Sex On Fire?

My Daughter: Dad?
Me: Yes?
Daughter: Is he saying “Your SEX is on fire?”
Me: Er…yes
Daughter: Oh
Pause…
Daughter: Am I allowed to sing that word?

Bill O’Reilly On Michael jackson.

BIll O’Reilly is at best a drama-queen and at worst a sensationalist. But speaking here about Michael Jackson in the days after his death, he’s right on the money if you ask me.

Oh, How I Loathe Blackberrys

And here I am configuring one today for one of our users. If you have a lot of money and you’re stuck for an idea of how to waste it, I’d advise one of these; they are very expensive and very pretty and will work fab for about a month!

(But I still titter like a schoolgirl every time the device status comes up on the PC saying “Found new RIM device”.)

Expression Studio, A Few Weeks On

So, a few weeks ago I decided to forgo Adobe Dreamweaver and Photoshop and give Expression Web and Design a go. At first I was totally lost, having used the Adobe applications for many years, but with time (and on-line tutorials) I have actually settled into them nicely.
So, for the legions of you who care, let’s look at them one at a time.
Design – This Photoshop equivalent was the biggest learning curve, but thanks to a score of video tutorials on the Expression site, not an overly difficult one.

Once I got used to the new tools and methods, I actually found it more intuitive and easier to use. I have found a few tools I used to use in PS sadly lacking though; one of which is the clone stamp (and airbrush-style tool for photo clean-up work). Having run out of ideas, I hit the forum on the Expression site and asked about it. The answer that came back was simple: there is no equivalent tool in Design because Design is more on a par with Illustrator than Photoshop, it is made for vector based graphics rather than photo manipulation. Fair enough, I thought. But there is a workaround. I can save my layer out and go to the excellent pixlr, (and if you have read my blog you’ll know I gave serious consideration to this tool a while ago as my first Photoshop replacement) the free cloud-based photo-editing tool found here . Bingo. I have my clone stamp (and a lot of other tools) back!
Web – This was a different beast altogether for me. I wondered was I going to be able to use it at all for the first week or so.

The reason wasn’t the application itself or its capabilities (one WYSIWYG web editor is the same as the next, after all, if they are standards-based) , but what I did miss were my extensions. DW has hundreds if not thousands of extensions available for adding extra functionality. Not only does Expresseion Web not have as good a range, but in the latest version (3) they are not yet supported due to changes in the underlying code structure. MS will be releasing an update which will bring back the ability to use add-ons, but even then the add-on writers will have to re-write them for this version (How very Microsoft!). So, right now, I have the application as it comes out of the box and nothing else.
But is this a bad thing? I actually don’t think it is. Through playing with it these last few weeks I have learned something: I had gotten very lazy with my web-building skills. I was relying on extensions and tools to do everything for me. I hadn’t learned anything new about HTML coding etc for a long time because I hadn’t needed to. My CSS skills had come along in leaps and bounds because necessity had dictated that I worked hard on it, but thanks to the plethora of extensions out there I hadn’t figured out or researched how to actually code anything in way too long. An example would be fixed-size pop-up windows. A simple enough thing; I tend to use them for the likes of terms and conditions pages or bio blurbs. But again, I used a plug in and I told it where to place the window, what size to make it, whether or not it could be resized etc. Last night I went to create one of these and realised I didn’t know how! Nuts to this, I thought, it wasn’t going to beat me. Extensions do nothing but write your code for you, after all, so this wasn’t a major thing. It couldn’t be. I looked it up. It wasn’t. A small piece of JS (God bless it) and some changes to my link and I had it sorted. Same thing for menus systems. Pop-out menus are a pain for one reason: IE6! It doesn’t understand the :hover state on anything but links therefore if you have used nested unordered lists to create your pop-out menu then you’re out of luck because it doesn’t understand using li:hover to have the pop-out appear. If you don’t care about IE6 you’re back in luck again. If you do, you have work to do. But the point is it can be done without any extensions. Just patience and some knowledge of CSS (and copying existing examples off the ‘net!!)
But the point remains the same: without extensions to do it for me I have to figure this out. And I will. This isn’t a bad thing at all, if you ask me.
So, for anyone still awake, to summarise: Although these applications aren’t as advanced as the Adobe equivalent, they are more than adequate for my needs so far, and are even forcing me to work instead of relying on clickiness to do the work for me.

Mellencemp’s New Album – “No Better Than This” Is Finished

So, Johnny’s new CD is finished. Looking forweard to it. His last was harrowing, dark, mournful, and pretty cool. This one sounds more like Dance Naked or Uh-Huh if this is anything to go by:

” Equally unusual and significant, the album is in “beautiful mono,” says John, with all songs recorded using one microphone for all the vocal and acoustic instrumental parts.
“The same mic I was singing into is the same mic that recorded the drums at the same time,” John says. “And everything was cut live with no overdubs or studio nothing! These are real songs being performed by real musicians–an unheard-of process in today’s world. Real music, for real people!” “

Interesting. More here.

Lack Of Blogging. Again.

So I haven’t been blogging much. Due to unforseen happenings I haven’t really been much in the mood. Anyhoo, let’s wait and see what today brings, shall we?

Crash On The Luas

So yesterday (or the day before, I forget) there was a crash in Dublin in which the Luas tram collided with a bus.
This is an actual picture from the scene.

Funny.

Forum Bids To Pave Way Out Of Recession

read this this morning…

“Forum Bids To Pave Way Out Of Recession

Almost 200 influential figures from the business and cultural worlds will descend on Dublin today for a major economic forum to help pull the country out of recession.

The delegates, representing some of the top names in the global Irish community, have agreed to attend the weekend event in the leafy Farmleigh Estate in the city’s Phoenix Park.”

Can’t Hurt. Thought personally I think no one from Fianna Fail should be allowed near the place!

Sony eReader At Last

So here it is. My Sony eReader. After many trial and tribulations, after a weekend I’d as soon forget but can’t, here it is.

Yes. It’s pink.
I joked with the sales guy about wanting a pink one. Evidentially he thought I meant it. I didn’t notice until I was home, an hour’s drive away and I wasn’t going back. So, here it is. Pink. I think I am man enough to carry it off. I’ve been called a Metrosexual. Now’s the time to prove it!

Time For My Review Again…

Wonder will my boss turn up this year…?