Damon Cook

Buddypress and Organic Groups

Damon — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 03:11:22 +0000

I presume that there are a few fellow academic technologists out there that are wondering: “How do I build a collaboration hub, a social-network, a portal for students or faculty to share their ideas, interests, and information without costing my institution an arm-and-leg?” Soon you’ll turn to open sourceware.

Wave Hype

admin — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 12:59:00 +0000

What is all this hooplah about Google Wave? I’ve seen the videos. I’ve seen dozens of people groveling for invitations, but what for?

I’m still trying to figure out why I needed a Google Voice account? I set it up, tested briefly, and found no use for it. I can see how the transcription feature might be nice, but until it actually transcribes properly it proves trivial.

Why do we need a new slightly-synchronous communication tool? My institution does not even use instant messaging. So why all the hype?

– Posted from my iPhone

I ♥ WordPress Updates

Damon — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 02:21:12 +0000

Another feature I enjoy about the WordPress platform is its easy updates. I just updated four different self-hosted WP sites that I maintain in an hour. The reason it took so long was that I was busy taking breaks in between clicking the update button by watching the Yanks win game 4 of ALCS. I also updated all of their plugins right from the admin dashboard. This is not something you can do in Drupal.

WordPress 1, Drupal 0

All a Flutter

Damon — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 03:01:41 +0000

Don’t ask me which site I came across this on, because my web meandering has taken on many paths at this point and I’m a bit sleepy. Freshout, the original creators of the Flutter plugin for WordPress have planted a seed. Being an equally passionate Drupal and WordPress developer I find it encouraging to see the phrase: “Flutter is CCK for WordPress.” Allelujah!

I had to see what it was all about so I instantly downloaded the plugin and started looking for documentation. It is scarce! Thanks to Devin at WordPressTheming.com for providing a few video tutorials on implementing Flutter for a design portfolio.

In the end I think that Flutter is a robust solution for CMS enhancements to WordPress, but I’m hoping the WordPress community will come up with something better. Perhaps Matt Mullenweg will collab with Freshout?

Pumpkin Alley

admin — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 15:43:30 +0000

I woke up with a craving for cider donuts again. Dragged the fiancé over to the local Sunnyside farm, and got a special treat. While we were waiting for the first batch of warm ones, we got to check out their greenhouse full of carved pumpkins. I snapped a few shots on my iPhone:

Napolean Dyn-o-latern

Hall of Pumpkins

Please don’t make me think?

Damon — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:38:17 +0000

This has always been my bible for web design. This morning I look at you in a new light.

Emergency Radio app

Damon — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 19:14:09 +0000

I just got back from a trip to Las Vegas. While we were in the area my girlfriend bought us tickets for a bus tour of Grand Canyon. It turned out to be a bit of a drag (too much bus driving and not enought sight-seeing), but that is neither here-nor-there. The highlight was when we were returning from the Grand Canyon and the bus got stuck in a 6-mile backup in the middle of the desert. At first nobody knew what was going on. The bus driver shut down the bus and was out walking amongst the eighteen-wheelers trying to get some details as to the hold up. I quickly sprung to action with my new iPhone’s Emergency Radio app to see if I could get a signal, and perhaps obtain some information regarding any accidents. It took me a bit to find the right channel, but even in the middle of the desert I chose the nearest location (60+miles away) and started to pick up some chatter. I gathered that there were two cars off the road and probably some fatalities. There was a helicopter on stand-by, and emergency services were on the scene. I felt like a cheap hero, but was reaffirmed of my affinity for these technological-trendy gadgets. I sat there gripping my headphones to my head in anticipation of the next broadcast, while periodically updating my neighbors of any new updates.

It turned out that there were some fatalities up ahead and when the traffic slowly snaked past the scene an hour-and-a-half later I said a little prayer for those that passed. Just another reminder that no matter how many gadgets you surround yourself with, your mortality is always there.

Sketch-a-day

Damon — Mon, 18 May 2009 23:29:43 +0000

I found a new appreciation for the Wacom Intuos tablet sitting at my desk, therefore I’ve endeavored to sit down and sketch something every day. I don’t know how long this will last and I’m certainly not claiming to be a talented artist, but as Andy Warhol said: “Art is what you can get away with.”

Switching to Gmail has never been easier

Damon — Mon, 18 May 2009 23:03:24 +0000

Google has just made it sooooo much easier for new users (and old) to transition any old (Yahoo!, Hotmail, Verizon, and many more) email accounts over to a simplified Gmail account. They recently announced a new option from within Gmail that allows users to import contacts and emails from other accounts. Also, there is an option to forward your emails from that same address to your Gmail for up to 30 days. So you can ease your way into bliss. However, it seems that they’re slowly rolling it out to the general public. Keep your eyes peeled for your Gmail’s Settings>>Accounts tab will soon read “Accounts and Import.”

Need a blog? – Drupal vs. WordPress

Damon — Fri, 15 May 2009 22:54:16 +0000

Ok, so my blog has been in a holding pattern, because I’ve been indecisively comparing Drupal and WordPress. I’ve been working enough with both lately that I should have known what the winner would be, but I hadn’t the foresight. Drupal is overkill. While it certainly offers a very robust set of tools for content management it stands in the way of a quick-and-dirty blog posting platform. Also, another deal breaker is the fact that there is no iPhone app for Drupal. However, WordPress’s iPhone app allows me to post from anywhere.