New Year, New Design and Other Changes
Have I not posted in two years?? I feel bad. Obviously, a lot happens in that amount of time.
Last year in early May, my wife and I had a daughter, whom we named Jeyli Ayane ("jay-lee eye-ah-nay") Steadham. Jeyli has Latin origins and Ayane is Japanese for "colorful sound." She's been a wonderful addition to our family, and I can't tell you how happy I am to have a daughter! Don't get me wrong, I'm extremely proud of my two sons (now 16 and 13 years old) but starting over with a baby, and a daughter -- it's really been a positive and amazing experience. The boys love their sister and we've been adjusting to our new dynamics pretty smoothly, all things considered.
Speaking of new dynamics, I figured it was about time for a change to the look for IR Haven. Maybe I'll change it again, but I'd like to explore this new look for a bit.
I've changed jobs since 2009 but I'm still doing tech geek work.
I've had numerous health issues and spent three visits in the hospital between October and December of 2011. I'm doing better now, though.
I'm going to keep this post brief and I hope there's still some IR Haven readers out there... :)
- Allen
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Significant Redesign
I had no idea how bad the site looked in Internet Explorer! My job recently took Firefox off of all of our computers and forced us to use IE version 6 (*groans*). So when I came to check in on the blog today, I saw how utterly odd and unattractive the layout was...and decided to fix it!
I hope your eyes thank me now, just like mine do. :)
I had no idea how bad the site looked in Internet Explorer! My job recently took Firefox off of all of our computers and forced us to use IE version 6 (*groans*). So when I came to check in on the blog today, I saw how utterly odd and unattractive the layout was...and decided to fix it!
I hope your eyes thank me now, just like mine do. :)
Saturday, April 26, 2008
New Embedded Audio!
I am still alive, and finding ways to enhance IR Haven still! I was looking at ways to embed mp3s directly into the blog template and I found a nifty option from Yahoo's embedded media player. I was able to easily integrate it into the template and it plays MP3s I have stored elsewhere online. Just click on the arrow button next to the song link to play the song. It will automatically play the next song, which is cool! Also, the player moves as you move, can be collapsed down or even autohide itself. So you don't have to adjust it and it's less likely to get in the way (way cool).
You can do this yourself. Just check out the instructions at this link.
I added some First Light songs to start with. I may add other MP3s later, but this was a good test!
More later...
Best Wishes,
Allen
I am still alive, and finding ways to enhance IR Haven still! I was looking at ways to embed mp3s directly into the blog template and I found a nifty option from Yahoo's embedded media player. I was able to easily integrate it into the template and it plays MP3s I have stored elsewhere online. Just click on the arrow button next to the song link to play the song. It will automatically play the next song, which is cool! Also, the player moves as you move, can be collapsed down or even autohide itself. So you don't have to adjust it and it's less likely to get in the way (way cool).
You can do this yourself. Just check out the instructions at this link.
I added some First Light songs to start with. I may add other MP3s later, but this was a good test!
More later...
Best Wishes,
Allen
Saturday, April 21, 2007
My New "Toy"
As I wrote yesterday, I got a new laptop. This is the first brand new laptop I have ever bought. I went with a Dell because I know their workmanship and you can get some pretty good deals through Dell's website. I looked at this as an investment, so I went ahead and loaded up on the features I felt I'd use most, such as the processor (a 1.73 Ghz Intel duocore), ram (2 GB) and video ram (256MB NVidia GeForce Go 7300 Turbocache). It has an 80GB harddrive and the Windows Vista Premium operating system.
Once I got it out of the packaging and set up the AC adapter, it took me a few hours to configure it the way I like. I got rid of some softwares I felt were unnecessary or intrusive, like McAfee Security Center and Google Desktop. Once I tapped into my secure wireless network, I downloaded and installed software that I wanted such as Firefox, AVG Free Antivirus and Open Office 2.2.
Then there was the defragging. I thought that was going to take forever! But I had to do it, all the uninstalling and installing was really slowing down the laptop.
I was very impressed with the way Vista Premium looks! I know it's only doing things that Macs have been doing for years but I never thought I'd find a version of Internet Explorer that actually worked well and looks pretty good! I still have a preference for Mozilla Firefox but IE was working hard to get my attention.
Also, I was relieved that Microsoft still makes it possible to do just about everything four different ways in Windows. If the "new" way doesn't suit you, or you want to access an "old" tool, all you have to do is dig a little and you'll find it.
I still have more goodies to install and bookmarks to copy from Google Bookmarks, etc. but I am already very happy with my new toy.
Best Wishes,
Allen
As I wrote yesterday, I got a new laptop. This is the first brand new laptop I have ever bought. I went with a Dell because I know their workmanship and you can get some pretty good deals through Dell's website. I looked at this as an investment, so I went ahead and loaded up on the features I felt I'd use most, such as the processor (a 1.73 Ghz Intel duocore), ram (2 GB) and video ram (256MB NVidia GeForce Go 7300 Turbocache). It has an 80GB harddrive and the Windows Vista Premium operating system.
Once I got it out of the packaging and set up the AC adapter, it took me a few hours to configure it the way I like. I got rid of some softwares I felt were unnecessary or intrusive, like McAfee Security Center and Google Desktop. Once I tapped into my secure wireless network, I downloaded and installed software that I wanted such as Firefox, AVG Free Antivirus and Open Office 2.2.
Then there was the defragging. I thought that was going to take forever! But I had to do it, all the uninstalling and installing was really slowing down the laptop.
