LM3 Portfolio
My ramblings and my works
New Look – Sorta?
Jul 29th
I updated the theme a tad in honor of Doctor Who. In case you haven’t noticed; I’m a huge fan. So the theme is blue-ish now
Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue
That quote refers to the TARDIS. That blue box. Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space, in case you didn’t know. And, well, I didn’t borrow it actually, I stole it! No, kidding again. The ‘Time Vortex’ background was something I threw together. I couldn’t find a decent one in an image search. It works well enough for me. The theme overall is also more blue.
Sadly, the season ended last Saturday for us in the U.S. The U.K. gets it 3 or 4 weeks earlier. The finale was bang on. I love that, the play on words. Bang! The Big Bang was the name of the episode. I’m going to have a review of it soon.
Geronimo!
The Day the Internet Stood Still
Jul 25th
Once upon a time there was a website. It was very small and very few people knew about it. Five or so years pass and 1/14 of the world population is part of that website. Think about that; 500 million users. Those are just the users. It’s likely that the majority of the world knows about the site.
I joined Facebook very early on. I’d say only a month or two after it came about. Back then it was just a blip on the radar. The big site at that time was MySpace of course. My Facebook account sat, unused for nearly two years before I came back to it.
Once MySpace lost footing, Facebook moved in for the kill. Then, as if all at once, it exploded. Thousands became millions. Millions became hundreds of millions.
Just a quick side note: It’s a phenomenon full of irony. Tell anyone that they’re being watched or eavesdropped on and they get pretty ticked off. In fact, so ticked off that they’re going to make that their status on Facebook.
“I can’t believe this crap, the government is tracking my every move?? I’m getting a burger at Shakey Bakey’s anyone else wanna join me? lol xoxo
Yeah. We’re so defensive about our privacy and yet, we toss it around social networks like some old jacket that barely keeps the cold off. I know very well that what goes on the web basically stays on the web. Forever. So I decided that I’d post things I was comfortable with people knowing. Believe me, there is a lot more info out there about us than we’d like to know about. Privacy was never a concern for me though, like I said. Just thought I’d mention it.
The problem for me was time. The time I spent on Facebook was bad enough. What I was doing was worse usually. You see status after status of people doing things you’d like to be able to do. Go on a vacation, go to a concert, have a night out (just the two of you), sleep in, get a great workout in. You get the idea. It was time spent benchmarking myself against other people. It made me feel like I had to be someone else I guess?
A few weeks back I changed my stance a good bit and decided I’d post only nonsense and science links. That worked out pretty good but it still wasn’t enough. I had to kill it. I’m going to compare it to Doctor Who scenarios because Doctor Who is just awesome. It was like closing that crack in the Universe. Now it’s all just a memory.
Funny how Facebook works. As I understand it – once you deactivate – all your updates, links, profile, etc just disappear. They come back if you reactivate of course. It is kind of neat how you can seemingly erase your existence.
So at 7am this morning I closed the crack. My wife soon followed. We’re locked away as a memory to the people we knew and as a memory in the system. Though for all intents and purposes we never existed. Cool huh?
Of course, we still exist. We’re real people with lives, jobs and a family. That’s really the moral of our story. We were so drawn in by the lives of others that we could barely live ours. It was always what we’d heard or read or saw on Facebook. So, today is the first day in a long while we’re going to start living our lives.
I will miss the regular correspondence I had with some good friends but this is truly for the better. This is where you will find me. Right here, writing away every other day, living my life the best I can.
I can be reached at laserfloyd at gmail dot com. I typed it out that way so bots and spammers can’t so easily get a hold of it.
Geronimo!
The Most Random Email I’ve Ever Received
Jul 23rd
We all get spam. We all get the emails selling us pills, watches or an education in anything from dinosaur hunting to Moon spelunking. Well, I occasionally get this email from this one guy. It’s always the same guy too. I only get it at work. I don’t think it’s spam either. I think this is a real message that someone is typing up. I also think the person just might very well be on heavy medication. It’s entertaining to read because it is ALL over the map of randomness.
I share with you now that email. I’ve formatted it a bit so it’s nice so massive. There’s a bit of reading to do so I’m going to do the ol’ click to read more trick.
I also decided to record it with my camera. I extracted the audio. Reading this out loud is even funnier… Sorry for the poor audio quality. It was one take for the whole thing.
GREETINGS WORLD LEADERS!
“WE’RE PARDY!?”
Forgot… The ‘PEACE WALKER’ is running for USA President too!!!
