Cable YoYo Pop

Cable YoYo Pop (RadTech)

• Yes, I know I'm reviewing a ten dollar product.
  

  
  
  




• It's designed to stick onto the back of your iPod. However, if you have an iPhone, you probably don't want to stick your headphones on it all the time.
  

  
  
  




• So I stuck the suction cup to the included same-sized belt-clip. It worked like a charm.
  
  

  
  
  




• It took me way too long to find the ideal way to keep my headphones in my purse.
  

  
  
  




• Small and very thin.
  

  
  
  




• However not too tiny that you lose it within the first day.
  
  

  
  
  




• It's the perfect size.
  

  
  
  




• Very, very impressed.
  

  
  
  

fluff

Stupid-Simple Django Admin Previews

Incase you didn't know, I love Django.

I love how Django just makes things stupid-simple, such as with its built-in automatic admin interface. Yet one thing it did not provide was an optional post-preview, where you could see exactly what your post will look like once it is live without others being able to see it.

For me this was a must-have feature. So I quickly thought up a stupid-simple way to add admin previews.

This technique works with or without newforms-admin and is insanely easy to implement.

This requires a general understanding of Django's generic views. It also requires that you have a model that you want to preview. This model must have some kind of 'draft' status that is not shown on your live site, but is saved in the database.

So, lets say you have a model called Article. To add a preview for each article:

• Add a generic object_detail view to your app's views.py:
  
  

  
  

  
     from django.contrib.admin.views.decorators import staff_member_required
     from django.views.generic.list_detail import object_detail
     from your_app.models import Article
  
     @staff_member_required
     def preview(request, object_id):
     return object_detail(request, object_id=object_id,
     queryset=Article.objects.all(),
     template_object_name = 'article', )

  
  
  
  

  That @staffmemberrequired ensures that only people logged into your admin and designated a staff member for your site can see your article's preview before it is live. The rest is just a generic object_detail view named 'preview'.
  
  

  
  
  




• Add a line to your app's urls.py, above your admin url line:
  

  
  

  url(r'^admin/your_app/article/(?P<object_id>[0-9]+)/preview/$',
     'your_app.views.preview'),

  
  
  
  
  
  




• You don't actually have to add a template for the view if your project already has an object_detail template (named article_detail.html in this case). The generic view will grab this same template, and you'll be able to see exactly what your post will look like on your live site.
  

  
  
  




• Lastly, add a template to: /templates/admin/your_app/article/change_form.html. Paste this into that template:
  
  

  
  

  
     {% extends "admin/change_form.html" %} {% load i18n %}
      {% block object-tools %}
      {% if change %}{% if not is_popup %}
        <ul class="object-tools">
          <li><a href="history/" class="historylink">
              {% trans "History" %}</a></li>
          <li><a href="preview/" class="viewsitelink" target="_blank">
              {% trans "View preview" %}</a></li>
        {% if has_absolute_url %}<li>
          <a href="../../../r/{{ content_type_id }}/{{ object_id }}/" class="viewsitelink">
              {% trans "View on site" %}</a></li>{% endif%}
        </ul>
      {% endif %}{% endif %}
      {% endblock %}

  
  
  
  
  
  

The beauty of that 'View preview' link is it will only appear on the change form for the appropriate model (in this case, Article) and only once the article has been saved to the database (so you must save it as a draft first).

So after you restart your server, every time you save an article as a draft, you'll be able to click a button and see exactly what your post will look like to the world, without the world having to see it. :)

django

*Cinema -- The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight (2008)

• As good as everyone is saying.
  

  
  
  




• Heath Ledger was fantastic. Creepier than anything ever.
  
  

  
  
  




• Seriously though, I had trouble watching half of his scenes simply because I was afraid of anything he'd do. Although this was less about his acting and more about his actions. I'm a wimp when it comes to movie violence.
  

  
  
  




• Maggie Gyllenhaal kicked Katie Homes' butt. I mean her acting was just so much better.
  

  
  
  




• Loved Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine as usual.
  
  

  
  
  




• Christian Bale was good of course, though for a movie about Batman, it wasn't really all about Batman.
  

  
  
  




• There is no way that Nestor Carbonell looks old enough to be a mayor. I'm probably just used to Mayors being old.
  
  

  
  
  




• The criminals (other than the Joker) were kind of... eh.
  

  
  
  




• Real, creepy, and highly enjoyable.
  

  
  
  

Twenty Gigs Free!

It took way too long, but I've finally cut my music library by about half, from thirty gigs to fifteen. This means I actually have some breathing room on my tiny eighty-gig Macbook Air. At least for a little while, that is...

airdashboardmac

Django!

Excitement!

I have switched from Rails to Django. Ideally this isn't too big of a change for you, but it is for me. For the first time ever, I have written my own backend!

For the most part it was simple and incredibly fun. Basically its something I though I'd never be able to do, so I'm way too excited about it. Most things should be about the same. If you find any errors or 404's, please let me know.

Every few months, I had gone to the Django website, looked around a bit, and chickened out. This last time, though, I started reading about it a bit more. I found some various sites made with Django. Then I read that Mephisto's template language, Liquid, was based on Django's built-in template language. That was enough for me to get the book and dive in.

As soon as I did, I totally fell in love. A couple days later and things just started flowing. Next thing I knew, I was a part of the (mt) Django beta and here we are!

I'm sure I'll be talking more about it soon. With any luck its faster and more fun for all.

