A blog on content management and digital experiences
That's a Lot of Games!
Oreos + Marshmallows!
Take a handful of marshmallows and a tablespoon of butter and microwave for about 20 seconds or until the Marshmallows grow too big (best to watch while it cooks).
Mix, then dip in the Oreos and let them cool off in the fridge.
Eat until you get sick (that's two Oreos for me).
Depending on how much butter is in the mixture the coating will be anywhere from soft and chewey taffey texture to hard toffee candy-like. Good luck with the dishes!
About MyBlogLog
About MyBlogLog
One of my favorite features of the Web is the ability to find like-minded users and communities covering all kinds of interesting topics.
The MyBlogLog Yahoo service attempts to join, connect, and build communities around blog readerships. It lets you connect your various existing online services through . It also lets blog readers interact on a level higher than just comments left on posts.
I'm going to give it a try. While I do enjoy the single sign-on features of Web services such as Yahoo, Google, and Windows Live -- connecting several of my existing online presences is both exciting and scary!
I think the pros could be the creation of more accountability online and greater chances for online social connections between like-minded blog readers. The cons follow the same idea in that the level of exposure is increased and users may find themselves accountable for comments and attitudes that were much more "passable" when made anonymously.
One of my favorite features of the Web is the ability to find like-minded users and communities covering all kinds of interesting topics.
The MyBlogLog Yahoo service attempts to join, connect, and build communities around blog readerships. It lets you connect your various existing online services through . It also lets blog readers interact on a level higher than just comments left on posts.
I'm going to give it a try. While I do enjoy the single sign-on features of Web services such as Yahoo, Google, and Windows Live -- connecting several of my existing online presences is both exciting and scary!
I think the pros could be the creation of more accountability online and greater chances for online social connections between like-minded blog readers. The cons follow the same idea in that the level of exposure is increased and users may find themselves accountable for comments and attitudes that were much more "passable" when made anonymously.
Beans Beans, Some Like Them Photosynth'd
So it's not exactly a bowl of chili, but per popular demand* here's my very own personal photosynth!
Notes (not all about Photosynth):
Notes (not all about Photosynth):
- Okay so it wasn't even a request, but one of MadCookie's comments that made me think of doing this
- It's a Microsoft Live tool so you don't need to remember another password (unless, of course, you don't have a Microsoft Passport or hotmail account yet)
- Take more pictures than you think are necessary--I felt I took more than the 19 pictures in the photosynth.
- Embedding the photosynth on the blog seemed to slow down the page load
Firebug confirmed it added about a second. But considering the whole page took 8 seconds to load, I have other issues to consider. - I'm not sure if Photosynthing a particular brand of canned food would be a copyright or a Photosynth EULA violation. I'm not suggesting I make that particular brand of beans, nor am I trying to sell it!
- Once I decided to make this, it took 2 minutes to take the pictures (really, I checked the timestamps), and took just a few minutes more to install Photosynth. The processing took the longest, but I just walked away and did other stuff while I waited.
Ascent Stage: How to create a LEGO mosaic
Ascent Stage: How to create a LEGO mosaic
After I got done with my hammer icon, I wanted to create something for the ARCH baby blog (Christy and my initials can be arranged as ARCH and CHAR-we're "CHAR" only if we're in an evil mood, muahaha).
After drawing with Paint Shop for a little, I thought "hey, this'd be cool in Legos!"
So I started up the Lego Creator and made a few designs. Starting with a simple "ARCH" and ending up with a more arch-like design.
The legos reminded me of bitmaps, of course, so out of curiosity I googled "lego dithering." I wanted to at least consider, if not really create, how detailed a lego logo (hehe) I could make.
The search pulled up this lego mosaic blog entry. Great stuff (was that first comment ["dude, you're killing me"] an inside joke, a compliment, or one-upsmanship, I can't tell)! I searched for dithering instead of anti-aliasing because the basic lego colors aren't close enough in color tones to pull it off.
