Henry's blog

Note: The following is best read after reading this blog post, to which I am responding.

The way I see it, if we’re going to help third-world countries get on the path to the first-world, it’s undoubtedly going to take clean water and an adequate food supply, but it’s also going to take education. If these countries abdicate their imperative dedication to their youth in bringing them on par with children in developed nations, then they are facing grime fates as nations. So, to accomplish this feat, take a look at what perhaps not all, but a large of majority of children in developed nations I’d go so far as to say depend on in everyday life: technology.

Now, children in these less fortunate nations may have gotten along fine without laptops — as would children in developed countries — but this is because they are used far too often for superfluous activities, as we have the means for teachers, schools, textbooks, and all other things needed for education. But when used otherwise, these laptops open up a world of free knowledge and discovery available through the internet that could be at the fingertips of third-world children across the globe.

The $100 laptop is an investment in both the future of these nations’ youth and a resultant investment in the future of their country, and it’s going to go a hell of a lot further than one textbook for an entire village of children.

Every now and then I tend to get restless with this blog’s design, and these past few days have been a perfect example of this. Though this new design was built from the ground up, it is essentially a refreshed version of the last site design, entitled “Redux”. Hopefully I’ll slow down with the designing and concentrate on the actual content, but in the mean time, I hope you like this new design that I’ve appropriately dubbed Redux 2.

When applying for a job, many companies request a cover letter — an introduction to the résumé that will follow — as a way for the job-seeker to highlight their strengths and experiences for the employer, to distinguish themselves from the other applicants. Of course, the job-seeker will want to make this cover letter as appealing as possible so as to make a lasting impression on the employer that might result in an interview. In this hilarious and completely true cover letter (mirror), Wayne cuts out the fluff and, really, cuts out anything that could get him an interview! Well worth checking out, and I, personally, can’t wait to see if he does anything with it, being the clearly audacious fellow he is.

Today marks the one-year anniversary of this here blog (!), so let’s break the past year’s activity down into stats.

In the past year I have…

• Posted 63 times — an average of 1.2 posts a week, or 5 1/4 posts a month.
• Received 65 comments
• Used two blogging platforms — TextPattern and (for the majority of the time) WordPress
• Been Dugg once
• Gone through three custom redesigns
• Had a hell of a fun time!

Here’s to another great year of Henry’s blog!

I spotted a butterfly on some particularly vibrant flowers earlier tonight and couldn’t resist getting up close and personal.

Here are the results, snapped with my beloved Nikon D40:

Being a non-dual-booting Mac user, I hit a snare when working on a website the other week. I knew that it worked fine in both Safari and Firefox, but it was untested in Internet Explorer. For as much as people tend to rag on Internet Explorer, it still dominates the browser market share, and because of this, ensuring a site works in Internet Explorer is critical. Even on this blog — one I would think to be pretty technologically savvy — 62% of my visitors use Internet Explorer.

Now, back to my original dilemma: I had a website untested in Internet Explorer, and had no way of getting Internet Explorer on my computer. After some Googling, I came upon Netrenderer. It allows you to paste a URL you’d like tested, and unlike other services, instantly outputs a screenshot of your site as it would appear in IE 6 or 7, based on your preference. Though it does cut off at the fold, or the bottom of the browser window, this has proven to be an invaluable tool for me in ensuring compatibility in IE for sites I design.

I recently re-discovered a gem of an app for Mac that I believe to have downloaded several months ago called Quinn.

For as much as people tend to rag on Mac OS for its small selection of games, Quinn is, surprisingly, a free, bang-up rendition of Tetris (or the “popular falling-blocks game which, according to the Tetris Company, must not be named here,” according to the site). I can honestly say that its being a game aside, Quinn’s interface ranks as one of the best I’ve encountered on Mac. With its multi-player functionality, and ability to host games, I know that I’ve spent countless hours trying to top others’ scores as well as my own.

If you’re not a serious gamer, but are interested in a largely mindless and simple, classic game to occupy those few spare moments you might have in your day — which may be far too little time once you become as obsessed with it as I! — I highly recommend Quinn.

Oh yeah, I have a blog — I seem to have forgotten about that. In any case, what’s a guy to do when he lacks interest in actually blogging? Redesign his blog, of course. In launching this theme, this blog is on its third design revision in its near year of operation. I would say that out of every design this is by far my favorite.

Entitled “Redux,” this design is the result of my wanting a more minimal, toned-down design. Hopefully its succeeded in doing this. Also: now with at least improved IE compatibility, as I’ve been too lazy to ensure total compatibility, yet. Also, as of this writing I’ve not ensured W3 validity, but will do so shortly.

Any feedback is appreciated, and hopefully you enjoy the new design.