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Last Visit 2024-03-16 17:05:41 |Start Date 2003-07-07 03:39:31 |Comments 5,617 |Entries 6,438 |Images 14,748 |Sounds 119 |SWF 21 |Videos 322 |Mobl 2,935 |Theme |

Category: school

01/05/06 09:15 - 33ºF - ID#32438

Monkat Return

I had to update the monkat model for josephine [search]josephine[/search] <-- why does no one else use these search links. Maybe I need a new person to help me figure out how to help people figure out how to use stuff . I like it best in green as I mentioned before.

And what about the google maps tag (MAP TO: 444%20LINWOOD%20AVENUE)

Or the wikipedia tag (WIKIPEDIA - virtual reality)

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Permalink: Monkat_Return.html
Words: 69
Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: work

01/05/06 08:33 - 33ºF - ID#32437

Job Worries

I normally love my job. In fact while working on the blackberry web site today using a real blackberry for once, I thought back to all those journals where I talked about wanting to do mobile development and there I was doing it. It's coming along quite well. I even wrote an excel parser that would take the excel based menus for the week and notify the mobile user what specials were up for the day.

Anyways, so I love that and then at about 6:00PM just before I left for work one of my co-workers asked me to take on one of the projects he is working. The work is for a good cause/site. It's the Ride for Roswell Site

Unfortunately, the kind of work it is, it is the kind of work I hate more than anything in the world. It is a squishy mix of old and new crappy machine generated code to wade through. The machine generated code looks like it comes from a combination of dreamweaver and the on site WYSIWYG system that writes the most mutated code I have ever seen. In fact only a machine with no emotions and not a human could write such disgusting code. capital, lowercase, css, markup, style tag, font tag, argh

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The thing is it is not specifically the fault of any programmer but rather the system they used. It has a CMS system that involves a WYSIWYG online text editor which creates the crappy code. Unfortunately, now that they have this WYSIWYG editor they are going to crave it and I got the job with only about 10 days to fix it all up and make a new cms or fix the old one.

For the sake of the future me, I see no point in working in classic ASP and VBscript, the language that was used to write the system in the first place so it will have to be a quick re-write. I wish I could have had a little more advanced time to not just patch it up.

I hope it is not the beginning of a series of horrible fixer uppers or I am going to relocate to California. I hate fixing up mushing human/machine, old/new crap code. That is exactly one of the main reasons I wanted to stop being a professor. It thought I was going to be a developer.


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Permalink: Job_Worries.html
Words: 410
Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: estrip

01/04/06 06:15 - ID#32436 pmobl

data entry

All this data entry for the themes upgrade is making me ill. It is really bringing me back to all those mind numbing jobs I had as a teenager. The worst data entry job ever was working for Sorrento cheese.

They had this giant main frame computer and wanted all the data entered into a windows one in excel. I spent weeks sitting in a refrigerated room entering numbers and adresses into the system.

What confuses me looking back on this, is why it wasn't it automated. I mean having the human in between left plenty of room for error. Especially one getting like $9.00/hr.

I had about 15 jobs like that during he summers of high school.    
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Permalink: data_entry.html
Words: 119
Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: health

01/04/06 09:55 - 39ºF - ID#32435 pmobl

Smashed toe

I smashed my toe the other night on a toolbox in the middle of the kitchen floor in the dark. Yesterday, I could barely walk. Today it feels a little better but its bruised and swollen and I can't move it much.
I hope this isn't the beginning of a lifelong "bad" toe.
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Permalink: Smashed_toe.html
Words: 55
Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: estrip

01/03/06 10:42 - 39ºF - ID#32434

Chatter Box Madness

It's weird how the chat box has become such a huge feature of the site. Tonight there were so many peeps chatting. Someday I will have to build a more rebust system.

Right now I have spent the last two days entering all remaining messy text data into the database. This is especially important for the theme system. With it in the database I can begin to analyse the relationship between the colors and teach the web site to build themes for me.

