Flash Upload, HTTP 406 and Frustration
December 8, 2006
I know I'm supposed to pepper in some "normal people" posts here and there, but what can I say, right now we are on a nerd streak.
In the latest alpha of SlideShowPro Director, we are implementing a Flash based uploading architecture, mainly for upload progress and multiple file uploads. When the first build got out to a few testers, we immediately saw issues with the uploader silently failing.
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Widon't you just use Ruby?
September 22, 2006
I recently came across a post by Shaun Inman describing a term I had not heard before (at least with regard to typography): Widowing. Widowing is when a word flows to the next line only to end up all by its' lonesome. See Shaun's post on the matter for a spiffy visual aid and a PHP function (in the form of a Wordpress plugin) to give those widows some company.
We needed a function like this in a Rails project currently underway, so I cooked up a Ruby solution using Shaun's PHP as a guide. I chose to extend the String class, placing the file in the lib directory of my rails project and including it via the application controller.
# lib/string_utils.rb
class String
def widont()
space = self.rstrip.rindex(' ')
return self if space.nil?
self[0, space] + ' ' + self[space + 1, self.size]
end
end
Now we can use it on any HTML bound string when we need to prevent widowing.
>> a = "This is sort of a long string that might leave a widow."
>> a.widont()
=> "This is sort of a long string that might leave a widow."
I'm sure some Ruby whiz could pare that down to a single line, but it does the trick.
Disclaimer: I am well aware that this very post may contain widows, and can appreciate the irony.
Warning: This post is not idiot-proof
May 30, 2006
Why some bugs are left to run free in my software.
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Spring Cleaning
April 9, 2006
If I try my hardest, I might just be able to recall a day when I would sit down and fire up the old internets to check my email with great anticipation. I can almost hear the modem connection now (remember how high-tech that screeching noise used to sound?), followed by the "Welcome!" message from AOL, if I were so lucky to find a connection number that wasn't busy (remember how low-tech hearing the busy sound through your modem speaker was?). Then, with baited breath, I would wait. Wait for those three little words.
You've got mail.
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Customer Service: A Two Way Street
October 19, 2005
Selling software is fun. Especially when you have accomplished it all by yourself, mostly between the hours of one and three a.m., and never thought it would amount to much. An added bonus is it lines your pocket with a few extra bills, which comes in handy. But its not all rock star stuff.
Take customer support for instance...
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Tomorrow's Floppy?
October 11, 2005
Remember when you couldn't go anywhere without one of those 3.5", 1.44 MB floppies? Me too, I mean think of all the mileage you could get out of 1.44 MB (Not just 1, but 1.44). You could even buy these cool little plastic containers for your desk to hold all of them. As I was cleaning out an old box in my office, I ran across one of these containers full of disks from 5 years ago or so consisting of some pictures and old papers from school. Just as my curiosity peaked, I realized that none of the four computers in the house had a floppy drive that would read them. Talk about 15 minutes of fame...
So, five years from now, what media will be collecting dust in our old boxes? CDs, I am looking in your general direction, with your measly 700 MB of storage...
SSPAdmin, Brackets and New Material
March 14, 2005
Just a random update to the loyal few. Here is what is happening in my neck of the woods:
- SSPAdmin has passed 70 downloads in just 2 weeks, better than I could ever have imagined.
- My Brackets are filled out, are yours? More thoughts on that before the tourney starts...
- A new article over at Step Away from the Tables entitled Playing the Percentages.
That is all for now, check back Wednesday for my NCAA predictions!
SSPAdmin
February 26, 2005
Last week, Todd Dominey released the much anticipated SlideShowPro, a flash component for making dynamic, really slick slideshows. After purchase, I wanted to be able to control my photos a little more so I got to work developing a simple PHP/MySQL backend to work with SSP. The result: SSPAdmin.
For just $5 US, you can have an easy to install backend that works seamlessly with SlideShowPro. Visit the SSPAdmin Minisite for more info.