I was very impressed with the way Vista Premium looks! I know it's only doing things that Macs have been doing for years but I never thought I'd find a version of Internet Explorer that actually worked well and looks pretty good! I still have a preference for Mozilla Firefox but IE was working hard to get my attention.
Also, I was relieved that Microsoft still makes it possible to do just about everything four different ways in Windows. If the "new" way doesn't suit you, or you want to access an "old" tool, all you have to do is dig a little and you'll find it.
I still have more goodies to install and bookmarks to copy from Google Bookmarks, etc. but I am already very happy with my new toy.
Best Wishes,
Allen
Saturday, March 10, 2007
No NITNF This Week, But There Are Things Worth Blogging About...
...sorta.
My apologies. I just couldn't think up anything interesting this week for Not In The News Friday (NITNF). Yes, I could scour IMDB.com for some trivia or something but I like for NITNF to be inspired. If it's interesting to me, I can hope that it's interesting to you. By the same logic, if it's not interesting to me, how can I expect it to be interesting to you?
A lot has been going on in Real LifeTM. The van was in the shop from last Thursday through this Wednesday. And yet, we didn't miss one day of work and the kids never missed school. That's not to say it was a piece of cake, and I did way more walking than I should have (ended up with a low fever and leg cramps by Wednesday, my "overkill" day). The transmission place ended up having to replace the torque converter, some seals and the filters...and it still has a leak, just nowhere near the Niagara Falls it was last Thursday! I plan on taking it back on Wednesday, assuming it can hold out till then. It also seems to have sprung an oil leak (no fun). I blame the extreme cold weather we had last month but one way or the other, it will need to be fixed.
In the meantime, I've been working on my little laptop that I got for Christmas. It had been running very, very slow with Windows 2000. I eventually got frustrated and decided to just downgrade it to Windows 98SE (Second Edition), so I wiped the hard drive, only to find out my CDROM was not working well enough to install Windows (or any other operating system). This left me with a mini-dilemma...
Warning: your eyes may glaze over for a moment while technical details are explained. Do not worry, the effect is only temporary. Do not adjust your monitor. My laptop is a Dell Latitude CPi. It is truly a wonder of its time (1997), a lightweight, compact workhorse designed for business users. The laptop has a robust 266 Mhz processor, 64 MB of EDO RAM, a 3 GB hard drive and modular bay that supports floppy and cdrom modules (just not at the same time).
In the midst of my frustration over not having a working CDROM for the laptop, I looked at other options, including Linux distributions...except that most of those are installed via CD. I actually found some decent versions that I downloaded to my PC and created boot floppies for. The best was Blue Flops, a stable two-floppy distribution that includes the graphical web browser called Links. Once I connected my laptop to its port replicator (which has an ethernet port) and booted up this distribution and configured it for DHCP, I was able to cruise the web using Links (I had to take some time configuring the video driver settings in Blueflops then it worked beautifully). But that was the only thing I could get to work well, so I knew I needed a better solution.
I went to the local computer antique shops (Austin's "Goodwill Computer Works" and "Discount Electronics") but they didn't have what I needed, in terms of a CDROM or other upgrades (but man, if you need a Dell Latitude floppy drive, you'll have no problem getting a replacement!). Finally, my brother-in-law was able to give me a replacement CDROM for the laptop and it works brilliantly.
I spent all Thursday trying to make a dual-boot system (Windows 98SE and Linux). I went through over half a dozen distributions but they would all hang on the video driver (a 2 MB NeoMagic video card) and/or the ISA Soundblaster-compatible Crystal 4237B soundcard. By evening, I gave up on putting Linux on the laptop, reformatted the whole drive and put a clean install of Windows 2000 back on. I know...ironic, huh? But I'd like to think I set this version up pretty well.
Now, in all fairness to Linux distributions, I know there are real and working solutions for every single issue I faced. I know I could Google my way out of that box and make it all work...I simply have the patience of a Windows user and I admit it.
Putting on a clean install of the OS (Operating System) instead of just an upgrade helps. Then, I only put on the Windows service packs (and not the infinite Windows/MS Updates), run Firefox for the browser (instead of Internet Explorer) and put AVG Free on for security (antivirus). I have a wireless PCMCIA card and Windows 2000 (Win2K) found that no problem after I installed the Netgear software and drivers and I was able to connect to the internet wirelessly. I also picked up a 1GB flash drive to essentially add a Gig of space to my laptop's hard drive storage.
I did get one thing from Discount Electronics, a Dell laptop backpack. Now that I have the laptop the way I want it again, I may actually take it places (Whooooaa!) that have a wifi connection. The backpack looks brand new, is nicely cushioned, has plenty of space, pockets, etc. (I even tested it by fitting both the port replicator and the laptop inside it without any problems, although I won't be keeping the port replicator in it now that the wireless works) and I couldn't beat the price: $29!
I've imported all my bookmarks from Google bookmarks (I love that feature!) and customized my profile, browser theme and extensions. All I still need is word processing software and to upgrade my Windows Media Player (version 9 is the highest I can put on Win2K).
I already use Google Docs but there will be occasions when I need to write offline and I'd like the capability (sure, I could use Notepad but, please!) I like AbiWord for a standalone word processor. It essentially has all the features of MS Word and it's free! I really like Open Office but it's too bulky and memory intensive for my old laptop and really, all I'd really use is word processing anyway.
