Ma Petite Chouchou

Starcraft 2

noreply@blogger.com (mpcc) — Sun, 27 May 2007 01:22:00 +0000

OMG http://www.starcraft2.com/ it's time to dust off my original and start playing again!

October perhaps?

UPDATE: It's been awhile but almost 2009 and still nothing? Holding off till the next year.. must we?

oh my

noreply@blogger.com (mpcc) — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 21:28:00 +0000

it's been forever! I realized I've had a blog in one form or another since 2004! And I'm still the same, can't seem to keep up with it all the time. Basically not much has changed. I graduate in 3 weeks! I need a job.

Right now I'm checking out 53 CSS tutorials anyone can do , the French version of the office: le bureau , and dress hunting for my friends wedding. I'm partial to this one. I love de.lic.us new addon for firefox. I think I'm going to port over this blog to my own wordpress one. Blogger hasn't changed and still sucks1

How to explain programming to a non programmer?

noreply@blogger.com (mpcc) — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 03:58:00 +0000

A friend of mine asked me a strange question the other day. First a little background on her. She just graduated in environmental science and is currently working on models in Arc View. She runs these models and has to figure out how to work them. She asked me if I could recommend something on the basics of programming. Nothing in depth just enough so she could understand the models but she doesn't need to actually create them. Anyone have good resources, sites, or books you could recommend? She has no experience with computers other than your everyday use but I like to think I may have rubbed off on her after living together for 2 years.

Here are the one's I've found so far:
I think this one is the best: How to Design Programs: An Introduction to Computing and Programming

What is Programming?
BASICS OF PROGRAMMING
Software Engineering for Internet Applications

Graduation plans

noreply@blogger.com (mpcc) — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 05:15:00 +0000

I don't really have these yet. I'm not sure what I want to do. Thank god I have till May. I know for certain I don't want a cubicle job. I did that this summer and, if I haven't said it enough, I don't have the attention span for cubicles. I need to tell the company that but not entirely sure how to. My parents have offered to let me stay with them while I'm looking this summer instead of spending next semester doing that. Just knowing that they're ok with that helps stress-wise. I mean that was probably the most stressful thing for my roommates last year. I also have plenty of couches I can crash on if need be, and living with my parents becomes too much (though by then I should just find a job).

As far as locations go I'm looking for a large city. I plan on looking at Chicago, Seattle/Portland area, DC, and Atlanta. Other places are also a possibility but those are the cities I'm actively going to focus on. What I want to do? I don't know. I liked doing the design process this summer but I didn't like the fact that it was in JAVA and a desktop app. Seemed limiting and I just didn't like the outcome. I feel they should scrap it. I'll probably focus on Consulting Firms. Smaller and more diverse in what they offer sounds good.

Anyone want to offer me a job? I enjoy learning new things, have a great work ethic and great references. Send an email to mpchouchou@gmail.com with the subject Real Job Opportunity! ;)

Well that is my pathetic little plug for myself. I'm done.

gotAPI.com layout update

noreply@blogger.com (mpcc) — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 14:55:00 +0000

gotAPI.com is a great site for programming references. It has recently updated its layout for an easier way to search, including suggestions and they have added a few new references. I used this all summer. The old layout wasn't bad just looked dated. This new one looks fresh and simple. It includes web design languages: html, css, actionscript, and other languages such as ruby on rails, java, c++, mysql and more.

Feeds and updating tags

noreply@blogger.com (mpcc) — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 20:40:00 +0000

I've been going through my old posts and adding tags. I just realized that it is republishing all the old posts to the feedburner feed. I'm going to probably turn off that off for a day so I can go through and finish all that. I've also been adding some of my older posts that I used to have on xanga and post dating them. Wasn't aware that those were going through too. Sorry about that because those are mostly personal. Blogger needs to add an option to make individual posts private.

