Mentorship - Good for the soul

Found out one of my mentors from college occasionally blogs. He and another (works for HP now I think), whose site is not coming up at the time of this post, were more influential to me personally and professionally than they will ever know.

Of Grasshoppers

Student: Do you ponder death?
Master: I ponder life.

Of Grasshoppers

Student: I made a mistake.
Master: Will you do it again?

Quote of the Day

Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world.
- George Bernard Shaw

Courtesy of iWon

Eminent Domain

Medium Large comic

Link courtesy of My Likes and Dislikes

Anti-spy

I advocate the use of Lavasoft's Adaware (I've gone so far as to become a reseller of their Plus version). I also highly recommend Spybot Search N Destroy. I have always been very wary of other programs as potential trojans claiming that they are scanning when in reality they are installing or removing all but their own adware or spyware. I just found a fantastic list of such evil programs. I know nothing about spywarewarrior but this list will be read by me quite a bit now.

Finding Opportunities

Finding time to do all the things that need to get done and want to get done isn't easy. Usually weekends need to be spent on family and home maintenance. Cathy and I have discussed expanding the kids horizons with experiences such as PYO farms. Kids need experiences to grow. Often we write off a weekend in the name of getting things done. Forgetting that our children don't care about work and responsibility is inexcusable. Finding the time to help them experience people, places and things other than a Playstation, television or Internet chat is essential.

More on the Wayback Machine

Here's an interesting read.

Universal Conservation of Knowledge

I was having a conversation with my brother-in-law when it suddenly dawned on me that I'm growing stupid. See, I used to have a fairly decent grasp of the English language with good spelling skills and proper grammar. In our conversation I accidentally used the word "immigrating" when I meant "emigrating." After enduring the mandatory southern education joke I had the following epiphany:

I blame the kids.

See. I used to spel gooder had decent grammer and what not. But I never realized that when they say "knowledge is gained" that they really meant it. See I thought "knowledge is gained" meant if you study hard you will "learn" but apparently there is a conservation of knowledge in the universe. So as one person gains knowledge, others must give it up. Kids gain knowledge at such a rapid rate that parents come across as babbling idiots. Society blames it on them "being tired" when in reality they have truly become "babbling idiots" which also explains why teenagers feel that they know more than their parents; in all likelihood, they do.

With the number of kids we have at the age ranges and the gross knowledge transfer, Cathy and I are lucky that we are smart enough to get out of bed in the morning.

This also explains why there will always be someone dumber than yourself that you have to deal with unless of course you just happen to be the dumbest person in the universe in which case your best friend is probably a rock.

Outlawing Google?

Canada is trying to pass a law that could make Google and The Wayback Machine illegal.

Thanks to My Likes and Dislikes for the link.

Anxiety Attack

I woke this morning at 5:30. I was calm and well rested. Then my mind kicked in and realized that I had not intended to sleep. Then it worked up. Instead of rationally getting up and starting my day the panic grew. I had to lie in bed and work through it but it worsened so I hid. My mind retreated to sleep where my panic controlled my dreams. An hour and a half later I woke again with tension still in my chest; my heart feeling like it beats softer; my lungs incapable of taking a full breath.

I have a love/hate of the panic attacks. I have them infrequently now-a-days. I know they are irrational. I know they are counter-productive. I should be able to subdue them. The affect on the mind and body is almost similar to how one would feel after a hard workout or thrill seeking like parachuting or rappelling. I suppose there is an actual adrenaline rush which would explain that feeling.

Time to brew some coffee and try to make up for lost time. Type faster! Faster!

I wish I had a video camera!

I just witnessed the funniest thing!

Cathy just finished breast feeding Evan and Evan was staring up at Noah just studying his face. Cathy was watching the two and her breast was still uncovered. Amy had been singing and laughing and jumping on the couch beside Cathy and with an ear to ear grin in that chipper sweet voice cheerily squealed "squuuueeeeze!" and simultaneously grabbed the bare breast.

The look on Cathy's face and the grin on Amy's was priceless!

Of Grasshoppers

Student: Why hate?
Master: No love.

Deprecated -- GMail Invitations

GMail invitations are now pointless.

Iggy Pop (age 58) speaks on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross

Iggy Pop is a straight shooter telling exactly how he feels. I caught his interview on NPR's Fresh Air and couldn't quit listening. I've always been a Iggy fan. He tells some great stories!

Cool Picture of the Day - Who makes your GPS?

The techies will enjoy this picture of the inside of a Garmin GPS.

Far too much sleep!

I woke at 2:30am and lacked the will power to stay up. Ugh!

In the wrong?

So, on a different philosophical question, I now wonder if it was wrong of me to post the reply to an email I sent. This will require some thinking. At the time of posting I thought it only fair that since people saw the initial message that they also see the reply. The reply had additional information which justified the actions of 3GuysHosting. South Knox Bubba posted entire exchanges between SKB and Brian Conley. Enron email became public. But are these types of publications out of bounds? Can email not be sent with the assumption that the world is going to read it? If I sent a letter by postal mail the same thing could happen. The recipient could publish the letter in a newspaper or produce copies and distribute them.