Spreading bread crumbs or other small food remains around a camping area, usually keeps critters from coming into bed with one.
“DOWN COMES THE RAIN AND WASHES SPIDER OUT! LA! DE! DA!”
Rain likely refers to verbal harassments or throwing of stones, shooting bullets, etc? The Spider is an interloper, Target or Outsider. Such an Individual is commonly called a “Dick!” Rain washes a Spider, also called, “Dick” Out of a community.
“YOU HAVE TO WORK!”
If one works all the time or One’s resources are all tied up, then, One will be less likely to produce differently, that is, be a big winner and social pressures may exist to hold One back.
Heinrich Himmler’s memory?
BIGLETTE?
Adding mud/cement to the leaking Gulf oil well from a relief well, may add pressure, rather than reducing such. However, such may clog much leakage from sea floor if such exists.
ONE TRACK MIND?
This writer has just been taught a new form of the Mongolian Bow Bull, Native American Had signal, by Food line magnet, John, potential cop, NAZI Leader or former big businessman. The sign involves forcing together the small and index finger tips of a hand, while bending two knuckles in center, below. Not easy for some Folks, not schooled in such from early youth. Looks much like addition of an arrow to a bow bull?
Early 19th century American hypothesis, had it that the missing tribes of Israel might have migrated to the Americas. Such thought might have lead to Native American Groups such as the Mormons and Other religious sects, forming Christian or Christian like belief systems and allowed such, as aboriginals, to coexist, within reason, amongst Caucasians and Other mainstreamers? ‘Book of Mormon,’ ‘Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Aboriginal Inhabitants of America.’
Some years back, it was a craze amongst some persons crazed, to hard bounce off other dancers at public dances. People got hurt. An effect of such behavior? Less Folks wanted to dance. Whom were such dancers?
QUESTION MARK?
THE DAYCARE OF LIFE?
What to do with… plastic pantie’..?
THE HALFWAY HOUSE OF LIFE?
“RUSH!” Ya made it again at Arlington, on Wilson Blvd!
Perhaps use aircraft of all sizes, to spray toxic gas, like crop spraying, during warfare?
What might happen were one to putt backwards?
Back as a young kid, this writer attended Holy Redeemer Catholic Grade School, a primarily Native American enrolled parochial school at Marshall Minnesota. About third grade, there was a Nun thereat, can’t remember her name, so, let’s just call her Sister Teresa. Well… Sister, another good name for her, used to keep time with singing during singing class. Typically her timing was a bit slow. Sister didn’t like this writer much, cause, she was probably something like Chippewa and this writer a Caucasian of same tribe.
When singing ‘ WHEN JOHNNY COMES MORCHING HOME,’ it works well to tap a stick or rock, slowly, out of sync, with singing.
“I LIKE LAZER TAG!!!”
Man yelling while driving under bridge this morning.
“KNOW YOUR DAD/PARENTS!!!”
Common comment yelled by Native Americans everywhere, at Targets. It is assumed two things are meant by such, either, one’s parents will know all about one, or such may have one observed or committed, especially if living in a same State.
Holding a handgun out at two arms together distance, lining up what sights might be available and shooting, may likely prove much as effective as using a standard shoulder arm of similar caliber.
Don’t shoot at an armored vest… Shoot at limbs or head.
“I Think… I’m beginning… to believe… Mark…”
Barrach Obama, quote from CNN.
Mighta got that word NATZ/NATS wrong, when them Folks came to the 10th street bridge Arlington, a month or so back. Mighta been the ‘Nationals’ Sports Team, rather than the Competitive Cycling Nationals/NATZ. Didn’t get it, ‘cause, don’t think such played the TWINS much and besides, this writer don’t follow Football.
SECURE BREECH?
Remember: If Ya ever get a chance, visit the Arlington VA Main Library, one of the best this writer’s ever seen.
ONE OF THE SCARIEST SOUNDS IN THE WORLD?
NEARBY COCKED SHOTGUN.
So… What if a pretty librarian were to strip off her blouse and bra and simply continue working? What might happen and why?
This writer worked, some eight years ago, with a guy named ‘Mike,’ who was known otherwise as the ‘SKYWAY BANDIT.’ He robbed about nine banks at Minneapolis Minnesota, to pay for his Heroine habit. We worked at screen and glass repair at a local hardware store thereat.
“Mark! I’m Japanese!”
From speaker on jet plane, flying over Arlington VA.