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Permalink: Chatter_Box_Madness.html
Words: 85
Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: server

01/02/06 08:24 - 37ºF - ID#32433

Response To Jim

In response to Jim's comment on my last journal:

I would like a reasonable upload rate >1mbps with a static IP. The cheapest quote I could get without a two year commitment or an insane installation fee was through adelphia which quoted me at $99/month.

Verizon would be alright if we had a phone line but we don't as we all have cell phones. They refuse to sell me a static IP with a reasonable upload rate without first buying a business phone line which too much extra with the three mobile lines we already have through sprint. The last time I checked they wanted to charge me about $120-30 per month plus taxes and a $100 installation fee along with a contract. Maybe things have changed as that was last semester.

Any other ideas? I tried some other DSL companies that offered to sell DSL without phone service but none of them serviced the area.
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Permalink: Response_To_Jim.html
Words: 156
Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: depressed

01/02/06 02:57 - 38ºF - ID#32432

Depressed a Little

I am a little depressed but I am sure it's the weather. I really can have no complaint in life. I got love, a great job, good food, cute pets, and almost too many friends. I guess the problem must be the weather or the server. or the weather's affect on my feelings for the server.

Sometimes I find myself really hoping for global warming. Like in that movie, Where in The Hell Is North Tonawanda . I suppose it is almost here because it has barely snowed yet and here we are approaching mid January. Its the greyness that really kills me. I don't want to leave Buffalo. I love it here in tems of the people, the size of the city, the housing, food, etc. It is just that I spend so much time sitting inside thinking about how horrible it would be to go outside. Maybe I should just try and get into freezing rain and mud. I mean if I could just overcome my aversion to those two things, I gues soutside could be funside.

I slept really crappy because I was up till 6am updating the server. That last thing I saw before I fell asleep was that PHP 5.1.1 and all the extensions I needed had finally compiled. Thank god that's over. I had to upgrade to the new version of PHP so that the server was compatible with the new site code.

Honestly, I am so sick of maintaining the site from afar. I really need to get my server at home connected. (e:terry) doesn't want me to pay for it to be here. At least not yet because it costs around $100/month. There are many days where I spend 5 hours doing a 2 hour task because I have to do it across the network. I mean there are ways I could offset the cost, for exmaple hosting other sites. The thing is that I don't have time for another job at this point and the thought of being responsible for more sites sounds sickening.

I think so far I spent about ~$5000 and way more than 3000 hours of work on this site. That is assuming that I only worked on it 20 hours a week. While recently, I have been holding true to that, before I definately spent many more hours than that. Especially during the time when the site's abse code was being developed. There are so many things I had to redo because of lack of experience in 2003. The 20 hours are not just programming. I do server maintence, graphic design, PR, testing, answer customer service questions, deal with optimization of the database, fix old bugs, and make new stuff. Its pretty much like being a one man volunteer company.

The remember bufflao site is just going to die unless I get a connection and more importantly some serious volunteers because I can't afford to spend more time on another long distance internet project at this point. I think the idea is so great but I have yet to score even one committed volunteer.

I was going to try and work with artvoice but I am too afraid I will get dragged into a lot of other stuff and I can't afford the time right now and having the server across town is frankly just far away as having it in Vancouver. At least that is my thinking at this point. I also cannot manage to have a daytime business appointment with anyone.
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Permalink: Depressed_a_Little.html
Words: 578
Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: food

01/01/06 04:55 - ID#32431 pmobl

pre dinner party

The dinner party looks like it is going to be a success. (e:matthew), (e:terry) and (e:lilho) have done a fantastic job. Now it is my turn.
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Permalink: pre_dinner_party.html
Words: 33
Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: holiday

01/01/06 12:50 - 33ºF - ID#32430 pmobl

The Ball Drop

we made it to the ball drop. I put a video of the Bufalo, NY 2006 New Year's Ball Drop on paulvisco.org

It is definitely only a myth that First Night is alcohol and drug free.

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Permalink: The_Ball_Drop.html
Words: 49
Location: Buffalo, NY


Category: downtown

12/31/05 11:59 - 32ºF - ID#32429 pmobl

on the way

I hope we make the ball drop.
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Permalink: on_the_way.html
Words: 15
Location: Buffalo, NY


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