WP SimpleWeather Plugin

Today I released my first WordPress Plugin to the WordPress Plugin Repository. It can be found here. I have also created a page here on my website explaining the basics of the WP SimpleWeather Plugin.

As this is my blog, let me go a bit more in depth here. As I briefly mentioned above, this is the first WordPress Plugin I have created. I suppose that could lead to a variety of questions concerning it, so let me go ahead and hold a brief question and answer session with myself to explain.

Q: This is your first WordPress plugin? Does that mean it’s going to suck?

A: Yes, this is my first WordPress plugin. I mean, I’ve used plenty before, but this is the first one I have made. I suppose it is quite possible that it will indeed suck. I mean, I don’t think it does, but it is possible that users of the plugin will find any number of issues that I have not thought of. I am new to the game here, so be gentle. I will do my best to fix any issues as soon as possible.

Q: Why did you decide to create a WordPress plugin in the first place? Why a weather plugin? There are a ton of those!

A: Well, I have been using WordPress for quite some time in the creation of my websites. It is the most popular blogging platform in the world today. This website itself is made using WordPress. During the creation of another website (which I am still working on), I needed the use of a Weather Plugin. Unfortunately, all the WordPress plugins I came across dealing with weather were, well, not quite what I wanted. So, I went searching around and eventually came across the jQuery simpleWeather plugin. It was pretty much exactly what I was looking for. Except that it was not yet a WordPress plugin. I could use it easily as a jQuery plugin, but then my clients would not be able to easily update it via the WordPress back-end. So, I decided to convert it into a WordPress plugin.

Q: Someone else made it? And you’re taking credit? Isn’t that wrong?

A: Yes and no. The jQuery simpleWeather plugin was created by James Fleeting using the Yahoo! Weather API. There are a variety of available plugins which use the same. I really liked his, and merely converted the publicly available code into a WordPress plugin. If Mr. Fleeting would prefer that I take the plugin down, I will do so at his request. I am fully crediting his work (as you can see here), and do not wish in any way to be stealing his thunder. I sincerely hope that creating this plugin will bring both he and I more web design business in our respective locales.

If there are any questions, feel free to ask away in the comments section. I hope someone enjoys the plugin. If not, at least I’ve found it useful for myself.

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Hocking Hills = Awesome

I am from Findlay, Ohio. It’s really flat here. Super flat. The only hills in town are man made. So, naturally, when I think of Ohio, I don’t think of sweet places to hike. It turns out the other side of the state is completely different.

This weekend some friends and I went down to the Hocking Hills region of Ohio (see their website)… just a bit southeast of Columbus. We went camping at a place called Lake Hope. Honestly, the campground was decent, but nothing special. The real attraction is the hiking trails located throughout the region. There are numerous trails and the whole area is beautiful. I could try to explain it, but I’ll just post a few pictures instead.

Conkle’s Hollow

On Saturday we hiked at a place called Conkle’s Hollow. We went around on the 2 mile Rim Trail. It had some stunning cliff views. While we were hiking the trail, it just started pouring down rain outside, and I still had a grand time.

Then on Sunday we hiked something along the lines of 8-10 miles covering three other areas of the Hocking Hills Region by following the Buckeye Trail between them. It was thoroughly fantastic, and I would recommend everyone check it out. I am very glad we took the Buckeye Trail between these three areas rather than driving to each one separately. It was quiet and relatively empty out along the trail, and in many areas it was just as beautiful as the far more touristy and populated areas we hiked along at:

Ash Cave

Ash Cave was our first stop, just off of State Route 56. It seemed like the smallest of all the areas we went to, although we only took the shorter of the two trails there. If you have young children, this seemed like the best of the areas we went to to bring them to. The cave was enormous and pretty stunning, and there is a safe trail leading up to a large sandy area beneath the cave that would be great for kids to play around at and enjoy safely.

Cedar Falls

The next stop along our trek was Cedar Falls. Oddly enough, it turns out there aren’t even any cedar trees around the falls. The hemlock trees were misidentified as cedars back in the day, but the name stuck.

Old Man’s Cave

I think the hike between Cedar Falls and Old Man’s Cave was the best part of the trip. It was beautiful and almost entirely devoid of people. But Old Man’s Cave seemed like the most popular of the areas in Hocking Hills, and for good reason. The whole place is pretty stunning. Unfortunately, I got there pretty late, and most of my pictures didn’t turn out too well. I’ll just have to go back another time.

