new blog and feed url

http://sreekantan.wordpress.com is dying and being replaced by http://blog.sreekantan.com

i still have not decided to move my blog to my own web space, but i found another alternative where i can change the cname of my subdomain to point to my wordpress hosting space. this avoids me being tied to wordpress and provides me with other opportunities.

so my new

blog url is –> http://blog.sreekantan.com

and

feed url is –> http://feeds.feedburner.com/sreekantan

if you are using any other urls in bookmarks / feed readers, please update them.

web development tools

i have had to do webapp development again for the past couple of weeks . i use quite a few tools to simplify my development work and thought it would be a good idea to share it in a blog.

here it goes. anybody developing web applications that use javascript should have the following firefox extensions and tools installed. it would greatly ease the pain that one has to go through debugging and fixing javascript. if you are one of the folks who develop code that is designed to only work in ie, all that i can say is “i am really sorry for you”.

1. firebug
firebug allows to easily debug javascript, add breakpoints, watch expressions etc… it also lets the user modify css, html etc… and see the changes reflected on the screen rightaway. it also allows visually inspecting the various html elements and identifying associated html code. the console comes in real handy to inspect any ajax calls and inspect the results coming back. you can also type in additional javascript commands and directly inspect the changes without having to repaint the page. there are tons of other cool features.

it is definitely one of “the” best things ever to happen to web app development –> http://www.getfirebug.com/

2. view sourcechart
view sourcechart is another great plugin that lets you visualize the source that gets rendered in the browser. it lets you collapse and expand html elements. it uses different colours for divs, tables, spans etc… avoids having to resort to adding multi-colored borders to tables and divs.
definitely the next best thing –> http://jennifermadden.com/scripts/ViewRenderedSource.html

3. web developer toolbar
web developer acts as a good compliment to firebug and provides additional functionality to manipulate css styles, forms, images etc…
get the toolbar @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/60

4. greasemonkey and chickenfoot
greasemonkey and chickenfoot are two firefox extensions that allow you to integrate your custom javascript into existing websites. they server more as utilities for tweaking common websites, but they do become helpful in some situations. you can probably use greasemonkey to test all your javascript before adding it to your server code. it avoids the hassle of having to shutdown / restart the server.
http://www.greasespot.net/
http://groups.csail.mit.edu/uid/chickenfoot/index.php

developing for internet explorer
of course we all are forced to test and develop for ie6.0- browsers all the time. when forced into such a situation (which is almost always), there are some tools (and practices) that can help.

1. view rendered source available at http://billfriedrich.tripod.com/index.html?Web provides a mechanism to display the source that is rendered on the screen. this will allow and provide us a mechanism to look at dom manipulations that are done on the client side with javascript. using view source in internet explorer will not show client side dom manipulations.

2. leave the dirty work to toolkits. mochikit, yui, dojo etc.. take care of the dirty ie details. use their services.

3. if you do not have an option and are forced to do direct dom manipulations, then always assume that the code will not work correctly in ie. because it almost never does. especially when you do dom manipulations. never ever develop a large chunk of code in firefox and assume that you are getting closer to being done. you will have to invariably rewrite it to support the stupid browser.

hope these tools help you ease your javascript pain. if you have other firefox extensions / tools to help javascript, do post comments. i would be really interested in knowing more.

get started with rss

there are thousands of websites out there which try to explain ‘RSS‘. here is my take on ‘rss’. i am trying to focus on the usefulness of rss and leaving out the technical details here.

what
‘rss’ is a data format used to publish updates to digital content.

the concept is pretty simple. it is just like a magazine subscription or a newsletter. you subscribe to the magazine or newsletter. whenever there are any updates, you get a new subscription sent to you. in earlier years, the newsletter or magazine was in print. little by little we moved on to emails for magazines and newsletters. when there is a new edition available, an email gets sent to you.

so, the lifecycle is
subscribe –> new updates are published –> subscription with new updates gets sent

rss is the next ‘avatar’ of these subscriptions. the concept is mostly the same, but the difference is ‘content’. with rss, you can get updates to a wide array of digital content. these include magazines, newsletters, photostreams, podcasts, videos, etc… almost every other website out there supports subscriptions.

