66,000 mph (if my math is correct). That's almost 100 times faster than the speed of sound. We're bookin'. Better fasten your seatbelt. Imagine hitting something at that speed. Ouch.
The seasons remind us of the cycle of life .. rebirth, renewal .. that no matter how dark things might get, brighter days are coming. And that dark days come to us all.
]]> ••• today's entry continues here below •••So I'd like to take this opportunity .. of the longest night of the year .. to share a cute experience from last week » I was watching Pooh's Heffalump Movie with the Bug, when he wanted to view all the available DVD options (normally presented at startup).
In addition to English, this movie also has options for French & Spanish (spoken, over-dubbed). He wanted to select Spanish, which I had trouble understanding, cuz .. well, he doesn't know Spanish .. beyond a few words we use at a local Mexican restaurant.
Myself I know maybe 100 or 200 Spanish words, from interacting with the locals. When I lived in Laguna, we had a Mexican lady come over and clean the house once a week. She taught me most of the Spanish I know.
When I heard a word I knew, I'd tell him, That means ...
I thought he'd quickly get bored, being unable to understand the movie, but he kept watching, laughing. After a while, the Bug started asking, Does that mean .. thus-n-such?
I was startled, cuz it did! He was right. Had he become fluent in Spanish without me knowing? I wondered. Maybe his mom taught him??
I later deduced he must've learned the dialogue (of Trigger & Roo & Pooh & Rabbit), and was able to recall the English phrases when the corresponding Spanish was spoken.
We've watched that movie before, but not for months. I thought that was neat .. how he knew the whole movie by heart after only a few viewings. (I could never do that.) He'll be starting kindergarten soon.
Great movie, by the way .. about how people we consider 'different' from us (e.g. » heffalumps) are not really so different .. once you get to know them. And that's the key (as Pooh will tell you) » getting to know them.
My mom drove home that point while we were growing up. Sure there might be bad people out there .. but it's not because of where they come from, or their religion, or how much money they make (or don't make), or the color of their skin. Or so mom said. (Dad, on the other hand, wasn't quite so egalitarian.)
I think that's why I can get along so easily with so many different types of people. Big-small. Rich-poor. Black-white. Ugly-beautiful. Meek-aggressive. Fit-fat. Sinner-saint. Intellectual-hick. Geek-luddite. Young-old. Military-civilian. Vegetarian-carnivore. Gay-straight. East-coaster, West-coaster. Cuz I don't prejudge. I draw the line at bad intentions .. where somebody consciously tries to hurt me, personally. (Cuz that's what enemies do.)
]]>The boats are colorful and fun to watch. Sure. But the best part of the boat parade is simply being out among the festivities .. with a big crowd of Orange County people, who are all in a festive mood .. exuding the Christmas spirit. (And it's all free.)
All the houses on the island are decorated to the hilt. (One guy told me his electric bill was $600/month. His meter was spinning like a dang gyro.)
Some years the weather is freezing (by Southern California standards), being on the water, but last night it was downright balmy. We saw at least two brass bands, complete with tuba, playing your favorite Christmas songs.
The Bug brought along his scooter (razor), which worked well for getting around. We started on Balboa Island and rode the ferry across to the peninsula, where we played in the fun zone for a while. (I let him beat me at air hockey, 7-to-5, and then shoot a gun in a stand-up video game, where he blasted lots of villians.)
Of course we had to get some hot buttered popcorn, and after that, a light-saber from a sidewalk vendor, who pushed a dazzling cart surrounded by eager kids. What a great time we had.
]]> ••• today's entry continues here below •••If you read The Golden Orange (by ex-LAPD detective Joseph Wambaugh), you know the novel/story begins with the Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade.
The Bug was pretty tired by the time we got home. (Me too.)
We've been reading Tolkien's The Hobbit at bedtime. We finally got to the part where Bilbo meets the dragon (Smaug, at Lonely Mountain), and steals a piece from his treasure .. which Smaug is none-too-happy about, as you might imagine. (You know how ornery dragons can get when people pilfer their treasure.)
Parking is the worst part of the boat parade. It's a mad-house. The cops block off many streets that normally provide access to the island. We took the bus down, as did many others, rather than fight traffic. So the bus ride was like a big rolling party-on-wheels down to the boat parade.