I do all of my chat in Firefox on Meebo.com and most of my email on Gmail, so those don't require any memory-intensive software.
As you can see, with the CDROM replaced and an actual OS on my "vintage laptop," I've been having a lot of fun with it!
And for those of you who have glazed -- SNAP OUT OF IT! THE BLOG ENTRY'S OVER!!
Best Wishes,
Allen
...sorta.
My apologies. I just couldn't think up anything interesting this week for Not In The News Friday (NITNF). Yes, I could scour IMDB.com for some trivia or something but I like for NITNF to be inspired. If it's interesting to me, I can hope that it's interesting to you. By the same logic, if it's not interesting to me, how can I expect it to be interesting to you?
A lot has been going on in Real LifeTM. The van was in the shop from last Thursday through this Wednesday. And yet, we didn't miss one day of work and the kids never missed school. That's not to say it was a piece of cake, and I did way more walking than I should have (ended up with a low fever and leg cramps by Wednesday, my "overkill" day). The transmission place ended up having to replace the torque converter, some seals and the filters...and it still has a leak, just nowhere near the Niagara Falls it was last Thursday! I plan on taking it back on Wednesday, assuming it can hold out till then. It also seems to have sprung an oil leak (no fun). I blame the extreme cold weather we had last month but one way or the other, it will need to be fixed.
In the meantime, I've been working on my little laptop that I got for Christmas. It had been running very, very slow with Windows 2000. I eventually got frustrated and decided to just downgrade it to Windows 98SE (Second Edition), so I wiped the hard drive, only to find out my CDROM was not working well enough to install Windows (or any other operating system). This left me with a mini-dilemma...
Warning: your eyes may glaze over for a moment while technical details are explained. Do not worry, the effect is only temporary. Do not adjust your monitor. My laptop is a Dell Latitude CPi. It is truly a wonder of its time (1997), a lightweight, compact workhorse designed for business users. The laptop has a robust 266 Mhz processor, 64 MB of EDO RAM, a 3 GB hard drive and modular bay that supports floppy and cdrom modules (just not at the same time).
In the midst of my frustration over not having a working CDROM for the laptop, I looked at other options, including Linux distributions...except that most of those are installed via CD. I actually found some decent versions that I downloaded to my PC and created boot floppies for. The best was Blue Flops, a stable two-floppy distribution that includes the graphical web browser called Links. Once I connected my laptop to its port replicator (which has an ethernet port) and booted up this distribution and configured it for DHCP, I was able to cruise the web using Links (I had to take some time configuring the video driver settings in Blueflops then it worked beautifully). But that was the only thing I could get to work well, so I knew I needed a better solution.
I went to the local computer antique shops (Austin's "Goodwill Computer Works" and "Discount Electronics") but they didn't have what I needed, in terms of a CDROM or other upgrades (but man, if you need a Dell Latitude floppy drive, you'll have no problem getting a replacement!). Finally, my brother-in-law was able to give me a replacement CDROM for the laptop and it works brilliantly.
I spent all Thursday trying to make a dual-boot system (Windows 98SE and Linux). I went through over half a dozen distributions but they would all hang on the video driver (a 2 MB NeoMagic video card) and/or the ISA Soundblaster-compatible Crystal 4237B soundcard. By evening, I gave up on putting Linux on the laptop, reformatted the whole drive and put a clean install of Windows 2000 back on. I know...ironic, huh? But I'd like to think I set this version up pretty well.
Now, in all fairness to Linux distributions, I know there are real and working solutions for every single issue I faced. I know I could Google my way out of that box and make it all work...I simply have the patience of a Windows user and I admit it.
Putting on a clean install of the OS (Operating System) instead of just an upgrade helps. Then, I only put on the Windows service packs (and not the infinite Windows/MS Updates), run Firefox for the browser (instead of Internet Explorer) and put AVG Free on for security (antivirus). I have a wireless PCMCIA card and Windows 2000 (Win2K) found that no problem after I installed the Netgear software and drivers and I was able to connect to the internet wirelessly. I also picked up a 1GB flash drive to essentially add a Gig of space to my laptop's hard drive storage.
I did get one thing from Discount Electronics, a Dell laptop backpack. Now that I have the laptop the way I want it again, I may actually take it places (Whooooaa!) that have a wifi connection. The backpack looks brand new, is nicely cushioned, has plenty of space, pockets, etc. (I even tested it by fitting both the port replicator and the laptop inside it without any problems, although I won't be keeping the port replicator in it now that the wireless works) and I couldn't beat the price: $29!
I've imported all my bookmarks from Google bookmarks (I love that feature!) and customized my profile, browser theme and extensions. All I still need is word processing software and to upgrade my Windows Media Player (version 9 is the highest I can put on Win2K).
I already use Google Docs but there will be occasions when I need to write offline and I'd like the capability (sure, I could use Notepad but, please!) I like AbiWord for a standalone word processor. It essentially has all the features of MS Word and it's free! I really like Open Office but it's too bulky and memory intensive for my old laptop and really, all I'd really use is word processing anyway.
I do all of my chat in Firefox on Meebo.com and most of my email on Gmail, so those don't require any memory-intensive software.
As you can see, with the CDROM replaced and an actual OS on my "vintage laptop," I've been having a lot of fun with it!
And for those of you who have glazed -- SNAP OUT OF IT! THE BLOG ENTRY'S OVER!!
