Ever since I started to redesign/refactor the company web site I have been interested in menuing systems of all kinds. The site had a pop up javascript menu system which worked fine, I guess, until there were about forty pages in one category so that the menu filled the screen from top to bottom and still didn’t display all the choices. Now most of the links are on the content pages themselves and the menu choices have been pared down to just a few sub-categories so there’s no real need for a popup menu anymore.
I came across the “pureDOM explorer” just recently. It seems to do more of what I want. Here’s a simple example—just click on the links to expand the lists:
Without javascript or if it is disabled then you’ll see a set of nested lists. However with javascript enabled then these lists become expandable or contractable with mouse clicks. BTW, this example would have been much harder to compose without my TeXlike text formatting with braces instead of open and closed html tags.
My wife brought home 4(!) pummelos today. Someone was giving out samples at the store and she thought we should try some.. To me, they resemble huge limes. As you can see from the latin name, citrus grandis, they’re big. About 15cm in diameter as shown in the image referenced by this thumbnail. The skin or rind is thick and spongy and the separations between the sections are too tough to eat. The taste resembles a sweet, non-bitter grapefruit. Indeed, I read on the internet that the pummelo was crossed with some others of the citrus family to create the grapefruit. This fruit is an “eat with the family or good friends food.” Other such examples include mango, ribs, chicken wings, i.e., all are kind of messy to eat. Pummelos are good but, for all the work involved in the preparation, I would prefer golden pineapples. They take as much work to prepare but the fruit is much sweeter. (My wife also bought a pineapple.)
There’s been too much precipitation here. I can do without that “west coast feeling.” It was raining when I walked to work. It was raining at lunch time. It was raining when I ran home. It was sleeting when I took some stuff out to the garage just now. I guess I should be grateful it isn’t snow. Yet. And this is a dull paragraph, too.
A young family moved into a house next door to a vacant lot. One day a construction crew turned up to start building a house on the empty lot.
The young family’s 5-year-old daughter naturally took an interest in all the activity going on next-door and started talking with the workers.
She hung around and eventually the construction crew, all of them gems-in-the-rough, more or less adopted her as a kind of project mascot.
They chatted with her, let her sit with them while hey had coffee and lunch breaks, and gave her little jobs to do here and there to make her feel important.
At the end of the first week they even presented her with a pay envelope containing a dollar. The little girl took this home to her mother who said all the appropriate words of admiration and suggested that they take the dollar pay she had received to the bank the next day to start a savings account in her name.
When they got to the bank the teller was equally impressed with the story and asked the little girl how she had come by her very own pay check at such a young age. The little girl proudly replied, “I worked all last week with a crew building a house.”
“My goodness gracious,” said the teller, “and will you be working on the house again this week, too?”
The little girl replied, “I will if those useless sons-a-bitches at Home Depot ever bring us any drywall that’s worth shit.”
I remember saying to my kids when they were small:
Sleep tight.
Don’t let the bed bugs bite.
According to this CBC article the local bed bug population is increasing. International travel brings 'em in and spreads the critters around. We don’t nuke our dwellings anymore with those strong pesticides, either. I remember one summer job years ago at a building where part of it was an overnight hostel for homeless men. Each week we went around the dormitories spraying all the matresses with insecticide. I wonder if they still do that?
Sometimes spam is just too funny. BTW, this is cow colostrum they’re talking about. I just had to [comment].
Dear Friend,
Do you suffer from ANY of these signs of Aging?
- Wrinkles, Fine Lines - Poor Memory - Lack of Enthusiasm [spam does that to you…] - Sagging Skin - Diminished Eyesight - Failing Sexual Performance [not that I can tell] - Joint Problems - Frequent colds and minor infections - Low Energy - Skin Problems - Weight Problems - Sleep Difficulties - High or Low Blood Pressure - Lack of Muscle Tone - Hormone Imbalances
Then it’s time to take a look at COLOSTRUM
You know you’re on to something good when even the normally cautious scientists and doctors start getting excited about their research.
That’s just what is happening now.
All over the world the medical and scientific communities are buzzing with the news that nature’s first and most natural food, Colostrum, is teeming with nutritious substances and compounds that are critical allies in our fight against the myriad of health factors that cause our bodies to age.
The interesting thing is, the benefits of Colostrum have been known for almost as long as it’s been around. Its' incredible health benefits were first described by Ayurvedic [?] doctors and spiritual leaders in India many thousands of years ago. It’s long been known in other parts of the world too, where it’s been used for centuries for everything from immune deficiency and age-related symptoms to treatment of the common cold.
