http://www.smiffysplace.com/2007-03 RSS Feed for Smiffy's Place: posts from March, 2007 en (C) Copyright 2001-2008 Matthew Steven Smith Matthew Smith http://www.smiffysplace.com/accessible-tag-clouds A look at an example PHP programme as a means of producing an XHTML weighted list, both in the form of a 'Tag Cloud', where the information is ordered alphabetically and weight is given by visual styling and as a 'Tag Wedge' where a styled ordered list is used to convey the information in a more semantic manner. Matthew Smith 2007-03-31+09:30 Accessibility;Software;Technical;Web;adaptability;semantics;tag cloud;tag wedge http://www.smiffysplace.com/smiffycalc A command-line calculator, written in Perl, SmiffyCalc offers persistence between sessions. This is a step-up from doing calculations from the command line using perl -e Matthew Smith 2007-03-29+09:30 BSD;Linux;Perl;Software;Solaris;Technical;Unix;calculation;calculator;operating systems;programming http://www.smiffysplace.com/saying-whoops-nicely An ever-growing amount of Web content is being generated dynamically. With this increased use of software comes an increased number of errors and error messages - things that should not be on public display. This article suggests better things to say when things go wrong. Matthew Smith 2007-03-27+09:30 Accessibility;Software;Technical;adaptability http://www.smiffysplace.com/the-perils-of-gluten-free-baking Smiffy reproduces a previously good gluten-free recipe with disastrous results. Matthew Smith 2007-03-25+09:30 Food & Drink;Life Without Gluten;alimentation;allergy;coeliac;drink;epicure;epicurean;food;gluten free;gourmandisme;gourmet;intolerance;nutrition;sans glutene;senza glutine http://www.smiffysplace.com/fruitcake Smiffy bakes a gluten and dairy free fruitcake, with a reasonable degree of success. Matthew Smith 2007-03-24+09:30 Food & Drink;Life Without Gluten;alimentation;allergy;coeliac;drink;epicure;epicurean;food;gluten free;gourmandisme;gourmet;intolerance;nutrition;sans glutene;senza glutine http://www.smiffysplace.com/mysql-meets-openoffice I wanted to use a MySQL datasource from OpenOffice Calc and wasn't getting very far with the OpenOffice documentation. This article from MySQL staffer, Roland Bouman, was exactly what I needed. Matthew Smith 2007-03-19+09:30 JDBC;Java;ODBC;OOo;Software;Technical;database http://www.smiffysplace.com/waffles-are-go After the previous days disasters, Smiffy gets waffles working. Matthew Smith 2007-03-18+09:30 Food & Drink;Life Without Gluten;alimentation;allergy;batter;coeliac;drink;epicure;epicurean;food;gluten free;gourmandisme;gourmet;intolerance;nutrition;pancakes;sans glutene;senza glutine;waffles http://www.smiffysplace.com/beannachtai-na-feile-padraig-oraibh Today is St Padraig's (Patrick's) Day. Smiffy looks forward to his annual Guinness, reflects on past visits to Eire and notes that Autumn really does seem to be upon us. Matthew Smith 2007-03-17+09:30 Eire;Food & Drink;Ireland;Irish;Padraig;Patrick;Reise;Travel;Weather;alimentation;climate;climatology;drink;epicure;epicurean;food;gourmandisme;gourmet;meteorology;nutrition;travel;voyages http://www.smiffysplace.com/food-info-net A very useful resource from Wageningen University which includes a multi-lingual food allergy dictionary and numeric food additives data (E numbers). Matthew Smith 2007-03-17+09:30 Food & Drink;Gesundheit;Health;Krankheit;Life Without Gluten;alimentation;allergy;coeliac;drink;epicure;epicurean;food;gluten free;gourmandisme;gourmet;health;healthy;illness;infirmity;intolerance;malade;maladie;malady;nutrition;sans glutene;sante;senza glutine;sickness;wellness http://www.smiffysplace.com/smiffy-waffles-on Gluten-free waffles - how hard could it be? Smiffy tries it out and finds that a non-stick waffle maker can be anything but, and discovers a good naan bread recipe in the process. Matthew Smith 2007-03-17+09:30 Food & Drink;Life Without Gluten;alimentation;allergy;coeliac;drink;epicure;epicurean;food;gluten free;gourmandisme;gourmet;intolerance;nutrition;sans glutene;senza glutine http://www.smiffysplace.com/a-question-of-licenses How good is the GPL for the small developer? Other copyleft licenses may be better, notably Creative Commons. Matthew Smith 2007-03-16+09:30 Software;contract;legal;license http://www.smiffysplace.com/getting-children-s-favourites-on-the-menu Smiffy comments on a Caterersearch.com article on presenting children with decent food when eating out. Matthew Smith 2007-03-15+09:30 Commentaria;Food & Drink;Gesundheit;Health;Krankheit;alimentation;commentary;current affairs;drink;epicure;epicurean;food;gourmandisme;gourmet;health;healthy;illness;infirmity;malade;maladie;malady;news;nutrition;sante;sickness;wellness http://www.smiffysplace.com/no-comment-spam-yet Since enabling comments, no