Ajaxian dot com

Ajaxian is an interesting site to watch for AJAX information. It has a lot of announcements of up-and-coming AJAK tool kits and APIs and other relevant updates and links to articles on the subject of AJAX development, which is a pretty hot topic right now.

Lorelle on WordPress » HTML, CSS, PHP, and More Cheat Sheets

Cheat sheets can be real handy for Web development when you're trying to remember a certain hex color code, HTML attribute or CSS style name. Here is a page that contains links to a bunch of handy cheat sheets for things from HTML to Javascript to Apache's httpd.conf: http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2005/10/10/html-css-php-and-more-cheat-sheets/

Flock, Firefox and open source

Bart, one of the Flock authors, wrote up a blog posting on Flock's codebase. It was pretty obvious to several users right away that Flock is actually based on Mozilla, which is the same codebase Firefox is based on. This blog entry explains why and some of the future open source plans for Flock and its code.

Blogging with Flock - an Update on Web Browsers

Many Web users flocked to Flock's website to try Flock when the new beta came out today. They should call it 'Flox,' just to be cool with the 'X factor' and to rhyme with Firefox.

When was the last time you got to try out a new Web browser? When was the last time you heard there was one to try? Probably Firefox, if you're like most experienced Web surfers (beta 2 of Firefox 1.5 is out, by the way). I think the last new one, other than Firefox or Opera, that I tried was konquerer in KDE on Linux a few years ago. Well, now there's Flock, which is supposed to be a revolutionary "social browser," a browser that comes out of the box with awareness of and features for blogging, browsing, social bookmarking and image sharing on sites such as del.icio.us and flickr (I don't see anything for flikr yet, but maybe there ought to be).

I blogged this entry with Flock's (not flox) built in blog editor, which was a cinch to set up via a wizard (whether you already have a blog). The UI of flock looks great on Mac OS X for me. The HTML blog editor supports advanced Javascript and CSS editing very slickly. I have run into three bugs so far, including a typo in a dialog. And I am about to find out whether the blog submittal of the built-in editor works or not. :-) Here goes.

A Few Depression "Tips"

Hi, these are three things I have learned about how to get a handle on my depression. Maybe they will help if you, fellow sufferer, happen this way and stumble over them in your weary, bleary ramblings in the inner darkness.

1. When you feel it coming, don't sit down. If you haven't yet tuned into when depression is coming on (I mean an extra strong, stiff bout stronger than the low grade fog you may struggle through each day in), you've got to try to pay attention to how and when your depression waxes and wanes. Become an expert in your depression (no one else will or can). If you're like me, you'll have developed a habit of sitting or lying down when it comes on. It's only natural. If you can stand up and get moving, do anything but sit, it may not go away completely, but just that gesture and push of energy can be enough to ward off an incipient wave. It's unnatural to resist that urge to cave in, but, hey, so are antidepressants.

2. Exercise. I have tried, vigorously and in earnest: meditation, therapy, antidepressants, reading philosophy, Zen Buddhism, various addictive behaviors and substances to ameliorate, mollify, suppress, dissipate, avoid, cure, deny, and escape from depression. Not a damn thing has worked for me like exercise, specifically aerobic exercise (aerobics, StairMaster, treadmill) and weight lifting. Maybe you prefer a particular sport. I think I partly like those exercises because I can do them among other people (a nice side benefit) but still be fairly solitary. Exercise has become my own personal antidepressant. I wish I had made the connection sooner, which leads me to my third "tip."

3. Survive, by hook or by crook, whatever shit you have to crawl through, until the sun comes out again. Don't feel you need to listen to anything anyone else says about your feelings, your depression, your state of mind. Do you have suicidal thoughts? So have I. Plenty. Suicidal thoughts, I have learned, can help a person in extreme suffering to cope. In deep depression, the thought of dying can be like the mirage of an oasis to a desert traveler delirious with thirst. But survive. Survive. If you haven't had the experience of a free trip to the hospital ER with a police escort because you shared a suicidal thought with someone who reported your thought to the police, listen to my advice: keep your mouth shut. The only thing I learned from that experience was never to share those thoughts with anyone again, even in anger or desperation. There's nothing like losing your freedom, imprisoned in a hospital room for a few hours, to make you feel like anything else, even living, would be better.

