Nov 30, 2009

I hate repetitive typing

I hate typing repetitive things. At work, I am fortunate enough to be on Windows XP. I’m a “web producer” but I’ve long since given myself a title called “copy and paste machine”. Essentially, at any given second during my job, I’m probably copying and pasting some sort of text, formatting the html, and posting it to the site via our Very Bad CMS tool.

There are a few things that I use over and over again. To cut back on the repetition of long snippets of coding needed, I downloaded a program called Auto Hotkey. Simply put, you install the program. Write a script. And put the script to use. I have included a sample script below for those curious of the syntax. Further information can be found at their website.

Here is a sample script that I copied and pasted from the script I used at work:
(more…)

Nov 28, 2009

Editing the Category Widget

I spent the last good bit of my time (probably a half hour) trying to figure out how to edit the WP Category widget so that it doesn’t print out a unordered list. It was tricky and took some research but I must say, most of it was because I didn’t realize what I was doing wrong.

Look on line 460 in wp-includes/default-widgets.php. You will see a <ul> tag, some php code, and then </ul>. Remove both the <ul> and </ul>.  On line 462, delete what’s there and put in:

$cat_args['style'] = 'none'

Nov 28, 2009

Installing WordPress on a Mac

I’ve always been a fan of working locally on my computer. For a while, I used to work remotely but I didn’t like it as much because there’s the whole uploading time that you have to take (and no, it doesn’t take long but still). Here is an outline to installing workpress on a Mac simply and easily.

1. Download MAMP. It is basically a package to get Mysql, Apache server, and PHP all on your Mac.
2. Install MAMP – the installation is pretty straight forward.
3. Download WordPress
4. Install WordPress – put the wordpress folder into the htdocs folder which was created in your MAMP installation folder.

You need to use PHPmyAdmin to create the database for WordPress. If you’re not going public on your computer, it’s okay to keep the default username and password. However, if you ARE going public, you should probably take precautions and change it.

Nov 24, 2009

Progress: The Picture of Dorian Gray

Am definitely enjoying The Picture of Dorian Gray. I read for most of my lunch break and gobbled down the last bits of my soup before coming back to the office. I asked S (coworker) if he’s ever read it and he said he has and enjoyed it. So I think I’ll be enjoying it too. So far, that has been the case.

Steadily consuming 2 chapters a night. Sometimes 3. It’s been a while since I’ve been this into a book… like to the point where I read instead of falling asleep on BART. I find it concise without any lengthy endless descriptions. I like all the dialogs going on and a moderate pace for the story. And the chapters are a reasonable length.

I am also liking that Oscar Wilde doesn’t go off in tangents trying to justify everything. The story is how it is. There is no “Oh let me tell you about this.”

However, with all due respect and no offense intended, it does have.. a homosexual vibe between all the gentlemen in the book even though I have learned that none of the men are actually gay. The little bit I actually read about the author makes this less surprising. I was surprised later in the book to learn that Lord Henry has a wife.

Still a good book, no less.

Nov 24, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving

I’m all for supporting the troops and giving them a bit of home on the holidays, but wow, that’s a lot of money. More importantly, that’s a lot of food. (more…)

Nov 23, 2009

Social Media and the Office Environment

It’s amazing how much you can learn about your coworkers just by googling their names and looking at their social networking and where they are affiliated. Makes me somewhat worried myself. :\

Nov 23, 2009

Girl tased for not showering

The other day, while I was with the boyfriend, he pulled up an article on a 10 year old girl that was tased after her mother was unable to – let me put this my own way – be a parent.

Really world, if you can’t get your child with proper discipline to take a shower, eat their veggies and go to bed, what the hell are you doing as a parent? Just because you can change a diaper or two or three, doesn’t make you fit to raise that child. Learn some hard discipline. Learn to take charge.

Find your balls.

It angered me so much when I read that article. Sure, the girl didn’t have the right to kick the officer in the groin, but he also should have had the sense that he shouldn’t use a taser on a 10 year old girl. She’s 10. I’m sure if that officer was a parent, he’d be as incapable of parenting as much as that stupid ***** for a mother.

She was 10. Tased for not showering.

Nov 23, 2009

Semagic

So now I’m planning on just updating this as my normal everyday blog, privatizing posts that I don’t want people to read, but for most part, keeping it an open blog. I don’t expect to be too personal anyways. I realize that even at my old journal, I hardly post about my personal things. I mostly post out of boredom and a narcisstic need to ramble.

Thus, I have configured my Semagic to update WordPress instead of my Livejournal. If the two were interchangable easily, that would be more ideal.

Nov 23, 2009

The Picture of Dorian Gray

I started reading The Picture of Dorian Gray this morning and I must admit, I love the language that Oscar Wilde uses. The book is very quotable, easy to understand, and if there’s an initial expectation for this book, is to keep the story concise. More and more books I feel are bloated with too many words where it’s becoming dragged on. Here is to the hope that this book is not one of those.

I may post a review when I’m done reading it.

Other books I bought this weekend include
1. Moby Dick
2. The Metamorphosis and Other Stories
3. War and Peace

Nov 20, 2009

Office Politics

Today I was sitting in my office, listening to music (or not really listening to music but having music on that I was paying no attention to).

And I realize that life (this is nothing about my employer at all) is a popularity contest. And it’s a contest I just don’t care for. Why?

I hate attention. Except when it comes from a certain boyfriend of mine…

One day, they’re going to gather around and say “YOU’RE PROMOTED” and I’ll be the first one to be like “Back to work, back to work…”

Only reason to get promoted is to make more money. Otherwise, if I can make all the money from the bottom of the food chain, goddammit, I’m in. My happiness is not in my job (no matter which company I work for). I have a job to support my happiness (as in things like moving out with my boyfriend, going to places, watching movies, such things…).

This can probably also explain why I can’t become as passionate about OMG HTML as I’ve seen some people have at previous jobs/gigs.