javascript for all

dusting off the cobwebs

Hello there! Yes - serious cobwebage around here. (There is a 'web' pun in there somewhere, but we don't want to force it now, do we?)

In my quest for self-improvement I've started thinking about what I want to start doing better. I'm asking myself - what do I want to learn, as I head into the middle ages?

I've always been really bad at tinkering with mechanical things. I'm just not a very good fix-it-up kinda chappie. Some of this is not having the right baseline knowledge. But much of this comes from good old fashioned mental blocks. A kind of learned helplessness.

So I'm taking the horns by the bull. Or is it catching the tail by the tiger?



Pardon the digression, but really - who doesn't love a little Fraggle Rock in the middle of their epiphanies? As I was saying, I'm trying to fix my mechanical inadequacies. I've also become increasingly interested in bicycles lately (bicycles might just be replacing motorcycles as the symbol of the new urban midlife crisis, but that is a whole post in itself). Ah - bicycles! The simplest of machines - pure Newtonian physics at work. And sexy to boot.

So my new project is to get better at fixing bikes, working my way towards putting together my very own road bicycle. And hopefully, I'll learn a little about tools and grease and how mechanical things go together. Not shooting for genius level wizardry here - I'd be happy if I can simply achieve basic competence. And maybe I can start to have half a clue when my dearest beloved starts to throw down her handygrrrl skills.

the scenic route

This was a bag I had shipped from SF to Oakland. Fedex decided to ship it through San Leandro by way of Sacramento. The sad thing is that the company that makes the bag is all about zero-waste and even mails it to you in a reusable canvas mailer that you return to them upon delivery. Sigh!

rubbish

every time someone has a conversation about astrology, my instinct is to interject with a: this is a nonsensical conversation. this is inane and reductionist and insulting to generations of scientific progress.

but i don't. i smile and nod, and stop myself from being an ass. ah - the tragedy of enlightenment. but really - 2010 and we still believe in this bullshit?

1.0

Feeling re-inspired by v1.0. A lot of it is sophomoric and cringeworthy. But there are also several moments of total fucking genius. And there is some funny shit in there.

I think it was good for me to be prolific. The more I wrote, the better my stuff got. Or at least I managed to hit paydirt more often. Ya know, more darts = more chances to hit bullseye. Umm - WTF - a darts analogy? I think that might be a first.

analog

mark me down, mark me up

I've been recently introduced to Markdown. Markdown provides you with a simple syntax for creating text documentation that can be easily converted to HTML.

If you've ever used a wiki, it is pretty much the same principle. For example, headers are just underlined words. And bulleted lists can be created by simply using a bunch of asterisks. Like zis:


Title
=====
* item 1
* item 2
* item 3


What makes Markdown powerful is that the syntax is decoupled from a specific web service (such as a wiki). This means that you can write your docs in your favorite text editor (insert obligatory emacs vs. vi showdown reference), and convert it to HTML with a single command. The standardized format means you have very elegant looking README text files, that easily turn into first class html pages once passed through the Markdown converter.

There seems to be a whole eco-system that has evolved around Markdown, and it appears to be the format of choice for a number of git based code repositories. Now if only Blogger supported the Markdown syntax.

And once again, I've jumped on the bandwagon much later than I should have.

when in doubt, drop core

Now reading

Bicycle Diaries - David Byrne, If On A Winter's Night A Traveler - Italo Calvino, Pragmatic Thinking - Andy Hunt

Listening to

Brazilian Girls, The XX, Ke$ha (you heard that right - Tik Tok is Da Bomb)

On (internet) TV

Old Lost episodes, Parks and Rec, NBA playoffs

Drinking ...

Ritual Coffee, Beckman Vineyards 2008 Cuvee Le Bec (I bought a case - seriously!)

Current internet hangouts

The Changelog, Mashable, Signal Versus Noise

games

Lately, I've been on a mini-quest to find interesting, well-crafted games that are playable in your browser. I am less concerned with the challenge or level of difficulty associated with a game. Rather, I focus on aesthetics, innovation and ideas. Games that are works of art. Stuff that makes me go Wow! within the first 5 minutes of play. You get the idea.

So if you have any suggestions send them my way. I tend to like logic and puzzle based games, but I'm open to anything that pushes the boundaries of design and concept.

I'll offer up an exhaustive list of my findings down the road. You can get started with these two fantastic gems that I've run into:

• Continuity
  
• Auditorium
  

happy 3

although it sometimes feels like the personal blog has gone the way of Diaryland (remember Diaryland?!!) and that this seems a bit like making sound in a vacuum, it is nice to pop in here now and then. must make sure those database tables are getting exercised every once in a while.

very nice little birthday party in the park for the (not so) tiny (anymore) one. managed to find a balance between grown-up conversation and enjoying the kids playing in the park, which is something that i've been striving towards for the better part of three years now. when you can seamlessly work your way through Raaaaaaaandy, nap schedules, Ruby-On-Rails, indie rock coloring bocks, bike geekery, preschool politics and 90s hiphop, I think you can safely declare WIN.

yes - have to drop a link to Aziz Ansari's genius Raaaaaaaandy videos.

ended the evening with a rare night out - De La Soul show at Yoshi's SF. they've totally still got it going on. thanks for a great birthday weekend tinu.