There are also a few other places we didn’t make it to… I’ll just have to go back. I’m thinking I’ll be back sometime in the fall, I can only imagine it is even more amazing with colorful fall foliage.

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Wyclef Jean… President of Haiti?

According to multiple news sources, Wyclef Jean, hip-hop artist and former member of The Fugees, is planning to run for President of Haiti. Is this a case of a celebrity making a mockery of the democratic process to promote his new album? Or is Mr. Jean truly interested in helping Haiti?

It is difficult to tell at this point. Democracy, in the United States and in the rest of the world, has often become a celebrity contest, much like those we can probably all recall from grade school. But Haiti is a different place. According to Wikipedia, Haiti:

“… is an impoverished country, one of the world’s poorest and least developed. Comparative social and economic indicators show Haiti falling behind other low-income developing countries (particularly in the hemisphere) since the 1980s. Haiti now ranks 149th of 182 countries in the United Nations Human Development Index (2006). About 80% of the population were estimated to be living in poverty in 2003. Most Haitians live on $2 or less per day. Haiti has 50% illiteracy, and over 80% of college graduates from Haiti have emigrated, mostly to the United States… Poverty has forced at least 225,000 Haitian children to work as restavecs (unpaid household servants); the United Nations considers this to be a modern-day form of slavery.”

And since the massive earthquake that struck Haiti in January of this year, things have only gotten worse.

Could a celebrity be exactly the type of President that Haiti needs? It certainly wouldn’t hurt to put Haiti back in the minds of the world. Simply by running for president there, Mr. Jean’s celebrity may help to bring Haiti’s problems back into the world news, bringing aid and volunteers to the impoverished nation. Maybe that’s his goal. But what if he not only runs… but wins? Would Wyclef Jean make a good president?

Based on Haiti’s past history with presidents, it would be difficult for him to do any worse than them. Jean-Bertrand Aristide became Haiti’s first democratically elected president in February 1991, but was removed from power before completing even the first year of his 5 year term. Raoul Cédras, a military leader, took power and was in charge of the government until October of 1994, when he was basically exiled by the United States. Aristide returned to power and completed his 5 year term (although he hadn’t been in charge for three of those years). In 1996, René Préval became the second democratically elected President of Haiti and in 2001, he also became the second President of Haiti to leave office at the expiration of an uninterrupted term of office, the first since 1874! And then in 2001, Aristide was again elected president, only to be deposed again in 2004. In 2006, Préval returned to office and has served since.

Préval is barred from re-election by the constitution. It seems, based on Préval actually completing two terms of office, that he has been a good president by Haiti’s standards, but he failed dramatically in his ability to lead the government response to this years earthquake.

Haiti is a country rife with problems. I believe Mr. Jean’s soon-to-be-announced campaign for president will be good for the country. However, I don’t believe his election would be. According to multiple reports, he hasn’t even been able to run his charity, The Yéle Haiti Foundation, without accusations of financial irregularities that he himself has admitted to. It seems to me that his heart is in the right place, but he simply isn’t prepared to run a country. But then… is anyone else in Haiti qualified for the job either?

Links:

• Wyclef Jean’s Blog
• Yele Haiti
• Wyclef Jean to run for president of Haiti? Buzz growing (The Miami Herald – 08/03/2010)
• Haiti: Wyclef Jean Said to Agree to Presidential Run (NYTimes – 08/04/2010)
• Haiti (Wikipedia)

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Counting Stars… by Andrew Peterson

I do not consider myself to be a connoisseur of fine music. I am certainly not fit to write reviews of a musical work. I cannot properly explain the way music sounds or the ways in which it can move a man. That being said, I am going to go ahead and try any way.

On Tuesday, July 27th, 2010, Andrew Peterson released his album Counting Stars. Those who know me well know that I have been a fan of Andrew Peterson for quite some time. I frequent a blog of sorts that he began some time ago, and I have frequented it since he first began it. It is called The Rabbit Room, based on the room of the same name that The Inklings frequented in a pub in Oxford. While I wouldn’t equate the gathering of minds at the online Rabbit Room to those that were brought together in Oxford, they are certainly making a mighty fine attempt.

Any way, back to the album. When I listen to an album, I often try to find an overriding theme to it, one that begins and ends with the title. In the case of Counting Stars, I find myself coming to Genesis 15:5 (a quote that appears in the liner notes of the album).

