Dented Reality

Monthly Archives: August 2009

WordCamp Los Angeles is in 2.5 weeks


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On September 12, WordCamp LA will bring you all kinds of WordPress-y goodness in the Los Angeles area. The day-long event is being held at Loyola Marymount University (right near LAX which is handy for anyone flying in), and will give you a day jam-packed with all sorts of juicy tips, tricks, tools and general information relating to your favorite state-of-the-art publishing platform: WordPress.

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dntd.cc URL Shortener Active

Last night I set up my new domain http://dntd.cc (it’s not very exciting if you visit it) to handle all my own URL redirections from now on. I’d been meaning to do this and in light of Tr.im’s imminent demise I thought it was prudent to go ahead and do it now. This is not (and will not become) a public service, it’s purely for my own use.

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Changes afoot(er)

I’ve been tinkering in the footer of this site a bit, check it out and let me know what you think. Nothing major, but I’ve…

  • Added some shadows to make the footer appear “sunken”,
  • Added some neato jQuery so you can collapse the footer if you’re not interested,
  • Added icons next to the header of each block.

When I get a chance I’m going to make another version of my current sidebar lifestream that will accept iCal feeds and create a simple, combined feed so that I can include Upcoming.org, Facebook and Meetup.com events in my events feed as well. That is all, carry on.

Slinky, a PHP class for URL shortening/lengthening

A few weeks ago, I tweeted that I was writing a PHP library for shortening/lengthening URLs using some of the common/popular services. I said it was going to be called Slinky, and that it’d support a bunch of different services. Well, it’s now available for download and I think it’s pretty cool, even if I do say so myself ;)

Please grab a copy, try it out and let me know what you think. It hasn’t actually been used for anything useful yet, so I’m also interested to hear what you’re using it for!

Hiking Half Dome in Yosemite National Park

Over the weekend, Robin and I traveled with a group of friends (most of whom I know through Krav Maga) to Yosemite National Park here in California to hike Half Dome. I had done some research so I knew it was going to be a tough hike, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. What follows is as much detail as I can remember from the trip, for my information as well as yours. It looks like this guy hiked the exact same route that we took (updated Half Dome guide from EveryTrail!), although he did it while there was still some snow around.

Total distance: Approx 16 miles, Elevation gain: 4,796 feet, Round trip: 13.5 hours

Half Dome, Yosemite

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My Review of The North Face Megamouth Hydration Pack

Simple and lightweight, The North Face Megamouth hydration pack ensures you won’t be parched by the end of the day. There’s also room for lunch and the 10 essentials.

Perfect for Half Dome

Beau L. San Francisco, CA 8/4/2009

5 5

Pros: Good Water Flow, Easy To Refill, Highly Adjustable, Stable, Comfortable

Best Uses: Mountain biking, Day Trips

Describe Yourself: Casual Adventurer

What Is Your Gear Style: Minimalist

I got this day pack because I was going with some friends to hike Half Dome here in Yosemite (California). It turned out to be an absolutely perfect pack for the trip (which ended up being a 16 mile, 13 hour round trip).

I bought it online, so didn’t have a chance to try it on or anything, which I knew was a gamble. I’m tall (6’4″) and so when I tried the pack on (with no load) and it stopped half way down my back, I was really concerned that the base of the back frame would dig into my lower back and make it completely unwearable. That all changed as soon as I loaded it up, and it settled down to be a very comfortable pack.

It’s a good size for day hikes with plenty of space internally (and LOTS of small pockets for bits and pieces). The built in bladder is a good size, and I really liked the magnetic mouthpiece that’s easy to grab-drink-release.

The “external” pocket was nice for cramming dirty/wet bits in (e.g jacket/socks) that I didn’t want in amongst my other items, and the reflector strip at the bottom doubled as a good place to hang my gloves from a carabiner.

All in all, I’m very happy with this day pack and am looking forward to taking it on some more short hikes around the Bay Area and beyond.

I’m Speaking at WordCamp Los Angeles


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I’ll be speaking at WordCamp Los Angeles, which is being held at Loyola Marymount University on September 12th.

I’m going to do a talked called “Meet the Family”, where I’ll introduce some of the other WordPress powered (and related) projects that you might not have heard of, but which are likely to be interesting to WordPress folks.

Come by and check it out if you’re interested in WordPress!