Calipso

Latitude, Longitude, Satellites, Oh My!

Sat, 24 Jan 2009 15:35:33 -0700

[Editor's Note: Wait that's me] I no longer work at NMSU, as such, I have no control over anything, I never really did before either, so things may change.

In a previous post I explained how I had worked on the NMSU Phonebook. Now I am going to talk about the map. The map started as a pet project between a couple co-workers and me. I loved building the map. I had a chance to learn more about Ajax and Javascript.

Let's walk through some features:

The first thing you will notice is the Loading Logo. This logo was supplied by ajaxload.info. After that, there is a map on the right and a navigation bar on the left. Starting with the search we steal some things from the phonebook, Ajax search; type in Astronomy. You will notice that the Astronomy Building comes up as well as the astronomy department. Clicking on either links redirect to their location on the map. The astronomy department is in the astronomy building (amazingly) so they redirect to the same place. In the info window that comes up you can see information about the department (if you clicked the department link) and the building. The permalink for the department takes you to the phonebook. The permalink for the building is intended to be put on other webpages. Clicking it will take you back to that building.

Then following the navigation down you see additional checkboxes for some categories. Want food? Clicking the checkbox does another Ajax search for food. Clicking on Bus Routes not only shows the route but also the stops.

One final feature: If you don't know what a building is, click on it on the map, and the info window will be happy to inform you.

Goodbye 2008, Hello 2009

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 04:30:46 -0700

2008 has been a lot of changes for me. I graduated, I started a real job, and moved out of state. Can 2009 bring as exciting changes as 2008? I hope so.

I bought a new computer. And I love it. I still have my laptop as my primary machine, but I got tired of crappy DVR boxes from Comcast and Cox. So I bought a Dell Studio Slim Desktop PC. I have it hooked up to my Samsung PN50A550 (which I also love). Its perfect as a Windows Media Center computer. It has HDMI outputs on the back, and looks really nice in a horizontal positions. (Please no wise-cracks.) I added a Hauppauge TV Tuner Card which works great as well.

Speaking of my laptop, I just realized I never finished the tale of my ordeal. They sent a tech out to my house to install a new motherboard, CPU, and video card. The heat-sink for the video card wasn't even screwed down. So it works a lot better after that work has been done. It still overheats though if I don't have it on my cooling pad. The graphics will start getting corrupted, then programs will start crashing, and then it will blue screen. *sigh*

Anyways, sometime soon I will finish updating the rest of the site to use Smarty more extensively. (I have already started and in the process left some of the site unusable, oops.)

C# is a fun language to play around with.

Goodnight

All in the Family: Pay the Twenty Dollars

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 04:29:28 -0700

My favorite scene from a very good TV Series. This video is similiar to 28 / 7 = 13.

The Story of the Picture

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 04:26:03 -0700

I have received more compliments on the following picture:

Well let's see the picture un-cropped:

Now you know the full story. It was the first time I was ever drunk, and up until this point, and hopefully forever, the last time. So maybe that's why I have received so many compliments. I don't have a lot of self-esteem when it comes to my appearance. Maybe I just needed a little relaxation, to gain an I don't care about my appearance attitude. Maybe I just needed that attitude so I can naturally express it. As we have learned earlier, "confidence is sexy too".

Every day my confidence in myself grows a little more. Don't get me wrong; I hate arrogance. So I try to remain humble. I guess I need to find a balance. I don't have a lack of confidence, I know it. There are certain ways that I come off and I don't mean to.

