Archive for the ‘Nerd time’ Category
Hello, get ready for a random post. A couple years ago, I started looking into content management systems (CMS) for a few of my websites at work. Our servers are all Windows IIS, so I was primarily looking for .NET and open source (free!). I wasn’t against looking for something PHP-related (or anything else), but .NET was my top choice.
I think it may have turned out well that there are very few open source .NET CMS out there. The biggest one, which I had heard of before, is DotNetNuke. I didn’t look into this long before deciding it was not for me. Honestly, I have not looked back since, so I can’t even go into detail why I didn’t like it. My remaining feelings are: hard to template, messy, bloated, dated-feeling.
Shortly after this I discovered Umbraco. Oh, the love. And I didn’t even understand how it worked right away. When I found it (2008? maybe 2007?) the documentation was pretty sparse, but they did have a few good articles to get you going, and also a forum that provided a good resource if you knew what to look for. What drew me to Umbraco originally was how easy it was to make your site look how you want. No needing to learn some crazy templating language. No extra markup being added anywhere. This was the easiest part to get going, and because I need that above all else, I stuck with it. Haha.
Anyway, it worked out well for me. I now manage every website I can with Umbraco and here’s my long list of why:
- No limitations.
None. No, really. I can create my own code accessing my own databases (or the Umbraco database) in ASP.NET C# and plug it into Umbraco with extreme ease. Just create a user control in .NET, place it in the ‘usercontrol’ directory of your Umbraco install, and add it as a Macro in the Umbraco interface. Umbraco even lets you use the control’s properties. This is such an asset, I can’t even tell you.
- Create your own document (content) types.
I can make a document type with any properties I want. Basic page? Just add a rich-text editor. Maybe a ‘hide from navigation’ flag. Want to add personnel? Add separate fields for name, title, phone, email, and bio. Add a training course? Add fields for a start date picker, end date, description, and simple check-box to add a sign-up form using a Macro I created in a .NET user control.
- Display document types however I want.
Each document type can have its own template. You can also use XSLT to display, for example, a list of personnel on any page you want. Don’t like XSLT? Use a .NET user control like I mentioned previously. It’s just so simple and limitless. You can format any property of a document type however you want.
- Import packages.
Umbraco has a great developer community with people who create packages (plug-ins) you can easily import into your site. My favorites are a search–which creates a simple XSLT search of any document type(s) you choose starting from any location in your site, and allows you to format your search results however you want. Other good ones for me are a blog and member controls (log-in and sign-up forms).
- Multiple site management.
I can host multiple websites from one Umbraco site. This is so helpful to me when I have 20+ websites using a common template, or parts of a common template, which brings me to…
- Easy templating!
Already mentioned this some, but Umbraco uses ASP.NET master pages. This means I can have a parent template, which may have the header and footer. Then say I have sites which will all use this header and footer, but look different in the middle. Rather than duplicating the header/footer markup, I can create child templates where needed. Also, because Umbraco is so flexible, I can make document types with fields for CSS and javascript, and write my template so that it will incorporate these if they exist (one page may have them, another may not). Another cool thing is that I can choose to make document properties (fields) recursive or not. Seriously, so well thought out. I have yet to see another CMS that does anything like this.
- User control, version history.
I can add users with limited access to the Umbraco administrative interface. They may only need access to some websites, but not others. You may want them to be able to edit pages, but not publish the changes. You can also see the version history of changes made to a page in your site, and revert back to old versions if you messed up. This kind of stuff may standard for a CMS, but it’s still nice it’s there.
- It uses .NET.
I’m a big fan of C# and ASP.NET. I prefer its structure and code-behind model to PHP, which can be very spaghetti-like, and less strict in terms of coding format. Not that I don’t like PHP. But, I’m anal, and C# appeals to my neat side. ASP.NET has come a long way since it’s 1.1 days, and it’s quite fun to develop in.
Anyway, what prompted all this Umbraco love? Well, sometimes I am placed in situations where I am helping develop a website for another group in their server environment, which is not Windows. Instead, they’ll have Linux Apache/PHP/MySQL, and I’m not in a position to change this environment. Therefore, Umbraco is a no-go, and I need to look into other CMS solutions if I’m going to use one.
And that is what’s funny. There are far more Apache/PHP/MySQL/Whatever open source CMS solutions out there. By a ton. It’s ridiculous. And not one of them come close to holding a candle to Umbraco. I get so frustrated trying to figure one out, partly because I have a hard time letting go of Umbraco long enough to give something else a chance.
