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the singularity of being and nothingness
A Generosity That Transcends Morality
Apr 26th
(Thanks to Kevin for the inspiration!)
In Luke 10, Jesus tells the famous story of the Good Samaritan. In this narrative, the behavior of the Samaritan toward the injured man is juxtaposed with that of the a priest and a Levite to reveal the nature of the message of love which Jesus was teaching, a love which treats one's "neighbor" as oneself.
Obviously, the various facets of this story have been mulled over for countless centuries. However, while listening to a exposition of this passage this weekend, I was struck by something of an interesting idea: that the nature of love and generosity transcends morality.
Let me explain.
Generally, the attitudes of the Levite and priest are characterized quite pejoratively-after all, it is they who walked so callously by the injured man, with seemingly little regard for his life or injuries. While there is certainly a measure of truth to this characterization, I think some other considerations are warranted.
One of these considerations is that these men did not bypass the injured man out of gross neglect or comfortable apathy. In fact, it is quite possible that their hearts were moved to compassion. If this is so, why did they not then act?
Part of More >
Microsoft Word is the Devil
Mar 1st
I've made clear in the past my great distaste for Microsoft Word and the "formatting" which it injects into WYSIWYG fields. I could write scores of pages about my dislike, but I'll let the following example speak for me. Keep in mind that the following is for 19 words.
<p><link href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CDONVAN%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List"><link href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CDONVAN%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx" rel="themeData"><link href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CDONVAN%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml" rel="colorSchemeMapping"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml><w:WordDocument><w:View>Normal</w:View><w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom><w:TrackMoves /><w:TrackFormatting /><w:PunctuationKerning /><w:ValidateAgainstSchemas /><w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid><w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent><w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText><w:DoNotPromoteQF /><w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther><w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian><w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript><w:Compatibility><w:BreakWrappedTables /><w:SnapToGridInCell /><w:WrapTextWithPunct /><w:UseAsianBreakRules /><w:DontGrowAutofit /><w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark /><w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp /><w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables /><w:DontVertAlignInTxbx /><w:Word11KerningPairs /><w:CachedColBalance /></w:Compatibility><w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel><m:mathPr><m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math" /><m:brkBin m:val="before" /><m:brkBinSub m:val="--" /><m:smallFrac m:val="off" /><m:dispDef /><m:lMargin m:val="0" /><m:rMargin m:val="0" /><m:defJc m:val="centerGroup" /><m:wrapIndent m:val="1440" /><m:intLim m:val="subSup" /><m:naryLim m:val="undOvr" /></m:mathPr></w:WordDocument></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml><w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"LatentStyleCount="267"><w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal" /><w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1" /><w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2" /><w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3" /><w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4" /><w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5" /><w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6" /><w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7" /><w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8" /><w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9" /><w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1" /><w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2" /><w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3" /><w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4" /><w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5" /><w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6" /><w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7" /><w:LsdException Locked="false" More >
ColdFusion input=datefield Gotcha
Feb 5th
Another quick post
If you're using ColdFusion 8's datefield input AND are using a table for laying out the form, make sure that the cfform element is OUTSIDE of the table element.
This, of course, should be done anyway…however, tonight I was modifying some old, embarassing code and upgraded to the datefield. The page kept throwing an unhelpful JS error. After about 20 minutes of getting angry, I reversed the order of the table and form elements, and voila, it worked again.
Urgh.
removeChild() and IE7
Jan 27th
Just a quick post
I've been working on a pretty simple bit of code where one "row" of information is removed and added to a different table of information. Pretty simple stuff.
However, I ran into a issue with IE7 (go figure, right?). When using the "removeChild()" function, IE was not always removing the element specified. I debugged my code to no end, and couldn't find any issues.
Now I'm not sure if this is an actual bug, or an error in implementation on my part, but I ran across a post that seems to indicate that the best way to handle removeChild() in IE is to recursively remove all of the element's children, ending with the element itself (most other browsers don't seem to care, and just remove what you ask for!).
So really, I'm saying anything new, but just getting Google a bit more information to work with to other poor slobs looking for this answer.
Here's where I found the solution:
And here's the recursive function:
function removeChildSafe(el) { //before deleting el, recursively delete all of its children. while(el.childNodes.length > 0) { removeChildSafe(el.childNodes[el.childNodes.length-1]); } el.parentNode.removeChild(el);}
Dynamically Loading JavaScript…with Spry!
Dec 23rd
I've written a couple of articles in the last few months about my adventures in JavaScript. While I certainly don't claim to be even proficient, I am getting better day by day. As I pick up tricks and tips, I try to pass them on to help others out (hopefully!).
