Category Archives: Techy

Programming! Also Linux, web design, hardware… But mostly programming.

XGL = hot

XGL/Compiz video comparison with OS X Spaces and Vista Aero. Watch those and see which one pwnz which one. I hope getting XGL and Compiz isn’t difficult on my new Ubuntu system.
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simple Rails preference storage

So you’ve got some Rails application and you need to store information from the users across their interactions with the app. Here’s a simple, straightforward way to do that. In your controller: if params[:option]   @option = session[:option] = params[:option] elsif session[:option]   @option = session[:option] else   @option = 'default value' end This checks to see if ‘option’ was passed via a parameter in the [...]
Also posted in Programming | Tagged , , | Leave a comment | Current music Post Blue by Placebo

custom shapes in Photoshop

Custom shapes can be very useful for making multiple objects that look the same. For example, say you want several photos to all be cut out of the same shape, like this: Creating a Custom Shape Create a blank 200 pixels x 200 pixels image. Select the Rounded Rectangle Tool and set its radius to [...]
Posted in Techy | Tagged , , | 2 Comments | Current music They Dance Alone by Sting

new computer and a new layout

I put up a new layout! I’ve been wanting to do work on this site for a while now, but I never have any free time in which I’m not relaxing from work or class. Well, today I had a big full schedule of… nothing, so I decided to work on 3t7. [...]
Also posted in Daily life | Tagged , | 8 Comments | Current music Beautiful Things by Andain

Illustrator rocks

Oh my goodness, I love Adobe Illustrator. I made this nifty thing in a few minutes:
Also posted in Daily life | 7 Comments

if succinctly

In Ruby, if is an expression, not a statement, thus it returns a value. This may not seem useful at first glance, but it lends itself to forming neat, concise code… Like most things in Ruby, actually. Setting Values Concisely Say you want to define a variable differently based on the result of an if [...]
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the power of yield and super

The two keywords yield and super allow you to pass control back and forth between parent and child methods, to weave power between a more general method (in the parent class) and a more specific method (in the child class) with ease and logic. Using yield and super effectively can help you maintain the [...]
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lots to do

Well, I did it again, dang it: I missed my primary registration window for the second summer term this year, so I’m stuck waiting until April 18th for my secondary window to open up. I don’t understand why there are only certain times that you can register for classes anyway; it pisses me [...]
Also posted in Class, Daily life | 1 Comment | Current music The Faint - Desperate Guys

Internet and taxes

I have the Internet again! Last night, Jess called ResNet and we got excited because they actually moved today’s 7-9 p.m. appointment up to yesterday from 7-9 p.m… Then they didn’t show up. I called back and griped about it, but then got incredibly annoyed when I was told that, not only [...]
Also posted in Daily life | 4 Comments | Current music Paul Van Dyk - Seven Ways

leaked Intel memo about Chinese Linux boxes

Intel is offering an affordable computer in rural areas of China. …the product sells for $350 using an inexpensive but high-quality Intel processor, with an expected take rate of 73 percent. The originator of the document believes that they will sell hundreds of millions of units. The operating system marketed with the product uses an [...]
Posted in Techy | Tagged | Leave a comment | Current music Alanis Morissette - Flinch