Don’t violate the principles of God in order to gain or maintain the blessings of God
Andy Stanley quoting his dad, Charles Stanley
Category Archives: Uncategorized
(Geek Alert) MAMP & Automator Tricks
Ok, so I got tired of having to start several apps & processes each time I wanted to start web development, so I decided to look into creating some Automator workflows. If you’re not familiar, Automator is a workflow application included with Mac OS X. It “leverages the power of AppleScript to provide a drag-and-drop workbench for streamlining repetitive tasks.” Although it was fairly easy with my favorite app launcher extraordinaire, Alfred App, the whole process is redundant, & (I’ve recently learned) unnecessary.
I found a good article on About.com that describes how to assembe several apps, & actions into one Automator app: Automate Opening Multiple Applications and Folders. This article was my starting place, but I did run into a couple snags.
First, I wanted start the MAMP app on port 80, which requires the username and password be entered. (click here to find out why I use MAMP) Took me a while, but I found a good solution here: Run MAMP on port 80 without a password – the easy way. The author of this post provided an app for download that would start MAMP without authentication (It requires you to first put your username and password in your keychain) and then close out MAMP (again without the usual authentication) when the app was closed. This solution wasn’t ideal for me because I didn’t want an extra app icon running in my dock and showing up when I command+tab through my open applications. I had already hidden MAMP from the dock (How to hide the MAMP icon from your dock) and so adding another app in its place didn’t appeal to me.
Because of this, I broke the app he provided in half, and created a new Automator app that, when run, would authenticate and open MAMP, and then close itself. Now when i want to close MAMP, I still need to enter the username/password, but usually I leave it running till the next time I shut down the computer, so it’s not an issue for me. That automator app is available here. It’s a zip file and includes a readme.txt file that adds a few more helpful hints/ideas, so check it out.
Another issue I ran into, I use the incredible LiveReload app/chrome browser extension, and it requires me to open terminal, and enter the command to start it. (click here to find out what why I use LiveReload) This Automator script was much easier to find, and I also made it into an app that’s available here.
Finally, I created one more Automator app using the instructions listed in the About.com article I mentioned that launches all of these applictions, workflows, and processes:
– The two apps listed above
– My favorite code editor (Dreamweaver)
– Less.app
– Skype (communication)
– Colloquy (communication)
– Two Finder folders: “Work” and “themes”
– Chrome Browser with two new tabs, one being “http://localhost/”, the default domain used by MAMP
If you’re interested, you can download that Automator app here. Feel free to open it with Automator, and delete the apps/workflows you need and add the ones you want.
I’m extremely pleased with the result. Now, when i’m ready to start developing, I can get all the tools I need with a click of a button. Hope you find this as helpful as I did!
‘That went well, we should write another,’ and so on. I worked up enough nerve to—so to speak—ask her out. But there was a lot of scuffing my heel on the floor and ‘I don’t know what you’re doing for a while, but I’ve got this guitar, and you sing pretty good, but you probably don’t want to. You’re so much better than I am. Never mind. I’m just gonna go.’ Luckily she felt the same way.
Awesome Scale Diagram To Illustrate Distance To The Sun
1 pixel (small blue dot) equals 10,000 miles.
Noah Stokes | Es Bueno: Thirty Four
Thirty four things I’ve learned in thirty four years.
- It’s all who you know
- If you knew then what you know now, then would have been easier
- Raptors do not discriminate, they will eat your children
- Where a 30” monitor once seemed ludicrous, you can now justify it by claiming bad eyesight
- The…
Very nice lettering by @kylesteed.
For What It’s Worth: “Duly Noted”
Based on a conversation between @TwittleMeThat and i.
Duly Noted:
It was noted in a manner that was due.
Source: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=82852
For What It’s Worth: FWIW
I’m starting a new blog category called “For What It’s Worth.” Many times when i’m ignorant on a subject, i like to take a time out and look it up. When that happens, i’ll share my findings here and on Twitter with the hashtag #fwiwty (for what it’s worth to you… because #fwiw is already used).
First item on the list: FWIW:
Acronym for “For what it’s worth.”
source: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/FWIW
Stay tuned for more #fwiwty.
Armless dogs manipulated robotic rats with little squirt-guns filled and stuffed with C-4 explosives. Little chickadees cried because why would rats disintegrate so suddenly? I put my finger-wrapped bacon on the Communist bird-feeder speckled with little rats’ babies’ pellets. Surprisingly, the Calvinist caterpillars, a.k.a. “tenured men,” were eating C-4.
Nearby, armless dogs devoured little nubs of finger-wrapped bacon. Of course, pellets taste disgusting and chickadees prefer either Calvinist caterpillars or Communist dictators. Courageously jiggling, baby chickadee realized without C-4, their chances diminished greatly.
Alas, angry and illuminated, the armless dogs crumbled under intense miscommunication!
The result of a “go around the room and add one word to the story” experiment some friends and i did a while ago and the blog we created to contain these literary masterpieces, “The Moral of the Story.”
So what is the moral of this story?