Get to Steppin'
February 25, 2005
After over a year or so of putting it off, Doy and I have finally gotten a project off the ground that we are pretty excited about. It's called Step Away from the Tables and is a web development/design blog targeted at people who do their designing/developing in a church setting. We're excited to be back writing about this stuff again, and I know that it will be good for me to separate some of my ultrageek posts from here, and make this more of a Tech/Sports/Stupid Things I Have Done kind of blog. Sound Good?
So it's out there (are you listening, Google...Spider I Say!) so feel free to check out Step Away from the Tables and my kickoff article, "Divine Inspiration?". Back to regular programming soon...
The New Telemarketers
November 29, 2004
I have always hated talking on the phone. There is just something awkward about it to me, and I always seem to forget the things I needed to say. That is why I love email. I can ponder over a note for a few minutes, read it a few times, make sure it gets my point across. Because of this, the ratio of emails I send and receive far exceeds that of phone calls. Some stats to back that up: Since last February, when I first started using the new PowerBook, I have received some 2000 emails, excluding junk and auto-generated stuff like Word of the Day. In that same period I have sent around 1000 emails, proving I do in fact have twice as many ears as mouths. Now, on to my point...
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Comment Spam: Oh How I Hate Thee
November 20, 2004
If you have cruised through the archives in the past week or so, it is likely you have seen a comment that didn't quite fit in. It probably contained a link to Viagra, an online casino, car insurance, or any other subject that good 'ol email spam refers to. Basically, these bots go around and automatically drop comments on blogs like this, increasing their ranking with Google. Why? The more links Google sees to your site, the more likely it is to come up in search results. I have finally put them to rest (for now). Here's how I did it...
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I Say iPhoto, You Say Picasa
October 4, 2004
When I step up on my little soapbox to tout the greatness of the Mac, one thing I point to is how well it handles all your digital media. This used to be an argument that applied to only a small percentage of decidedly geeky users, but now every Joe Shmoe has a camera, or worse a camera in his phone (don't get me started). The mac is great at handling photos with it's built in iPhoto application, however recently I have been cleaning up my old PC laptop for Nora to use, and with her being accustomed to scrolling through our pictures on my Powerbook, she was immediately disappointed at the lack of such a program for the Dell's Windoze platform. So I went Googlin, and boy did Google have an answer for me.
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The Flash Video Jukebox, XML Style
October 2, 2004
Recently a question was posted at ChurchMedia.net about a flash application that would allow the user to select from several videos within one interface. I recently completed a similar project over at ccsb.ca called the video vault, and provided the source file to the folks at CMN. I quickly realized two things...
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Why I Love the Internet (to be Followed Closely by Why I Hate It)
August 25, 2004
First, the love. I like many of you have been watching the Olympics off and on, and as always I am just about as interested in the commercials as I am in the Games themselves. I find I get a lot of design/creative inspiration while watching what others are doing with television production, particularly surrounding a big event like the Olympics.
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bradleyboy 4.5...or 5.0, I lost track
August 21, 2004
If you have been following the Web Process series, you know that I have been undergoing a makeover of bradleyboy.com. There are more articles to come, but I didn't want my business site to be down too long as I have been getting good referrals of late. So take a look, it is a little rough around the edges I am sure. I will be adding more to the portfolio in the coming weeks as well as other tweaks here and there. Feel free to let me know if something is off (likely) or something is spelled wrong (very likely).
UPDATE: After looking at this on Internet Explorer this morning, I pulled half my hair out. It is doing some weird stuff on the main page, but it will have to wait for Monday. Meanwhile, why not Browse Happy?
Web Process V coming Monday...
Web Process: Part IV
August 16, 2004
Ok, I gave you the rest of last week to digest the quick hitting Part I, Part II and Part III of the Web Design Process series. Now we get into geekier territory, as we ditch table-based design and lay out a clean, semantic XHTML document. Why? I'm glad you asked.
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Bye Bye Omnis, Times Have Passed You By....
August 11, 2004
I have moved servers. Omnis was great, but better things are now available. If you are seeing this message, everything has happened already. If you notice any quirks please let me know. Look for Part IV of the Web Process series come Monday.
