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Co-Authors Plus v2.6

Mohammad Jangda — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 17:17:15 +0000

Co-Authors Plus v2.6: Search user’s display names, change byline order and more | danielbachhuber.

Thanks to Daniel, Co-Authors Plus, which I’ve long neglected, finally has an update with some long-overdue bug fixes and some sweet new features.

Review: Tintin in America

Mohammad Jangda — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 04:48:20 +0000

Tintin in America by Hergé

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I’ve started reading through the whole Tintin series again (partially in preparation for the movie) and the experience is very similar to re-watching your old childhood TV shows. You get that warm, nostalgic feeling which slowly dissolves into doubt and and leaves you wondering how you could possibly enjoyed something so bad. This particular book has a lot of racist overtones and the dialogue is pretty poorly written (which I guess is really the norm for any comic book written in the early 20th Century).

Overall, though, the book is still a fun read and I can’t wait to re-read the rest.

View all my reviews

On $wpdb->prepare

Mohammad Jangda — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 19:30:08 +0000

If you do the following, you’re a terrible person:

$query = "SELECT ID from {$wpdb->posts} WHERE ID = %d";
$query = $wpdb->prepare( $query, $value );

There is absolutely no reason for prepare to be on a separate line.

Here’s how you do it the right way:

$query = $wpdb->prepare( "SELECT ID from {$wpdb->posts} WHERE ID = %d", $value );

One line. Simple, easy to read, and not confusing.

A letter to Canadians from the Honourable Jack Layton

Mohammad Jangda — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 02:57:47 +0000

And finally, to all Canadians: Canada is a great country, one of the hopes of the world. We can be a better one – a country of greater equality, justice, and opportunity. We can build a prosperous economy and a society that shares its benefits more fairly. We can look after our seniors. We can offer better futures for our children. We can do our part to save the world’s environment. We can restore our good name in the world. We can do all of these things because we finally have a party system at the national level where there are real choices; where your vote matters; where working for change can actually bring about change. In the months and years to come, New Democrats will put a compelling new alternative to you. My colleagues in our party are an impressive, committed team. Give them a careful hearing; consider the alternatives; and consider that we can be a better, fairer, more equal country by working together. Don’t let them tell you it can’t be done.

My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.

Even at his weakest, Jack could still inspire us to be our strongest. Sir, you will be missed.

Read the full letter | See Jack at his best best: happy | Six ways Jack Layton helped build Toronto

Photo: “All The Ice Cream You Can Eat”

Mohammad Jangda — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 17:01:00 +0000

Ice cream?! All you can eat?! 10 cents?! Sign me up!

(Spotted at Dairy Queen)

Posted from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

WordPress Distraction-Free Skin: Terminal/Matrix

Mohammad Jangda — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 17:21:23 +0000

Because all the cool kids want to feel like they’re writing posts in the Matrix. (Inspired by Zen)

View on Github

Mohammad Jangda — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 16:01:51 +0000

The Case of The Traveling Text Message — Michele Tepper walks through one of the most powerful features of BBC’s Sherlock, which is just one of the many reasons why I love the series. I can’t wait for new episodes this year.

A final word and a thank-you | Slave Lake Book Auction

Mohammad Jangda — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 16:01:19 +0000

Well folks, that’s a wrap for the Slave Lake book auction.

[...]

While the auction was an unbelievable amount of hard work, it was also a lot of fun. I LOVED watching the bidding wars going on and all the fun comments between bidders, egging each other on (yes Angie, I’m looking at YOU!). I loved that some of the books were hand delivered to the winners. I loved that authors offered up a SECOND copy to auction losers who wanted to pony up the same amount as the winners. I loved that up until the last post I was still getting donations in.

So thank you all so, so much for making this auction a roaring success. Because of you Slave Lake Library now has $4,909 to put towards rebuilding their library.

And that’s just freaking awesome.

Despite not winning any books, this is still beyond awesome. Great job Colleen!

Swoop the Owl – Mobile Plush (on Kickstarter)

Mohammad Jangda — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 17:01:41 +0000

I pledged. Because I’m not afraid to admit that I sleep with my phone beside me. Maybe you should too?

On the failures of Online Banking

Mohammad Jangda — Tue, 31 May 2011 17:36:03 +0000

It seems to me that with every upgrade or enhancement, online banking (in Canada) get less useful and far more difficult to use. Having had a 4-month co-op stint at a bank (doing QA for the Online Banking team), I know all about the red-tape involved, plus the antiquated mindset, skills, and technologies at play, so I’m not really surprised; just disappointed.

Some highlights:

One bank no longer lets me view my statements online but rather forces me to download a PDF.
Several banks don’t actually let me download PDF statements.
One bank fails to list the actual statement date when viewing a statement.
Two banks limit their passwords at 6-8 characters.
One bank has two separate systems: one for their credit card and one for regular banking.
One bank forces me to indicate the fact that I’m from Canada every time I visit their site (because the domain on their cookie isn’t set correctly).

Banks should spend less time on building peripheral money management webapps, and focus instead on the core experience. They could pick up about a million cues from mint.com.

As skeptical as I was about the idea of BankSimple, I now wait with bated breath.