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Displaying entries tagged: Splash 8
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lazy Sunday...
June 3, 2007 - 5:1
- blog page - Splash 8 - life tips
I wasn't incredibly upset today when it started pouring, as it gave me a guilt free opportunity to stay inside and work on some different stuff.
To talk "Geek" for a brief second:
I got a good amount of work done on my Blog section. I am not sure how it will look tomorrow on Internet Explorer, but I am happy with the Firefox results. I have thus far incorporated "search by tag" functionality but still need to work on a few additional blog search queries. I haven't done much with formatting the layout of the blog entries, nor is there currently any opportunity for users to add comments. I expect to work on those features in the very near future. Worthy to note, one hassle was the fact that my old DB was using mySQL 4.0 and some of my searching requires sub queries (available in version 4.1+, I eventually learned). Luckily, godaddy.com offers the option to set up new databases using version 4.1 or 5, so all I needed to do was create a DB and import the existing data. This thankfully went off smoothly.
Ok, done with that. I don't have a ton else for ya. I do have one comment for everyone out there: It's usually not a good idea to blind speakerphone a person. I got blind speakerphoned today, and it may or may not have lead to some embarrassment for people in the car. In this case, no harm was caused to myself, and likely none to those involved; but the potential definitely does exist for a scenario to arise where either the caller and/or listeners get a little dose of embarrassment when something is said that wouldn't be appropriate for the audience within listening distance.
Take that tip to the bank and save it with the rest, because I am full of good ideas today :-)
If I don't have a chance to tell you later on, enjoy Sopranos tonight!
To talk "Geek" for a brief second:
I got a good amount of work done on my Blog section. I am not sure how it will look tomorrow on Internet Explorer, but I am happy with the Firefox results. I have thus far incorporated "search by tag" functionality but still need to work on a few additional blog search queries. I haven't done much with formatting the layout of the blog entries, nor is there currently any opportunity for users to add comments. I expect to work on those features in the very near future. Worthy to note, one hassle was the fact that my old DB was using mySQL 4.0 and some of my searching requires sub queries (available in version 4.1+, I eventually learned). Luckily, godaddy.com offers the option to set up new databases using version 4.1 or 5, so all I needed to do was create a DB and import the existing data. This thankfully went off smoothly.
Ok, done with that. I don't have a ton else for ya. I do have one comment for everyone out there: It's usually not a good idea to blind speakerphone a person. I got blind speakerphoned today, and it may or may not have lead to some embarrassment for people in the car. In this case, no harm was caused to myself, and likely none to those involved; but the potential definitely does exist for a scenario to arise where either the caller and/or listeners get a little dose of embarrassment when something is said that wouldn't be appropriate for the audience within listening distance.
Take that tip to the bank and save it with the rest, because I am full of good ideas today :-)
If I don't have a chance to tell you later on, enjoy Sopranos tonight!
Splash 8
May 29, 2007 - 15:58
- Splash 8
I have finally gotten my new homepage, Splash 8, to a point where I am semi-comfortable releasing it as my live index page. I would say the page itself is around %65 percent complete.I have been working on the new page for a little over 2 weeks. Unlike the previous Splash page, I focussed a considerable amount of time on the aesthetics. I went with a layout that can easily be expanded and modified. In regards to the code, I would have to say it was about a 50/50 split between code from the old page and new code.
All other pages that are linked form the Splash page have had minor to medium updates. In addition to needing to finish up Splash 8, I would like to start work on a new Photo Album and Blog pages. I just spent a little bit of time working on the current Photo Album page. I modified it just enough so that the selected picture will display correctly according to whether or not it was taken horizontally or vertically. In the end, I am going to redo this page in it's entirety, as it is currently very sub-par to what I am looking for.
I have been very busy with things much more exciting than the new page, I look forward to finally being at a point where I am not dedicating every second of my geek time to it, thus allowing myself some time to blog about things such as my awesome Memorial Weekend, my deadly encounter with a tick, softball, and life as I see it :-)
I am currently aware of some minor display issues in Internet Explorer. Please fell free to leave me comments regarding other issues you may find with the site in general.
In honor of the new splash page, I leave you with a photo from this weekend...
From the inside, have a good day.
All other pages that are linked form the Splash page have had minor to medium updates. In addition to needing to finish up Splash 8, I would like to start work on a new Photo Album and Blog pages. I just spent a little bit of time working on the current Photo Album page. I modified it just enough so that the selected picture will display correctly according to whether or not it was taken horizontally or vertically. In the end, I am going to redo this page in it's entirety, as it is currently very sub-par to what I am looking for.