Too much thinking before coffee. Time to brew!

The only secret kept is the one not spoken.

De neh neh NA na naa knee NAAa NA na NAAA na NAH!

Cooter's Place, a "Dukes" memorabilia shop in Gatlinburg, Tenn is owned by none other than Cooter himself! (who abbreviates Tenneessee Tenn anymore?) He runs the website Cooter's Place where he advises against seeing the Dukes of Hazzard movie due to profanity and sexual content.

Excellent! 3GuysHosting responded!

I would have not have expected a response. Mike Quinlan responds to my earlier email pointing out that he bought the domain rather than forcefully shutting the site down; however, he continues to say that had the site been one of his customers he would have done the same thing.

Mr. McCaughan,


Did you have the joy of seeing Mr. Crook's site before you sent this to me? Just in case you didn't here are a couple quotes for you:

Our problem is this: the military is a lifestyle these morons chose. What idiot risks their life for a country? It's what they chose. Forsake our Troops! They must think that if they go to war, they don't need to pay taxes just......just like the rest of us. Let 'em die in combat-- we don't need their ilk!

Number of US soldiers killed in the Iraq War, of their own doing, because they CHOSE to be leeches: 1,574. These scumbags deserved what they got.

Even more entertaining is this photo of a dead US soldier. It's entertaining, because there's something called owning your actions. He chose his path, and now we as a country have to pay his survivors benefits and pay for his burial, not to mention the fact that a chaplain still has to go out and tell the blubbering widow, which is another waste of resources, and that is just disgusting. He chose to join, and because of that, Forsake The Troops strongly feels that he should just be thrown in a ditch somewhere and left to rot. This soldier was not a victim of anything else but his own poor choices. Forsake The Troops spits on him and all other "veterans" who died because of something that they chose to do. No sympathy here.

Mr. Crook, was never a customer of mine (but if he was the outcome would be the same). I purchased the domain name (from him) to remove it.

I have no problem with the pro or anti war crowed as long as they can make there point intelligently which Michael Crook obviously can not.

One final note, I have not spent the last 15 years in the military to listen to the kind of crap he is spewing or to have people like you call me un-American!!

Respectfully,

Mike Quinlan

Not yet sure that I want to respond to his email with anything more than a "thank you." I am a little taken back that he missed the point of my email and thinks I called "him" un-American.

...I find your censorship with such judgmental arrogance to be equally offensive and un-American.

My reference being toward a business. This would be akin to the landlords of a shopping center putting chains on Borders' front doors because the landlords felt selling Harry Potter books conflicted with their Christian beliefs. Now, purchasing the domain from Michael Crook and taking the site down is a different matter. Perhaps 3GuysHosting should have better worded their message.

I do think that Michael Crook is a bloody idiot trying to get himself a little "fame."

This made me laugh out loud!

Kudos to arcite!

I mean, we have warnings about smoking but what about religion and other cult group activities? Why not insist that all places of worship carry health warning: Danger, potentially irrational and intolerant thinking ahead! "Don’t follow leaders, watch the parking meters."

Read his full post from Tuesday, July 12, 2005.

Bloggers Unmasked

Following the great turmoil and unmasking of South Knox Bubba I have seen many bloggers come out of the anonymous closet. I have a new found awe for a blog I enjoy reading regularly. B.K.DeLong of Brainstream has never hidden his identity but until his post yesterday morning I never associated him as a co-founder of The Leaky Cauldron!

Leaky was founded by Kevin C. Murphy as a method of archiving the great amount of Potter news circulating on the Web.

May he serve as the inspiration for me to accomplish something that doesn't suck eggs quite as badly as TN Lottery Results (overly blatant plug?)

Of Grasshoppers

Student: I don't have time.
Master: Make time.

Lawyers Suck

Expect the Wayback Machine to go away. "Internet Archive sued over Wayback Machine"

The nonprofit Internet Archive, now nearly ten years old, is on the defending end of a bizarre copyright lawsuit.

If we were wiser people, instead of shutting down websites when American lawyers line their pockets and destroy the best innovation man kind has for collaboration and intellectual advancement (with the Internet in its current state I can find in minutes what used to require a physical trip to the library) we would simply move the websites outside of the United States. The Internet belongs to the world and should not be tainted and ruined with stupid US laws.

The Wayback Machine is not a copyright infringement; it's a necessary preservation of electronic history!

Boring job?

Perhaps label making isn't very exciting. But at least the employees have a sense of humor!

Hello Dennis!

The rain is here.

Web design business is not Web application business

Let's compare websites to a car.

Web Designers

A web designer makes the shape of the car, decides what kind of tires it will have, 4 doors or 2, and most importantly the color.

Web Application Developers

A web application programmer builds the engine, connects all the wiring, puts the doors on the hinges, mounts the tires, and fills it up with gas.

