Main | May 2007 »

April 2007 Archives

April 16, 2007

First Post with Movable Type v3.35

Movable Type Publishing Platform v3.35First post with v3.35 of Movable Type blogging software (uh, I mean, publishing platform) .. which represents the latest release from Six Apart (on 12.april, see here).

My old blog (v2.63) is still > HERE (same place it's been last 4 years). I installed that version in May 2003, and never upgraded (didn't wanna do anything that might risk losing hundreds of posts) .. until now.

Actually, this is a *new* installation .. not an upgrade (same strategy I took with the YaBB forum software recently). All went surprisingly well. Oddly enough, after the installation, I had a little trouble getting the StyleCatcher plug-in to work, but that's solved now.

StyleCatcher (btw) is a very cool plug-in feature (comes with v3.35 installation) that allows you to browse a truckload of different styles .. and change the entire style of your blog .. with a single click. (Told ya it was cool.)

Most of the styles suk, but all are better than what I could do on my own .. and some are pretty snazzy.

Continue reading "First Post with Movable Type v3.35" »

April 22, 2007

Dialing In Movable Type blogging software

Movable Type Publishing Platform (Blogging software)Been dinking around with my new installation of Movable Type (v3.35), configuring both the display page (the part you see) and the admin interface (where I compose entries).

As with Windows, the installation takes only an hour-or-so, but subsequent tweaking and configuration can take days to dial in (just the way you want) .. just like it did with the new forum installation.

I'm done playing with the part you see (.. for a while anyway). Content is always more important than (mere) style.

For example, I tweaked the published pages (you see) so *links* turn orange when you roll-over them with your cursor. (Default style makes them white.) That page can use a little more color to brighten it up.

But I couldn't figure out how to make the link's underline go away on the roll-over. I know how it *should* work, but it wouldn't go away. No biggie.

Continue reading "Dialing In Movable Type blogging software" »

April 23, 2007

Using Google's AJAX Search API

Test of Google's AJAX Search API, which lets you insert Google elements into your web pages (using JavaScript code). Pretty cool.

Loading...

You first have to sign up for a license key. (Google gives you a big, long key, ~100 characters.)

And the key is only valid for one domain. I initially signed up for a key to use with the new blog (subdomain > blogs.radified.com) .. but it wouldn't work when I tried to use it on the site's home page.

It gave me an error when I loaded this page, saying I needed to apply for a new key. (No problemo.) So I now have two AJAX Search API keys. (When I convert today's entry into a blog entry later, I'll need to generate new AJAX code.)

With this AJAX search API (Application Programming Interface), you can add web searches, video searches, blog searches (also see AJAX Search API playground), News (News bar), or (like I did) map searches. Heck, there's even a book bar.

Continue reading "Using Google's AJAX Search API" »

April 24, 2007

Disturbing Dream: Barack Obama Assassinated

Barack Obama: Democratic Presidential CandidateRegulars might recall a dream I had last year, in November (the 14th, to be precise) .. which said .. well, here are my exact words:

Had a dream last night that Barack Obama was on the verge of becoming the first black president (way ahead in the polls), but was assassinated right before the election (similar to what happened with RFK). The dream seemed real. Would be weird if it came true.

Recall this was long before Obama even announced his candidacy (on Feb. 10).

Today I learned Obama has (for the first time) pulled even with Hillary in the polls. See here > Obama, Clinton Tied (at 32%, from poll of 579 Likely Voters). More coverage at Boston Globe, Reuters & Yahoo.

And I believe he even raised more money than Hillary (which must've raised a few eyebrows), despite political connections she cultivated over the last two decades with Bill. And I think he did it withOUT accepting any lobbist or PAC money (both of which I believe Hillary gladly accepted).

Of course, this doesn't mean Obama will become the Democratic nominee, or if he does, that he'll be assassinated .. but certainly, it seems more plausible than it did 5 months ago, when everybody considered Hillary the prohibitive (inevitable) favorite.

Makes ya wonder tho, doesn't it?

Continue reading "Disturbing Dream: Barack Obama Assassinated" »

April 28, 2007

The Bug No Longer Stuttering

The Bug is no longer stuttering. Happy days are here again.

Heading out for a bike ride, but first I wanna share > the bug is no longer stuttering. Everybody told me not-to-worry, but it still bothered me.

He stuttered for ~ a month. Broke my heart. No more, tho. You can't imagine the sense of relief. (Happy days here again.)

He slept over last night. In the middle of the night, I felt a little hand on my face. I'm guessing he woke (in the dark) and wanted to know who was sleeping beside him.

He probably felt my (scruffy) face for a clue, then went back to sleep. (Cool feeling. Made me smile.)

Continue reading "The Bug No Longer Stuttering" »

April 29, 2007

Comparing Joomla vs Drupal Content Management Systems - Part I/II

Joomla! Open Source Content Management System (CMS)Thinking of splitting-out site content pertaining to my experiences as a dad .. to a NEW site, such as raddad.com (oops, that domain name already taken) .. or rad-dad.com (uh, that one is also taken). One reader suggested dadified.

Anyway, I'll find some new domain that will work. (Costs a measly $10/yr, and I already have tons of content I could transfer.)

What do you think of oneraddad.com? or radfather.com? Those two are still available. Ideas? (Shorter the better.)

Now that I have lastest version of MovableType installed (v3.35), and knowing that Movable Type allows you to publish multiple (unlimited) blogs, including to domains outside the one in which MT resides, I could use MT 3.35 to publish to a new rad-dad site.

In the grand scheme of things, despite how much I love cool technology, there aren't many things more important than being a good dad.

Update 03.May.2007 - I got new domain name today (hardnuf.com) as detailed in this post > New Domain Name: hardnuf.com (Adventures in Fatherhood)

Continue reading "Comparing Joomla vs Drupal Content Management Systems - Part I/II" »

April 30, 2007

Lightbox2 Image Overlay (JavaScript)

Morning at the Newport Back Bay: Newport Beach, California (Test of Lightbox2)Test of Lightbox2 image overlay JavaScript (by Lokesh Dhakar, from Boston).

Click the thumbnail image (of the Newport Back Bay) to your right, and a larger version *should* pop-up .. in a cool-looking overlay, with the rest of the page assuming a smoked-glass appearance.

Web site designers like Lightbox because it allows the reader (you) to view an image (or images) without taking you away from the page you're reading. Simply click the Close button, and you return here (never really left).

I like it cuz it allows me to display a photo on a separate "page" (so to speak), with a black background, without having to create a separate web page (*.htm), such as I did > here. Plus it opens with a cool animated ("fancy pants") launcher, perfectly centered.

Continue reading "Lightbox2 Image Overlay (JavaScript)" »

About April 2007

This page contains all entries posted to Ye Olde Rad Blog II in April 2007. They are listed from oldest to newest.

May 2007 is the next archive.

Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.

Creative Commons License
This weblog is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Powered by
Movable Type 3.35