Category Archives: Technology

How to download amazon s3 files with the AWS::S3 ruby gem

The AWS::S3 gem is very convenient, but it was not immediately apparent to me how you could use it to download private files from amazon s3. It took me a while to figure this out, so hopefully it will help … Continue reading

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Example curl JSON POST

A reminder to myself on how to craft a JSON POST using cURL. curl -i -H “Accept: application/json” -H “Content-Type: application/json” -X POST -d “{‘json’:{‘data’:'here’}}” http://theurl.com/to/post/to A good reference link.

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When I got sued by GM and screwed by Godaddy

When I first heard of the “Chevy Volt” I went on Godaddy and bought the domain name “chevyvolt.org” — I would have bought “chevyvolt.com”, but it wasn’t available. GM had already bought it. I worked on chevyvolt.org for almost two … Continue reading

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How to show errors in php

ini_set(‘display_errors’,'on’); error_reporting(E_ALL); Just future reference in case you need to show errors in php when it is not enabled in php.ini. Otherwise you’ll get the uninformative “Server Error” page.

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US Passport Status Check

Here is a great example of terrible of programming. The US Passport Status Check website http://travel.state.gov/passport/status/status_2567.html Get this. The “Last Name” field is case sensitive. Yes. Case. Fkin. Sensitive. I know that .NET is pretty outdated and all, but how … Continue reading

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Google Doodle Keys

Want to waste a few minutes of your life? Go here: http://www.google.com/logos/2011/lespaul.html Press the keys listed below Titanic: K KK K JK k JK L ; L K KK K JK k JK KL G Godfather Theme: D H K … Continue reading

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Local newspaper websites needs a down vote button

Sometime I like to browse the local newspaper to read stories about my area (specifically the Sacramento Bee and Davis Enterprise). I also like to read the user comments about the stories because I hope to get a local perspective … Continue reading

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GKM681R Review

I am in the market for a wireless keyboard with built-in trackpad or trackball. I found the GKM681R which looks like the predecessor to the GKM561R, which has 4 stars on amazon. The GKM681R seems to have more features and … Continue reading

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Mac vs PC – Volume indicator

Here is an example of why Mac OS X is better than Windows, or in this case, Dell. The giant, ugly piece of crap, volume indicator on the left is the default Dell volume meter that comes with Dell QuickSet. … Continue reading

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MySQL 5.5 + Rails + Mysql Gem + Snow Leopard

Just spend two hours trying to figure out why the MySQL 5.5 did not want to work with the mysql gem and rails. Kept getting this error message: uninitialized constant MysqlCompat::MysqlRes Apparently this is a very common problem and this … Continue reading

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