Thursday, October 28, 2010

Day 317

The pelicans are back for the winter. I'm amazed that they are so predictable. The birds return to the lake year-after-year, migrating northward by some sort of internal clock that is much more accurate than mine. Although I'm not much of a bird watcher, these guys are fun to observe. First of all, they're huge. I often see them flying in formation just a few inches above the water in search of fish. They're awkward and graceful at the same time; somewhat like a bird version of the Howard Hughes Spruce Goose.

When all the pelicans have arrived, I'll always try to photograph them. There certainly wasn't time today though. I eventually solved the website problem that I was wrestling with yesterday. It took several calls to a programmer in Canada, but everything works perfectly now. Oddly, all the trouble was caused by a single line of code.

Website development is getting way too complicated. I have another client who wants me to make a mobile version of their website. I initially, thought this would be easy. Wrong again. For years, I've put a few lines of code in the header that would redirect viewers to different HTML documents based on whether they were viewing in an IE/Windows environment or a Macintosh/Unix environment. I thought I could do more or less the same thing for mobile browsers, not realizing that there where literally hundreds of different variables. Welcome to the complex world of mobile phone detection and redirection. There's even a whole new language to learn if you want to take advantage of gestures on newer smart phones. Luckily, there's probably a third party add-on available to solve my problems, just like the database product I added to my clients site today. I feel like such a dinosaur.

I can't believe that Gretchen won Project Runway tonight. I was rooting for Mondo throughout the season and thought he clearly had the best collection at Fashion Week. Despite a split decision, it looks like Michael Kors and Nina have more clout on the show than Heidi. Nobody even seemed to notice that Jessica Simpson was there. Jeez! The Rangers lost yesterday. Mondo loses tonight. What's next?

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day