Monthly Archives: March 2008

Check out TinyMCE

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If you’re a web developer who’s in charge of creating content management systems, there’s a great control you’ve got to check out – TinyMCE. TinyMCE is a free, open source WYSIWIG text editor. The beauty of it is that it’s feature-rich, it’s platform independent (being written entirely in JavaScript), and it’s extremely easy to configure and extend. It’s developed by Moxiecode, who also develops some very intriguing commercial controls. TinyMCE is actually the text editor that WordPress uses for their backend CMS (so, it’s what I’m writing this post on, by extension).

The great part is that TinyMCE is specifically designed as an XHTML markup editor, so the output of it can go straight into any web container without further down-the-line manipulation. Even better was a feature I was not at all expecting – you can style the text editor with a .css file and a css class definition too! This means that if you use your site’s stylesheet and it’s written well, you can get the TinyMCE editor window to effectively replicate what your site post will look like. Now, that’s a powerful feature!

Here’s an example of what I mean. This is a sample post from my other site, blaqdesign.com, in the content editor system that I’m writing for it. The great part was that these posts weren’t originally created in TinyMCE, but since they’re valid XHTML fragments, I was able to load them into TinyMCE with no hassles whatsoever. If you go to the site, you’ll see in this very post in the site news, and formatted exactly the same way. The background is the same, the text formatting and colors are perfect, and the XHTML markup is preserved. Now, I don’t have to worry that other people will make a mess of the site formatting when they’re creating content.

TinyMCE

If you’re interested, here’s my TinyMCE configuration I used:

<script>
tinyMCE.init({

mode : “textareas”,
theme : “advanced”,
theme_advanced_buttons1 :“bold,italic,underline,strikethrough,|,justifyleft,justifycenter,justifyright,” + “|,bulletlist,numlist,|,undo,redo,|,formatselect,|,cut,copy,paste,pastetext,pasteword,|,” + “outdent,indent,|,link,unlink,image,cleanup,code,charmap”,
theme_advanced_buttons2 : “”,
theme_advanced_buttons3 : “”,
theme_advanced_toolbar_location : “top”,
theme_advanced_toolbar_align : “left”,
theme_advanced_statusbar_location : “bottom”,
theme_advanced_resizing : true,
theme_advanced_resize_horizontal : false,
content_css : “/Styles/blaqStyleSheet.css”,
body_class : “contentBody”

})</script>

Boycotting the RIAA

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BoyCott RIAA

Well, before we get started here, why would we want to boycott the RIAA? Well, as I’ve pointed out before, they are using their intellectual property rights in a way that’s pretty close to extortion. They don’t pay fair wages to their artists (if they pay at all). They use illegal and quasi-legal tactics against universities, ISPs, and individuals. They stifle innovation – they’ve killed Napster and Oink, for example, and they’ve come close to killing ThePirateBay and AllOfMp3. They want you to believe that you don’t own the music you’ve paid for, and that fair use doesn’t exist when it comes to music. They’re also big fans of DRM that cripples the long term value of music (just so you’ll need to buy it twice or more). What about the Sony root kit debacle?

So, how far reaching is the RIAA? According to Wikipedia, about 90% of the music on store shelves is distributed through the RIAA. That’s a lot, unfortunately. The ‘Big Four,’ the largest four companies that pay into the RIAA are Sony BMG, Universal Music, Warner Music, and EMI. In addition, there are over 1600 individual labels, which are detailed here (warning, evil empire link). Strangely enough, there are several labels on the list of labels at the RIAA website that aren’t RIAA member labels, and apparently it’s very tough to get off said list.

So, how does one go about effectively boycotting the RIAA?

Well, the easiest way is to stop paying for music put out by RIAA labels. That doesn’t necessarily mean to download illegally, but to try to find any alternate means to getting your fix. More bands than you’d expect allow tape trading, for instance. If you’re hell-bent on having the latest music without the risk of peer-to-peer download, there are a few ways to limit your exposure – be creative.

You should let your favorite bands know that you’re passionate about this issue. Chances are that they’re not too happy with the RIAA either, for whatever reason. Support acts that are pioneering new and alternative distribution models (REM, Aimee Mann, Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead – the list keeps growing). For acts on RIAA labels, let them know why you’re not buying their music, and how you’ll support them otherwise.

NEVER support DRMed music – think of the unfortunate PlaysForSure suckers out there if you need any encouragement here. Go see a live show – you won’t regret it usually, and you’re effectively supporting your favorite artists through alternate means.