Now, with several volumes [!] of medical research to back up its many health claims, Mother Nature’s first and most important immunity food is universally being hailed as a near-miraculous natural aid to warding off ill health and old age.
And there’s still more…[Do tell!]
Here’s where the Colostrum story starts to get really interesting…
Up until recently, the benefits of Colostrum were only available to those who could afford the expensive synthesized Growth Factors that certain pharmaceutical companies were manufacturing and selling in limited supplies for between $500 and $1,500 per month!
But as of today, you no longer have to pay the earth shattering prices for only half the benefits of Colostrum. After years of development, the scientific team working for Crown Vitamin Company has created CVC Immune System Booster. Unlike all other brands of colostrums currently on the market, this unique formulation combines the very purest Bovine [moo!] Colostrum with Vitamin C for added strength and antioxidant capacity in patented quick melt `lozenge' style tablets for faster absorption into your bloodstream [Do you paste them to your forehead? Slit your wrists?] without any loss of potency, and with more immediate benefits.
Better yet, since your body can handle any amount of Colostrum safely, there’s no risk of overdosing. Which is just as well, since CVC Immune System Booster tastes so good, everybody in the family — even the kids [and new born babies!] — will love it!
Best of all, there are absolutely no side-effects [No effects at all really except for a declining bank balance.] apart, that is, from an increasingly joyous, progressive feeling of better health, enhanced energy, greater strength, improved skin and muscle tone, and a growing j’oie de vivre that will remind you that, finally, the joys of youth are no longer the exclusive preserve of the young!
And since there’s nothing so convincing as personal experience, to celebrate the launch of new CVC Immune System Booster, we’re offering you a one month supply (worth $29.95). All you need to pay is $9.95 to cover postage and handling…
Nothing extraordinary happened today. I cleaned a shelf in the “storage” room of our basement and threw out odd cans of paint dating as far back as 1997. I read the Saturday paper while listening to Choral Concert. Today’s feature were works by Benjamin Britten born on 22 November 1913. We’ll be singing a few of his choral pieces at our Christmas concert.
Later on my wife invited me to walk with her to the Tim Hortons on Eglinton near Glen Erin, about a 3 or 4 km round trip I’d say. The weather wasn’t as mild as they predicted — only 9°C. Warm enough, though, for an Iced Cappuccino.
Back chez nous, my wife made oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies from a recipe on the 2004 Milk Calendar. I adapted from the recipes on the Shake and Bake box and put the coated chicken on a bed of rice and diced tomatoes. I also baked a pepper sqash. All quite yummy.
On the way home from choir rehearsal, my wife and I visited the new Sam’s Club in Etobicoke about midway between my work and Sherway Gardens on North Queen. If I didn’t know it was Sam’s Club, I would have said I was in my local (Mississauga/Oakville) Costco. Same layout, pretty well the same mix of products (Though we noted some stuff that would probably be available at Walmart without having to pay a membership fee.) and about the same prices. Hmmm. It was pretty easy choice not to join up: there’s not enough to distinguish the “club” from Costco. Especially since there is also a Costco not far from my work, too. I guess the GTA hasn’t been big box store saturated yet.
Today’s stats (as if you really care…) were #3 / 372 / 116 / 5.0% / 4.06 / 9.7 / 79 / 48. The ramp was increased from 3 to 5 so the calories increased by 58. The only part of exercise I really dislike is that sweaty, drippy feel — the faster I can rid of that, the better. I guess it may be obvious but once you’ve stopped the intense activity, especially in the dryer atmosphere of a heated house, a brisk rub with an old towel gets rid of the sweat.
Or at least I was on a ladder at the side of the garage roof. It was mild, about 12°C, sunny and dry so I could fix or replace those shingles damaged by the windstorm. The match of the new shingles with the old wasn’t very good but, hey, I’m going to replace it all in the spring. My impression of the garage roofing job was that it was pretty poor though it has lasted almost 24 years. Now at least it will last one more winter.
While I was up there I cleaned out the eaves troughs. Pretty yucky stuff but at least disposable plastic gloves kept it off my skin.
“Sesame Street Workshop laid off sixty workers. News of the firings was brought to employees by the letters F and U.”
Jimmy Fallon
The cleaning person always dusts are clock radio in a clockwise direction, thereby turning down the volume. Usually I check but it was late and I was tired. With a mad scramble I caught the last morning GO train and my wife made it to school with 5 min. to spare.