I tested it on our dog Mocha and tried a few options. I guess I'll need to get the starting plate and the legos!
Which version do you like?
Some notes about creating the bitmaps...
After I got done with my hammer icon, I wanted to create something for the ARCH baby blog (Christy and my initials can be arranged as ARCH and CHAR-we're "CHAR" only if we're in an evil mood, muahaha).
After drawing with Paint Shop for a little, I thought "hey, this'd be cool in Legos!"
So I started up the Lego Creator and made a few designs. Starting with a simple "ARCH" and ending up with a more arch-like design.
The legos reminded me of bitmaps, of course, so out of curiosity I googled "lego dithering." I wanted to at least consider, if not really create, how detailed a lego logo (hehe) I could make.
The search pulled up this lego mosaic blog entry. Great stuff (was that first comment ["dude, you're killing me"] an inside joke, a compliment, or one-upsmanship, I can't tell)! I searched for dithering instead of anti-aliasing because the basic lego colors aren't close enough in color tones to pull it off.
I tested it on our dog Mocha and tried a few options. I guess I'll need to get the starting plate and the legos!
Which version do you like?
Source image was this one:
Some notes about creating the bitmaps...
- The extreme close-up and crop increases the resolution for Mocha's face. Otherwise, if I did more of the picture, less detail would be seen for his features
- I had to modify the instructions (much thanks to blog Ascent State's author John Tolva for the inspiration) to Paint Shop Pro.
- Mainly Effects > Distortion Effects > Pixelate instead of Mosaic, setting block width and height ("cell size") to 10
- I wasn't sure how to make a custom pallete, so I just decreased the color depth to 6 colors and then changed it to gray scale.
- View > Grid shows the grid in Paintshop
You can get help counting the colors by using view > palletes > histogram to see the colors. Normally the historgram would be used to tell if your picture's distribution of colors or contrast was correct at a glance. In this case, we can actually count how many lego pieces we need!
How to add a personalized favicon (favorite icon) to your Blogger blog
How to add a personalized favicon (favorite icon) to your Blogger blog
I'm looking to create a nice little createandbreak icon for this blog. Maybe a little hammer icon or a screw driver perhaps. I'll start with just a hammer. I tried a screw-driver crossing a hammer, but that looked too much like an icon for "tools and options." That and it's hard to manually do the anti-aliasing by hand (okay not too hard, just time-consuming).
I made the following with paint shop pro (version 8.10, mind you) just drawing around in the bitmap of a 16x16 256 colored image. I did use one of their preset gradients, but besides that, it's all me!
I'm looking to create a nice little createandbreak icon for this blog. Maybe a little hammer icon or a screw driver perhaps. I'll start with just a hammer. I tried a screw-driver crossing a hammer, but that looked too much like an icon for "tools and options." That and it's hard to manually do the anti-aliasing by hand (okay not too hard, just time-consuming).
I made the following with paint shop pro (version 8.10, mind you) just drawing around in the bitmap of a 16x16 256 colored image. I did use one of their preset gradients, but besides that, it's all me!
Not super cool just yet, but I'll keep at it. At least it's my very own icon. (You can even tell by searching for "hammer icon" and seeing the definitely more professional icons out there)
Here it is in-action in Firefox (2):
Not showing up in IE7 yet-possibly because it's the wrong format (gif instead of .ico). I set it as a favorite, but maybe it takes something else to make it work.
The fun things about bitmaps is the illusion anti-aliasing does.
Maybe I can pick better color-choices, but look at how "crude" the actual pixels look zoomed in.
I picked up this drawing "skill" back when I tried to make bitmaps of the USS Enterprise using just MS Paint. I found that filling in the corners with differing shades of grays and colors made that blending effect. So instead of jagged lines, we get nice anti-aliased diagonals and curves. Basically brightered colors seem to be bigger while darker colors seemed to make things shrink.
It kind of blew me away the first time I saw a program do such lines in real-time. If it wasn't for old school MS Paint and other basic draw programs, we'd take it for granted that angled lines just look "normal."