Best Wishes,
Allen
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Back Up And Running
Well, it took a couple of days but the home pc is back up and running again with a new 200 GB hard drive (the drive that died was an 80 GB drive). Fortunately, we had backed up the vast majority of our files on another computer, so the main inconvenience was just reinstalling the Operating System (OS) and the software and the ridiculous number of Windows Updates. (60+ updates for Windows XP -- geez!)
So, life slowly gets back to normal. Sometimes, it's good to be a geek.
Best Wishes,
Allen
Well, it took a couple of days but the home pc is back up and running again with a new 200 GB hard drive (the drive that died was an 80 GB drive). Fortunately, we had backed up the vast majority of our files on another computer, so the main inconvenience was just reinstalling the Operating System (OS) and the software and the ridiculous number of Windows Updates. (60+ updates for Windows XP -- geez!)
So, life slowly gets back to normal. Sometimes, it's good to be a geek.
Best Wishes,
Allen
Thursday, December 28, 2006
And A Good Time Was Had By All... 
We had a great Christmas this year! It was fun, we enjoyed the company of both sides of the family, had yummy food (about half of which my wife did an incredible job preparing) and of course, cleaned up on presents! Woohoo!
I won't go into all the boys' gifts (too many!) but my wife's big gift was a 30 GB Creative Labs ZEN Vision:M Video and MP3 player!
Me, I scored my first laptop! My brother-in-law was kind enough to refurbish a Dell Latitude CPi. I used to work with those all the time, so I'm extremely familiar with them. It's not the fastest but it's extremely upgradeable. Plus, they're solid little workhorses. I've already equipped it with a wireless pc card and an ethernet pc card -- for less than $30! It came with Windows 2000 Pro (which I'm also very familiar with) and I've been customizing software, etc. It's my new pet project, so just move outta the way! Heh. Just kidding about the "move out of the way" part. But I have been having fun playing with my new "toy."
Well, that's all for now.
Best Wishes,
Allen
We had a great Christmas this year! It was fun, we enjoyed the company of both sides of the family, had yummy food (about half of which my wife did an incredible job preparing) and of course, cleaned up on presents! Woohoo!
I won't go into all the boys' gifts (too many!) but my wife's big gift was a 30 GB Creative Labs ZEN Vision:M Video and MP3 player!
Me, I scored my first laptop! My brother-in-law was kind enough to refurbish a Dell Latitude CPi. I used to work with those all the time, so I'm extremely familiar with them. It's not the fastest but it's extremely upgradeable. Plus, they're solid little workhorses. I've already equipped it with a wireless pc card and an ethernet pc card -- for less than $30! It came with Windows 2000 Pro (which I'm also very familiar with) and I've been customizing software, etc. It's my new pet project, so just move outta the way! Heh. Just kidding about the "move out of the way" part. But I have been having fun playing with my new "toy."
Well, that's all for now.
Best Wishes,
Allen
Saturday, December 23, 2006
This Blog Should Not Take Over 2 Minutes To Load
Starting last night, IR Haven was taking an incredible amount of time to load...and it was still acting up this morning. So, when that happens, I figure one link or one graphic, etc. is the culprit. The tricky part is eliminating the potential culprits without losing the HTML/javascript codes, so you can add back in what does actually work. It took about 20 minutes, but I finally tracked it down to the translation link. I like the capability to translate the site to other languages but if it takes 5 minutes to load the site, translation is goooooonnnnne!
Best Wishes,
Allen
Starting last night, IR Haven was taking an incredible amount of time to load...and it was still acting up this morning. So, when that happens, I figure one link or one graphic, etc. is the culprit. The tricky part is eliminating the potential culprits without losing the HTML/javascript codes, so you can add back in what does actually work. It took about 20 minutes, but I finally tracked it down to the translation link. I like the capability to translate the site to other languages but if it takes 5 minutes to load the site, translation is goooooonnnnne!
Best Wishes,
Allen
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Making The Transition To Blogger Beta
So yesterday, I got the mass email about Blogger Beta being ready for me to upgrade my blogs....so I thought to myself "Why not?" I've been curious about Blogger Beta for months. So I took the plunge -- and aside from having to reinstall one javascript code, it all worked well. In fact, I really like some of the new features!
It took me hours to apply "labels" to all 284 blog posts from the last (almost) 4 years but it was worth it. You can now view all of the Not In The News Fridays or all the videos or all of the non-dairy recipes, etc. In addition, it's much easier to write and edit blog entries. So, that's the reason for the subtle changes you may have noticed in the site.
Have a great weekend!
Best Wishes,
Allen
 |
So yesterday, I got the mass email about Blogger Beta being ready for me to upgrade my blogs....so I thought to myself "Why not?" I've been curious about Blogger Beta for months. So I took the plunge -- and aside from having to reinstall one javascript code, it all worked well. In fact, I really like some of the new features!
It took me hours to apply "labels" to all 284 blog posts from the last (almost) 4 years but it was worth it. You can now view all of the Not In The News Fridays or all the videos or all of the non-dairy recipes, etc. In addition, it's much easier to write and edit blog entries. So, that's the reason for the subtle changes you may have noticed in the site.
Have a great weekend!
Best Wishes,
Allen
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Why You Should Meebo Me
I recently became a fan of the Meebo instant messaging service. It's very much like Trillian, that allows you to simultaneously connect to multiple IM services, such as AIM, Yahoo, MSN Messenger and ICQ...but it's all through a webpage interface instead of separate software.
