Wednesday, January 25, 2006

yahoo! mail beta

I know school just started, but something more important just came up... the premiere of Yahoo! Mail Beta (at least for me...)

Alright, this long-awaited debut finally came to my inbox this evening, and looked a little something like this:



Of course it uses all sorts of brand spankin' new web functionality like AJAX and whatnot. After playing with it for just a few minutes, I decided I like it a whole lot. It's much more convenient than the old Y! mail, and I even *gasps* like it better than gmail. I use Y! for my day to day email as opposed to gmail because, well, gmail is pretty creepy, plus I've had my Y! account for so long it's a PITA to switch now.

As we web developer/programmer/whateveryouwanttocallit, I am very interested in how this kind of stuff works, and after looking through the source code just a tiny bit, it's very clear that there is lots of technology behind this. Take a look at a tiny snippet here:

<iframe id="submenuBackerIFrame" class="hiddenIframe" src="about:blank" frameborder=0></iframe>
<iframe id="menuBackerIFrame" class="hiddenIframe" src="about:blank" frameborder=0></iframe>
<iframe id="historyFrame" name="historyFrame" class="hiddenIframe" src="./browserHistory.html" frameborder=0></iframe>
<iframe id="reloginFrame" frameborder=0 style="display:none"></iframe>
<iframe id="framePooler1" src="about:blank" class="TabItem"></iframe>
<iframe id="framePooler2" src="about:blank" class="TabItem"></iframe>
<iframe id="framePooler3" src="about:blank" class="TabItem"></iframe>
<iframe id="framePooler4" src="about:blank" class="TabItem"></iframe>
<iframe id="framePooler5" src="about:blank" class="TabItem"></iframe>
<iframe id="framePooler6" src="about:blank" class="TabItem"></iframe>
<iframe id="framePooler7" src="about:blank" class="TabItem"></iframe>
<iframe id="framePooler8" src="about:blank" class="TabItem"></iframe>
<iframe id="framePooler9" src="about:blank" class="TabItem"></iframe>
<iframe id="framePooler10" src="about:blank" class="TabItem"></iframe>
<iframe id="framePooler11" src="about:blank" class="TabItem"></iframe>
<iframe id="framePooler12" src="about:blank" class="TabItem"></iframe>
<iframe id="framePooler13" src="about:blank" class="TabItem"></iframe>
<iframe id="framePooler14" src="about:blank" class="TabItem"></iframe>
<iframe id="framePooler15" src="about:blank" class="TabItem"></iframe>
<iframe id="framePooler16" src="about:blank" class="TabItem"></iframe>
<iframe id="framePooler17" src="about:blank" class="TabItem"></iframe>
<iframe id="framePooler18" src="about:blank" class="TabItem"></iframe>
<iframe id="framePooler19" src="about:blank" class="TabItem"></iframe>
<iframe id="framePooler20" src="about:blank" class="TabItem"></iframe>
<iframe id="captchaFrame" frameborder=0 style="display:none"></iframe>

posted @ 6:23 PM [ ] [link to this post]

Sunday, January 22, 2006

xmlrpc

I was looking through my server logs, which is usually quite entertaining, but when I was browsing my 404's, I noticed an odd trend. I usually don't have more than a handful of 404's from my own bad links, but after looking at just the top few misplaced pages, it was clear something was strange. Have a look:



One thing is clear. Someone *really* wants to find a file called xmlrpc.php. After looking into what XML RPC is, I googled to see if anyone else was having these mysterious 404's. Apparently many major content management systems (including drupal, wordpress, and phpgroupware) have some pretty serious vulnerabilities involving this phprpc thing. Scary stuff. I was curious to see who was trying to find these security holes in MY website for about 34 seconds, then I got over it.

Moral of the story: Make sure you have all your patches installed!

posted @ 6:29 PM [ ] [link to this post]

Saturday, January 21, 2006

homemade pringles can macro adapter

The post over at photocritic about macro photography on a budget really grabbed my attention, and was sitting on the back burner in my mind for a while. You may have seen it slashdotted or digged. Well, I was at Safeway yesterday when I came across the chips aisle and remembered the article. I grabbed a can of pringles.