Feel free to enlighten us in the comments. :)
An anecdotal story, a friend of mine was at meetings at Apple and Microsoft on the same day and this was in the last year, so this was recently. He went into the Apple meeting (he’s a vendor for Apple) and when he went into the meeting at Apple as soon as the designers walked in the room, everyone stopped talking because the designers are the most respected people in the organization. Everyone knows the designers speak for Steve because they have direct reporting to him. It is only at Apple where design reports directly to the CEO.
Later in the day he was at Microsoft. When he went into the Microsoft meeting, everybody was talking and then the meeting starts and no designers ever walk into the room. All the technical people are sitting there trying to add their ideas of what ought to be in the design. That’s a recipe for disaster.
Microsoft hires some of the smartest people in the world. They are known for their incredibly challenging test they put people through to get hired. It’s not an issue of people being smart and talented. It’s that design at Apple is at the highest level of the organization, led by Steve personally. Design at other companies is not there. It is buried down in the bureaucracy somewhere… In bureaucracies many people have the authority to say no, not the authority to say yes. So you end up with products with compromises. This goes back to Steve’s philosophy that the most important decisions are the things you decide NOT to do, not what you decide to do. It’s the minimalist thinking again.
Having been around in the early days, I don’t see any change in Steve’s first principles — except he’s gotten better and better at it.
Former Apple CEO – John Sculley from “John Sculley On Steve Jobs, The Full Interview Transcript”
Twitter-plaining
I’m not sure how everyone uses social media so I’ll speak for myself. I like the fact that I can stay in touch with my friends/family and even people I’ve never met. I enjoy hearing what interests them, understanding their perspective and even to a small degree finding out what irks them. I like the fact that people are willing to take time to share with the world, and me, what’s up.
However…
I have a hard time reading social media updates that primarily focus on the negative. I know I’m saying this at risk of complaining myself, but really for me, it’s just my way of saying, “hey, I like hanging out with you, but i can only take so much negativity.” I recognize that I have the choice to follow or not, but I think I speak for most of your and my friends/followers… They’re following for a reason, but that reason probably is not to listen to me complain.
So there’s a good chance I’ll be making some cuts in the next few weeks. This is probably why.
Thanks for listening to my complaint. ;)
Philippians 4:8
This is the true joy of life: the being used up for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clot of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.
George Bernard Shaw
DIY Macbook Pro Laptop Stand
$50 for this? looks nice, but common!
How about making my own?
YES! i can do that…
So here it is. i’ll update this post when i get around to painting it.
*Update*
Ok, i got around to painting it… kinda gave it an aged look… to match the whole apple experience.
Ok, the last part was a joke.
*Update #2*
Ok, for the ultimate finish, thanks to a donation of two fans and a power adapter by @sr_tirado. Check it out!
I don’t want to print my brochure in CMYK, because it is more expensive and has one color more than RGB, so print it in RGB and I will save some money.
(via clientsfromhell)
Design by Committee
Client: “Sometimes the cursor on our site is the standard arrow, and sometimes it is a hand.”
Me: “Yes, the hand appears when you mouseover a link.”
Client: “Well, we’ve discussed it, and we’ve decided that we’d like it to always be the hand.”
EntreLeadership Conference “Free Lesson” Take-Away
In this lesson entitled “EntreLeadership Defined” Dave Ramsey talks about why he decided to create a conference that intermingls the two ideas of leadership and entrepreneurship.
To help define the two, first he asked the audience to write down a few of their favorite characteristics of a leader and later the characteristics of an entrepreneur. Here are a few of the characteristics they gave him.
Leader:
- benevolent
- sacrifice
- ethical
- ethical
- integrity
- decisive
- visionary
- wise
- passionate
- humility
- bold
- listener
Dictionary definition: one who rules, guides, or inspires other people
Entrepreneur:
- assertive
- creative
- risk-taker
- passionate
- relentlessresilient
- optimistic
- confident
- purposeful
- tenacious
- prospector
- A.D.D. :)
Dictionary definition: person who organizes, operates and assumes risk for an organization.
Then he went on to say that when you put these two together, that is what defines “EntreLeadership.” The bottom line: If you want be an effective leader of any organization, THESE are the traits you need!
so i wrote ‘em down.
Links Referenced:
EntreLeadership Conference “Free Lesson”
EAVB_EEHLGKQKDK
Many of us at our core, don’t believe we’re exceptional. This is a costly mistake…and it’s the reason we think we need to do something gimmicky in order to stand out. You are exceptional, actually. But you can’t have it both ways. You can’t be in business for very long if you don’t believe in yourself. You can get away with it for a while if you have a huge advertising budget, but even then you have to pick up the slack with actual awesomeness, or it’s all doomed.
http://www.nextlevelblogger.com/3-deceptivelyeasy-ways-to-be-exceptional-in-your-business-niche/
How He Loves : A Song Story
This is one of my favorite songs. And it’s awesome to see/hear how the Lord moved in a situation to pour out His love on a man.
Gets me everytime.
(Source: http://player.vimeo.com/)
Me: “Wanna race?”
Mia: “I can’t race right now.”
Me: “I mean do you wanna race to see who can eat their corn the fastest.”
Mia: “ME!”