Scott Bradford: Off on a Tangent

Mobile Browser Notes (Updated)

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I’ve made a number of minor adjustments to the mobile version of the site over the last week. Most notably, I have formally initiated support for the current versions of Apple Safari Mobile (for the new iPhone OS 3.0) and Microsoft Internet Explorer Mobile (for Windows Mobile 6.5). Additionally, I’ve improved support for some older, commonly-used mobile platforms like Windows Mobile 6.0/6.1 and RIM BlackBerry OS 4.5.

All of you BlackBerry users on OS 4.5, be sure to go into your browser options and turn on HTML tables, background/foreground colors, background images, and stylesheet support. Some of these options, for some strange reason, default to ‘off’ on many older ‘Berries . . . especially if they were upgraded to 4.5 from older versions.

The one notable (and frustrating) absence from my mobile browser support is Palm WebOS. With the first WebOS device (the Palm Pre) already on the market, it’s pretty incredible that Palm hasn’t released a development emulator and doesn’t intend to do so until the ‘end of summer‘. Not smart, guys.

On the way home from work today, I swung by a Sprint store to play around with the Pre in-person for the first time. It’s a pretty slick little phone and, of course, I put my site through its paces. Everything seems to work as expected (see the screenshot; I’m glad the demo units can do MMS!). I am initiating preliminary support for Palm WebOS based on this limited testing. As soon as an emulator becomes available I’ll initiate full, formal support.

House Update: It’s [Almost] Official

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houseIt’s all about a millimeter away from being official: we’re getting a house. In the picture to the right, Melissa and I are standing on the foundation of our future home (in the garage, specifically). The process, however, didn’t go quite as smoothly as we hoped.

When we put a contract down almost a month ago, we wanted the builder—a large, nationwide, publicly traded builder—to commit to completion as-scheduled before the end of November. This is very important; the $8,000 first-time home-buyer tax credit only applies to homes that close before November 30, 2009.

Well, when we submitted our contract, we wrote in a clause to the effect of ‘will close before Nov. 30’. Apparently the builder’s lawyers didn’t much like this, and our contract caused quite a firestorm in the upper echelons of the builder’s corporate structure because of our innocent little write-in clause. Some high-ranking decision-makers wanted the clause to stand, the lawyers and some other high-ranking decision-makers disagreed.

The final decision from the top, after much strife, is that the clause is unacceptable, and the builder will not approve the contract with that clause in it. Darned lawyers! The builder has, however, made a number of informal assurances that they will have everything ‘signed and sealed’ before the end of November. The end-of-November date coincides with the end of their fiscal year, and the end of fiscal year numbers (which are based on closed deals) determine employee bonuses, stockholder happiness, etc.—so they really want to see it done before then, even if they can’t put it in writing.

Our options were, basically, to either trust them or walk away . . . so we’re going to trust them and pray it works out as expected and we don’t lose the $8,000. Our financing was approved a couple weeks ago, and the revised contract was submitted today. This time it should be approved promptly (since the one clause was the only thing holding it up last time), and then it will all be completely, totally official.

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Posted in: Life

Random Cat Pictures

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Cats are bizarre creatures, especially when they are young. While Vincent, our youngest of two cats, is roughly full-grown now, he’s still pretty much an idiot. He’s always getting himself in trouble, messing with stuff, knocking things over, climbing into boxes, etc. Our older cat, Mei Mei, had some moments like that when she was a kitten but even then she was much more timid and cautious. They certainly have distinct personalities.

The good news is that Vincent’s insanity often results in great, goofy photo opportunities. Rather than bothering you with every goofy Vincent picture every time he does something silly, I’ll just overload you with a bunch of goofy Vincent pictures (with Mei Mei thrown in here-and-there) all at once.

Read more . . .

North Korean Brinkmanship

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While there is unrest in a number of ‘hot spots’ throughout the world, the recent activity in North Korea—including a nuclear test and missile launches—is the most troubling. The pieces are falling into place for the reclusive, totalitarian North Korean government to pose a serious threat to the region, the United States, and the world.

Hot on the tails of the North Korean nuclear test at the end of last month, and the declaration that North Korea would no longer be bound by the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War, there’s more sabre-rattling going on. There are two stories related to North Korea that I am following very closely, as either may end up leading to war depending on how things are played by North Korea and our own government.

First, the USS John McCain—a U.S. Navy destroyer—is tracking a North Korean ship suspected of violating the terms of a sanctions-tightening U.N. Security Council resolution passed on Friday. North Korea has declared that the interception and boarding of its ships will be considered an act of war that would provoke retaliation. It is unclear at this point whether the ship will be intercepted.

Separately, North Korea is said to be preparing a new missile test which will possibly be launched in the direction of Hawaii on-or-around July 4. The U.S. military has stepped up our missile defense systems for Hawaii, but—cue the broken record—North Korea declares that any interception of its missile tests will be treated as an act of war. Of course, if a North Korean missile enters U.S. sovereign territory then North Korea will have already committed an act of war on their own.

Let’s hope and pray that these two incidents-in-the-making fizzle quietly, rather than escalating into a full-blown military conflict.

Straw Star

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strawstarI’m on the verge of catching a cold, I’m afraid, so in an effort to keep it at-bay I’m taking in a lot of vitamin C and green tea. Thankfully I’m not a Zicam user; I always found that stuff a bit suspicious and now the FDA has joined in my suspicion.

Yesterday afternoon, when I went to make a vat of green tea for the remainder of my day, I found the coffee straws in a bizarre, vaguely star-shaped jumble. For some reason, I found it very funny and chuckled about it for a while.

Isn’t it great how the dumbest little things can bring light into your day? I tend to be a fairly serious person and, as such, I can get a bit depressed as I follow world events, observe the moral degradation of society, fight with companies to provide appropriate levels of service, etc. I’m glad I can still laugh at straw stars.

Scott Bradford is a writer and technologist who has been putting his opinions online since 1995. He believes in three inviolable human rights: life, liberty, and property. He is a Catholic Christian who worships the trinitarian God described in the Nicene Creed. Scott is a husband, nerd, pet lover, and AMC/Jeep enthusiast with a B.S. degree in public administration from George Mason University.