Chris Ullrich dot net - Page 26 of 93 -

I Don’t Like Change

Posted on October 5, 2012

If you know me, or have read this site for very long, you probably know I’m not a fan of change. I know it happens, and needs to in many cases, but I really don’t like it. It’s not good.

I’m not sure anyone really does. If they do (or say they do), I think there’s probably something wrong with them.

Why do I bring this up today? Glad you asked. We are making some changes over at The Flickcast and it’s bothering me quite a bit.

Specifically, we are migrating to new, fancier servers and during that process we can’t make any changes to the site or they may not make the trip over. So, a couple days (maybe) without any new content.

That’s kinda a bummer. I realize it’s necessary and better for the site in the long run, but see above for my feelings on change — especially change that could potentially cost us readers/visitors. I don’t like it. No, not at all.

But really, what are you gonna do? It has to be done so it has to be done. Can’t change it or delay it any longer, so there we are.

Such are the vagaries of online life and business. But I don’t have to like it.

‘A Good Day to Die Hard’ Looks Like a Fun Movie

Posted on October 4, 2012

The new trailer for A Good Day to Die Hard came out today. Gotta say it, the movie looks like fun. Bruce Willis has still got it . . . whatever “it” is.

What do you think?

The iPhone 5 Is Fun

Posted on October 3, 2012

So I went ahead and got an iPhone 5. Those who know me will know it isn’t that hard to believe. I’ve had the phone for a few weeks now (I pre-ordered it the same time I ordered one for H) and it arrived on launch day.

So far, it’s a great device. I especially like the 4G LTE, which has come in handy several times while on the road. It’s also a great phone to make calls with. The sound is good and I get reception almost everywhere (of course that also has a lot to do with Verizon too, I’m sure).

The phone is also faster and the screen is better than the 4S I was using previously. I also like the extra row of icons I get from the phone being a bit longer as well as the new features of iOS 6. In short, I’m very happy with the upgrade.

If I have a complaint about the device (and it’s a minor one) it’s that Apple really didn’t do much to improve the camera over the 4S. Sure, it works a bit better in lower light, but that’s about all.

Although, I’m not entirely sure what they could have done with the camera given the new, thinner form factor. I guess we’ll have to wait for those liquid lenses to get a better camera in such a thin device.

The device is also a bit prone to scratching and I already have a bit of one on the top right side near where the antenna gap is. It’s not particularly noticeable but still, it’s kind of disappointing. I guess a case would cover it, but I don’t really like cases. So, there’s that.

I may do a more in-depth report later after I’ve used the iPhone 5 longer. Until then, if you got one for yourself, I hope you’re enjoying it.

Interviews With the Original Macintosh Design Team

Posted on August 15, 2012

When I find intersting stuff, I drop it in here. Although, as I’ve not put up much lately, I guess there’s not that much interesting stuff to be found. Or, I’m just not looking hard enough. Meh.

Anyway, this is quite interesting, especially if you’re a fan of Apple and the Mac. Enjoy.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTtQ0l0ukvQ?rel=0&w=420&h=315]

Blogging from the iPad (Again)

Posted on July 10, 2012

This post will test my ability to post something from the iPad using Google Chrome. So far, so good. I can open a draft in Chrome and the UI looks pretty much as it does on my Mac. Let’s see if I can include a picture. (Sound of gears grinding).

Well, posting from within Chrome, and including a picture, is a bit of a pain. Would it be so hard to have a way to insert pictures from the photo library on the iPad? And no, there’s no way to cut and paste, at least not that I’ve found. Not into a Chrome window at least.

I guess Apple doesn’t like that idea. They probably don’t want a “full” file system in iOS. That’s what Mac OS X and Macs are for.

Anyway, on to other methods like Blogsy. I’ve tried this tool before with some success. I haven’t tried the latest version yet, so here goes.

After getting all my info set up in Blogsy I was able to get a picture from the photo library on the iPad uploaded to this site and inserted into this post. It’s the dragon pic above. Scary, right?

So far, it looks like Blogsy is the winner. The UI is a bit confusing and has a bit of a learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, it’s pretty easy to use. Not as easy as using Chrome on Mac OS X, but it may just be good enough for my purposes.

