Ok, some people would say the HTC Incredible is not a Toy, but I feel I’m being honest by calling it that. In my case: I can do without it, but just felt like getting one. This post is NOT a review, there are plenty of reviews out there; this is just my personal impression of the phone.
For me, the attraction was using it as a Phone as well as the free apps that you can get for it. Being an Android phone, you can get some impressive Google apps such as Google Maps (and Navigation!), Google Voice, and my personal favorite Google Skymap.
Skymap is very cool as I’ve been interested in Astronomy since my father 1st got a telescope when I was in grade school.
More after the break. Continue reading →
Well, We had a baby girl in February.
She’s adorable, healthy and keeps us on our toes full time! My advice to any couple thinking of having a baby: Do it.
- My wife and I are getting a lot less sleep (getting better)
- We have absolutely no free time
- My work is affected a bit
- My hobbies are now non existent (Photography?!?)
- We don’t see any of our friends socially anymore.
- You won’t believe how much we spend in Diapers and formula!
Sounds just awful, right? It’s not.
Seriously, being a parent is worth all this effort/cost and more. We’re really lucky to have our daughter and we know it. I could go on and on with all the things I learn from our daughter daily but I can summarize it simply: My wife and daughter are what I look forward to everyday.
Music I’m listening to right Now:
“Bulletproof” by La Roux from the “La Roux” Album on the radio.
(sigh) The “atheism” sub reddit is, IMO, getting out of hand. I have absolutely no problem with anyone’s personal beliefs (or lack there of), but I’m getting tired of going to Reddit and seeing constant headlines from “atheism” berating people who believe in God or how so and so “owned” someone else. I get it: “Religion caused 9/11″, Herpes, Dark Ages, “Religious People are Low IQ Morons”, “You can’t believe in Science and Religion”, etc. I can’t stand intolerance, religious or otherwise, and, IMO, most of those posts are intolerant. I’m pretty close to ditching Reddit as a result.
Lot of things going on.
Minor:
We are now using Verizon FIOS (see speedtest results). After having one issue or another with TWC every week, it just got too tiring. When VZ called me up and I priced out FIOS for TV, Phone and Internet, It’s just cheaper for me and my wife. On top of that, we get faster Internet, all HD channels we want, and the DVR works better. So, for now, we’re happy with Verizon FIOS. Since it is a NEW Fiber optic line coming into the house, I hope this eliminates all the issues I had with the original Copper line.
I have NOT been able to do many Photo Walk abouts in the last 6 months but I have joined a Camera Club at work. It’s fun and I have a chance to meet and network with new people. The Club covers events for work and is a lot of fun.
Major:
My Wife and I are expecting a Baby. Needless to say, we are happy to add to our Family! 
Recently, I solved a small (seriously, really small) issue with one of my favorite Greasemonkey scripts “Smilies and other tools“.
Kris de Curtis was nice enough to point people to my site for the solution that I came up with. On top of lending people a helping hand, he’s a good Photographer too, check out his flickr site.
Barely 7 months after getting my Sony headphones and they snap when I put then on yesterday. Sony has an exchange program for $25 and shipping, but I can get a new one for $33 and shipping from Amazon.
Probably the Sony Store at Tanger outlet has them for a similar price and I was thinking of getting a Sony photo printer (old one won’t work with Vista 64)…
Decisions, decisions…
Music I’m listening to now:
Nothing at the moment
It’s been years since I did any Javascript programing, but I had a simple problem and decided to dive into it.
Like many of the little programs I write, I had a “problem” and wanted to solve it. I wanted a convenient link on the photo page to cut and paste the short URL of FLickr Images. Look at this URL for a nice photo my wife took:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/s_d/3665619548/
As a URL goes, not too bad, but suppose you wanted to insert the link in
Twitter or Facebook? It’s a little verbose. Wouldn’t this be better?
