December 2006
Arslounge is back!
I kept having a crapton of issues because SQLite and the sqlite drivers for python just dont hold up well. I’d get a lot of locked database errors when my python processes would hang in the middle of writes. No matter, I’ve migrated all the data to a mySQL database and we should be good to go for a while!
The final bits of loot this year
Bought two pair of Puma shoes today to replace the toasted pair I’d worn for about 4 months now.
A pair of [off-white and ‘otter’ Roma PFs]:
A pair of [navy Suedes]:
Also got an [LRG t-shirt]. I was excited to find a real-life retailer selling these so I could try on the smaller sizes and see what I wear:
I wear a large for what it’s worth :)
I also received my...
2006 in Photos
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Ars Technica Goose Island Meet
To say farewell to 2006, about 25 people from the general vicinity of Chicago came together at the Goose Island Brew Pub in Wrigleyville. Here’s the highlights:
Why am I always [getting licked]?
Lots more pictures on Flickr
Let me just get these out of the way
I got my outfit all put together for NYE (and beyond!)
Bought some mad max hardcore boots from Steve Madden:
Got a shirt:
I got this in KS:
I fell off it while riding and I ripped a hole in my cool Pumas :(
I tried to buy some new Pumas yesterday but they couldn’t find the ones I wanted <:[
So glad I live in Chicago
Case in point
A roundup blog before Christmas
I’m officially off work until January 2nd (I love this company!) and I’ve been buying some stuff lately (a nice, expensive suit it next up on my hit list) but I thought I’d catalog some of the stuff I’ve got/purchased just so everyone can have a taste of it’s coolness.
Clothes
I got this striped chocolate long-sleeved shirt at Target of all places:
I got these “selvedge” jeans from...
John Hodgman's Book, "The Areas of my Expertise"...
John Hodgman is the actor that plays “PC” in the Apple ads and appeared on the Daily Show prior to that. Hodgman is obviously well known for more than just these though, he’s on NPR, an editor for the New York Times, and more. His book is hilarious and well… the audiobook is free right now on iTunes!
Somebody at Google likes me?
After [my post on some features I thought would make Gmail + Google Documents], some people mentioned that the “open in google documents” features was already in place for some users. Today I see that this has been activated on my Gmail account! Yay! :)
Got an iPod for Christmas
Stone Ward is an awesome employer :)
Just some good reading
Layman’s Guide to Web Syndication
The tools that the 37signals guys use to run their shop (the 2005 edition)
Why W3C compliant? The important of valid web codes
10 must haves in IE next
Comments
I just plowed through a bunch of comments in moderation. I don’t think I lost any. So if you’ve commented in the past week or so and they didn’t immediately go up, they should be up now. :)
I’ll reply to them soon too!
Support FireBug developer/development
FireBug saves me, as a independent developer, and at my company literally hundreds of hours of time that would normally have been spent debugging a lot of stuff by hand. I never knew the situation of the enigmatic developer behind the plugin, besides that he rocks my socks, and Asa Dotzler gives some background information:
What many of you may not know, even those of you who have been...
Herschell, lets talk
This is ridiculous!
All in all, I think that’s 16 times in a row! Geeeeeeez!! :)
Cool idea for Google Mail + Google Docs
The interactive department at my company, Stone Ward makes extensive use of Google Calendar, Google Docs, and Gmail (I do my whole life in these services, but it’s even better when I use them for actual work!) to make our collective lives easier. We collaborate in documents in real time, send meeting invitations back and forth, we can see when our schedules are full, etc.
Today I had a cool...
A yummy day of shopping
Yesterday Jacqui and I went shopping to (hopefully) get our xmas gifts all set. We hit up some cool shops on Armitage Ave. and stopped midway at Ethel’s Chocolate Lounge to rest our feet. While Ethel’s is not as “Haute Coture” as Vosges Haut Chocolate up the street, they’ve got a larger lounge and a bigger selection of chocolates. We ordered a “Chocolates and Hot Cocoa for Two” which means we...
Firebug 1.0 Beta Screencast
I use Firebug all the time at work and in my freelance and personal web projects. I honestly don’t know how I’d get by without it these days, and I find myself wanting something similar for those times when IE goes retarded; it’d be really nice to see inside it’s twisted brain.
For a quick introduction to what Firebug can do for you, check out this quick screen cast of someone using the new...
Truthiness named word of the year by...
Thanks guys! [I knew we could do it]!
The word – if one can call it that – best summed up 2006, according to an online survey by dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster. “Truthiness” was credited to Comedy Central satirist Stephen Colbert, who defined it as “truth that comes from the gut, not books.”
Check out the power we wield:
Other Top 10 finishers included “war,”...
Dreamhost to offer free hosting to non-profit...
Just another reason why Dreamhost is an awesome company. I saw this in my monthly newsletter:
DreamHost offers a FREE Strictly Business plan to non-profit, charitable, organizations registered in the United States. This discount applies to a single Strictly Business hosting plan per non-profit, hosted within only one account, for US-based 501(c)(3) organizations. Account extras, add-ons, and...
LeafyHost
If you own your own business or have explored running your own business, it would do you well to read this synopsis of a business in the progress of a meltdown. LeafyHost really screwed over their customers, so read this and find out how you can better improve communication with yours.
P.S. You can still get a great deal on web hosting at DreamHost using this promo code: JUSTINBAILEY. It...