If you drive, it's best to arrive an hour early and park in the public parking on the peninsula, at the Balboa Pier (not the Newport Pier). Then take the Balboa Island ferry across to the island ($1 for adults and 50-cents for kids.)
For more along these lines, here's a Google search preconfigured for the query » newport beach christmas boat parade harbor california
]]>No doubt the White House has content to manage. Sure.
But I think the reason it's so unexpected is that Drupal is simply too cool & cutting edge for the White House .. which we normally associate with stodginess and somnolent formality.
Then there's the fact that Drupal is not an American product. It was born in Belgium, at the University of Ghent (.. as a message board for fellow-students enrolled there).
And you know how RADICAL college students can be. Downright revolutionary at times.
It could also be that we associate politicians with being less-than-honest about their true intentions .. while Drupal is open source, and therefore completely transparent. (Imagine how people might feel if Hitler were caught parading around town wearing a scarf knitted by Mother Teresa.)
Dare I mention how the government TAKES your money .. without even a thank-you note, and gives it to people who have much too much already. While Drupal, released under GPL, is better than free (as in 'free beer'), cuz it's also open source (free as in 'freedom').
The whole thing feels grossly incongruent .. as tho two vastly different worlds have collided. Matter and anti-matter. Good omen, tho .. for both the White House and Drupal.
]]> ••• today's entry continues here below •••I was looking for word on Drupal 7 when I stumbled upon this info. I normally install a new version of Drupal with every release .. to familiarize myself (beginning with v5, in May 2007). Currently have version 6.x installed » here.
They've been doing lots of work on Drupal 7. It will be a MAJOR step. D7 has been in code-freeze since September, but no official release date has been announced. Interesting that Drupal 7 will break compatibility with PHP 4. That took guts. (The Rad VPS is running PHP v5.2.5)
There's something trippy about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln living on Drupal. It's gonna take me a while to get used to the idea.
Seems the Bush administration had installed an expensive proprietary system, but Obama said he needed something better.
The White has been posting some great photos. They have access to behind-the-scenes content you simply can't find/get anywhere else (.. unless you're a Secret Service agent). I'm jealous. Generating unique content is (to me) what a website should be all about.
Drupal is a leading open source (free) content management system (CMS). Like many other CMS's, Drupal is written in PHP. There are literally hundreds of CMS's to choose from .. tho not all are written in PHP, nor are all free.
They claim you don't need to know PHP to use Drupal, but obviously it would help, especially if you wanted to customize. (And who wouldn't?) eDawg says PHP is easy to learn.
I think Joomla is actually the most popular CMS, because it's easier to learn. More importantly, it's easier to make a Joomla site look pretty. (Joomla was born in Australia.)
But Drupal is known for having better/more functionality. I've never installed Joomla. Joomla is preferred by designers, while Drupal by developers (coders, programmers).
Drupal also wins more awards than any other CMS. Tho as time passes, Joomla is becoming more like Drupal and Drupal more like Joomla, as each takes steps to address their respective weaknesses.
Both are very powerful applications. Few sites will be be able to use either to its full capability .. which is why I looked into MODx. (Revolution is scheduled to be released later this month.) Still, it's nice to familiarize yourself with state-of-the-art technologies.
Following personal research in April 2007, I posted my findings regarding a comparison of » Joomla vs Drupal, which received many compliments .. where I concluded that Drupal was a better option (.. even tho Joomla was more popular). The White House, it seems, concurs.
For more along these lines, here's a Google search preconfigured for the query » obama white house web site drupal cms content management system
]]>Toxins have accumulated in the environment -- or so my dream goes -- to the point they've affected 10-15% of the population. Those most sensitive among us have reacted violently.
Especially affected are creative types » artists, musicians, poets .. what Ezra Pound calls the antennae of the race
. [Tho not me.]
I'm standing in a parking lot that's surrounded on three sides by the industrial walls of a medical facility, some 3 or 4 stories tall. It seems to be a cross between a hospital and a high-security Psych ward. Gray, dreary skies hang low overhead.
A whoosh of steam startles me. A large, disc-shaped metal plate opens in the middle of the parking lot. Others run away, scattering in all directions. Up from a treatment facility located deep underground rises a grotesque body strapped to a gurney. It hardly looks human, but is.