Advertising

noreply@blogger.com (mpcc) — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 20:24:00 +0000

I've decieded I don't like cubical jobs. This summer I spent 8-9 hours a day in my cubicle working on only one project, mostly coding and documentation. I liked what I was doing just not the atmosphere. Since I didn't like that I'm looking for other means of an income for once I graduate. If you look over to my right hand side bar you'll find a new decal for the performancing advertising network. If you'd like to advertise here please click that link! Otherwise just keep coming back to check out my blog!

Vista on my Laptop

noreply@blogger.com (mpcc) — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 04:47:00 +0000

I was brave and decided to see how Vista went on my laptop. It works great. In a week or so I'll see if it's still as fast as it is right now. I'm hoping so, but XP was getting slow fast on me lately so we shall see. It was basically a really easy install. Didn't have to visit the dell site once.

The only problem I ran into was getting my wireless card to work. I never got my new Belkin (f5d8011) one to work. Couldn't find any generic drivers for it and the XP one's didn't work. (any ideas out there for me?) I have an older netgear (wg511T) finally worked after I used a hint off another forum that talked about a guy using generic Atheros drivers and those worked great. WPA does not work but I have internet. I like my Belkin better, it isn't falling apart but this will do till Belkin gets drivers out... hint hint.

I'm also trying out the Microsoft OneCareLive Package. I'm always looking for something nice, easy, and non expensive to be able to recommend to friends and family that need help. So far OneCare was really easy to install, comes with 180 day free trial and is surprisingly non intrusive.

Leo on Plein Ecran

noreply@blogger.com (mpcc) — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 22:12:00 +0000

Leo Laport and Kevin Rose are both on the French podcast Plein Ecran (full screen). I haven't watched all of it but, I think I'm going to watch it in French first and then English and see how I do. The link above has an English dubbed version or VO (version originale) and there is also a French Version. It looks like they have a lot of interesting stuff.

From the site "'Plein écran', the high-tech dedicated programm of the french news channel LCI".

You can read what Leo has to say about it at his Vox blog leoville. Just scroll down past the German article, unless you like German too.

Tidbits and Randomness

noreply@blogger.com (mpcc) — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 22:41:00 +0000

I have about 90 tabs open on my laptop in Firefox and another 60 open on my desktop. I have lots to share. I should just do like 100 posts in the next 2 days and I'd have like half that taken care of.

First, three handy little Firefox extensions I highly recommend: NoScript, Flashblock, and GTDgmail. All three work with the Firefox 2.0 beta 2 version and below. Flashblock has been a huge help with some memory management. I saw one person on digg.com saying that it fixed the "memory leak" problem (no I don't know why he used quotes cause it's a real problem for me) but it is helping keeping it's memory usage under 300 even with approx 90 tabs open. I'll eventually do an actual post on GTDGmail. It's a great way to organize even if you don't really follow all the GTD stuff.

YouTube acquisition by Google, WOW

noreply@blogger.com (mpcc) — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 04:20:00 +0000

Who would have thought. Google bought YouTube. Good buy for them. GoogleVideo is no where near as popular. I heard the news talking about YouTube and shows on TV have popped up following new stuff going on online; including viral videos of YouTube. It's good to know thought that: "Following the acquisition, YouTube will operate independently to preserve its successful brand and passionate community." I like the way DownloadSquad named them "GooTube overlords".

Still one huge WOW the rumors have been flying all weekend, everyone thought it was a unbelievable rumor. Go figure!

Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap

noreply@blogger.com (mpcc) — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 04:27:00 +0000

A great song and just seems to sum it all up right now.