Photosynth
Photosynth
They got an upgrade -- you can upload your own photosynths now!
Update: Made a can of beans photosynth!
They got an upgrade -- you can upload your own photosynths now!
Update: Made a can of beans photosynth!
Best Keyboard Shortcuts
Best Keyboard Shortcuts
Subscribe to this RSS feed for cool computer shortcuts. :-)
"Save a mouse, use a keyboard"
Subscribe to this RSS feed for cool computer shortcuts. :-)
"Save a mouse, use a keyboard"
Blogger Draft Features
I added the reaction feature to this blog. It's a part of blogger's draft features.
I enabled the ratings and the custom feedback options. I'll keep it on until I lament my lack of readership and/or something breaks!
I enabled the ratings and the custom feedback options. I'll keep it on until I lament my lack of readership and/or something breaks!
Gmail is Smart... and scary!
Wow. I just saw in gmail while using Firefox (2) that it knew firebug was running (or maybe installed).
How does gmail do it?
Anyway, the warning was the following in white text on a red background. I kept the link so you can see the explanation and options (basically turn off certain settings in firebug).
Firebug is known to make Gmail slow unless it is configured correctly. Fix this Hide
I'm not alone of course, nor am I particularly timely in seeing this.
How does gmail do it?
Anyway, the warning was the following in white text on a red background. I kept the link so you can see the explanation and options (basically turn off certain settings in firebug).
Firebug is known to make Gmail slow unless it is configured correctly. Fix this Hide
I'm not alone of course, nor am I particularly timely in seeing this.
When to Complain
MadCookie once pointed out that team members at work should report problems with their computers to the help desk (I'm pretty sure there's even a written policy to do so).
The idea is that if only certain people complain, especially if there's a real problem, then the issues may not be addressed. So the "complainers" end up looking like they're crying wolf.
Additionally, if we don't complain to the right people, then there's little accountability and the right people can't fix the right problem.
This reminds me of arguments with the significant other. It's frustrating to get the complaint "you always.." or "every single time..." or another along the idea that I've consistently wronged her.
My counter is "why am I just finding out now?" or "why didn't you tell me sooner?"
There's a balance to be found though. Because if we constantly complain without working on solutions and improving communication with each other, then we end up just nagging.
So maybe if the right people complain about the right things, then the right recipients of those complaints and find the right solutions... right?
The idea is that if only certain people complain, especially if there's a real problem, then the issues may not be addressed. So the "complainers" end up looking like they're crying wolf.
Additionally, if we don't complain to the right people, then there's little accountability and the right people can't fix the right problem.
This reminds me of arguments with the significant other. It's frustrating to get the complaint "you always.." or "every single time..." or another along the idea that I've consistently wronged her.
My counter is "why am I just finding out now?" or "why didn't you tell me sooner?"
There's a balance to be found though. Because if we constantly complain without working on solutions and improving communication with each other, then we end up just nagging.
So maybe if the right people complain about the right things, then the right recipients of those complaints and find the right solutions... right?
Does it have to be natural for it to be good for you?
I've been thinking about how things that are "natural" must be good for us, right?
First of all, I do think that in general, the more natural version of something should be better for us. So whole foods would be better than processed foods. Fresh is better than frozen is better than canned. Fresh air, organic food, preservative-free products, exercise, BPA-free baby safe products, and so on are all good for us.
I'm not saying that we should only eat natural foods, just that it's better to eat them more often and there's a trade-off between convenience, price, and the nutrient qualities of food.
There's two catches.
First of all, companies will try to sell us things on the idea that they are natural, and therefore better for us. All-natural, organic doughnuts might be made with "natural" ingredients, but that wouldn't make them healthy.
The other catch is that we don't live "in the wild" or exactly as our ancestors did. We have concerns and situations that exist today that didn't thousands of years ago. So maybe the fact that we eat very different diets than we did before along with the fact that we live longer lives require us to compensate in "unnatural" ways.
