1/30/04
1/29/04
Community Review of the Snug Cove Village Plan
Luckily you can't see the duct tape in cyberspace. :-) Announcements, event calendar, discussion boards and resource upload added. On to the next project.
Luckily you can't see the duct tape in cyberspace. :-) Announcements, event calendar, discussion boards and resource upload added. On to the next project.
1/27/04
RipDigital: Convert your music CDs to a digital music library
Got more money than time but love your portable music?
Got more money than time but love your portable music?
1/25/04
The Morning News - The Non-Expert: IKEA
IKEA WALKTHROUGH v2.3.1
=============================================================
IKEA is a fully immersive, 3D environmental adventure that allows you to role-play the character of someone who gives a shit about home furnishings. In traversing IKEA, you will experience a meticulously detailed alternate reality filled with garish colors, clear-lacquered birch veneer, and a host of NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS (NPCs) with the glazed looks of the recently anesthetized.
=============================================================
OBJECTIVE
=============================================================
Your goal is to successfully traverse the five awesome worlds of IKEA before your patience runs out. On your first few tries this may seem like an impossible task, but with practice (and this IKEA Walkthrough!) you will soon be able to muster the sense of numb resignation necessary for victory.
See Link for more.....
IKEA WALKTHROUGH v2.3.1
=============================================================
IKEA is a fully immersive, 3D environmental adventure that allows you to role-play the character of someone who gives a shit about home furnishings. In traversing IKEA, you will experience a meticulously detailed alternate reality filled with garish colors, clear-lacquered birch veneer, and a host of NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS (NPCs) with the glazed looks of the recently anesthetized.
=============================================================
OBJECTIVE
=============================================================
Your goal is to successfully traverse the five awesome worlds of IKEA before your patience runs out. On your first few tries this may seem like an impossible task, but with practice (and this IKEA Walkthrough!) you will soon be able to muster the sense of numb resignation necessary for victory.
See Link for more.....
Slept almost 8 hours. I feel like a new man. :-)
So what do you do when your wife goes away with the baby. Spend more time on the computer of course. :-)
Spent some of today updating my browser with new extensions. An extension is a piece of code that lets your web browser do new tricks. All extensions are available at the mozilla extension room
For example: I have a mouse gestures extension installed. Right click - right -> move forward a page Right click - left -> Go back a page. Right click - up - open a new tab. Really speeds up the web browsing.
I then added an adblocker to go with the built in pop-up blocker. Adblock installs in your browser and then you edit its filter to eliminate the ads from your browsing experience. This is way easier than it sounds.
1. Click the install package for Adblocker 0.5d2.
2. Restart your browser.
3. Go to an add heavy site like www.canada.com
4. Look in the bottom left hand corner of your browser for the adblock link.
5. Click it.
6. It will pop up a list of blockable items.
7. Look for something like http;//ad.doubleclick.net/(long url here). Generally if it has ad in the URL you can block it.
8. Click the URL.
9. It appears in the bottom bar of the pop-up window you are looking at.
10. Edit the URL with a wildcard character '*'. For example: http://ad.doubleclick.net/*
11. Click Okay. Everything from that server is now blocked.
12. Your time on the web just got faster and more peaceful. Most of us return to the same sites again and again so this little extension pays off quickly in reduced visual clutter.
While on my way I then added an RSS reader to my browser. This means you can subscribe to syndicated feeds of sites you visit regularly and see their content without going to the site. Think of it as a personal news wire. There are several web based aggregators (referenced below.) This one brings it right to your desktop. You could add the feeds you need for to the aggregator and then set it as your home page. Everything you need when your browser opens.
I also have changed my blog so it is now syndicated. This is the link you need. http://exactlyandapproximately.blogspot.com/atom.xml. The aggregator I discuss below throws an error when you add the subscrition. Ignore it and click the view RSS feed buttom and everything will display just fine.