Meebo recently introduced a new widget, called Meebo Me. Meebo Me is an IM interface that can be inserted into blogs or webpages. If the webmaster or blogmaster is logged into Meebo, he/she can see how many people are on their page and have live chat capability with their site's guests. I thought that was pretty nifty-sounding, so I added it to IR Haven.
If you need some more info on using Meebo Me, here is a good article.
So, you'll see if I'm online and you can send me a chat! I'd love to hear from you. Let me know what you think of this new feature!
Best Wishes,
Allen
I recently became a fan of the Meebo instant messaging service. It's very much like Trillian, that allows you to simultaneously connect to multiple IM services, such as AIM, Yahoo, MSN Messenger and ICQ...but it's all through a webpage interface instead of separate software.
Meebo recently introduced a new widget, called Meebo Me. Meebo Me is an IM interface that can be inserted into blogs or webpages. If the webmaster or blogmaster is logged into Meebo, he/she can see how many people are on their page and have live chat capability with their site's guests. I thought that was pretty nifty-sounding, so I added it to IR Haven.
If you need some more info on using Meebo Me, here is a good article.
So, you'll see if I'm online and you can send me a chat! I'd love to hear from you. Let me know what you think of this new feature!
Best Wishes,
Allen
Monday, August 07, 2006
Mixedrace.com: My Opinion
Have you ever noticed that sometimes you really want something to measure up to your expectations -- and it doesn't? Mixedrace.com is a great idea, it's long overdue -- a web portal dedicated to mixed race couples, individuals and ideas. Unfortunately, after some initial consideration, I decided I didn't have a good experience there.
It reminds me of what I blogged about concerning Asian Avenue in June. As I said for AA, this will probably be very nice for some people and I personally have no animosity against the makers of mixedrace.com. I'm sure they've put a lot of hard work and effort and thought into the site.
But it's essentially very much still in beta and lacking any moderation whatsoever. As a result, there are a lot of offensive usernames, profiles and content. Not racist stuff, per se, but it could turn off a lot of potential users of the site.
Oh, and the use of the N word (pretty much entirely by African Americans) abounds, completely unfettered by moderation. Some people would probably be delighted by the "freedom of speech." Again, maybe in the proper context of defined sections ("Urban Expressions," for instance), it might work. People would be properly warned and have some idea what they're facing. As it is, you get what you get and that's that.
Another element that could deter users: popups. Who uses popup advertising anymore? There are much better alternatives out there that are site friendly.
I like the built-in weblog feature but it also kind of demands the user know a bit about HTML and site design, which the average internet user doesn't -- and shouldn't be required to know. This was a downside to AA, too.
The articles and bulletin board features were probably the most interesting aspect to the site. It also has a "Hot Or Not" for community members who were vain (or foolish) enough to submit their actual photo. There's lots of dating stuff woven in, too.
Another sign of beta-dom: don't open a web portal if you haven't enabled or finished all the sections, including the HELP section. People usually don't wait around for sites that are "still under construction."
I wanted to like this site, I really did. And in all fairness, in a year's time, it may be significantly improved (most sites do get better over time). Time will tell.
Best Wishes,
Allen
Have you ever noticed that sometimes you really want something to measure up to your expectations -- and it doesn't? Mixedrace.com is a great idea, it's long overdue -- a web portal dedicated to mixed race couples, individuals and ideas. Unfortunately, after some initial consideration, I decided I didn't have a good experience there.
It reminds me of what I blogged about concerning Asian Avenue in June. As I said for AA, this will probably be very nice for some people and I personally have no animosity against the makers of mixedrace.com. I'm sure they've put a lot of hard work and effort and thought into the site.
But it's essentially very much still in beta and lacking any moderation whatsoever. As a result, there are a lot of offensive usernames, profiles and content. Not racist stuff, per se, but it could turn off a lot of potential users of the site.
Oh, and the use of the N word (pretty much entirely by African Americans) abounds, completely unfettered by moderation. Some people would probably be delighted by the "freedom of speech." Again, maybe in the proper context of defined sections ("Urban Expressions," for instance), it might work. People would be properly warned and have some idea what they're facing. As it is, you get what you get and that's that.
Another element that could deter users: popups. Who uses popup advertising anymore? There are much better alternatives out there that are site friendly.
I like the built-in weblog feature but it also kind of demands the user know a bit about HTML and site design, which the average internet user doesn't -- and shouldn't be required to know. This was a downside to AA, too.
The articles and bulletin board features were probably the most interesting aspect to the site. It also has a "Hot Or Not" for community members who were vain (or foolish) enough to submit their actual photo. There's lots of dating stuff woven in, too.
Another sign of beta-dom: don't open a web portal if you haven't enabled or finished all the sections, including the HELP section. People usually don't wait around for sites that are "still under construction."
I wanted to like this site, I really did. And in all fairness, in a year's time, it may be significantly improved (most sites do get better over time). Time will tell.
Best Wishes,
Allen
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Our Newest Tenant: Winsome Gunning Art Walk
Please visit this week's tenant and see the lovely artwork and blogging at Winsome Gunning Art Walk. I enjoy the colors and feel and the sentiments in The Artist's work. I hope you do, too.
Best Wishes,
Allen
Please visit this week's tenant and see the lovely artwork and blogging at Winsome Gunning Art Walk. I enjoy the colors and feel and the sentiments in The Artist's work. I hope you do, too.
