I put a new unfinished design online. I still have to finish the CSS code, add more things code wise and fix the bugs. It works decently in modern versions of Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Opera, although not tested Opera. I have not tested yet in IE 8 and IE 9.
I was tired of looking at the old design, so I rather have this unfinished design online than the old one.
December last year I got the go ahead from my transplant doctor that I can get a tattoo. I had to wait since my transplant in 2009 because of immune suppressing medication that I take. I figuratively went from my doctor’s appointment to the tattoo shop. On December 17 I went for a two hour session to get my owl inked. After thinking long and hard I chose the owl for wisdom. The design is part of a piece from a Canadian print artist.
This one was way more painful than the text one I got early 2009. Also way more bloodier, my sister started getting nervous when the plastic covering the tattoo kept filling with blood. But it wasn’t real that much. The healing process went without any issues, two weeks. Only thing is as you can see on the image of the finished version, on the stomach of the owl. that the ink didn’t stick under my skin, it looks like an under skin wound. Later today I’m going back to the shop to let them look at it and schedule another appointment to touch up the design here and there.
I’m still thinking about a design to blend the owl and text together making it kind of a half sleeve. I’m not one for flowers or too girly stuff. So I’m looking at patterns, etc. to come up with an idea.
Getting a tattoo is an experience on itself, I was comparing with a friend who also has a couple of tattoos how it feels and he feels the same. You take a lot of time to come with an unique as possible tattoo with personal meaning. When getting the tattoo it’s painful as hell sometimes and you wonder why you are such a masochist for pain and that you don’t want another tattoo again for a long time.
The first day you really need to get used to having a new tattoo on your body, it feels foreign. After a week the swellings is gone, it’s healing nicely and you are all giddy with the new tattoo and before you know it you start dreaming about the next one.
At my new job as web developer at Hogeschool Rotterdam, specifically for the school magazine “Profielen” I redesigned their website based on several request from the editorial. For the Dutch readers you can read all the details here.
The website used to be in tables without any separation between content and presentation. The website was really slow on the school computers which run on Windows XP with IE8 as standard browser.
Old table based website
This was my first try at responsive design, learning along the way. It may not be mobile first or ‘real’ responsive, but it gets the job done. It’s still a work in progress, and I have a lot planned for this website.
I used Typekit for this project, I liked it so much I’m contemplating a subscription myself for my own websites. The paid versions are way more attractive than the free one I tried once.
My weblog has been very quiet last couple of months. The reason is that I found a job that actually requires me to leave home 4 days a week. Since early 2009 I have been doing freelance work while looking for a steady job.
With the current economy and my disability(deaf) you wouldn’t believe how hard it can be to get a job. I went to a couple of job interviews, while some companies had valid reason why they can’t hire me, I got some lousy reasons from others. At one place I applied for a non-payment internship specifically coding PHP to improve my skills for my CV. They said no because according to them I’m a “junior front-end coder”. That was the most baffling email I had gotten after an interview, ever. First I’m a medior front-ender and second I applied to code PHP not HTML/CSS.
A visit to a career event in Amsterdam was my lucky shot. I gave several places my CV and turned out that Rotterdam College has a program that promotes hiring people with disabilities. I have been working there at the schools magazine editorial since September and just got my contract for the rest of the school year. My job ranges from coding websites, social media, data processing for articles and whatever my colleagues need help with. I’m also at the disposition of the other departments.
I’m very happy with finally having a steady job, working freelance is a pain with clients who don’t pay on time or don’t pay at all. I have great colleagues and it’s nice working at a school, lots of people around and just the college feeling. If fate was different I would have kept studying until getting a doctoral degree.
I enjoy waking up every morning and traveling one hour by tram, train and metro to work. Sometimes I’ll go to my favorite deli; Lebkov and grab a chocolate latte before taking the metro. On the train I read everyday from my iPhone, Kindle or hardcopy and before I know it I’m already in Rotterdam.
29 November 2011
Last week I stayed home from work, a little cold that drained all my energy. I was reminded I don’t have the energy of a 100% healthy person and that I need my rest to keep up. Lesson learned, sleep more in the week-ends.
I’m currently finishing my first project at work and hopefully I’ll be able to show it within two weeks. While I’m no Dan Cederholm of HTML and CSS, I tackled this project alone, implementing CSS3 and media queries. Ethan Marcotte’s “Responsive Web Design” was unmissable while reading up for this project.