Check out the application here:
http://www.aggreg8.net/index.php. Kudos that it actually has a manual and decent documentation. Unusual in open source projects.
Once you have installed it in your browser paste this into your browser address bar.
chrome://aggreg8/content/aggreg8.xul
The application opens and you can add subscriptions. It is not documented but you must create a category before you add a feed and click on this category in the bottom window on the page prior to clicking add subscription. So to add my blog create a category, the paste in the URL ending in atom.xml above and click add.
To see what is available in the world of blogs go to www.bloglines.com or http://www.feedster.com/top100.php
So what do you do when your wife goes away with the baby. Spend more time on the computer of course. :-)
Spent some of today updating my browser with new extensions. An extension is a piece of code that lets your web browser do new tricks. All extensions are available at the mozilla extension room
For example: I have a mouse gestures extension installed. Right click - right -> move forward a page Right click - left -> Go back a page. Right click - up - open a new tab. Really speeds up the web browsing.
I then added an adblocker to go with the built in pop-up blocker. Adblock installs in your browser and then you edit its filter to eliminate the ads from your browsing experience. This is way easier than it sounds.
1. Click the install package for Adblocker 0.5d2.
2. Restart your browser.
3. Go to an add heavy site like www.canada.com
4. Look in the bottom left hand corner of your browser for the adblock link.
5. Click it.
6. It will pop up a list of blockable items.
7. Look for something like http;//ad.doubleclick.net/(long url here). Generally if it has ad in the URL you can block it.
8. Click the URL.
9. It appears in the bottom bar of the pop-up window you are looking at.
10. Edit the URL with a wildcard character '*'. For example: http://ad.doubleclick.net/*
11. Click Okay. Everything from that server is now blocked.
12. Your time on the web just got faster and more peaceful. Most of us return to the same sites again and again so this little extension pays off quickly in reduced visual clutter.
While on my way I then added an RSS reader to my browser. This means you can subscribe to syndicated feeds of sites you visit regularly and see their content without going to the site. Think of it as a personal news wire. There are several web based aggregators (referenced below.) This one brings it right to your desktop. You could add the feeds you need for to the aggregator and then set it as your home page. Everything you need when your browser opens.
I also have changed my blog so it is now syndicated. This is the link you need. http://exactlyandapproximately.blogspot.com/atom.xml. The aggregator I discuss below throws an error when you add the subscrition. Ignore it and click the view RSS feed buttom and everything will display just fine.
Check out the application here:
http://www.aggreg8.net/index.php. Kudos that it actually has a manual and decent documentation. Unusual in open source projects.
Once you have installed it in your browser paste this into your browser address bar.
chrome://aggreg8/content/aggreg8.xul
The application opens and you can add subscriptions. It is not documented but you must create a category before you add a feed and click on this category in the bottom window on the page prior to clicking add subscription. So to add my blog create a category, the paste in the URL ending in atom.xml above and click add.
To see what is available in the world of blogs go to www.bloglines.com or http://www.feedster.com/top100.php
Trial and Terror
During the next five months, the Supreme Court will issue a number of rulings that, cumulatively, define the reach of the president's constitutional role in times of war and national emergency.
During the next five months, the Supreme Court will issue a number of rulings that, cumulatively, define the reach of the president's constitutional role in times of war and national emergency.
1/23/04
Belinda Stronach on the Issues
One of the new contenders for the new Conservative Party of Canada. Beautiful website. General statements about policy. Certainly made things more interesting. Can an 'outsider' really win? Layton to the left, Martin to the centre-right and depending on the leader the conservative party fighting over the same ground as the liberals. Might get interesting in federal politics again.
One of the new contenders for the new Conservative Party of Canada. Beautiful website. General statements about policy. Certainly made things more interesting. Can an 'outsider' really win? Layton to the left, Martin to the centre-right and depending on the leader the conservative party fighting over the same ground as the liberals. Might get interesting in federal politics again.