Part of the reason I was tired and slept so long was the extremely brief power flicker which caused the wireless doorbell to chime continuously. It woke me up; so I had to go downstairs and unplug it. Why don’t they test embedded systems under those conditions? It has happened before. I think it needs a zener diode to prevent the power supply from feeding the circuit until full voltage has been attained. I remember adding this to circuit years ago to prevent such a problem.
I am not going to reply to your spam. Here’s what my inbox looked like:
Sender Subject A n n e t t e E s t e s clearheaded Addd ssssize to your bnkkevn kzo pmmt
The only actual English words are “clearheaded”, “to”, and “your” which do not provide this literate individual enough information to decide to open your email. I recommend giving up spamming and junk that spam software. Of course I am assuming that you, A n n e t t e, can read English.
Increased the speed limit, decreased the ramp. Hmmm, the calorie count went down but, of course, the distance increased: #3 / 314 / 98.1 / 3.0% / 4.09 / 9.7 / 79 / 48
Our youngest (!) turns 19 today. We had ribs and a cake last night then his brother, cousin and girlfriends took him out to somewhare at midnight for his first (ahem, legal) drink. His room door is still closed — I guess he’s sleeping it off.
I’ll need a dry, warm, sunny afternoon to fix the damaged garage roof shingles. It looks like none of those criteria will happen today. Perhaps I’ll have to take off some afternoon this week. Anyway, at least I have an excuse to shop at the building store today and pick up some materials: a pack of bundled shingles, a flat pry bar, roofing nails (I might have some of those), and roofing cement.
The IT department traded my desktop PC for a new one yesterday. I have roughly 5 times the processor speed and 6 times the disk space of my old one. And the noise — there isn’t any. That old Compaq monster had this aggravating, whiny fan noise. I had built a plywood shelf to put it underneath my desk to get the unit farther away from me. Now, that noise problem is gone.
The Dell OptiPlex GX270 (What the heck does “optiplex” mean?.) desktop machine comes with Windows XP Pro and the IT staff installed MS Office as well. I asked them to give me local admin rights so that I can install other software. Of course they warned me they would no longer “support” that PC. As if they ever did on the previous box! No, I’ll be looking after it.
Most of my usual software utilities works just fine on XP. I had a problem getting XP to talk to my FreeBSD Samba server. After reading the documentation and, realizing I have a firewall limiting which hosts can connect to that server, I could have the XP box self-authorize:
security = serverpassword server = %m
The other information I had forgotten to write down was how to use Tight VNC through an stunnel. Again I pieced together some web resources to find the answer. Now the Windows version of stunnel no longer needs to wrapped in a program like srvany. It can be an NT service (daemon in UNIX parlance) by itself.
After a bit of installing and “playing around,” I decided not to use the 15” LCD display as it is limited to a resolution of 1024×768. I need at least 1280×1024 so that I can have to two side by side 80 column x 50 row emacs editor windows. Fortunately I had a capable monitor lying around. I’ll have to call IT and have them open the lock and remove the too-cute LCD display.
I think almost all of my favourite utilities have been installed. I just need to install a “real” shell such as tcsh or perhaps use Cygwin instead. One severe limitation of Windows’ cmd.exe is that it can’t use UNC paths such as //otherserver/share/directory. I also need to install Visual C++ 6.0, the pre Dot Net MSDN CD and the service packs. I can hardly wait to the time the build for a large software project I refactored a couple of years ago.
First it was thunderstorms yesterday evening. Then winds came gusting up to 100 kmh — enough to tear a few tabs off the shingles on my garage roof. Not nice. Now I’ll have to assess the damage this weekend and see whether I need to make repairs pronto up to and including reshingling the garage. From what I hear of neighbourhood history, our house roof lost almost all its shingles during a wind storm several years after it was built. So, I suspect the garage roof is “original,” going on 23 years, and the house roof is perhaps something less than 20 years old. Looks like 2004 will be a year for major home maintenance.
The director of the Bell’Arte Singers delivered a heart felt homily at rehearsal on Monday. His 6 or 7 month old twins are exercising their best sleep deprivation techniques on him and he’s tired of it. Or us. Or something. And the choir is in debt and the bank is recalling its loan. The last concert turned out great but it definitely required Herculean efforts on the part of the music director to wrestle the musical message out of the awkward choral composition, piecemeal, and lately delivered commissioned work. Kudos to Lee and choir for pulling it off.
I have chocolates to sell for the Oakville Choral Society. I think it is a worthwhile cause — raising the funds to hire movers to schlep risers in and out of the concert venue. I don’t really mind helping to do this but I’m not available during the day nor do I like moving stuff in my tuxedo après le concert. So, I have 25 (Oops, make that 23. Quality testing you know!) boxes of caramel and mint chocolates for just a toonie and a loonie each.
