Author: jae

jae lethe (he/she/they) is a blogger, musician, artist, poet, web developer/designer, armchair philosophizer, teller of tales, and gadabout. Also, something he calls a "behavioral artist." (Not sure.) She has plans. BIG plans.

Among the things that he has done for a laugh are minor fractures, cuts, scrapes, and various scabs. Though she's quick to point out that they're no imbecile, we're fairly certain that he thinks the word means some kind of medieval pharmacist.

This is her latest home on teh internets - where jae stores their swear words, when they're not hurling them at the sun in vain.

internets

Accessibility rules!

Want an argument for accessibility?

Here you go! (via Ma.tt)

Uber-cool Glenda Watson Hyatt, aka the Left Thumb Blogger, shares her perspective on how WordPress has improved her ability to communicate effectively on the internets.

Whether you are 100% able-bodied or not, accessibility is important. Because no matter who you are, the future is coming. Some day many of us may have devices assisting us, whether we need them or not, and completely removing all barriers between humans and machines will be an important first step in enabling us to proliferate on the digital grid – on a truly level playing field.

I’ve committed to making my upcoming theme be as accessible as possible. You should too, especially if you want to meet the Future head-on. Keeping all variants of humanity and machinery in mind when designing user interfaces of any kind will be important there.

Tags accessibility, CSS, geek stuff, technology, WordPress, XHTML

uncategorized

Accessibility rules!

Post author By jae
Post date 28 September, 2008

Originally published at jeremyjarratt.com. You can comment here or there.

Want an argument for accessibility?

Here you go! (via Ma.tt)

Uber-cool Glenda Watson Hyatt, aka the Left Thumb Blogger, shares her perspective on how WordPress has improved her ability to communicate effectively on the internets.

Tags accessibility, CSS, geek stuff, internets, technology, WordPress, XHTML

life local web design work

business as unusual

Post author By jae
Post date 27 September, 2008

I have never been so busy in all my life – I’m currently writing code for (in no particular order) 1) myself, 2) a client, and 3) a prospective employer, and 4) may be starting with a new client soon. Of course, i’ve put everything else off this past week for projects i was doing for the prospective employer. So why am i completely, utterly broke? At least i know i’ll get a week’s pay for the two projects i did for the P.E. That won’t go far, since i have so much debt right now.

Unfortunately, one of the projects i did for the P.E. didn’t get finished on time, so i (more or less) owe them my time for free. It’s a Drupal theme. It’s terribly difficult to make a Drupal theme in one week, especially when that’s only one of two projects they assigned to me! So now i have to finish that – even though i will probably not be hired now because i wasn’t able to complete it on time.

The upshot of this is that i learned a lot about Drupal in a short time, and reacquainted myself with Flash (actually Swish) and actionscripting.

I have decided that, even though i am impressed by Drupal’s extreme versatility, extensibility, and scalability, and really like the Zen theme base, i do not like the theming system much (at least not in 5.x, which is what i had to use for this project – though maybe the problem is a Zen-theme thing). The problem is that the theme code does not appear to be separated by admin and frontend, at least not obviously. So when i change a page, i also change the admin section, too. Obviously, that’s not great, and has been my stumbling block, keeping me from delivering on time. Thankfully, you can easily separate the homepage from the inner pages, but it seems like you have to code for every single inner page if you want to separate it from the admin section. Maybe i’ll figure out a better way around this, as it just doesn’t seem right. Not by a longshot.

Oh, how i wish i could be working with WordPress instead! WordPress has such a better theming system, though perhaps not as robust as Drupal. (Holly actually found me a two-week-old job listing on Craigslist for a job working with WordPress and Joomla!, but i fear i am much too late for that omg perfect gig. I need to keep up with Craigslist more!)

One thing’s for sure: i am pushing myself way beyond my physical limits. I’m apparently sick now, my throat feeling like phlegmy gravel and a nasty cough wracking my body every so often. In my over-the-counter coma induced earlier this evening i think i overheard Holly talking to someone about the bags under my eyes. I can almost feel my hair turning gray right now.

So, to sum up: i am putting myself through hell. I need less projects and more pay.

(It seems like right now in Dayton, nobody’s hiring, and everyone wants a massive discount on services, if not an outright free pass. What businesses remain here have that leverage, too, since damn near 8% of the city is now unemployed. An unemployed web designer has gotta do what an unemployed web designer’s gotta do.)

Tags code, Dayton, Drupal, job, local, sick, web design, woe is me, WordPress, work

uncategorized

business as unusual

Post author By jae
Post date 27 September, 2008

Originally published at jeremyjarratt.com. You can comment here or there.

The upshot of this is that i learned a lot about Drupal in a short time, and reacquainted myself with Flash (actually Swish) and actionscripting.

So, to sum up: i am putting myself through hell. I need less projects and more pay.

