tomybeat

Firefox 3 launched iGlasses…

admin — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 07:02:43 +0000

I really don’t know what caused it, but when I installed FF3 a while ago it also launched iGlasses. The iSight indicator didn’t turn on, so it might not be a privacy issue, but that’s kinda of freaky nonetheless…

admin — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 06:59:12 +0000

“When you speak two languages it is like having two minds, when you live in two cultures, you have lived two lives.” – Anonymous

[via]

Creating a style guide

admin — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 10:19:19 +0000

Recently we had an issue with CSS styles in one of our applications at work and I’d asked if there was some kind of style guide we could use for reference. All I got was a short, cynical laugh and a “Yeah, right,” from my colleague. As luck would have it, Lisa Bolton has written this wonderful article for A List Apart about writing a style guide.

Hopped on the Git bandwagon

admin — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 18:46:57 +0000

Installed git, GitNub and signed up for a free git repository account at github this morning. It all seems pretty good so far. Took me a while to figure out how to push my local copy onto the remote repository and get GitNub to display my changes, but I think I’ve got the hang of it. I’ll be using git to manage the source for my afore mentioned new Expression Engine theme. github’s servers seem quite fast and the prices are low, so if all goes well, I might actually sign up for a paid account. I’d always hosted my SVN repositories at DreamHost, but it’s way too slow.

Dreamhost + Phusion Passenger

admin — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:23:06 +0000

I’m a bit late to the party, but it looks like Dreamhost has now enabled Phusion Passenger for deployment of Ruby on Rails apps on hosting accounts. I’ve always been reluctant to deploy Rails apps on DH because of all the complicated deployment issues regarding DH’s Ruby environment. Now it looks like I can just go ahead and upload my app without any worries. Thanks Dreamhost!

Versions SVN client finally releases a beta!

admin — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 06:38:07 +0000

Go now! http://www.versionsapp.com/

Hisashiburi

admin — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:58:20 +0000

Yes, contrary to popular belief, I’m still alive and so is this blog (barely). I just don’t have time to be on the interwebs as much as I used to.

I’m gonna be moving to ExpressionEngine 2.0 as soon as it is released. WordPress is great, but the fact that EE will be built on top of Code Igniter means I can create my own apps easier without the wrestling match I have with WP every time I try to renew this site (or any other site I’ve built with it in the past). WP is great for blogging and if you have simple requirements, but if you’re like me and are customising/extending it to provide CMS functionality, it can be quite a pain in the ass sometimes. On the other hand, I still greatly prefer using WP as a CMS than Joomla, Xoops, etc. Personally, I prefer getting bare bones functionality and having the option to add on.

With the decision to move (back) to EE, I’ve decided to prepare for the update by moving back to EE 1.6 and I’m creating a new design. (So what else is new? I’ve said that so many times now, but never actually been happy with any design to release it to the public.) Until then, I don’t expect to be writing much here unless there’s something that really must be said. See you after the migration…Whenever that is…Ja!

P.S. Things might be a bit shaky here as I migrate stuff. It’s not called a “sandbox” for nothing.

Amazing graffiti

admin — Fri, 09 May 2008 09:19:37 +0000

One of the most beautiful examples of graffiti I’ve seen lately. These guys ripped it up!

Retna x Mac x Estevan Oriol

A lot of street artists cop flak for their art, but how could an image like this be considered a nuisance? If only there were more art like this on the streets, I reckon people would be happier. It’s like walking past a free public art gallery.

via mashkulture.net

When the ‘wrong’ way is the ‘right’ way

admin — Mon, 05 May 2008 20:30:08 +0000

I have to reformat my HDD again because stupid Adobe PS3 doesn’t install on a case-sensitive system. “WTF?!” you say? Yeah, I’m with ya…

There’s fixes for the problem out there, but unfortunately, I don’t have CS3 installed on my old PB…Maybe I should go do that instead of reformatting. But the problem here is the developers at Adobe. WTF were they thinking by not supporting case-sensitive systems? Maybe it’s just that I had always assumed while programming that case-sensitivity was the norm and case-insensitivity the exception. It’s such a simple concept, but I guess those guys are programming in a world of their own.

モーニング娘。- リゾナントブルー

admin — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:07:56 +0000

I’ve been catching up on the current status of momusu. lately and things seem to be going well. Jun Jun and Lin Lin seem to be fitting into the group great, not to mention their Japanese is excellent compared to when they first started. Jun Jun’s Japanese actually sounds better than Lin Lin’s in my opinion. She doesn’t have as strong a Chinese accent as Lin Lin does. Plus, watching their promo tour to Taiwan was really cool. Jun Jun still seems a bit wary in Japanese, but when she was speaking in Chinese, she was really relaxed, competent and enjoying herself. I hope she brings her character out more because it seems like she’d be a great combi with a few of the other girls (e.g. Eri, Reina and Gakki-san).

Resonant Blue is momusu.‘s latest single. It’s a more mature sounding song than their previous singles. It seems like most of the HP groups are releasing these types of singles these days. I guess it works since members like Aika act quite mature for their age. The costumes from the official PV remind me a lot of the ones they wore in 浪漫〜ＭＹ　ＤＥＡＲ　ＢＯＹ〜. But, I prefer the Studio Lesson version to the official PV. You can actually see everyone dancing through most of the video. Plus, it looks more like a scene from a movie rather than their usual studio shot video for a change. The song itself is a bit repetitive for me to make it one of my favorites, but it’s definitely one of their better songs since 悲しみトワイラト.

Watching the Studio Lesson PV version, I was completely reminded of what good dancers Reina and Kamei were. Kamei needs to be given a center position in one of their songs. Her singing is good (stays in tune most of the time) and she dances better than Koharu. Of course, they’re not anywhere near as good as Ai, but they’re a damn sight better than Koharu. I really wish they’d stop giving Koharu so many leading positions. She can’t sing (Listen to her live and you’ll understand.) and she can’t dance. She’s been in the group for about a year now. It’s not like she’s a noob and doesn’t know any better. I even prefer Aika’s dancing to Koharu’s. Her dancing has really improved since her debut. She’s not half as unco looking as she was before.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Just a quick observation of the group’s dynamics. I was watching some old school videos from back in the 4th gen days and comparing them to the current line up, things are much better now than they were while Yossie and Miki were in the group. Seems like these days, every one is getting a chance to show their characters, while previously, only a few really stood out from the group. That’s not all together Yossie or Miki’s fault. They had strong characters that people were familiar with from the Golden Era, and it’s just that they as “personalities”, were what defined most of the public’s idea of what momusu. had been. For example, while Reina’s still pretty quiet in her own way, she seems to have/take more opportunities to show her character these days. Most peoples’ image of momusu. is from the 4th gen era. For the current line up to stay successful, they need to forge their own image that’s current with the times.

This year is momusu.‘s 10th anniversary and rehashing all the old hits from the Golden Era with the current members is probably one of Tsunku’s better ideas. You take all the old songs that people liked and associate them with the new line up. In that way, people transfer whatever emotional/sentimental connection they had with the old songs/group to the new line up. Genius! Well, that’s just my crazy theory anyway.