http://flic.kr/p/6zVfZ3
Yep, I think so too and so does Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/services/api/misc.urls.html#short
http://www.flickr.com/groups/api/discuss/72157616713786392/
This thread showed how to do it: http://www.flickr.com/groups/api/discuss/72157616713786392/
The FlickrBase58 function in the script was written entirely by ‘Xenocryst @ Antares Scorpii’
http://www.flickr.com/people/antares/
Other than reformating, taken verbatim from link here
http://www.flickr.com/groups/api/discuss/72157616713786392/72157620673064673/
The Original way *I* wrote it was to retrieve the HTML, Parse it for
<link rev=”canonical” type=”text/html” href=”http://flic.kr/p/6zVfZ3″ >
And use that link. While fun to write, that’s the wrong way to do it so I rewrote it to use the function written by ‘Xenocryst @ Antares Scorpii’ . When installed on Firefox running the Greasemonkey extension, it will insert a link on the page on the right side just under “Flag your photo” that says:
The Flic.kr link is: http://flic.kr/p/6zVfZ3
This will allow you to right click the URL, copy it and paste into Twitter or Facebook.
Here is the script.
NOTE: I’m pretty certain it’s harmless, but use at your own risk. It’s hardly great programming and I’m sure someone else would have done it too, if not better.
Music I’m listening to right Now:
“Paralyzer ” by Finger Eleven from the “Them VS. You VS. Me” Album.
It seems famous people DO pass away in threes. Two are, sadly, not a surprise. Ed McMahon and Farrah Fawcett were both known to be ill, but Michael Jackson was a complete shock. I’m not particularly a fan of Michael Jackson (make no mistake, I’m sorry all three passed away) but he was a talented artist and had a great impact on pop music.
Lots going on lately and I’ve been neglecting my blog…
The most pressing item I’ve been reading about is the aftermath of the election in Iran. To put it mildly, the news is stunning. First, you have the apparent theft of the election (Does ANYONE know who really won???), then, the protests (a right we take for granted), and now the crackdown by the Gov’t. You can read updates here at The Huffington Post and all related posts here.
The people want change and the Gov’t and their supporters are oppressing them. The Gov’t is trying to control info that comes and goes from the people. Between phone and the Internet, the Gov’t (thankfully!) doesn’t seem to be having much luck blocking the info. What info does get out, paints a stark picture and makes our issues seem trivial. Here in the U.S., next time you see a protest and complain about it, thank your lucky stars that people here CAN protest and that you can complain about it. Not everyone is as fortunate.
I have no idea how far this will go, but I think the world should pay close attention as, one way or another, history is happening now.
On a much lighter note: I’m trying to get out to take photos again with varying success. I’m reading Joe McNally’s “The Hot Shoe Diaries: Big Light from Small Flashes” and getting a lot of tips and inspiration from it. It has a lot of good info, is well written, and entertaining too. I highly recommend it.
I’m also brushing up on Photoshop Elements. Between magazine articles and a book or two, I’m adding to my limited skill set.
Work is the good. Things are stable and the occasional late night call is happening less frequently.
Music I’m listening to now:
Nothing at the moment.
Ok, some people would say the HTC Incredible is not a Toy, but I feel I’m being honest by calling it that. In my case: I can do without it, but just felt like getting one. This post is NOT a review, there are plenty of reviews out there; this is just my personal impression of the phone.
Firefox 3.5rc2 and "Flickr Comment Tools"
“Flickr Comment Tools” is a great Greasemonkey script that I use everyday but under Firefox 3.5, it would not insert emoticons. Finally fixed it, It was a simple change that was driving me nuts… As I posted here:
Got it.
Change this:
ifrm.contentDocument.execCommand('inserthtml',false,'<a title="Smilies" style="background:white !important;" href="http://www.ts0.com/flickrcommenttools/"><img align="absmiddle" style="vertical-align:middle;" src="'+this.url+'" border="0"></a>');to:
ifrm.contentDocument.execCommand('inserthtml',false,'<a title="Smilies" style="background:white !important;" href="http://www.ts0.com/flickrcommenttools/"><img align="absmiddle" style="vertical-align:middle;" src="'+this.src+'" border="0"></a>');Music I’m listening to now:
Nothing at the moment
→ 1 Comment
Posted in Cool Stuff, Different
Tagged Flickr, Flickr Comment Tools, Greasemonkey