For the web nerds that read this, apparently google added the following to their robots.txt file on Halloween:
User-agent: zombies
Disallow: /brains
Via Matt Cutts.
11.12.08 | # | Start the conversation
Northlander.org is the online persona of Dan Bowling, a web developer living in Missoula, MT.
For the web nerds that read this, apparently google added the following to their robots.txt file on Halloween:
User-agent: zombies
Disallow: /brains
Via Matt Cutts.
11.12.08 | # | Start the conversation
An interesting TED Talk that mentions Missoula, Montana.
11.11.08 | # | Start the conversation
Never, ever, badmouth a client on your blog. Read the comments to understand why.
11.09.08 | # | 2 Comments
I’m going to vote.
11.08.08 | # | 2 Comments
Wise words on creating a good iphone app. I think it applies well beyond it’s intended scope.
Figure out the absolute least you need to do to implement the idea, do just that, and then polish the hell out of the experience.
John Gruber’s one central, overriding guideline for iPhone UI design (via 37 Signals)
11.06.08 | # | Start the conversation
“Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy.”
Albert Einstein
11.06.08 | # | Start the conversation
Just handed in my National Multiple Choice Exam. Psssst — the answer to question #1 is Obama
11.04.08 | # | Start the conversation
Dear Red States:
We’ve decided we’re leaving. We intend to form our own country, and we’re taking the other Blue States with us. In case you aren’t aware, that includes California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and the entire Northeast. We believe this split will be beneficial to the nation, and especially to the people of the new country of New California.
To sum up briefly: You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states. We get stem cell research and the best beaches. We get the Statue of Liberty. You get Dollywood. We get Intel and Microsoft. You get WorldCom. We get Harvard. You get Ole’ Miss. We get 85 percent of America’s venture capital and entrepreneurs. You get Alabama. We get two-thirds of the tax revenue; you get to make the red states pay their fair share.
Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22 percent lower than the Christian Coalition’s, we get a bunch of happy families. Please be aware that Nuevo California will be pro-choice and anti-war, and we’re going to want all our citizens back from Iraq at once. If you need people to fight, ask your evangelicals.
With the Blue States in hand, we will have firm control of 80% of the country’s fresh water, more than 90% of the pineapple and lettuce, 92% of the nation’s fresh fruit, 95% of America’s quality wines (you can serve French wines at state dinners) 90% of all cheese, 90% of high-tech industry, most of the U.S. low-sulfur coal, all living redwoods, sequoias and condors, all the Ivy and Seven Sister schools plus Stanford , Cal Tech and MIT. With the Red States, on the other hand, you will have to cope with 88% of all obese Americans (and their projected health care costs), 92% of all U.S. mosquitoes, nearly 100% of the tornadoes, 90% of the hurricanes, 99% of all Southern Baptists, virtually 100% of all televangelists, Rush Limbaugh and Bob Jones University. We get Hollywood and Yosemite, thank you.
Additionally, 38% of those in the Red states believe Jonah was actually swallowed by a whale, 62% believe life is sacred unless we’re discussing the death penalty or gun laws, 44% say that evolution is only a theory, 53% that Saddam was involved in 9/11 and 61% of you believe you are people with higher morals then we lefties.
Sincerely,
The Blue States
(via Adam Hanson)
11.02.08 | # | Start the conversation
The BBC always has reports on interesting research. Todays reads says that tea is a healthier drink than water and web surfing is good for your brain.
In other news, Wide Open Spaces is even better with more cowbell.
11.01.08 | # | Start the conversation
Looks like there were some problems with the RSS feed for a while. If in doubt, subscribe to http://feeds.feedburner.com/Northlander. I’ll update the feedburner URL if I ever move my actual feed.
11.01.08 | # | Start the conversation
Too bad the American people have short memories.
10.30.08 | # | Start the conversation
My handwriting is a new level of illegible. 128-bit encryption has nothing on my chicken-scratch.
-Kelly Abbot (via LifeHacker)
10.26.08 | # | Start the conversation
With all the talk of change in today’s campaigns, it seems prudent that I make some change of my own. I finally moved the site to my beefy VPS, and gave it a new design to boot!
I’m calling this the (con)temporary design. It’s new, it’s different, and it’s much more conducive to the type of posts that I’ve been backlogging for a while. It’s also temporary.
Why would I do a design and only leave it up for a few months? The answer is simple: it was an experiment. This site takes advantage of some advanced code that only works in a couple browsers. It degrades nicely in Firefox and Internet Explorer, so you may not even notice that Safari users get to see some extra cool typography.
Hang around, subscribe to the RSS feed, because this blog is going through it’s renaissance.
10.24.08 | # | Start the conversation
David Sedaris, on undecided voters:
To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. “Can I interest you in the chicken?” she asks. “Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it?”
To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.
Via DF and The New Yorker.
10.22.08 | # | Start the conversation
There’s been a lot of problems with this site lately, all caused by the quality of my hosting service going down hill. These issues mostly show up as 404 errors (even when the page exists) and slow load times.
To combat this, I’ve purchased a Virtual Private Server (VPS) from Modwest to address the problem, but the move will take a couple weeks to finish. My apologies for the hiccups and downtime while I make this transition. Things should be much better after the move to the VPS.
I’ve already got two of my other domains on that server, and they are running as smooth as can be.
05.02.08 | # | Start the conversation
Spotted across the web:
05.01.08 | # | Start the conversation
I finally broke down and joined Twitter. Anyone I know on it?
04.30.08 | # | Start the conversation