What about WordPress?
I mention that because I use WordPress for this site and not Umbraco. While Umbraco has the beginnings of a blog package, it is no where close to as well-developed and easy-to-use/feature-rich as a simple WordPress right out of the box. But, while WordPress may also be used as a simple CMS (and I am a HUGE fan of WordPress as a blogging platform), it doesn’t have the CMS power of Umbraco on a larger scale.
I actually do use WordPress at work for our blog-type (news article) sites. One cool thing to me, is that I have a WordPress as a virtual directory in an Umbraco site.
Does anyone make Sims 3 pictures in the same way we used to make them for Sims 2?
I just can’t get into picture-creating with Sims 3. Maybe I haven’t given it enough of a chance. Maybe I haven’t seen enough examples to inspire me. Maybe I’m too spoiled by all the custom content and pose hack resources we had with Sims 2. I don’t know.
When I see Sims pictures now, I still see Sims 2 pictures. Has everyone else decided picture-taking in Sims 3 stinks, or have they just not moved onto Sims 3 period?
Anybody know of any pose hacks for Sims 3. Back in the day, my first stop to look for some would be Mod the Sims, but visiting that site now just plain gives me a headache.
One major problem I have with Sims 3 in general, but it particularly affects picture-taking is the fact that Windowed mode distorts the graphics in the game. So I have to play full screen mode, which is way too inefficient for picture-taking (and a whole lot of other things, actually).
Blah, I miss old Sims. Wish they could create a game just like Sims 2 + its expansions, with the performance and graphics increases of Sims 3. Haha.
I got Cities XL for Christmas. My brother laughed because I put as Very High priority on my Amazon Wish List. I was super excited about it as it sounded great. And it would have been great, could still be great even, if Monte Cristo didn’t screw it up so bad and release what basically amounts to half a game.
After I installed it, I discovered there was a Planet Mode, where you can trade city resources online with other players and have access to public transportation. Neat! Except it was $9.99 a month. I wasn’t willing to try that yet, so I just went into Solo Mode. In Solo Mode, you can’t trade city resources with other players, so instead they give you only a single option to trade–and it’s shitty. You get less than half the amount of money on items you sell than what you pay for items you buy. Meaning: it’s easier not to trade and just produce everything yourself… UNTIL your city starts to get big and you basically get stuck because you can’t produce enough of everything (fuel, water, agricultural areas, etc). The game limits areas on your city map where you can build fuel fields, water towers, farms, and even holiday areas. And some city maps are labeled harder because they don’t have any areas for these resources. Meaning: you have to trade. But again, trading isn’t so hot when you’re stuck with one lame computer city to trade with, and they screw you. Obviously: online trading with other players would solve this.
Issue two with Solo Mode: no public transportation–e.g., buses. These are only in Planet Mode as well.
So…sounds like Planet Mode is the way to go, which I just figured out after trying my hardest to build unique cities on the different maps available and failing when they reach a certain size every time.
Only, Monte Cristo just ended the Planet Offer because not enough people were subscribing. Gee! Maybe because charging $9.99 a month to play the full version of a game you just paid $40 for is completely lame perhaps?
Complete failure. Now I’m just hoping Monte Cristo incorporates better, diverse trading options and public transportation options in Solo Mode. I’m kind of skeptical though. I’ve read somewhere about this being included in a Cities 2011, which would be a new version of the game we all have to pay for again. Sounds pretty assy to me.
I’m rather disappointed in them for being so shifty. City Life, Cities XL’s predecessor was a whole lot of fun, but also could have been a lot more–which of course, is what Cities XL promised to do. And now I’m really in the mood for a new city simulation game, fully featured, and I don’t have one. I’m currently tired of Sim City 4, plus it’s so old, and runs like shit (random crashes, slow). I popped in Sim City Societies the other day, but turned it off because I wasn’t in the mood to re-learn the utterly ridiculous zoom/navigation controls.
Sigh.
Hello. I’m back from my vacation and getting ready to leave again, first for Boulder, Colorado for a week (work), and then to McAllen, Texas for another week after that (work again). After that…as in less than 24 hours after I get back from CO, I will be heading to McAllen. Yippee. I am so thrilled about this.
Anyway, on to better topics, my vacation was fantastic. We flew into LAX on a Saturday, early afternoon. We rented a car, which was actually a bit of a disaster actually acquiring the rental–the rental place had a line to the door and one person working the counter. Two by the time we got up there an hour later. Like I said: disaster.