Good luck. There's nothing else I can tell you. OK, one more thing. Feel free to scoff at "experts" in religious robes, such as Pema Chodron, who advise you to just "sit with" your depression in meditation and "experience it fully and deeply." I've tried that and I'll tell you what -- see my first and second points above. Getting off your ass is a much better way. Depression is, in the end, something in your brain, as is everything else of which you are aware. I don't believe in "spiritual." That means nothing to me. If you cut my brain apart, I'm done, I'm scrambled eggs, no longer a person, a Buddha, whatever. So, for me, "spirituality" comes down to the brain and the word is just thrown around a lot by those who find it a beneficial placeholder for a more scientific understanding of things. Exercise can have some of the same effects on your brain, naturally, that antidepressants do. So can meditation. But sitting in your own shit and stewing is not the solution, not in my experience. To the meditative pundits who recommend that solution, I would question whether they have really experienced deep depression or if they have, if they really remember what it was like (see Cheri Huber's "The Depression Book," if interested, a true blue Buddhist nut -- I know she knows depression (she attempted suicide with a gun and barely survived), and she recommends, above all, EXERCISE). That goes for a lot of self help books, and even my own advice to exercise and not sit down. Sometimes depression, grief and other kinds of suffering are just so powerful that nothing can stop them, and there is absolutely no remedy. Don't feel bad if you just punt and sleep through a few of those hours, my friend. I certainly have.

Watch for Major Federal Tax Changes in November

According to an article in today's New York Times, there is a commission evaluating possible taxation reform at the federal level, and not just esoteric stuff that only accountants and corporations would care about. On the table are things such as a flat rate income tax for everyone and elimination of mortgage interest deductions.

The commission began in January and was supposed to finish up by July, but has postponed their final conclusion or presentation to November first.

Big Basement Critter: Scutigera coleoptrata

Saw this critter on the basement window this evening. The first articulate thought that came into my head was "get the camera." I've seen centipedes around here before, but not one like this or as big as this one was. It's quite common in the US. The common name is "House Centipede," taxonomically classified as Scutigera coleoptrata. I like that the word "scoot" can be heard in the genus name, 'cause that what this thing did when it got too much camera flash: it scooted.



By the way, www.whatsthatbug.com is a great site with lots of pictures of insects and other critters sent in by visitors. And the maintainers of the site provide information on the creatures that people ask about, many of which are common enough, but rarely seen unless you get outdoors much. Yet, the House Centipede, which I failed to recognize (other than as a centipede of some sort), seems to be the most popular creature in the humorous Unnecesary Carnage page of the site.

2005 and Still Alive

People in my life 15 years ago have been dead the whole time since. I never realized that so clearly before today. "Where are you, dead friend?" "Long, long gone, Scott. I have been no more since we last met." What does that tell me? What do I think about that? I think it's real. I'm real. I'm alive. Today, the tenth, used to be an anniversary for me, hence my perennial theme.

"'Say not a word,' he answered, 'in death's favour; I would rather be a paid servant in a poor man's house and be above ground than king of kings among the dead," said the ghost of Achilles to Odysseus. And then proceeded to ask about the lives of his family members.

Journey said it in 1981's Don't Stop Believin'':

Just a small town girl, livin' in a lonely world
She took the midnight train goin' anywhere
Just a city boy, born and raised in south Detroit
He took the midnight train goin' anywhere

A singer in a smoky room
A smell of wine and cheap perfume
For a smile they can share the night
It goes on and on and on and on

Strangers waiting, up and down the boulevard
Their shadows searching in the night
Streetlight people, living just to find emotion
Hiding, somewhere in the night

Working hard to get my fill,
Everybody wants a thrill
Payin' anything to roll the dice,
Just one more time
Some will win, some will lose
Some were born to sing the blues
Oh, the movie never ends
It goes on and on and on and on

(chorus)

Don't stop believin'
Hold on to the feelin'
Streetlight people

---

Journey, ha ha, yeah, I made a serious reference to Journey, the quintessential 80's rock band. :-)

Today is Columbus day in America. I have the day off, thanks to my employer. It is also Double Tenth Day in Taiwan, their "National Day," celebrating a rebellion in 1911 that led to the establishment of the Republic of China a few months later.