Author Archives: Tony

Chattahoochee River and Stone Mountain

Posted on by
Reply

We started our day with a trip to Morgan Falls.

December 4, 2011 – Sunday dawned grey and windy, but nothing that a sweatshirt couldn’t fix.  Our first stop was a little park by a power plant for a quick walk through the woods by the Chattahoochee River.  We liked getting up into the hills, with the trees and singing birds. :)

Sweatshirts were a necessary part of the morning.

Afterward we continued on to Stone Mountain.  There is an aerial tram ride to the top, but we wanted to walk it.  It’s a pretty trail, and fairly easy - although there is one ridiculously steep section near the top (I think the slope was about 30 degrees for a bit).  Other than that, though, it’s a quick hike.  Plus there’s some pretty graffitti from the 1800s…. you know, back when rock carvings were well done (and people took pride in their work – but I digress).  Social commentary aside, there’s also a nice breeze, good views (even if it’s a bit cloudy/hazy), and a restroom awaiting you at the summit.

There's always something impressive about trees growing out of granite rock.

Once the hike down was over we drove around the mountain (note: it’s a one way road, folks, and no, the fact that you’re only going one way doesn’t mean you get to choose the direction!) to check out the Civil War memorial carving.  The carving is well done, though it’s dwarfed by the size of the giant granite rock (i.e. Stone Mountain) itself.  Compared to Mt. Rushmore, it’s definitely nice, but a bit underwhelming.

Tech Roundup #3 – SOPA Edition

Posted on by
Reply

The big news this week is SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act.  In my opinion, this is another example of Congress dabbling in what they don’t understand, only to create the potential for massive censorship and technical issues.

What is SOPA? – For a good overview on SOPA, check out Wikipedia. They have points from both sides of the argument, but there are definitely more points against than for.

Timeline – I recommend The Verge’s timeline to see what has been going on with SOPA so far.  I especially like the public debate article, which shows just how clueless some of these politicians are.  My “favorite” quote is from Rep. Lamar Smith:

“All we are trying to do here is stop online piracy. Now, since when did the opposition get so fierce against this? What could be behind the motives of people or organizations that don’t think stopping online piracy is something that we need to deal with…?” – Way to group technology professionals (that primarily want to avoid technical issues) with pirates. Nice.

Consumer Backlash – GoDaddy withdrew its support of SOPA because of backlash from some big hitters, including Wikipedia.  As if their ads weren’t enough reason to find other hosting providers.

Supporter List – VodkaCranberry from Reddit compiled this list of SOPA supporters. We need to send a message by boycotting companies that support this act. (On an off-topic note, why do shoe companies support this act?)

Bonus non-SOPA story - For an example of how not to conduct business, check out this story from Penny Arcade.  One lesson to learn from this: don’t mess with one of the big hitters in the gaming industry. Why? Because everyone, even mainstream tech media, loves a good PR blunder.

Using Notepad++ to Easily Compile LESS CSS Files

Posted on by
5

Recently, I decided that I wanted to use LESS to easily generate CSS files, but I also wanted to compile these files before deploying on the web.  To accomplish this, I used Node.JS (with the LESS module) and Notepad++.  Currently, this Node.JS solution is preferred to the old Ruby compiler.  To use this setup, follow the steps below.

Installing Node.JS

To being the process, you will first need to install Node.JS.  This program basically allows you to easily use JavaScript as server-side code.  (This works with LESS because LESS is a JavaScript application.)  To begin the installation, follow these steps:

  1. Download the Node.JS installer.
  2. Run the installer with the default options.
  3. Verify that the node and npm binaries are included in the PATH by opening a command prompt and typing node. You will be given an error message if this is not available. Reboot if you see this error message.
  4. Create a directory for Node.JS modules. (I used C:\Node.JS)  This will be needed to setup your LESS module, and other modules if you choose to examine Node.JS further.

Installing the Node.JS LESS Module

Next, LESS will need to be installed.  If you are not familiar with LESS, please review their site to see the benefits of using this system instead of hard-coding your CSS files.  To install the LESS module, follow these steps:

  1. Open the command prompt.
  2. CD to your Node.JS module directory (created on step 3 above, C:\Node.JS in my case).
  3. Run this command: npm install less
  4. Take note of the lessc cmd file and its location. In my case, it is stored here: C:\Node.JS\node_modules\.bin\lessc.cmd

Create the Run Command Shortcut in Notepad++

Once the lessc.cmd file is installed, we can configure Notepad++ to compile our LESS files into CSS. Follow these steps to map Alt+F5 as a compile shortcut:

  1. Open Notepad++ and create a simple .less file. Make sure to set the encoding type to ANSI to avoid syntax error messages.
  2. Access the Run dialog box in Notepad++ by clicking Run->Run.
  3. Entering the following text into the Run dialog box (including the quotes):
    • "C:\Node.JS\node_modules\.bin\lessc.cmd" -x "$(FULL_CURRENT_PATH)" > "$(CURRENT_DIRECTORY)\$(NAME_PART).css"
    • Be sure to replace C:\Node.JS\node_modules\.bin\lessc.cmd with the location of your lessc.cmd.
    • The -x option tells lessc to output minified CSS.
  4. Click the save button.
  5. Enter a descriptive name, such as LESS Compile.
  6. Select the key combination of your choice. I used ALT+F5.
  7. Test the command on your less file.  If the command worked, you will see a new CSS file in the same directory as your less file.

Other Tweaks

It is possible to tweak this process in other ways if you do not wish to always save the CSS file in the same directory as the LESS file.  For example, you could create your own CMD, BAT, or .NET app to run the less compiler with your own options.  As always, feel free to comment with questions or additions to these steps.