Swiffy Transparent Background

If anyone is using swiffy and wondering how to get a transparent background, here's what you do. Just make the rectangle that swiffy inserts into the background not display.

#containerdivid svg > g > g > rect {
    display: none;
}

Installing Laravel With MAMP on OSX

You're going to need to install mcrypt. Here's a link with instructions:
http://www.coolestguyplanettech.com/how-to-install-mcrypt-for-php-on-mac-osx-lion-10-7-development-server/

From there, follow the instructions for install from the Laravel website:
http://laravel.com/docs/quick

You're going to end up with over 100 megabytes of framework files and dependencies, with 80 mb of that being the doctrine and symfony folders. Don't say anything about it or you'll get brow beaten.

You're going to have troubles connecting to mysql. Choose a solution that works for you.
http://forums.laravel.io/viewtopic.php?id=980

Create your local db connection file:

$ mkdir app/config/local
$ cp app/config/database.php app/config/local/database.php

Edit your local database config with the proper credentials for MAMP (localhost, laravel, root, root).

Edit bootstrap/start.php with your development domain name or localhost so that it uses the local config.


The default MAMP mysql username is "root" with a password of "root". You might want to change that:
http://www.mamp.info/en/documentation/faq.html#q9

Set up migrations:
$ php artisan migrate --env=local

The local flag is important because php doesn't know where you're running it from from the command line.

Set up a user table:
http://fideloper.com/laravel-4-uber-quick-start-with-auth-guide

If you want to just read the docs they're here:
http://laravel.com/docs

You can start into the tutorials. These are for Laravel 3.x but figuring out the differences between 3.x and 4.x might be a fun passtime! Exercise your brain a little (migrations has moved to database migrations, underscores have been replaced with camelCase, all very sensible changes):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEZ8cnVGVZE&list=PL09BB956FCFB5C5FD

You'll need to run "composer.phar update" in order to rollback migrations. ???
https://github.com/laravel/framework/issues/56

Setup your user table for the sparkling new admin you're going to create:
http://fideloper.com/laravel-4-uber-quick-start-with-auth-guide

Make php 5.3 the default from the command line:
http://wiki.dreamhost.com/PHP#Make_PHP5_the_Default_in_the_Shell

If you're using dreamhost, you'll need to install laravel from the command line using composer.

You will get error message relating to phar:
http://serverfault.com/questions/317416/enabling-phar-on-dreamhost-shared-hosting

You will get a memory issue running composer:
/usr/local/php53/bin/php -d memory_limit=256M composer.phar create-project laravel/laravel doodleheadstudios.com --prefer-dist
http://www.idlehamster.com/blog/installing-laravel-4-on-dreamhost

You'll have a missing files issue related to the vendor directory:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/16268631/how-should-git-submodules-be-set-up-for-laravel-4-composer-packages


And then sync up things with git for Dreamhost if you're using dreamhost:
http://blog.brandonevans.ca/post/19685508893/deploying-websites-with-git-on-dreamhost

You will have errors returned in terminal when running composer.phar related to executing artisan. These issues don't seem to be critical, and are related to composer.phar executing php using the default php route instead of /usr/local/php53/bin/php.

Hrm.

So, Russia is supplying Iran with materials and technology to start their own nuclear program and re-starting their bomber patrols, and threatening to aim nukes at European targets if America doesn't get its imperialistic tendencies under control. And France of all people is threatening to strike at Iran. Greenspan is apparently trying to rescue his legacy after a disastrous marriage with the Bush Administration. This is all news to me, as I've been off in Donnland for half a year.

Loafalicious

The bread turned out quite well. Needed some salt but other than that, it looked just like a loaf of bread. Next of course is the fusion of yeast and hot oil.

The Yeast

A new era begins in cooking. A yeasty loaf is rising in the kitchen - room temperature isn't ideal but I'm going to let it rise overnight, then brush it down with butter and pop it in the oven in the morning. I have definitely overdone it with the espresso. My mind and hands are jittery and my head hurts, probably from dehydration. Anyways.

Homespresso

So, noticing that there was usually a krups machine at the Brown Elephant that looked like it would make espresso I ventured over today and, lo and behold, there was one. The coffee that comes out isn't espresso at all - hardly any crema. The steam nozzle does seem to do an okay job of whipping up milk into fluff, and it's kind of convenient to be able to make two cups at a time rather than the normal twelve. I'll try out some different techniques but all in all for $2.50, not a bad deal.

Back!

And back home again. Rose reports Mr. Fergus and Isaac were chasing after each other - "frolicking" even. It is, I'd imagine, a better life for him.

