UI Design Tools
As you know, I am revamping the UI for a personal project. The CSS framework provided me the necessary tools to put the smack down on the design issues, but I found that I needed a color picker and ruler too. Below is what I use:
- Ruler by Jeff Key (Check out his other tools, including Snippet Compiler!)
- ColorPix by ColorSchemer (Check out ColorSchemer Studio, Nice!)
Curbside Airlines
I was going to write a long-winded rant about Hillary, but what is comes down to is that she needs to go home! It has nothing to do with the gender believe me, but it appears that this is all about her and it is her way or no way (this sounds familar, maybe I should refer to her as the milk woman). She needs a one-way ticket to the curb now. I hope Obama does NOT select her as his running mate ... the backseat driver from hell! Now boarding gate 666.
Grocery Baggers
I cannot count the number of times bread, fruit, or other delicate item has been smashed beyond recognition because our friendly neighborhood bagger threw it in with the gallon of milk, detergent, or other 20 pound item. Arrgh!
The frustrating part is that I load the grocery cart and conveyor belts with similar items; I carefully sort the items by weight, size, quantity, etc. I am trying to help the cause, but it always seems to backfire.
I am no expert here, but I know when to double bag items, separate items, and maintain a weight balance. I love Pak 'n Save, because I have complete control of the bagging process and if I smash the bread it is my fault.
Anyone for a broken egg sandwich with a side of BBQ chip crumbs? If you prefer, you can take your pick of bruised fruit and vegetables. You can wash it all down with mildly shaken (not stirred) Pepsi, Root Beer, or Hawaiian Punch soda. Where is my camera?
Mad RegEx Skills
I overcame the UI CSS issues and tonight, I am banging my head into a wall learning how to write mod_rewrite rules! Part of the issue is developing on the Windows platform and using IIS as the web server, nice. This RegEx stuff is making me MAD!
Two simple problems ... well, what I thought was two simple problems turned into quite the chore. First, the Zend Framework utilizes an MVC design pattern and that means rewriting all incoming requests so they can be dispatched to the controller from index.php.
Simple enough you say? Well, that is what I thought and I downloaded a URL Rewrite ISAPI filter and was done with it. The other issue, well this one is easy given the vast amount of examples out there ... or is it?
The dreaded search engine friendly URLs. The specific problem requires several conditions, so in addition to the Rewrite Rules I have to write a couple of Rewrite Conditions. I can live without the nice looking URLs for now, but think I will brush up on my RegEx skills.
IsReallyCloseToZero?
' Purpose : Checks if a field equals 0
' In: aField, any patient field that needs to be verified
' Out: Boolean Value - True/False
Public Function IsZero(aField) As Boolean
If (IsNumeric(aField)) Then
If (Abs(CDbl(aField)) < 0.0000000001) Then
IsZero = True
Else
IsZero = False
End If
Else
IsZero = False
End If
End Function
UI Design Skills
Since, we are on the subject of frameworks I think it is appropriate to discuss my UI design skills. I can whip up UI wire frames with no problem, but I lack any and all skills needed to design visually appealing interfaces (i.e. graphics, color pallets, etc.)
Do not get me wrong, I am not totally UI design deficient and can most certainly identify hot, trendy, and usable interfaces. I am working on a couple of personal projects and the UI design has been the biggest challenge or pain point!
I cannot count the number of times I have redesigned the UI and struggled with the CSS, so what I am to do? There are frameworks for virtually all areas of software development, how about interface design and CSS?
Framework Refactor Part 2
I am in the process of redesigning the document framework (for lack of another term), but am realizing that documenting the refactor process and communicating the design changes with precise context for the readers may not work as planned.
I may choose to define high-level requirements and design a document generation service from scratch versus opening up a can of worms with an extensive refactor effort. I will let this marinate, but do stayed tuned.
Thanks Again
Just wanted to give a shout out to my old homies who allow me to pimp my code in style and under heavy doses of Led Zeppelin. Thanks again everyone! Too bad I look like a deer in headlights in this photo. 
New Board for Themes
I found an improved virtual whiteboard at Twiddla. It is F-R-E-E as in FREE AIR. The tool is in Beta, but it has a nicer feel to it and the drawing is much easier. Plus it has a kewl chat feature. Check out the new theme and send me your comments.