Things that come to mind are
First of all, I do think that in general, the more natural version of something should be better for us. So whole foods would be better than processed foods. Fresh is better than frozen is better than canned. Fresh air, organic food, preservative-free products, exercise, BPA-free baby safe products, and so on are all good for us.
I'm not saying that we should only eat natural foods, just that it's better to eat them more often and there's a trade-off between convenience, price, and the nutrient qualities of food.
There's two catches.
First of all, companies will try to sell us things on the idea that they are natural, and therefore better for us. All-natural, organic doughnuts might be made with "natural" ingredients, but that wouldn't make them healthy.
The other catch is that we don't live "in the wild" or exactly as our ancestors did. We have concerns and situations that exist today that didn't thousands of years ago. So maybe the fact that we eat very different diets than we did before along with the fact that we live longer lives require us to compensate in "unnatural" ways.
Things that come to mind are
- brushing and flossing teeth
- seatbelts
- vitamins
- gym memberships
In the end, I think its important that we assess what benefits "unnatural" products or procedures convey.
I like the benefits-risks approach outlined by the mnuemonic BRAIN (I'm borrowing this from the medical procedure section of a childbirth class I attended).
Benefits - what are the benfits of this product/procedure?
Risks - are there any risks?
Alternatives - are there any alternatives?
Intuition - what does your inutition tell you?
Now? - does this have to happen or do you need to buy this right now?
So rather than embrace every new technological development and healthfood or do the opposite and shun products in a luddite way, I think it's best if we find a healthy and safe way forward while measuring the risks and benefits of both the natural and unnatural. Informed choices are key.
Viewzi Corporate Home - Ninja Turtle Office
Viewzi Corporate Home - Ninja Turtle Office
I'd venture we have a Ninja Turtle-type team at work.
But with everyone a techie, we can't all be Donatello, can we?
I'd venture we have a Ninja Turtle-type team at work.
But with everyone a techie, we can't all be Donatello, can we?
Viewzi — What are you looking for?
Viewzi — What are you looking for?
Found this search site in this month's Wired magazine (p073 Sep 2008--playlist: September section).
It filters results into separate views. One of them is a video preview of multiple sources all at the same time.
Pretty crazy stuff. The future is now!
Found this search site in this month's Wired magazine (p073 Sep 2008--playlist: September section).
It filters results into separate views. One of them is a video preview of multiple sources all at the same time.
Pretty crazy stuff. The future is now!
Createandbreak gets new address.
Blogger Buzz (the announcements shown on the blogger dashboard page) had a reminder to check out all the features of Blogger. The custom url option seemed interesting. We can get not only the regular http://yourblogname.blogspot.com as well as the bring-your-own-hosting option, but we can sign up for a url right from the interface through google (my purchase ended up securing the site through go daddy; I'm not sure if other resellers are contracted as well).
I took the lazy route and paid the $10 to register www.createandbreak.net.
I took the lazy route and paid the $10 to register www.createandbreak.net.
What's Old is New Again.
There was a concept in the computer programming classes I've taken that suggests older technologies and methods are revisited as software and hardware evolves.
So even though we have higher level programming languages, the lower level languages are still appropriate for the more limited machines or devices. Kind of reminds me of ubiquitos bacteria--despite (or probably more appropriately, because of) evolution, microbes are the true rulers of the planet in both sheer numbers and possibly even in physical mass.
The examples given were appliances that are programed with low-level assembly language. That was a few years ago, so now you can see it not only in devices, but elsewhere with html coding.
In the earlier days of the Web, the tighter and lighter the html code was, the quicker it ran. As we increased bandwidth and processing power, it seemed like we could get away with bulkier and possibly "sloppier" coding styles. Then small web devices with limited memory and processing power (mobile phones) showed we still need clean and light html (well-formed, valid html is almost always a good idea).
So even as mobile devices are getting faster and more powerful (think iphone and others like it), we will still see the web, web browers, or some kind of web functionality needing clean and fast html. That web browser connected with your GPS device or built into your fridge may need clean and simple html in addition to perhaps low level assembly to create the OS.