I am a dork
What does that mean? Well instead of following the most strict definition of the word (I am not a penis, or socially awkward). It means that I am not uptight or stuck-up. Instead of caring so much about what people think of me like I did in my past life, I figure if anyone has a problem with me, it's really their problem and not mine.
I like to laugh, and make people laugh
What does this mean? I make jokes at my own expense. I like to make people laugh, and a lot of times it's easier to make fun of myself. Another trait that has me coming off as having a lack of confidence. A lot of the jokes I make about myself I don't even believe. A certain person said to me once "It's easy to make jokes about you." Well, that doesn't mean jack shit. It doesn't make me less of a "Man" just because it is easy. It means I can laugh at myself, which makes me more of one in my opinion.
I have had a lifelong battle with acne
This is probably the biggest attribute to my self-esteem issues. I have self-esteem issues about my appearance. I know I'm funny, responsible, honest, loyal, dependable, and a nice guy. I don't think I'm physically attractive. The acne doesn't help. I have been to a dermatologist. I am going to go again soon. Acutane works, but it comes back when I stop taking it.
I am a nice guy
I have to be careful with this one. I don't want to be a push-over. That isn't sexy. If I care for someone though, then I want to make them the happiest person alive to the best I know how. A girl doesn't want a guy to always say "how high" to the "jump" command. Sometimes she wants to hear, "No". I understand that now. This is a hard one for me to not do.
I have issues approaching women
Do I have issues with women, talking to them, hanging out, or doing more? No. I have issues going up to a stranger, playing the stupid game, and asking them out. I would rather become friends with someone first. It takes some of the pressure off. The problem here is you enter the forbidden "friend zone" too easily. That sucks.
I am not desperate for a girlfriend
I think I come off as desperate but I really am not. I just know that I have a lot to offer someone out in the world. I want to love someone, and I want someone to love me. That isn't desperation, its just a natural part of life.

One thing that I have learned is a lot of girls like jerks and not nice guys. Is there something wrong with our society or what?

There is one person out there that I care so deeply for, but its over now. There is another person that I really like a lot, but the distance between us sucks (and I'm talking physical miles here.) I don't even know if I am anything more than just a friend to her. (Does it even matter? Does the distance have too strong a grip to make it not work? Not worth trying for?)

I have no idea what this post is about.

I'm curious, has this post made me come off as more or less confident? Does asking that very question make me come off as more or less confident?

The Website is Down

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 01:57:47 -0700

Warning: This video has strong language. It also has Nerdy/Geeky language, so watch at your own risk.

Changes

Sun, 04 May 2008 04:47:11 -0700

I haven't written much lately because I have been so busy. I am graduating this May from college. Have a new job and will be moving to Phoenix, AZ. Its a different world for me out here. Big. Anyways, I need to leave, partly because of job growth and opportunity and partly because of a girl. She didn't have the same feelings I ~~had~~ have for her. (As you can see, I'm not over her yet.) Anyways, too much here reminds me of her. I need to meet someone. I'm hoping that there is more opportunity for that over in Phoenix. If only I could get over my own shyness. Confidence is sexy too (her words). Apparently I don't have enough, even though if I was given a chance to prove that I was...but I digress. I miss her, and I need to stop missing her. I'm lonely and I need to stop being lonely. I'm empty and I need to stop being empty. I need to meet someone.

6/18/08 Update: To clear up some confusion I have generated. I did not leave because of her, it just made my decision to leave a little easier.

Microsoft's Burden

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 18:04:31 -0700

People need to give Microsoft a little more credit. Does any other company face the burdens of their success like they do?

I have worked on a lot of software in the past 20+ years in the software business but I must say that nothing compares to working on Windows. My friends and associates outside windows often ask what I mean by that, and I have a hard time explaining. It isn't just that Windows is a huge software project with a jillion lines of code and dozens of languages. Windows has really gone beyond software - it is a kind of ecosystem with dozens of different interests, concerns, and agendas all interacting with one another.

Since that probably is a bit too abstract, I thought I would talk about one specific issue that we dealt with after the Beta went out the door. Hopefully you will find this an interesting glimpse into how a day in Windows is not like anything else out there.

Interesting read: The UI design minefield - er... flower field??

Holophonic Sound - The Best Example Yet

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 03:13:11 -0700

You absolutely must hear this, and you absolutely must use headphones.

Other examples.

Source: Music special: Five great auditory illusions

Gateway Hates Me - Why?

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 03:58:20 -0700

Following this ordeal with Gateway I sent my computer back again. Guess what they did this time. Not only did they not fix the problem, by reformatting it, the DVD drive now doesn't work. It worked fine when I sent it in. Essentially my computer came back in worse condition than it was sent. Sweet.

