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Shared by Michal
lol (author unknown)

Shared by Michal
clearly burners.

Submitted by: Jacob Hassman

They may need to stop to ask for directions, but they know how to pack a bumper. – Frankie Fix-It

clearly burners.

Shared by Michal
neat presentation about rules. (author unknown)

On Wednesday's BOF session, we talked about the direction we'd like to see Drupal take to improve performance - here are the notes from that session.

• Custom blocks (from the core block module)
  Custom blocks are declared as DRUPAL_NO_CACHE (7) / BLOCK_NO_CACHE (6), with the comment "Not worth cacheing". This comment is predicated on a cache-request being a DB request, and so a request for the block-data is as expensive as a request for the cache data. However, running cache through memcache means that a cache request is much more performant than a DB request, so there is benefit.
  Conclusion: Change block-module to use DRUPAL_CACHE_GLOBAL
  Need to work out how this can work with PHP input filter
• Drupal.org doesn't offer any advice or recommendations on performance best-practice (e.g. use memcache, integrate with Varnish, run page-cache, etc).
  Conclusion: Write a Performance section for Drupal.org to set expectations on core performance, and advice on tools and approaches to make this even better.
• Full page cache is a significant performance win, and works out-of-the-box, even on shared hosting. If, for example a dependency on memcache were introduced, this would be a massive performance hit for a large number of users.
  Conclusion: Full-page cache should continue to work in core, without any additional applications.
• Memcache is one of the first recommendations anyone makes for improving Drupal performance, and is widely accepted.
  Conclusion: Bring memcache into core.
• The memcache module has a number of critical bugs, and if it's to go into core, it must be stable and well-tested.
  Conclusion: Review the tests for memcache, and improve them where needed
• The admin-reports page could be used to report perceived 'performance errors' and make recommendations on addressing these. However, if the recomendations were based on using contrib modules, these are usually faster-moving than core, and patching core to add new recommendations introduces additional risk and delays.
  Conclusion: The admin-reports page isn't to be used to report on performance issues (except in exceptional cases where a package is part of core and a warning is warranted)
• There's a performance overhead of template preprocess, and it becomes more difficult to cache data as it goes through the theme layer.
  Conclusion: Investigate the context-broker system, with the goal of bring local context to a template level and removing template preprocess.

Comments, discussion, and patches on the above are welcome :-)

These notes are from the BOF session led by ChX at Drupalcon Copenhagen 2010.

High performancechx09302668781250300382

Fascinating piece by Fred Vogelstein for Wired magazine on the Apple-AT&T relationship:

In a bid to avert the looming problem, a team headed by senior vice president Kris Rinne met with Apple to ask for help. Of course AT&T was planning to upgrade its network to handle the increased demand, Rinne’s team told Apple executives, but that was going to take years. In the meantime, would Apple take measures to help throttle back the traffic? Perhaps Apple could restrict its YouTube app to run only over Wi-Fi. Maybe the iPhone could feature a smaller, lower-resolution videostream or cut off YouTube videos after one minute. Rinne, who had already met with Apple’s iPhone team at least half a dozen times, fully expected the company to play along. After all, manufacturers agreed to such restrictions all the time. It didn’t make sense to build phones and offer features that carriers couldn’t support.

But in meetings with Apple engineers and marketers over the subsequent year, Rinne and other AT&T executives discovered that Apple wasn’t playing by traditional wireless rules. It wasn’t interested in cooperating, especially if it meant hobbling what had quickly become its marquee product. For Apple, the idea of restricting the iPhone was akin to asking Steve Jobs to ditch the black turtleneck. “They tried to have that conversation with us a number of times,” says someone from Apple who was in the meetings. “We consistently said ‘No, we are not going to mess up the consumer experience on the iPhone to make your network tenable.’ They’d always end up saying, ‘We’re going to have to escalate this to senior AT&T executives,’ and we always said, ‘Fine, we’ll escalate it to Steve and see who wins.’ I think history has demonstrated how that turned out.”

And:

They have even fought about wardrobe: When an AT&T representative suggested to one of Jobs’ deputies that the Apple CEO wear a suit to meet with AT&T’s board of directors, he was told, “We’re Apple. We don’t wear suits. We don’t even own suits.”

 ★ 

Hobbs vs. Pooh = Epic

(author unknown)031935146970458741111628380577158069921412383479792401375471145000359389262010241751961938635336904113594766353688225708

Shared by Michal
I've always kinda thought this was true, not the number but the fact that there is a number and after that number it's a flatline of happiness.