Recently, we ran into an issue at work. We're constantly adding JavaScript functionality to our company intranet. While adding references to JavaScript files in the master pages that drive the templates is easy to do, there is a process that all master page changes have to go through, and this can limit the desirability of future changes. What we needed was a way to dynamically load JavaScript files when needed, so that only the core init.js file that is loaded with every page request needs to be referenced on the master pages.
I've never done this kind of thing before, so I did a little snooping around. There are apparently alot of solutions out there, some of them better and more robust than others. After studying what they do, I decided to try my hand at building a simple JS loader in Spry, given that the core files I need are More >
What You See Is What You Get…Unless You Can't See
Dec 23rd
If you use one or more of the billion and seven content managment systems out there, you're probably more than familiar with a what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) text editor. These *fun* little textareas allow users to mimic, with decent accuracy, the styles and organization that they would normally apply in word-processing documents.
The original intention of WYSIWYGs, of course, was to put control of text styling and organzation for web-based content into the hands of the people managing the content, so that every bit of text-editing doesn't have to go through the web developer. The result, however, is a disaster.
Why a disaster? Well, before discussing the reasons why, try this little experiment. The next time you're around a web designer/developer, say nothing to them. Simply shift your eyes, turn your head, and randomly blurt out "WYSIWYG!!!". They will either 1.) punch you in the mouth out of built up frustration or 2.) cower in a corner as they are reminded of how they are abused by WYSIWYGs on a daily basis.
So what's the big deal?
Well, to begin, most content managers have no business even thinking the word "design," much less actively participate in it. Giving them the reigns to "make the More >
ColdFusion 9…Here I Come!
Dec 8th
Oh yeah! I just received email confirmation today that I have been accepted to participate in the Centaur (ColdFusion 9) alpha release! Additionally, I am going to be able to beta Bolt, a new Eclipse-based IDE being developed by Adobe to be used in conjunction with ColdFusion.
This is going to be fun
Elegant JavaScript
Nov 30th
In his excellent book (and equally great NOVA mini-series), The Elegant Universe, physicist Brian Greene outlines the history of "the search for the theory of everything," the elusive, unifying theory that will explain the universe in all of its manifold glory. The interesting thing about this theory, however, is that it's primary characteristic is not soaring profundity nor escaliting complexity. To the contrary, Greene is convinced that the theory of everything, when finally discovered, will be characterized primarly by simplicity-or in his words, "elegance."
To Greene, the "theory of everything" will be elegant because it will bring together what are now disparate theories that describe the nature of the universe. It will be a theory that cohesively weaves together an understanding of the micro and macro universe; will unify the known physical laws; and will fundamentally "feel" right because of how it describes the infinitude of life in a simple theorem.
So what in the world does this have to do with writing JavaScript? Well, it's somewhat of a stretch, but as I continue to grow in my JavaScript skills, the principle of "elegance" which Greene so eruditely describes resonates with me.
Let me explain. In no way do I wish More >
Freetime and a Brainstorm (or fart…)
Nov 26th
Within the next couple of weeks, my schedule is going to be clearing up quite a bit. Over the last several months, I've had a lot of free-lance work, which is great, but it has left little time for personal development projects that I've been wanting to do for a while now.
I currently have one that's about 25% done, so I'm hoping to commit some time to that over the next several months to wrap it up. However, what I'm really excited about is a brand new project.
What is this project? I don't really want to say at the moment because I think it's an obvious service that people want, but for whatever reason no attempt has been made (yet!) to fill the need. Well, that's not entirely true-however, the lame attempts that have been made so far really only engage a very small section of the need while leaving the greater whole unaddressed. The project I'm proposing will do both…hopefully!
The most exciting part about this service is that will be mostly driven by an API that I will have to build (there's at least one hint). While I've certainly created web services before to handle remote application needs, I've More >
Thoroughly Impressed with ToothandNail Records
Nov 5th
Over the last three weeks, ToothandNail records has released 3 tremendously cool albums, all of which reveal just how far ToothandNail has come.
Before the albums, however, let me reminisce . I've been a fan of ToothandNail for a LONG time. 10 years or so ago, ToothandNail was releasing copious amounts of albums. The one problem: they didn't have the resources for good production or good recording. The result was really cool albums that sounded like crap.
Fortunately, those days are long gone. With the success of many of its roster of bands, ToothandNail has obviously been able to upgrade its recording and production talent. Most of albums coming out of ToothandNail are slick and finished, lacking any remnants of the good old days.
With that said, the albums I've been listening to are as follows:
Emery : While Broken Hearts Prevail
This is really more of an EP, but it's got some seriously cool songs on it. Emery's sound continues to evolve as the band becomes less and less afraid to loosen the tether to their trademark screamo. It worked well for Dead Poetic (IMO), so I think it's a positive for Emery as well.
Ruth : Anorak
My first exposure to Ruth More >