I have been very busy with things much more exciting than the new page, I look forward to finally being at a point where I am not dedicating every second of my geek time to it, thus allowing myself some time to blog about things such as my awesome Memorial Weekend, my deadly encounter with a tick, softball, and life as I see it :-)
I am currently aware of some minor display issues in Internet Explorer. Please fell free to leave me comments regarding other issues you may find with the site in general.
In honor of the new splash page, I leave you with a photo from this weekend...
From the inside, have a good day.
an official statement
May 22, 2007 - 10:39
- Splash 8
It is has been so long since my last blog entry that many visitors (figuratively speaking) likely think I have abandoned the idea of an official homepage. That thought could not be farther from the truth, as I have diligently been working on a complete revamp of the entire main page (Splash 8!). Progress on the new page will come in spurts, as this warm weather brings plenty of tasks far worthier than sitting at a desk. Please feel free to check out the new page @:
Splash 8!
I have so many other things that I would like to blog about but have already allocated my daily allotment of personal web page geakiness.
Let me know how you like the new page and please keep in mind it is still beta. I currently know of at least two mildly severe display issues with Internet Explorer :-(
Good night.
Splash 8!
I have so many other things that I would like to blog about but have already allocated my daily allotment of personal web page geakiness.
Let me know how you like the new page and please keep in mind it is still beta. I currently know of at least two mildly severe display issues with Internet Explorer :-(
Good night.
image viewer - quick update
March 31, 2007 - 12:28
- Splash 8 - Image Viewer
-thumbnails are now displayed correctly using the horizontal/vertical functionality previously discussed.
I have to work on the link in the blog post to the image in Image Viewer, currently, some blog posts with images are displaying incorrectly.
No more working on the website for now though, have a good day! :-)
Image Viewer - a test
March 30, 2007 - 4:45
- Splash 8 - Image Viewer - test
The following should display properly :
If it did, it should also be a link.
If everything works correctly, the picture should open up in the Image Viewer page I have been working on over the past few days.
Some quick notes on Image Viewer:
-thus far, it has been able to display images taken horizontally and vertically using the correct dimensions. I still need to work on a scenario for an image which is a square opposed to a rectangle. I used the PHP function getimagesize() from the GD library to accomplish this functionality. Once it is tested a little bit more, I will apply this functionality to thumbnails as well as "main picture" displays. Currently the thumbnails in Image Viewer do not include this functionality. I am unsure how to get thumbnails displayed using this functionality in blog posts but will work on it eventually.
-Image Viewer is still very beta!
If it did, it should also be a link.
If everything works correctly, the picture should open up in the Image Viewer page I have been working on over the past few days.
Some quick notes on Image Viewer:
-thus far, it has been able to display images taken horizontally and vertically using the correct dimensions. I still need to work on a scenario for an image which is a square opposed to a rectangle. I used the PHP function getimagesize() from the GD library to accomplish this functionality. Once it is tested a little bit more, I will apply this functionality to thumbnails as well as "main picture" displays. Currently the thumbnails in Image Viewer do not include this functionality. I am unsure how to get thumbnails displayed using this functionality in blog posts but will work on it eventually.
-Image Viewer is still very beta!
blog image post - another test
March 25, 2007 - 6:30
- Splash 8 - file upload - image posting
another test...
screen shot of blog entry page:
screen shot of blog entry page:
blog image post
March 25, 2007 - 5:19
- Splash 8 - file upload - image posting
I've started testing the file upload code I wrote a few months ago. This was the first chance for me to test it on a hosting server that allowed file uploads via PHP. Much to my surprise, the code worked immediately. The biggest challenge this far has been adding the functionality to my existing blog entry page to utilize the new ability to add photos.
Quickly:
It took me a while to determine the best way to add uploaded photos to the blog entries. With the idea of future expansions to this code in mind, i decided to create a database table for all file uploaded. Every time I upload a file, a row containing a unique id, file path, file source, etc. is created. It currently doesn't contain file size, but likely will soon. Then I added a section to my "blog entry form" to include thumbnails of recently uploaded pictures. I figure there will be some blog posts where I wish to add more than one photo, so this way, I can upload the photos I want, then see a list of all of them, with the ability to add a photo wherever/whenever I want, in that entry.