Javascript, Ajax, PHP, MySQL, Web 2.0, Oh My!

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 17:04:31 -0700

[Editor's Note: Wait that's me] I no longer work at NMSU, as such, I have no control over anything, I never really did before either, so things may change.

I have worked on the NMSU Phonebook. The Phonebook has three sections to it, and each section offers something that I have yet to see at any other university.

First is the person lookup page. Clicking on the A (which is all last names beginning with A) brings up a list of people. First, this offers the ability to use it as a directory, just like any phonebook. You can do searches as well. The information is presented in a pleasant manner with nice colors and in a zebra table so the names are easily distinguished from one another. But the one unique feature that I have not seen at other universities is the Rolodex. You can at a glance see the person's name, email address (if on campus, otherwise an email form), and their phone number. Now, with most traditional phonebooks you click on the person's name which takes you to a new page to learn more information about that person. That's so 1995. With the help of Rico we can accomplish this in a much nicer way without displaying a whole new page. Click on a person's name and it unfolds to show more information, including work and/or personal information. It looks like a business card. Now, how do we get this information into Outlook or other email program. The old way is typing in the details to save a new contact, the new way is by clicking on the icon to download the person's vCard. Now the information is automagically added to your email program.

The second section is the department lookup list. This is where we use AJAX. You can do a search for the departments in a traditional way, but doing an AJAX call is so much faster. It might be a little overkill, but the speed is just awesome. ~~It also includes links to an Google Maps implementation of campus that I and my co-workers worked on~~ (future post).

Finally, we have the hierarchy page. I have not even seen this page at any other university. I think it is totally cool. It is basically a hierarchy of departments. So you know who is on the food chain.

Of course all of these link together. Click on a person in the hierarchy and it takes you to the person lookup. Click on a department on the person lookup or department lookup page and it takes you to that department in the hierarchy. In my opinion, very cool.

Gateway Gave Me the Finger

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 21:04:49 -0700

Well, hot on the heals of getting screwed over by Creative, I now got screwed over by Gateway. You may remember that I had to send my laptop in for repair.

The reason I sent it in was because there was a gap between the plastic and the LCD screen that was shipped from the factory like that. Dust gets in there and behind the screen. The second and more important reason was because it would constantly crash and I would get strange graphic corruption on the screen.

Well, I finally received it yesterday and I am extremely disappointed in them. They didn't fix the screen and all they did was reformat the drive and put Windows XP Tablet Edition on it, like it came from the factory. The computer was labeled as Vista Compatible and I was reassured that Vista would work on it without problems. To make sure that it isn't software I reformatted the drive and installed Vista. While I was in the Vista set-up screen I noticed several pixels flickering on and off on the screen. It didn't do that the first time I installed Vista. After it was installed the Windows Sidebar started flickering and when I went to connect to my wireless network the entire screen went to a black and white pattern and the computer locked up. This was before I installed any software or anything, it was just a fresh install of Vista.

I'm sending it back, again, maybe this time they will fix it.

Creative Gave Me the Finger

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 02:42:50 -0700

I wrote Creative regarding their horrible Vista support for my Creative Labs PCMCIA Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook card.

I purchased a Creative Audigy 2 ZS Notebook card. I purchased it for a Windows Vista laptop. The information displayed on the creative website said this would be compatible with Vista. However, the support is terrible. The last driver released for this card was March 16, 2007. That is totally unacceptable. When will this card's drivers be updated to be more compatible with Vista. You are starting to lose a loyal Creative Customer.

The card causes blue screens. Also, in Vista's Control Panel, there is an option to hear the output out of all 5.1 speakers. I only hear output out of the front two. The drivers just do not play well with Vista.

Their response:

Dear Curtis

Thank you for contacting Creative email support. I appreciate the opportunity to help you.

Regarding your last email. We are not aware a new update for this product will be released. They only release if one is need. We have modems that have not been updated for several years. Until what is listed online it obsolete and I new one is needed there probably will not be anymore. Also remember that ANY Email Creative advisors are not forewarned or told about future releases. When they hit the Creative Web page they are ready.

