Against my better judgement, I’ve enhanced the spycam feature in the sidebar of this blog. Now if you click it, it launches a new pop-up window with a large version of the webcam that auto-refreshes every 30 seconds. Click!
Enhancing the Webcam
Archives for January 2005
Making the Leap to VoIP
Have you heard about Voice over IP (VoIP)? If not, I might have to ask what rock you’ve been hiding under. It seems like everytime I turn the TV on there’s another advertisement for Vonage (one of the major players).
If you don’t know what VoIP is, don’t feel bad. It’s a new technology and it’s actually a little confusing. Here’s how it works in a nutshell.
[Read more…] about Making the Leap to VoIP
Album Art
The Now Playing Gizmo is giving me a little grief. For some reason it rarely seems to find the album artwork. I constructed a little test page where you can compare the results of the Gizmo versus plain ol’ XML parsing using PHP. Until I get Gizmo to show pretty pictures on a regular basis, I’ve switched the Now listening to section in the sidebar to the non-Flash version.
What happened here?
You might have noticed I’ve done a bit of remodeling around the blog. I unapologetically borrowed a line from the Switchfoot song and made it the title of the blog. ‘More than fine’ sums up my goal for life, and it suits this little corner of my server just fine.
I also added some new graphic touches. I’m a very visual person. Even when I’m talking I like to use my hands or draw a picture for you. So I’ve added a graphic header. It’s a panaoramic image of a sunrise that I captured over Lake Elsinore on my daily commute to the office. Almost makes the distance worthwhile, doesn’t it?
I’ve tweaked by Flickr badge, now showing just three random images from my photo gallery. You can jump directly to the full image just by clicking on whatever catches your eye. I’ve written about Flickr before. It’s a really slick concept and I’m sure you’ll hear more about it in the future. One of my favorite features (besides the fact that it’s free) is that you can post comments about any of my public photos. I love feedback, so take a shot.
Those of you who know how I enjoy movies no doubt also know that I’m a long, long-time Netflix subscriber. I updated my Netflix bit to show the two most recently received DVDs. These are the movies I’m either just about to watch or I’ve neglected to mail back yet. In keeping with the visual changes, I’m showing the DVD cover rather than simply the title. If your curiosity is piqued, click a DVD for more info.
I’ve also (finally) configured Brandon Fuller’s excellent Now Playing plug-in. He has versions for either iTunes or Windows Media Player. As shocking as it may sound, I’m perfectly happy with WMP, so that’s what I’m using. I’ve further enhanced it with Jason Anderson’s very cool Now Playing Gizmo. This gives a great auto-updating Flash display. Check it out… it automatically refreshes to show what I’m currently playing.
Finally, I added a thumbnail view of the Room Five spycam. This is your little window into my world, updated every 30 seconds. Eventually I’ll get around to hooking that up to a larger, auto-refreshing view for the stalkers among you. Don’t get your hopes up though, unless a room full of computer gadgetry lights your fire.
So you’ve made it this far. You must have an opinion. Do me a favor? Click the comments link below and leave me some feedback. Thumbs up, thumbs down, please return my tree trimmer, whatever is on your mind.
The podium is yours.
Blogs vs. Forums
With blogs getting so much media attention these days, some people accustomed to forum-based communities are wondering if they’re missing the boat. Though blogs and forums are much the same from a mechanical perspective, they are worlds apart in application. What are those differences, and what are the implications for online communities such as BigBlueBall? Here are some thoughts I shared on the subject over at TheAdminZone.
Looking for a few good political blogs
The mass media landscape has always been dull, filled with wire stories and doctored for the masses. Where does one go for unabashedly biased, but honest journalism? Blogs.
[Read more…] about Looking for a few good political blogs
Learning Online
The internet has some great resources for online learning, but one of my personal favorites is sponsored by Hewlitt-Packard. The HP Learning Center has free online courses on a wide range of topics, including Introduction to Powerpoint, Running your small business with QuickBooks 2004, Adobe Photoshop 7 basics, and Building applications with Microsoft ASP.NET.
All of the courses are instructor-led, and feature two lessons per week. There are assignments, quizzes and a classroom forum where you can interact with your classmates and the instructor.
The HP Learning Center is an amazing, free resource that isn’t limited to consumers of HP products. The next semester begins on January 13th, so check it out.