With the idea of laziness/easy of use in mind, I think I might have gotten it to the point where I can just click one of the thumbnail images from the photos recently uploaded, and it will insert the link where ever the cursor is currently located in the blog post.
I know this code will need some tweaking, as well as some additional functionality such as determining where in the post it should float, captions, sizes, etc.
This is a very early beta test, and there is a good chance it will really mess up the whole page, so buckle up!
Here it is:
Quickly:
It took me a while to determine the best way to add uploaded photos to the blog entries. With the idea of future expansions to this code in mind, i decided to create a database table for all file uploaded. Every time I upload a file, a row containing a unique id, file path, file source, etc. is created. It currently doesn't contain file size, but likely will soon. Then I added a section to my "blog entry form" to include thumbnails of recently uploaded pictures. I figure there will be some blog posts where I wish to add more than one photo, so this way, I can upload the photos I want, then see a list of all of them, with the ability to add a photo wherever/whenever I want, in that entry.
With the idea of laziness/easy of use in mind, I think I might have gotten it to the point where I can just click one of the thumbnail images from the photos recently uploaded, and it will insert the link where ever the cursor is currently located in the blog post.
I know this code will need some tweaking, as well as some additional functionality such as determining where in the post it should float, captions, sizes, etc.
This is a very early beta test, and there is a good chance it will really mess up the whole page, so buckle up!
Here it is:
as the dust settles...
March 22, 2007 - 7:20
- Splash 8 - Discomentary - Rome - LOST
After about 2 weeks of site downtime, I am happy to report that the war against my old domain registrar has ended. I have emerged victorious. Due to the fact that I have deemed this website "The Official Homepage of Seth DeSantis", the official public record of everything me, I periodically need to blog about topics few would find interesting. This is one of those times. In the future, you likely will not get such a bold warning, instead, you will have to learn to identify a potentially boring topic, and skip it on your own. However be warned, as with this responsibility comes great risk, failure to correctly identify which topics are truly "un-interesting" will result in you missing out a potentially life changing idea. Proceed with caution.
My adventure through the process of changing registrars began on Sunday, February 18th, of this year. My reason for changing the registrar that has hosted this prestigious site since 2003 was simple; I was unable to upload files via PHP from the browser to my server, the fundamental step I needed to accomplish in order to proceed with various functions I will be writing to do an assortment of things but most importantly uploading pictures to this blog via the blog editor page I wrote a few months back. I also liked the idea of having all of my sites hosted and registered with one company. I began using godaddy.com about a year ago, as my portfolio of domain names and hosting packages grew, so did my confidence in their ability to provide long-term/reliable service to my sites. I initially attributed the problems I was having with my old registrar, registerfly.com , to the fact that they would likely hide the option to transfer your domain name to another company deep within user options. As I searched and searched, I realized I needed some help, so I started a support ticket with registerfly. After a week of it going unanswered I wrote a follow up to my ticket, inquiring if anyone was going to help me. No one responded, another weeks goes by, so I start exploring their support section again. This time, I found a letter from a third party administrator stating registerfly has been experiencing some major problems, and they are working around the clock to answer pending support tickets and apply account changes. About another two weeks go by, weeks filled with tons of calls that rang to busy with registerfly and a handful of calls made to godaddy. Even though the problem wasn't with godaddy, I figured it wouldn't hurt to run the problem by them for any possible advice. It turned out that their tech support staff had been getting emails about issues with registerfly and possible solutions to remedy them. After a few different conversations with godaddy, it was determined the only solution was for me to email ICANN and ask for their intervention. As I wrote an email to the organization in charge of "the internet", I started to have doubts. I am just one humble man with a humble site, who is ever going to read this email within the next decade, and when they do, what are they possibly going to do? Much to my delight, I received a personalized response the next day. The person told me that if the problem wasn't resolved within the next 2 business days, to email her back. Surely enough, 2 business days later, I get an automated email from godaddy stating that the transfer has completed. Still having doubts, I typed in sethdesantis.com and the parking page changed from the horrible advertisements the rats at registerfly had put up, to the pleasant yet dull godaddy "Oops" page. The internet goddess who responded to my email performed some crazy ICANN magic and saved the day. Now here we are, chatting about the one month drama that shook life as I know it.
Sooo...here we are, I have a ton of ideas and a site with a ton of problems. Sure, you don't see the problems, you look at my site every day and put it up there with greats such as ESPN.com, FOXNEWS.com, DIGG.COM, and APPLE.com...but you don't see what I see. I have folders upon folders of files filled with pages that will never again be included. Pages of functions who's glory days are just a thing of the past. My unwillingness to perform mandatory housekeeping on my root directory has really done a job on my ability to efficiently add and update this site. If you saw what I saw, you would be so disgusted, you would likely never speak to me again.