I followed the somehwat less than helpful tutorial above in creating my very own pringles can macro adapter tube, and managed to get some decent shots - plus I learned a lot about the camera and the way lenses work.

I will try not to bore you with the details, but here goes. I started by making sure that the lens would fit in the pringles can. I've heard rumors that the 50mm lenses (both canon and nikon) fit just about perfectly in the can, but since I only have the kit lens which is the 18-70mm f3.5-4.5, I had to make do with what I had. After all, this is supposed to be a hack job, right? The mount for the lens hood fit *very* snugly at the opening of the pringles can, so I just left it at that.

	Camera Cover I got to break out the dremel at this point and hollow out the cover for the camera that protects the camera when no lens is attached. I sanded it down on the inside a bit more after I shot the picture to make sure it was completely smooth and there were no stray plastic shavings.
	Cutting the Can My sparks aren't nearly as pretty as Hajejans', but I wasn't exactly concentrating on the picture...
	Glue I mixed some JB KWIK (the stuff's amazing) to hold the lens cover to the pringles can and form a tight enough seal to not let any light in.
	Putting it Together The seal it made was just about perfect.
	Putting it on the camera No, I did not do a little victory dance at this point.
	Attaching the lens With the can on the camera, I put the 18-70mm lens in the camera pre-focused at infinity and the aperture stopped down.
	The Full Setup Here's what everything looked like when it was put together. I rested the lens on the table, and had the camera on a tripod so to not stress the can and the glue too much. I used the book and the credit cards to hold the items to be photographed at the correct height. I can't recommend the credit cards enough to raise or lower the item a tiny bit.

Okay, now, the pictures! Note that these are all FULL FRAME, and NOT CROPPED at all! On most of them the color was way off, so I simply desaturated them. Also, I did a quick USM after resizing to keep the detail of the original images. That's it!


Starting with my Pilot v5 rolling ball pen at ~50mm


Pilot v5 rolling ball pen at ~35mm


Standard #2 pencil tip


The ridges on the side of a US quarter


in god we trust


A surface mount PIC Chip on a Basic Stamp 1


If you know electronics, this is a Cadmium Sulfide Cell to measure light.


From a Sierra Nevada tie pin


The tip of a micro phillips head screwdriver


Possibly my favorite... this is salt on a razor blade. I tried for about 10 minutes to stack 3 grains on top of each other using thumbtacks and the razor blade, but I gave up :-/

That's it! I am going to keep trying with this to get the color information correct and get some better quality images, but I am just really excited that everything worked out as well as it did. Of course, I'm supposed to say DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME FOR FEAR OF RUINING YOUR CAMERA.

posted @ 1:07 PM [ ] [link to this post]

deductions

I am pretty sure that someone just got beat up during a huge fight in our parking lot.

Which can only mean one thing: the kids are back in town.

Which can only mean one thing: school is starting. On Monday.

As of today, both of my roommates are back in town, which means a lot more weed, and a lot less privacy. It was nice living here alone, then just with one roommate around, but now we have an almost full house (aside from the empty room we are somewhat non-actively trying to fill). Now, amongst those passed out on the couch downstairs with the TV at full volume (the only reason I'm not turning it off is because it's home movies), the 50+ people at the party outside my window, and the screeching tires of this town, I'm off to bed.

*sigh* I think another fight is brewing right outside my window this time. I should sneak through the hustle and see if I can get a cup :-/

posted @ 1:03 AM [ ] [link to this post]

Thursday, January 12, 2006

macWorld

Went to my first macworld today at the Moscone Center in San Francisco!

Geek. In. Paradise.

Got to play with a new MacBook Pro, read a mini review at my post on the BB Forum.

Played with all sorts of cameras (top of the line Nikons and Canons), as well as all sorts of software and everything.

