April 30, 2004

Kickball cancelled

Today's scheduled kickball game had to be called off because of the drippy weather. I think we will try again next Friday,

Posted by Matthew at 11:29 PM | Comments (0)

Sarissa

I worked some more on our DVD sharing application today. I wanted to play with submitting form data to the database via client side script rather than a regular form submission. I've done this on other place of our intranet using the Msxml2.XMLHTTP object. Basically i use javascript to post a message to the server in the form of an XML document and the server then replies with an XML document which i parse to see if my request was processed successfully. It works just fine in IE. In our efforts to be more standards-savvy, our development group has been slowing using Firefox more and more for testing and development and i knew that solution wouldn't work with the Mozilla family of browsers (they don't like "new ActiveXObject").

A little searching online turned up a project called Sarissa. Basically it's a javascript wrapper that will give you a cross browser way to create a client side DomDocument or XmlHTTPRequest. You can check out some samples of how it works. So far, it's working wonderfully.

Posted by Matthew at 02:01 PM | Comments (0)

April 28, 2004

Movies cubed

We just wrapped up one project at work and have a few days before the next official one begins. In the mean time, we're having a little fun. We're adding a new feature to the intranet called "Movies Cubed (m3)". It's a place where a fellow employee can post a list of DVDs he owns and then other people can request to borrow them. I chose this one because it would give me a change to play with the Amazon Web Service which i thought would be fun. I'm using the service to get pictures, release dates, ratings and the like.

I'm also taking this opportunity to try a new method of form processing. Every project we do nowadays involves getting data in and out of a SQL Server though some form of HTML form. I've tried many techniques over the years to accelerate the time it takes to produce this functionality with the least amount of work and yet still be reliable. My latest idea involves an XML file that describes all the data tables the web app will be interacting with which includes field definitions. Then, in the same file, i create a node to represent each HTML form and give it a child node for each input field on the form. These child nodes simply reference the table field definitions that they are mapped to. I've created a generic form builder object that will actually create all the appropriate input fields (based upon destination field data types) in either an "add" or "edit" mode. Also in this XML file i have nodes that represent the stored procedures that i ultimately use to update the database, with similar lists of the parameters it needs. With the help of a generic command object builder, one method will return an ADO command object with correctly defined parameters once again based on the underlying table definitions.

If this works, i can maintain all the HTML forms from a single file and have one place to change a data type (for the times when we decide a "title" field should be 75 characters rather than 50). I'm not sure i'm completely in love with this method yet, but its nice to have the chance to try something new with out worrying about deadlines.

Posted by Matthew at 10:24 PM | Comments (0)

April 26, 2004

Link Dump

Links from the past week i thought i'd share

Posted by Matthew at 04:35 PM | Comments (0)

April 24, 2004

RIP HHAYT

"Hi-how-are-you-today" has been my catch-phrase salutation for a few years now and I think it's time to retire it. No immediate replacement has been identified.

Posted by Matthew at 07:42 PM | Comments (0)

April 22, 2004

No day but today

I just got back from seeing Rent, and, wow, what a great show. I had a little scare earlier this week and i almost didn't get to go. You see, i purchased two sets of tickets the day they first went on sale to the general public, one for me and one for my sister for her birthday gift. Mine were for Saturday and my sister's were for the second show on Friday. Then, on Sunday, my mom tells me that there's a story in the paper that says they cancelled the second Friday show. I called my sister and the only other day she could make it was Saturday. I gave her my tickets (after all they were her birthday gift) and I called the Broadway Theatre Guild the next day to see if i could exchange the Friday tickets. Luckily they got me tickets to tonight's performance. Fearing i was going to get stuck with crappy seats, i was pleasantly surprised to find that we were sitting dead center just a few rows from the stage.

My jaw hurts right now. I had to keep clenching it to prevent myself from singing along. You can listen to the soundtrack hundreds of times (like i have) but it's hard to completely "get" the show unless you see it. The set is minimal, but brought to life by some incredibly cool lighting. The way characters physically interact with each other and embody music adds so much emotion to the story. I got a bit teared up in the reprise of "I'll cover you."

I see that next season they're bringing back Les Miserables. I've gotta see that again too.

Posted by Matthew at 11:08 PM | Comments (2)

April 20, 2004

Kickball

Today i bought a kickball, well, two actually. One is regular-size and the other is eighteen inches. You can't help but feel like a kid when playing with a ball that's three times the size of your head.

The reason for the purchase is we're trying to organize a lunch-time kickball game at work. Think think it would be a fun way to get out and enjoy the weather. If things go well, maybe we can start out own WAKA (World Adult Kickball Association) team. The point is to have a good time so i thought we might vary from strict WAKA rules and use the larger ball. It seems as though that would sufficiently handicap all players but i won't know until we try it. We will keep the "no bouncies" rule and won't allow any "professional kickball players."