COLBY CHEESE, a favorite cheese of many Folks, seems lacking, at least in some variations, in some principle food stores at the Arlington VA area. GOOD FRESH SALTY WISCONSIN CHEESE FROM LARGE HORN… sorta curdy!
Last night, while walking up Arlington Blvd, this writer found a sheet of paper containing the following information… ‘SLEEVE SPINNER FIXTURE MONDAY, MAY 10-SUNDAY, JUNE 6 (Then Explanations.)
Finally ‘CONFIDENTIAL’ CARIBOU COFEE COMPANY.
Thought They better know…
SPANK UM WITH THE BOW!!!
COURT?
“WE’RE STILL CHINESE!!!”
Yelled from vehicle passing under bridge this morning.
Must be the HAN Family…
Mark
Mark RandomGuy
email@email.com
THIS MISSIVE NEWSLETTER HAS BEEN SENT TO A MAJORITY OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL PERSONS ON OUR PLANET, YOU MAY BE ONE OF THEM…
Mark
Soooooo, yes. I’m possibly a world leader and this email has me thinking. We need more pie!
Scienthusiast
Jul 18th
What is that word? I made it up. It’s a mix of science + enthusiast. I have to be careful though. I’m NOT a scientist. I’m enthusiastic about science. So it’s what I’m going to start calling myself.
Yes, I’m a scienthusiast.
I guess it could be hyphenated sci-enthusiast? Maybe scien-thusiast? Either way, I looked around Google briefly and it’s possible I thought of this before billions of other people? Maybe it’s some horrible word that I shouldn’t use? Nah, it’s great! It describes me quite fittingly, I think.
So there, it’s my word. It’s OK, you can borrow it. I expect royalties though!
What to do with it? Well, I think the world needs more enthusiasm for science. Not to solve every lurking problem in our lives but to better understand how the world around us works. Some mysteries shall remain so. There are some exceedingly complex things in the Universe that aren’t really practical for everyone to know. Unless it’s your job to know them, that is.
So, perhaps one of my goals in life is to help spread the word of science; Turn people on to how it all works, at a fundamental level. It always goes back to a quote from Carl Sagan. Roughly, we live in a world filled with technology. So few people understand how it all works. You don’t have to be a scientist to understand. You simply have to open your mind to it. When people learn how things actually work, it’s usually one of those “wow…” moments.
In saying that, remember, we can’t let go of reason for madness. There was a time when people who studied the heavens feared retribution. Good people were arrested, exiled or even killed for observing something knowable versus believing in something we couldn’t know. It might seem insane to think that could happen again, but remember as a species, we’re very young. There are a lot of good and honest people out there that speak for science.
Science is interesting because it changes based on observation. In that sense, our view of the world has evolved, as our methods and tools have evolved. The next few decades should prove to be very exciting in the realm of understanding. How the forefathers of great thinkers should like to be alive today to have a glimpse at what we know. How the great thinkers of our future might look back and realize how primitive our thinking was. Each new generation stands on the shoulders of giants from the previous.
Life; space; time; the Cosmos; all encompassing and all waiting to be discovered and understood. We are, in a way, how the Universe understands itself.
We, as the human race, must keep it going. If we’re not to be scientists, we should at least be enthusiastic about science.
Enter: The Scienthusiast.
CSS 3.0 Rounded Borders
Jul 7th
From what I understand, all browsers except IE support this? I haven’t personally tested this myself. Maybe I should… one moment . . . ok. No, IE doesn’t support this yet which is a shame. It will eventually come around though and no more creating images to get rounded corners. Rejoice!
The link to the site is here.
Can’t wait until all modern browsers adopt this. In the meantime, time to keep researching CSS3 for what I can use at work.
Vincent and The Doctor
Jun 30th
I’m reading mixed reviews about this episode of Doctor Who. I’ll say it though; this is my favorite episode of the season so far. It’s also been a couple of years since I’ve written a Who Review. This one is worthy.
Vincent and The Doctor
For most of the episode we’re following The Doctor, Amy and Vincent Van Gogh around. We learn early on that Van Gogh is being tormented by some invisible monster. Turns out it is an actual creature that only Van Gogh can see. This renders The Doctor only able to see it when using a random device he found in the TARDIS. It sort of works like a rear view mirror for seeing monsters?
Now, I understood, right off, the purpose of the beast. Van Gogh is fighting these ‘things’ that no one else can see. The metaphor is there. Some of us battle demons that others can’t see. The creature seemed out of place at times and I wasn’t sure how it would tie in at the end. Despite that slight out of place feeling, it did fit well enough to get the point across. I think some shadowy faceless figure might have been better. That’s one ONE nitpick.
