Creuzer – Page 169 – Random things Creuzer

Blog Template

Is it bad that I am a web developer and use a default template for my blog?

I have had my blog for nearly a year now… Looking back… 10 days and 1 month short of a year it looks…

Tonight is my first major tweakage of the template. Well, I had added my Delicious bookmark’s tag cloud, Google calendar, and just a few weeks(?) ago I added my PicassaWeb photo album. Oh, this last week I added a Technorati search to the site too. I guess I have added to the template a fair bit.

After the Blogger Beta incident I am wanting to have my list of Labels in the WORST of the ways! Forbidden fruit tastes the best, right?

Playing around a bit, I had a thought. I host my own blog. I wonder what happens if I put PHP into my blogger template? By George, a little .htaccess magic, and it works!

Sweet!

OK, first thing’s first. I want to post to my main blog (this one) a running tally of updates to my car blog. I whipped up a little RSS reader that I include into my template and viola! Instant RSS Feed of my cars blog on my main blog!

WOOT WOOT

Stumbling block, no RSS feed for my labels.

DOH!

Guess I am going to have to roll my own. I have PHP take a peak into my /labels/ folder, read all the files, tally up the number of posts in each file, and create a tag cloud. How is that for a run-on sentence? The amazing thing is, it works. Really well. I love it!

OK, this calls for a re-think of my cobbled together right column. A bit of consultation with Stewie and I moved just about everything around. I think it works.

I still need to tweak the photo album as it doesn’t display quite right in FireFox. I also need to colorize my new Labels Tag Cloud.

What do you think?

Upgrading to Beta Blogger

How Frustrating.

I have been watching Blogger Beta for a while now, wanting access at the “labels” feature. These would give me a great way to organize my blog on topics and not just by date. My posts have a few natural groups and no easy way to clump them together.

I would switch to wordpress, simplog, or roll my own blog engine except that, well, I am a Google Geek and use all of their tools. Picassa & Docs (which is what I am writing this post in right now with), gmail, and the list goes on. Everything just works so well together. I don’t dislike blogger, I just want some of the “modern” features that beta promises.

So, today I come across http://knownissues.blogspot.com/2006/10/initial-release-of-blogthis-from-picasa.html which says Picassa is now supposed to work with Blogger Beta. Great! A friend tested it for me and he got it to work.

I make the switch.

Ohhps!

Guess what, it doesn’t work! I can’t use the new templates because I FTP publish my site (please don’t let FTP publishing die Blogger, PLEASE!). OK, no biggie, I am clever, I still have the original blog that I don’t FTP to my sever. I can play with the template there, and copy it to my main blog. WRONG. Well, when they publish an API, hopefully they let me emulate the features I want via AJAX or something.

However, the bad news doesn’t stop there! Oh No. I can’t publish to my main blogs with Picassa. I can publish to the test blog. Great. Either a template issue or an FTP issue. I did a lot of twiddleing with this and that. The only thing I can come up with is that it’s either the template or FTP publishing.

Blogger, what are you guys doing over there? Why does my choice in DISPLAYING a blog affect how your software ACCEPTS it?

Frustrated. I broke my blog even though I was being very careful not to.

HELP!

Pomegranates…

I was madder then a wet hen at work today. So I decided I needed to eat a Pomegranate.

I don’t think Pomegrantes are designed to be peeled like oranges. I hurt my thumb by lifting the nail trying to peel it this way.

I am a putz, I need to ptuz with stuff. To blow off steam from the day I needed to fiddle with something that I don’t have to worry about breaking. What better then eating a Chinese Apple as they are called one Kernal at a time. I am half way through eating my Pomegranate and I am feeling better aleady.

There is something rewarding about ripping an object apart and shoving the peices into your mouth after a hard day at work. Almost as relaxing as shooting a rifle.

Anyway, why I am mad. I again had the realization that organizations are run by people, and people by and by are basically clueless. I have been told, and have spent a lot of time at work operating under a particular premise. Well, I learned in the last 2 working days that the powers that be had no !@#$%^ clue and pulled said premise out of the only orface that is opposite the direction they SHOULD be looking. They would still be clueless tomarrow if I wasn’t there to figure it out for them.

I feel taken advantage of and lied to

Again

Did you know that a signifacant portion is under 3%. Feh…

***

I still remember the feeling when I realized a few years ago that the people who make stuff are just like you and me. Boeng airplanes, your car, guns, washmachines, microwaves. All designed by people. Persons. Individuals. The guy and gal that just walked past you on the sidewalk.

Bizarre

Creuzer: Introduction to growing your own furniture

In response to Stewie’s comment (it was too long of a comment):

I already thought of that…

5 acres of bar stools. 1 acre a year. I could sell them online!

Home Grown Barstools only at homegrownbarstools.com

Hrmm… I can create each one in a raised planter the width of the mower apart so I can mow around them easily. Bark mulch to keep the weeds down. Every 5 years, break the planters down, chip them up, till that acre with a tractor to refresh the dirt, incorporating the old mulch, and rebox and replant new stools.

I think I want clover instead of grass. And honey bees, yes, I want honey bees so I can have clover and apple honey! 1 free pint of honey for every stool purchased!

Gonna need a green house to get my seedlings started. Oh oh oh, and a workshop to make the stools… and a drying shed to cure the stool stumps after they have been cut, but before I can work them.

Now to make some interesting tops… I could do covered. I am thinking a nice inlaid wood top would be cool. So my workshop will need to also be set up to do wood inlays. Oh gosh, custom inlays – somebody’s fancy mountain cabin, 4 stools, 4 inlays from photos taken in each direction.

Now only if I had some land….

Introduction to growing your own furniture

OK, I found a new hobby! I SO want a set of stools and end tables made from grown furnature! This looks SO neat!

I want to make a full set of stools and tables out of grown furniture. I would probably need to make a few different hights as I am taller then some. But really tall stools for a bar would be cool tool! I guess that means I will need a bar for my uber-cool stools.

It would also really make nice looking patio furnature.

Hrmm…

I can dream, right?