But once we were finally on the road, heading to Andy’s brother’s girlfriend’s place, it was great. I had gone into this with nerves about driving in LA. You always hear stories about how awful/scary/agressive drivers are there and that they wil just run you over and you’ll never be able to change lanes.
Clearly these people have never driven through a single urban area in Texas. Honestly, the entire time I was there, driving in California was a breath of fresh air in comparison to Texas. On top of the drivers not being oblivious red-neck morons, the roads are actually constructed to handle a butt-load of people! It’s really quite brilliant and you just don’t find that in Texas. Especially when they decide to do construction on every major road in the state at one time and never finish.
Okay, enough talk about driving. The first night there we headed down to Newport Beach. Didn’t do a whole lot that first day. But the next day we went to Disneyland! It was a blast! And again, I was dreading ginormous crowds and infinitely long lines, but it just wasn’t bad at all. Six Flags Over Texas has way longer lines. I think the longest we waited at Disneyland was 30 minutes. For most rides that seemed crowded we got those “fast passes” that let you come back in an hour and just walk right up. Genius concept, really.
I really enjoyed Space Mountain.We went on it toward the beginning. Not being able to see was highly amusing to me for whatever reason. We also went over to the California Adventure park, and my favorite ride there was called Terror Hotel, or something like that. It was one of those that takes you up high and drops you straight down. Only this one then brought you up again…and back down, and up again, and so on.
At one point, when we were really tired, we went on this brilliant simulation ride that takes you flying over various areas of California (maybe elsewhere too, honestly I don’t remember). What was so great about it was that it took you out and up a bit so your feet were dangling and I swear, the thing even had scents–like the smell of a field or flowers when you went over certain areas. Most relaxing ride ever.
We spent the whole day at Disneyland and I was sunburned and my feet ached big time by the time we got home. But we got back up the very next morning and headed out to Laguna Beach!
Gorgeous much? We spent most of the day in the water and in the sand building a sandcastle, which turned into a sand-flower. Ha. Yeah. We got more sunburned (I was all kinds of pasty pale and didn’t apply our crappy kind of sun screen often enough), and then met up with the others to eat dinner.
…Annnnnd the next day we headed back to LAX and made a short flight to San Francisco.
Our hotel in San Francisco was very cool. It was recently renovated and super modern. It was in the middle of every thing, so we just took a bus where we needed to go. The first day we went down to Pier 39. We were hoping to book a tour to Alcatraz, but it turns out they were sold out until the next weekend. WTF? I found it weird because when I went to San Francisco on a work trip in 2005, around the same time of year, I had no problem getting a ticket and seeing Alcatraz that afternoon. But oh well. We took one of the other cruises instead that went around the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, and by the noisy sea lions. It was fun and cold as hell. I think it was that night that we ate down at Fisherman’s Wharf and had this insanely awesome crab mac and cheese and restaurant whose name I already forgot. But it was delicious.
The next day we rented bikes and biked across the Golden Gate Bridge. This was the one thing I really wanted to do since we started planning the trip and it definitely did not disappoint. Before this I hadn’t ridden a bike since I was a kid, so it was interesting getting used to that again, but I didn’t have any problems–particularly once I got my seat adjusted and bike in the best gear. For some reason the guys started my seat so low it was killing my legs to peddle, particularly up hill. They also told us 2nd speed (gear? I don’t have a clue…one of the 3 clicks on the left, not the right) would be the best for the whole trip. Liars. 3rd was way better. More bang for your buck with speed 3. Anyway. I eventually got it figured out.
It was a long ride just to the bridge, it seemed. Maybe it’s just that it seemed closer than it actually was when we started. Going across the bridge itself was so much fun and ridiculously beautiful. We only got about 3 million pictures. After crossing the bridge we rode on into Sausalito, ditched the bikes for a few minutes, walked around, and got a bite to eat–pizza at this cute little Italian cafe. The buildings in the hills amazed me here.
After we ate we got back on the bike and rode another 6 miles into Old Mill Park to see the giant redwood trees. We spent a few minutes in the park goofing around and taking pictures, then rode back to Sausalito so we could catch a ferry back to San Francisco.
All told, I think we biked a bit over 20 miles that day. Insane! And my ass hurt big time. How people manage to avoid that pain is beyond me. Ha!