When the steam clears, two attendants, dressed in white lab coats, wheel the gurney into the building. They take the heavily-sedated patient up to one of the rooms.
No single toxin is responsible for these adverse reactions, but rather an aggregate that has accumulated in the environment over many years. [ How I know this I don't know. You know how dreams are. ]
I need to retrieve something from the room where this new patient was taken. Drat! I should've fetched it earlier,
I think.
Everybody is afraid of these people because they look scary and can become violent. Their torment endows them with superhuman strength. When I arrive at the room however, I feel sympathy for this fellow. Sensing I can help, I consider what effect it might have to read aloud some poetry.
I first need to retrieve a notebook lying on the nightstand beside his bed. He appears asleep, but the powerful drugs will soon wear off. I study the iron shackles & heavy chains that secure his wrists. Then I calculate his reach should he wake or be faking sleep.
Cautiously I reach for the notebook. He twitches. That's when I woke.
I should note I've been sleeping hard the last week. Hibernating, you might call it. Never had a dream like this before, where I knew it was (supposed to be) the future. Nothing even close, really. Trippy.
It bugs me that I can't figure out why I would have such a strange dream. I mean, I don't read about stuff like this. Nor do I have any interest in doing so. Those images have stuck with me all day. Hauntingly vivid.
Interesting how my futuristic dream contained weather that was dank & dreary .. not warm, considering the talk we've been hearing about global warming.
Sipping a cup of Detox tea right now. Will take a nature-walk tomorrow, at the Back Bay, where I'll stop to read a little poetry. Maybe even hug a tree (.. when nobody's looking). Probably need to eat more fruit.
I used to know a girl who claimed she could steer her dreams. I never heard of such a thing, but later discovered it's called lucid dreaming. Tho I've never been able to do that myself. She said she just used her imagination while falling asleep to picture whatever it was that she wanted to dream about. (I think she lives in Vegas now.)
]]>The curriculum is designed to help divorced parents put aside their disappointment & resentment and focus on putting their » kids first. (Hence the name.) Excellent course, taught by seasoned professionals who really care. ($300)
My particular classes were held in the same building where Chapman's Philosophy / Religion department is located.
[ The combatants, uh I mean parents, are assigned to different classrooms, as you might expect, to minimize the number of brawls. ]
Posted on the bulletin board outside the office to the Philosophy department was a large laminated poster that contained a list of the major philosophers throughout history, with a representative quote beside each name.
I enjoyed reading those quotes each week .. so much that on the final day I stayed late to copy them down, along with the name of each philosopher and their corresponding dates. I've been carrying around that piece of paper ever since. (Tho it's getting ratty.)
Today I finally transferred these quotes to 3 web pages (7 entries per page), and included a picture for each philosopher (which the original poster did not have). I also added a brief historical description to complement each entry.
]]> ••• today's entry continues here below •••It took a while to assemble the photos. Wasn't planning on doing that, but I feel it improved the pages. Been meaning to transfer those quotes to web pages since May.
I've never been able to find a place where a list of the world's major philosophers were assembled together with a corresponding picture/photograph, accompanied by a single representative quote.
I'd like to emphasize that these quotes are not ones that I selected myself. Rather, by someone more qualified to do so. Here ya go » Philosophical Thought thru the Centuries. Surprising amount of depression, no?
Isn't it cool the way you're able to traipse thru the centuries of philosophical thought? .. in a matter of minutes. I took a class in Philosophy (at F&M, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania). One of my top 3 favorite classes - ever. Right up there with Calculus.
For more along these lines, here's a Google search preconfigured for the query » philosophy quotes and another for » kids first coparenting orange county chapman family law
One final note » right outside the building, where my KF classes were held (at Chapman), there stood a section of the Berlin Wall, maybe 2-meters wide and 5-meters tall, decorated with colorful graffiti painted on the Western side. You couldn't actually walk up and touch it, cuz they'd set it on a pedestal in the middle of a small pond. (Well, you could touch it, I guess, but you'd get wet.)
I always remembered (and enjoyed) Reagan's speech, where he said » Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.
Big huevos. Four of the 20 philosophers featured today hail from Germany .. more than any other country (3 each from China, Greece & England).