Sound travels slowly. Sometimes the things you say when your kids are teenagers don’t reach them till they’re in their 40s.
Seen in Clean Laffs email. I’ll let you know in 20 years or so whether or not this is true. Or you can ask my Mom.
I spent about 7 hours vacuum-mulching leaves yesterday. Besides a coffee break and lunch I had to interrupt my activity to perform dental surgery on the machine’s impeller about half way through. One tooth or blade from the impeller broke off, probably from a pine cone “core.” To achieve balanced operation again I had to break off the tooth on the other side. Since there were originally 10 teeth I guess my leaf vacuum now has 20% less suction. It didn’t seem to matter — I was able to process all the maple and magnolia leaves in the backyard. My back sure is sore today. I think the leaf vacuum-mulcher is designed for someone about 6”shorter than I am so I had to stoop slightly. The sore back could also be due to the twenty plus times I filled the bag. The compost bins are full and most of the gardens are mulched. And, a real bonus, because I didn’t around to doing the job until this weekend, the leaves have all fallen off the trees!
A mother was showing her boy how to zip up his coat. “The secret,” she said, “is to get the left part of the zipper to fit in the other side before you try to zip it up.”
The boy looked at her quizzically… “Why does it have to be a secret?”
I have found yet another reason to prefer the Mozilla and Firebird web browers: Adblock. This adds an ad blocking tool to your browser. You click the button and a list of the images and scripts on the page pop up in a list. Though the use of regular expressions you can blow away a whole set of annoying ads. I especially enjoyed blocking those large flash ads that Yahoo! puts on the page when you have an empty folder.
Now I need to find an ad substituter. It would be something like a screensaver or wallpaper type of thing. Or maybe it could turn the ad space transparent so that your background would show through. Some of those html mass emails I subscribe to, now have a lot of empty space.
“Genetic scientists say that one day it will be possible to grow new body parts, like new breasts and new hands. It’s going to be a huge moneymaker, because you know that as soon as women grow another breast, men will want another hand.”
Jay Leno
My son upgraded his server FreeBSD sources but forgot to check the domain name server’s named.conf file: mergemaster merged it out of existence. Hubbo.com disappeared for awhile over the weekend. A gentle reminder this morning and we’re back on-line.
Though it has been rainy all day I got some errands done tonight including:
- A flu shot injected at the local walk-in clinic, provided free of charge by the Ontario government.
- Choir rehearsal is next Monday evening — civic election day in Ontario. So I voted at the advance poll tonight. It took me longer to find a parking spot than to vote.
- I used the old van as my wife needed the car. Of course my son has run it down to below 1/8th. Fortunately the gas is cheaper as the moment at 63.5¢/litre.
- And I put out the garbage — the usual Monday night chore.
“I think we ought to go ahead and make ‘zillion’ a real number. ‘Gazillion’ too. A zillion could be ten million trillions, and a gazillion could be a trillion zillions. It seems to me it’s time to do this.”
George Carlin
It’s been a busy weekend but I still haven’t had the time to mulch those leaves — today it rained all day. You’d think it was a Vancouver winter for heaven’s sake.
Again our accompanist cancelled at the last minute for Saturday morning’s choir practice. We managed without him. Even those of us who have performed Handel’s Messiah many times, still find things to learn. Especially when another part is still learning it and not singing their entries so that we can hear our cues. Also, each conductor has his or her own way of approaching the work.
This weekend’s main activity was looking after Cricket, my son and daughter’s dog. It’s like having a two year old around again. Our younger son is also home for the weekend and his nocturnal wanderings and Cricket’s wanting to protect us(?) woke us up in the wee hours of the morning both Friday and Saturday nights. Yawn! That dog just likes to go. He was walked at 4:00 am Saturday morning then again at 6:00 am for a couple of hours. We took her apple picking with us in the afternoon, threw the frisbee around later and I took her for a walk in the woods in the evening. Still she woke us up barking at around two. So she was banished to the spare bedroom. Despite this the dog’s a lot of fun. Who else can be so excited when you walk in the door?
Since it has been raining all day, I pulled out the tread mill. My dedication to running does not include getting muddy and soaked both inside and out. Besides, I had already walked the dog this morning in the pouring rain. I tried a modest treadmill program, #3 / 344 / 107 / 5% / 3.74 / 8.9 / 79 / 48, which seemed easy enough to do. I’ll have to either increase the % or the 8.9 next time.