Pepper Status Report
Remember the pepper plant I posted about a while ago? Most of the peppers are now bright red. One is drying nicely, and the others should follow soon. (for those keeping score at home.)
Random Photo
I added a random photo to the side of this weblog under also. Click the photo to see a larger version. If it belongs to a gallery, it points to that photo within the gallery. If not, it shows the larger file. The photo changes every so often.
Progress
This last weekend was a big decision-making weekend filled with planning and strategery. It feels good to make progress.
snapGallery article
The Wiltshire News wrote a very nice article about snapGallery called Snappy way to share photos.
The one criticism the article mentions is that snapGallery won't create thumbnails of photos. That's true, and I haven't found a way to do it without completely changing what snapGallery is. I could write it as a Visual Basic application and include the thumbnail option, but that would take away its simplicity. The fact that it is a script written in text rather than compiled code means that it's very flexible and customizable. Plus there's nothing to install. (It also means people who aren't hard core programmers can send in their modified versions to share with others.) If there's a way to resize images via WSH, I haven't found it yet. I hope I can find the answer because I agree with the article and everyone who has written in suggesting it, that would be a great feature.
The one criticism the article mentions is that snapGallery won't create thumbnails of photos. That's true, and I haven't found a way to do it without completely changing what snapGallery is. I could write it as a Visual Basic application and include the thumbnail option, but that would take away its simplicity. The fact that it is a script written in text rather than compiled code means that it's very flexible and customizable. Plus there's nothing to install. (It also means people who aren't hard core programmers can send in their modified versions to share with others.) If there's a way to resize images via WSH, I haven't found it yet. I hope I can find the answer because I agree with the article and everyone who has written in suggesting it, that would be a great feature.
Photoshop fun : rgby
Book: Asian Grocery Store Demystified
The Asian Grocery Store Demystified by Bladholm, Eismann
I know this book would help our sushi-making adventures. I bet it could even tell me which mysterious item in the market is eel. via emv.
Update: I heard this book is better for Chinese food than Japanese. And Guide to Food Buying in Japan would be a better choice for Sushi. Thanks again, emv!
Rolling our own sushi
skp and I are having fun teaching ourselves how to make sushi. We started tonight with some simple vegetable rolls (or maki to use the lingo), and they were very tasty. The seaweed was a little tough though, so we need to figure out which kind to get.
My favorite sushi rolls are rock-n-rolls with cooked eel, and I'd like to try that next. I have no idea where to get eel or how to cook it. It should be fun to learn.
My favorite sushi rolls are rock-n-rolls with cooked eel, and I'd like to try that next. I have no idea where to get eel or how to cook it. It should be fun to learn.
Another BookWatch feature
I added another quick feature to BookWatch. If you click on a mention page, you can now click "more books" under any weblog. This will give you all of the books that have recently been mentioned on that weblog. Here's the more books entry for my weblog. You can also see the date that entry was added, and the date it was last verified. (That can be handy for finding the mention if it has scrolled off the front page.)
Under Attack?
Overview of Changes to Legal Rights compiled by the Associated Press. [via Tom Tomorrow] Hopefully we can change this. Maybe we can convince the people who are supposed to be representing our interests to repeal the "Patriot" Act.
Housefrog
Once in a great while one of these cute frogs gets in the house. (Like tonight around 1am.) Luckily we have a special trap to deal with these situations and release them back into their native habitat. They're not easy to catch though, they can hop.
New BookWatch feature
Erik Benson has been very generous in citing Weblog Bookwatch as an inspiration for his All Consuming, but it has definitely taken on a life and identity of its own. He's put an amazing amount of work into his site, and has built some great features like integrated TrackBacks, XML output of all data, and friends lists. shew!
His work has inspired me to think about different ways I could share the Weblog Bookwatch data, and I implemented a small new feature tonight. On the mentions page for a book, there's now something called Books in common across these weblogs. The BookWatch analyzes the given set of weblogs and finds the book mentions they share in common. It's sort of a "people who mentioned this book, also mentioned these..."
His work has inspired me to think about different ways I could share the Weblog Bookwatch data, and I implemented a small new feature tonight. On the mentions page for a book, there's now something called Books in common across these weblogs. The BookWatch analyzes the given set of weblogs and finds the book mentions they share in common. It's sort of a "people who mentioned this book, also mentioned these..."
sudden oak death
The last time I was at Armstrong Woods there were signs up asking people to wash their boots and cars before visiting another park. Now I know why. Sudden oak death has infected redwoods and douglas firs in Armstrong and some of my favorite local hiking spots (including Jack London State Park). If it's found that this kills redwoods it could be devastating to the entire California coast.