Nobel laureate and founder of behavioral economics Daniel Kahneman performed a TED Talk this year about how as humans our “experiencing selves” and our “remembering selves” perceive happiness differently. Basically, he says that our memories of experiences differ from what really happened during the experience itself.

But what ended up being the catchy soundbite was in the Q&A session after his talk, where he tells us that while millions of dollars won’t buy you happiness, a job that pays $60,000 a year might help. This is based on a survey of 600,000 Americans:

“Below 60,000 dollars a year, people are unhappy, and they get progressively unhappier the poorer they get. Above that, we get an absolutely flat line. I mean I’ve rarely seen lines so flat.”

“Clearly… money does not buy you experiential happiness, but lack of money certainly buys you misery,” he said. But the real trick, Kahneman said, is to spend time with people you like.

I found this talk through the GatesVP blog, who offers this analysis:

In most parts of the US you already have access to a very good and healthy life at 60k. You’ve pretty much covered everything commonly deemed as a necessity and you probably have some money left over for “entertainment”. So the jump to 90k really just gives you a little more “entertainment” and maybe some bigger stuff, but that’s it.

And if you’re the type who’s not happy with being in the top 20%, then how much further do you need to go? Top 10%? Top 5%?

Really, 60k for one job is far enough “ahead of the game” to keep happy those that can be kept happy. And that’s probably why this is true.

According to the 2008 US Census, making 60k a year is in the top 20%. I pretty much agree, especially with the idea that humans are creatures of comparison. As long as we’re doing a little bit better than our neighbors, then we tend to be happy. What do you think?

You can view the entire TED Talk below. The Q&A session starts at about 17:15, and a transcript is available on the right sidebar here.

I've always kinda thought this was true, not the number but the fact that there is a number and after that number it's a flatline of happiness.

Shared by Michal
so much win! Meat Machine: Butcher Installs Meat Vending Machine For 24-Hour Sausage Service so much win!

Filed under: Videos, Music, Animals

The lovely ladies of Suspicious Package created a video on Hummingbird Island off the coast of Honduras, where they allowed hummingbirds to drink nectar from their mouths. How they did not flinch during the filming, I have no idea.

Learn more about Suspicious Package at their website. Share

 

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Cole Stryker124935800499590303960844272479603370349116481424724719359302

Shared by Michal
no kidding seriously useful :) (author unknown)

(author unknown)07193039185375590755110520976813031185960859326548551716784801434000188282989525128411225645438150651014880611640846954408180384558487070648165034218781647102300987997728686824923605693012551531553580013994436336356330361279476031011915759406789977050130707181136157256397007552280591347365873228225717638027842263657607173650402264349735680636447501315933720102829742201134378065095328587237489469780243873186683547801307796735920716905671083962319318309387091622652073419170683605848138683244235982138408885428973095050985363725340812313315786002432837771342147015454613382725011660815038061404912714991225981489354866147334909960197025071601548786600162665805712941654653984245018678808152368974240968364331132956162213114894619953438432074741295504446604150294204649187982910218202901456794892477038023675127887154481807878838553416617218405163292342379742030743019089194842960411820047273949187110660845552721353092138515998012662570891576904437620555491213620381926449878605033668004497203477671302875812487213500314597034432679605990000860810015678057791009763841392495788115201247068381523166040784944080365059101593250087977738717713298172201231635823113853843407639396431042431142887235543511361687844522324938014524206251642485841312322123489503672817310069337507737141076551418272748942400351129456010546660907136794599528927821098950634796758960671348952182198023963708970742576155081976039214011987271366071545880130454023670510821243030232690134167515433580402388030319351469704587411115021698697977826521064765556108444124320444945127744023985205061598907314026860110757674901493056430424002523501490024710704599961400241414098705978739959182211431384367030320447615234735770868104043176154335151361792021772692529466873669602102701989636146065043412254519144083121459440828604362257508329263647566770044184261342040815386341596727872900162834412247032413308766420129533602432110556640728786722048557304713512764134131259489109106929936637826120176331720505778174117540312155885961659