Best Wishes,
Allen
Monday, July 24, 2006
Youthfest 2006
Picture of 2003 Youthfest
Last weekend was full and fun and exhausting...but worth it. Our church sponsored the 2006 Youthfest in Austin, Texas, a two-day event with live music, good food, skits, guest speakers and the preaching of the Gospel. Over the course of the six hour event on Saturday and four hour event on Sunday, hundreds of youth and their parents, of all nationalities, attended.
The Mayor Pro-Tem, a City Council member and others gave encouraging speeches to the youth. There were also activities for the youth, including face painting and some fun mascots (two church sisters dressed up as a star and as a candle -- very cute). There were also vendors like The River 102.3 FM and the local community college and at least half a dozen others.
It made the local tv news and got some photos in the local newspaper and its website. But most importantly, by the end of the event, 8 people gave their lives to Jesus Christ!
First Light performed 2 songs on both days to enthusiastic response, which was wonderful. You can hear the two songs we performed on the First Light My Space site (link above), "You Were There" and "Hold On" (both recorded at the 2003 Youthfest (pictured above).
There are a couple of unique things I'd like to mention about the event. The first was that this was an event by a church made up of many interracial couples. That's just the way our nondenominational church is, welcoming of and loving all nations. Secondly, every musical group has bilingual songs that include Spanish.
One of the best moments of the event for me was during one of the songs on Sunday by our church's Youth Choir. A young married couple sang a duet that was backed up by the choir. They sang the first verse and chorus in English and it was well-received. And then they broke into a Spanish version of the first verse and chorus and got enthusiastic clapping from Hispanic (obviously Spanish-speaking) attendees in the audience. And then the whole choir sang in Spanish supporting the lead singer -- and you could just tell, there was such appreciation for what was being said. The song is called "And They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Love."
The church set up a projection system that acted like a big screen tv so people in the back could see what was happening on stage. And we had several cameramen from different angles recording the whole event. And I think it was recorded for CD, too (hopefully).
It was a lot of work and we're still tired and sore, especially after all the moving (which is now 100% complete)...but as I said at the beginning, it was all worth it. We did Youthfest in 2003 and 2004, now in 2006 and we hope to have another one next year.
Best Wishes,
Allen
Picture of 2003 Youthfest
Last weekend was full and fun and exhausting...but worth it. Our church sponsored the 2006 Youthfest in Austin, Texas, a two-day event with live music, good food, skits, guest speakers and the preaching of the Gospel. Over the course of the six hour event on Saturday and four hour event on Sunday, hundreds of youth and their parents, of all nationalities, attended.
The Mayor Pro-Tem, a City Council member and others gave encouraging speeches to the youth. There were also activities for the youth, including face painting and some fun mascots (two church sisters dressed up as a star and as a candle -- very cute). There were also vendors like The River 102.3 FM and the local community college and at least half a dozen others.
It made the local tv news and got some photos in the local newspaper and its website. But most importantly, by the end of the event, 8 people gave their lives to Jesus Christ!
First Light performed 2 songs on both days to enthusiastic response, which was wonderful. You can hear the two songs we performed on the First Light My Space site (link above), "You Were There" and "Hold On" (both recorded at the 2003 Youthfest (pictured above).
There are a couple of unique things I'd like to mention about the event. The first was that this was an event by a church made up of many interracial couples. That's just the way our nondenominational church is, welcoming of and loving all nations. Secondly, every musical group has bilingual songs that include Spanish.
One of the best moments of the event for me was during one of the songs on Sunday by our church's Youth Choir. A young married couple sang a duet that was backed up by the choir. They sang the first verse and chorus in English and it was well-received. And then they broke into a Spanish version of the first verse and chorus and got enthusiastic clapping from Hispanic (obviously Spanish-speaking) attendees in the audience. And then the whole choir sang in Spanish supporting the lead singer -- and you could just tell, there was such appreciation for what was being said. The song is called "And They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Love."
The church set up a projection system that acted like a big screen tv so people in the back could see what was happening on stage. And we had several cameramen from different angles recording the whole event. And I think it was recorded for CD, too (hopefully).
It was a lot of work and we're still tired and sore, especially after all the moving (which is now 100% complete)...but as I said at the beginning, it was all worth it. We did Youthfest in 2003 and 2004, now in 2006 and we hope to have another one next year.
Best Wishes,
Allen
Thursday, July 20, 2006
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New Logos?
Since I was getting tired of text and haven't had time to re-upload the original logos to IR Haven, I went ahead and made some new ones online. What do you think? Do you like these or did you prefer the old ones more? Let me know!
Move update: The duplex is almost entirely cleaned out now, btw. I had no idea we had so much junk in the garage! Amazing...
Logo update, later in the day: After looking at the original logos again, I decided they were better. I uploaded them to Photobucket and linked them back here. So, although change is good, in this case, I think it's better not to mess with a "classic" look (at least till I come up with something better).
I put the "alternative versions" in thumbnail format with this post (click each thumbnail for the full-size version) for everyone to see (and...enjoy?)
P.S. - I finally got the background image uploaded to PB -- woohoo!
Best Wishes,
Allen
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Winner of the World's Worst Unintentional Site Makeover!
Yes, for a few days, IR Haven had "Image Not Available" wallpaper and numerous "Image Not Available" images, including the email link. Don't you love the cute little red stop sign X? It's so pretty...not!
No, IR Haven was NOT hacked.
I found out the hard way that Blog Explosion's image hosting has a 250 MB monthly bandwidth limit and that limit is very easy to reach. When that happens, your images no longer show; instead, you get the big red stop sign.
