free
I've been cleaning out my closets and shelves over the last week and have some stuff that I no longer need and don't want to throw away. Want anything?
Free Stuff
- Dreamweaver Ultradev 4 Bible
- Building Dreamweaver 4 Extensions
- Teach Yourself HTML and XHTML in 21 Days
- Direct From Dell (audio tape)
- Waiting for Guffman (vhs)
- User-Centered Web Development
- Skip Intro: Flash Usability and Interface Design
There no catch. I'm just doing some spring cleaning. I'll even pay for postage in the lower 48 states. Just contact me if you want one of the things on the list and we'll set something up.
In other news...
Watching
Browsing
- David LaChapelle
- Friends of the High Line
- Abandoned Subway Stations
- NYC Romscapes
- NOT IF BUT WHEN
- Byrdhouse
That's all for now. Seriously, contact me if you want any of the free stuff.
TGUK
The Get Up Kids' new album is out. You can listen to it here and then pick up a copy. I got mine from the iTunes store.
As an added bonus you can catch them this Saturday at the Triple Rock...if you have tickets. The show is sold out with little or no hope of tickets at the door. In typical fashion I didn't plan ahead and missed out.
There are so few bands that I'd go see live and I'm actually kind of bummed about not being able to see this show. If anybody reading this knows somebody who knows somebody that can get a ticket from someone they know, let me know.
subways
The subway systems of the world reminded me that I wanted to order this, which I just did.
Not so Splenda
Splenda gives me a headache. Last week I tried a new low-calorie orange juice that uses the sweetener and got a dull headache. I tried it again today with the same result. It's going down the drain.
NYC Subway Stats
I got the New York City subway map shower curtain today. My apartment smells like cheap plastic and my nose is burning from the fumes.
The packaging listed some facts about the subway system from 1999. I looked up some more current statistics for your enjoyment:
New York City's first official subway system began operation on October 27, 1904.
There are 28 subway lines, 490 stations, 6,464 subway cars and 685 miles of track.
On an average day, the system handles over 7 million passengers!
Longest ride: Take the A train (31 miles from 207th street out to Far Rockaway in Queens)
In 2003, it cost almost 5 billion dollars to operate the entire NYC transit system, which employs 48,000 people.
reuse and recycle
Last week at work we got rid of a lot of old computer equipment. One thousand pounds of dead PC's, printers, laptops and monitors were hauled off and taken to a recycling center. I felt bad about getting rid of all of it, but we were out of storage room and something had to be done.
Computer recycling is something that I think a lot about. Every time I want to throw away an old cable or case I can't help but think that there is someone out there that could use it. For that reason I have more old computer junk sitting around than I'll ever need. I try to give computers to friends and family when I can, but that's not always possible.
A recent article in Wired gave me some validation for keeping my old stuff. The article basically makes the point that it is most efficient to use computer equipment as long as possible. The cost of computers has come down so much that computers are literally becoming disposable, which I'm not sure is a positive trend.
Before you throw out that old computer, think about rebuilding it and donating it to a non-profit, school or other organization. There are other cool uses for outdated equipment, like learning Linux, building a firewall or building the ultimate gaming machine.
j dubs
The only thing better than discovering great sites on your own is to have someone else find them for you. J found 28mm.org and the Jay-Z Construction Set. There's another little gem in his latest post, but I'll let you discover that.
In other news...
I now have dual monitors on my Mac, which I can't believe I've been living without. It makes Pro Tools a dream and Photoshop even more fun to use.
I've officially got the layout for my redesign nailed down with just one minor CSS issue in IE5/Mac that I'm willing to live with. I'm currently fixated on designing a header graphic. I have a simple idea that I like and am trying to make better.
I might wait until May 1st to relaunch with the new design. For years I've enjoyed checking out May 1st Reboot and think I'll participate this year.
Bluish Redesign
Everyone's favorite Alison has redesigned bluishorange.com. Do I miss the old design? A little. Do I like the new design? Yep.
Alison has a way with words and images that has kept me coming back for more since I began reading blogs.
A$P.NET
I spent all day at ASP.NET training. It's fun being out of work and learning something that I can add to the bag o' tricks. We're using Visual Studio .NET in the course, which is cool and strange at the same time. I haven't used IDE's very much, so I feel a little clumsy in it. I have four more days to go, so I'm sure it'll get better. I can't wait to start building .NET applications at work. If I have to stick to Microsoft stuff during the sunny hours, it at least seems to be more fun developing with .NET over classic ASP.
Today we covered the basics of the .NET Framework, how to use the IDE and setting up "solutions" and projects. The teacher is great and really taking the time to make sure we fully understand not only what is happening, but why.
I don't have a good idea as to the quality of .NET's html output, but what I've seen so far has been brutal. Lots of code soup with style properties defined for each element. I'll ask about implementing css when the time is right and post back. Anyone else have good or bad experience in this regard?
On a lighter note, I got my hair cut tonight. Anne (the girl who does the cutting) said that I had "human helmet", which I thought was hilarious! My hair got so long that all I could do was part it and mat it down. She fixed it while telling me about her aunt that had a monkey as a pet. Sweet.
PIP
I'm so tired that I'm about ready to tip over, but that doesn't mean I don't have some good stuff to share. Here goes...
Today in my ASP.NET class the teacher showed a site that I was surprised I haven't found it before. It's a collection of some common and uncommon regular expressions WITH a form that you can test them in. Nice. RegExLib.com.
Some of the best writing about web development issues is happening over at Asterisk. A lot of sites talk about code endlessly, which is a GOOD THING. However, it's refreshing to read Keith's thoughts that tend to focus on process, implementation and people. Oh yeah, he even serves up a fresh Song Of the Week in a nifty little Flash player.
Last but not least, ditch the white ear-buds and hide your iPod.
gmail
If this isn't an April Fool's joke, I'll be happy.