Matt Smith is really setting in with me as being The Doctor. Tennant was amazing but Smith isn’t shabby at all. Hats off to him. The character of Amy is really growing on me too. Forget that she’s an attractive red head. Her character seems to really test The Doctor almost to the point of bossing him around at times. Tony Curran really smacked the nail on the head in his portrayal of Van Gogh. I really love the scene where they all hold hands and he actually describes the Starry Night.
Where did this episode really hit it out of the park for me? The end. It’s not to say the whole thing was bust except the end. The end is where it really just snapped together. You feel yourself in the position of Van Gogh and how he must have been absolutely floored. I’m not sure why but it struck a nerve with me. I’m not afraid to admit that scene in the art gallery had me fighting back tears. Really, there isn’t a way to describe it for it to have the same impact. You’ll just have to see the episode. The ending will stick with you.
So, from what I read, there are people that thought it was just ‘ok’. Other reviews I read say it had them bawling. If the ending doesn’t make you even a bit emotional – you’re some kind of evil robot bent on world domination. Dalek perhaps? 
Lightbox 2
Jun 29th
Lighbox 2 by Lokesh Dhakar is one of the easiest to implement versions of lightbox I’ve seen. Only works for images but that’s fine with what I need to do with it. He offers up an alternative if you wish to venture into flash and videos.
Without further delay, have a look here!
Straight from the site:
Lightbox is a simple, unobtrusive script used to overlay images on the current page. It’s a snap to setup and works on all modern browsers.
That’s all there is to it. Simple set up. A few instructions and you’re on your way to having some nice smooth lightbox image effects on your page. 
Drop Shadow Text using CSS
Jun 25th
You know… I learn something new everyday. I bought the CSS guide by Eric Meyer and I swear I did not see this technique. Granted, the guide is reference mostly. I tend to use CSS that is specific to my current job. Though, now that I found this tidbit of awesome info, I’ll have another toy to play with.
So lets give it a go here…
Cool! So, there ya have it!
We Are Here: The Pale Blue Dot
Jun 23rd
This all revolves around a photograph taken by a small spacecraft a little over 20 years ago. Carl Sagan thought for a while it’d be a good idea to have the spacecraft turn around and snap a photo of the Earth. Fearing damage to the spacecraft the controllers were reluctant. It was February 14, 1990 and Voyager I had completed all of its primary mission objectives. Now was the time to have Voyager turn around and snap a photo. If they had waited much longer the Earth would be too distant to even register.
So here we are. We are given this photo.
The Pale Blue Dot. As taken by Voyager I some 4 billion miles from Earth. February 14, 1990.
It sure doesn’t look like much. To us, it is everything. Now, I could go on about this and that regarding the photo. The thing is, it’s already been done. In fact, so well done, that to redo or try and out do it would be folly. Now to read what is said about the photograph is one thing but hearing the voice of Carl Sagan means a little more. It was his idea, so his words and voice are fitting.
The original audio was from an audio-book I do believe. Some crafty people have done things with it in videos. This one is probably the best I’ve found. It really is moving. (Yes, yes, I posted this video on Facebook a while back, I know.) So have a look now.
We are here: The Pale Blue Dot
Here is the text:
Consider again, that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar,” every “supreme leader,” every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.
Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.
The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.
It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.
A picture is worth a thousand words, they say; That one is worth everything we’ve ever known.
Interstitial Content Box
Jun 21st
I was in a bind a few weeks ago and needed a pop up that didn’t feel like a pop up. I will tell you this: I HATE POP UPS. Most everyone does. So when these newer, smoother, cooler pop ups came along it was a nice change. They’re less like a rock hitting you in the face and more like a stiff wind. That just means they’re less annoying.
Over at Dynamic Drive they have such a pop up. It’s called an interstitial content box. Fancy name eh? It’s easy to implement and easy to customize. I do find the settings for how often it pops up to be a little off. This might be due to where I’m having it pop up though.
Click here to pop into a new kind of pop up!
Description:
This is a Interstitial Box script that uses Ajax to fetch and display the contents of external pages on your server as an interstitial. As the content is being shown front and center on the page, a partially opaque “veil” appears behind it that covers the actual webpage, ensuring all eyes is on the interstitial. A robust frequency control system lets you control how often the interstitial box should appear so it doesn’t become intrusive. Whether you’re displaying an ad or an announcement, you can be sure people will notice it thanks to the Interstitial Box!