the rss lifecyle is slightly different
subscribe –> check to see if new updates have been published –> retrieve and read the new updates

why
almost everyone of us can benefit from rss, just like we benefitted from email. my theory is that we all will become as dependent on rss as we are on email today.

we will need rss because the volume of digital content that we will need to consume and digest will keep on increasing. rss will provide us with a very useful mechanism for managing this ever increasing digital content. if we do not manage this digital content properly, we will either get left out with very little information or get drowned with too much useless information. both scenarios will not be very useful.

the more you use rss, the ‘why’ will be come really crystal clear.

how
the next big question is how. to start subscribing to rss feed, we will need software called ‘rss aggregators’. these aggregators will help us check for new updates of our subscriptions and retreive these updates. you can download any rss aggregator out there for ur computer, but i would recommend to use web based aggregators.

web based rss aggregator are hassle free way to start using rss subscriptions. i would recommend either bloglines or google reader. create an account and sign in to these webpages. for google reader, you can use your gmail account id. once you sign in, you will see a link saying “add subscription” or “subscribe”. you will be asked to enter a ‘feed url’ for the website you are subscribing too.

start with my blog which i publish at http://blog.sreekantan.com . my ‘feed url’ for this blog is http://feeds.feedburner.com/sreekantan . enter this url into the ‘feed url’ box. once this is done, you are subscribed to my blog. anytime i write a new article, my rss feed will get updated. the next time you log in into bloglines / google reader, you will get my new articles!!! ain’t that easy.

next start adding other websites to track. one another website that i would recommend is called stuckincustoms. the ‘feed url’ for this website is http://stuckincustoms.com/feed/. this website gets updated everyday with a new photograph. and whenever the new photo is posted, the feed will be updated and you will get notified.

the next step is to start growing your ‘blogroll’. blogroll represents all the blogs you are subscribed too. log on to the websites that you visit everyday. look for the ‘rss’ symbol’ or a link named ’subscribe’. once you click this link, based on the browser you are using you will get different results.

rss symbol looks like this –>

essentially you will either get an xml page or be taken to a page that asks you if you want to subscribe to the feed. i would recommend ignoring these pages and just do a right click and copy the shortcut for the ‘rss’ symbol or the ’subscribe’ button. take this ‘feed url’ and go back and add it to bloglines / google reader as a subscription.

once you do this, anytime the website is updated you can get notified of updates. once you start adding a couple of feeds and get updates, you will get accustomed to rss feed. you will even get addicted to them.

next
i have about 50+ urls on my blogroll. i use rss for reading news, email subscriptions, tracking fedex packages, as a todo list, to share webpages with my wife, share photos with friends… the list is sort of endless. i will write about how to do all these other things in another article soon.

feed changes

new feed address

if you get access to my blog via RSS, please update your readers to my new feed address –> http://feeds.feedburner.com/sreekantan . please immediately discontinue use of any other feed urls, especially the sreekantan.wordpress.com url.

background

i own my domain which forwards to my wordpress blog as a frame redirect. wordpress is free, works great and all that i pay is 6 bucks a year for buying the domain.

but i finally got my cheap ass to go and buy some hosting space. i discovered that hosting space is pretty cheap. u can get decent linux space for as little as 3 bucks a month. 10 gigs space, decent bandwidth, mysql, php, free email and ftp access. very good for a beginner.

dilemma

so, now that i have space and all the needed software, i can be running my blog in my own server space instead of using hosted services @ wordpress. but, i would have to do deal with stuff like software updates, clearing out spam etc… etc…

i will be trying out the blog in my new server space and changing things around. i might even get to try other blogging software like s9y, bblog, movable type etc…

so, if you subscribe to the feed url above, i can change things around without causing problems. i also have http://blog.sreekantan.com/feed available, but i think http://feeds.feedburner.com/sreekantan will be a better one to use.

if you have any recommendations / experiences / thoughts on using your own space vs. hosted space, let me know.

corn – the “dim-witted” idea

it is a pretty obvious fact that trying to replace corn as a fossil fuel alternative is just ‘bullshit’. corn needs an unbelievably large amount of “fertilizer”, “fresh water” and “land” which makes it just impossible as a fossil fuel alternative.

you can google for “ethanol from corn” and will get hundreds of articles indicating why this whole corn stuff is stupid. these couple (article1, article2) of articles seem to be pretty informative and interesting.

so essentially, to match the current level of US gas consumption, we should convert the entire US land mass into a corn field. once that is done, we all can then go and live on ships, they did it in waterworld, right?

but wait, that is not what makes it truly “dim-witted”. here are some interesting points.