The term was coined by Robert Heinlein in his novel Stranger in a Strange Land (SciFi, 1961). The martian word implies you understand something (such as how a particular technology works) .. on an intuitive level, in a satorial kind of way.
The difference between possessing a working knowledge of a particular technology and 'grokking' it is difficult to describe. Grokking impies a deeper understanding .. that surpasses mere facts & figures.
It suggests you can 'see into' the inner workings and comprehend how the different elements interact.
I've been studying CSS (off-n-on) for months, applying the concepts I learned (.. cuz that's how I learn best). And today I finally 'got it'. It came in a flash .. known as the » ah-ha moment.
[ Hmmm. That's interesting » I was looking for a good article to link to the phrase » 'ah-ha moment,' when my Google search returned a page referencing CSS. Surprisingly coincidental, no? Seeing that I didn't query the term 'CSS' (only » 'ah-ha moment').
What are the odds of that occurring? Of those two concepts being found grouped together so prominently (link #2)? Of all the possible topics in the world, CSS comes up. Maybe it means something. ]
It's not like I didn't understand CSS before. I'd long been reading about and felt comfortable wielding the technology .. using it to whip up sophisticated layouts. But now it seems my insights were superficial .. that I was merely applying recipes, cookbook style, mechanically.
Today's insight came so dramatically that it felt like I'd swallowed a ball of CSS enlightenment. "I finally get it," I muttered. Incredibly satisfying experience. Accompanied by a feeling of arrival, completion, mastery.
Of course, this doesn't mean I know everything there is to know about CSS. Far from it. Gladwell says you need 10,000 hours to master a skill. But I now 'see' how it works .. on an intuitive level.
I would love to be able to plug a cable into my brain and upload a whole slew of other cool technologies (.. like they do in the Matrix). Unfortunately, that ain't how it works. Nor can you grok something by sheer force of will. (If we could, I'd be grunting loudly.) You 'get it' when you get it and not a moment before.
Tho I'm curious about what happens at that moment. I mean, I knew everything I did about CSS now in the moments before I 'got it'. I've also been studying Programming. Maybe that helped yield insight, cuz CSS in some ways resembles programming.
The experience, in retrospect, could be described as a 'breaking thru,' or a 'crashing thru,' or a 'falling thru,'. The thing you 'break thru' seems like a semi-translucent crystalline membrane .. that obscures your vision .. from seeing deeply .. into the inner-workings.
The distance traveled (knowledge-wise) was very small, yet the resulting effect was dramatic .. sort of like the view you get when cresting a big hill. The straw that broke the camel's crystalline back, you might say.
]]> ••• today's entry continues here below •••I now have a deep 'knowing' about CSS I didn't have before. And this knowing came as a result of 'breaking thru' this 'thing' .. that prevented me from seeing clearly how CSS works. And this 'knowing' brought about a confidence regarding my ability to wield that technology effectively.
A desire to understand sophisticated technologies is what drove me into the nuclear industry (after high school). Perhaps my lust for technology was handed down (genetically) from our ancestors, who learned to craft spears & whatnot, and used that (crude) technology to kill the wooly mammoth or sabertooth tiger, or even an unruly Neanderthal.
The Navy ensures you know everything about everything before they let you do anything. Yet they will let you run a reactor plant without 'grokking' how it works. You merely need to demonstrate adequate head-knowledge. Tho the more head-knowledge you acquire on a particular subject, the more likely (it would seem) you are to develop an intuitive understanding.
Many signposts line the road to Grokdom. The first of which seems to be » simple AWARENESS. Recall the first time you heard the term » MP3. You can know 'about' technologies without knowing them. Awareness is important because you can't take advantage of, or employ a technology that you don't know exists.
One of the more advanced weigh stations en route seems to be where you develop an understanding of the PRO's & CON's (of various techniques) .. determining where & when one method is better than another, and the reasons for selecting each option. Because every alternative has its pro's & con's.
FAMILIARITY is another signpost. When studying a new technology, I enjoy recognizing familiar terms & concepts .. cuz that's a sign that Newbiesville is behind, and my destination approaches. Oh, I know that,
and I've seen that before,
are comforting recognitions that signal I'm making progress with a new technology.
