"Murphy was an optimist!"
Today’s Coding Challenge March 17, 2009 8:16 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Programming, TechnologyToday I am focused on debugging a custom tree control which present hierarchical data created through AJAX calls, custom JavaScript, and jQuery. The data is built dynamically so state must be maintained such that if the user navigates away from the page and returns the exact same data is presented upon return. The collapsers must close only their related data without orphaning any nodes.
The presentation was prototyped as tables nested within tables eight levels deep. Yesterday this was corrected to be a single table with rows dynamically added and removed which broke the handlers. Before someone throws the word sematic out without thinking, a table is semantically correct in this situation. Time to get back to handling the handlers.
add a commentCoded Self Into a Hole March 16, 2009 9:40 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Programming, TechnologyHad a rockin’ day of coding today. Started fixing some problems. Used jQuery to fix a cross-browser issue and simultaneously made my code lighter. Since this project is an evolutionary prototype, I got bold and evolved a piece of code that was holding the project back. In the process, many things broke of course and I’ve been going through fixing those issues. The code is looking prettier and lighter and the project looks better. Unfortunately, in my weariness, I started to put more bugs in than I was taking out so its time to call it a day.
add a commentDoug’s Mantras March 16, 2009 9:26 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Doug's Mantras, PhilosophyThe end is fear.
add a commentAccident March 14, 2009 1:58 pm
Posted by utterz in : Daily Life, Podcasting
Mobile post sent by djuggler using Utterli. Replies.
Do the Twitter Dance March 14, 2009 9:00 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Communications, Publishing, Technology, VideoGot Twitter Mania?
iJustine wants to be on the Ellen Show.
iJustine’s squeaky voice inspired by Twitter Ruined My Life or vice versa.
add a commentOf Grasshoppers March 12, 2009 5:32 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Of Grasshoppers, PhilosophyStudent: Well looks dry.
Master: Storm’s coming.
Today’s Background Process March 12, 2009 9:41 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Communications, TechnologyToday I am moving/archiving 10 years of email from Outlook to Gmail. Yes, I should probably just delete it but I still look stuff up on occasion and I am curious to see how this impact’s Gmail’s searching speed. See also: How to Import from Windows Mail, Live Mail or Outlook Express in Gmail and IMAP client configurations.
2commentsTweetup March 11, 2009 5:49 pm
Posted by utterz in : Daily Life, Podcasting
Of Grasshoppers March 11, 2009 12:04 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Of Grasshoppers, PhilosophyStudent: I feel like never speaking again.
Master: Shush!
State of Me March 11, 2009 9:56 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily LifeWalls closing in. Clock spinning out of control. Head marching to the beat of some damned drummer and no pill shuts the percussionist up. At 108 minutes and I don’t think I can push the button.
add a commentTN Continues to Make Dumb Laws March 10, 2009 7:45 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Politics, Regional Politics (SE), Touchy Subjects, Transportation, TravelMichael Silence notes that Sen. Jim Tracy is trying to pass legislation that would make it illegal to read or send text messages while driving. These nanny state laws treat symptoms and not problems. My comment on No Silence Here:
We don’t need a nanny state! We need better education. IF we would teach people how to use T-9 then they could text without looking at the phone! er, I mean if we taught people the importance of not texting behind the wheel. You know..give a man a fish..well if he were eating fish while driving that would probably be bad too. Maybe we need a law to ban eating fish behind the wheel. Yes! Definitely. And fishing licenses. When the police pull cars over they should check for fishing licenses because he might be planning on catching a fish to eat while driving and we need to make sure that doesn’t happen. That’s important. Important enough that we need to set up road blocks and check everyone’s fishing licenses!! But then people might send text messages warning about the road blocks. No, we outlawed text messaging behind the wheel so that would never happen of course neither would the eating fish behind the wheel because we outlawed that too so why do we need the road blocks? You know, the radio stations will pick up on these quickly. We should outlaw radios in the cars. Wait a minute, wasn’t there a time when legislatures feared car radios would cause too many accidents and deaths. What happened to outlawing radios? Wait another minute. At least 2 people died in his district while text messaging behind the wheel. I wonder how many died tuning their radio?
