DigitalSandbox

Whoopsie!

2010-08-27T16:01:27Z

My apologies for the recent downtime. I was mucking around in the DNS to set up Google Apps and ended up killing my connection to the MySQL server. My bad.

There’s a New Section in Town

2009-11-11T19:13:51Z

Some of you may have noticed a new item in the navigation of the site. I added a new section to track my little projects, which should not be confused with freelance/design projects. This is where I’m going to house some downloadable stuff like my jQuery Syntax Mode for Coda and the Form Maker Plugin for Coda. Actually, right now those are the only things in there, but I have some other ideas (for Coda again).

The new section will allow me to consolidate all those items and offer a single link to access the latest versions of those projects, while still providing links to the old versions. So if you’ve come here looking for one of those items you’ll want to head over to the Projects section and get what you need there.

Sorry for the Errors

2009-10-07T17:48:18Z

Just wanted to apologize to anyone who has come to the site in the last few days to find errors or (even worse) missing Coda plugin downloads. The errors should be corrected and the downloads should now work. I had some issues with the latest Expression Engine update (my fault not theirs). Regardless, the issues should be fixed now. Please try the downloads again. Thanks.

Multiple iTunes Libraries, One Source

2009-07-28T17:36:06Z

When I bought my Mac Pro, the old Mini became a designated Home Theater PC (HTPC). Ever since then I have struggled to figure out how to maintain the libraries in multiple locations. The Mini didn’t have a large drive (only 80 GB) so I focused on using it for movies. The Pro had 250GB so it housed the music, but only some videos since I don’t watch movies on the computer screen anymore. This naturally meant that the two had some overlap but a lot of differences. The goal was always to buy a larger drive and house everything in one location and, if possible, keep the libraries in sync.

I recently bought a 1.5TB hard drive for the Pro and am in the process of setting up my media center. Here is the solution that I have come up with so far. It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty good and it works well.

Facebookin’ It

2009-07-16T18:01:27Z

Well, I resisted this as long as I could, but I finally broke down and joined Facebook. No real reason other than I didn’t see much appeal in the whole social networking thing. I was on LinkedIn and could understand the utility in that, but Facebook, MySpace, and the rest seemed like a duplication of effort to me. I have this site and don’t update it as often as I should, how can I find the time to post stuff to Facebook as well.

I guess the clincher was the option to track down some old friends that I’ve lost touch with and because my sister was constantly pestering me to join (which now that I have she has yet to friend me ). So if your interested my profile is here: http://www.facebook.com/garner.kory. I plan to use it mostly to connect with old friends and such so please don’t be offended if I don’t add every invite I get.

Form Maker Plugin for Coda

2009-06-22T17:03:27Z

I have moved this to a new section so that all future updates can be tracked together. The new section is here. You will need to visit the new section to download the files. This post will remain, but if you link to this page, please update your link to the new seciton. Thanks.

One of the things I hate doing is creating forms. Sadly, most webapps use them pretty heavily so not doing them isn’t really an option. What I can do is create a plug-in for Coda to do all the heavy lifting for me. Without further foreshadowing, I give you…the Form Maker Plug-in for Coda.

jQuery Syntax Mode for Coda

2009-05-15T15:54:03Z

I have moved this to a new section so that all future updates can be tracked together. The new section is here. You will need to visit the new section to download the files. This post will remain, but if you link to this page, please update your link to the new seciton. Thanks.

I have been using jQuery a lot more now with my new job and the lack of a good syntax mode with autocomplete for Coda was getting on my nerves. I Googled around for one and came up short. The closest I found was a document that you placed inside the standard Javascript syntax mode. I wasn’t crazy about this as I didn’t know what would happen when Coda updated. And the instructions provided didn’t seem to work anymore.

So I decided to scratch my own itch and create one. I tried to create a custom syntax mode for jQuery only (and just pull in the existing Javascript stuff), but due to the way that syntax modes work in Coda I had to include everything from the Javascript mode. This allows us to still have access to the regular Javascript functions along with all of our jQuery goodness. I have also included some clips to compliment the syntax mode. I want to stress that this is only a first pass at this and I am already working on an updated version that will handle more functions and keywords.

