Eric Mann

  • Google Reader – Revisited

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    A few weeks ago, I published a tutorial regarding using the Google Reader API in PHP projects.  Since that time, Google has changed the authentication portion of their API somewhat, so I need to revise my instructions just a bit.  And some day in the future, I’ll even post a tutorial on how to use

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  • JavaScript Event Bus

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    I was taught some time ago to always focus on decoupling my code.  Your server and the client (browser) should not need to know anything about the structure of one another.  They can pass information back and forth, but that should be the full extent of their integration.  There are several reasons for this, but

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  • Environmental Modeling – Part 2

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    Last week, I proposed the idea that each of us is walking around with a model of the world inside our heads.  Every experience we have, every object we see, and every event we witness help build and refine this model, giving us the ability to predict future behavior and make decisions based on past

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  • Environmental Modeling

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    The other day I came to an interesting revelation about the way we see the world.  Actually, it’s more a theory on development based on the way I think we see the world.  All the same, it has some great applications on both software development and marketing strategy.  Today, though, I’ll focus more on the

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  • Amazing

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    Every now and then, an advertiser gets it so right that their ad sends shivers down my spine.  It’s becoming a rare phenomena these days because so many advertisers copy one another … but when the World Cup started last week, someone did something right. First, you have the Dodge Challenger commercial that debuted with

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  • The Importance of Being Well-Read

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    I decided the other day that I want to hide a geocache of my own, now that I’ve managed to find so many.  The difference is – I wanted to make sure my cache was a difficult one to find.  Not one of those lift-the-lamp-skirt or look-in-the-crotch-of-the-tree caches you find so many of.  So I

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  • Do You Leave Time on the Table?

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    How long does it take you to complete a project?  When you bid for 1 hour of work, does that actually comprise 1 hours of head’s-down labor, or one hour of total focus on the project?  Do you go home at the end of the day and stop working, or do the wheels keep turning

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  • Violent Tranquility

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    I had the opportunity this weekend to spend some time at Ape Cave in Washington with the Boy Scouts.  We spent the weekend camping on the Lewis River and much of Saturday exploring lava tubes higher up on the mountain.  It was a great respite from technology (no electricity or cell phones), and it provided

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  • Paper Prototyping

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    The first thing I do when building any new piece of software is build a prototype.  Many times, though, that prototype is on paper, not on the the computer.  I’d much rather get all the kinks worked out before investing any time staring at a glowing screen wondering why X doesn’t do Y like it’s

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  • Do Something Worthwhile

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    This past Saturday, I had the opportunity to work with a few other volunteers at the local Habitat for Humanity work site.  I’ve helped out there a few times in the past, and it’s awe-inspiring to see how far the various projects have gotten.  Last October, I helped set the floor joists in the foundation

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