Posted by Matthew at 09:29 PM | Comments (0)

April 19, 2004

System Restored

It looks like my database server is finally back online. It's been a frustrating few days because my webhost isn't very good a at communicating exactly what was going on and why the process took so long. One would think that because keepin the web servers running is their only job, they should be pretty good at it. I've back filled a few entries that i had attempted to post during the outage.

Posted by Matthew at 08:49 AM | Comments (0)

April 17, 2004

Extreme Tailoring

My uncle was remarried this weekend. My dad was asked to stand up for my uncle during the ceremony. He planned to wear his blue suit to the church but discovered a week or so before that the pants didn't quite fit any more. He needed to loose a few inches quickly so he tried jumping on the Atkins diet. Plus my mom had my aunt take out the pants as far as they could go. Saturday came around and he hasn't met his goal. Rather than select an alternative outfit or buy a new suit, he took a pair of scissors to the back of the pants. This "second fly" gave him the extra room he needed to squeeze in. The belt secured the pants in place and the suit jacket covered the handiwork. Now i'm just glad when i was a kid my arms and legs fit in the stroller.

Posted by Matthew at 08:11 PM | Comments (0)

April 16, 2004

Power Windows

Thanks to the pleasant weather, there are more opportunities to drive around with the windows rolled down. Usually just a push of a button can open the glass prison and allow the fresh spring air in; that is assuming the window lock isn't on. My arm seems to have an easy time finding this locking toggle in my current vehicle and i've often found myself confused as to why my windows are not responding to my simple commands. Every car that i've owned with power windows has had a window lock button but for the life of me i can't figure out why on earth it's there. I've only used it when a smartass friend gets bored and plays with the window but is that why that button is really there? Are humans simply unable to resist the urge to fondle the switch so engineers had to put in a way to disable that feature? If so, why not work harder to eliminate more passenger annoyances. Car companies should put in more padding in the back of the driver seat so he can't feel someone kicking it. A way to disable noisy, fold-out cup holders would be helpful as well (i mean after i turn off the windows, what else is there to play with). How about a noise filter that prevents the driver from hearing someone ask the question "are we there yet?" When i was a kid, it was sufficient for my dad to reach back, give me a smack, and tell me to "knock it off." It's nice to see we live in a time where we can use technology to solve these problems.

Posted by Matthew at 10:28 AM | Comments (2)

April 15, 2004

Viva La France

I was talking with my friend Katie about Les Miserables. She had seen the movie and was pointing out differences between the film version and the stage version. (We probably should be comparing both derived works to the original Victor Hugo novel but i've never met anyone who has read it.) She noted the absence of Eponine from the flick. She then went on to tell me that Jacques Chirac doesn't die at the end. (I'm pretty sure she meant to say Jean Valjean. Those French names can be tricky.)

Posted by Matthew at 07:04 PM | Comments (1)

April 11, 2004

Sneezing fit

Over millions of years of evolution, the human body has gotten quite good at making essential life processes effortless and benign. I'm generally not bothered by blinking, breathing, or digesting. Even when the body is disturbed, it can respond without too much trouble by coughing or scratching. However, there is one process that brings the body to a halt. Sneezing.

The sneeze is a complicated performance. When a sneeze is coming on, the brain thinks of nothing else. One has to stop everything he is doing; even the eyes close to eliminate distractions. The head may slightly tilt back as the lungs arm themselves. When the brain gives the signal, the body explodes in a violent spasm accompanied by an unnecessarily loud sigh. Finally you need a few seconds to recover before moving on.

Is this seriously the best way to do this or has the sneeze just been overlooked by evolution? We have this elaborate defense mechanism to clear tiny particles from the nose and yet, if a bug crawls in the ear, there's no way to get it out. If pepper gets into the lungs, does it cause a sudden, painful death? Should i be worried that my body knows something i don't? It's no mystery why we say "god bless you" after sneezing and not after coughing. The former being so much more traumatic.

Why am i having this sneezing fit? Well, today i had to sneeze while i was peeing. I can think of few situations where it would be even more inconvenient. In case you are female and are not sure how the process works, let me explain. When standing before the toilet, i typically have one hand dedicated to keeping the fly open and restraining the boxers. The other hand is primarily concerned with aim. This left me with zero hands to keep the sneeze under control. I needed to come up with something quickly to avoid a mess that might be caused by the convulsion. My first thought was i wouldn't be so worried if i had a urinal installed in my apartment. This would give me a much larger target area and less change of a mess. Given the time constraints, renovating the loo was not going to work. The second option was to clamp the flow. Now urinating is another one of those bodily functions that seems to be streamlined. It just feels wrong to interfere with something that just works. Finally i decided to just take my changes. I tried to reduce the distance the stream had to travel with a slight squat and yielded to the will of the sneeze. Though it was the most risky option, i was able to pull it out with out a single rebel drop.

