Frobie

It is 1:15am.

I can't seem to fall asleep.

This insomnia problem has been happening a lot lately. I was a zombie at work on Friday, I'm surprised I was able to function properly.

Now, I am just sitting here staring at the screen, not doing anything particularly important. I thought I could do something productive like update my LinkedIn profile, but I couldn't think of anything to put down. My mind is a complete blank right now. Some may say it's not any different from my usual self--the blank mind part.
Continue Reading »

I was working on a sitemap for a website today and this error popped up when I tried to view the xml file in the browser: Access is Denied. Error Processing Resource.

I am not a big expert on XML and its errors. I was using the same Sitemap generator plugin for WordPress on that site as I do on Frobie.

It turns out the error was pretty simple. The other site did not have the leading "www" part in its URL. The XML file was looking for the XSLT file using the full URL path, but the domains did not match so it threw up the access is denied error.

Example:

With "www": http://www.frobie.com/sitemap.xml
Without "www": http://frobie.com/sitemap.xml

Weird.

There is the question, I do not have the answer.

This morning was a torrential downpour with no wind surprisingly. Since the rain was falling straight down, I thought I wouldn't have a problem staying dry. I was wrong. By the time I reached the bus stop, the back of my pants from the knee down were soaked through.

I believe I am holding the umbrella correctly. I use a medium-sized umbrella. I hold it at below-chest height about five inches away from my body.  My estimate is the umbrella provides a two foot radius of protection. I am of an average build, so no portions of my body are sticking out.

Yet, for no apparent reason, my pants are usually soaked through.  I need enlightenment. Google has failed in providing me with the answer.

In my never ending quest for online entertainment, I reached back into my dark days of college for an online comic I found funny and refreshing, The Mochi. The comic, drawn by Chris Tsubamoto and Ki Han, follows the adventures of three mochi balls with violent tendencies doing what every mochi ball wishes it could do--travel through time, blow things up, wax poetic about life, etc. I am not sure about the travel in time bit, but they were pretty violent.
Continue Reading »

The Democratic Nominee race seems to be going down to the wire between Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama. With a slim margin of delegates between the two candidates, the power held by super delegates have become a popular topic on political shows. The news programs have emphasized super delegates as having the voting power to swing the Democratic primaries to either candidate. But what is a super delegate and who are they?
Continue Reading »

Today's bus ride to work was probably the most uncomfortable one in my lifetime so far.

The bus I take has a limited schedule; the last bus to hit my bus stop is at 8:45am. If I miss that one, I would have to walk another mile to get to BART. So, I leave early thinking I can catch an earlier one. Two blocks before I get to the bus stop, the sky opened up on me. Water cascaded down; I was soaked by the time I made it to the stop. Luckily, there was an open dry space near a fence I could stand on as long as I stood ramrod straight.
Continue Reading »

Moved Frobie to a different host today, the other one was getting a bit pricey and wasn't really as reliable as when I signed up a few years ago. The transition was surprisingly uneventful; I backed up the database, pointed the nameservers to the new host and reinstalled Wordpress. Easy as pie.

Speaking of pies, this Canvas Pie Chart technique by Chris Heilmann looks totally awesome. I have to figure out a way to include the chart into this blog. Maybe a pie chart based on the post counts for each category?

Lately, I've been feeling energy-less around 2 to 3pm at work. I needed a pick me up. I don't drink coffee because I don't like the bitter taste and for some weird reason, coffee makes me sleepy.

I decided to go with energy drinks. Most of them are sweet and cold, which fits my tastes more than coffee. There is only one energy drink whose name I know. Red Bull. The company behind Red Bull always has commercials depicting cartoon characters getting wings after taking a sip. I was looking for that same affect which the drink delivered.
Continue Reading »

This morning, I was taking a MUNI bus that travels across the freeway to reach downtown San Francisco. Stuck in the morning traffic, I noticed a shiny panel on top of a Call-Box on the side of the road. It was a solar panel! How awesome is that?

Solar panels atop a 14-foot pole recharge the batteries that power the wireless cellular telephone in each call box. Also built into the equipment is a detection system that notifies the call box maintenance contractor if a unit fails or is vandalized.

Metropolitan Transportation Commission

These type of things the government does under the radar should be on the news more often.

The Sucrets from when I was sick had a residual effect on my taste buds even a few weeks after my cold had passed. Any subsequent drink having a remote medicinal taste gave my mouth a slight numbing sensation. This made eating meat hard due to its grainy texture and horrid taste. So, I decided to try eating no meat for a week!
Continue Reading »