Exciting to mac geeks such as myself, not so much if you're not. Anyway, that's all.

posted @ 8:12 PM [ ] [link to this post]

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

another apple post

www.apple.com/store

Honestly, who comes up with these names?

the MacBook Pro?! Way to be an innovator there, Steve.

Okay, I want one really bad now.

posted @ 10:53 AM [ ] [link to this post]

Thursday, January 05, 2006

bill gates and CES '06

I joined the millions last night at 6:30 PM PST and watched the webcast of Bill Gates' keynote opening for CES 2006. CES, the Consumer Electronics Show, is where all sorts of electronics are debuted. From TIVO to the cube MP3 player to Windows Vista, all sorts of products are on display for people to see in Las Vegas. Bill Gates traditionally opens the show with a speech about how well Microsoft is doing, and usually demos his next generation of products.

For the most part, the speech this year was just a bunch of buzzwords and statistics that nobody cares about (the xbox 360 is on track to sell about 5 million consoles by the end of June, etc...). The thing that really got me, however, was the debut of the "new" features of Windows Vista - due out sometime this year. First, an improved user interface that is more friendly and that gives the end user confidence. Then the things like an improved alt tab (which is already available as a power toy for XP by the way) and basic photo editing built in to the OS. Sound familiar? Sounds like Bill has been looking to Steve. Then I laughed out loud - literally out loud - when they said Windows Vista was going to "introduce" tabbed browsing. This has been around for well over 5 years if you follow the mozilla browsers (including firefox). Albeit, tabbed browsing is supposedly improved in the next generation IE by allowing a preview of each web site in thumbnail fashion, but that to me is just another way MS can brag about the processing power computers have these days. Just like you can see a preview of videos when you hover over the item in the taskbar.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not a Microsoft hater by any means. I'm looking forward to Vista just as much as ... well, I'm sure someone else is looking forward to it, but Bill Gates just has a way of hyping up a product far beyond what it is worth. Microsoft, in my mind, is by no means a great and revolutionary innovator. Even the products that Bill was showing off - like the VOIP phone that tied into your MSN buddy list or the mobile phone that was bluetooth linked to the planet - microsoft didn't create. They are just creating software for the innovative products that others come up with. Bill said it best when he stated that the next year is all about partnerships. Who can they buy or leech off of. Whose ideas will they steal and call their own. The only pure microsoft product that was demo'ed was the xbox 360 (in which Steve Ballmer let Bill Gates beat him up - boxing style). Whatever, I'm still waiting for the PS3 which has HDDVD built in and won't need an external drive like the 360 (again, due out later this year).

Alright, now that I'm done bashing, time to go get me a pirated beta of Longhorn Windows Vista™

posted @ 3:38 PM [ ] [link to this post]

Sunday, January 01, 2006

happy new year

I was travelling south on Interstate 5 to San Jose when I passed the signs that said that 505 was closed due to flooding. This is the major throughfare that connects I-5 with I-80 to get to the Bay Area. I tried to take side streets to the freeway, but all the on-ramps were closed. My fellow new-years motorists informed me, maps in hand, that the three main freeways that I usually take to get to the Bay Area were all closed due to flooding. This was apparently a breaking news story that I had yet to hear about, so I ignored their warnings and continued south, and finally wound up on 80, 15 or so miles north of Fairfield. When I hit Vacaville, the entire interstate turned into a parking lot. No joke. I took the first exit I could, and made my way to Damien's house. Watching the news, I quickly learned that I-80 was closed at Fairfield, still 13 miles from where I was - and the traffic was already backed up. The news cameras all showed something like this:



That's the highway that connects the north with the south on the west edge of california - the ONLY highway that does as you can see from our friends at google.

Anyway, had to skip out on San Jose and spend an uneventful new year at Damien's place. We are already planning our own celebaration when we are all back in Chico. And now, I drive back up to the mountain for another fun filled day of snowboarding.

posted @ 11:01 AM [ ] [link to this post]