“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.” -Steve Jobs
The world has lost one of its greatest visionary. Take a moment and think on how much influence Steve Jobs has had on the technology you use today, because Steve Jobs dared to think different.
I was an ocean away but it felt like it happened across a lake. On September 11, 2001, I was 20 years old, living a year already in The Netherlands to attend college. I was sharing a house with 4 other students where I had my own 3 by 4 room.
That day I didn’t have any classes and it was the period I discovered the Harry Potter books. I was home alone lying on my bed reading book 2 or 3 I think when my phone started ringing. It was my cousin who lived close by calling and telling me to turn on the TV. I asked what channel and she said whichever one. As soon as the TV was on I was the WTC Towers, heavy dark smoke rising from both of them. I couldn’t imagine what could have caused that scene. Soon after the news channel showed a repeat of the planes hitting and I was left wordless. After a moment I began telling my cousin(which whom I was still on the phone) that most people should be able to get out if they weren’t on the impacted floors. I didn’t even finish my sentence when I saw the South Tower starting to collapse. I cried, I had never cried before while watching the news. The faces of New Yorkers, scared and shocked, broke my heart.
Going through a Facebook page for Arubians, “If you grew up in Aruba, you remember….“, I started remembering back then thinking about my youth. In the 80′s we didn’t have cable, only an antenna on the roof that got two channels from Venezuela, RCTV and Venevision. And one local channel that broadcasted a couple of hours a day, mostly news, obituaries and local game shows. That antenna needed regularly fine tuning to get a clear image.
So, for a great part of my youth I saw everything on TV dubbed in Spanish, I learned Spanish from TV. All the 80′s cartoons and old TV shows, especially Batman(with Adam West) always stayed with me. I’m more familiar with Robin yelling “¡Santo cielo Batman, una bomba!” than in English, “Holy bomb, Batman!”. And you know what? It sounds better in Spanish
I watched many shows in Spanish, Saved by the Bell, Alf, McGyver, Munster Family, The Three Stooges and lots of Mexican and Venezuelan shows.
Back to the Facebook page, for a small island the page trending like crazy, with over 4000 followers and even more posts. Remembering places that are long gone, like the ice cream parlor in the harbor we went to every Sunday after the beach. The first McDonalds that opened on the island, there is a Louis Vuitton store in its place now. The only complete CD shop there was, Zapp Music, it went out of business with the rise of MP3′s. I still have my CD’s and most of them where bought there.
Life was so simple back then, I grew up playing barefoot outside, climbing trees and playing with self made toys. I did have a couple of luxury like the NES, the first Gameboy, but most of my youth was spend playing outside and playing tennis. We didn’t have cable, internet or mobile phones. Our house phone was a rotary telephone, the latest model for that time and our phone number consisted of only 5 digits. When I see my younger brothers(10/15 years younger) I really see the contrast in how a different world we grew up.
Even though like with everyone else there was life hardship, I wouldn’t change my youth.
Last week I got an e-book copy of Vigilante by Robin Parrish. I ‘met’ Robin through a mutual writing gig. Robin is a full time writer, writing for weblogs and writing his own books. I have been meaning to read one of his books, so when he asked who wanted to review Vigilante, I took on his offer right away.
Vigilante fits two genres, Christian and Fiction. If there was a genre for super heroes, this book would fit in it. You should not let the Christianity factor keep you from reading the book, it’s no difference than Superman who follows the teaching of Jor-El.
The book is about Nolan Gray, a war veteran and most decorated war hero of the United States. He is a born soldier, very skilled and short of unbeatable. On his last mission he was taken hostage with several soldiers for years. Surviving the most gruesome tortures known to man.
Nolan is disappointed in society, he lives in a world where crime and corruption dominates. The story is set in New York, not the ‘Sex and the City’ kind of New York. A New York ruled by the mafia, where the mayor abides to the Mafia’s will. Nolan decides he will cleanse the world from evil, starting in New York. He will show people the way.
Together with is old friend General Branford and tech whiz Arjay, Nolan becomes “The Hand”. Fitted with high technology combat suit and gadgets plus his combat skills he takes on the criminals by himself while trying to stay ahead of the police.
I read Vigilante in two nights strait. A book that can keep me up till 3 a.m. reading till I finish it is a good book in my opinion. While the plot might not have any mayor or unexpected twist, Parrish knows how to keep you spellbound, wanting to know if Nolan will succeed in his most important mission yet.
