http://abouthalf.com Thoughts, Pics, Portfolio Mon, 11 Aug 2008 02:07:17 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I was heading upstairs from the laundry room after putting some clothes in. I was waiting for the elevator. I looked through the front-door window and saw what appeared to be a man, lying on his back on the sidewalk. I looked again. Yep. Definitely a man. Yep. Definitely not moving. I went ... http://abouthalf.com/2008/08/10/laundry-day/ Please enjoy. http://abouthalf.com/2008/07/23/this-is-a-picture-of-a-car-with-a-giant-teddy-bear-on-top/ I wrote previously that I would write about a handy trick in JavaScript known as a "lexical closure". This article has a great definition of a lexical closure: http://www.brockman.se/writing/method-references.html.utf8. I quote… Essentially, a closure, or lexical closure, is a function f coupled with a snapshot of its lexical environment (i.e., the non-local variable ... http://abouthalf.com/2008/07/20/lexical-closures-are-handy/ I've been working out some methods of making uniquely namespaced JavaScript objects. I'm trying to handle a situation where there could be multiple instances of the same object or functions on the same page with the same name. The idea is to prevent one function, variable, or object accidentally writing over ... http://abouthalf.com/2008/07/18/javascript_scope_blues/ Just when I thought "A List Apart" had become a useless dried up husk of RoR wankers, they turn around and publish this gem of an article: Getting Out of Binding Situations in JavaScript I've read various descriptions of 'binding' in JavaScript before, but this is probably the most clear explanation ... http://abouthalf.com/2008/07/06/weekend-round-up/ On the Metafilter there is a lengthy thread discussing the new Pixar flick Wall*E (and the critical response thereof). One comment is an incredible story about how a girl, a video, and the resulting wrap party in San Francisco. The comment opens with "Here's a true story about how awesome ... http://abouthalf.com/2008/07/01/the-greatest-comment-ever-commented/ Back when tax returns came out I did myself a little favor and upgraded to OS X 10.5 and purchased an AppleTV (Thanks institution of marriage!) The AppleTV is a great toy. I purchased the smaller one (hard drive). Since the appliance connects to 5 computers on your home network, there's ... http://abouthalf.com/2008/05/31/little-things-regarding-upgrades/ My lovely wife is spending the month of May in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico working in an albergue which serves a local hospital. An albergue is sort of an inn or hostel, and in this particular case it houses people who have traveled across Mexico to seek medical attention in Guadalajara. They ... http://abouthalf.com/2008/05/26/the-united-mexican-states-would-like-to-thank-the-us-for-the-economic-stimulus-package-2/ This is an interesting set of recommendations on my iTunes receipt. Perhaps I haven't been giving Ms. Lavigne enough credit. I mean to show up along side Sam Harris, Terry Gross, and Richard Dawkins…I mean. Wow Alright…I admit it. I purchased Candyman. It's awesome. It has a Campari girl! I just ... http://abouthalf.com/2008/02/04/interesting-company/ Recent news followed by my pithy remarks. MacBook Air Announced Without Pony. Bloggers Demand Pony. The (ever) Daring Fireball and Paul Boutin at Slate are lamenting the fact that the newly announced Mac sub-notebook doesn't have some manner of cellular EVDO type of use-anywhere-networking-just-like-the-iPhone support. A quote: Like me, Boutin was hoping for ... http://abouthalf.com/2008/01/16/these-are-headlines/