1/21/04
1/20/04
A Poor Cousin of the Middle Class
By DAVID K. SHIPLER
aroline Payne embraces the ethics of America. She works hard and has no patience with those who don't. She has owned a house, pursued an education and deferred to the needs of her child. Yet she can barely pay her bills. Her earnings have hovered in a twilight between poverty and minimal comfort, usually between $8,000 and $12,000 a year.
She is the invisible American, unnoticed because she blends in. Like millions at the bottom of the labor force who contribute to the country's prosperity, Caroline's diligence is a camouflage. At the convenience store where she works, customers do not see that she struggles against destitution.
......
Sobering.
By DAVID K. SHIPLER
aroline Payne embraces the ethics of America. She works hard and has no patience with those who don't. She has owned a house, pursued an education and deferred to the needs of her child. Yet she can barely pay her bills. Her earnings have hovered in a twilight between poverty and minimal comfort, usually between $8,000 and $12,000 a year.
She is the invisible American, unnoticed because she blends in. Like millions at the bottom of the labor force who contribute to the country's prosperity, Caroline's diligence is a camouflage. At the convenience store where she works, customers do not see that she struggles against destitution.
......
Sobering.
1/19/04
Been working like mad building an online survey to assist with a Bowen island community engagement process. Check out the snug cove plan at http://www.bowenisland.info. Took a trip to Bowen first time Sunday to participate in the workshop. 125 people showed up for the meeting out of a population of 3700. Probably another couple 100 over the week in the other meetings. Amazing public participation.
Been tossing around career ideas from planning school, to law, to snowboard instructor. The last is appealing but not overly lucrative. Planning has some interesting possiblities with a project and a consulting company wrapped around the idea of the use of the internet in public participation and capacity building at the local government level. Could also be a Ph.D. I'd have one more degree than my sibling. Not that we're keeping score or anything. :-)
For those of you keeping score from abroad Marchand is engaged to be married. Pass the scotch. :-)
Been tossing around career ideas from planning school, to law, to snowboard instructor. The last is appealing but not overly lucrative. Planning has some interesting possiblities with a project and a consulting company wrapped around the idea of the use of the internet in public participation and capacity building at the local government level. Could also be a Ph.D. I'd have one more degree than my sibling. Not that we're keeping score or anything. :-)
For those of you keeping score from abroad Marchand is engaged to be married. Pass the scotch. :-)
Cows with guns
One of the best ways to waste 5 minutes I've seen in quite a while. Kudos to the little blue people at the smurftower for this link. Soundcard required. Work Safe.
http://www.shagrat.net/Html/cows.htm
One of the best ways to waste 5 minutes I've seen in quite a while. Kudos to the little blue people at the smurftower for this link. Soundcard required. Work Safe.
http://www.shagrat.net/Html/cows.htm
1/9/04
Cash!
Signed a contract with Natural Resources Canada today to do some web design/programming/community engagement work. Nice to be gainfully employed at a reasonable wage. Interesting how things change over time. I spent years doing political science and thought I'd be a policy wonk.
Today I spent time researching Open SSL, secure programming techniques at the macromedia website and then spent some time coding. Instead of peace order and good government my thoughts turn to...
(Brackets chopped off so code would display)
CFIF IsDefined("form.newItem")
Check the data for the required parameters. If invalid data is found end the process and notify the user.
Check title: Accept only letters, numbers .
cfset checkdata = ReFindNoCase("[^a-zA-Z0-9\., -]+","#form.title#")
cfif checkdata GT 0
cfset result = StructInsert(validationstructure,"Title","#checkdata#")
/cfif"
On the other hand have dual monitors to keep me happy. :-)
S.
Signed a contract with Natural Resources Canada today to do some web design/programming/community engagement work. Nice to be gainfully employed at a reasonable wage. Interesting how things change over time. I spent years doing political science and thought I'd be a policy wonk.
Today I spent time researching Open SSL, secure programming techniques at the macromedia website and then spent some time coding. Instead of peace order and good government my thoughts turn to...