I apologize for any inconvenience this issue may have caused you.

Here is a link to the Creative savings center.

http://us.creative.com/shop/

Thank you for choosing Creative!

The bad grammer is theirs. Basically I was just told to buy a newer product. Goodbye creative. Anyone try Sondigo's Callisto Home Theatre Adapter?

No Computer. Yes Phone.

Sat, 29 Dec 2007 20:31:36 -0700

I have to send my computer in to the manufacturer for repair. Bummer.

However, I bought myself a Smartphone. (Technically a Pocket PC, but I like the term Smartphone better.) I love this thing. It is an HTC Touch. I bought the CDMA Version since Sprint is my carrier.

I love this phone. I don't know how I ever got around without it. Email, IM, the Web, its all there. I have also been loading it down with games so I can entertain myself during boring times like in waiting areas or driving.

Next semester I have only one class to take and then I will graduate with my Computer Science degree. Yay! So hopefully it will be pretty chill.

Here Comes Another Bubble

Fri, 07 Dec 2007 04:40:30 -0700

This is all about Web 2.0.

Christmas Lights Festival Spectacular Light Show Extraordinaire

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 21:06:17 -0700

I am posting two Christmas Light Displays this year, to go along with this previous posting.

Somebody has too much free time

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 03:06:30 -0700

Halo: The Future is Now

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 01:31:17 -0700

Amazing Shadow Puppets

Sat, 22 Sep 2007 01:44:55 -0700

Denied

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 19:18:55 -0700

I was denied yesterday. There I was walking down the hall in my office building. I paused in front of the Vending Machine. There was a Big Texas Cinnamon Roll. It was in such a precarious situation. I would of received two for the price of one. It was barely hanging on. They were calling to me, "Curtis...Curtis...eat us..."

I pulled out my wallet, one dollar. Nice. I stuck it in, it gave it back to me. Denied. I stuck it in again, it gave it back to me. Denied. Shoot. Reached for some pocket change, I had none. Denied. So I found someone to donate some change to the cause. I would get two, I can split it. Put the coin in, nothing. It didn't drop through all the way. Put another in, nothing. Darn. I put the final quarter in, maybe it will knock them loose, it didn't. It ate all the quarters. Denied. Thats when I noticed the return change button was stuck. Thats why my dollar was getting rejected. The quarters were long gone, but I still have my dollar. I put it in, it took it. Sweet. F-8. "Please make another selection." Denied again.

Strange Medical Conditions

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 05:18:29 -0700

I had a dream last night.

I was at this lady's house along with my brother and some other people I don't know. We were going to see a very sick girl. I didn't know her. She had an extremely rare disease. I'm not sure of the symptoms but she was very sensitive to outside contaminants. So we decided to go in and see her.

We were given a mask and a thermometer by her mother. The thermometer was promptly stuck in my arm. What better way to get someone's temperature than stick it inside their flesh? If the temperature rose above a certain point, we were required to vacate her room immediately. We were put into some sort of people move. While we were preparing to enter her room, we were given an information sheet. Her mom stole it from another person who also had a rare disorder. I guess she thought it was applicable here as well. It said something like this:

Bart has a very rare condition. To look upon him is not for the faint of heart. To say that he is grotesque is an understatement. Please remember that he is under extreme pain and has been that way for most of his life. He is neither a person nor many persons. His body parts come from others. In essence, he is a living modern day Frankenstein. This keeps him alive. He is fragile. Do NOT touch him. Do NOT get within 5 meters of him. Do NOT talk loudly. Do NOT be alarmed if he screams, cries, and moves in a jerky fashion. Do NOT be alarmed by the room. It can be alarming to see the numerous medical devices surround him. It is a clean and sterile environment. It is big. It is sparsely populated. Do NOT get in the way of his doctors and nurses. Do NOT cough or sneeze within a 30-meter radius of him. Do love him.

The girl we were going to see does not have this same condition. We can see the room from a distance. There is a window. It's bright around her bed. All that can be seen is her bed and a few medical monitoring devices. She is sitting up in her bed. I can barely make it out though, it is too far away. I do know that the room is huge, about the size of a regular house.