Hide and Seek Lyrics

where are we?
what the hell is going on?
the dust has only just begun to fall
crop circles in the carpet
sinking, feeling

spin me 'round again
and rub my eyes,
this can't be happening
when busy streets a mess with people
would stop to hold their heads heavy

hide and seek
trains and sewing machines
all those years
they were here first

oily marks appear on walls
where pleasure moments hung before the take over,
the sweeping insensitivity of this still life

hide and seek
trains and sewing machines (you won't catch me around here)
blood and tears
they were here first

ooom what d'ya say,
emmm that you only meant well?
well of course you did
ooom what d'ya say,
emmm that's all for the best?
of course it is
emmm what d'ya say?
hmmm that it's just what we need
you decided this
mmmm what d'ya say?
hmmm what did she say?

ransom notes keep falling out your mouth
midsweet talk, newspaper word cut outs
speak no feeling
no, i don't believe you
you don't care a bit,
you don't care a bit

(hide and seek)
ransom notes keep falling out your mouth
midsweet talk, newspaper word cut outs

(hide and seek)
speak no feeling
no, I don't believe you
you don't care a bit,
you don't care a bit

(hide and seek)
oh no, you don't care a bit
oh no, you don't care a bit

(hide and seek)
oh no, you don't care a bit
you don't care a bit
you don't care a bit

Windows Vists RC2 and Office Beta 2 Technical Refresh

noreply@blogger.com (mpcc) — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 17:57:00 +0000

Yeah, it's been awhile. Anyway, the latest release of Vista, RC2 is available at Get Vista 32bit English and the Office Beta 2 Technical Refresh (2TR) is available too.

I already got the Office 2TR going. I like it. It lets you minimize the ribbon by double clicking on one of the menu names and the slash screen looks better. It may just be me but the program also seems to be loading faster. I'm downloading RC2 as we speak. I'm still hoping that it's more stable than the last one. I had a few problems during install and continuously in use if I install the programs I consider essential.

Found from Slashdot

iTunes vs Urge

noreply@blogger.com (mpcc) — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 18:45:00 +0000

Ok, so I can't actually compare them. I've still never used iTunes, never had an iPod and never wanted one. I love my iRiver clix. Anyway, this wasn't a bash Apple post I'm just saying I've tried out Urge and I like. Sure the music is DRM but duh so is iTunes. I haven't tried out the new program that supposedly rips it but I shall try and get back to you. I like it because it works with my mp3 player.

For $15 a month I can listen to any music and put anything on my mp3 player with out having to download it. I'm picky, I listen to some stuff constantly and will be listening to it for the next 5 years and other songs are one hit wonders for me. The only song that I like from that artist and I'll only listen to it for a few weeks and be over it.

I also like the radio feature Urge has. Their alternative selection is pretty good, they have pop, classical and even country if you must. Something for everyone. It is kind of annoying having to use WMP. I like the 11 beta much better than 10 but it still hangs on my computer from time to time. Though my computer just may need reformatted.

So I just felt like sharing. I highly recommend Urge. Great music selection and its easy and not Apple.

Test

noreply@blogger.com (mpcc) — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 04:47:00 +0000

Checking out the new Windows Live Writer (beta) WYSIWYG blog writer.

My cat:

Inserting picture works great. check out my new blog (unstarted) .... inserting links works wonderfully. This feels like cheating. It seems to be an extension of what publishing to blog using Office 2007 beta does. But much more centered around blogging. It even has it formatted exactly how my blogs posts look. Here is a screenshot as I'm writing it.

When I typed up a post for a wordpress blog I could see my cursor but with this blogger one I can't. I wonder if that is due to my theme, blogger or just a bug? Cool idea, especially if you do a lot of blogging offline since you can save them as drafts. You can also insert a map, only option is Windows Live Local but perhaps that will change?

All in all, as long as this post publishes I think I"ll use this for awhile. That has always been one of my biggest problems with blogger. Their WYSIWYG editor blows.

UPDATE: Ok, turns out there are different views.... weblayout can't see my cursor normal I can. The views are nice. You can see it in your blog, much faster than bloggers preview too, and you can see the html it is creating. Also wandered around the options and it lets you customize the html of images, feed items, snippets, and links as well as has the ability to have plugins.