Tags code, Dayton, Drupal, job, local, sick, web design, woe is me, WordPress, work

family friends life work

What today was like

Post author By jae
Post date 19 September, 2008

Our mice have become entirely intolerable. Sometime during the night last night, one (or more) of them have somehow managed to Indiana Jones its way onto the kitchen counter, and ate a big chunk of our bread. Seriously, wtf? This, likely, because we are now even hiding our dog’s food lately, which i’m sure is not a popular decision with our dear little Speck. I have renewed my war with the rodents with vigor and prejudice. Our landlord must rectify this. Conditions are approaching unlivable. Failure: landlord.
Oops, somehow missed a credit card bill. I’m not perfect, but i don’t know how i forgot that one. Failure: mine.
Vectren, our fuel provider, informed us that our incredible $700+ bill was, in fact, incorrect. Due to – ahem – underestimations, it should actually have been more than twice that. Yes – read that again. We owe $1500+ for gas used over the past year, because of underestimations. I should have been suspicious that our water was, in fact, hotter than the surface temperature on Venus, and yet our bill was never unbelievably high. In fact, they had sent out notices a few times over the past several months, requesting an inside read off of the meter, but i, being an online bill-payer, assumed they were paper bills and simply ignored them. Thankfully, we have a year to pay it off in full. Failure: mine, with a little help from Vectren (hey, they had my voice number & e-mail).
Holly’s friend from work called us “idiots.” Holly, apparently for putting up with me; and me for not going out and getting a gas station job months ago (believe me, i’ve been searching, but maybe i set my sites a little too high for this crummy town). Failure: my own. Though her friend’s callousness was a little over-the-top.
Holly’s student loans have come due six months earlier than expected. Failure: apparently the lender, as she was quite clear that they would be due six months after graduation. It’s of course possible there was some nefarious fine print hidden away somewhere in obscure legalese.
Holly is so very exhausted and just completely strung out from all these awful stresses, which of course now also include her newly-diagnosed diabetic neuropathy (her latest round of medical testing is costing around $1200). Failure: again, mine.

Final tally? Don’t even tell me, i already know.

So you can see how i might be feeling a little crappy about myself, and about life in general lately. Things have hit critical mass, so to speak.

Oh, i didn’t mention a few ongoing issues, like the killer mold that is growing in our bedroom, from water leaking in through the windowsill. Those things weren’t specific to today.

On the positive side, i did have [what i think was] a good phone interview for a corporation i’d actually love to work for. I’m really hoping for the best, but you never know in this town. Just in case, though, i’ve also applied for a couple of menial positions. We shall see how things unfold soon enough.

Tags bad day, Dayton, help!, Holly, job, life, local, why do I keep fucking up?, woe is me, work, wtf

uncategorized

What today was like

Post author By jae
Post date 19 September, 2008

Originally published at jeremyjarratt.com. You can comment here or there.

Our mice have become entirely intolerable. Sometime during the night last night, one (or more) of them have somehow managed to Indiana Jones its way onto the kitchen counter, and ate a big chunk of our bread. Seriously, wtf? This, likely, because we are now even hiding our dog’s food lately, which i’m sure is not a popular decision with our dear little Speck. I have renewed my war with the rodents with vigor and prejudice. Our landlord must rectify this. Conditions are approaching unlivable. Failure: landlord.

Oops, somehow missed a credit card bill. I’m not perfect, but i don’t know how i forgot that one. Failure: mine.

Vectren, our fuel provider, informed us that our incredible $700+ bill was, in fact, incorrect. Due to – ahem – underestimations, it should actually have been more than twice that. Yes – read that again. We owe $1500+ for gas used over the past year, because of underestimations. I should have been suspicious that our water was, in fact, hotter than the surface temperature on Venus, and yet our bill was never unbelievably high. In fact, they had sent out notices a few times over the past several months, requesting an inside read off of the meter, but i, being an online bill-payer, assumed they were paper bills and simply ignored them. Thankfully, we have a year to pay it off in full. Failure: mine, with a little help from Vectren (hey, they had my voice number & e-mail).

Holly’s friend from work called us “idiots.” Holly, apparently for putting up with me; and me for not going out and getting a gas station job months ago (believe me, i’ve been searching, but maybe i set my sites a little too high for this crummy town). Failure: my own. Though her friend’s callousness was a little over-the-top.

Holly’s student loans have come due six months earlier than expected. Failure: apparently the lender, as she was quite clear that they would be due six months after graduation. It’s of course possible there was some nefarious fine print hidden away somewhere in obscure legalese.

Holly is so very exhausted and just completely strung out from all these awful stresses, which of course now also include her newly-diagnosed diabetic neuropathy (her latest round of medical testing is costing around $1200). Failure: again, mine.

Final tally? Don’t even tell me, i already know.

So you can see how i might be feeling a little crappy about myself, and about life in general lately. Things have hit critical mass, so to speak.

Oh, i didn’t mention a few ongoing issues, like the killer mold that is growing in our bedroom, from water leaking in through the windowsill. Those things weren’t specific to today.

Tags bad day, Dayton, family, friends, help!, Holly, job, life, local, why do I keep fucking up?, woe is me, work, wtf

current events uncategorized

Chevy Volt: first look

Check out the new Chevy Volt electric hybrid car here. It’s set to roll out in late 2010, a mere two years after my 1975 Dodge Dart is expected to finally crumble into dust. Sweet.

