Steve Bargelt

Greasemonkeying with Reality

So Greasemonkey makes it easy to tweak web pages on the fly. Why stop with just style and display changes? Why not change the content?

Take this Greasemonkey script that I've just written, which I'm going to call Brockify in honor of David Brock. (Brock spent many years as a sleazy right-wing mudslinger until he switched sides and became a sleazy left-wing mudslinger instead.) My Brockify script will silently swap the words "liberal" and "conservative" for you on any page on the web. Go ahead, install the Greasemonkey plug-in and the script, then test it out. (And for God's sakes, don't forget to turn it off when you're done.) It's seamless and it's almost instantaneous. You'll see Rush Limbaugh is now bemoaning those "conservative pinheads," while Al Franken has taken to griping about "liberal religious fanatics."

Source: Dave's Grand Ideas: Greasemonkeying with Reality (David Louis Edelman’s Blog)

posted @ Wednesday, October 18, 2006 10:08 AM | Feedback (0) |

Abstraction warning from Ted Neward

 Awesome post from Ted Neward:

...warning that the Java community got itself into trouble (and continues to do so to this day, IMHO) by building abstraction layers on top of abstraction layers on top of abstraction layers, all in the name of "we might want or need to change something... someday". It was this very tendency that drove many developers to embrace YAGNI (You Ain't Gonna Need It) from the agile/XP space, and remains a fiercely-debated subject. But what concerned me was the reactions of the other panelists, whose reaction, paraphrased, came off to me as, "We won't make that mistake--we're smarter than those Java guys."

Source: The Blog Ride - There, but for the grace of God (and the experiences of Java) go I

posted @ Tuesday, October 17, 2006 8:14 AM | Feedback (0) |

I'm leaking!

Please note that I do realize that this post is seriously too much information (TMI). I'm not even sure why I'm blogging about it... but I am. If you are at all squeamish... please click away now!

The weirdest thing happened to me on Saturday. My leg sprung a leak. Really. Blood was spurting everywhere.

Backstory... I've had varicose veins in my right leg for as long as I can remember - for at least 15 or 20 years. I had surgery to remove most of them(it?) almost two years ago. It wasn't for aesthetics... they would hurt when I would exercise (mostly run or walk not bike) or get hit with a soccer ball while playing with my son. I decided that I'd had enough so I had surgery to get them removed. Surgery went very well but I'm sure glad that I didn't do it for the aesthetics because now I have roughly 16 3/4" scars all over my right leg. My leg does feel better when walking and running so I guess all-in-all the surgery went well.

The majority of the varicose veins are not gone but I have a few, well, I'm not sure what they are but they are purple/red "nodules" near my right ankle. I won't gross you out with pictures... but they remind me of blood blisters. I had always assumed that they were just that - blood trapped under the skin. It had crossed my mind several times to lance them... just to get rid of them. After Saturday I'm so glad I left well-enough alone.

I was getting out of the shower (TMI in and of itself!) and I noticed blood all over my hands and my (white) towel and my left leg and the bathroom cabinets (white) and the bathtub (white) and the floor (mostly white). Immediately I freaked thinking that I was bleeding internally. I guess I'm at an age where one just assumes that one has prostate cancer or some other gross internal disease. Anyway I finally calmed a bit and felt blood hit my left leg - tracing back the blood I saw it streaming from my right leg. Yes one of these "nodules" (if I find out from the doctor that there is and "official" name for this evil things I'll update this post) had sprung a leak.

I'm not sure I can capture what all went through my mind next... here's a try:

shit. stop the bleeding. sit on bathtub edge. towel on leg. there. hmmm... lots of blood. lets look. move towel. shit still spurting. put towel back. will this stop on it's own or will I need stitches? skin scabs do veins scab? shit. 911? keep pressure on it. if Brenda comes in she'll pass out. grab shower mat and (keep pressure on!) clean up floor a bit. clean off cabinets. shit. get floor mat wet. clean cabinets. shit. PRESSURE idiot. hmmm. three layers of towel and my had is still getting wet with blood. shit. there most of the blood is just smeared on floor now instead of in pools, much better. shit. maybe it is just a big blood blister with lots of blood? remove towel and see if it is slowing down. shit. nope. must be a vein. how long till I bleed out? shit. call Brenda in here. get gauze, wrap leg tightly. shit. pad is red, first wrap is red, second wrap is red, shit, third is red, fourth is red, shit this isn't going to work, fifth is less red, tighter idiot. okay I see only white gauze now. cool. tape it off. shit... clean up a bit more. 911? shit.

I managed to get shorts and a t-shirt on. I decided to call my HMO's "Consulting Nurse" mainly because I didn't want to waste my Saturday sitting in an emergency room. The consulting nurse advised that if the bleeding didn't stop in two hours to get to an emergency room. Thanks Einstein! I put my leg up and iced it. I checked in two hours and there was no spurting... although I fully expected when I unwrapped the wound that there would be a stream of red! Kind of an anti-climatic ending... but DAMN I was scared. I wasn't myself all weekend.

