http://www.smiffysplace.com/ RSS Feed for Smiffy's Place en (C) Copyright 2001-2008 Matthew Steven Smith dc.blog v1.0b http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Thu, 27 Nov 2008 22:07:24 GMT Thu, 27 Nov 2008 22:07:24 GMT http://www.smiffysplace.com/open-source-midi-control-surface http://www.smiffysplace.com/open-source-midi-control-surface I am in the process of designing a simple MIDI control surface, all design information to be released under a Creative Commons license. Wed, 26 Nov 2008 13:30:00 GMT CMOS Flash MIDI Microcontrollers Music Software Technical arts controller digital embedded logic microcontroller microprocessor music http://www.smiffysplace.com/mysql-51-general-release-at-last http://www.smiffysplace.com/mysql-51-general-release-at-last MySQL 5.1.30 is released - the first general release (non-beta). Wed, 26 Nov 2008 13:30:00 GMT Software Sun database databases sql http://www.smiffysplace.com/duck-with-puy-lentils-and-wild-rice http://www.smiffysplace.com/duck-with-puy-lentils-and-wild-rice A duck dish I created for my birthday, preserved here for posterity and when I can't remember the recipe next time. Thu, 30 Oct 2008 13:30:00 GMT Food & Drink Life Without Gluten alimentation allergy canard caneton coeliac drink duck epicure epicurean food gluten free gourmandisme gourmet intolerance lentiles vertes du Puy nutrition sans glutene senza glutine http://www.smiffysplace.com/web-accessibility-techniques-workshop-in-adelaide-on-20-november-2008 http://www.smiffysplace.com/web-accessibility-techniques-workshop-in-adelaide-on-20-november-2008 Vision Australia is running their popular Web Accessibility Techniques workshop in Adelaide on 20 November 2008. Tue, 28 Oct 2008 13:30:00 GMT Accessibility Social Inclusion Software Technical adaptability http://www.smiffysplace.com/sql-o-matic http://www.smiffysplace.com/sql-o-matic This is about the fourth generation of this programme that I have been using over the last few years to generate SQL and Perl code based on a MySQL database schema. The idea behind this is much repetitive coding can be eliminated - the ouput of this programme can be tweaked/corrected and then cut and pasted into an application. Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:30:00 GMT BSD Linux MySQL Perl Software Solaris Technical Unix operating systems stored procedures http://www.smiffysplace.com/amazon-mp3-and-vaporware http://www.smiffysplace.com/amazon-mp3-and-vaporware Still no sign of MP3 sales from Amazon.com to international customers. Is this just Amazon Vaporware? Sun, 14 Sep 2008 14:30:00 GMT Commentaria commentary competition current affairs iTunes market music news sales http://www.smiffysplace.com/gluten-free-pasta-getting-closer http://www.smiffysplace.com/gluten-free-pasta-getting-closer The latest essay in making gluten-free pasta hits far closer to the mark. Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:30:00 GMT Food & Drink Life Without Gluten alimentation allergy coeliac drink epicure epicurean food fuisli gluten free gourmandisme gourmet intolerance maccheroni nutrition pasta sans glutene senza glutine spaghetti vermicelli http://www.smiffysplace.com/the-brasserie-happy-circumstance http://www.smiffysplace.com/the-brasserie-happy-circumstance Smiffy takes an unplanned dinner at The Brasserie at the Adelaide Hilton and is quite delighted, to say the least. Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:30:00 GMT Food & Drink Life Without Gluten Reise Travel alimentation allergy coeliac drink epicure epicurean food gluten free gourmandisme gourmet intolerance nutrition sans glutene senza glutine travel voyages http://www.smiffysplace.com/adelaide-hilton http://www.smiffysplace.com/adelaide-hilton This is not an article about Paris' less-famous sister, but a brief review of Smiffy's stay at the Hilton in Adelaide, South Australia. Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:30:00 GMT Reise Travel accommodation auberge hospitality hotel travel voyages http://www.smiffysplace.com/paralympics-new-zealand-one-for-the-rogues-gallery http://www.smiffysplace.com/paralympics-new-zealand-one-for-the-rogues-gallery If any organisation should be aware of accessibility issues, a national Paralympics organisation should be. At the time of writing, the web site of Paralympics NZ is a disgrace. Wed, 04 Jun 2008 14:30:00 GMT Accessibility Accessibility Rogues Gallery Social Inclusion accessibility adaptability http://www.smiffysplace.com/nixie-kitchen-timer http://www.smiffysplace.com/nixie-kitchen-timer Smiffy designs a retro-look kitchen timer to suit his needs. Mon, 12 May 2008 14:30:00 GMT Food & Drink Nixie Technical alimentation clock clocks cooking drink epicure epicurean food gourmandisme gourmet interval kitchen neon nutrition timekeeping timer timers http://www.smiffysplace.com/stir-fried-duckling-breast-with-orange-and-carob http://www.smiffysplace.com/stir-fried-duckling-breast-with-orange-and-carob Recipe for Smiffy's stir-fried duckling breast with orange and carob, served with a fake duck-stock risotto. Sun, 11 May 2008 14:30:00 GMT Food & Drink alimentation canard caneton drink duck duckling epicure epicurean food gourmandisme gourmet nutrition http://www.smiffysplace.com/book-review-the-short-bus http://www.smiffysplace.com/book-review-the-short-bus A review of Jonathan Mooney's book 'The Short Bus'. This review has been written to coincide with Blogging Against Disablism Day 2008. Tue, 06 May 2008 14:30:00 GMT Against Disablism Books and Literature