Sucker Punch

No spoilers, I promise.

I've been wanting to watch this movie ever since I saw the trailer. I'm a sucker for fantasy and action movies so I just had to watch this, which I did last Saturday with some friends.

Twestival Manila 2011

Tweet?

Last March 21, 2011 Twitter celebrated its 5th year anniversary since the first tweet posted by Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter. Belated happy anniversary, Twitter!

According to TweetStartDate.com I've been tweeting for 2 years, 320 days, 23 hours, 41 minutes, 58 seconds since May 5, 2008. When I first joined Twitter I could still receive SMS notifications from Twitter for new tweets and replies on my account. I was pretty addicted for a while. I'd receive SMS notifications throughout the day on what my Twitter friends' updates and I could post tweets via SMS as well. Eventually they removed the SMS notification feature for the Philippines and it was like I was suddenly disconnected.

Nifty Fifty

I've been researching on what fixed zoom lens to get for my Canon 500D. It's only been less than a year since I got my camera and I'm pretty happy with the kit lens, but for the type of shots that I want to take it felt like I needed wanted a new lens.

I was choosing among several lenses:

• Canon EF 35mm f/2.0
• Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
• Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
• Sigma 30mm f/1.4

Reminiscing Web Development

It's been a long time since I last did any web development, and I kind of miss it.

The Flashback

• My experience with web development started out with designing websites using WYSIWYG editors.
• Eventually, I learned HTML from a Dummies book my sister gave me as a Christmas gift way back when I was in high school.
• I learned CSS, some Javascript here and there, web design concepts and some graphic design by self-study, application and learning by example.
• I learned some PHP from self-study and took an elective in college because I wanted to learn more.
• I learned some Java web development but never got to use or apply it for a long time so it's not really my forte.
• I used to design and create websites as a hobby.

The Discovery

I decided to write about this because I discovered something today. I was browsing through Stack Overflow, which I think is really cool site, and noticed something under the discussions for CSS and HTML. A lot of answers or responses kept referring to a website called JsFiddle and were providing links along with their solutions or answers. Being the curious cat that I am I clicked on one of the links to see what the website was about.

So, the website loads and I see a bunch of boxes, some buttons on the top, and some combo boxes on the left. For a few minutes me and my lazy brain were thinking "Okay, so what's the big deal?" and then BAM! it hit me and I was all "THIS IS SO COOL!"

In the JsFiddle's documentation it says:

JsFiddle is a playground for web developers, a tool which may be used in many ways. One can use it as an online editor for snippets build from HTML, CSS and JavaScript. The code can then be shared with others, embedded on a blog, etc.

It's a playground for web developers. A PLAYGROUND. How awesome is that? You can even make use of a Javascript framework like Mootools and Prototype. JsFiddle offers the opportunity of trying an idea or a theoretical solution out first before going on a full-blown solution build. You can share ideas and solutions with other developers online without going through the trouble of uploading code and taking screenshots. I think it's really awesome.

I find my reaction to this discovery a bit funny, though. It's the first time I've seen anything like it that's why I'm so impressed. Also, since it has been a while since I've done any web development discovering this kind of tool really feels like a big jump from the tools that I used to use. In short, I feel so old, haha.

But, seriously, finding out about JsFiddle has rekindled my interest in web development. I feel like coding something.

Negativity

Yesterday, while I was browsing my Twitter feed of non-acquaintances I followed I saw this tweet by Cecile van Straten:

I followed the link and was led to this Facebook group page. The group is named "The Japan tsunami was payback for Pearl Harbor" and in the description of the group it says:

Sorry Japan... karma is a bitch! Don't dish it out if you can't take it!

All I can say is just...wow. I can't even imagine how the person who started this group thinks. The first reaction I had from seeing this Facebook group was a bunch of insults, expletives, and WTFs all mashed together inside my head. I suggest you read the wall posts and comments on the group page, it's pretty interesting. I actually like reading comments of other people more than the article, post, or entry itself. It's a plus if the author replies to comments because it shows more of how the author thinks.