I've also spoken with my sister who had an unfortunate sneezing experiences as well. Hers involved a mouthful of of partially chewed Frosted Mini Wheats. Once again, exactly how one is supposed to react is unclear. As the lungs inflate with with the air it plans to blast through the nostrils, they could end up sucking the food down with it. The first instinct is to spit it out. However, my sister managed to keep the food in her mouth; and, as the air came rushing back out, pieces of the cereal flew across the table and onto the face of her friend Dave. Guys usually have a high tolerance for disgusting, but Dave admitted that was pretty bad.

Do you have any sneezing stories?

Posted by Matthew at 12:13 PM | Comments (1)

April 09, 2004

Guess who

I think Milton Bradly should update the classic children's game Guess Who for today's generation. I suggest Guess Who: Stereotype Edition. Just put pictures of real people on all of the cards. You have to figure out who the other person has using oversimplified generalizations and judgments based on appearance alone. The game might go something like this:

Is he a little light in his loafers? Does she suffer from an eating disorder? Did he only get into college thanks to affirmative action? Is she a slut? Was he beaten as a child? Does she live in a trailer? Does he own his own convenience store? Is he a member of a terrorist organization? I know, it's Hakim!

This way we can start people off at an early age. If everyone's going to judge others, why not learn to do it well? You just have to practice.

Posted by Matthew at 06:01 PM | Comments (0)

April 07, 2004

24hr photo lab

You can check out some pictures from the 24hr theatre performance if you weren't able to make it. Rachel, the event coordinator, was kind enough to post them online. It will give you some idea of what you missed.

Posted by Matthew at 05:54 PM | Comments (0)

April 06, 2004

Answers to selected questions

1.1 - 31(a) $0.025/cubic foot

1.3 - 11 Length of column of mercury when temperature is at 75 F

2.1 - 11 0.01745...

3.4 - 57 Yes

3.10 - 17 Does Not Exist

6.1 - 5 128, 169, 217

D - 1(b) At most once

Posted by Matthew at 09:12 PM | Comments (0)

April 04, 2004

Lost time

I was one of those people that forgot to change the clock ahead today. I'll blame it on the fact that i was numb from yesterday's events. I didn't realize it until 5:00 or so. Luckily i didn't miss any meetings or anything too embarrassing like that.

Posted by Matthew at 10:05 PM | Comments (0)

April 03, 2004

Half a day later

I can't believe how exhausted i am. This 24 hour theatre experience is a demanding gig. First of all, i'm very tired. I had to get there early and we just kept going all day. My feet and legs ache. Our set didn't have chairs we we were always standing during rehearsals. My tummy is so hungry. I didn't eat nearly enough food on our short lunch break. Learning all the lines didn't turn out to be as trouble some i had thought even tough my character had most of the lines. I didn't have them down word for word, but i got the basic idea across each time.

Our show was pretty good. It was me and another girl that hung out at a record store saying what ever they could to offend various customers (all played by the same guy). That required plenty of swearing and other offensive words to come out of my mouth. It was pretty over the top as these shows usually are.

Ugh, I can't think any more; my brain is fried. I need to go to bed. Next time around, i think i'll just watch.

Posted by Matthew at 10:55 PM | Comments (0)

April 01, 2004

24 till 24

I've just volunteered to act in this weekend's 24 Hour Theatre. If you don't know what that is, let me explain how it works. Friday night, a group of writers will gather and begin to write a play. They will work on it through then night. Then, early Saturday morning, the writers will meet with people who will direct each of the shows that were written. The actors show up around 7AM and are cast in the shows. The actors and directors then work through day blocking the scenes, memorizing lines, and gathering props and costumes. Then at 8PM Saturday night, exactly twenty four hours after the process began, they perform the shows in front of a live audience. Crazy, isn't it?

This will be my first time participating as an actor and i'm a bit nervous. They don't give you a whole lot of time to memorize your lines. You never know what you'll wind up seeing. The shows i've seen have been a crazy mix of absolute crap and inspired genius. Either way it's worth checking out.

Performances will be at the UICA downtown Grand Rapids. Show begins Sat, April 3, at 8 PM. It will cost you $5 to get in. If you can, please come and support this unique form of local, experimental theatre.

Posted by Matthew at 07:17 PM | Comments (1)

Around the web

Here are some links of interest that have shown up in my aggregator this past week.

Posted by Matthew at 02:31 PM | Comments (0)