The Driver

A web application developer can work his tail off making the engine of the car move the car and to please the client the developer can add some piping that also lets the engine brew his coffee while he drives. The client might get excited about the feature but may never appreciate the effort that went into running the pipes for the coffee maker without adversely affecting the performance of the car or the appearance. While the developer de-prioritizes such minor things as the final washing and waxing of the car, the client fixates on "why hasn't this car been washed yet?" and of course right after applying the wax the client will say "hmmm. Don't you think this would look better in blue?" or "I think we should only have 2 doors."

Web application development is extremely rewarding personally. Unfortunately, the art is often under appreciated by the client since most of what happens is behind the scenes. I suppose this is how it should be because I certainly don't appreciate the effort that went into building my car; I just want to drive.

Of Grasshoppers

Student: I will disappoint someone today.
Master: Better than disappointing everyone.

We had a visitor on our porch this morning. Tommy discovered the frog while walking the dog. He said he would not have noticed had the cat not been sitting staring at it. We decided it best to help it hop along before the cat beat it to death. It was very calm in my hand and as the shock wore off it jumped about two feet. I forgot how fun frogs can be! I'm happy to see we have them in the yard and that an extra leg isn't growing out of its forehead. 

Leap, frog

Someone is pondering a snack. 

On no! Sleep!

On man, I fell asleep last night! I woke at 2am and 3am and couldn't pull myself from bed until 4:45.

Still running

Oh it's so great to be in the race
Running and feeling the sweat drip down my face
Feel the adrenaline rush
How long can I keep up this pace?
The ache in my muscles tells me I'm alive
But why do I keep falling behind?
Look how they go
I left the path and broke the rules
The judges penalized me with a timeout
The other racers sped on but I'll win
I run and jump and tumble and get up
My appreciation will be higher than theirs
If I finish.

Nastiness uncovered

I found it! Somehow I got that nasty Medialoads program on my machine. This is the one that creates itself in so many different names and versions and is the browser hijacker king. I also seem to have Kazaa on my machine which befuddles me because I've hated that program since its inception! I have:

DownloadWare
Type: Adware
Threat Level: High
Author: Great Net inc.

Description: DownloadWare downloads and installs software from advertisers. It runs at Windows startup, and, if a network connection is available, it connects to its servers. It can be installed through an ActiveX control.

Advice: High-risk items have a large potential for adverse effect, such as loss of computer control, and should be removed unless knowingly installed.

and:

ClipGenie
Type: Adware
Threat Level: High
Author: New Harmony Enterprises Limited

Description: ClipGenie displays banner advertisements in its user interface and is usually installed with file-sharing programs. ClipGenie.com is a subscription-based entertainment portal that allows you to purchase and view movies on your computer.

Advice: High-risk items have a large potential for adverse effect, such as loss of computer control, and should be removed unless knowingly installed.

Both reference Medialoads. Evil people!

The hours are 8 to 5.

Considering I work all the time (and more importantly, from home) it is difficult to stick to set hours. I abuse them occasionally taking long breaks with the kids during the day to make up the time at night and my clients occasionally abuse them with phone calls in the evenings. Becky Pretz shares her thoughts. The Austin Business Journal talks about a successful home office.

Child Labor

Creative ways to get away with child labor and be excited about it!

Hijacker Ticked off

While I typed my previous post, one of the nasty things tried popping up a window. Adwatch blocked it 2100 times and its still going!

I'm dirty

I've been defiled! My home page is now "about:blank"! I have become one of my customers. Yes, my browser is hijacked! I think this is the BrillantDigital one that is so stinking nasty. Certainly explains the sudden performance issues that had me rebooting. I thought the streaming was killing my machine (could have been the open port on 8081 that let this happen but I can't be sure). I also had a couple of worms. Looks like I may spend the morning cleaning my machine instead of getting work done.

1. Remove old adaware
2. Run Spybot Search N Destory
3. Update Avast
4. Run CWShredder (wow! CWShredder moves around a lot. Used to be by intermute but Trendmicro is maintaining it) and HijackThis
5. Reboot after Spybot's removals and Avast's prompting for a reboot.
6. Install new adaware
7. Launch Trendmicro's Housecall
8. Run Avast
9. Run Spybot
10. Run Adaware
11. After my computer beeped 5000 times (the number of popups blocked by Adwatch) I rebooted.
12. Restarted Avast scan
13. 2nd Ad-aware scan
14. Checked Add/Remove programs for offending software
15. Removed View Point
16. Used Regedit to manually inspect registry..looks good
17. Totally afraid to open Internet Explorer or Outlook..thank goodness for Firefox!
18. Recovered Homepage (no longer about:blank) but IE won't remember cookies implying that something still has me. Performance on machine down.
19. Downloaded and installed MS Antispy(been needing to evaluate it anyway)
20. Oh, the new version of adwatch blocks tracking cookies ergo my website info wasn't saving. Think I'm in the clear now.

Whoops

Accidentally slept last night.

Website 2.0

Woot got a make-over!

Fun discussion!

Let's talk about nipples!

America the not-so-free

After laughing at Michael Crook's beating on Fox news I thought I'd canter over to Forsake The Troops and see what the fuss was all about. Only to find this message:

This hateful site has been removed courtesy of:

USAF Forums at www.3C0X1.net
&
www.3GuysHosting.com

Click HERE to see the former owner (Michael Crook) owned by Sean Hannity.