Coming home I spent forty minutes on Bart, two hours and twenty minutes waiting for the plane to take off, four hours in the air, forty minutes getting off the plane and getting my luggage, and then two hours taking the blue line downtown to take the red line to Jarvis. I caught the tail end of the Wednesday night Halo 2 session and then did a bit of "reading" - slate, cnn. Catching up on the news and current events.

I learned a few things on this trip, one of which is marijuana is referred to as "nuggets". Entering Golden Gate park on the east side every couple of minutes someone approached me offering "nuggets", "bud", and "drops". I was walking from McDonalds when someone walking the other way said "you need some nuggets." A couple of gals (also out of towners) explained that he was not in fact talking about McNuggets, but mara-juh-wanna nuggets.

Tuesday night at Simple Pleasures Cafe on Balboa a group of folk musicians were playing. It reminded me of my dear Roe Family Singers in Minneapolis, whom I shan't be seeing at the 331 for a while owing to circumstances. Before stopping there I biked to the beach and stood for about five minutes before heading the other direction. This seems to be a motif in my life.

All in all it was a good trip, much better than last time when I was rushing about seeing landmarks. And now, with a renewed sense of purpose. Show no mercy, do not hesitate, as the saying goes.

Fergus Has Left Home

Mr. Fergus, Fergus Theodore Lannin-Cat, is now at his new home. He seemed a bit jumpy but his new pal was friendly and welcoming, and you couldn't ask for a better new parent. I don't think he ever adjusted to Rufus' absence - he would every so often run back and forth meowling out as if he thought the brown turd was hiding. Hopefully in time he will become fast friends with Isaac the Cat.

Labor Day!

By some odd coincidence, Labor Day marked the six month anniversary of my having left Ham in the Fridge. It also seems like about the right time to close my goofing about exploratory phase and start being serious-ish again... right after I attend to all the mosquito bites I got yesterday.

More Skills Retuning

So... getting my drawing/illustrating skills back up to snuff. Just a general type of cartoon inked and colored in illustrator - my hands are just not steady enough for inking on paper (much like good ol' Charlie Brown). Now on to making funny stuff.

Technical Error

YOU AT HOME:

[click] Sorry! an unexpected error has occurred. This error has been forwarded to MySpace's technical group.
[click] Sorry! an unexpected error has occurred. This error has been forwarded to MySpace's technical group.

MEANWHILE AT MYSPACE TECHNICAL GROUP HEADQUARTERS:

TECH 1: Hey, we got another 20,000 technical error messages.
TECH 2: Like I give a f***. Pass me another cocaine dipped gerbil - I need an ass fix.

And Back!

It was a good trip - the car still seems to be dependable, there was a good amount of hanging out and eating fried foods. My supply of ink has been replenished. Of course what good is a trip without some kind of mystery (this time provided by the multi-talented Maxeem)? No good at all, of course.

Minneapolis.

And so, my car was fixed as late as it could possibly be fixed yesterday meaning a late start on the road. As usual rather than stopping when I was tired I stopped when I was within shouting distance of Minneapolis - Stout, where all the hotels were booked solid thanks to some kind of start of the school year thing. Onwards to Minneapolis. I noticed as I was driving that the car was full of paint fumes from the body shop.

As per usual in the "why the hell did you do that" department, I crashed in the trunk of my car. Now here's the odd thing (to me at least) - my back feels better from sleeping in the trunk than from sleeping on my bed. SOOOO, I'm guessing that reconfiguring the bedroom is the cause for my recent back soreness. Now on to the fair and the fried food.

- Floozy Ha

Bah.

This whole Minnesota visit has been a series of unknowns and mistimings. As usual, Andrew will be in Chicago while I'm in Minnesota, so visiting him in his new home is off the list. Dave will be in Chicago Monday so I won't be sticking around to play with the Roe Family at the 331 Club. Adam is in Seattle on business? Maybe St. Louis. One of those "S" places. My Friday plans to visit Erickson's new space and cook up the boys at Big Time Attic some fresh fritters are off as well. I'll have to see Tim's new home too at some point - the pictures looked grand.

So, that leaves the State Fair with C., Sunday evening in Albert Lea with Max, Britt and Rachel, and bumming around Nordeast on Sunday with JD discussing sandwich recipes and drinking beer. A stop at Big Brain Comics to bother Mike? Possibly. If you're a fan of talented cartoonists, and who isn't, the folks up in Minneapolis have made a tribute book for Eric Lappegard who recently passed on after an unfortunate accident. The BTA folks have a blog post detailing the details.

It's kind of funny how me and my brother talk about death. I guess it's more direct than how our parents talk about it - they basically don't. "Passed on", "no longer with us". I'm sure when Lynn and Mike reproduce we'll say she's "in a family way". In the latest blight upon Has, Gene's basement flooded. We have obviously angered the Super Supreme Being in some way.