I'm going to the doctor today (Monday). I'm paranoid now. What if this would have happened in my sleep? Could I have bled out quietly in my sleep? I'm not sure I really want to know the answer to that question! I'm pretty sure that unless I applied significant pressure and raised my leg above my heart (while laying on the sofa not while standing of course) that it would not have just stopped. It didn't hurt so would a "lack of blood" have woken me up? I doubt it. I wonder if I can get moisture sensors installed in my bed? Hmmm they aren't for blood (obviously!) but I wonder if they'd serve the purpose? I'm guessing I'm in for some freaking exsanguination dreams now. shit. Sidenote: I'm rather disappointed with wikipedia's definition of this term. Probably the first time wikipedia has ever disappointed me. The entry read like it was written by a vegan. I usually equate exsanguination with knife wounds or vampires not cattle slaughter.

Thanks for hanging in there on this story.  Sorry for the amount of information I shared. If I learn anything significant from my PCP (primary care physician) I'll post it here. I'm sure you can't wait!

posted @ Monday, October 16, 2006 10:45 AM | Feedback (3) |

Fat Cyclist: Mashed Potatoes

... I don't mind telling you about my mashed potatoes. And then you can make them, call them your own, and be famous within your own circle of friends for the best mashed potatoes in the world.

Start by peeling a 10lb bag of potatoes. Cut each potato into six or eight pieces. Put the potatoes into heavily salted water and boil until the potatoes reach "ready to mash" consistency...

Source: Fat Cyclist: Mashed Potatoes

posted @ Tuesday, October 10, 2006 7:24 PM | Feedback (0) |

Scott Hanselman's Computer Zen - Coding4Fun Hardware Boneyard - Using the CueCat with .NET

I hate to admit it but I actually own a CueCat. I might even try this project:

Summary: In this rogue installment of "Some Assembly Required" column, Scott Hanselman borrows Travis Illig's CueCat BarCode scanner and creates a plugin for Windows Live Writer than lets him blog more easily about books he's reading. We decode the bar code info, change UPCs into ISBNs, call Amazon's Web Service via REST and integrate with Windows Live Writer all in one article. Whew!

Source: Scott Hanselman's Computer Zen - Coding4Fun Hardware Boneyard - Using the CueCat with .NET

posted @ Tuesday, October 10, 2006 6:57 PM | Feedback (0) |

Windows Deployment Services

This sounds like something to investigate. I'm always interested in ways to build dev workstations fast - hence my use of Virtual PCs.

[via Tim Heuer]

windows deployment services rocks

the one cool thing we had there setup as a fallback was the new windows deployment services (an update to remote installation services).  i've never been a deployment wizard or really ever had to think about it.  we use it here at work to image machines.  boot from the network and choose your desired operating system.

posted @ Tuesday, October 10, 2006 4:52 PM | Feedback (0) |

Dam2Dam Bike Tour 2006

First of all I need to thank everyone who supported my ride either through encouraging words or your generous donations. I really appreciate it. I ended up raising $1815 for the Mike Utley Foundation thanks to all of you!

We arrived at Lincoln Rock State Park at about 6:45 AM on Saturday and we noticed that the welcome banners said "Dam2Dam ... yada yada yada... Welcomes Greg LeMond" We were all dumbfounded. We were trying to decide if it was the Greg LeMond or just some local dude with the same name. We checked in (very smooth process, very well-run event BTW) and heard volunteers mention that Greg would be riding the 50-mile course.

I think the group (there were 11 of us riding; Rob, Jane, Shawn, Jack, Joe, Christine, John, Jen, Boots, Jim(?) and Myself) had already decided to ride the 50-mile course but riding with Greg LeMond was the final decision point. Yeah – what one could call a NO BRAINER. Yes we got to ride with (please note that in this context with = on the same course and with != right next to... that guy's worst day is still better than my best) a 3-time Tour De France Winner. Former World Champion. What a rush! After we finished we hung around and chatted with Greg and Mike Utley for 30-40 minutes... took some great pictures (thanks Joe) and some autographs.

At first I was a little bummed about not attempting the 100-mile ride but then the realization hit that we would not have been able to hang out with Greg had we done the 100. I really gave the 50 mile my all... I hung with 4 riders way above my ability (Rob, Joe, Jack, Shawn). This was due to two factors, first they allowed me to draft and take short pulls at the front) and I kicked my own ass to stay with them. I did get dropped twice (see big elevation gain in the profile)... both times I was able to catch up at the next rest stop. At the end of the 50 I felt really good. My butt hurt and my neck was stiff but I think (it would be really hard, if not impossible, to judge for sure) that I could have gone the whole 100.

Here is a picture of some of us with Greg LeMond and Mike Utley:

Greg, Me, ??(white shirt in front), Jack, Rob, Mike

Here's a link to my ride data:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/email/accept.mb?senderPk.pkValue=79052&unitSystemPkValue=2&episodePk.pkValue=1452951

RIDE SUMMARY:

51.04 miles
2:56:39 moving time
4:10:20 total time (some of this is that I started the track too early - some is that we took long rest stops to talk to Greg)
Moving Average: 17.3 MPH
Elevation gain:  +2,376 / -2,376 feet

posted @ Friday, October 06, 2006 12:39 PM | Feedback (0) |

Patterns and Practices Pattern Explorer for .Net and ASP.Net

[via ScottGu]

Tip/Trick: Patterns and Practices Guidance Explorer for .NET and ASP.NET

The Guidance Explorer provides a database of recommendations and best practices for ASP.NET, ADO.NET, and the .NET Framework that you can easily filter and search.  Particularly useful are some of the checklists you can easily follow for performance and security best practices prior to deployment.

posted @ Wednesday, October 04, 2006 5:10 AM | Feedback (0) |