Social Inclusion accessibility adaptability arts disablism discrimination learning disabilities literature publications social inclusion special education special needs http://www.smiffysplace.com/dilbert-goes-inaccessible http://www.smiffysplace.com/dilbert-goes-inaccessible A new version of dilbert.com is launched - it is not good, accessibility/usability having become worse and thus judged worthy of a mention in my Accessibility Rogues' Gallery. Sat, 19 Apr 2008 14:30:00 GMT Accessibility Accessibility Rogues Gallery Visual Arts accessibility adaptability art cartoon cartoons design funny graphic graphics humor humour office phb pointy haired boss satire visual art http://www.smiffysplace.com/enter-the-eyeprod http://www.smiffysplace.com/enter-the-eyeprod Smiffy meets the eyeProd, er, iPod Nano. Fri, 18 Apr 2008 14:30:00 GMT Apple Music Sennheiser Technical Walkman arts cans headphones hi-fi hifi high fidelity mp3 music personal hifi player recording stereo http://www.smiffysplace.com/foxy-add-ons-tab-mix-plus http://www.smiffysplace.com/foxy-add-ons-tab-mix-plus Tab Mix Plus is a Firefox extension that allows enhanced control over tabbed browsing. Fri, 18 Apr 2008 14:30:00 GMT Firefox Mozilla Software Technical Thunderbird http://www.smiffysplace.com/the-solstice-clock-part-1 http://www.smiffysplace.com/the-solstice-clock-part-1 What is a clock? What is a calendar? How can one do the job of the other? In this series of articles, Smiffy describes a project in which an everyday quartz clock is converted into a solar calendar - the Solstice Clock. Mon, 07 Apr 2008 14:30:00 GMT Autumn Autumnal CMOS Fall Flash Microcontrollers Seasons Software Solstice Spring Summer Technical Vernal Winter astrolabe calendar digital embedded equinox equinoxes hora horologia horologium horology hour kalendar logic microcontroller microprocessor solstices time timekeeping http://www.smiffysplace.com/a-year-of-weights http://www.smiffysplace.com/a-year-of-weights Smiffy reflects on a year of weight training. Mon, 07 Apr 2008 14:30:00 GMT Gesundheit Health Krankheit Personal Weighty Matters bodybuilding exercise fitness health healthy illness infirmity malade maladie malady powerlifting pumping iron sante sickness sports medicine sports nutrition weight lifting weight training wellness http://www.smiffysplace.com/vmware-no-developer-should-be-without-it http://www.smiffysplace.com/vmware-no-developer-should-be-without-it After some ten years since being told about the joys of VMware virtualisation, Smiffy finally gives it a go and wonders how he ever coped before. Sun, 30 Mar 2008 13:30:00 GMT BSD Linux Software Solaris Technical Unix operating systems virtual machine virtualisation virtualise virtualization virtualize vm http://www.smiffysplace.com/rice-worms http://www.smiffysplace.com/rice-worms Smiffy prepares fresh rice pasta. Sat, 09 Feb 2008 13:30:00 GMT Food & Drink Life Without Gluten alimentation allergy coeliac drink epicure epicurean food gluten free gourmandisme gourmet intolerance noodles nutrition rice sans glutene senza glutine http://www.smiffysplace.com/am-i-too-slow http://www.smiffysplace.com/am-i-too-slow This article tells how the accessibility and usability of web content may be impacted by speed issue from various causes. The article goes on to explain how speed may be measured or estimated and how the various causes may be addressed. Presented as content for the February Newsletter of the Guild of Accessible Web Designers (GAWDS). Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:30:00 GMT Accept-Encoding Accessibility Apache C PHP Perl Technical adaptability bandwidth cache caching compress data compression gzip mobile devices mobile web rich media scripting languages speed web content http://www.smiffysplace.com/sun-to-buy-mysql http://www.smiffysplace.com/sun-to-buy-mysql Sun Microsystems announces that it is going to buy MySQL AB. That's rather exciting. Thu, 17 Jan 2008 13:30:00 GMT BSD Commentaria Linux Software Solaris Unix commentary current affairs news operating systems solaris sun http://www.smiffysplace.com/chris-jarmer-at-air http://www.smiffysplace.com/chris-jarmer-at-air At the bottom of Adelaide's David Jones department store is a restaurant which we must have walked past any number of times. Yesterday we walked in and will be doing so again in the future. Thu, 17 Jan 2008 13:30:00 GMT 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/weight-training-and-chronic-fatigue-3 http://www.smiffysplace.com/weight-training-and-chronic-fatigue-3 The third and final part in the series about Weight Training and Chronic Fatigue. Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:30:00 GMT Gesundheit Health Krankheit Weighty Matters bodybuilding exercise fitness gym gymnasium health healthy illness infirmity malade maladie malady power lifting powerlifting pumping iron sante sickness sports medicine sports nutrition strength training weight lifting weight training weightlifting weights wellness http://www.smiffysplace.com/weight-training-and-chronic-fatigue-2 http://www.smiffysplace.com/weight-training-and-chronic-fatigue-2 The second part in the series about Weight Training and Chronic Fatigue. Mon, 14 Jan 2008 13:30:00 GMT Gesundheit Health Krankheit Weighty Matters bodybuilding exercise fitness gym gymnasium health healthy illness infirmity malade maladie malady power lifting powerlifting pumping iron sante sickness sports medicine sports nutrition strength training weight lifting weight training weightlifting weights wellness