1. Worry-free Moving with tmq

    April 26, 2012 by Xenia Maria

    Moving to a new home isn’t a complicated process, but together with the excitement comes the pressure and the panic. This is especially true for larger families who have accumulated a lot of stuff through the years. To some people, the whole thing is a nightmare. See the truth is, moving is only a nightmare if you don’t plan it well.

    But how exactly does one plan the entire thing?

    To avoid turning the exciting move into a huge fiasco, the first thing to do is to sort out all the appliances, pieces of furniture and personal effects that the entire family will be bringing along. This includes deciding which items are to be left behind, discarded, sold or donated.

    Keep in mind that large appliances and pieces of furniture have to be assessed – if there is enough space in the new house for them. If there is not, the best thing to do is to sell those large items and replace them with ones that could fit.

    Bringing along personal effects are, of course, at the owner’s discretion. Items of sentimental and monetary value and family heirloom should be packed accordingly and securely.

    Finally, getting a reliable moving company is important, and this is where tmq comes into the picture. The website is a great resource for finding free moving quotes as well as tips and tricks one can use when packing or planning the great move.


  2. On Coding and Styling Webpages and the 1140 CSS Grid

    March 30, 2012 by Xenia Maria

    In 2003 when I started creating websites with separating content and design in mind, my references were Position is Everything and Ruthsarian Layouts. Since then I have been learning and experimenting on my own blogs, trying to achieve the elusive and illustrious Holy Grail, with the goal of creating a markup and style with source order as the most pressing requirement. Alas, I gave in and did what other bloggers  (and designers) were doing – keep the main content at the leftmost column so it will always be first to load.

    (more…)


  3. Whatever happened to Crookshanks and Pigwidgeon?

    March 18, 2012 by Xenia Maria

    I watched two Harry Potter films in a row last night, The Prisoner of Azkaban and The Goblet of Fire. Right now, I am watching The Order of the Phoenix. A question came to mind, however.

    What happened to Crookshanks and Pig after the war?


  4. Tom Hiddleston reminds me of Alan Cummings.

    February 21, 2012 by Xenia Maria

    Geez!

    I’ve seen Thor in the cinema once last year and then countless times since I got the DVD, and there was always something at the back of my mind every time I see Tom Hiddleston/Loki.

    And tonight, as I watch Thor – again – (and as I type this post) it finally came to me.

    Alan freakin’ Cummings!

    Is it just me or do they resemble each other?

    And what a wild coincidence it is that Alan Cummings also portrayed Loki in The Mask 2. No, I did not see that movie, but just read about it from a blog post.

    On another, yet still related, note, Joshua Dallas, when in his Fandral look, reminds me of Andrew McNair. They DON’T resemble one another, but somehow… Eh. Maybe it has something to do with the beard?


  5. Jetpack Youtube Video Embedding Valid Code

    February 21, 2012 by Xenia Maria

    To those who are having a problem embedding Youtube videos on their WordPress posts, the easiest solution would be installing the Jetpack plugin, activating said plugin and, finally, using the following shortcode

    [ youtube=INSERT VIDEO URL HERE ]

    However, those who are anal about W3C compliance, such as myself, would find it disturbing that the Jetpack embed shortcodes output invalid code. There’s always a workaround and I’m glad I was brave enough to do it.

    I’ve been working with PHP with WordPress themes, but I have never before messed around with plugin files for the fear of breaking it, in spite of knowing that I could always re-install the damn plugin. Anyway, since the invalid code had been annoying me for the past few days, I decided to just dive right in and edit the offending snippet of code.

    But first, you must find the related file.

    jetpack/modules/shortcodes/youtube.php

    On line 200 of youtube.php, you will find the following piece of code:

    return "<span style='text-align:center; display: block;'><object width='$w' height='$h'><param name='movie' value='http://www.youtube.com/v/$id?version=3&rel=$rel&fs=1$fmt&showsearch=$search&showinfo=$info&iv_load_policy=$iv$start$hd' /> <param name='allowfullscreen' value='true' /> <param name='wmode' value='opaque' /> <embed src='http://www.youtube.com/v/$id?version=3&rel=$rel&fs=1$fmt&showsearch=$search&showinfo=$info&iv_load_policy=$iv$start$hd' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' allowfullscreen='true' width='$w' height='$h' wmode='opaque'></embed> </object></span>"; 

    Change that into

    return "<div class='video'><object type='application/x-shockwave-flash' data='http://www.youtube.com/v/$id?version=3&amp;rel=$rel&amp;fs=1$fmt&amp;showsearch=$search&amp;showinfo=$info&amp;iv_load_policy=$iv$start$hd' width='$w' height='$h'><param name='movie' value='http://www.youtube.com/v/$id?version=3&amp;rel=$rel&amp;fs=1$fmt&amp;showsearch=$search&amp;showinfo=$info&amp;iv_load_policy=$iv$start$hd' /><param name='wmode' value='transparent' /></object></div>";

    Voila! You’ve got valid code.

    Now all you geeks can sleep soundly now.

    This is me talking to myself. LOL.

    To demonstrate, behold, the bestest line from the bestest movie of all time, Gone with the Wind.


  6. Video Embedding Issues

    February 19, 2012 by Xenia Maria

    Pain in the ass, is what it is.

    I have been trying to embed a Youtube video on a test blog running on a WP multisite, but it seems like WordPress is filtering raw HTML. After I hit the “Publish” button, the code snippet evaporates into this air.

    There are plugins that workaround the issue, like Jetpack, but of course, like many other plugins out there, IT DOES NOT VALIDATE.

    I’ll have a look at the files and see what I can tweak. Hopefully, I will find something that works.


  7. Save the Open Web from CSS Vendor Prefixes

    February 12, 2012 by Xenia Maria

    Via molly.com

    Without your help, without a strong reaction, this can lead to one thing only and we’re dangerously not far from there: other browsers will start supporting/implementing themselves the -webkit-* prefix, turning one single implementation into a new world-wide standard. It will turn a market share into a de facto standard, a single implementation into a world-wide monopoly. Again. It will kill our standardization process. That’s not a question of if, that’s a question of when.

    Original text can be found at the Glazblog.


  8. Nibbler

    February 12, 2012 by Xenia Maria

    I enjoy testing my websites against standards compliance and other metrics. I use W3C Validator all the time to test my code. Sometimes, I use Marketing Grader (formerly Website Grader).

    A few days ago, I came upon Nibbler. I remember when it was just Silktide Tools, a few years ago. I didn’t know that Silktide had already transitioned from a web design company to what it is now. They now create software for web designers and developers. Pretty neat.


  9. Why Paper Can’t Win Over a Rock in Rock, Paper, Scissors

    February 3, 2012 by Xenia Maria

    click for larger image

    Suckerpunch!

    Rock, Paper, Scissors

    click for larger image

    Source: hypheninteriors.com via Heidi on Pinterest


  10. Whatcha gon’ do ’bout it?

    February 3, 2012 by Xenia Maria

    Oh my gosh. Hahahaha.

    Whatcha gon' do 'bout it?

    Whatcha gon' do 'bout it?

    Source: pinspire.com via Judy on Pinterest