Got any better examples? I think I'll revisit this topic.
So even though we have higher level programming languages, the lower level languages are still appropriate for the more limited machines or devices. Kind of reminds me of ubiquitos bacteria--despite (or probably more appropriately, because of) evolution, microbes are the true rulers of the planet in both sheer numbers and possibly even in physical mass.
The examples given were appliances that are programed with low-level assembly language. That was a few years ago, so now you can see it not only in devices, but elsewhere with html coding.
In the earlier days of the Web, the tighter and lighter the html code was, the quicker it ran. As we increased bandwidth and processing power, it seemed like we could get away with bulkier and possibly "sloppier" coding styles. Then small web devices with limited memory and processing power (mobile phones) showed we still need clean and light html (well-formed, valid html is almost always a good idea).
So even as mobile devices are getting faster and more powerful (think iphone and others like it), we will still see the web, web browers, or some kind of web functionality needing clean and fast html. That web browser connected with your GPS device or built into your fridge may need clean and simple html in addition to perhaps low level assembly to create the OS.
Got any better examples? I think I'll revisit this topic.
Traditions
Expecting a (first) child has really made me reflect on my world view and how I should raise my daughter.
In terms of traditions, I ponder what's possible, doable, and worthwhile--especially since the baby will be 3 months old in time for the Holidays (I hear that Christy and I won't get much presents and it'll all be for the baby--which is fine by me since I often end up doing that "one-for-you-one-for-me" kind of shopping anyways).
I've grown up with Christmas and was so in-tune with the Xmas vibe that I even faked a visit from Santa for my younger sister when I thought Santa wouldn't come one year. I actually pretended to be one of Santa's little helpers and left a gift, sampled the cookies, and wrote a note. Looking back, I ponder why it was okay to lie and pretend, but not go all the way and pretend to be Santa-himself!
The "real" Santa was oblivious to the earlier-in-the-evening visit and even ate the already-half-eaten cookies and left my sister another gift. She's too clever anyway and figured it out.
I figured out the deal with Santa myself after the gifts got progressively less-and-less impressive and more-and-more "mom-like." I think the year I got 4 quarters taped to a piece of ruled paper with Mom's handwriting on it sealed the deal for me.
Note that I did enjoy my childhood and still appreciate my mom's open communication style and focus on a well rounded upbringing for us (read activities like dance, martial arts, after school tutoring, piano and violin lessons, singing lessons, etc... even into my college years).
I wonder if Festivus (A holiday for the rest of us) might hold some interesting and fun traditions for my new family.
In terms of traditions, I ponder what's possible, doable, and worthwhile--especially since the baby will be 3 months old in time for the Holidays (I hear that Christy and I won't get much presents and it'll all be for the baby--which is fine by me since I often end up doing that "one-for-you-one-for-me" kind of shopping anyways).
I've grown up with Christmas and was so in-tune with the Xmas vibe that I even faked a visit from Santa for my younger sister when I thought Santa wouldn't come one year. I actually pretended to be one of Santa's little helpers and left a gift, sampled the cookies, and wrote a note. Looking back, I ponder why it was okay to lie and pretend, but not go all the way and pretend to be Santa-himself!
The "real" Santa was oblivious to the earlier-in-the-evening visit and even ate the already-half-eaten cookies and left my sister another gift. She's too clever anyway and figured it out.
I figured out the deal with Santa myself after the gifts got progressively less-and-less impressive and more-and-more "mom-like." I think the year I got 4 quarters taped to a piece of ruled paper with Mom's handwriting on it sealed the deal for me.
Note that I did enjoy my childhood and still appreciate my mom's open communication style and focus on a well rounded upbringing for us (read activities like dance, martial arts, after school tutoring, piano and violin lessons, singing lessons, etc... even into my college years).
I wonder if Festivus (A holiday for the rest of us) might hold some interesting and fun traditions for my new family.