StumbleUpon | echoic's comments & reviews

Skin whiteners labeled racist - CNN.com

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:00:03 -0700

From the page: "Skin whiteners were once targeted only to women. Now the products are a hot commodity for men."

Why Bother with Relative Font Sizes? - jemjabella

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 11:40:02 -0700

From the page: "1em / 100% isn't 10pt, it's 12pt / 16px"

HTML vs. XHTML - jemjabella

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 11:12:44 -0700

From the page: "My personal conclusion is that the choice between XHTML and HTML is completely irrelevant. Whether or not you add little forward slashes to the end of tags is not going to make or break a website. The important thing is coding semantically, for validity and compatibility, whichever doctype you use. Choose a strict doctype over transitional, and give your browser the best mark-up you can deliver."

CAPTCHAs - jemjabella

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 11:09:18 -0700

From the page: "Generally, I can see the point of CAPTCHAs. They do help to reduce spam at some sites, but at what cost? If I, a fully able human being with perfect eyesight and a decent browser, have problems seeing captchas or getting the letter combinations right, what hope do those with poor eyesight or other reading/visual disabilities? Must they be relegated to a silent corner, never allowed to join a website or post a comment again, for fear of angering the giant CAPTCHA making machine monster thingy?"

BellaBuffs: Dynamic Page Titles & Dream

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 08:38:26 -0700

Another BellaBuffs tutorial, this one by way of Julie. This one shows you how to change the page titles using PHP.

From the page: "This tutorial requires that you have a basic understanding of PHP includes (more specifically of using the function to include a header and footer file). It is also best if you are at least a little familiar with BellaBuffs and you should know a bit what the �oeif…else” function does."

From the page: "This tutorial requires that you have a basic understanding of PHP includes (more specifically of using the function to include a header and footer file). It is also best if you are at least a little familiar with BellaBuffs and you should know a bit what the �oeif…else” function does."

Making BellaBuffs work better for you... Part II & Chicken Scratches

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 07:52:20 -0700

Part II of "Making Bellabuffs Work Better For You" has Stephanie (of greydove.org breaking down some of the code a bit more for PHP newbies.

You may want to look at Part I before you proceed.

From the page: "After writing my article Making BellaBuffs Work Better for You, I realized while coding my own fanlisting (TWO ON TWO) that, while I am experienced in programming, not everyone who maintains fanlistings are. How would, for example, a PHP newbie know they can�t include quotation marks in their customized text? How could someone who doesn�t have five programming manuals on their bookshelf realize simply trying to include a link in their introduction would cause the script to break? How can such things be achieved painlessly? Well, it requires a bit of specialized knowledge. And so, I welcome you to Part II of Making BellaBuffs Work Better for You…"

Making BellaBuffs Work Better for You & Chicken Scratches

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 07:42:37 -0700

This is a lovely little tutorial that covers some simple things you can do with PHP to "unique up" your fanlistings that run on BellaBuffs. Though the article targets BellaBuffs in particular, anyone looking to learn a little bit of PHP could benefit from reading this tutorial and its successor.

From the page: "The theory behind the idea is that you should be able to have a one static version of BellaBuffs on your computer that you can upload into any fanlisting directory you have, the subject being anything from M.A.C. makeup to World of Warcraft. This way, you're not bloating up your computer with unnecessary index, about, button, etc. files. The only unique file you will have to store for each listing is prefs.php, the file that keeps each listing's exclusive text."

What Does Your Twitter Avatar Say About You?

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 11:28:52 -0700

From the page: "Celebrity stalker: A photo of a well known figure, whether used deceptively, in parody, or merely to show one�s admiration for an actor, singer, politician, etc. It�s like Halloween 365 days a year. You�re Barrack Obama, Britney Spears or Rick Astley. (Rick Astley? People do crazy things.) I guess it�s all in good fun, but would you want someone using your picture and claiming they were you? It�s kind of creepy."

Ask an Academic: Babysitters as Bad Girls: The Book Bench : The New Yorker

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:12:58 -0700

From the page: "Why have so many people had it in for the poor babysitter? "

Adventures In Babysitting: How Did Something So Innocent Become So...Lurid? - Stoneybrook, ct - Jezebel

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:07:59 -0700

From the page: "Does this indicate a shift in our attitudes towards young women, or merely a calcification of gender roles? Maybe both. And maybe also something less palatable. Nowadays, it seems like oftentimes the moms who employ a neighbor as a sitter is eager for a responsible older girl's influence on her daughters - as opposed to the quotidian care of a nanny, who presumably doesn't have the same wisdom to impart. I know as a teen nerd, I was in high demand in my neighborhood as a "good influence" - and the fact that I was always free on a Saturday night didn't hurt, either. I get that, especially in a world rife with questionable influences. But the contrast between the babysitter and the actual employees - even when some people tossed the terms around with optimistic interchangeability - sometimes felt weird. "