techniQal support

How do I (Re)Kickstart My Blog

Daniel — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:20:20 +0000

If you are an avid reader of my blog , you are well aware of the fact that it has been ~6 months since I have posted anything here. To the 3 of you , I apologize .(Hi Mom and Dad and anonymous reader from Turkey).
Seriously though. I am stuck. I know I need to stay on top of this for both professional and personal reasons(IE I enjoy it), but I just can’t find that one thing to push me over the edge. Maybe it’s time to rethink the scope of my blog? Maybe I should make it more personal? Or go the other way, and talk more about work and technology. The stock answer, is to always write about what you are passionate about. But I’m not sure that fits for me. I just need something to break me out of my slump.

What do you do to break the proverbial writers block? I appreciate any feedback.

Or, I guess I can continue to write “emo” posts whining about the fact that I don’t have anything to write about.
Hmmmmm… maybe that’s not such a bad idea.

Preloaders: 3D Loading Animations

Daniel — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:23:42 +0000

Every AJAX app has them. Whether they are necessary in every case(or ever) is debatable . Preloaders.net has them in 3d, 2d, and allows you to show the world that your app is making progress . Brevity aside, they have a decent selection of configurable loading animations that are easy to export to .gif . You can configure background and foreground color, as well as animation speed and size. Definitely a site worth bookmarking for the 1 or 2 times you would ever need it.

I previously posted about another similar site HERE .

Extending Firebug for Better Debugging

Daniel — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:13:31 +0000

One of the most useful tools ever created for debugging html/javascript/css is Firebug. If you are a web developer or web technical support person, you are doing yourself a disservice if you don’t use it. It provides the most complete suite of debugging tools available for Firefox . When combined with the tools of the “Web Developer” plugin by Chris Pederick, you can tackle just about any problem.

One of the great things about Firebug is the pluggable format that allows other developers to add features and functionality to firebug. I use two firebug addons that provide their own unique value, and have nice integration points within firebug.
The first, is YSLOW, by Yahoo. It analyzes your pages, and provides performance statistics as well as recommendations on how you can make your page/site load faster. I have been using YSLOW for about a year, and it is a great way to benchmark pages and page elements.

The newest addon that I am just now trying out is ~~Firescope~~ codeburner by Sitepoint. It provides context menus, and a search interface that provide you reference information on html elements, attributes and css properties. So you can tell within one panel whether the changes you are planning to make on a css element will work in IE7, or Firefox, or Opera. I am still getting used to integrating into my workflow, but thus far it seems like a great tool.

I suggest you try not only Firebug, but try extending the functionality and hence the value of an already great plugin, by installing these other addons.

Lijit WordPress Plugin Updates

Daniel — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 23:58:10 +0000

This is just a quick update to let folks know about some recent updates we’ve made to the Lijit WordPress Plugin. In the last 72 hours we pushed 2 fixes that addressed a few different bugs we had been running into with the plugin. These were bugs that tended to affect a very small number of publishers who had older versions of php, or certain conflicts with other javascript that may have been on the blog.
Hopefully these changes will make it easier for everyone with a wordpress blog to install Lijit. We apologize if you had to upgrade multiple times in the last few days.

If you have any questions or problems , we are always willing to help , just email us at support at lijit dot com.

Bespin Isn’t Just a Planet

Daniel — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 21:39:51 +0000

I have been negligent. This is my first post in nearly three months(been busy) . But I ran into Bespin(bespin.mozilla.com/) the other day, and the more I think about it , the more intriguing it seems. So intriguing that it actually drove me to write a quick post about it. Although it is only a “technical demo” in most respects, it hints at some really cool concepts.

Outside of the obvious perks of having a cloud based development environment/editor , the web based command line elements are what get me excited. They are incorporating components from Ubiquity that enable some similar functionality. All of this adds up to a compelling product that I could see myself using.

My largest complaint with any development environment tends to be portability. I have to export packages, and re-import them if I want to work on something from home, or if I want to code on my laptop. If they can get the version control , integration/export features, and UI solid, then I think this could replace my use of Aptana. If they do it well enough, I may even stop using vim to write code.

Regardless, I think this counts as one of the first cloud based apps that would increase my productivity. All I ask is that they support php and python and give me a simple way to test my code as I write it.

Obama Photoset

Daniel — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 15:35:44 +0000

I ran across this incredible flickr photoset this morning and had to share it. This is a great glimpse into the moments leading up to his acceptance speech on Tuesday night. I am struck by not only the transparency of the Obama campaign, but their clever use of social media in getting their message out. The American public has never had this kind of access to information, and I find it very refreshing.
On the flip side, I dread the future glut of “Social Media Political” consultants that are bound to start polluting our lifestreaming apps and social networks.

Twitter Snow Report is Back

Daniel — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 05:32:32 +0000

I finally got around to refactoring some code and got the twitter snow report updater back online. Follow it now at http://twitter.com/snowing to get daily updates on the snow and weather conditions at all of the Colorado ski resorts.

A new site is also in the works that will give you even more information about your favorite ski destinations.

So follow the twitter feed, and look forward to a great season. Copper Mountain is opening tomorrow morning, bringing the number of open resorts to three, so it’s time for a snow day.

Lijit Has a Day at the Track

Daniel — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 23:58:06 +0000

The hard working team at Lijit took the afternoon off today, and spent it racing around a Go-Kart track at breakneck speeds. It was a great chance for everyone to exercise their competitive spirit and have some fun . I came in last place in the “slightly faster folks” group. I have only myself to blame … and a few of my coworkers. They know who they are , and they will be dealt with swiftly.
Regardless of who won or who lost, I think we all had a good time. I got some decent photos, and a great video of Charlie winning the “Silver” group race. Check out the photo album, and video below. I now need to get some rest because going that fast wears you out!

Lijit at the Track

Blogging Deficit and Creative Downturn

Daniel — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 02:02:58 +0000

First off , I need a bailout. I need someone to write blog posts for me so my precious dollars aren’t wasted on web hosting. Seriously though, it has been a busy month, and I just haven’t had the time to write anything.

You can look forward to great stuff coming soon though. I am planning on re-writing all of my ski and snow related tools from the ground up, so keep an eye out for that. That means ski conditions rss feeds, maps, and twitter updates. I’m even considering doing a little ski conditions widget that you can throw on your own site. Let me know if you have any other ideas of cool stuff that I should do in that vein.

So in the absence of any other good content, I leave you with this beautiful image of my friend: Irish Whiskey. He has maintained me well over the last month.

Watch out for Palin America

Daniel — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 22:54:41 +0000

Is this who you want in charge of the free world? I am personally concerned about her obvious ties to the barbarian horde and the Hell’s Angels .