comment spam has appeared on Smiffy's Place. Could e-mail confirmation be an answer? Matthew Smith 2007-03-15+09:30 Software;Spam & Other Internet Pests;Technical;annoyances;nuisance;spam;ucbe http://www.smiffysplace.com/good-english-poor-accessibility It may be time to re-evaluate what we were taught in school about Good English - following the rules may make our writings less accessible. Matthew Smith 2007-03-15+09:30 Accessibility;Social Inclusion;adaptability http://www.smiffysplace.com/strange-but-true-cats-cannot-taste-sweets Scientific American reports that cats are unable to perceive sweetness. Matthew Smith 2007-03-14+09:30 Commentaria;Food & Drink;Gesundheit;Health;Krankheit;alimentation;cats;commentary;current affairs;drink;epicure;epicurean;felines;food;gourmandisme;gourmet;health;healthy;illness;infirmity;malade;maladie;malady;news;nutrition;saccharinity;sante;sickness;sugar;sweetness;wellness http://www.smiffysplace.com/i-love-my-linodes-even-more Linode virtual hosting gets a major upgrade - double of everything for the same price. Matthew Smith 2007-03-10+09:30 BSD;Linode;Linux;Solaris;Technical;UML;Unix;operating systems;server http://www.smiffysplace.com/msnbot-ban-the-bot-or-not MSNbot appears to have been making requests on Smiffy's Place that a reasonable Web robot should not. Matthew Smith 2007-03-10+09:30 Spam & Other Internet Pests;Technical;Web;annoyances;bot;nuisance;robot;robots.txt;spam;spider;ucbe http://www.smiffysplace.com/dublin-core-for-drupal A new site is created for Smiffy's Dublin Core for Drupal project. Matthew Smith 2007-03-09+09:30 Accessibility;CMS;Software;Technical;adaptability;content management;metadata http://www.smiffysplace.com/blogging-against-sexism-a-belated-entry Smiffy loses track of time and tries to squeeze in a blog post before International Womens Day slips off the International Date Line. Matthew Smith 2007-03-09+09:30 Social Inclusion;discrimination;sexism http://www.smiffysplace.com/coconut-and-strawberry-frozen-dessert Recipe for strawberry ice cream, dairy and gluten free. Matthew Smith 2007-03-07+09:30 Food & Drink;Life Without Gluten;alimentation;allergy;coconut;coeliac;cream;drink;epicure;epicurean;food;gelati;gelato;gluten free;gourmandisme;gourmet;ice cream;icecream;intolerance;milk;nutrition;sans glutene;senza glutine;sorbet;strawberry http://www.smiffysplace.com/national-des Smiffy's butcher pulls second prize in an national smallgoods competition. Matthew Smith 2007-03-07+09:30 Commentaria;Food & Drink;alimentation;butcher;butchery;commentary;current affairs;drink;epicure;epicurean;food;gourmandisme;gourmet;meat;news;nutrition;sausage;smallgoods http://www.smiffysplace.com/welcome-to-autumn-2007 The Southern Hemisphere has now slipped into Autumn (Fall), Smiffy comments. Matthew Smith 2007-03-06+09:30 Autumn;Fall;Food & Drink;Weather;alimentation;climate;climatology;drink;epicure;epicurean;food;gourmandisme;gourmet;meteorology;nutrition;season;seasons;weather http://www.smiffysplace.com/review-yackandandah-thai-satay-summer-sauce Smiffy breaks with tradition and prepares a meal with a sauce out of a jar. Matthew Smith 2007-03-04+09:30 Food & Drink;Life Without Gluten;Thai;alimentation;allergy;coeliac;drink;epicure;epicurean;food;gluten free;gourmandisme;gourmet;intolerance;nutrition;sans glutene;satay;sauce;senza glutine http://www.smiffysplace.com/charles-ban-the-burger Prince Charles has a go at McDonalds and Smiffy, unexpectedly, defends them. Matthew Smith 2007-03-01+09:30 Commentaria;Food & Drink;Gesundheit;Health;Krankheit;alimentation;big mac;burger;commentary;current affairs;drink;epicure;epicurean;fast food;food;gourmandisme;gourmet;health;healthy;illness;infirmity;malade;maladie;malady;news;nutrition;sante;sickness;wellness http://www.smiffysplace.com/when-subversion-is-not-the-answer Smiffy's attempts at version-managing his home directory go awry. Matthew Smith 2007-03-01+09:30 Linux;Software;Technical;backup;cvs;subversion;version management http://www.smiffysplace.com/the-gluten-free-bread-flour-test Smiffy makes gluten-free bread with two commercial flours, plus a mix from Lola Workman's Wheat Free World book. The conclusion is that home-blended flour from the book produces the best bread. Matthew Smith 2007-03-01+09:30 Food & Drink;Gesundheit;Health;Healtheries;Krankheit;Kylies Bakery;Life Without Gluten;Panasonic;Sunbeam;alimentation;allergy;baking;bread;bread machine;bread maker;coeliac;drink;epicure;epicurean;food;gluten free;gourmandisme;gourmet;health;healthy;illness;infirmity;intolerance;malade;maladie;malady;nutrition;sans glutene;sante;senza glutine;sickness;wellness http://www.smiffysplace.com/no-comment-no-more Smiffy's Place finally gets the facility for visitors to leave comments. Matthew Smith 2007-03-01+09:30 Personal;Software;Technical;blog