~~Here’s the file: Coda jQuery Syntax Mode~~

A Much Needed Update

2009-05-06T15:34:55Z

So it has been a very long while since my last update. I apologize for that. I have been a bit busy with things in real life and finding time to write a post on here has not been high on my list of priorities. So let me take a minute to fill you in on what has happened. As I mentioned in my last post, I was laid off, but that is no longer true as I now have a new full-time job. I am now an Interaction Designer for the LDS Church. This is really exciting for me as it is something I have wanted to do for a while now. I am loving the experience and am so happy things have worked out. This is a fantastic team to be a part of and I feel like I am finally in the right place. Other than that, it has been pretty standard. Life keeps me busy and things continue to move along. I will try to get back to more regular posting. I have some pretty good stuff to share here soon.

Signs of the Times

2009-02-11T15:55:06Z

Well, I guess the economy has finally caught up to me as well. I was laid off last week. I am now looking for a new job. Now that I am unemployed, the waiting is really hard. Well, I better get back to job hunting. If anyone out there is interested, here’s my résumé.

Economic Analogy

2009-01-29T18:13:50Z

I was thinking about our current economic situation yesterday and the proposed plans for solving the issue when an analogy of the situation’s absurdity came to mind.

Do you remember the old Winnie the Pooh cartoon where he ate too much honey at Rabbit’s house and got stuck trying to leave? Well, our economy is Winnie the Pooh and it is stuck in a bad way. But rather than going on a diet and losing a few components of the economy that are causing problems, we are force-feeding the poor guy in the hopes that he will somehow unstick himself.

I know that putting the economy on a diet is a painful choice, but propping up failing industries is only going to hurt us worse in the long run. Sorry for the political post. I just had this thought yesterday and thought it was worth sharing.

The Problem with Enterprise Software

2009-01-27T18:01:41Z

At work I have been working on a project where we are attempting to bring our client’s old terminal green screen system into the age of GUI goodness. We have been working on this project now for over a year, if you include all the planning and prototyping. The system is complex and every time we review the functionality with the client there are changes. The programs functionality has become a moving target that changes with each subsequent meeting. A multi-million dollar project and we’re doing it all wrong.

Jobs Takes a Break

2009-01-14T23:09:47Z

The news is burning up the tech news wires right now, but it appears that Steve Jobs is taking a medical leave of absence. He has released an internal email about it citing the intense scrutiny from the media regarding his health and saying that the situation is more complex than initially thought. Tim Cook will be taking over the day to day operations, but Jobs will still be involved in strategic decisions. This is temporary, and he plans to be back in June, but if he isn’t…c’est la vie.

Microsoft Can’t Carry Buzz in a Bucket

2009-01-13T20:59:36Z

Have you heard of Microsoft’s new research project, Songsmith? No, well today is your lucky day. Songsmith is a new program by the Redmond behemoth that allows you to create “songs” simply by singing. I suppose you could call it Microsoft’s answer to Garageband. You sing your little ditty into the microphone and it chooses music to match it. At first, it actually sounds kind of neat…it isn’t.

The music it creates sounds like bad MIDI music from the early 90’s. It is really hard to listen to for longer than about 30 seconds. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the promotional video Microsoft put out for this. Then listen to this sample, where someone took the vocal track of David Lee Roth singing “Running with the Devil” and gave it the Songsmith treatment.

Anyone still thinking this sounds like a great product?

24 Returns

2009-01-12T21:09:49Z

Finally! 24 has finally returned to the airwaves. The premiere last night was good — not as thrilling as Season 6, but then I am hoping that this season does not fizzle out like Season 6 did. And hey, Tony’s back! As a bad guy! And Jack has already tracked him down! I can’t wait to see what happens next. I am so looking forward to another two hours tonight.

Of course, I am continually amazed by the other government people that try to stop Jack Bauer from doing what he does. Like they know better. Someday they’ll learn. Just let the man work and then take credit for the results after he saves the world. It’ll work out better for you that way.

‘09 Keynote Wrap-up

2009-01-06T19:34:14Z

So the ~~Steve-Note~~ Phil-Note has just finished and it’s time to review the announcements. As expected by most everyone, there wasn’t much of earth-shattering significance in this one. But you didn’t really expect Steve to let Phil have a new iPhone or Mac Net-Book did you? Basically, there was iLife 09, iWork 09, and the 17” MacBook Pro. And then a nice iTunes announcement (but nothing so large as to merit a whole piece of the Keynote).

So let’s get in there and see what the hub-bub is all about, shall we?