That night we went to the Ghirardelli Square and bought a bunch of my favorite kind of chocolate. The next day we walked around Union Square and then flew back to LA. That night (get ready for a long string of names) Andy’s brother’s girlfriend’s brother cooked us dinner at their cousin’s house. He’s a culinary student, so it was very yum.
Then (take a breath) the next day we headed out to San Diego and ate the most awesome Mexican food ever in Coronado Island, then goofed around the beach for a while.
After that, to conclude our trip, we went to the San Diego Zoo Wild Animal Park. Holy hot as hell. Seriously. Didn’t realize we’d hit 100+ degree temperatures on this vacation. Though at least it was a dry heat, so it didn’t compare to nasty Texas. The zoo was very neat–and there was so much there. I think my favorites were the elephants, or maybe the lions at the very end who roared at us.
And that is pretty much that. We flew back to Austin on a Sunday, drove back to Bryan, and went back to work the next day. It was a bitch going to bootcamp (my exercise program) the next morning, and I managed to sleep through my alarm missing it twice that week. Oops.
I’ve been posting about this on Twitter recently, but I finally decided to make a long post about it after just receiving another email just a few minutes ago. If you haven’t been following my Twitter, this is about an email group list train wreck that happened at work. I don’t normally like to go into much detail about work on the internet, but this series of events is too funny to pass up. So I’ll try to be as abstract as possible. 
I will start this by saying with few exceptions, the people I work with and the people I have met in the program are incredibly nice and intelligent. But I suppose teh internets gets the best of everyone now and then.
The entire debacle began on July 2, when a poor unsuspecting man emails the entire program asking for a bit of information about something not completely related to most people’s jobs, but not entirely out in left field either. I’m not entirely sure how large this email list is, but I would guess it’s several thousand at least, consisting of the entire program faculty and staff at the rather large university and centers across the state.
Anyway, within a few minutes a couple responses start trickling in from people trying to help this guy. Honestly, I wasn’t too happy with it myself, seeing as this topic did not concern me in the slightest bit and the emails were slightly disruptive. However, like most sane people, I just ignored them and assumed they would stop discussing this topic with the entire email list soon.
Well, the emails kept coming, and while at first I just send them straight to the trash without glancing, I finally decided something must be going on if we’re still getting these. Sure enough, I opened the most recent one, which consisted of a reply stating “Please take me off this list,” followed by other responses such as “I do not want to receive any more emails about this topic” and “Take me off too,” and escalating in frustration to things such as “TAKE ME OFF THIS LIST PRONTO!!!!”
These silly requests are then of course followed by “Please stop emailing the entire list asking to be taken off the list.” To which more people replied: “Please take me off this list.” Which then triggered, “I cannot believe you people” and “STOP BOMBARDING OUR EMAILS!!!!!!”
For God’s sake. First, how do you not notice you’re emailing the entire list with this silly request to be taken off the list, escalating the problem you had exponentially? Second, are you even looking at the email subjects you respond to? I shit you not, the email subject line would read “Stop emailing the entire list asking to be taken off,” and people (many!) would respond to that message in particular asking to be taken off. It even got to the point where we received multiple emails from IT staff explaining that you should NOT send replies to the whole group like this, detailed instructions on how you should respond, etc, and people still did not listen.
These messages continued on through the next day. Then of course, we had a long weekend–thank God–otherwise, I truly believe these would have continued at this ridiculous pace. I don’t remember getting anymore emails about this topic yesterday, but just now, I received one last one. Unfortunately, a lot of the previous emails were retracted and deleted from our systems (which makes me very angry, because I planned on saving this moment of awesome in my archives for all time), but this one I can quote you directly (and photo-document on flickr).
Subject: Re: Please stop bombarding our emails asking to take you off the list!!!!!
Body:
dito!
>>> Ms. Name Removed 7/3/2008 12:33 PM >>>
Please do not include me on your e-mailing about the [subject removed]….Much Thanks!!
Yes, this person actually replied with “ditto” and yes, it was not even spelled right. And yes, that truly was the bloody subject line.
Is there an Aggie joke to be made somewhere? Perhaps. People never cease to amaze me. I will say this though: not everyone was completely oblivious. My favorite response to all of this came from one guy stating “Please keep me on the list, I want to keep getting email requests from people asking to be taken off the list. It’s fun!”
I agree with him. It was fun; reaching new levels of stupid fun, but fun none the less.
Some amusing examples of this happening elsewhere:
