Program Witch Pages

Exploring Oklahoma History Update

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 12:52:09 GMT

I'm almost done with the new Exploring Oklahoma History web site. I have the majority of the front end of the site completed, and I'm currently working on the back end (editors and such). This is the long boring part of the rewrite, so it's going to take a few more weeks.

Be sure to watch our Google+ page for updates and teasers of the new site.

Thanks to everyone who sent in their suggestions.

Color Swatches

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 09:24:32 GMT

A list of CSS color swatches and classes I use for various projects.

* K2L *

BOKBlue
#75a3ed

BOKGreen
#9fbe4c

BOKOrange
#FB9D39

EOHBrown
#6b5039

EOHGreen
#1a541e

EOHSky
#9fc2de

brown
#9b4f19

bg-BOKBlue
#75a3ed

bg-BOKGreen
#9fbe4c

bg-BOKOrange
#FB9D39

bg-EOHBrown
#6b5039

bg-EOHGreen
#1a541e

bg-EOHSky
#9fc2de

bg-brown
#9b4f19

* TANGO *

LYellow
#fce94f

MYellow
#edd400

DYellow
#c4a000

LOrange
#fcaf3e

MOrange
#f57900

DOrange
#ce5c00

LBrown
#e9b96e

MBrown
#c17d11

DBrown
#8f5902

LGreen
#8ae234

MGreen
#73d216

DGreen
#4e9a06

LBlue
#729fcf

MBlue
#3465a4

DBlue
#204a87

LPlum
#ad7fa8

MPlum
#75507b

DPlum
#5c3566

LRed
#ef2929

MRed
#cc0000

DRed
#a40000

LGrey1
#eeeeec

MGrey1
#d3d7cf

DGrey1
#babdb6

LGrey2
#888a85

MGrey2
#555753

DGrey2
#2e3436

bg-LYellow
#fce94f

bg-MYellow
#edd400

bg-DYellow
#c4a000

bg-LOrange
#fcaf3e

bg-MOrange
#f57900

bg-DOrange
#ce5c00

bg-LBrown
#e9b96e

bg-MBrown
#c17d11

bg-DBrown
#8f5902

bg-LGreen
#8ae234

bg-MGreen
#73d216

bg-DGreen
#4e9a06

bg-LBlue
#729fcf

bg-MBlue
#3465a4

bg-DBlue
#204a87

bg-LPlum
#ad7fa8

bg-MPlum
#75507b

bg-DPlum
#5c3566

bg-LRed
#ef2929

bg-MRed
#cc0000

bg-DRed
#a40000

bg-LGrey1
#eeeeec

bg-MGrey1
#d3d7cf

bg-DGrey1
#babdb6

bg-LGrey2
#888a85

bg-MGrey2
#555753

bg-DGrey2
#2e3436

* POST-IT *

postit_yellow
#FCF0AD

postit_blue
#F0F8FF

postit_green
#eefcd2

postit_pink
#fcd2d2

* FLAT UI *

flat-turquoise
#1abc9c

flat-green-sea
#16a085

flat-emerland
#2ecc71

flat-nephritis
#27ae60

flat-peter-river
#3498db

flat-belize-hole
#2980b9

flat-amethyst
#9b59b6

flat-wisteria
#8e44ad

flat-wet-asphalt
#34495e

flat-midnight-blue
#2c3e50

flat-sun-flower
#f1c40f

flat-orange
#f39c12

flat-carrot
#e67e22

flat-pumpkin
#d35400

flat-alizarin
#e74c3c

flat-pomegranate
#c0392b

flat-clouds
#ecf0f1

flat-silver
#bdc3c7

flat-concrete
#95a5a6

flat-asbestos
#7f8c8d

flat-bg-turquoise
#1abc9c

flat-bg-green-sea
#16a085

flat-bg-emerland
#2ecc71

flat-bg-nephritis
#27ae60

flat-bg-peter-river
#3498db

flat-bg-belize-hole
#2980b9

lat-bg-amethyst
#9b59b6

lat-bg-wisteria
#8e44ad

flat-bg-wet-asphalt
#34495e

flat-bg-midnight-blue
#2c3e50

flat-bg-sun-flower
#f1c40f

flat-bg-orange
#f39c12

flat-bg-carrot
#e67e22

flat-bg-pumpkin
#d35400

flat-bg-alizarin
#e74c3c

flat-bg-pomegranate
#c0392b

flat-bg-clouds
#ecf0f1;

flat-bg-silver
#bdc3c7

flat-bg-concrete
#95a5a6

flat-bg-asbestos
#7f8c8d

Raining in my Backyard

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 10:27:44 GMT

Short Vine video of it raining in my backyard on May 29, 2013. vine.co/v/bYnenwJAOzb

Blog Oklahoma Podcast 91: Music Spectacular 9

Sun, 26 May 2013 18:00:29 GMT

Finally! Manged to get some time together to put out an episode. It's be a while, and boy am I out of practice. Ha! So while I'm relearning how to do this podcast thing, why don't you sit back and enjoy this special music episode. Welcome to Blog Oklahoma.