We sit in some sort of golf cart like contraption. It takes us through several sealed doors until we finally meet her.

She is not Frankenstein. She does not look grotesque. In fact, she appears to be a normal girl. Well, the way a normal girl would look like being in a hospital all her life. She looked to be about in her late twenties. Her hair was frazzled. She was friendly. Didn't appear to be in pain. I didn't know what was wrong with her. All I knew is that she was trapped in this room. She could not leave. Not until they found a cure.

We were talking. What about is not important. She started to walk away and she collapsed onto the floor. Out of nowhere a half dozen nurses and doctors came to her. They lifted her into her bed and proceeded to work on her. When this happened we started traveling back to our starting point. We were never allowed to leave our vehicle. Apparently this sort of thing happened all the time to her.

Demetri Martin - "The Jokes With Guitar"

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 02:13:24 -0700

Strong Language, but funny.

Average Background Color

Wed, 22 Aug 2007 04:53:29 -0700

Click on a wallpaper image and a new PHP script will calculate the average color of the image and set it as the background color. It's a neat effect I think. Check out Around the Bend and Gateway as an example. Thanks to Jeremy Parker for the code.

Top Gear: Killing a Toyota

Wed, 22 Aug 2007 03:14:45 -0700

Just how tough is this truck?

Double click on each video to watch it.

Things that Make No Sense, Until They Do

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 18:36:20 -0700

I was enabling VCard downloads on the NMSU phonebook when I noticed that it wasn't working in IE. "Internet Explorer was not able to open this Internet site. The requested site is either unavailable or cannot be found. Please try again later." Of course it worked fine in FF, Opera, Safari, Camino, and just about any other browser available.

Well thats what you get for not testing on all browser you say? Actually it worked fine in IE on our development server. Same code two different boxes. It was driving me nuts, what could be the problem? Is it something to do with the headers that the page is sending? Using FF and the FireBug extension I ruled out that possibility. Both servers were sending identical headers. The only difference is the producation server had SSL while the development did not.

It didn't make sense.

Then, thanks to Google, I stumbled upon the answer:

In order for Internet Explorer to open documents in Office (or any out-of-process, ActiveX document server), Internet Explorer must save the file to the local cache directory and ask the associated application to load the file by using IPersistFile::Load. If the file is not stored to disk, this operation fails.

When Internet Explorer communicates with a secure Web site through SSL, Internet Explorer enforces any no-cache request. If the header or headers are present, Internet Explorer does not cache the file. Consequently, Office cannot open the file.

Oh, that makes sense.

When Outlook tried to open the VCard file, it couldn't find it because it was not stored on the disk.

Bad Computer Day

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 20:55:28 -0700

Has anybody ever had days like this? I have.

Google Search Update

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 01:59:39 -0700

I have updated the search results pages to be my branding (a part of my site). Also, I have removed the contextual Amazon links.

One of these days I will look into doing the Google AJAX search, but I ran into two problems: 1) The nav bar is too narrow to hold it so I would have to make it wider. 2) I don't feel like figuring out how to style it right now. I really like Google's APIs though. I have been messing with the Google Maps API for quite some time now, its fun to play with.

Program, Link, Quotes

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 21:46:41 -0700

I added a Program, a Link, and 12 more random quotes.

There are now 1,513 quotes that randomly appear on the top of the site.

28 / 7 = 13

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 16:27:12 -0700

Well, if you don't believe me look at the following video:

I Get No Spam

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 05:34:06 -0700

I wish!

For those who don't know what I am talking about check out John C. Dvorak. I've never used this service. It only works for email service and has nothing to do with my site so why am I talking about it? I don't know.

Anyways, I updated the Anti-Spam page a little bit. Lots of useful tools and information there.

Blog Moved !!!

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 04:24:02 -0700

I finally moved the blog from blogger to my own custom software. I love blogger, but it was time to leave. I now have full control over the blog and can do whatever I want to it. Yay!

Now to get the site back to XHTML 1.1 Compliance.