But the initial stages can be slow-going, as you hack your way thru the heavy (unfamiliar) jungle of terms & concepts (yuk!) .. such as yesterday, when I decided to get my feet wet with SQL. Interesting that I can ace the W3S SQL quiz without understanding much about the underlying technology. This way, when I return to SQL in the future, the terrain won't seem so foreign.
All this talk of grokking makes me wanna read » Stranger in a Strange Land. Maybe a mermaid will swim down and gently plant a kiss on my forehead while I read.
UPDATE: Received the following note:
That's not a mermaid. It's actually a picture of Jillian Boardman retrieving Valentine Michael Smith (the title character) from the bottom of a pool. Smith can slow his metabolism and is therefore able to hold his breath a very long time. He was hiding there. Good book. THIS submarine nuke liked it.
Dave
Speaking of learning to wield cool, new technologies .. the Bug rode a skateboard for the first time this week. I used to hold his hands and help him roll along. But this week he took off by himself. (Yes, wearing a helmet.) He has also been bugging me about taking him fishing. On Thanksgiving, we rode our bikes down to the beach at the Balboa Peninsula and flew a dragon-kite. (He's 4.)
Hmmm. That note got me thinking » Why was VMS hiding down there?
]]>This system has 12 gigs of memory (2 x 6-gig sticks). That's downright decadent. I think he could arrested for having so much memory (without a permit). We hate you, eDawg. Actually, that motherboard can handle (up to) 24 gigs .. in triple-channel mode.
I said, "Dang, you probably oughta call your local power company and let them know whenever you're fixin' to start that beast .. so they can tweak bus frequency up to 62-cycles, so you don't bring down the whole western grid."
I asked why he didn't opt for a giant 2-TB drive for storage, or a 10K-rpm Raptor to run his system & programs .. or better yet » a solid state drive (drool).
I remember back when we ordered and built his very first custom system. That wasn't long after eDawg's dad married my friend » Maria. We all lived in this big 5-level Euro-style mansion that eDawg's dad built (which later sold for several $mil) cut into the hillside high above Laguna .. with a killer 180-degree view of the Pacific. Ah, the good ol' days .. sitting out on the deck and watching the sun go down.
]]> ••• today's entry continues here below •••Lots of kids lived there .. Evan, Mikaela, Nicholas, Nikolai. All their friends would stop by, too, including Mikaela's fashionable & tendy high school girlfriends. There's something very cool about a bunch of kids running around a big house, stopping in to chat whenever .. sometimes asking for help with their homework. Dostoevsky said the soul is healed by being with children.
In fact, that's where the Bug was conceived. (In "the big house," as it was called.) Mikaela was the one who came up with his name. But that's another story. eDawg now lives up in Santa Barbara, where he went to party .. uh, I mean » college.
The only problem he had came when he pressed the POWER button for the first time, cuz he forgot to plug in the power cable for the CPU. [ eDawg should not be confused with thee Dawg .. my buddy from the Navy, who lives in NYC. ] Regulars will recall that I have built a few PC's in my day .. mostly ones that were designed to edit digital video .. back when such a thing was not easy to do.
I love designing & building computers. Oh, baby! When you take the CPU out of the box and insert it into the motherboard .. and lock it down. Better than sex. (Well, almost.) Then you press the START button. Nirvana. (I'm drooling on my keyboard.) Might need a cold shower.
My experience has been » building your own computer doesn't really save you any money. Rather, it allows you to get higher quality components for the same price you'd pay for a pre-built system. This is easily verified by doing the math.
You get components that are bigger, faster & sport more features. They're manufactured to higher standards and often come with better warranties. You could argue that this translates into a more stable system. But either way, you get more years of use with better performance (= more enjoyment).
UPDATE - eDawg just sent a link to his 3DMark benchmark results .. see » here.
]]>For the pages that contain this recipe, I designed a new, single-sidebar layout .. another liquid-elastic hybrid. See what you think.
For previous web pages, I used a design that comprised dual-sidebars, one on each side, cuz I liked the balanced, symmetric look provided by that layout. So this feature took longer to complete than expected, cuz I first had to code the CSS from scratch.
I've made this stew for the Bug many times (cutting the veggies into smaller pieces so they fit easily in his little mouth). So it's made with lots of love. He digs it.
Been lagging on entries lately, as you mighta noticed. Been dabbling in Programming. Kinda got lost. Big subject.