Things we need to outlaw to keep people alive:
spiders, aids, diving, earthquakes, buildings, sports, suicide (wait, that’s already illegal), alcohol, lightning, steps, cold, heat, cancer, tall places, bees, surgery, and sharks.
http://i28.tinypic.com/5v0v1d.jpg
The problem with these types of laws is that it does nothing to prevent the happening but only punishes if and when it is caught. To educate people to pull over, have a passenger do the texting, or just plain ignore the phone is a better use to time and tax dollars than more laws:
Republican Sen. Mae Beavers of Mt. Juliet opposed the bill because of provisions in the current law.
"I really don’t see the need for the bill," she said. "I’ve said time after time, I don’t think we can legislate against stupidity."
Furthermore, driving is a skill and not everyone has the same abilities. That is not a statement to justify one person texting behind the wheel while another doesn’t but to point out the people who are crossing the center line while texting may just as well be doing the same thing while reading a billboard, talking to a passenger, tuning the radio, or daydreaming. We have all done stupid things while driving. I bet everyone at one point has turned the wrong way down a one way street. I did in Memphis as a teenager. It scared me silly to see 3 lanes of lunch hour traffic barreling down on me. A law preventing me from going the wrong way on a one way street would have done nothing to prevent me from making that silly mistake..wait a minute..it is against the law to drive the wrong way on a one way street….oh.
5commentsTuesday Traditions March 10, 2009 4:08 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Family, Of Being DadI like to cook. I prefer to cook. When I cook, I can make healthy meals at less cost…except on Tuesdays. On Tuesdays Dominos runs a Two’fer special that I cannot beat. The time it saves from cooking, the cost of supplies, and the energy saved is well worth the cost of the pizza. But better is the tradition! On Tuesdays the children know Tis The Traditional Two’fer Tasty pizza day! Got tradition?
1 comment so farVoided March 10, 2009 8:54 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Philosophy, PoetryDrip, drip, drip, drip
Into the void it slips
A black hole sucking the darkness in
A container filling within with out
Nothingness becomes somethingness
Still less
With every sampling the void grows
Blackness stimulating
Maddening
Addicting
Hate it, Crave it
Driving force
Of … what?
No answer
Drop, drop, drop, drop
Infants Playing in the Street March 9, 2009 2:49 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Transportation, TravelNubbin Ridge is an old farm road turned into a two lane speedway. I recently had the pleasure of being told stories by a man who grew up in the area of baling hay on the Stooksbury farm which owned much of the land near Wallace Road (forgive me if I got the family name wrong). He spoke of the rolling land and forests that are long gone. Sprawl and shortsighted urban planning has turned Nubbin Ridge into a shortcut for locals avoiding congestion on Northshore Drive and Westland Drive. Nubbin Ridge still has those fun dips that if you want to gamble that there’s no cars or animals on the other side, and you hit the hill fast enough, it tickles your stomach like a roller coaster. Here’s the rub. It’s not a farm anymore. Most of the land has been partialed out and turned to residential neighborhoods. Children walk these roads, and ride their bikes because our urban planners have failed to connect the neighborhoods with sidewalks or greenway trails.
Today I crested a hill and my heart fell into my stomach. 50 yards ahead of me I saw a dog on the double yellow line. But no! It was not a dog; the living creature was an infant, a tiny infant who looked like she’d just learned to waddle on two legs. She moved from the double yellow, dead center of the road, to smack dab in the middle of the left lane and stood still. She was not in my lane but in the lane of oncoming traffic just this side of one of those tickle hills. In the distance I saw a car approaching. I stopped the van, turned on the flashers, and walked to the child trying not to scare her. I put my arms out, she opened her arms, and jumped into mine. As I carried her toward her home, the oncoming car zingged past my van without slowing down. A car in my lane approached and without hesitating to wonder why my van blocked its lane, zipped around my stationary vehicle. After handing the child to its mother I started back to my car. Two more vehicles rapidly approached showing no sign of slowing so I just put up my hand and stepped into the road forcing them to stop (and hopefully but doubtfully think), got in the van, and made a mental note to drive much slower on Nubbin Ridge from now on.
5commentsGetting the kids out the door is fun except… March 9, 2009 7:28 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Family, Of Being DadI generally enjoy helping the children get ready for school and out the door the morning. The exception is the pre-schooler. He causes me great stress. I can never tell if he is going to joyfully get ready for school or if he will turn it into a major battle. I despise being late and with him we may or may not be on time. He often makes me start the days tired.
2comments