Start being vocal – tell your friends how to do the same things you’re up to, and stick by your principles. Show support to people like the EFF and boycott-riaa. Don’t let the lobbying arm of the RIAA unfairly influence our political process – contact your representatives and let them know how you feel. Above all, be creative and don’t give up the fight. Remember, this is a battle that music-lovers can win – when there’s no more money flowing to the RIAA and no more artists signing on, they’ve effectively lost.

The Art of Web Development

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I’ve been playing around with a few freely available Javascript libraries as of late, and I’ve been so very impressed at the quality and ease of use of what’s out there. I’m sure that most web developers are fairly well versed in the art, but since my career took a slightly different path until late, I’ve missed the proverbial boat and have some catching up to do. As far as technology, I’ve been particularly impressed with the prototype library, script.aculo.us, the control suite from livepipe, lightview, and a lot of the stuff on ajax rain. The people that make these libraries are incredible – very professional, dedicated, and willing to give their work freely to the community at large.

This site is hosted using WordPress as the engine. What I hadn’t realized until late is that the platform actually uses a lot of these tools already. The state of these free tools allows rapid prototyping and development of websites that have extremely valuable functionality built in. This differs so much from just a few years ago, when the best tools available were tutorials and maybe a few pieces of css or javascript that would need to be largely rewritten on a per-application basis. What a great and exciting time to be a web developer!

Bizarre Foods is a (Disgusting) Blast!

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Bizarre Foods

I can certainly appreciate a particularly compelling new turn of phrase, which is why I found it particularly amusing when someone got the bright idea to describe movies like Saw and Hostel as ‘torture-porn.’ Those two simple words really drive home the idea that said movies are going to be real gore-fests. So, as an unapologetic ‘borrower,’ I’m much into describing the television show Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern as ‘disgusting food-porn.’

The show is just starting it’s second season on the Travel Channel, but I confess to having not discovered it until very recently. If you haven’t had a chance to watch it, the premise is very simple. Andrew Zimmern is a bald, fat guy who gets to travel around the world in a quest to find, and eat, what I would describe as the most disgusting foods on the planet. There’s literally not much that he won’t eat – brains, spiders, eyeballs, whatever – and, I’ll admit, watching him do it is absolutely fascinating.

The first show I happened to catch had him in Ecuador eating guinea pigs – all of the guinea pig too, not just the tame, fleshy little parts. I have to admit that, not unlike the reactions to movies like Hostel and Saw, it’s kind of tough to watch at first, but as you get used to it you desensitize pretty quickly. I’m still one of the most squeamish eaters on the planet, but at least nowadays I can watch someone else enjoy a disgusting snack (maybe not in person, though, that may still cross a line).

Besides the food, there’s a good portion of the show dedicated to culture, which helps pull the show along. On top of that, the host, Andrew Zimmern, is a fascinating individual and the perfect host for a show like this. He’s engaging and he does a really good job of describing everything he’s experiencing and eating. His reactions are very genuine, and not at all over the top like you might expect, given the subject matter. If you haven’t had a chance to check the show out, definitely do so, you won’t be sorry you did (or maybe you will, who knows…).

NIN Not on The Downward Spiral

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Ghosts

This news is probably getting out a lot on the inter-tubes just now, but it’s still noteworthy enough for me to write about, in any case. Nine Inch Nails has decided to release a set of four albums worth of brand new instrumental music, Ghosts I-IV, using the internet as the distribution method. They’re giving one album away for free, and the remaining three can be gotten through a variety of means, including very reasonably priced, high quality MP3/FLAC download ($5). On top of that, it’s Creative Commons licensed, so if you do happen to not want to pay for it, you’re not doing anything illegal!

So, it’s pretty obvious that Trent Reznor and company understand how to do business in an internet-enabled world. This really isn’t surprising, given that Reznor has freely admitted to being an oink.cd subscriber back when it was still around. I was on the Ghosts site yesterday, and it was absolutely slammed with traffic to the point that I couldn’t even buy the album. In this day and age, that’s a really good problem to have – too much demand! More than the Radiohead In Rainbows promotion, though, NIN has taken this model to a new level, offering a product at a price that seems fair given the distribution model. On top of that, there’s a ton of the promotion and other opportunities this move presents, with related merchandise and concert sales.

There’s a great opportunity that exists right now to become a real player in music e-distribution right now. What does exist, namely iTunes and the Zune store, don’t even get anything too right. iTunes is price-constrained ($.99/song is ridiculous, and with Apple DRM on top of that) and the Zune store is similarly price-constrained, but without the DRM (good) or the fanbase (bad). If someone could come along and offer distribution and promotional services to bands in exchange for a cut of sales and could sign some great acts, what a great business to be in. It’s bound to happen, and everyone will win, as opposed to the environment today where there are only casulties in this pointless RIAA-consumer war.