Panglossing

If nothing else these equipment breakdowns and misfortunes have made me better prepared for the road, which of course is beckoning again. New tires, AAA membership, a fresh copy of Vista installed on my macbook (which had sat unused for two months), a better digital camera (yet still reasonably priced). Thanks to my bad back I've had to take time out to stretch and exercise, how terrible. My blistered feet of course inform me that I need comfortable walking shoes, and might need to look into some socks. While back pain and the possibility of car unreliableness after being rear ended aren't thing that make me stronger, they have made me more aware of the possibility of misfortune.

And So.

A bit of early morning systems work and the Athlon X2 box is repaired. New motherboard, new heatsink... of course, with the new motherboard there's the requirement for a new copy of Windows. Perhaps the first Vista Home Premium box in the lineup? This not being a pressing concern I'll let the box sit, ready to be prepared to be ready for action.

And have you visited my flickr account lately?

Scanning Machine Set Up

Scanning printing machine set up, check. Billiard ball rear ended on Touhy Avenue by a woman who, according to a witness, "just didn't stop", yes. Even MORE stiff and achey than I had been... well, yes. Let's recap:

* Back goes out. Unable to move for a bit.
* Computer goes bad.
* Tires needed replacing.
* Rear ended.
* Ballast in kitchen has gone bad.
* Once again buried in possessions.
* Frittering technique has improved substantially.

Well, yes, this does seem like a trend. And if we were to do a regression analysis of these past couple of weeks we'd say I AM DOOMED. If this unlucky streak were to continue indefinitely that would certainly be so. All of my computers will go bad, my car will be flat as a pancake and need an infinite amount of repairs, I will be in a wheelchair in the dark because all the lights in my condo will have gone out, and I won't actually be able to wheel myself anywhere because I will have covered the place from floor to ceiling in rummage sale finds. Additionally, I will be better than God at preparing fried delicacies (fritters, french fries, fried meatballs(?)).

The thing about Donn Ha's, as noted by The Bat-Man, is that Donn Ha's are a superstitious cowardly lot who believe in things like lucky/unlucky streaks and karmic wheels. So let's review things in a more rational light and see what lessons the Super Supreme Being has actually presented us:

* Stretching and exercise are important! // Exercise more, stretch.
* Most computers can't function when the fans are encased in cat hair! // Dust my computers periodically.
* Tires wear out eventually! // Just a fact of life.
* The stretch of Touhy between Ridge and McCormick has a disproportionate amount of bad drivers and it's actually pretty amazing something hasn't happened before. // Take Howard or Pratt when heading west.
* I don't WANT fluorescent lights in my kitchen - they're practically useless for preparing food at night. // Replace the entire fixture with some incandescent lighting.
* If you thrift and rummage a lot, stuff will pile up. // I have multiples of everything I would ever want. Stop thrifting!
* I WILL be better than God at preparing fried things. // It's true.

Anyways, today was a pretty good day with much stuff gotten done, and the last two weeks have been pretty good in the helping other people doing good deeds area. Next week, off to Minnesota body shop permitting.

Hurrah

CentOS server transported into $5 dual celeron machine. Check!
Dedicated Windows XP music recording machine. Check!
Vista BootCamp on Macbook. Check!

So that leaves: setting up the scanning printing machine and rebuilding the Athlon X2 box.

The Road

My initial assumption was that my lucky streak had ended, and that I was in for an unlucky streak - things going bad of a sudden at the worst time. My front tires had developed slow leaks and needed replacing, my desktop computer had apparently given up the ghost to a quarter inch layer of cat hair clogging up the fan. But after mulling over things for a bit both of these are actually good, positive things. The Athlon X2 box had become my main computer and I had terribly neglected my MacBook, my on the road book go anywhere at the drop of a hat MacBook. And fresh tires? What could possibly be bad about having fresh tires?

So today will partly be spent reorganizing systems - getting the travel kit prepped again, turning a different under-utilized machine into a dedicated music recording/editing machine, another one into a file server/testing server/versioning server, maybe converting another one into a dedicated scanning server (possibly the tablet pc so the wacom can go in the travel kit with the macbook). And eventually I'll get some parts (motherboard, new case, new os) and reuse the Athlon parts.

Rummage Gods Bless You!

Continuing this impossibly good rummage season, I picked up an old computer on Saturday for $5 figuring it would be good for parts and it ends up having a dual processor motherboard - currently two celeron chips but I should be able to replace those and have a very, very capable server for the office, and reintegrate the 2GHz box into the windows pool.