JP Grace’s Blog

I recently upgraded my iMac to 4GB of RAM and now I’ve got 2 GB of RAM just laying around.  Who wants it?  You can have either either one or both sticks.  Just pay for the shipping via the my PayPal donate button ($5 should cover it) and I’ll drop it in the mail on Monday.  I’ll update this page as soon as they’re gone.  You can shoot me a question @jpgrace on twitter.

My iMac is the original 24″ 3.06 Ghz iMac model.  Here are the details:

• Manufacturer: Samsung
• Technical specs: 1GB PC2-6400S-666-12-A

Here is the RAM pulled from my computer.

I bought a used Canon 50mm f/1.4 USM Lens off of Craigslist today only to discover once I departed that the focus ring was badly stuck between 3 meters and infinity. I considered taking the lens into a professional service center for repair, but need it for a shoot this weekend and that would take at least two weeks.

I discovered that the focus ring gets stuck often on this model lens and that most people send it off to be serviced. The most common cause seems to be dropping the lens. The method used to fix this isn’t for the faint at heart. I would certainly not recommend this to anyone who has never taken apart anything before (and successfully put it back together again) or someone who has a lot to lose if something were to go wrong.

If you try this and it doesn’t work out, I take NO responsibility for your failings. Do this at your own risk!

Thanks to those who went before me: fatigue from Clubsnap for documenting the entire process of dissassembly and Nick_b of Photography on the Net for documenting the focus ring part correction.

Before you begin, I would recommend getting several dry clean wash clothes to layout the disassembled parts on. You’ll also want a mini-screwdriver set, needle nose pliers and some latex gloves. I got gloves for free from the deli downstairs.

I’m going to try to get permission to republish the steps here. Until then, please follow the links to see directions and discussion.

• Step 1: Disassemble the lens. Personal note: the four screws on the metal mount are very tight and difficult to loosen. I had to apply pressure on the screw with the mini-Philipshead screwdriver and apply torque with the needle nose pliers.
• Step 2: Bend the focus ring back in place. Personal note: I bent mine a little too far and it caused the ring to get stuck at the infinity end. I just used the needle nose pliers to correct the overcompensation. I could see how you could destroy this piece very easily if you weren’t very careful.
• Step 3: Reassemble the lens. Personal note: make sure the four metal mount screws are tight upon completion. I failed to tighten mine all the way. This caused the USM to fail to engage, which meant that the aperture reading in my viewfinder and LCD read 00 and autofocus didn’t work. Tightening the screws fixed the problem.

Results

I just finished a few hours ago and only taken a handful of shots. So far every thing seems in order. I’ll post some pics from this weekends shoot to show how well its working. Here’s a photo taken at night in my bedroom with just the fan lights on. Only time will tell if this has indeed fixed the issue.

The is the full image shrunk down to fit on the web.

This is a close up of the first image to show detail

Twitter’s growth continues to explode.  Recently thier traffic surpassed Digg’s for the first time ever.  Tweeters are still a savvy bunch.  They require cross platform integration of services.   With its open API, twitter widgets, plugins and apps have sprung up all over the internet, from Facebook to the iPhone and of course on wordpress.

The market for twitter plugins on Wordpress is fierce.  With no less than five stand-alone twitter plugins (Considering there are really only two caching plugins I’d say this is a testament to the tweeters).  Today let’s take take a look at the strengths and weaknesses of the best of these plugins.

Throwdown Prerequisites

To be considered for this smackdown, a plugin must be considered a twitter only plugin.  Plugins that don’t work with the latest version of Wordpress were also excluded.  This was done to exclude the many other all-in-one or no longer supported plugins which were deemed to be outside the scope of the throwdown.

Twitter Widget Pro version 1.2.2

Screenshot of Twitter Widget Pro

Twitter Widget Pro lives up to its name.  Of all the plugins I tested its execution of a widget was nearly flawless.  I love plugins like this.  The authors seem to better understand when to add a feature and when to omit one.  If you’re just looking for a sidebar widget to display your feed, look no further.

Twitter Widget Pro options

It also includes this ominous option in Settings:

A few things of note, the title links to your twitter homepage and @ posts link to your friend’s twitter page.  I would have liked the option to exclude @username and RT posts.  The former is available in Twitter Tools, but the latter is currently not an option for any of these plugins so that’s a moot point.

