Tomorrow is my first day as Department Administrator for the Computer Science Department at Montclair State University. Today I plan on spending my last day of “freedom” getting an iced coffee drink and a library card.
Monthly Archives for June 2011
The Eternal Shame of Your First Online Handle 06.29.2011
My first online handle was booyah5678 on AOL. My dad picked it because he once heard me use the word and thought it was unbelievably funny. I guess AOL suggested the “5678″ bit. A few months later, I changed it to donotfeedbeebo because I was tired of my dad calling me “Booyah” and I was obsessed with the PowerPuff Girls.
When I was a varsity field hockey player in high school (bleh), I was given the now-unfortunate nickname of schiffypop. I used that for my first Gmail account, which I got an invite a few days after it came out. I still use that account for spam collection when I sign up for stupid things.
Right now my main online handle is jennschiffer, but you can also find me throughout the Web under a couple of semi-anonymous handles. Luckily for me, booyah5678 was available when I signed up for it 10 minutes ago, so maybe it’ll come back in style for me.
(via Good)
A question from "Benn" 06.28.2011
I like your Ask Box post, and I tried it and get a lot of spam. Is there something I can fix, or do we just need to deal?
Someone with a 2-n’d name, like me and actor Dann Florek (Captain Donald Cragan in Law & Order SVU and former math/physics major)! I feel like going with the extra “n” was a wise decision, Benn, although I’m sure you get flack for it like I do. Haters are the ones that “just need to deal,” though.
In the case of spam coming through when using User Submitted Posts for a Tumblr-like Ask Box, I think we just have to deal as well. I get a lot of spam, too, but I don’t want to get rid of the box just yet. I am working on an actual separate plugin for this feature, complete with CAPTCHA. I can’t promise a release date, though, for I have not the time to dedicate to such a project. Of course, I’ll post news here when I have it.
If you have a question for me, no matter how many “n”s are in your first name), post it on the sidebar!
A Bookmarklet for Putting a Page in "Design Mode" 06.27.2011
Here’s some stupid-simple JavaScript for making the content of a page editable. It saves a ton of time, especially if you design in-browser instead of Photoshop (like yours truly).
javascript:(function(){document.designMode='on';})() |
Create a new bookmark in your browser’s bookmark manager, and paste that code as the link.
For something so simple, it can be incredibly useful to the point that you find yourself using it to do really important things every day:
A passionate expression of grief for a failed project, aka Code She Wrote 06.25.2011
Or, a lament and a warning.
In January, 2010, I decided to start a blog with a few tech-savvy girlfriends. It was called Code She Wrote, and I had a great time putting it together and brainstorming with said girlfriends about topics and possible features. Unfortunately for CSW, the people on board with the project, myself included, were consumed with their incredibly demanding coursework (damn college…).
It came to the point where I was the only one writing. This ultimately lead to my motivation in the project to, for lack better words, die in a fiery fire of burning hot flames. Why write on one blog alone when I already had one, right? So I put CSW on “indefinite hiatus,” and it is sitting on its own WordPress install in the black hole that is a shared server I pay annually for.
In trying to do some summer server cleaning, I will be importing various posts from CSW to here on pancake theorem before I remove the site completely. If you followed CSW, it will be like a blast from the not-too-far past. If this is news to you, then just pretend that I’m spewing new sh*t left and right.
In the future, I hope that my friends (especially Miss Margie, pictured above with me at the MoMA in our “about pic”) catch the writing/blogging bug. If that were to happen, I’d gladly have them write something for pt. It’s sort of the reason I non-self-titled this blog pancake theorem instead of Jenn Shamrock Writes About WordPress and Cats Pt. 2–although the latter would give me some serious street cred.
This Raincoat Grows Grass, Because Why Not? 06.23.2011
If you’re into the green movement and you don’t keep stuff in your pockets, then perhaps you’d like a raincoat with wheatgrass seed sewn into the pockets.
I had a wheatgrass shot once, you know. It was expensive and it, uh, tasted like grass. So…
Vote or die!
Adding a Tumblr-like Ask Box to WordPress 06.21.2011
Update: If you’re looking for info on how to add and style Ask boxes on Tumblr, not WordPress, read my post Adding and Styling the Ask Box on Tumblr. <3 jenn 7/2/2011
Tumblr is great for its extremely easy and secure ways of receiving user-submitted content using their “Ask” and “Submit” page options. Many Tumblr blogs out there seem to thrive on reader-submitted content, and it’s really easy to manage it when all the account administrator needs to do is click to publish. I liked the “Ask” feature the most, as it allowed folks to send messages or ask questions when they didn’t want their comments publicized (which was most often the case).
WordPress doesn’t have that feature out of the box, and I was having trouble finding a plugin that would add a similar function when I moved pancake theorem here. I had been, though, working with this User Submitted Posts for a client who wanted the ability to have her readers submit content, “just like they do on Tumblr.”
User Submitted Posts worked great for that job, so I decided to use it to create a widget for asking questions right here on this blog (check out the sidebar). The plugin provides a shortcode to place in any page, post or widget. The only required fields for the form are “post title” and “post content,” so I changed the code of the plugin itself (submission-form.php in the plugin’s “views” directory) so that it says “Your Name” and “Your Question.” I also changed the text of the submit button to “Ask it!”
When you submit a question–go ahead, give it a shot–it creates a “pending review” post in my list of posts, with your name as the title and your question as the post content. I can then block quote the question, answer below, change the title and publish. I can also not publish it, if you make such a request in your question content.
Pretty cool, huh?
Marek Tomasik and his Electronic Waste Room 06.21.2011
I like repurposed electronic waste and well-dressed men. Marek Tomasik, I’ve a feeling that this is the start of a beautiful one-sided friendship. Might I recommend completing the ensemble with these earrings?
You can read more about Tomasik and his installation at Inhabitat, which is where the above photo is from.
Bad Job Market: Why the Media Is Always Wrong About the Value of a College Degree 06.20.2011
A great read if you, or someone you know, is considering some form of higher education in the Fall, but is intimidated by articles and blog posts about “higher education bubbles” and the student loan crisis.
The only advice I can give is that which I’ve taken: settle for one of the least-expensive colleges, and make the most out of it. It’s rarely about what school we went to anymore; it’s the products of our work (portfolios, things we’ve made, social skills) that the job market is looking at.
Smith Letterpress 06.18.2011
Sarah “Smith Letterpress” Smith made these social cards for me awhile back, and we’ve since built a great friendship on cat stories, coffee, and photos of weird-looking people. Her design and letterpress work is amazing, so check out her site and remember her name when you’re thinking of getting letterpress (or any design) work done.
My name is 