Blog Oklahoma Podcast 91: Music Spectacular 9

Old Tech Books In My Library: Visual FoxPro 5 for Dummies

Fri, 24 May 2013 14:25:47 GMT

Continuing my series of showing off some of the old technical books in my library, here's:

Visual FoxPro 5 for Dummies by Jim Keogh, 1997

You want to learn something in a hurry? Get a Dummies book. Back before the turn of the century I had a client that needed a modification to their FoxPro application. Not being familiar with Visual FoxPro I picked up this Dummies book, and was quickly coding away.

Back to Google Talk (again)

Thu, 23 May 2013 09:47:34 GMT

Looks like I'm back to using Google Talk again.

I gave Hangouts a try for the last few days, but it just will not work in our office environment.

Need IM not mini email.
Online status is too important. Need to know if contact is available.
Hangout has no sort or filter options.
Can't find anyone by scanning the list in Hangout, have to type in search box.
Stand alone Hangout requires Google Chrome for desktop use. (Not an option for some of my contacts)

Not long ago our office moved to Google Talk when Microsoft forced the move to Skype. Skype is a terrible IM client.

I'm happy Google Talk and various third party clients (trillian, pidgin, imo.im) still work since the launch of Hangouts.

However the direction Google is heading with Hangouts has me wondering if third party clients will still work later on.

Hopefully as Hangouts continues it's development we'll get those important IM features back.

Exploring Oklahoma History Update

Mon, 20 May 2013 13:05:16 GMT

I've started work on a new design for the Exploring Oklahoma History web site. There will be many changes, but much will stay the same, such as all the places database information.

Just some of what I hope to accomplish:

Cleaner minimal design (Keep it simple, readable)
Responsive layout (Make it viewable for desktop, tablets, and mobile devices)
Modernize database and backend (Stuff you’ll never see, but very important)
Simplify and improve navigation (Find things with a minimum of clicks)
Social network integration (Make things shareable and more connected)
Drop forum (Not being used, moved to Google+ Community)
Drop or consolidate unused sub-pages and connected sites. (TBD)
Improve access to our store fronts. (CafePress, Amazon, etc.)
Clean up the data. (This one will take the longest)
Preserve URL access (If you link to a place now, it will work later)

Please note: we're still not turning the historic places database into a wiki. We found early on there are just too many spammers and people with malicious intent to make it an open environment. We still take user submissions, but it’s reviewed before it’s added to our database.

Pinterest Button and Widget Builder

Thu, 16 May 2013 09:00:10 GMT

Add a Pinterest button or widget to your website.
business.pinterest.com/widget-builder

K. Latham

Old Tech Books In My Library: COBOL

Fri, 10 May 2013 10:00:41 GMT

Continuing my series of showing off some of the old technical books in my library, here's:

Structured Programming in COBOL by Robert R. Boettecher, 1987

In college I actually thought I'd be a COBOL programmer when I graduated. I took two courses in COBOL. Haven't used it since. Really dodged that one. Ha!

Unsubscribing from the Podcast Answer Man

Thu, 09 May 2013 16:51:12 GMT

I was going to write this long post on why I unsubscribed from the Podcast Answer Man podcast today, but I changed my mind. No, not about unsubscribing, that's done, but about the long explanation.

I still would encourage anyone who wants to learn about podcasting to listen to the early episodes of the Podcast Answer Man. You will learn something. Cliff Ravenscraft does a professional job in all of his podcasts, and when I was learning how to podcast I really appreciated his advice. Here's the link: podcastanswerman.com.

For more recent episodes hover, well that's for you to decide. For me? Here's where I was going to write that long explanation, but I'm not. There is a long list of little things that have accumulated over the last few months that just make it where I don't want to listen anymore. I'm not entertained, I'm not being informed, and I like Google+.

So this is it, I'm dropping your class Professor Ravenscraft. I wish you continued success in your future endeavors.

Refreshing the Blog Oklahoma Podcast Cover Art

Thu, 09 May 2013 15:39:38 GMT

Refreshing the Blog Oklahoma Podcast cover art a little bit today. Also getting it ready for the new iTunes Store 1400 x 1400 pixel cover art requirement. I realize the text on the microphone might be unreadable at smaller sizes, but I'm okay with that, it adds a "little" something.

