15 steps and code

ColdFusion
or...
confusion!

i was so excited today
i am back to programming!

it took me a while to figure out this code
to feed dynamically a combo box
with a query on SQL
(another language i am trying to learn)
and well, my boss "spoon-feed" me
some of the code

but it is just so nice when things start
to make sense

here here
the simple html for a combo box is

-select-
-option value ="a"-a-/option-
-option value ="b"-b-/option-
-option value ="c"-c-/option-
-/select-

to create this
a b c

but the dynamic one
with ColdFusion is
-cfoutput-
-select-
-cfloop query = "getAgencyNames"- -option value ="nada"-#agencyName#-br--/option--/cfloop-
-/select-
-/cfoutput-

#variableName#

notice i had to replace
the opening and closing brackets (<, >) for -
to be able to display the html here

now i just have to study for my Deutsch Test
am Dienstag
don't know what is harder
if learning a programming language
or German
seems that i am setting myself for failure
with the choices of learning

wish me luck
i am going to need it!
with these choices...

and here a cool little song to go
with the

15 steps

Google's SketchUp

3D for Everyone?
seems to be a cool Google Application
check it out

http://www.sketchup.com/



Google Earth is still one of my favorites app's

http://earth.google.com/

black & white, cementerio de Autlán, COBOL, BASIC, FORTRAN & some Pascal

y si!
started to play with this one
el cementerio de Autlán
i left the 23hq-version of this one in color
& almost intact

but couldn't resist to play it
in el photoshop too
& then in a second (1 sec)
it just made sense
this cut off-framing-whatever
& the whole CS screen

these days, i don't really care about software anymore
fuck Vista and all the new version of Mac OS X
with all its Tigers and Cheetas and Leopards
& collection of bad cat names

& but of course i respect Mac much more than fucking Windows
that after all is a freaking copy of the original Mac system
the real GUI 1st precursor was the lovely Apple Lisa :)

but, these days, fuck them all those fancy operating systems
and over-pre-fabricated software, every day things are more *specialized*
less native...

but... Photoshop, oh glorious photoshop
i remember my 1st attempts with computer graphics
where on a Commodore Amiga
don't miss that link
and oh wonderful, it became Macintosh
i remember we had a software called Deluxe Paint
but it was a 2D animation painter

I remember I drew a small yellow chicken
a tree, some grass, and a flower
then i made the chicken move from one place to another one
and eat from the grass
it was so much fun!
although it looked like a very bad cartoon

but also I remember way before that
when I 18, taking a 1 semester class
on basic programming languages
like Cobol, Pascal, and ha! even Fortran & BASIC
god! i am old
we worked on a *terminal* of the main computer
just a screen and a keyboard
the main brain was stored in a BIG air conditioned room
we looked at it from a glass window
you could almost hear it breath
your stupid algorithms
burping little binary 0's and 1's flying all around

and then i went through many versions of Macs
and of just few PC's, way less than Macs
and all their infinite lists of operating systems
always upgrading, always obeying
and through many software
graphic software, programming software,
the whole damn thing

& that's why today
on the purist/lazy search
i declare
that i just really need
MS-DOS on a PC
or something like this on a MAC



and as for software
i just need ANY version of photoshop
could be the very 1st one
here an amazing link of screenshots of the 1st version
I remember I started on version 2.something, but rather early
when text, as typed, was embedded on the image immediately
as to create another layer for it, etc
since the basic stuff as colors, brightness, darkness, etc.
haven't and won't ever change
those are principles of color and light

oh! a word processor would be nice too
click on this image, for a closer view
oh ah photoshop



disclaimer: NO!, i am not under the influence of anything!
except peppermint & chamomile tea, a bran cake with apple & cranberries
from the Zen Bakery, delicious & healthy
& some vegetarian dinner from here
the Caribbean pepperpot soup was delicious! exhilarating, I would say
makes you wanna photoshop strange images & write stupid stuff about old computers
i highly recommended it!!

funny thing this netscape

yes the version of netscape 8.0.4 (based on firefox)
has this little feature that is making my life way easier, since you can either display the same page as you'd see in either firefox or explorer, just by clicking on this little arrow

i am a silly designer dealing with CSS standards for an application, if i get my application displaying OK for firefox and explorer i am all set (albeit my boss' opinions -read barking) since those are the 2 browsers people are most used to

this function of netscape saves me couple of minutes per hour, since i don't have to open the damn URLs in both browsers, i can just check in Netscape and voilà! with the selection of a checkmark i am all done

now there's many little issues and tricks for optimal CSS-ing, some really stupid like that fact that explorer can't read "mid" numbers in some basic stuff like the height of an area, if you have 176 px it is going to round-it to 180 px, on the other hand, firefox is better with details like that, but, hey what am i going to do? kill all of the explorer users? or force them into changing to firefox? i don't even have myself a decent browser at home, i deal with a imac g3 with explorer 5.1 for mac and mozilla, i can barely check my bank account at home, and to post photos at 23 i have to do one by one, therefore i don't, oh and by the way my finder for mac os 9.1 doesn't not support my canon camera so i can't even download the damn photos

so i understand, even if i am a web designer, what is to be in the oldest of the techy's, if an application runs in my computer, believe me, then it means that a neandearthal man can gett it started with probably a few rocks and stickies...

ok but back to the style sheets...

i rather fix my graphics to display OK on both browsers even though we as designers know the big difference between 1 or 2 pixels but i guess that's the trick but standardization and globalization or while working at a non-profit (like the san diego blood bank) where with few resources you got make things pretty (like the blood bank newsletter printed in just 2 colors) or here, where i have to standardize a look that will display OK no matter how outdated or hyper-ultimate is your freaking browser

it is easy to design for all-tools-users but we gotta remember there's people without so much technological resources out there and they are still mean to enjoy of our applications

voilà, i am glad the weekend is over, not 'cause i love to work
but because at home i have that crippled computer that doesn't let me
"explayarme"

ha! monday intentions

a great resource for CSS in advanced styles and other tricky tricks please check this amazing website A List Apart http://www.alistapart.com/

o god: techy ultimate geek happy hour in san diego & lots of handy noises afterwards

as if one can put the words geek & happy in the same sentence
o god, can't believe i am going to this!
march mingle http://www.marchmingle.com/
might be... fun? geeky for sure

afterwards to the casbah (yes where i saw the giraffes & low) for some clapping with clap clap clap: yeah!

long day, after so much strolling around with missed-already mexico city small girl
pinche chio! regresa...