Note: Video is after the jump because the background music is kinda depressing and I didn't want to bring everybody down on the main page. This is a video documenting the lives of four World of Warcraft players as portrayed by their avatars as the go about their day-to-day activities. It's really artfully done. Not unlike the nude shots I just had taken. Kidding, those were pure smut. This is short film directed by Gavin Kelly we worked on a while ago called "Avatar Days". What makes this one special is the fact that it was filmed, vfx'ed and comped all in just 4 days. It was made as part of the "4 day Film" catagory in the Darklight Film Festival. It follows 4 MMORPG players taking about their online persona's. As they tell their stories we see them go about their everyday lives against the mundane backdrop of city life...but as their Avatars. Cool, now they just need to make a movie about me and my avatar. Just sayin', you ever seen a Link lookalike stare at a computer 14 hours a day? SUMMER. F***ING. BLOCKBUSTER. Hit it for the video.(author unknown)127210620987584063460383967709405206778707040526650389962137042021091537325133901713464466439364836602598517908217337504124893303881669529120221369249148213616507966615120611776801059503881736692737601623519338195213193915045212798888527712014564620678368114901522539732168659692117543291858960396508107268720440357879411684712701103468702004608170492177091836159280497135000563610716119085793214834105355061819527701753180164777138971069340580214054089529276300319969301307710649025116839012436658970681101159870735487611368218413254725720149012529767217286251061817588923600622415486000543840844657

Translation Management is making its first steps. The new handbook gives a preview of the main features and how the module will work.

The idea behind the module is to implement much of our translation process in a Drupal module, so that everyone who needs to run complex multilingual sites can use.

Unified Translation Editor

The heart of the module is the unified translation editing screen. Translators will use this single screen to translate anything.

Be it nodes, CCK, blocks or even interface strings. The translators don't need to know where to translate these in the Drupal admin. The module will collect everything that requires translation and will display in the same translation editor.

The translation editor will adapt according to what's being translated. For each job, it will include the right fields. Each field shows the original text and the translation.

It also shows which fields are new or modified, so that translators don't need to guess or look for changes.

read more

(author unknown)09815688838317746349

Can YOU see the angry bunny face?

angry? yes, ai sees it.

Picture by: dunno source Caption by: TheInvisibleSandwich via Advanced Lol Builder

» Recaption This!

» View All Captions

Lolcat - Recreation - Cats - Pets - Humor

Despite the nascent technologies and web startups on the Web, one thing we’ve lacked in the recent past was rich and beautiful web typography.

Though we have so many typefaces to choose from, we could only use a specific set of regular fonts installed and supported by most computers — these fonts were collectively known as Web-safe fonts.

Web Typography versus Print Typography

The very heart of content creation in traditional media (newspapers, magazines, books) is its creative license to utilize typography.

But now, the divide between print and Web media is shrinking with the support of @font-face on many modern web browsers (including Internet Explorer, who’s had support of it since IE4.0).

Enter Google Font API

Google has introduced the Google Font Directory and Google Font API, a free web service that allows website owners the ability to utilize other fonts outside of the Web-safe fonts cadre in an easy, convenient, and resource-efficient way.

The Google Font API is a fresh entry to the Font-as-Service niche that includes TypeKit, Typotheque, and others.

So let’s take a plunge into the untapped potential of Google’s Font API.

What is Google Font API?

OK, you surf the Web a lot, but have you seen many non-standard fonts used on websites or blogs around?

Let’s define non-standard fonts to mean anything apart from Web-safe fonts such as Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, Georgia, and Times New Roman.

Outside of design-oriented websites and blogs (e.g. on the mainstream Web), probably not many.

Google Font API is a web service that supports high-quality open source font files that can be used on your web designs easily.

The font collection will hopefully keep growing to give you the ability to choose many more types of fonts.

Advantages of Using Google Font API

If you decide to use Google’s Font API, here are some of the things you’ll be able to take advantage of.

Keep Using HTML Text

Unlike using images or CSS-background-image replacement, using @font-face as a solution to prettier web typography is more SEO-friendly.

In addition, it’s an unobtrusive solution, meaning that you don’t need to modify any of your existing content — you just update your CSS stylesheets.

Web Accessible

Because you’re using HTML text and not an image or CSS-background, it doesn’t affect people who use screen readers.

High Uptime Infrastructure and Reduction of Your Web Server’s Duties

By offloading your @font-face needs to Google’s reliable infrastructure, you can be assured of the fact that serving the font files will be fast and that you are relieving your own server’s work.

How to Use Google Font API

You don’t need to be a hardcore web developer to use Google Font API. To use Google Font API, all you need to do is add one stylesheet link element in your web pages and then you can start using that font in your CSS.

Here’s the generalized process of using Google’s Font API:

Step 1: Add the Stylesheet Link with Your Preferred Font

Search Google’s font collection to see what available fonts you can use. The basic format for including a certain font on your own website is:

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Font+Name"> Step 2: Use the Font to Style Your HTML Elements

In the example below, you’re assigning your <h1> elements the font called Font Name using the font-family CSS attribute.

h1 { font-family: 'Font Name', serif; }

If you only need the font for a single use, you can declare your style inline.