On the personal side, I took the Bug kayaking last week .. out on the Newport Back Bay. (No waves there.) He later confided, "Dad, at first I was a little scared. But now I'm not scared." We stopped at a small island where he got out and searched for buried treasure.
]]> ••• today's entry continues here below •••Then a few days ago, I broke out the tent and we did some 'camping' here in the back yard. He fell asleep in record time that night .. while I read to him a few pages from The Hobbit, using a headlamp. Both the tent-camping & kayaking at the Back Bay were new experiences for him.
Finally finished reading Treasure Island .. probably the greatest bed-time story ever written for young boys with healthy imaginations. We musta read it 3 or 4 times, with certain sections much more .. such as the chapter where Jim Hawkins tells Long John Silver, "I'm not afraid of you."
Been biking everywhere with the Bug, too. He rides pretty good for a 4-year old. "Can you do this, dad?" "Dad, how 'bout this? Can you do this?" "No, not like that, dad. You're not doing it right. Like this! Watch me. Watch how I do it." =)
Tonight Frontline takes us to » Tehran (9PM). Revolution in the streets. Should be interesting. Can be viewed online » here.
For more along these lines here's a Google search preconfigured for the query » crock pot slow cooker beef stew recipe
]]>The dividing-line among web designers seems to be whether or not to use a non-semantic span tag with CSS positioning, which involves a more complicated technique .. but leaves visible TEXT in place for visitors who surf the Web with STYLES turned off (primarily those using mobile devices).
I used a simpler IR technique, by changing the images you see displayed there .. from foreground images to background images.
This allowed me to replace the foreground images (contained in those heading elements) with TEXT .. which I then indented (way to your left), so it can't be seen. By moving the TEXT out of the way, this technique reveals the graphics (.. which look prettier than standard heading-text).
The advantage however, is » devices that don't render styles (such as screen readers and mobile devices) will now see a TEXT heading and tag-line displayed there, where before there existed only images. Search engines also gives more weight to TEXT than images.
Most Rad visitors will never notice the difference .. seeing most who frequent the site (fellow technolusters) browse with both images and CSS turned ON. But I'm gradually filling my webmaster toolkit with increasingly sophisticated techniques. (Learning by doing.)
After all the pages are styled however, and the markup is coded semantically, there's still no substitute for insightful content .. that is well written (.. and hopefully seasoned with a dash of personality).
This has always been the most difficult challenge .. because a stylish suit does not a charming pig make. And the ugliest person can say the profoundest things, and possess scintillating ideas. So it would seem that content trumps style .. no matter the venue (.. except maybe for those who focus on style).
]]> ••• today's entry continues here below •••UPDATE - after further review, I might prefer Technique #6 (Leahy/Langridge) .. if it will let me code a link, which my current method does not. (I mean, I can code a link, but it doesn't work.) This guy (who hails from a small village in Nottinghamshire) prefers it best in an IR comparison dated March 2009.
Moreover, I feel the odds of someone surfing with IMAGES turned off is far greater than the odds of someone surfing with STYLES disabled (but images turned on). Note btw, that Technique #8 appears to be the only one which works under ALL circumstances.
UPDATE #2 - After playing around with the various techniques, I found that #8 gives me problems centering the images (they shift to the right for some reason) and fails with images turned off. So I settled on technique #6, but it too fails when images are disabled. So I think the guy mis-spoke. I mean, I disabled images in Firefox (v3.5.4) and everything disappeared » no images, no text .. nada. Blank, white header. (Yeah, I saved-all and refreshed .. multiple times.)
And it's impossible to code a link, cuz all links are coded to text, which is then hidden. So my original (simple) text-indent method seems to work just as well as the more involved techniques. This stuff can drive you crazy. More tricks today than treats.
I'm beginning to question the value of image replacement. I mean, if I can't code a link, and no TEXT displays when images are disabled .. maybe I should just go back to using foreground images (which I can link to) and ALT tags (which reveal textual info when images are disabled) .. like I did before.
Or maybe I'll just invent my own technique .. one that works for me .. which would be something like Technique #4, but with no background image (for which I see no point .. since this technique uses a foreground image, and therefore the image will display with or without CSS turned on), but rather a SPAN tag with TEXT (for SEO, which I like/want) moved out of the way, so the linked image displays (like it did before I started this IR mess) .. if that's possible.