I found this response offensive enough to draft the following email to their customer service. Hopefully someone reads it. I fear the kind of people that run www.3GuysHosting.com are the same people that will commit hate crimes in the name of freedom and allow the current administration to drag us decades further backwards. The attitudes represented by 3GuysHosting.com are not so much different than the businessmen that donned white hoods and burned crosses in the name of creating a lawful society.

"This hateful site has been removed courtesy of:"

I disagree with Michael Crook. But I find your censorship with such judgmental arrogance to be equally offensive and un-American.

I believe it would do you well to think long and hard about what type of society you are building for future Americans because right now with acts such as yours we are not practicing democracy and freedom.

Before you preach to me about your "freedom to run your business the way you like" let me remind you that you chose the words "This hateful site has been removed courtesy of:" not "Due to a violation of our decency policy..." or "Due to bandwidth restrictions..."

People in positions of power, such as yourselves, have the obligation to yield that power with responsibility.

Ouch!

Ok Michael Crook. One, don't stammer. Two, if you are going to be on national television, get a hair cut. Three, ashen gray skin means people aren't hearing your words because they are asking themselves "just how long has this guy been dead?" Four, cucumbers on the eyes. Five, day spa not night club before going on national television. And most importantly, six, think before you speak. Fox news bats one home.

Musicians Wanted

If you are in Knoxville and play drum or bass, Barry needs your help. Go see the show!

Put on the brakes!

Somebody slow down the blasted clock!

Of Grasshoppers

Student: Do you take the long road or the short road?
Master: Do you want to be profitable or good?

Sunday is here

So today is beautiful! The rains come tonight or tomorrow. I want to be working in the yard. I have to help get Sarah off to camp this afternoon. Things floating around in my mind:

• Sarah to camp (4-5 hours)
• Clean house
• Finish work (roughly 10 hours) for client 1 and call client 1 today
• 8 hours work for Client 2
• Clean office, clean clean clean
• Spend 8 hours on MS Money, Quickbooks and TurboTax
• Do a home repair
• Spend quality time with family

I suppose some choices shall have to be made.

For the truly bored...

(note: if the picture above is offline or not updating then the stream is offline too)

If on this beautiful Sunday you have nothing else to do, for fun and to see how well it works, I've turned on a streaming video of me programming. Watch for the head scratch, the amazing nose pick, astouding coffee drinking, the grimmace, absolute consternation, the occasional grin (probably reading your blog), and for the lucky few with good timing--the laundry swap! (warning! You may see my back side during the laundry swap. I've choosen particular tight jeans today for the viewing pleasures of the ladies)

Enjoy the monotony!

Of Grasshoppers

Student: Is there a supreme being?
Master: What does He say?

Park of Fun

We took the kids out to the park yesterday to meet up with the grandparents, aunt, uncle, and two cousins. Everyone had a blast. Molly came along and in 5 kicks ate a soccer ball that I purchased on the way. I let her off leash for the soccer and she was perfectly well behaved. The law is that the dog has to "be under owners control" not "on a leash"; I had that discussion with some other dog owners walking their dog without a leash who said some people get rather indignant about it. We had only 3 incidents.

1. While I was eating I had the lease under foot and Molly bolted to see another puppy. We had already met and the owners didn't seem concerned.
2. Once my nephew threw the soccer ball while I was not paying attention and I lost the leash
3. And a barker came through the park. Molly growled and barked but chilled after we let the two see each other. I had good control over Molly but gave them much opportunity to figure one another out.

For much of the time Molly wore her leash but laid on the ground between her people with no one holding the leash. I was very impressed with her behavior.

Noah climbed the outside of the tall enclosed slide. He's a broken arm waiting to happen but makes me grin because he is such a boy and doing so many of the same things I did at his age.

Tommy chose to stay home. I think he likes it because he can eat, play electronics and do basically anything he wants without fear of someone getting on his case.

Sarah enjoys this old banana board (skinny skate board) that I had stashed in the garage so she was puttering all over the park while the 3 year old sister and cousin chased her.

The younger two were coddled.

A great time was had by all.

Technically Babysitting

I'm downstairs frantically working but want to watch Noah playing Little People with Amy. So I set the webcam on Cathy's computer to stream video to my desktop. This is great!

Of Grasshoppers

Student: I need to do something that I can't.
Master: Define need.

Leeroy!

Here's a work-safe must view for all you MMORPGer's out there.

Priorities

I woke at 2am then again at 4:30 and finally rose at 8:30. Of course, in times of high-pressure deadlines I find myself calmly taking the time to put a bandaid on a finger that a sparkler burned over the weekend. The finger cannot possibly hurt but the memory of the pain is burned in.

Of Grasshoppers

Student: I am not happy with myself.
Master: Ah, the source of everyone's problems.

Moving to Greenland

Apparently Greenland just doesn't have terrorism...at least according to The Terrorism Knowledge Base

Tanzim Qa’idat al-Jihad Fi Bilad al-Rafidayn is the current name of the terrorist group led by Abu Musab Zarqawi.