Twitter Tools version 1.5.1a

If you’re looking for a little bit more twitter integration into your blog, might I suggest Twitter Tools.  Twitter Tools provides several ways to interact with your twitter account right from Wordpress.  It includes a sidebar widget, a post to twitter tool, and an option to include all of your tweets as posts on wordpress.  This plugin offers the most features of any of the other plugins and yet still manages to do each task right.  That doesn’t mean that it’s without it fault.

Unfortunately the widget title doesn’t link to your twitter account.  Instead there is a link at the bottom of the module for “More updates…”.  Which I suppose does the job, but adds to the clutter and breaks up the flow of information.  This is really my biggest gripe about the plugin.  Perhaps I’m nitpicking.

Twitter Tools in action

You’ll find the post to twitter tool is found under Posts > Tweet.

Here are a few screenshots of the settings page.  As you can see Twitter Tools is vastly more customizable than the other options.

Twitter for Wordpress version 1.9.2

Simplicity is the name of the game here.  Twitter for Wordpress is very simple to use.  In fact there isn’t even a Settings page to configure it!  All configuration is done in Appearance > Widgets.  Just because its simple doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have any tricks up its sleeve.  It also features support for multiple twitter widget feeds.

Twitter for Wordpress widget options in all thier glory

As you can see below, the user experience is nearly identical to Twitter Widget Pro.  Its greatest shortcoming is that the title doesn’t link to your twitter homepage.  I would have liked to see the option for including your profile pic as well.

Twitter for Wordpress is better for users preferring a simple approach.

Summary

There’s a lot out there for the Wordpress community to choose from regarding twitter integration: Twitter Widget Pro is a superb widget module, Twitter Tools provides users with just a little bit more, and Twitter for Wordpress is perfect for the functional minimalist in all of us.  None of these plugins are perfect, but you should be able to live with one them.

In the end, I decided to go with Twitter Tools here on jpgrace.com for a number of reasons.  I was looking for a tool to both post tweets to the sidebar and to notify twitter when I post a new blog.  The fact that it appears to be one of the more actively developed plugins of those reviewed definitely weighed heavily as well.  The fact that @username reply can be excluded was important as well.  So there you have it, Twitter Tools is crowned king of the Twitter Widget throwdown!

In closing, just a word of caution.  These plugins don’t all play nice together.  You’re better off picking the plugin that closest suits your needs than trying to mix and match.

2009 is off to a great start thus far.  Already I’ve been able to focus my efforts on more career related self improvement.  I’ve been focusing on hands on experience outside of work for the time being.  A lot of the things I’ve been working on are server admin improvements to this site, with the goal being an enterprise level server environment for personal use.  Many of the lessons I’ve learned over the past few weeks will be invaluable down the road.  The integration of all the systems needed to run an enterprise level software environment can be challenging at times for a single person to grapple with.  Especially one who has never done it all, all by himself, before.  That being said, I’m loving every minute of it.

This year I hope to sort out grad school admissions and all that goes along with that.  There’s a Kaplan GMAT test prep class to take.  Once I’ve aced that, I’ll need to write essays, get recommendations, and apply to schools.  I’ve also got to determine how much all of this is going to cost (and pay for it).

This is also the year I finally plan on making this blog a priority.  I’d like to be able to look back around this time next year to find no less than 50 substantive posts in 2009.  I’m scheduling in writing time each week from here on out.

In addition to all that, there’s the vacation to Peru in a few weeks, possibly another to Italy later in the year.  There will be weddings, there will be friends in town and there will be fun!  I see great things to come in 2009.

After switching hosting companies last year I’ve been neglecting this website.  The switch has prompted me to upgrade the services I lease so presumably that will mean a better user experience.

I’m in the process of getting the blog back up an running now.  Soon I hope to have all of the old posts imported and begin writing new ones.

That was a lot longer that I had anticipated!  From a 5am wake up to a 3am bed time.  The most exciting event of the day unfortunately was the plane ride: a last minute landing pull-out, enemy-fire-evation style manuever to avoid landing on the wrong runway.  We almost landed on the “take off” runway.  Ooops!  Err… “There was a miscommunication from the tower”, as the pilot offered.  Thanks guys.

Once on the boat things ran much smoother.  The view of Seattle from the harbor is amazing.  You can see downtown, the Space Needle, the Seahawks and Mariners Stadiums.

While doing a brief once over of the ship, I discovered this great deal in the spa.  For $150 I got a weeks worth of private access to a slew of great ammenities.  Including suanas, a hot mineral bath, and hot beds.  I have a feeling that will be the best $150 I spend all week.