<p style="font-family: 'Font Name', serif" >Six Revisions Is Beautiful</p> Step 3: Always Have a Backup Plan

You might have noticed in the above code samples that I’ve used serif as the fallback font. This is done to avoid any unexpected behavior. It means that if anything goes wrong with Google’s servers, the browser can use its default Serif font. Make this a practice when using the font-family attribute whether you’re using @font-face or not — this practice is called font stacks.

Example Using Google Font API

Here’s an example. Copy and paste the following code block into an HTML document, save it, and then open in your web browser.

I suggest testing your HTML document in various browsers so you can see the cross-browser differences (or lack thereof).

You can experiment with a different type of font, but for this example, I used the Lobster typeface.

<html> <head> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Lobster"> <style> h1 { font-family: 'Lobster', serif; font-size: 48px; } </style> </head> <body> <h1>Six Revisions Is Beautiful!</h1> </body> </html> Result:

A screenshot of the above code block through Google Chrome 4.1

The text generated ("Six Revisions Is Beautiful!") is normal HTML text, so you can add more styles in your style element if you like (in our example, we only use one element: h1).

Requesting Multiple Fonts Using Google Font API

Let’s say you need three fonts from Google’s Font Directory. Don’t create multiple requests. Multiple requests increase the number of HTTP requests a web page makes. The fewer HTTP requests you make, the better in terms of web page response times.

Instead of multiple stylesheet link tags, use the following format for the href property of your stylesheet link tag.

The following example URL request will load all the three fonts (Vollkorn, Yanone, and Droid Sans) in one request.

http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Vollkorn|Yanone|Droid+Sans

Now you can use any of these three fonts in your style elements.

Things to Note

Separate font names by a | without spaces between them. Note the use of + in the Droid Sans font. Use the + sign in font names that have spaces. In our case, the font name is Droid Sans, so we used Droid+Sans in the request link.

Tip: Using too many fonts in one request may slow down page response times. So load only the fonts you need. Be conservative: Just because it’s free doesn’t mean you should go crazy with @font-face.

Font Weights and Style for Google Font API Fonts

The web fonts also have font weight/style variations. To use these variations, append a colon (:) to the name of the font followed by the styles and weighs.

In the example below, we request the bold and bold-italic variation of Vollkorn and the italics variation of Inconsolata.

http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Vollkorn:bold,bolditalic|Inconsolata:italic|Droid+Sans

There are also shortcodes for the variations of each font. They are:

• Bold: b
• Italic: i
• Bold-Italic: bi

Here’s an example that uses shortcodes:

http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Vollkorn:b,bi|Inconsolata:i|Droid+Sans Things to Note

Use a colon (:) after the font name without spaces in between them followed by the variation’s name (i.e. bolditalic) or variation name’s shortcode (i.e. bi). If you need multiple font variations for one font, separate them using a comma (,) without spaces in between them.

Google Font API Enables Prettier Web Typography

The web design industry is abuzz with a solution to the age-old problem of typeface limitations on the Web. Are you using @font-face yet? If you aren’t using it yet, why not? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments.

Related Content

• A Basic Look at Typography in Web Design
• 20 Websites with Beautiful Typography
• Basic CSS3 Techniques That You Should Know
• Related categories: Web Design and CSS

About the Author

Divyang Patel is a Software Developer from Pune, India. A C++ guru at core, he believes the Internet has enormous potential. Check his blog called GoosPoos.com – a web and software technology blog. You can also follow him on Twitter or Facebook.

Submitted by: Seethella via Submission Page

Filed under: News / Politics, The One

Leave it to internet humorists to draw attention to a serious issue like the massive BP Gulf Coast oil spill by turning it viral. From a fake BP Twitter account to comics to a cake wreck, the oil-spill related memes that swept the web in the past week were funny, but only in a laugh-to-keep-from crying sort of way.

The @BPGlobalPR Twitter account has been playing the role of a callous BP representative all week. Although it's obviously fake, it gives people who are angry about the oil spill someone to hate. It's full of complaints about first-world problems, wry attempts to pacify followers with BP Cares t-shirts (free, with $25 shipping!) and even a demand that people stop stealing BP's oil from the water (or we'll sue!).

At first, I was surprised that BP hasn't managed to get the account shut down. Then I considered their track record with shutting things down lately and decided it's not that surprising. Tech site Mashable got an interview with the writer behind @BPGlobalPR, in character, and it's well worth reading.

