Recent articles

• This blog is doomed.

  Dec. 16, 2008

  Clearly I don't write here anymore - I leave content around a lot of places on the internet a few sentences at a time. You can see a lot of it in my lifestream. I suppose I'll reconfigure the front page of this blog to reflect that soon.

  continue reading This blog is doomed. (24 comments)

• Pretty exception emails in Django

  Nov. 28, 2007

  I work on a high-traffic Django site at work, and desipite the rigorous testing and near-mathematical-perfection of my code, I occasionally receive exception notices. Usually the default Django exception email is enough to quickly track down the problem, but sometimes things are less clear. I find the Django 'debug mode' error pages extremely useful, given that they show context around the offending line and local variable values for every frame in the traceback. The standard exception email sent to site admins when running in production mode, however, is far, far less useful.

  Fortunately, Django is pretty simple. There's not ...

  continue reading Pretty exception emails in Django (4 comments)

• Pre-pre-preview of the next Neoglam

  Nov. 19, 2007

  I've been quiet in this space due to working extra hours finishing up the django rewrite of Revver.com, and songwriting and practicing with MA:46. Now that Revver's site has launched, I have a little more time to spend writing articles and playing classic video games (System Shock 2, respect). Another thing that's taking up some of my free time is a redesign of Neoglam.com - in fact more than just a redesign, a reimplementation.

  Working with Django so intensely at my day job, I realized that it would be easier for me to write the ...

  continue reading Pre-pre-preview of the next Neoglam (1 comment)

• Barcamp LA 4 recap

  Nov. 5, 2007

  I spent a day at Barcamp LA this past saturday, and it was in fact inspiring! Whether the talks I attended hit or missed, each one inspired in me a half dozen ideas for new things to do or make. I met several excellent folks, including Eliot Philips, who was kind enough to let me store my motorcycle helmet in his car, Dan Kaminsky, who gave his excellent speech (ppt) on DNS rebinding that made us all fear for our lives and livelihoods, and Tom Longson, who had brain-stimulating things to say about wearable technology. Eric Gradman, who gave a ...

  continue reading Barcamp LA 4 recap (3 comments)

• Missing Tokyo, Surviving Los Angeles

  Oct. 7, 2007

  

  A week ago this morning I landed at LAX, home safe from Tokyo thanks to Korean Airlines. It was the end of two weeks' vacation with my girlfriend, Zoe. I looked out at the 405 as the plane made its approach, and thought "I never want to drive anywhere again." I grew up in the country, where everything was miles and miles apart, and then to a dreary suburban city that was anti-pedestrian not by malice but by laziness. Then I moved to Los Angeles, the city of the car, with its overcrowded bus lines and train that doesn't ...

  continue reading Missing Tokyo, Surviving Los Angeles (6 comments)

• A new set of tiles for OS X

  Aug. 19, 2007

  I believe that the Mac is well-suited to two types of people at nearly opposite ends of the user spectrum. First, the user who doesn't care to serve the computer nor optimize their use thereof (the "newbie" - a term used whether the user is new to computers or not). The second is the nearly hardcore power user - nearly hardcore because despite that they can handily fling text and files around without touching the mouse and spend considerable time typing commands into a shell (probably even programming), they for some reason cannot or do not wish to make the plunge ...

  continue reading A new set of tiles for OS X (6 comments)

• my clutter

  Aug. 6, 2007

  my clutter Originally uploaded by thedaniel

  No updates on my various web presences, but that doesn't mean I'm not doing anything. On my radar:

  • planning for my two-week trip to Japan
  • running [tiling window managers](http://www.suckless.org/wiki/wmii) on OS X
  • booking shows for my [awesome band](http://ma46.com)
  • python and ruby programming
  • motorcycle maintenance
  • tax refunds
  • cleaning up my filthy apartment (see attached image)
  • beating Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
  • reviewing my 3-400 level Japanese texts from college

  I'll write about some of this stuff soon, sure. In the meantime you ...

  continue reading my clutter (1 comment)

• ACTION JEANS 2007

  July 13, 2007

  Like a lot of folks who spend a little too much time with their computers, I enjoyed a chuckle at the advertisement for "Chuck Norris Action Jeans" scanned from a 70s issue of some kung fu magazine. The jeans were advertised with the promise "won't bind your legs" and included a "unique hidden gusset".

  (Click for full size)

  

  Even though I found the advertising amusing, like many martial artists (more accurately, I am an ex-martial artist) I have evaluated pants purchases based on whether I could kick in them. I don't ...

  continue reading ACTION JEANS 2007 (25 comments)

• Proposed neologism: "loginscreen project"

  June 9, 2007

  4:56 - (the daniel) but a good programming exercise and a cute conceit, to have your own robot butler 4:57 - (Brian Kerr) yeah, that's great, always fun to do something a little more ... algorithmic and a little less login screen 5:00 - (the daniel) (i like that as a euphemism for project with necessary web ui crap attached) 5:00 - (the daniel) loginscreen project

  continue reading Proposed neologism: "loginscreen project" (13 comments)

• note to self: cannot exceed c!

  May 22, 2007

  This morning Rob mentioned "the new world where everything is temporary".

  Remember Einstein - when your frame of reference is accelerating enough relative to 'everything'...

  continue reading note to self: cannot exceed c! (1 comment)