Some terrorists use bombs. Their speciality is having people stand in front of large groups and try to pronounce Tanzim Qa’idat al-Jihad Fi Bilad al-Rafidayn.

Wow! I never realized how many terrorists attacks the US has sustained!

Today Write Checks!

Today is a day to create an excuse to write a check. It is the last time for 100 years that you will be able to date your checks as 7/6/5. If you can't think of anyone to write a check to my name is spelled McCaughan.

Seeking Recommendation

Anyone have a good recommendation for a doctor in the Knoxville area to perform the vas deferens snip? V-day approaches. email me

So, can a man with a vascetomy be Catholic?

Nature Talks

What a beautiful downpour we are having right now. I love the sound of the rain!

Vampire Programmer

2am and the keys are clacking!

Thank you Andy Warhol

I forgot to mention that at the time I was on stage with no mic and basically having to choose between speaking to the crowd or performing, which ruins the comedic timing when much of what I do relies on the ability to speak to the crowd, that I was in front of 500 or more people. I really had no way of judging. It could have been 1500 for all I know but I know a crowd of 100 and this crowd was at least 5 times that.

Had my 15 minutes of fame today from the show. Ran into Fuddruckers for a drink for my parched wife and the casher declared, "aren't you that juggler?" to which I responded, "yes, were you part of the crowd that could hear me?" Front row.

I'm glad people enjoyed the show.

Here's an example of one of my routines. I have these huge, 9 inch bean bags not quite the size of bowling balls. I get two kids on the stage and I ask one "is this juggling ball heavy?" and toss the volunteer one. They respond yes. I then ask, "if I give you another would they be twice as heavy?" to which the response is either yes or no. No is always fun. The third, 3 times as heavy? The other volunteer I give a noise making toy I call my "portable drumroll." I then talk about juggling heavy things and explain "I am going to juggle for you tonight ping pong balls while volunteer 1 juggles these heavy balls" Of course, the volunteer typically protests. I then explain that balance is important in juggling and that I will juggle the ping pong balls and catch one upon my noise (despite the wind and other environmental comments). I juggle the ping pong balls and then toss one high in the air and it lands and stays on the bridge of my nose. I pocket the other two and then reach for a bean bag. Using my peripherial vision I make sure I miss as the volunteer tries to hand the bean bag to me. I usually end up grabbing the top of his head. I then ask volunteer 1 to toss me the third bean bag. As the bean bag leaves his hands I yell "one.. two..." and on "three" it plops to the ground. Sometimes as it leaves his hands I say "on the count of three" It all depends on the volunteer. As I continue to balance the ping pong ball on my nose the volunteer gets the bean bag and then tosses it on the count of three. I juggle briefly, then toss a bean bag up in the air and catch it on the back of my neck. I encourage my volunteers to take bows with me all the while the ping pong ball defies gravity as it hangs from the bridge of my nose. End of routine.

Perception

Today my tasks loom ominously above me
Today I cower in ambivalence and distraction
Today I see an unmovable mountain
Today I lift a single grain of sand
And the mountain falls.

The plain expands endlessly
Touching horizon to horizon
I am frozen
I look to my feet and they move
I look to the horizon and it stands still
I look again to my feet and the ground passes quickly
The horizon does not move
I shall focus on the task at hand
My feet move
And know that the horizon shall come.

-DM 7/4/5

Of Grasshoppers

Student: Happy Independence Day!
Master: Are you independent?

The Show

So my strange feelings toward the show were more premonitory than nerves. We get comfortable with our lives. We have routine and exceptations of order and performance. I expect my juggling gear to be in its place and my show to basically be prepackaged. I can pretty much grab my bag at a moments notice and be ready to do a 30-45 minute show.

During sound check I discovered my mic had be crushed. The resulting short meant brief spurts of audio followed by unbearable speaker popping crackling.

I did the best I could but my current show is based more on cornball humor than juggling talent. Hopefully this was the inspiration I needed to develop a purely visual show which would be more physically challenging where my current show is more mentally exhausting. Regardless, I had a good time and the audience seemed to have a good time also I as received many good words after the show.

Words

terror. thrill. excitement. ambivalence. torment. joy. rush.

Something I read on the Internet that made me smile

"America is just a timeshare dictatorship;"

Yes, that pig was flying...

You heard right! I just threw out a shirt that I bought circa 1990! It was a comfortable shirt with a nice Grateful Dead image on it but alas the time has come for us to part.

Wants vs needs

I want to type and type today. I need to be doing other things.

And it grabbed me..

I so did not intend to sleep last night. I mean at all. At 8:30 I wanted to be back on my computer. At 9:30 I thought that opportunity had finally come. At 10pm I'd distributed root beer floats and sat down to have mine and talk with the wife. At 3:41am someone, probably Noah, rolled out of bed. At 6am I woke with a start.