Electronics Protection

noreply@blogger.com (mpcc) — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 04:13:00 +0000

I bought some screen protectors from Shieldzone.com. I will be using them on my new phone (RAZR V3m) and my iRiver. I read a review about this stuff from Techgurls. It looks pretty cool, apparently it's tough enough that even the army was originally using it.

I just ordered it so hopefully I'll get it sometime end of next week. More info to come...

Reading books

noreply@blogger.com (mpcc) — Sun, 30 Jul 2006 21:47:00 +0000

I'm currently reading 2 or 3 books, among other things. Two of them happen to be the same publisher O'Reilly... while the last one is SitePoint. Head Rush Ajax and Head First Design Patters and Build your own site the right way using XHTML and CSS So far I'd recommend all of these books. All three of them teach through example and none of the pages are complete boxes of text, you see how the code effects the page.

The book on XHTML and CSS is definitely for beginners, I skipped the first chapter and a half. It goes so far as assuming nothing, even that you know what a browser does. I almost put it down at that point but I kept with it. I taught myself CSS online just looking at what others had done and feel that to make sure I was staying within standards and all a basic book might be a good idea. And this book does what I want. The writing is entertaining and I can almost here a British dude narrating it! Though that's more to do with the fact that I heard about the book from a British podcaster but, that's later.

On to the Head Rush/First books. I like the way they are very graphical and example driven. You lean what you need as it is needed and each example involves more plus what you have used in the last chapter. I also think it's great for anyone who has problems with short attention span. There are little quizzes along the way and it's a very practical way of learning instead of the theoretical approach you might get in other books.

As you can see I'm on a webdev kick. I think it's really interesting and plan on applying what I"m learning to some forms and a site that I help that is currently all in asp. I think Ajax would be great for it and even help keep down user error.

I'm always open to other book recommendations, in pretty much anything.

A quarter century of MTV

noreply@blogger.com (mpcc) — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 01:35:00 +0000

I'm 22 and I grew up with MTV. It started when my parent's were 18 and they watched it well into my early pre-teens. I remember watching Real World with my dad (mom didn't know), Singled Out, cleaning to the music on weekends (yep, they played music videos regularly). At some point, right before puberty hit my mom decided, hmm maybe not a good idea letting me watch mtv so it was refused to me cold turkey, in the middle of a season. I did as all good children do, I snuck in my parents room and watched it on their tv while they were watching tv downstairs. I think they thought I was watching Disney, and my finger was on the last channel button so when they came up stairs, guess what I was watching. Parental controls were on of course. They didn't find out till I was about 17 that I've always know the code. It's the same as our house security code and that was the first one I tried.

I can't say I watch MTV much these days, but when I pull all nighters that's the channel I have on 'cause they play videos in the middle of the night. Real world is no longer believable and I don't care if your parents don't like your significant other or those bratty kids in Laguna Beach. MTV has moved on to the next generation... my sister loves watching it still, I guess I just grew up and the same will happen with the next group of teenyboppers.

Whether you think MTV is the devil or the best thing next to sliced bread you have to give them kudos for hanging on 25 yrs and probably will be around another 25yrs.

Happy birthday MTV.

New Template

noreply@blogger.com (mpcc) — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 04:08:00 +0000

I've got a new template from www.Isnaini.com. Obviously I need to customize it but, not doing that tonight. I'll do it tomorrow. Anyone have an opition on it?

Yahoo Groups and 10 week free AJAX course

noreply@blogger.com (mpcc) — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 02:30:00 +0000

I'm not a big fan of yahoo groups. Don't get me wrong, they had their time. But today with wikis and forums why deal with all that in an email?

There is a 10 week free AJAX course going on and originally the main form of communication was a yahoo group. With over 4000 people that's a hell of a lot of hello emails. So someone (many but this one was just faster in execution) in class got a great idea to start a wiki for the class and a forum (which I get to be a moderator in :)).

It may just be me but having to search through emails to find answers seams to be harder than just going to wiki to get info or asking a question on the forum. Even if you have gmail and searching your email is no big deal still. Why when we have wikis and forums at our disposal?