After the jump, check out some of the oil spill backlash images that have been going around this week.

One series of images maps the size of the spill relative to major cities. HINT: The spill is bigger. A lot bigger.



This cake was spotted in a Breaux Mart in New Orleans. Mmm, oily!



Cartoonist Matt Bors thinks we need to get our terms straight in this oil spill debate.



Share We get it -- you're busy. Only have time for one web bit a day? Here's The One thing we think you cannot miss today. Subscribe to "The One" RSS Feed.

 

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Jay Hathaway146468957008868198450055828857697001820406890876654005850552093591009953976330211249358004995903039602108758952170029409121280808522813833720861572232889574680913881165783737518021136586966437574806610758557100493448262517482136476286986956141359903111957392591351082432471025575411704430955339206941158387310884317995520486317009427065234015959800489233733007

back buy this print digg facebook reddit stumbleupon next (author unknown)14984368595206282583125884074319794369360369557480787951336713345519443336942279006154368754824284920465925615219680494501833678338257321410043462400146625367280665066221846981553705566947183305837281091416638452893456501395639610206109567104487600087672997659149549826813584256990695593098479281413616444882505446649876152681731764297747831140568358918608212703426652625722261878101832099749072793061500287912238501724205540419361607821491141636700612652436070313509913378525220016748934067746912511057597681457421976090319351469704587411115021698697977826521086698515164404920460658188598691972599516795602202721172039016499727350088057961144176296171016774806342905582960322994010376022705950685440588288714413865225614716588285394083837120782965491354939681777416816715749868812425145533933712460140461909901177499611425762682364300872403034174291328406264077862066349182075851446614179793910123416858771137313755899105622163521005869680064413675804815320712483852926234943749026981686254101663580562753303492293529214049612297904134472043368326165292538811605384744069096186309857523437883802562016085277278120395201155679824226638119707287870810571258257099160127388645552421566751376027429686800179115001474133124064862193561761527070978809309848940235811045288819919027643081703551039331778441724052719097527249514558708620767610852157855682565766596451069031793309479356606953771821735523352058990635511792800501172931494235338540101610771946456221356070208550171152730921347945202100873941715723388554441379114031549314620717339861181725590177195435415202495258759259560025569659219339096550991826889569853530207256952224703313096036305033071279473501714379697214607084507917999171265625049160650632525420768350369487668104444237002625461875944585678000499273976258155540311532752146093054309548953043275409631038458366310738777841201895642091038008806183838162347130369015032837577026547301187892360669425612810652039177466550471167265229068322011220724837677091220591401210606873998629558

Filed under: Videos, Tech, Science

Remember the BigDog, the quadropedal robot that can hop around unsteady terrain, going where wheeled robots only dream of going? Well, pictured above is the LittleDog, built by the University of Southern California (I added the Snowspeeder, of course).

Even though it means probably saving human lives, we hate to think of the poor little guy getting blown up by an IED somewhere. Look at his little legs, gingerly checking for solid ground. He's got so much personality. I find myself strangely drawn to him as he makes his way up stairs and over obstacles, like "You can do it, buddy! Believe in yourself!"



Here is some footage from 2007 of the LittleDog making his way over some rocks:



And here's his big brother, BigDog:



Share

• related:// Check out all of Urlesque's robot coverage

 

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Cole Stryker1508228087390583726208215204130703594012024708273923828352801830931751614797870206832351523209975619

Google have made two huge announcements today. One of these concerns the Google Fonts API. Simply by linking to a particular font, stored on Google’s servers (save on bandwidth + caching benefits), we now have access to a wide array of custom fonts. Quite literally, you can integrate these fonts into your project in about 20 seconds. It’s as simple as that. Further, due to the operations being performed behind the scenes, these custom fonts will even be recognized back to Internet Explorer 6. I, for one, and am extremely excited about the possibilities, and the font catalog is surely to continue expanding over the coming years.

Subscribe to our YouTube page to watch all of the video tutorials!
Prefer to watch this video on Screenr.com? One Step Only

To take advantage of the Google Fonts API, you only need to link to your desired font, and reference it within font-family. That’s it! When you find yourself integrating a custom font in less than 15 seconds, you’ll laugh with joy! For example:

<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <meta charset="utf-8"> <title>untitled</title> <link href='http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Yanone+Kaffeesatz' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'> <style> body { font-family: 'Yanone Kaffeesatz', serif; font-size: 100px; } </style> </head> <body> Hello World </body> </html>

Crazy, isn’t it!? You can refer here for the current list of available fonts. So what do you think?