Web Process: Part III
August 11, 2004
We got the ball rolling last Friday with the basics of hosting, domains and DNS. Yesterday we got to the heart of the matter by outlining the vision of the site. Finally, we can design. Note I said finally. The mistake I always used to make was jumping right into what the site should look like, without even thinking about what the site should accomplish. But we're past that now and we're ready to bring together a web composition.
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Web Process: Part II
August 10, 2004
This is the second installment (first one is here) on the development process of a web site. Part II is all about vision. What will the site be? Why is the site even there? What part of the content drives the site? And finally, what it should look like.
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Web Process: Part I
August 6, 2004
All 7 of you who regularly come by here will forgive me for not posting over the last week or so, I had a bit of a writer's block. Also, we are gearing up for a big move, bradleyboy.com and I. After some time at hosting provider Omnis, I am shifting bradleyboy.com et al (that means northoftheborder too..) to my Dreamhost Account to save me money and headaches, mostly the latter.
As I was doing this, and going through writer's block as well, I realized I get many questions to the effect of "What do you do anyway?". The ways of web development usually are reserved for the uber-geek, and it is usually in the interest of the geek for it to remain that way. After all there is nothing better than job security, right? Well here we go, part one of a series on the making of a web site from the very beginning in laymen's terms.
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DMB :: Music For the masses, as long as you use Windows...and IE
July 27, 2004
I wrote not long ago about my infatuation with the iTunes Music Store. Apple has now sold over 100 million songs through the service and upon opening the European version immediately became the market dominator throughout the continent. Everyone loves iTunes. Well almost. Who doesn't you ask? The Dave Matthews Band, my favorite act anywhere.
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Run, Don't Walk...
July 1, 2004
After my recent blazing of IE and Microsoft, you might be quick to skim over this, writing it off as another rant from a MacHead. Not so fast. Do you use online banking? Do you use Internet Explorer to do so? Do you like to send everything needed to access your bank account to a hacker? If not, you better read on.
Let's get right to it. This article from Business Week Online and this one from eWeek say it all. You are not safe handling online financial services with Internet Explorer. Hackers and makers of spyware can implant software on your machine to track your input when accessing online banking, and walla, they have full access to your money. Sound fun? I didn't think so.
UPDATE July 2: More ammo, now the Dept of Homeland Security is recommending you use another browser.
So what do you do? Well, get another browser. Now. There is a problem though, many online banking services require Internet Explorer, nothing else. If that is the case, I would shoot your bank a quick e-mail directing them to the above articles. Most provide an alternative, however, usually Netscape. Some will even work with the best browser out there for the PC, Firefox. Just check with your individual bank for their browser requirements. If you are on a Mac, you have already been through all this and are not susceptible to this bug. Nice isn't it? Who says being on a Mac is more expensive. At least my financial data is safe.
So if no other factor will make you change browsers, this one should. This is serious business now, run, don't walk, to a new browser. And who knows, you might just like it...
So random....
June 14, 2004
Is that light at the end of the tunnel? Or is it an oncoming train...
The wedding is approaching quickly and things are about to get real crazy. So I thought I should write before it gets too out of hand. The problem: No topic....
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Weekend Reading
June 5, 2004
A busy weekend ahead, T-minus two weeks to the wedding day and there is plenty goin' on around here. I did want to post on something that has been on my mind the latter half of the week. But first, a story to set it all up....
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When Will They Ever Learn...
May 25, 2004
In my work with the CCSB, I run into all kinds of people who use PowerPoint, some rather religiously (pardon the pun). Obviously I see the whole spectrum of quality in these presentations, depending on the user's ability and experience with the program. The rather shocking thing to me is how often I see old school clip art (circa 1992) creeping into today's presentations which, without such graphics, might look halfway decent design-wise.
Well, after taking the new Office 2004 for the Mac for a test drive, I know why these little buggers continue to plague us...
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northoftheborder :: Take 2
May 24, 2004
This has been in the hopper for some time now, I have really been wanting to redesign this sucker. When I first decided to blog, it was a typical "Brad" decision, take the fastest route possible to accomplish the task. What was left behind was a poorly laid out, hard to manipulate site that resembled a mullet. Looking good in the front, trouble in the back...
