Mike's blog

I've committed the classified ads module to the Drupal.org CVS - it's now available for download as an official release package.

You can find the official project page (and the official downloads) at http://drupal.org/project/ed_classified.

This page on drupal.org shows how to use checkboxes and option boxes instead of the drop-down selectors for taxonomy terms when submitting content.

How do you ensure that your site is found and read by users? According to Ahmed Farooq on techsoapbox.com - you must promote. Actively. Relentlessly. Writing great content just isn't enough.

I agree. I've noticed that good content can get you some traffic, but ultimately you need to get the word out about your beautiful creations.

I've added a couple of handy webmaster tools to the site, but they've been hidden for a while - so it's time to let you all know about them:

URL/Site visibility links tool - quick links to SEO tools. I've added this page because I find myself checking these statistics from time to time, and wanted a convenient place to stash my collection of links. Since I went through the trouble, I figured someone else might find it useful.

I found this page over on the UC Berkeley Library site describing a set of steps to use in evaulating web pages - how to determine whether the information on the page should be trusted. The guide offers a list of suggested questions to ask, and the implications associated with the answer to those questions.

This can help you develop a critical eye when visiting a web page.

Not long ago, every notebook computer, every bit of stereo or A/V equipment I owned was painted black or charcoal (or was made of a black or charcoal plastic).

Now, everything is silver. Matte or satin silver. Spray-painted silver.

For some reason, silver has become the most popular car color. (Click here if the preceding link is broken.)

Silver seems like a nice color for some cars... and I even have one car that color (but that car is a 1970 Pontiac, so it was not so trendy when the color was put on the car). But there is a vast difference between a quality, glossy automotive paint finish and the chintzy look of a dull, matte silver finish painted on my notebook computer, my camcorder, my DirecTV receiver, my television cabinet (I could go on...)

I can just imagine the product design meetings held in consumer product companies everywhere: "Silver is most popular! Silver is the way to go! Let's make it SILVER!"

I like to cook. Especially using quality utensils.

I was making mashed potatoes and gravy to go with one of our favorite dishes: 40 cloves and a chicken.

I was peeling a pile of potatoes, ripping through the pile with my trusty peeler. I started thinking about just how nice it is to use a really good peeler.

Overheard somewhere, sometime

Architect: "I view static helper methods as a sign of failed object-oriented design."

Nearby grunt: "I view this product as a sign of failed object-oriented design."

Disclaimer: I may have imagined some or all of this.

I have been thinking about building timeline-based modules for Drupal, in order to present alternative views of time-based data present in every Drupal system.

Well, Arto Bendiken beat me to it. First, the timeline module and now, a timeline-based RSS aggregator that displays any RSS feed in a timeline.

It's based on an existing tool, SIMILE Timeline.

Great stuff!

I catch myself chuckling under my breath when Microsoft Developer Studio 2003 asks me this question:

My mental response every single time: "Oh, yes, very much so. Can I please stop now?"