So, I got the site back 2 days ago. Primarily due to a softball coaches meeting that took 2 and a half hours too long, I have only been able to get the site to it's "previous state" (with the exception of a new header image indicating things to come...). I have re-transferred all of the MySQL databases from the old host to this one. I have updated all of (I think) the code to access my new databases. This adventure through tons of different included files spread in many different folders has confirmed that it is near time to start re-writing the site from the bottom up. Luckily though, few to none of the major functions that make up the behind the scenes backbone of this site will need to be re-written, rather, I need to re-write the pages that call these functions...which can actually be considered fun to people as dorky as myself. With all the nasty code out of the way, I can focus more on the aesthetic aspects of the site, something the kids like to call "the eye candy". One would think that after painting such a horrible picture of the "state of the site" this re-writing would be for my first priority. Well that one would be wrong. I have WAY too many things I need to do before I can even consider aesthetics!
-Did you know users can't change their passwords, they can't even choose nicknames!
-Did you know that there is an album in my photo albums with MULTIPLE vertical pictures, being displayed horizontally!
-Did you know that all of my blog posts have Tags, yet there is no where to play with these Tags?
This is just a sampling of countless flaws of this site. These are the reasons I can't write an email to everyone I know to tell them to check it out. It would be like inviting the world over to my house after a Christmas Party! Come on, we can get crazy, but let's not be stupid here.
In closing of this chapter, filled of despair with just a hint of hope, I ask everyone to calm down and take a deep breath. This site will prevail. The functions will get written and the directory will get cleaned up. Someday you, the modest user may be able to upload your very own content! Far fetched you mumble to yourself, but you don't see what i see. I am sitting in a pretty sick office with a lot of really cool new equipment. I feel very confident that this site will progress nicely over the next few weeks, months, and years.
**Almost done with "un-interesting" talk...
The period of site downtime actually came at a rather convenient time. I have had the pleasure of working on a few other projects for some other people. It has been mostly web sites, but I did get to work on some video and audio stuff. I am very excited about really digging deep into some video projects in the near future. I have thus far transferred 8 DV Camcorder tapes to the computer. While it is unfortunate that some of the best footage is "too good" to ever be made public, I do have a few second here and there of my friends doing funny things, that wouldn't get anyone arrested, fired, or divorced. Look for Discomentary Volume 1 to hit shelves within the next few months.
**OK, done, please start reading again...
-ROME: I am saddened to say that one of the best television series ever created has only 1 episode left. This Sunday it will all come to an end. I would like to propose that rather than mourn the loss of such a good gladiator themed drama, with tons of naked people having sex and killing each other, we celebrate the good memories we have been provided with over the past few seasons.
-LOST: It continues to proceed strongly. It appears the two weeks of weak episodes a little while back was a fluke. The story line is strong and my curiosity is peaked.
-In conclusion, I would like to once again welcome everyone back to the site. I look forward to writing more about nothing for a very long time to come. From the inside, out, good night.
My adventure through the process of changing registrars began on Sunday, February 18th, of this year. My reason for changing the registrar that has hosted this prestigious site since 2003 was simple; I was unable to upload files via PHP from the browser to my server, the fundamental step I needed to accomplish in order to proceed with various functions I will be writing to do an assortment of things but most importantly uploading pictures to this blog via the blog editor page I wrote a few months back. I also liked the idea of having all of my sites hosted and registered with one company. I began using godaddy.com about a year ago, as my portfolio of domain names and hosting packages grew, so did my confidence in their ability to provide long-term/reliable service to my sites. I initially attributed the problems I was having with my old registrar, registerfly.com , to the fact that they would likely hide the option to transfer your domain name to another company deep within user options. As I searched and searched, I realized I needed some help, so I started a support ticket with registerfly. After a week of it going unanswered I wrote a follow up to my ticket, inquiring if anyone was going to help me. No one responded, another weeks goes by, so I start exploring their support section again. This time, I found a letter from a third party administrator stating registerfly has been experiencing some major problems, and they are working around the clock to answer pending support tickets and apply account changes. About another two weeks go by, weeks filled with tons of calls that rang to busy with registerfly and a handful of calls made to godaddy. Even though the problem wasn't with godaddy, I figured it wouldn't hurt to run the problem by them for any possible advice. It turned out that their tech support staff had been getting emails about issues with registerfly and possible solutions to remedy them. After a few different conversations with godaddy, it was determined the only solution was for me to email ICANN and ask for their intervention. As I wrote an email to the organization in charge of "the internet", I started to have doubts. I am just one humble man with a humble site, who is ever going to read this email within the next decade, and when they do, what are they possibly going to do? Much to my delight, I received a personalized response the next day. The person told me that if the problem wasn't resolved within the next 2 business days, to email her back. Surely enough, 2 business days later, I get an automated email from godaddy stating that the transfer has completed. Still having doubts, I typed in sethdesantis.com and the parking page changed from the horrible advertisements the rats at registerfly had put up, to the pleasant yet dull godaddy "Oops" page. The internet goddess who responded to my email performed some crazy ICANN magic and saved the day. Now here we are, chatting about the one month drama that shook life as I know it.
