Yesterday folks were talking about collaborating for a much needed presentation on IRC in the #lug/ip channel on freenode.net. I jumped into the conversation late, but in regards to the discussion of what IRC clients to cover, I chimed in that on the next release of the LUG/IP GNU/Linux, Xchat would be configured to automagically connect to irc.freenode.net and join #lug/ip. Immediately people began asking “What about Gaim?” My answer: I have no plans to do that. (more…)
March 17, 2006
October 21, 2005
New Digs at GnuJersey
gnujersey.org has a new look. Dave Harding provided the requirements, badges, and feedback. I hacked the css, added the required tags, and made the site look pretty.
There were requirements besides an updated look and feel. Standards compliance and browser compatibility were important. lynx(1) (a legendary text-mode web browser) support was specifically requested. This was easy to achieve because the original code was in great shape. Attractive printer output was Dave’s last requirement. I achieved this with a special print stylesheet that formats the page in black and white for a letter sized sheet of paper. You can see it in action by clicking on print preview. Dave will be distributing printed copies of gnujersey.org at computer festivals and other events.
I always have trouble selecting an appropriate color palatte - but in this case I got a pretty good idea from the start. I latched onto the theme that Jersey is the Garden State and worked from there. I’m kind of caught up in fall, which is one of my favorite seasons, and I’m impatiently waiting for those leaves to change colors. I decided to play off that with the orange link colors and the calendar icon. And you can’t have the Garden State and not have any green, so I added that to the logo and to some of the bullets on the sidebar as well.
Dave and I created each of the graphics using the GIMP or Inkscape. Both of us hacked using vi clones; Dave used nvi, and I used vim.
It’s a very simple design, and I think it serves the site well. If you have questions or comments, let Dave or me know, or post comments to this entry.
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October 17, 2005
Write Your Own XHTML Based Presentation
One of the (many) highlights of Web Essentials 2005 was Eric Meyer’s S5 (Simple Standards-Based Slide Show System. This month I was faced with having to prepare a presentation for the October LUG/IP meeting, and at the time I started I didn’t have an available wireless connection on my laptop with which to either a.) download and install OpenOffice, or b.) grab Eric’s code. I thought about what would be needed, rolled up my sleeves, and rolled my own. (more…)
October 2, 2005
Javascript Form Validation… no, Really!
It’s not hard to find examples of javascript form validation on the net. Just google and you’ll find plenty. Unfortunately, most examples only show how to check for different types of fields, and don’t show a complete solution. The result seems to be an internet flooded by poorly coded form validation… which ultimately leads to end user frustration.
(more…)
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February 12, 2005
Enclosure Arrived
Alright! My case arrived today at around 1:00PM. I was really expecting it to wait until Monday, but it got here.
I spent about 3 hours putting my box together. I took some pictures of the install process, and I should have details posted soon. Now I know it shouldn’t have taken that long, but the case is a little cramped, and I took a lot of extra time to make sure cable routing wasn’t a mess, and that everything was laid out cleanly. I really love this setup.
So of course, the dreaded thing happened. I got everything installed and wired up and plugged in, and I hit the power button and… Nothing happened. My heart sank into my stomach for a split second. But fortunately, the back of the case was facing me and I quickly noticed that the power switch on the power supply was turned off. We always forget about these, because we use the power button on the front of the box. So I flipped it on, and then hit the power button and… still nothing. Now I really had a problem. I unplugged the front panel USB and FireWire (thanks for the suggestion William), and it started up no problem. I subsequently plugged in the front mounted USB and it still works fine.
I haven’t tried plugging the firewire back in, but according to the specs from both the motherboard and case manuals, it *should* work.
Tomorrow I’m going to start installing Gentoo.
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