I've already begun the self-flagellations. They will continue through the weekend as I fail to prepare myself physically or mentally for the juggling show on Sunday. I am on the main stage this year instead of off in a corner and only doing one 30-minute show instead of 2-3 hours of juggling. I really need to find a local juggler that would like to join me on an occasional show. I think I'll post signs on campus.

Whoosh

$%*& it's July already!

Technical Difficulties Destroy Profitability, Cause Deadline Over-runs

So I'm programming like a mad man yesterday. Everything is going well and looking sharp then suddenly my website on my development server does not look at all like the website on the production server. It will take nearly 5 hours of troubleshooting and 5 hours of sleep to figure out what happened.

The Problem: The CSS in Mozilla Firefox don't load on the development server but load fine on the production server. To confound the issue the style sheet works in IE on both servers. The problem is reproducible from multiple computers. If the style sheet is referenced by <link> as in <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="stylesheet.css"> it doesn't load. If it is referenced with a block it works fine.

The Solution: I found the solution in MozillaCssMimeType (led to by this article)

some servers are misconfigured and return an incorrect MimeType for CSS files (typically text/plain or application/x-pointplus) which should be sent with a text/css MimeType

Adding "text/css          css" to apache's mime.types file (usually found in /etc/mime.types) solves the problem. For IIS simply map .css to text/css using:

site (or directory) properties, then HTTP Headers>File Types>New Type, .css, text/css.

Now to get to work. I feel two days behind.

Sometimes there is justice!

"Justice Souter's vote in the "Kelo vs. City of New London" decision allows city governments to take land from one private owner and give it to another if the government will generate greater tax revenue or other economic benefits when the land is developed by the new owner."

On Monday June 27, Logan Darrow Clements, faxed a request to Chip Meany the code enforcement officer of the Towne of Weare, New Hampshire seeking to start the application process to build a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road. This is the present location of Mr. Souter's home.
...
The proposed development, called "The Lost Liberty Hotel" will feature the "Just Desserts Café" and include a museum, open to the public, featuring a permanent exhibit on the loss of freedom in America. Instead of a Gideon's Bible each guest will receive a free copy of Ayn Rand's novel "Atlas Shrugged."
...
Clements indicated that the hotel must be built on this particular piece of land because it is a unique site being the home of someone largely responsible for destroying property rights for all Americans.

I-40 closed

I heard that around mile marker 250 I-40 is closed. Apparently at midnight last night 5 tractor trailer including a mail truck collided and burned killing one person. They are still re-routing traffic down rural roads to Hwy 70 (Kingston Pike). If you are expecting a package or planning on traveling I-40 today you might be in for a surprise.

I cannot find any information online about this which is pathethic either on my part or our news agencies or department of transportation. My information comes from a traveler's account via cell phone.

Update: Ah! Finally found the incident report.

Interstate 40 Incident, Wilson County
Date Last Revised: 6/29/2005 12:46:54 PM
Description: Interstate 40 westbound in Wilson County - Crash at MILE MARKER 239 reported at 12:40:00 AM 6/29/05 and estimated to be cleared by 2:00:00 PM 6/29/05. Westbound traffic is affected with the roadway partially blocked with the LEFT LANE OPEN. Eastbound traffic is affected with rubbernecking delays.
Incident Start: 6/29/2005 12:40:00 AM
Estimated Clearance: 6/29/2005 2:00:00 PM

Wonder if its related to:

Interstate 40 Incident, Davidson County
Date Last Revised: 6/29/2005 12:40:09 PM
Description: Interstate 40 eastbound in Davidson County - Disabled vehicle at MILE MARKER 202 (Mile Marker: 202.0 ) reported at 12:20 PM 6/29/2005 and estimated to be cleared by 12:50 PM 6/29/2005 (Central Time Zone). Eastbound traffic is affected with the roadway partially blocked.
Incident Start: 6/29/2005 12:20:00 PM
Estimated Clearance: 6/29/2005 12:50:00 PM

Free Starbucks ice cream today!

See you at the coffee shop for free ice cream on Jun 29, 2005! (thanks wife!)

AcroBATics

The irony does not escape me that at the same time Batman Begins starts in the theatres that two bats begin patrolling the sky above my house. One will come in very low above our porch. They are fun to watch.

Comments Possibly Problematic

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The end of chocolate

Let's say you regularly had chocolate as a treat. Maybe not every day but fairly frequently. One day someone comes along and offers you a serving of the best chocolate in the world. But there is a catch. After eating that piece of the best chocolate in the world you can never eat chocolate again for the rest of your life. That means your regular treat would disappear but you would be left with the memory of this fantastic chocolate.

What would you choose?

Of Grasshoppers

Student: Is there such a thing as destiny?
Master: There are many destinies. Which would you like?

Science

Man freezes engine and gets 120 miles per gallon.

And the latest on global warming. "experimental reactor seeks to mimic the way the sun produces energy" I see future space explorers teaching their children, "and this is an unusual galaxy. The only one of its kind and we have yet to explain how those two planets evolved an orbit between the two suns, or why the smaller sun orbits the larger sun just like the 8 planets."

Today's Forecast

89% chance of total meltdown...wait! My insurance doesn't cover that.