If you are into super heroes stories you should read Vigilante. You could compare Nolan Gray with Bruce Wayne, minus the money factor and the extreme villains. Although Nolan’s nemesis, Vasko, would give The Joker a run for his money. All in all a solid book that reads fast and keeps you turning the pages.
For my 30th birthday last week my sister gave me a digital thermometer and timer in one plus a Chinese cookbook; Chinatown by Ross Dobson. All inspired by those two gifts today I decided to make an Asian spiced dinner with a piece of entrecote steak I had in the fridge.
I prepared the steak with a bit of olive oil and five spice powder and let it sit to come to room temperature. Meanwhile I put some water to boil to blanch some bean sprouts, carrots cut in slices and a couple of paksoi leaves. Blanch them less than one minute and set aside. Turn the fire off and put the noodles in the hot water until they are cooked, about 3 minutes. Drain an set aside with the vegetables.
Finely chop some garlic and ginger. Cut some green onions length wise in fine strips and set aside.
For the dressing, cut a few thin slices of garlic, red pepper and green onion. Put them in a small bowl, add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and sesame oil. I did these by taste mostly, proportion 2:1:0.3. Mix well and set aside. Mine came out a bit strong so I added a teaspoon of water to soften it a bit.
Heat a grill pan and grill the steak as you like, medium, medium well, etc. When done let rest on a warm plate. Meanwhile heat a bit of olive oil in a pan, put the garlic and ginger in. As soon as it is fragrant add the green onions, cook until soft. Add the blanched vegetables, mix well and then add the noodles. Mix everything and put some oyster sauce on it. Mix everything well.
Serve the noodles along with the steak and the dressing sauce in a bowl to dip the steak in it and sprinkle on the noodles.
Simple yet delicious meal, this one I will make again for sure.
This recipe is not from the Chinatown book mentioned above, I was simply inspired by the mention of many ingredients such as five spice powder, ginger and rice wine vinegar.
Hat tip: Ross Dobson recommends using ‘Lee Kum Kee’ oyster sauce and he is right, it tastes better than other brands I have tried.
Currently there are multiple notebooks on my desk. Maybe it’s age, having different things to keep track of or I’m just weird. I have about three Field Notes in use, for medical data, all client websites details, logging hours, books I want to read, layout drawings and code.
I also have two Rhodia blocks, a small one I use to write grocery lists and a medium one to keep my monthly budget and other money related calculations. Not to mention yesterday I just got the American Tradesman edition from Field Notes. One of the old ones is filling up, so I’ll be breaking in a Tradesman.
Before I got an iPhone I had a Moleskine agenda in which I kept all appointments, todo’s and directions. Being a tech/geek person, technology wins on this one. I use Google Calendar vigorously with Gmail, everything synched on my iPhone. On the way they together with Maps and Train app are unmissable. Still, I do keep a small analogue back-up; a piece of Rhodia paper with phone number and directions of where I’m going. Batteries are still prone to suddenly drain or an EMP device might go off, one never knows.
I really like the fact I have notebooks, I’m not a vigorous note keeper, jotting down things like: “I had a BLT sandwich today with Starbucks coffee, it rained while I ate”. It’s rather more about reading back what kept me occupied in the period I was using the notebook.
Another way I keep note is with the iPhone camera and plethora of photography apps. There are more food photos in my iPhone album than I can keep track of. When on new locations I also try to take a snapshot. This way I get somewhat of an incoherent visual diary.
Not to forget Twitter! No better way to share with the world and put on servers what you ate today, where you are and what you are doing.
About a month ago I was having lunch at ‘Bagels & Beans’ which is situated on the second floor of a bookshop inside a small mall, ‘De Passage’, in the city center of The Hague. While waiting for my bagel I noticed these guys where dancing or breakdancing? I certainly did not recognize the kind of dance they were practicing, unless they were breakdance beginners.
Having nothing better to do I took my iPhone, loaded the 8mm app and decided to film them.
I sat there taking my time eating two bagels and watching them doing whatever it exactly was they were doing. When I left they were still going at it.
I don’t take enough advantage of the video capabilities of the iPhone.
The book is about Nolan Gray, a war veteran and most decorated war hero of the United States. He is a born soldier, very skilled and short of unbeatable. On his last mission he was taken hostage with several soldiers for years. Surviving the most gruesome tortures known to man.
For the dressing, cut a few thin slices of garlic, red pepper and green onion. Put them in a small bowl, add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and sesame oil. I did these by taste mostly, proportion 2:1:0.3. Mix well and set aside. Mine came out a bit strong so I added a teaspoon of water to soften it a bit.