So I switched to Photo Bucket. They have a 10GB monthly limit on bandwidth.
By comparison, 250MB x 4 = 1 GB so Photo Bucket gives you 40 times as much bandwidth.
I will need to add the background image and some other images later today, but at least I was able to re-makeover the site in the meantime...lest some of you go blind (which would be really bad; I would feel awful)!
By the way, we're about 99% moved now.
Best Wishes,
Allen
Yes, for a few days, IR Haven had "Image Not Available" wallpaper and numerous "Image Not Available" images, including the email link. Don't you love the cute little red stop sign X? It's so pretty...not!
No, IR Haven was NOT hacked.
I found out the hard way that Blog Explosion's image hosting has a 250 MB monthly bandwidth limit and that limit is very easy to reach. When that happens, your images no longer show; instead, you get the big red stop sign.
So I switched to Photo Bucket. They have a 10GB monthly limit on bandwidth.
By comparison, 250MB x 4 = 1 GB so Photo Bucket gives you 40 times as much bandwidth.
I will need to add the background image and some other images later today, but at least I was able to re-makeover the site in the meantime...lest some of you go blind (which would be really bad; I would feel awful)!
By the way, we're about 99% moved now.
Best Wishes,
Allen
Thursday, July 06, 2006
One Drop (Rule) Is Wrong
The last time I blogged on this type of topic, I got a sharp criticism from an African-American reader who felt I wasn't qualified to speak on such things because I'm white. Nevermind how racist that in itself is, it is how some people feel. So let me preface this post by saying I am qualified to speak on the following topic because I am the father of two biracial children.
First, some historical background via Wikipedia:
So, keeping this in mind, it is troubling to me that One Drop Rule is even around... It's a way of thinking whose time has gone the way of the dodo and the dinosaur. It needs to die.
And this is my opinion only, but I believe One Drop Rule is racist. Yes, racist ... because it states that one racial heritage is dominant over the other even within a mixed-race genetic makeup. One Drop encourages a biracial or multiracial individual to choose one racial heritage over the other and downplay or deny the other -- supposedly for the good of the individual or to help them "fit in." As a social context, it is particularly insidious because often shame is used to batter the biracial individual into submission of the group- or collective-inspired racism. Mob rules thinking. It is wrong and should be called out for the terribly misguided racism it is. No one race or culture is any better than any other.
Fortunately, my sons have not faced this pressure yet. Austin is a fairly diverse city and interracial marriages and families are common here but there is racism, too -- from all sides. Someday, they may be encouraged to think that they're only Black. It may be from friends or coworkers or anybody, really.
My job as their parent is to teach them to embrace all of who they are. It's not about being white or black or even Apache. It's about being you, whatever that means. And my job (and my wife's) is to answer their questions about where they come from. If they want to know about African-American or even African culture, we will teach them. If they want to know about Native Americans, we will do the same. If they wanted to know about my Dutch ancestors, same thing.
Life is too short and confusing enough to be distracted by "racial identity issues." Simply be who you are -- ALL of who you are. My boys do not think of themselves as any one race -- they know they are mixed. But more important than that, they know they are loved.
That's really all that matters...isn't it?
Best Wishes,
Allen
The last time I blogged on this type of topic, I got a sharp criticism from an African-American reader who felt I wasn't qualified to speak on such things because I'm white. Nevermind how racist that in itself is, it is how some people feel. So let me preface this post by saying I am qualified to speak on the following topic because I am the father of two biracial children.
First, some historical background via Wikipedia:
The one-drop theory (or one-drop rule) is a historical colloquial term for the standard, found throughout the United States of America, that holds that a person with even a tiny portion of non-white ancestry ("one drop of non-white blood") should be classified as "colored", especially for the purposes of laws forbidding interracial marriage. It is an ethnocentric concept based on the idea of human hierarchy. This notion of invisible/intangible membership in a "racial" group has seldom been applied to people of Native American ancestry (see Race in the United States for details). The notion has also been applied to the idea of solely black ancestry.
By 1925, almost every state had a one-drop law on the books, or something equivalent. These were the laws that gave power to bureaucrats like Walter Plecker of Virginia [8], Naomi Drake of Louisiana [9], and similar people around the country — people whose mission was to hunt down any families of mixed ancestry and shove them to the Black side of the color line.
In 1967 the U.S. Supreme Court, in its ruling on the case of Loving v. Virginia, conclusively invalidated Plecker's Virginia Racial Integrity Act, along with its key component, the one-drop rule, as unconstitutional. Despite this holding, the one-drop theory is still influential in U.S. society. Multiracial individuals with visible mixed European and African and/or Native American ancestry are often still considered non-white unless they explicitly declare themselves white or Anglo, and are typically identified instead as mixed-race, mulatto or mestizo, or Black or American Indian, for example. By contrast these standards are widely rejected by America's Latino community, the majority of whom are of mixed ancestry, but for whom their Latino cultural heritage is more important to their ethnic identities than "race". The one-drop rule is not generally applied to Latinos of mixed origin or to Arab-Americans.
So, keeping this in mind, it is troubling to me that One Drop Rule is even around... It's a way of thinking whose time has gone the way of the dodo and the dinosaur. It needs to die.