Sooo...here we are, I have a ton of ideas and a site with a ton of problems. Sure, you don't see the problems, you look at my site every day and put it up there with greats such as ESPN.com, FOXNEWS.com, DIGG.COM, and APPLE.com...but you don't see what I see. I have folders upon folders of files filled with pages that will never again be included. Pages of functions who's glory days are just a thing of the past. My unwillingness to perform mandatory housekeeping on my root directory has really done a job on my ability to efficiently add and update this site. If you saw what I saw, you would be so disgusted, you would likely never speak to me again.
So, I got the site back 2 days ago. Primarily due to a softball coaches meeting that took 2 and a half hours too long, I have only been able to get the site to it's "previous state" (with the exception of a new header image indicating things to come...). I have re-transferred all of the MySQL databases from the old host to this one. I have updated all of (I think) the code to access my new databases. This adventure through tons of different included files spread in many different folders has confirmed that it is near time to start re-writing the site from the bottom up. Luckily though, few to none of the major functions that make up the behind the scenes backbone of this site will need to be re-written, rather, I need to re-write the pages that call these functions...which can actually be considered fun to people as dorky as myself. With all the nasty code out of the way, I can focus more on the aesthetic aspects of the site, something the kids like to call "the eye candy". One would think that after painting such a horrible picture of the "state of the site" this re-writing would be for my first priority. Well that one would be wrong. I have WAY too many things I need to do before I can even consider aesthetics!
-Did you know users can't change their passwords, they can't even choose nicknames!
-Did you know that there is an album in my photo albums with MULTIPLE vertical pictures, being displayed horizontally!
-Did you know that all of my blog posts have Tags, yet there is no where to play with these Tags?
This is just a sampling of countless flaws of this site. These are the reasons I can't write an email to everyone I know to tell them to check it out. It would be like inviting the world over to my house after a Christmas Party! Come on, we can get crazy, but let's not be stupid here.
In closing of this chapter, filled of despair with just a hint of hope, I ask everyone to calm down and take a deep breath. This site will prevail. The functions will get written and the directory will get cleaned up. Someday you, the modest user may be able to upload your very own content! Far fetched you mumble to yourself, but you don't see what i see. I am sitting in a pretty sick office with a lot of really cool new equipment. I feel very confident that this site will progress nicely over the next few weeks, months, and years.
**Almost done with "un-interesting" talk...
The period of site downtime actually came at a rather convenient time. I have had the pleasure of working on a few other projects for some other people. It has been mostly web sites, but I did get to work on some video and audio stuff. I am very excited about really digging deep into some video projects in the near future. I have thus far transferred 8 DV Camcorder tapes to the computer. While it is unfortunate that some of the best footage is "too good" to ever be made public, I do have a few second here and there of my friends doing funny things, that wouldn't get anyone arrested, fired, or divorced. Look for Discomentary Volume 1 to hit shelves within the next few months.
**OK, done, please start reading again...
-ROME: I am saddened to say that one of the best television series ever created has only 1 episode left. This Sunday it will all come to an end. I would like to propose that rather than mourn the loss of such a good gladiator themed drama, with tons of naked people having sex and killing each other, we celebrate the good memories we have been provided with over the past few seasons.
-LOST: It continues to proceed strongly. It appears the two weeks of weak episodes a little while back was a fluke. The story line is strong and my curiosity is peaked.
-In conclusion, I would like to once again welcome everyone back to the site. I look forward to writing more about nothing for a very long time to come. From the inside, out, good night.