(Brackets chopped off so code would display)
CFIF IsDefined("form.newItem")
Check the data for the required parameters. If invalid data is found end the process and notify the user.
Check title: Accept only letters, numbers .
cfset checkdata = ReFindNoCase("[^a-zA-Z0-9\., -]+","#form.title#")
cfif checkdata GT 0
cfset result = StructInsert(validationstructure,"Title","#checkdata#")
/cfif"
On the other hand have dual monitors to keep me happy. :-)
S.
1/8/04
Ten Steps for Cleaning Up Information Pollution (Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox): "
Information pollution? Sacrilege. I must have my information now.
Information pollution? Sacrilege. I must have my information now.
A Baker's Dozen of Holiday Classics and the Project Management Lessons They Teach
For example:
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Another tale of unauthorized resource appropriation.
Lessons Learned: Sooner or later, the resources have to go back to Whoville. And sooner or later the team members (Max) need a chance to ride, instead of pull, the sleigh.
For example:
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Another tale of unauthorized resource appropriation.
Lessons Learned: Sooner or later, the resources have to go back to Whoville. And sooner or later the team members (Max) need a chance to ride, instead of pull, the sleigh.
1/7/04
Wired News: Bush Grabs New Power for FBI
While the nation was distracted last month by images of Saddam Hussein's spider hole and dental exam, President George W. Bush quietly signed into law a new bill that gives the FBI increased surveillance powers and dramatically expands the reach of the USA Patriot Act.
The Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 grants the FBI unprecedented power to obtain records from financial institutions without requiring permission from a judge. Under the law, the FBI does not need to seek a court order to access such records, nor does it need to prove just cause.
Once you give up your freedoms life is so much easier.
While the nation was distracted last month by images of Saddam Hussein's spider hole and dental exam, President George W. Bush quietly signed into law a new bill that gives the FBI increased surveillance powers and dramatically expands the reach of the USA Patriot Act.
The Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 grants the FBI unprecedented power to obtain records from financial institutions without requiring permission from a judge. Under the law, the FBI does not need to seek a court order to access such records, nor does it need to prove just cause.
Once you give up your freedoms life is so much easier.
1/4/04
While we made it through the holdidays. Family came to town and then dashed back to the big smoke. They will be missed. The baby kept growing and got lots of presents. Her eyes have turned blue and she is now focusing and interacting with her environment. Everyday is new and exciting. The feedings in the middle of the night not quite as exciting. :-)
Lots of snow, for vancouver at least. There have been some beautiful moments of the winter light bathing the downtown vancouver towers with the snow covered coastal mountains in the background. The one day we leave the digital camera at home.
Was out a couple mornings in a row before everyone was up. The silence that snow brings is great to experience - even in the middle of a city.
Dropped by the downtown public library today to return a book. Still love that building years later. Inside, the essence of civil society. A library packed to the gills with people from all parts of the city. Public knowledge and public access. You won't see it on global television but it's still going on.
Signing off for today a link picked up through Slashdot.
What you can't say
(This essay is about heresy: how to think forbidden thoughts, and what to do with them. The latter was till recently something only a small elite had to think about. Now we all have to, because the Web has made us all publishers.)
Lots of snow, for vancouver at least. There have been some beautiful moments of the winter light bathing the downtown vancouver towers with the snow covered coastal mountains in the background. The one day we leave the digital camera at home.
Was out a couple mornings in a row before everyone was up. The silence that snow brings is great to experience - even in the middle of a city.
Dropped by the downtown public library today to return a book. Still love that building years later. Inside, the essence of civil society. A library packed to the gills with people from all parts of the city. Public knowledge and public access. You won't see it on global television but it's still going on.
Signing off for today a link picked up through Slashdot.
What you can't say
(This essay is about heresy: how to think forbidden thoughts, and what to do with them. The latter was till recently something only a small elite had to think about. Now we all have to, because the Web has made us all publishers.)
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