Jason Griffey

…when you realize you know nothing.

*sigh*

I’m actively working as a “web specialist” for whatever that title is worth. But when I read about things like ajax web development, or PHP image functions, or even just browse through Justin’s blog and see what some people are doing with web design (this site is unreal…transparency, animated background, variable graphics on posts, and all with XHTML and Javascript…no Flash or other plugin necessary. All that is necessary is a standards compliant browser [sorry IE]). I could no more write this stuff than juggle elephants. I feel like I understand it, and I can champion it, even find novel ways to use it and instruct people about it…but I feel like I should learn how to DO it. Any tips on teaching a logical but otherwise underqualified web guy how to learn ajax, or even javascript in general?

The WikiPod. Such a great idea, especially if we can do specialized wikis, then tie them together with the wikipedia or something. A web of wikis…a WikiWeb. Or perhaps a Webiki.

The new hot title thing seems to be using non-round numbers for your lists on the web. We have 43 Folders, 11 Cool things that you can do with PHP, the 46 Best Freeware Utilities…I’ve noticed this for some time while browsing the del.icio.us popular list.

So I ask you, Interweb…WTF?

Listen to Terry Gross verbally smack Lynn Cheney around on Fresh Air. Lynn Cheney (the wife of Dick Cheney) has written a couple of children’s books, one on history. Terry calls her out on a number of issues, from revisionist history, patriotism, the women’s movement to gay marriage and Lynn’s gay daughter. Terry actually gets Lynn Cheney to say, on the record, that she does not support a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Very interesting stuff.

Originally seen on Bookslut.

Say hello to our new housemate, Indi. She’s a rescue that one of Betsy’s students found in the parking lot of a Wal-mart of all places. We agreed to foster her since the student got caught with her in the dorms, but I’m beginning to think that it may turn into an adoption more than a fostering. She’s soooooooooo cute! So far, she’s been wonderful. Once we see if the cats ever forgive us, we’ll have a better idea how she’s working out. EDIT: Here’s a few more pictures.

As to the name…lots of people have asked us about it. It originally sprang from a line from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, where Sean Connery tells Harrison Ford “We named the dog Indiana.” So…we named the dog Indiana. Plus, Indi can be short for Indigo, Indie music, or Indie Film, or just independent. So…Indi it is.

In reality, I just wanted an excuse to use my Sean Connery impression anytime someone asks me about her name. 😛

As told by my search engine queries:

Well, as Justin pointed out to me…my comment function was a bit wonky yesterday after my upgrade. Turns out that I was using Spam Karma 1.2 or so, when 1.8 was the newest version. After the update, it appears that it’s running ok, although I do want to tweak the settings a bit. I tried to post a simple text entry (no URL’s or other things to set off the spam capture) and it still routed me through a “type the text in this image” filter. I’d like to see if I can hit on a comfortable level of authentication that doesn’t feel forced.

Ok…after a ton of background work, I think I’m happy with the first draft of this. I’m working on another, more complex layout, but for now this will do.

The actual upgrade to WordPress 1.5 was easy and smooth…it was basically a matter of uploading, pressing a few buttons, and it was done. The hard part was rescuing all the customizations that I’d done to my old template. 1.5 has a completely different (and I must say, non-intuitive) templating system. Once I wrapped my head around it, it was fine. Actually, it was good…it basically compartmentalizes a great deal of the layout into subfiles, and then lets you deal with each. But at first it was confusing as hell.

Coolest new feature: the background image of the header is a dynamically generated PNG file that reflects how busy my blog is. More posts/more comments, the higher the pulse, thanks to a kickass plugin called WP Pulse. It will be interesting to see how it works.

Second coolest feature: WP 1.5 supports page creation…WYSIWYG page creation using the WP engine, but outside the blog timeline and independent of it. So I can create quick stand alone pages using the WP template of my choice. Very cool feature, and moves WP into almost a full fledged Content Management System.

Love to hear any feedback from you guys, and those of you that are running WordPress…dive on in, the water is fine!

If anyone visits today and gets odd templates or errors, I’m in the process of upgrading to WordPress 1.5, so there may be some rough water ahead.

So far, so good, though.