Lastly, I feel compelled to point out that the term 'Image Replacement' (as applied here) is a misnomer. These techniques are NOT designed to replace images but rather » TEXT. More specifically, they replace text *with* images.
One more tale of woe before I close » I also tried this method, but it gave me small visual artifacts directly above the letters .. perhaps because I use a 1-pixel border .. to avoid "margin collapse" (an unexplainable space between divs) .. which, by the way, would appear to be another misnomer .. since the margins in this case don't collaspse. Rather they separate.
Doesn't it appear that web designers are backwards? Or do they purposely use confusing terminology?
For more along these lines, here's a Google search preconfigured for the query » css image replacement technique
]]>If I did this correctly, you shouldn't notice any difference. Cuz I applied the same styling to the list items .. tho this was trickier than it might sound. I nearly freaked when a single misplaced comma trashed my whole layout. Yikes!
This change represents a semantic improvement. Semantics (i.e. » 'meaning') is one of the buzz-words kicked around when thinkers discuss the Web's future.
Most surprising was that it took me so long to realize I had coded the home-page with semantically incorrect markup. It suddenly hit me (last night), when out of the blue (actually » blue-green), I thought » "Those links aren't paragraphs; they're a LIST."
]]> ••• today's entry continues here below •••I'm not a professional web designer or developer, but I would like the home page to pass inspection should a pro perchance peek at the underlying code/markup.
For more along these lines, here's a Google search preconfigured for the query » semantic markup web design xhtml css
]]>Being a n00b, I don't know much about their program yet, except that they pay a percentage whenever a visitor clicks a link on my site and makes a corresponding purchase. (How big of a percentage I'm not sure.)
I've long included links to books at the Amazon site [ in pages such as this one » Best Books for Learning the Basics of Web Site Design (XHTML & CSS), and this one » Andy Budd's Book: CSS Mastery ] without ever taking advantage of their program.
If I start making considerable cash, I'll be bummed that I didn't enroll sooner. And if I don't (earn cash), I'll be bummed too, for wasting my time with this program. So either way .. which might be why I hesitated so long.
What I like best about the Amazon program is that it allows me to monetize the site without including visible ads (.. unlike Google's AdSense program). All I need to do is add the following code to the end of each Amazon link » ?ie=UTF8&tag=radifiedcom-20
. So it's virtually invisible to visitors. If I didn't tell you, you might never know.
I also like that it doesn't cost visitors anything extra when purchasing a book via a link from this site.
After establishing an 'Associate' account (and logging in to the Amazon site), a toolbar magically appears at the top of the browser window whenever I visit Amazon.com.
The Associate toolbar allows me to create targeted links to the particular book/page I'm at/on .. with a single click. Couldn't be easier. I simply paste the auto-generated code into my web page.
]]> ••• today's entry continues here below •••What's NOT going to be easy is .. going back and adding my associate tag to all Amazon links I've ever included in pages here. Besides being mind-numbingly boring, I'm doubtful this retro-linkage (which could take days) will prove worthwhile. But it looks like there's only one way to find out. I'll likely do a few sample pages and see what happens. Or maybe I'll just do all pages going forward.
Personally, I get most of my books from the library. If the library doesn't have a particular title, I request they order/purchase a copy. Every time I've ever requested a specific book that they didn't have, the library has always purchased it for me (.. and lets me have first crack at it once the title arrives) .. tho this can take a while. So patience is requied.
I do research my books well, which is probably why the library has always concurred with my recommendations. (Either that, or they have more money than they know what to do with.) If I'm going to spend valuable time reading a particular text, I want to ensure that time is well spent.
For those times when I do purchase a book (.. seeing that I like to underline key conceptual passages that speak to me, and make corresponding comments in the margins), I purchase my books from/thru Amazon (USED if possible .. to save a tree or two).
Speaking of books .. I'm currently reading » Crime & Punishment (Dostoevsky, 1866) .. the version translated by Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky (1993) .. hard-cover edition, from the Everyman's Library (of classics). Rich. Could write a whole 'nuther entry on this topic. Dostoevsky is famous for his penetrating psychological insight .. still relevant after 150 years.
For more along these lines, here's a Google search preconfigured for the query » amazon.com affiliate associate program
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