I wanted to retain the black and white feel, but add some more shades. I pulled a nice pic off of istockphoto (my favorite new resource) for the banner image and utilized inner shadows (since everyone seems to be using outer shadows these days) to give some depth. I decided to use Trebuchet MS for type, even with the recent outcry against it in the web community.
Next was to decide to use or not to use the new Movable Type 3.0. At first I balked, seeing the new pricing structure and limits on the free version made me run into the arms of other women (figuratively of course), mainly Wordpress and Textpattern. I spent quite a bit of time in both, but in the end just didn't click with either. Two really fine products though. At last I downloaded the new MT3 and I must say I'm pleased. Not a ton of new features, but the new administration interface alone is worth the upgrade.
So here it is, northoftheborder v2. New to the site are archives of all previous entries by both date and category and a new in-page commeting system. Enjoy....
Like It? Hate It? Indifferent?
iTunes Music Store: My First Twenty Bucks
May 20, 2004
I have seen the light...and it burns.
In the course of the evening last night I heard a song that made me say, "Hey, I wouldn't mind having that one in the vault." Later on, I opened up iTunes and in about 2 minutes the song was in my Library in the beautiful AAC digital format (Bye bye mp3...). Just for fun, I jumped over to my "Purchased Music" playlist to see how many songs I had forked over a buck for since the inception of the ITMS. The answer? Twenty. Twenty stinkin' songs since I started using the service back in February. Do you see the beauty of that? If you do, see ya next time. If not, read on...
Used to be, you headed out to Wal-mart to find the CD which housed that catchy hit everyone just loved on the radio. Then the buyer's remorse was palpable as you discovered that every one of the fourteen other songs on the disc belonged on a made for TV compilation disc with New Kids on the Block and Aaron Neville. The result: 1 song you really like, 14 songs you really don't and 20 bucks down the drain. Then came Napster...
Napster changed everything. Now you could find that one song and download it without a) paying for it and b) listening to those other 14 songs while trying not to be sick. A few problems though, one of them being insanely long download times. Also, the lossy, hissy mp3 files. And mainly, it was illegal. Try all the self-righteous arguments you want (believe me, they used to flow out of my word bucket too), but any way you turn it, you were stealing from someone.
Now we have swung back towards center. We can go online, buy 20 dollars worth of music and like every bit of it. 20 bucks, 20 songs I really want. Not to mention that they come in a near CD quality digital file, download in less than 30 seconds thanks to dedicated, always on servers and to boot it's all above board and legal. Not too shabby.
And now, some of the highlights of my first 20 purchases:
- The Last Resort - The Eagles
- 3 AM - Edwin McCain
- More than Words - Extreme
- Hallelujiah - Jeff Buckley
Et tu Bruté?
usa.tv
April 9, 2004
I was planning on knocking off a little early today (hey it is good friday) to catch some of the second round coverage of The Masters. I knew usa networks were doing the honors thursday and friday so I figured I would check from my desk what time coverage started. Logically, you would think that USA would take advantage of the new .tv domain, and therefore usa.tv would take me straight there.
Instead I found this, a page letting me know that usa.tv was available for only 100,000 bucks...per year! And that is only if you opt for the two year package...yikes...(For those of you wondering, a .com domain is about 15 dollars a year) No wonder USA networks chose usanetworks.com instead...
By the way, coverage starts at 4pm EST...
UPDATE: Upon closer inspection, some .tv domains are prorated depending on someone's ranking of how desirable they are. For instance, business.tv, news.tv or sports.tv would cost you 1,000,000 per year a piece. It doesn't seem to be working though, as they are all still available...
Not Quite Wireless
April 6, 2004
Recently when speaking with friends in the US, I have realized that the wireless craze hasn't quite hit the States as much as it has here in Canada. Upon moving to the apartment and setting up my office, none of my three computers connect to the internet using cables. I have my cable modem connected two rooms away, feeding a wireless router that spreads an encrypted network through the house. The three computers all have cards in them to connect to the internet and local network, and it is all very cool. Why? Well, let's say I need a change of venue or want to do some surfing at night before sleeping. No problem, I can grab my laptop and roam around the house without fear of losing my connection to the internet or being tethered by long ethernet cables. Ok, you really are a geek aren't you? Perhaps...
