Natebot
All The Natebot That's Fit To Print.

Sunday, May 24

Searching the CI manual via Ubiquity


Back in October, I mentioned Ubiquity - an incredible add-on for Firefox that allows you to use Web services without visiting their web pages. For example searching Google without going to google.com.

Back then I said I'd share more. Well here's my own small Ubiquity script for searching the Code Igniter user manual along with a screen shot of it in action.

Simply activate Ubiquity, type "ci" and the word or phrase to search and you'll instantly get back a preview of the 4 top results from Google. You'll also get links to search the forums or wiki for the same search terms.

Ubiquity keeps growing and changing as it snowballs its way to a full on 1.0 release, and I'm sure I'll need to update the script before long. If you are a Ubiquity developer let me know so I can follow your blog or use your scripts!

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posted by Natebot at 8:34 PM | 0 comments | Email This!

Where's the 'bot?

Dear readers, if you're reading this I'm amazed. :) You see, it's been months, long, wintery, soul grinding months since I've posted here and for that I'm sorry. I can't really blame you for not checking back in hope that something may have appeared. But lo! A new post appears! A new direction is in the works.

I'd like to say that my recent flirtations with Facebook and Twitter are to blame - and that's true to the extent that it's just more convenient to post directly to those networks - but really the one-way channel that is blogging hasn't been on my mind of late. After leaving Privateer I've been pursuing contract work - no easy feat in this flat world - and ramping up my business knowledge to get back into the freelancer mode of existance. Nothing like reading the fine points of Seattle and Washington State business tax codes to pass the winter months.

But summer is on its way and so it's time for me to start posting again and to take things in a new direction. The initial purpose of the blog was to provide some context of my life here in Seattle to those back in Indiana. But I feel Facebook does a better job of that now, and Twitter does a better job of keeping you informed of my current life context. So for now I'll focus my blog on more technology-based stuff.

So my plan is to switch for a personal blog about my life to a blog about my current interests. I'll share my current love of PHP programming, jQuery goodness, and LAMP stack wizardry - with an occasional post on flying cars and fembots just to keep things real.

Until the next post, thanks for checking in!

posted by Natebot at 8:01 PM | 0 comments | Email This!

Sunday, November 30

Sugar Mountain: Live At Canterbury House 1968

NPR is broadcasting the full concert of Neil Young's live concert at Canterbury House in 1968 which releases on CD/DVD on Dec 2nd. This show in Ann Arbor, Michigan is an intimate acoustic show of the then 22 year-old artists before his rise to stardom.

Growing up I remember the Neil Young self-titled album's cover in the meager stack of vinyl our family had. It was one of the albums I took with me to college. I saw Neil in Indy on his tour for Harvest Moon - at an awful outdoor venue for an acoustic show all full of loutish and loud high school drunks - and regretfully report missing him up in Everett last month's sold out show. At least you can avoid the hellishness of other people when you listen to this recording in the sanctum of your stereophonic living room.

BTW - If you decide you like it enough to purchase it, consider buying the album from my link below. If you do, I'll get a sweet kickback from Amazon.

Sugar Mountain-Live At Canterbury House 1968 (CD/DVD)

posted by Natebot at 12:56 PM | 0 comments | Email This!

Sunday, November 23

What's your (blog) type?

Typealyzer analyzes blogs and types them apparently according to the Myers-Briggs typology. So what's the analysis for natebot.com?
ESTJ - The organizing and efficient type. They are especially attuned to setting goals and managing available resources to get the job done. Once they�ve made up their mind on something, it can be quite difficult to convince otherwise. They listen to hard facts and can have a hard time accepting new or innovative ways of doing things.
I'll let you be the judge of the accuracy, but I will note that this blog shares the same analysis as the Cult of Mac blog. Heh. Here's an analysis for a few other friends' blogs:

The Beatnik Blog:
ESTP - The active and playful type. They are especially attuned to people and things around them and often full of energy, talking, joking and engaging in physical out-door activities.

The Doers are happiest with action-filled work which craves their full attention and focus. They might be very impulsive and more keen on starting something new than following it through. They might have a problem with sitting still or remaining inactive for any period of time.

I Waste The Buddha With My Crossbow:
ESFP - The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don�t like to plan ahead - they are always in risk of exhausting themselves.

The enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation - qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions.
Sounds about right for a blog about gaming. and the 80s. It's not like I'm asking the blog to do my taxes or manage my business. Sheesh.

Typealyzer found via Daily Dish.

posted by Natebot at 7:15 PM | 1 comments | Email This!

Wednesday, November 12

Google's Street View rolls through Wedgwood, Seattle

Google has rolled through our hood this summer, capturing photos for their mapping application's street views. Using the app I was able to find the Big Rock from down the street, aka the Wedgwood Rock which I discovered only this summer. The huge rock was deposited over 14,000 years ago by the Vashon Glacier.



View Larger Map


A few other highlights:

posted by Natebot at 6:14 PM | 0 comments | Email This!

Monday, November 10

Ballard Featured in NYTimes



The New York Times has a short article in their Escapes section about our favorite neighborhood Ballard. The picture above (taken at the great Sunday market on Ballard Ave) is part of a photo slideshow featuring some great shots of our old 'hood, including the windows of the fish ladder of locks down the street, and the Olympics-facing beach on the other side of Sunset Hill.

Sadly, novelty shop (or whatever you call a place that sells bacon floss) Archie McPhee's is leaving after the landlord decided not to renew the contract after years. McPhee's will be moving to Wallingford. It would be a pitty to see another condo going up on the property. When I moved to Ballard four years ago, at least five different condo properties appeared off of Market Street. Now with the housing crash effecting some areas - many condos are left empty - at $900K it doesn't sound that sweet of a deal. Ballard's growth doesn't seem to slow though.

posted by Natebot at 10:36 PM | 0 comments | Email This!

Wednesday, November 5

The Young Folks

For those of you out of town (or not in Chicago), you missed a heck of a party:


I was teaching class last night on Capital Hill. The Hill was alive with voices and honking horns as folks filled up Broadway and Pike as seen in the video above.
. But spontaneous celebrations also filled downtown, starting with The Strangers election party at Showbox that drew the most revelers.

posted by Natebot at 5:44 PM | 0 comments | Email This!

Monday, November 3

Amazon Gets It

I briefly considered entitling this "Naked Amazon" but reconsidered since it is stretching the metaphor. Anyway, as you may have heard Amazon is embarking on an initiative to reduce redundant packaging of products.

On occasion Jeff Bezo, founder of Amazon, posts a notice on the front page of the internet shopping site*. These usually regard some new product, like the Kindle, or a new service like mp3 downloads. Today Jeff, announced an initiative that I'm glad to hear and hope other companies pick up. We could all do with less waste, especially of the plastic kind, from packaging.

Responding to what Jeff calls "Wrap Rage" - the frustration trying to open those damn vacuum packed clam shells - the letter claims Amazon will be aiming toward replacing crappy packaging with easy to open and environmentally friendly packaging (aka cardboard).

While this is good news for the cardboard suppliers of the world, time will also tell how successful Amazon is in persuading manufactures to change their packaging techniques. Could this be a well timed initiative to drum up free pre-holiday press by the world's largest online retailers? Certainly. Could it have an effect. Possibly. Amazon doesn't have the swagger of Walmart, who isn't afraid to throw around its weight around in deciding what's best for you, but it's a start in the right direction.

BTW - the Lifehacker site suggests using a can opener for those pesky clam shells.


*If the letter is off the site when you read this you might find it here.

posted by Natebot at 9:20 PM | 0 comments | Email This!

 
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