Seriously, all the negativity is just so unecessary. I'd rather not ramble any further on why I disagree with the whole concept of the page, because I can't argue reasonably right now (insults, expletives, and WTFs are still all mashed up in my mind). If you agree with the author of the group, fine, you guys are entitled to your own opinion, but I really think it's a horrible thing to say, especially at a time like this.

If you guys, like me, disagree with the sentiment of the group you might want to report the group to Facebook. Scroll to the bottom of the group's Facebook page and look for the link "Report Group" and choose "Contains hate speech or attacks an individual".

SQL Developer Quirk

I've been using Oracle SQL Developer ever since I started working in my current company. It's simple and easy to use as long as you're just doing basic database stuff. I was able to use TOAD in my previous company and it was pretty okay, but it's so loaded with features that weren't all that useful for me as a simple developer. Don't get me wrong, the extra features on TOAD are awesome, but since I don't have much use for them I'd rather stick to something with a simpler interface.

Lately, I've been having problems with my SQL Developer. It started with just the inability to use my "cut" keyboard shortcut (Ctrl + X). I could "copy" and "paste" but not "cut". It was odd, but it wasn't a big deal, so just lived with it for a month or so.

Suddenly, this morning, I was typing up a simple Select query and then-WHUT! My backspace key wasn't working anymore, and neither was the Delete key. I couldn't navigate my cursor up, down, left, and right either. I couldn't execute my statement with the F9. I couldn't Select All (Ctrl + A) or highlight text without  using the mouse. What the heck was happening?! I closed/exited SQL Developer, hoping that it would resolve the problem, but IT DIDN'T. I asked my colleague, who is a data modeler, if he has ever encountered the same problem and he said he usually just restarts the program and the problem goes away. Nope, no luck with that. So, I turn to the next best thing: Google.

Fickle-minded Designer

Initial blog theme

If you've been here before you'd notice that I changed my blog theme. I tend to be very fickle-minded when I design something. It feels especially difficult for me when I don't have control over all the elements.

In LiveJournal I was able to learn how to hack my blog's layout and design so it was pretty easy for me to make my blog look a certain way. A free WordPress account gives you a decent amount of freedom when customizing how your blog looks, but total control requires you to upgrade, which I am not willing to shell out for right now.

I'm warming up to the idea of having limited customizing ability here in WordPress, though. It felt a bit stressful at first, not having total control and all. But, eventually, I realized since I don't have to worry about every little element then it's actually even less stressful. I just have to choose a theme and create a header that I think matches or complements the theme and I'm done!

There is a book written by Barry Schwartz entitled "The Paradox of Choice - Why More is Less", which discusses how eliminating choices for consumers can greatly reduce anxiety of shoppers. He provides psychological analysis and explanation for this argument, which I'm not going to expound on, but you can read about it on its Wikipedia page here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Paradox_of_Choice:_Why_More_Is_Less). Basically, this paradox explains the contrast between my experience with customizing my LiveJournal blog before and my WordPress blog now.

I'm curious, have any of you had any experiences that can be explained by the paradox of choice? Care to share your thoughts?

Nexus One Manual Gingerbread Update

Last Sunday, I got a text from a friend, who also has a Nexus One, that he just got his Gingerbread update OTA (over the air). I was ecstatic and immediately turned my phone's wifi on. I was so disappointed not to see any prompt for an update. So I thought I'd give it a few more minutes before becoming totally disappointed. After a couple of games on Kongregate I hopefully unlocked my phone, but, sadly, no update prompt was waiting for me.

I was aware that not everyone gets updates OTA at the same time but I was just too curious and excited (and, fine, impatient) that I wanted my update right now! So I researched on manual Gingerbread updates for the Nexus One. When Froyo came out I also updated my phone manually, so I wasn't really worried about doing the same thing for Gingerbread.

I found this post from dkszone.net and read the comments on the post before I proceeded with following the instructions. I didn't follow their instructions 100% so I'll share what I did for my manual update.