Wireless (or WiFi) is also a hit among coffee houses and other public hangouts. Hotspots are appearing everywhere, and many are free. Every major airport in Canada has free wireless internet floating through it, a nice touch when you travel once a month. Hey, I know most of this, why are you opining so much about it? I'm getting there...
The joy of wireless always seems to be cut short by the run back to an outlet to plug in before the battery runs dry. Take the airport for instance. Many people take advantage of the free wireless, but wouldn't you know it we are all hovered around a power outlet. Wireless my ankle... Can I get some cheese with that wine? Yea, but I will have to charge you extra.
I ran across a story this morning about Samsung's current development of portable fuel cells that could be utilized in cell phones, PDAs and laptops. The article speculates that such batteries could push laptop battery life to 10 hours. My reaction? Big flippin' deal. I don't need a battery that I would imagine costs a college fund and a half and lets me run for 10 hours, I need a battery to run a laptop for 10 weeks...10 months, something like that...not 10 hours. My cell phone will go for 10 hours, but I still have to remember to plug it in every night or I am up a creek the next day. Everything is becoming wireless...mice, keyboards, printers.. and yet we still are bound to the holes (obscure Seinfeld reference, aka the outlet).
It is not that we want to use our laptops for hours and hours on end. I was thrilled when my new laptop had a working battery life of around 4 hours without need of a recharge. I remember the first Calgary to Montreal flight I took and being excited because the battery would last almost as long as the flight. Well, I used it for a good hour before sleeping the rest of the flight away. So it is not the marathon use we want, it is the freedom to use it whenever, wherever we want and not have to be thinking about tucking it in at night next to an outlet. How cool would it be if our chargers sat in a drawer most of the year, only to be brought out once every six months for to juice our gadgets back up? We can dream....
There's a New Sheriff in Town
January 22, 2004
For around a year now, my home/office has hovered in a state of PC/Mac equilibrium, with my Mac G4 tower in the office, and my Dell laptop floating about. Well, the eternal struggle (ok maybe not eternal) took an unexpected turn when I came upon a brand spankin' new 15" Macintosh Powerbook. In one word, beautiful (see pic ->).
So now my poor Dell cowers in the corner, afraid of the two chrome bullies now ruling the roost. After some gentle coaxing, the trio are now talking and playing nicely together, and I must say productivity is up, as is solid sack time (aka sleep). To learn more about the best computers on the planet, visit Apple's website.
The Levels of Geekdom
December 10, 2003
Well, it is nice to be bumped back toward center every once in a while by people who are way geekier than I. Take Michigan State University graduate student Michael Shafer for instance. Ol' Mikey figured out (after years of research) that the largest known prime number is 6,320,430 digits long and would need 1,400 to 1,500 pages to write out. It is more than 2 million digits larger than the previous largest known prime number. Well, Duh. In a shocking development, Shafer and friends admitted the number had "no particular practical use".
Read the whole story here.
As If I Didn't Have Enough to Do
December 6, 2003
Well, I thought I would never give in. Not for me. Didn't have time. Well, the newest craze to hit the web since the Flash intro has enveloped me despite my greatest efforts. The Blog (short for weblog) is everywhere, allowing any pundit with a keyboard and a server to blab on about just about anything on his or her mind, assuming they ran it through that filter in the first place. Even the president has a blog. So why not me?
The purpose was really two-fold. First, my family is always on my case because I cannot seem to latch on to the e-mail ring that flies around to different members far and wide (especially when everything I do revolves around the internet). This will give both them and close friends a way to keep up with this ever wandering son in his days north of the border. Secondly, this will act as a sounding board for myself and others I know in this business to throw ideas, problems and solutions around. So come by, sift through the geeky stuff (or the family stuff; depending on who you are) and feel free to respond if something tickles your fancy.