PODCAST REWIND: Blog Oklahoma Podcast Music Spectacular Special

Old Tech Books In My Library: Using Clipper

Fri, 03 May 2013 10:59:40 GMT

Continuing my series of showing off some of the old technical books in my library, here's:

Using Clipper by W. Edward Tiley, 1993

Wow this copy is 20 years old this year. This is one of the first books I had to buy for the job. When I first started, I programmed entirely in Clipper. Clipper is a compiled language for dBase III. Early on I had to move from Nantucket Clipper Summer 87 to CA-Clipper 5.2. I still have to pull out the ol’ 5.2d compiler for some legacy software from time to time.

I <3 Obamacare bumper sticker

Thu, 02 May 2013 10:45:54 GMT

My new I <3 Obamacare bumper sticker arrived from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee yesterday.

http://www.dccc.org/pages/i-love-obamacare

Google Apps Calendar Share Problem

Thu, 02 May 2013 08:18:38 GMT

I had a problem getting a Google Apps calendar to share publicly. Google would only give the options to share as "See only free/busy (hide details)", and this didn't even work correctly. So I had to hit the Help Groups to find a solution.

To fix I had to got into the global calendar settings under the domain management dashboard.

"Outside [your domain] - set user ability for primary calendars" under Org tab

"Outside [your domain] - set user ability for secondary calendars" under General tab.

I set both to "Share all information, but outsiders cannot change calendars"

Now you get to wait. There was even a notice that it could take up to 24 hours for it to propagate. Luckily it took an hour for the change to work on my domain (only 6 accounts), and it finally gave me the option to "See all event details" under the individual calendar's settings "Share this calendar" tab.

Below you'll see a test calendar I shared from my own apps domain. You should see "My Event" under 5/2/2013.

I can understand Google's need to lock down the calendars for your domain, but what a real headache when you didn't know about these settings.

Old Tech Books In My Library: System Analysis and Design

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 09:18:26 GMT

Continuing my series of showing off some of the old technical books in my library, here's:

System Analysis and Design by Elias M. Awad, 1985

This was used in my System Analysis class in college. I think this was one of the most important classes I took. It taught me how to view and organize a project, from start to support.

If you're interested in software or web site development or how to manage any type of project, this is the kind of course you need.

I'll actually refer to this book from time to time when I'm stuck on what to do next in a project.

Yet another trip to Walmart

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:33:59 GMT

Just for the heck of it I've been taking a picture of our cart while waiting in line at the check out at our local Walmart. I've been using Instagram to publish this pictures.

Flickr Photo Set: Yet another trip to Walmart

Old Tech Books In My Library: Assembly Language for the PDP-11

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 12:58:40 GMT

Continuing my series of showing off some of the old technical books in my library, here's:

Assembly Language for the PDP-11 RT-ASX-UNIX by Charles Kapps and Robert L. Stafford, 1987

This was the text book for my Assembly Language class in college. I've referenced this book a couple of times supporting some legacy software early in my career, but luckily I don't have to program in assembly that often (if at all). Also if I'm not mistaken PDP-11s are becoming quite scarce. Ha!

Goodbye Facebook

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 14:13:14 GMT

I posted this on Facebook just a moment ago:

Not that I was really active here that much, but I'm done.

After reading some really stupid and insensitive remarks regarding recent tragedies in my news feed, I've decided Facebook is no longer the place for me. This was just one of many reasons, but it really made up my mind.

I'll be keeping my Facebook account active for immediate family, service, and business reasons, but I will no longer be actively liking, posting, or reading. If anything shows up in my feed, it's from a service that auto posted.

If you would like to stay connected with me, I'll be over on Google+ and Twitter.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/programwitch

Google+: http://programwitch.com/gplus

I hope you'll join me there.

-bye-

Old Tech Books In My Library: Fortran

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 13:32:13 GMT

I thought I'd start a series of post showing off some of the old technical books in my library.

First up:

ANSI FORTRAN 77 - J.W. Perry Cole, 1987 (use in class)
FORTRAN - Samuel L. Marateck, 1977 (used as reference)

These two books I used in a Fortran class back in college in the late 80s. I haven't used Fortran since.

Oklahoma Democrats Community

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 09:00:40 GMT

Oklahoma Democrats

A Google+ community for Oklahoma Democrats. A place where we can discuss the issues of the day and help move Oklahoma forward.

short url: http://bit.ly/gokdems