• corn is used in more than 3,000 common grocery products.
• 50% of US corn production is used to feed livestock.
• it is a very common staple food source in many poor countries. especially the countries which depend on US / UN aid agencies.
• agricultural dumping will reduce. although the dumping process is considered harmful for world farmers, a reduce in dumping will significantly reduce aid agency support in poor countries and will cause food shortage and death in many poor countries.

there is an interesting npr interview that talks more some more about this theory.

we should also look at focusing more on other alternative sources of saving energy and do some of these things.

• not continue to let US automakers produce poor quality, low efficiency vehicles that will continue to guzzle gas. even though it is the automakers that screwed up in the first place, the government could offer subsidies and help these automakers out.
• reduce billions of dollars on corn subsidies and spend the money on public transportation.
• thwart any opposition resisting the ban on incandescent light bulbs. few 1000 US workers will lose jobs, but the government can do some subsidizing and re-employ these workers to produce energy efficient bulbs.
• re-examine the new energy policies without interference from special interests. e.g. it is said that the new DST policy does not necessarily decrease energy consumption, but just increases energy consumption. (folks driving their big bulky suvs to do more shopping and just pleasing the consumer industry)
• increase tax subsidies for energy efficient automobiles.

so, is it a good idea to keep promoting corn. should we not try to do some of these other things and try to reduce the overall energy consumption instead.

i think it is a very “dim-witted” idea to think that just growing a lot of corn will save us. it can always be a “complimentary” fuel, but will not be the panacea for all energy problems. what do you think ?

donkeyed

in india, donkeys are usually used in the countryside for transporting stuff. it is mainly used by washermen for transporting laundry piles, to and from the river.

a few days back, i was watching an “everbody loves raymond” rerun. there was one scene, where ray has an anxiety attack and the doctor (looked like an indian) treating him tells him this,

“your mind is like a donkey. you can pile stuff on it and it will keep moving. but there is only so much stuff you can pile on it. at some point it is going to stop and just lie down. you will need to offload some things, feed it and refresh it before it can move anywhere”

in the past, i have had a “donkeyed” mind sometimes. a small vacation, some amount of offloading, talking to friends, a movie etc… usually helps.

after a very long time today, my mind is donkeyed today. there are only a couple of loads on my mind, but it just refuses to move. not sure how to get the donkey up and running.

have u ever felt donkeyed ? do u think such a term should go into the urban dictionary ?

certified jerk? / asshole ?

i am sure i have been one in the past. if not a full version, definitely a temporary one.

• am i one now?
• was i one in the past?
• will i ever know ?
• will you tell me if i am one ?
• are you one?
• would you like me to tell you if you are ?
• do u work with someone who is ?
• would you ever tell one he is ?
• is it that bad to be one ?

there is a new book out there titled “The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t” that might answer some or most of these questions. it is geared towards supervisors to optimize their team by analyzing, identifying and getting rid of jerks. there is also a npr marketplace segment with the author talking more about this book.

now that there is a book out there that may provide some answers,

• would you want your boss to read it ?
• would you want you colleagues to read it ?
• would you want your company to implement a ‘no jerks allowed’ policy ?

i should try to get the book and read it. it seems to be ‘out of order’ ? are people rushing to read it ? is my boss reading it ?

update:

when searching for the book, i found a video by the book author and guess what – i found a quiz that you can take to check to see if you are a certified asshole. i took it and failed the ‘certified asshole certification’ test. i did manage to get a very low ‘non-zero’ score.

go ahead take the quiz here.

stop motion

2 very cool stop motion videos

i am astonished by the patience these guys have

and i am shocked by the patience this group of people had.

and guess what. there are just 100s of other crazy stop motion videos out there. very interesting concept.