Regardless of wealth, we all die

"John Walton [No. 11 on Forbes Magazine list of the world's richest people with a net worth of $18.2 billion], the billionaire son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton and a member of the company's board, died Monday in a plane crash in Wyoming."

The plane was an experimental ultralight aircraft with a small, gasoline-powered engine and wings wrapped in fabric similar to heavy-duty sail cloth, officials said.

[source]

Thanks to Kim at Bacon and Ehs for the link.

Of Grasshoppers

Student: How did I become such a horrible person?
Master: You have never been anything else.

Physics on the Computer

We've all seen the skeleton. Here's a variation using bubbles. Rag Doll Physics

Them fellas in the UK got class! And bling!

Thanks to James at Puerilis I will now spend the rest of the afternoon trying to figure out how to wear one of these and why you'd want it to smell like "Cheese & Onion Pasty": 9ct Gold Ringed Burberry Condoms.

I want I want I want I want

Look! It's like hands on Science Digest!

MAKE brings the do-it-yourself mindset to all the technology in your life. MAKE is loaded with exciting projects that help you make the most of your technology at home and away from home. This is a magazine that celebrates your right to tweak, hack, and bend any technology to your own will.

Bizarre Energy

Was there a full moon last night? I had so much energy about me I felt like I could manically, work through the night but forced myself to find sleep knowing that I would be useless today without some rest.

Things I Miss From College

A new theme of memory not regret.

I really enjoyed college. Had I been smarter and worked the system for scholarships or more wisely budgeted my money I could have easily been one of those people that stayed in college for 10 or 15 years.

I broke a lot of boundaries in college. I was experimental and eager to try new things. My curiosity was exposed in many unpublishables, life threatening/thrill seeking experiences, cultural exposure and so on. I was motivated to excel and worked as a desk worker in the dorm, treasurer of the hall government (fixing some impossibly screwed up books), resident assistant, help desk, activist, and undergraduate system administrator to name a few. But the thing I took particular pleasure in doing right and doing well was postage stamps.

Yes, postage stamps. There was something about doing a postage stamp just right that was very rewarding. Knowing the joy and pleasure a person would receive from one of my postage stamps made me want to find better ways to achieve a more perfect stamp. Some folks were content with the way they did post stamps, other didn't care to do them at all finding the process mundane or even displeasant; I on the other hand was the Jonathan Livingston Seagull of post stamps always seeking a more perfect way! Postage stamps had a bit of self-gratification also because they have a unique flavor on your tongue. At first they were almost acridic but with a hidden sweetness which was almost addictive creating a huge desire for more. The more postage stamps you lick, the more you want. A sloppy stamp just brings no joy. A stamp that is too dry will not reach its goal. Timing is also an issue. Not enough time spent with the postage stamp is like a big, unsatisfying tease to the envelop as the stamp is unlikely to hang around long while too much time could remove all the glue leaving a dry postage stamp also unable to reach its destination. Postage stamps are delicate and being too aggressive can ruin the stamp.

There are also tools for postage stamps and although more precise and often more effective than done by person, I find them impersonable and although appreciated by the postmaster the pleasure is more lopsided to the recipient. Alas, in this busy, electronic age I find myself with fewer opportunities to practice my skills. Perhaps I should pull out my stationary and write a letter.

From the mouths of babes

After removing her sleep diaper, Amy declares, "I'm just naked under my pants."
Ah! The profoundness! A true philosopher in the making.

Life as a Coder

There are not many times that I can talk about my work nor do I feel it is terribly appropriate to cross blog and work. I am one of those "anything computer" people. Over the years I have built computers, run networks, designed database, killed trees in the name of quality assurance, managed projects, managed people, danced on the bleeding edge, ridden the wave, and been blown up in dot bombs.

One of the positives about tech is that it moves so fast you are rarely bored; one of the negatives is it moves so fast you are rarely up to speed. For a variety of reasons easily looked up through Blingo, to make websites look right in most browser (IE, AOL-which really was IE, Netscape, Mozilla, Opera, and so on) tables were heavily used in the past. Imagine using an Excel spreadsheet to paint a picture. Now-a-days browsers have become more compliant to web standards so there is a push to create "tableless" designs since a <table> element for HTML was really intended to create a table (say, of data) rather than be used as a hack for laying out design a la paint by numbers.

A good developer will be aware of the evolving technologies and changing standards but due to high pressure deadlines, inadequate budgets, bad habits, over working, moonlighting, resistance to change, or whatever the case may be that developer may find himself doing great work but still using techniques of a time passed. If the learning curve is going to add 150% effort to a project and only give a return to the client that is only appreciated by academia and not the client's customer base then it does not make sense.

I have always tried to create websites that were cross-browser compatible (Netscape, IE, etc) and cross-platform (Mac and Windows...perhaps Linux/Unix et al) but I have not stuck with standards nor strived for artistic markup that produced compliant code. Instead I strove for well-documented code that was encapsulated, portable, extensible, and age-able. My work has always been documented within the code, and in external documents such as MS Word and Visio. A developer should easily be able to step into my code and maintain, continue or expand a project.