If you want to check out the class check out the teachers site above and the AJAXWorkshop wiki.

I'm not entirely sure why I'm blogging so much this weekend. Perhaps it's taking my mind off the demo I have to do of my summer project to 10 people to see if it would be useful for another project? Hmm maybe.

More Tubes

noreply@blogger.com (mpcc) — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 02:18:00 +0000

A whole new meaning to A Series of Tubes.

Found from BoingBoing

My Favorite Firefox extensions

noreply@blogger.com (mpcc) — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 01:32:00 +0000

These are the extensions that I install after a new install, although I think after Firefox 2 comes out I may not need all of these:

Google Browser Sync -- great for keeping my desktop and laptop browsers synced
Nightly Tester Tools -- makes older extensions compatible, perfect when new versions of FireFox come out
SessionSaver - sort of redundant with Google Browser Sync but useful none the less
Restart FireFox -- quick way to restart FireFox after loading a new extension
Adblock Filterset.G Updater -- good filterset and auto updater for adblock plus
Tab Mix Plus - good menu and options for tabs
CSSViewer - shows the css used on a page
Greasemonkey - some of the user scripts are useful
Adblock Plus - great ad blocker
Performancing - blogging software, including stats, and a WYSIWYG editor to publish to many types of blogs
ColorZilla - pin pointer allows you to find out the hex and RGB of a color on a site
SingleWindow - forces all external links to open as new tabs in one window
FasterFox -- various settings geared towards making FireFox run faster
Screen Grab! - great program that grabs the whole site, not just what is visible in the screen but also what is below the scroll

Also if you want to see if there is an extension for something you want to do check out I want a FireFox Extension to.... A cool site that has over 200+ extensions and explains the circumstances of why you'd use it.

toread

noreply@blogger.com (mpcc) — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 21:42:00 +0000

How do you mark those sites that you don't really have a category for or you want to go back to it reletively soon?

Right now I bookmark it with del.icio.us and tag it as toread along with any general tags I can gleam from the parts I have read. This works just fine with me and I think I'll stick to it even after checking out toread.cc.

The idea behind this site is to, using a bookmarklet, email a cached version of this page to your email, "bookmarking by email" as they put it, to read at your leisure. It's a good idea I suppose but personnaly I'd rather it didn't take up inbox space.

The company that does this looks like a japanesse company and possibly also have RSS Readers, but no english version I could see. I'd like this toread site better if you could send it to an RSS feed instead. But then it'd be another del.icio.us.

Spam....

noreply@blogger.com (mpcc) — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 17:26:00 +0000

For the last month I've been categorizing my spam by day of the week. The day I get it it goes into that label. I was curious on how much spam I really was getting and how the gmail filters worked.

So without further ado .... my stats (word used loosly):
Date: June 18 - July 22
Total: 335 spam mails
Avg. per week (5 weeks): ~67 emails per week
Avg. per day: 9.5 per day
Daily Totals for 5 weeks:
Sunday: 53
Monday: 55
Tuesday: 40
Wednesday: 45
Thursday: 58
Friday: 44
Saturday: 40

On average Gmail caught most of it. I might have gotten 1 or 2 in my inbox a week but that's it.

I remember why I did this. In a podcast from diggnation.com Alex talked about how gmails filters were horrible. My guess is his email address is to out there in the public. If he compared how many gmail is catching to what is getting through.

That's that take it for what it is. Now I'm going to go and delete my spam mail I've been hording for the last month.

Beer Recommendation.... Way off topic

noreply@blogger.com (mpcc) — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 03:08:00 +0000

This is very off topic for me, I usually don't talk about beer here but. It's such a good one! Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat is Leinenkugel's beer of the summer. It's very good. A little citricy and great with an orange. My family is from WI but if you live in the Midwest or atleast near WI you'd probably know the beer. Not sure how far reaching it is. I know you can get cans in WI, only bottles everywhere else.

And this very odd beer recommendation is over!