That is, unless I’m in a hurry to post something. Then, we may have a problem as thre steps are a bit time consuming. This is especially so if you’re looking for an image online to use in a post. You need to find it, save it to the photo library and if editing or resizing is necessary, use yet another iOS app to do the resize and crop, then bring it back into Blogsy to upload to your site for the post.

The resize/crop app I’m using at the moment is iResize, which seems to do the job pretty well. I guess you could always resize an image once you get it uploaded to your site but that’s not really the best way to go about it. Plus, cropping is out of the question if you do that. So, an additional resize/crop app seems like a must.

So, for the moment, it looks like Blogsy is the winner. I’m going to look into some other apps and workflows to see if I can improve my time to post and ease of use. Still, for normal blogging this setup works pretty well.

 

Standing Room Only

Posted on July 7, 2012

If you don’t follow me on the Twitter or Facebook or Google+ (if you don’t, why not?) you might not know I’ve been having some back problems of late. In short, it sucks. My back seems determined to thwart me at every turn.

Sitting and working for long periods is especially painful. Good thing I don’t sit and work for long periods. . . Oh, crap, I do. Well, so much for that.

To help alleviate the problem I have started standing to work and am, in fact, standing as I write this. It’s not so bad. The only downside so far is that my kitchen counter is pretty much the only place I can do this and it’s about a half foot too low.

At least I’m closer to the coffee.

My plan for the near future is to try and stand more often and just move more in general. If you believe all the latest research, sitting too much is killing us. I don’t know if it’s really killing us (probably), but it does seem to be killing my back.

In case you don’t know how bad sitting is, here’s a handy infographic from the folks at Medical Billing and Coding dot Org to give you a clue.

Things Are Different . . . But Also the Same

Posted on June 30, 2012

Some of you may have noticed, at least those of you who are paying attention, that the name of this site has changed. Well, if you came here looking for chrisword.com, then you’ve come to the right place.

I’ve taken the liberty of consolidating some of my websites to make things easier on, well, mostly me. However, it may make things easier on you too, I can’t be sure.

So, from now on if you type in chrisword.com you will end up here at chrisullrich.net. I think that has a better fell to it and I’m going to make chrisullrich.net my complete home on the interwebs.

I hope the change wasn’t too hard on all of you and I hope those of you reading this via RSS won’t get too confused. To summarize, chrisword.com is no more (except to redicrect you here).

All of my personal stuff will be here at chrisullrich.net. I hope that clears it up and I hope to see you around here often.

Fun With Trailers

Posted on June 19, 2012

It’s no secret I like movies. In fact, you could even say I love them. Although, that’s a bit weird. They’re just things after all, not people (or dogs) or anything so how can I really love them?

I don’t know, that’s a question for the scientests or philosophers among you. I just know I love them and that’s all I have to know. Anyway, I’m looking forward to a bunch of movies coming out this Summer and fortunately for me (and by extension you) they have trailers.

So, in the interest of full disclosure, here’s some trailers for movies I’m looking forward to seeing this Summer. Or, in some cases, have already seen and/or enjoyed/hated/was indifferent to.

Yep, there’s a lot of ’em.

Django Unchained

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rC8VJ9aeB_g?rel=0&w=500&h=343]

The Dark Knight Rises

The Great Gatsby

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rARN6agiW7o?rel=0&w=500&h=343]

The Bourne Legacy

[blip.tv http://blip.tv/play/hJh3gvmBJAA?p=1 width=”500″ height=”343″]

Looper

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCNKahG1ksg?rel=0&w=500&h=343]

Prometheus

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1byZkbNB3Jw?rel=0&w=500&h=343]

Cosmopolis

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1bv6baU1aY?rel=0&w=500&h=343]

Skyfall

[blip.tv http://blip.tv/play/hJh3gvfnegA?p=1 width=”500″ height=”343″]

Savages

I’m sure there’s more, but for the moment, that’s enough. See anything you like?

35 Years Ago Today . . . In a Galaxy Far, Far Away

Posted on May 25, 2012

star-wars-obi-wan-darth-vader1

On this day in 1977, before it was known as ‘Episode IV’, a little movie called Star Wars made its debut and changed the way things worked in Hollywood for all time. It also had a very significant impact on a young boy named Chris who learned an important lesson that day: there’s no limit to what you can imagine.

Happy 35 Star Wars.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gvqpFbRKtQ?rel=0&w=480&h=360]