Typically an artist or a client provides the content and layout (in the form of a picture or MS Publisher document). My job is to use a markup language to present that content in such a way that the browser (IE, AOL, FireFox, Opera, etc) will render the content exactly as the original designer intended. This time around I decided to go for broke and make a site using current web standards that validates and uses a completely tableless design using CSS which in theory makes this site portable to a variety of devices such as telephones and means it can quickly, easily be styled to have a new look when the time comes.

I present you: Gano Café. Gano Café is an example of a static website using current standards. For an example of a database driven project using PHP see Werner Paddles and click "choose a paddle"

Working with standards has been an incredible pleasure! I now have little excuse to ever do anything less.

Job Well Done!

It's really cool when you start back on a project and are impressed with your own code.

Quick Survey

I was led to the survey by Boing Boing (of course..)

Looking for the best writing on the web?

I have to say some of the most entertaining, creative writing I can find on the web is at Sanity Adrift. His posts are spaced out as if each is being drafted, proofed, re-written, tossed out, pulled from the garbage, written again, edited and finally published against a relunctant deadline of "I must move on to another topic." The time between posts is rewarded with a post of several paragraphs from which you cannot divert your eyes. It's not lengthy in the sense that you want to skim to get to the end. At Sanity Adrift the writing is so well done that you want to read each word and sometimes twice. TV deserves to be published! I'll leave it to the curious to explore and figure out "TV." His bio is as much a pleasure to view as is his blog.

Some sanity returns to our government?

Drapes removed from Justice Department statue. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales makes a good choice!

The drapes [covering Spirit of Justice's one exposed breast], installed in 2002 at a cost of $8,000, allowed then-Attorney General John Ashcroft to speak in the Great Hall without fear of a breast showing up behind him in television or newspaper pictures. They also provoked jokes about and criticism of the deeply religious Ashcroft.

Alright! That's progress. Now how do we get the other one uncovered?

Ride the bus free today

An ORANGE ALERT is issued for Saturday, June 25, 2005. Ride a KAT bus fare-free and help to improve our air quality.

South Knox Bubba shows us why we should carpool, ride buses and take other steps for cleaner air.

"I got my first real six string..."

For those who can't get along with your band members this is for you.

What happens when you burn the flag?

Appalachistan has led us to The Hanging Stranger for an explanation of "What happens when you burn an American flag?"

Of Grasshoppers

Student: My body aches.
Master: Your mind says you ache.

Buuuahhhhhaummmmm

Sometimes white noise drives me nuts. As a child I could tell you from the opposite end of the house if the television was turned on even if the sound was all the way down while others would insist there was no noise. The hum of a computer monitor can be distracting enough to prohibit programming. At these times I like to put in some ear plugs dropping noise by 20db and effectively cutting out the white noise but still allowing you to hear.

I am programming and I hear a noise that I can't identify. I take out an ear plug to acknowledge an airplane. A few minutes later with the ear plugs in I hear what sounds like a Cessna single engine plane flying too low. The sound is coming through the baby monitor and getting louder. I can only assume an appliance is dying despite a childhood flashback so I run upstairs to seek out the noise before it wakes everyone in the house.

The childhood flashback was to being in right field during a t-ball game praying that some lefty hitter didn't smack the ball my way. I'd much rather hang out assuming my lack of ability than have the ball fly my way and prove my lack of ability. I was living in Kenner, Lousiana at the time. Lots of mosquitoes. During the game a skeeter eater would drive by, the game would pause as all the children would stare at the truck spouting off a wall of fog, the fog would approach and be welcomed by the crowd as we knew we'd have a few less bites that night, and the game would continue without so much as a thought toward what this horrid chemical might be doing to our lungs and tissues.

It didn't take long for me to realize that no appliance was dying and no airplane was crashing into the house. I stood on the porch for a few moments and watched the funny looking truck approach spouting off its spray of whatever is supposed to reduce the mosquitoe population. As it neared, the outdoor cat meowed as if to say, "Am I supposed to hold my breath?" and I slipped back inside with the clean air feeling slight remorse for the cat while not allowing the dog to go out into the fog but happy to know that there may be a few less blood suckers tomorrow.

Goodbye America

I said a long time ago that Heir Bush would try to stay in office forever. Now B.K. Delong of Brain Stream points out that Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland introduced a bill on February 17, 2005 to "remove the 22nd Amendment setting Presidential Term Limits."
Co-sponsors:

Rep Berman, Howard L. [CA-28] - 2/17/2005
Rep Pallone, Frank, Jr. [NJ-6] - 2/17/2005
Rep Sabo, Martin Olav [MN-5] - 2/17/2005
Rep Sensenbrenner, F. James, Jr. [WI-5] - 2/17/2005

Well, your fearless dictator is trying to strike yet another blow to the Constitution.

Who keeps voting for these morons?

Settling In

Time to hunker down for an all-nighter of programming. Sometimes I wonder if the trade-offs of homebased, self-employment are really worth it.

Do-over!

If there is one thing I could have changed about today, I would have been quite happy to not witness my cat toss its cookies.