Tags alternative energy, car stuff

uncategorized

Chevy Volt: first look

Post author By jae
Post date 17 September, 2008

Originally published at jeremyjarratt.com. You can comment here or there.

Check out the new Chevy Volt electric hybrid car here. It’s set to roll out in late 2010, a mere two years after my 1975 Dodge Dart is expected to finally crumble into dust. Sweet.

Tags alternative energy, car stuff, current events, uncategorized

creative uncategorized web design

new wp-theme preview: “transitory”

Post author By jae
Post date 17 September, 2008

I’ve been hard at work the past couple of weeks on a new WordPress theme i’m calling “transitory.” It’s not as cool of a name as Big Urgent Wish, but i tried it on and it stuck.

My goal with this theme was to have a much, much cleaner page, without too much extraneous information clogging up eyeballs. Here is how i’ve decided it will eventually be layed out:

"transitory" Layout — "transitory" layout (click to enlarge)

Note that the colors are arbitrary in the above layout and will change.

And now here is a screenshot of it in action. Note the final layout has not yet been 100% applied. Also note the cool city background, which is blacked out underneath content boxes. Trust me, it looks much cooler than this. The menu to the side is being rewritten with jQuery, and will fold out when needed, and collapse when not needed.

transitory screenshot — "transitory" screenshot (click to enlarge)

At a guess, i’d have to say that it should be completed in about another week or two. So… a month, maybe? I dunno. You’ll see it soon enough.

All comments (good or bad) welcome!

Tags CSS, PHP, this site, web design, WordPress, WordPress themes, XHTML

uncategorized

new wp-theme preview: “transitory”

Post author By jae
Post date 17 September, 2008

Originally published at jeremyjarratt.com. You can comment here or there.

I’ve been hard at work the past couple of weeks on a new WordPress theme i’m calling “transitory.” It’s not as cool of a name as Big Urgent Wish, but i tried it on and it stuck.

My goal with this theme was to have a much, much cleaner page, without too much extraneous information clogging up eyeballs. Here is how i’ve decided it will eventually be layed out:

"transitory" layout (click to enlarge)

Note that the colors are arbitrary in the above layout and will change.

"transitory" screenshot (click to enlarge)

At a guess, i’d have to say that it should be completed in about another week or two. So… a month, maybe? I dunno. You’ll see it soon enough.

All comments (good or bad) welcome!

Tags creative, CSS, PHP, this site, uncategorized, web design, WordPress, WordPress themes, XHTML

creative internets uncategorized web design

CSS tricks: Styling parent elements with :hover

Post author By jae
Post date 16 September, 2008
3 Comments on CSS tricks: Styling parent elements with :hover

[EDIT: this site no longer supports the features described in this article. Sorry.]

You may have noticed in my sidebar that there are a few elements which are nested in an obvious hierarchical order. For example, at the time of this writing, i have a list of books which i am either reading, planning to read, or have already read, listed under the “now reading” heading.

You may also have noticed that the heading for each of these menu items is highlighted whenever you hover your cursor (pointer) over it.

What you may not have noticed is that the headings for these items’ parent elements is also highlighted when its descendant is hovered over. In other words, when you hover over the “planned books,” “current books,” or “recent books” list, the parent element, “now reading,” is highlighted as well.

(If you’re still not sure just what the hell i’m talking about, check out the demo first, and then come back.)

This is a cool trick that you rarely ever see on the internets, and it’s remarkably simple to do. You don’t need no fancy JavaScripting to do it, either! No server- or client-side scripts are used at all, just good old CSS, and a properly nested hierarchy of elements.

Tags cool tricks to amaze your friends, creative, CSS, geek stuff, internets, this site, web design, www, XHTML

uncategorized

CSS tricks: Styling parent elements with :hover

Post author By jae
Post date 16 September, 2008

Originally published at jeremyjarratt.com. You can comment here or there.

[EDIT: this site no longer supports the features described in this article. Sorry.]

You may also have noticed that the heading for each of these menu items is highlighted whenever you hover your cursor (pointer) over it.

(If you’re still not sure just what the hell i’m talking about, check out the demo first, and then come back.)

First, create a nested list, with headings. For example:

<ol>
 <li>
 <h1>text</h1>
 <h2>more text</h2>
 <ol>
 <li>
 <h3>subtext1</h3>
 </li>
 <li>
 <h3>subtext2</h3>
 <ol>
 <li>
 <h4>subtext2.1</h4>
 </li>
 <li>
 <h4>subtext2.2</h4>
 </li>
 </ol>
 </li>
 <li>
 <h3>subtext</h3>
 </li>
 </ol>
 </li>
 <li>
 <h2>text again</h2>
 </li>
 </ol>

Now create the following style rules:

li:hover>h2, /* matches the H2 element when its parent list-item is hovered over */ li:hover>h3, li:hover>h4, li:hover>h5
 {
 background: #000;
 color: #fed;
 }

(Note that the H1 element is not styled and thus does not actually participate in any fancy hover effects.)

Now save your page and test it out. You can adapt this technique to work with just about any set of nested elements. (Just make sure your nest validates!)

See the demo