And this is my opinion only, but I believe One Drop Rule is racist. Yes, racist ... because it states that one racial heritage is dominant over the other even within a mixed-race genetic makeup. One Drop encourages a biracial or multiracial individual to choose one racial heritage over the other and downplay or deny the other -- supposedly for the good of the individual or to help them "fit in." As a social context, it is particularly insidious because often shame is used to batter the biracial individual into submission of the group- or collective-inspired racism. Mob rules thinking. It is wrong and should be called out for the terribly misguided racism it is. No one race or culture is any better than any other.
Fortunately, my sons have not faced this pressure yet. Austin is a fairly diverse city and interracial marriages and families are common here but there is racism, too -- from all sides. Someday, they may be encouraged to think that they're only Black. It may be from friends or coworkers or anybody, really.
My job as their parent is to teach them to embrace all of who they are. It's not about being white or black or even Apache. It's about being you, whatever that means. And my job (and my wife's) is to answer their questions about where they come from. If they want to know about African-American or even African culture, we will teach them. If they want to know about Native Americans, we will do the same. If they wanted to know about my Dutch ancestors, same thing.
Life is too short and confusing enough to be distracted by "racial identity issues." Simply be who you are -- ALL of who you are. My boys do not think of themselves as any one race -- they know they are mixed. But more important than that, they know they are loved.
That's really all that matters...isn't it?
Best Wishes,
Allen
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Friday, June 23, 2006
The Sad State of Interracial Blogs
I was curious about the state of interracial blogs in the blogosphere, so of course, I tried to Google the term. Geez, was that a mistake! I couldn't even attempt to click on any of the links because they were all porn, all the time.
That was disappointing.
I know there are blogs from interracial couples and families and biracial/multiracial people but they are few and far between. I have recently spent some time cruising Blog Explosion and while there's a wealth of political and personal blogs, religious and anti-religious blogs, sports and financial blogs, there just aren't too many interracial blogs.
So we earn our name a little longer: Interrace Haven. We still discuss topics from the point of view of someone in an interracial marriage with biracial kids. Sometimes "slice-of-life," sometimes comedy, sometimes serious and sometimes spiritual, but one way or the other, it's IR Haven, all the time.
If you know of some good IR blogs out there, I'd love to check them out! Send me link suggestions HERE!
Best Wishes,
Allen
I was curious about the state of interracial blogs in the blogosphere, so of course, I tried to Google the term. Geez, was that a mistake! I couldn't even attempt to click on any of the links because they were all porn, all the time.
That was disappointing.
I know there are blogs from interracial couples and families and biracial/multiracial people but they are few and far between. I have recently spent some time cruising Blog Explosion and while there's a wealth of political and personal blogs, religious and anti-religious blogs, sports and financial blogs, there just aren't too many interracial blogs.
So we earn our name a little longer: Interrace Haven. We still discuss topics from the point of view of someone in an interracial marriage with biracial kids. Sometimes "slice-of-life," sometimes comedy, sometimes serious and sometimes spiritual, but one way or the other, it's IR Haven, all the time.
If you know of some good IR blogs out there, I'd love to check them out! Send me link suggestions HERE!
Best Wishes,
Allen
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
A Note From The Makers Of Colourz Magazine:
"We here, at Colourz magazine, would love to hear your stories and comments on how being bi-racial has affected you. The mission of Colourz is to open a gateway of communication among all people. Colourz will confront and help combat, in an informative and educational way, the obstacles many people face due to their mixed heritage, ethnicity, prejudices of others and prejudices within themselves. Colourz is the magazine for anyone who is or has known a person who is mixed, mulatto, half & half, part this or part that. There are no limitations. Colourz is for you. Please respond to colourzreaders@yahoo.com
"We are looking forward to hearing from you!"
"We here, at Colourz magazine, would love to hear your stories and comments on how being bi-racial has affected you. The mission of Colourz is to open a gateway of communication among all people. Colourz will confront and help combat, in an informative and educational way, the obstacles many people face due to their mixed heritage, ethnicity, prejudices of others and prejudices within themselves. Colourz is the magazine for anyone who is or has known a person who is mixed, mulatto, half & half, part this or part that. There are no limitations. Colourz is for you. Please respond to colourzreaders@yahoo.com
"We are looking forward to hearing from you!"
Friday, June 02, 2006
Your Stories: Help IR Haven Generate Content
I have been wanting to add more IR-centric content to the blog recently, so this afternoon, I had an idea.
I'd like you to send me your IR stories and I will post them as blog entries, one per day. They don't have to be long or works of art, although I think they will be beautiful in their own way.
I'd like couples' stories (how you met, what your ethnicities are, how long you've been together, how many kids, etc.) and individuals stories (life as a biracial or multiracial person, how it has shaped your insights, your world view, etc.).
A couple of suggestions: Just use first names. Keep the language family-friendly.
E-mail your stories to me HERE!
I'll start posting them as soon as I receive them. Thanks in advance!
Best Wishes,
Allen
I have been wanting to add more IR-centric content to the blog recently, so this afternoon, I had an idea.
I'd like you to send me your IR stories and I will post them as blog entries, one per day. They don't have to be long or works of art, although I think they will be beautiful in their own way.
I'd like couples' stories (how you met, what your ethnicities are, how long you've been together, how many kids, etc.) and individuals stories (life as a biracial or multiracial person, how it has shaped your insights, your world view, etc.).
A couple of suggestions: Just use first names. Keep the language family-friendly.
E-mail your stories to me HERE!
I'll start posting them as soon as I receive them. Thanks in advance!
Best Wishes,
Allen
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