Please update your RSS subscriptions to: http://feeds.latherrinserepeat.org/all_articles/. Thanks! :D

djangomtsite

Feed Mess

Quick apology... the feed was a huge mess today, with many repeat postings, mostly due to various newsreader apps caching issues. I believe I worked it all out, and you shouldn't be seeing any more repeat postings...

If you are seeing multiple instances of the same item please remove the feed and re-add it with this address: http://feeds.latherrinserepeat.org/all_articles/. It seems to be the only way to definitely clear the cache.

Thanks for understanding! :D

site

Canon SD750

Canon SD750 (Canon)

So, I'm making a new section of my site. Its called Swag, because well, its about my stuff. I love... stuff. I've got a lot of it. So I might as well write about it.

So here is my first Swag post. About my brand new camera! A Canon SD750. Woo.

Matt got me a new camera for my birthday. I have had the same digital camera for the past few years, a Canon SD450. Its a great camera, but my main issue was (believe it or not, I know it was a tiny camera...) was that it was just too heavy. It was a little metal rock. I It just was not worth carrying in my purse all of the time.

I'm very happy to report that my new SD750 is significantly lighter. I think the biggest help is the fact that it's half black plastic, which I have to admit is pretty sexy. The screen is crazy huge.

I haven't had it even for 24 hours yet, so I don't have too much to report just yet. I am also about the worst photographer in the world. However, I have managed to take a couple sample photos that you can see after the jump...

Sample pics! Yay!

Rose, taken with my new camera this morning. It was taken in full natural light, no flash. The flash was set to automatic, and I'm pretty sure for the first time ever with a Canon camera, it didn't apply the flash. I was impressed.

My iPhone 3G, taken with my new camera. This also has no flash.. though it tried to use it this time (taken in a different area).

My new camera, taken with my new iPhone. Pretty!

cameradigital

iPhone 3G, Baby

As you might have guessed, I got a 3G iPhone. There is no way around it, I love it. Is gorgeous, white and significantly faster than the old one.

Luckily though I didn't wait on a three hour line. I called the two closest Apple Stores every couple of hours. I started around noon, getting reports of "three to four hours" of wait time for a phone. I started to get worried that they might sell out when I heard around 2 that there was still three-hour long wait times. When I called around four, I was told that around fifty people were only online. So I took my chances and headed to the store.

Altogether It took about an hour and a half to get my phone. Afterwards, though, seeing that the line was about same length I ended up waiting on the line once again to save a place for Matt who was still stuck at work.

Obviously not too much is different. I had installed the iPhone 2.0 firmware the day before, so even less is unique. Yet for some reason it really does feel sleeker, smoother, and faster.

3giphonemac

Clearly, I Need Sleep

This morning I noticed I was pretty much out of face wash, but I knew I had another bottle in my bedroom so I didn't buy one today. So tonight, when I went to wash my face in the bathroom, I realized I had to get the other bottle. However I couldn't find the new bottle anywhere. I was looking all over forever. I finally found it on the bathroom sink. Yes, I had completely forgotten I had already put the new bottle in the bathroom this morning.

Clearly, I need sleep. Plenty of sleep.

fluffglasses

Glasses. They Help You See.

Yay for new glasses! I can see!

Seriously though, got a second pair of glasses and new lenses. The best part is now I can always have a pair in my purse so I don't accidently leave the house without glasses. Thats the worst. Yay!

fluffglasses

*Cinema -- Wall-E

Wall-E (2008)

• Might be the cutest movie on the planet.
  

  
  
  




• Loved just about everything Wall-E did.
  
  

  
  
  




• So sweet.
  

  
  
  




• Absolutely beautiful. I can't wait to see it on my TV.
  

  
  
  




• Loved every bit of physical comedy.
  
  

  
  
  




• I know I'm probably in the minority, but I actually liked Ratatouille even more.
  

  
  
  




• However that doesn't mean that I didn't love Wall-E.
  
  

  
  
  

*Cinema -- Dan in Real Life

Dan in Real Life (2007)

• The daughters were easily the best part.
  

  
  
  




• I love Steve Carell when he's anyone except Michael from The Office (don't get me wrong, I love him on The Office too). He is just the greatest guy.
  
  

  
  
  




• Dane Cook, however. Meh.
  

  
  
  




• Juliette Binoche was a bit too perfect. Her positive qualities were all way over-exaggerated.
  

  
  
  




• Actually plenty of things were over-exaggerated. Such as Steve Carell's actions. Same for Juliette Binoche.
  
  

  
  
  




• No one is that revealing of their feelings in public, especially with their family around. No one is that obvious and downright silly.
  

  
  
  




• The daughters totally made up for the pure ridiculousness, though. Just cause they were awesome.
  

  
  
  

Shiny New Things

So! I have a new layout up. I've had the ideas and the illustrations done for some time now. I actually first drew those birds maybe a year ago now... its just taken a while for me to find the time and motivation enough to finish up.

As for inspiration and creation... I guess I tried to make something that was more organic, but still with some structure, which is where I got the idea for the tree. At first everything was a variation of gray, but I quickly got tired of that and added in some rainbow flowers.

I miss the kitty already. But she will be back very soon... I just needed a change for now.

It should look suitable in Safari and Firefox. Of course I'm still working some kinks out and it is all subject to change. If you notice anything, please let me know. :)

I've also taken the plunge and switched hosts. Lets face it, (mt) is simply gorgeous. I love the amount of control that I have over everything while still not having to worry about the basics (email, stability, etcetera). I'm sure I'm going to have more to say about them later.

Anyways... so these are the new digs. I hope you like em! :D

fluffmtsite