God took Abram outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars — if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
-- Genesis 15:5

And that is what this album is about… family. God promised Abraham that his offspring, his family, would one day be as numerous as the stars. Although a man may not find his offspring to be as numerous as the stars, if you look for it, you will find a great treasure in your family. It is far too often that we overlook the blessings we find at home.

I’ll not go through the songs on this album one by one to explain how I get this feeling from it, but I will touch on three in particular. First is God of My Fathers, the song which actually contains the words “counting stars”. Songs can mean so many different things to different people, so I’ll merely post a snippet of the lyrics so you can perhaps read into it what you will.

• Now we’re counting stars and counting sand
• Little feet and little hands
• We’re counting joys
• We pray you’ll know them
• As you knew us when you wove us
• As you hold us
• Hold them, please hold them

Another song which I find rather poignant to the overarching purpose of the album is Planting Trees. While the words, I suppose, seem to be about planting trees, personally I don’t think that is what it’s really about at all. I think it’s all about raising children. I base those thoughts on this verse from the song:

• So sit down and write that letter
• Sign up and join the fight
• Sink in to all that matters
• Step out into the light
• Let go of all that’s passing
• Lift up the least of these
• Lean into something last:
• Planting trees

And on this verse from Proverbs:

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.
-- Proverbs 22:6

And finally, the last song I’d like to touch on is Dancing in the Minefields. This song is all about marriage… and well, it’s just fantastic. I think it’s a really touching homage to marriage. Oddly enough, it reminds me a lot of the Disney/Pixar movie Up. Perhaps reading this review over at The Rabbit Room will explain something about how a cartoon makes me think of marriage (and make sure you read through the comments). Any way, for the song, check out this video.

If you’d like to purchase the album, you can find it here on Amazon, or over here at the Rabbit Room store.

Matt’s Rating:

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Capital Punishment and Frank Spisak

“He deserves death.”

“Deserves it ! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.”

I suspect some that read my blog might recognize that quote. It’s fairly famous. And oddly enough it isn’t really related at all to capital punishment. Those are the words of Gandalf, the wizard from JRR Tolkien’s fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings. But they certainly remind me of capital punishment.

I’m currently reading The Lord of the Rings again (fantastic books, by the way), and when I came across that quote I felt inspired to read a bit more about it. In the course of my inter-web browsing, I came across some articles concerning Frank Spisak, a man who is currently on death row in my home state of Ohio, and currently set to be executed on February 17, 2011.

Frank Spisak, fairly obviously, is a bad man. He killed three people and shot two others in what he called a guerrilla war against his enemies — blacks and Jews. He is such a bad man, in fact, that at his trial his defense lawyer said the following as part of his closing argument:

“Ladies and gentlemen, when you turn and look at Frank Spisak, don’t look for good deeds, because he has done none. Don’t look for good thoughts, because he has none. He is sick, he is twisted. He is demented, and he is never going to be any different.”

Also worth noting — he dressed like Hitler at his trial, carried a copy of Mein Kampf, confessed to the murders, and showed no remorse. When asked if he could think of any reason the jury would not recommend the death penalty, he replied, “Not offhand. Can you?”

Frank Spisak has twice appealed his case as high as the Supreme Court, most recently claiming his attorneys did not adequately represent him at his trial, in an attempt to stave off the death penalty. I am not denying that Frank Spisak deserves to die. But I am with Gandalf when it comes to capital punishment. I believe capital punishment should be done away with. Even men such as Frank Spisak could yet have something to give to the world from behind bars. I recently read an article concerning the Son of Sam and his contributions to various religious groups since his jailhouse conversion to Christianity. Who is to say that Frank Spisak won’t someday profoundly affect the life of some poor child going through some of the same problems that he has gone through in his madness?

“Deserves it ! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.”

– Gandalf (from the Fellowship of the Rings, by JRR Tolkien)

Links:

• Killer Frank Spisak, not his attorney, brought on death penalty, justices rule (January 13, 2010) Washington Post
• Murder victim’s son puts on judge’s robe (January 4, 2009) Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
• Backers Give ‘Son of Sam’ Image Makeover (July 12, 2010) NYTimes
• Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction — Death Row Inmates

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Matt Thiessen and… Katy Perry?

So, last month I went to a concert in Columbus, Ohio. Relient K and Paramore were playing at the Lifestyle Communities Pavilion. I’m a big fan of both Relient K and Paramore, so I was all about heading down there for the show. Matt Thiessen, Relient K’s lead singer, introduced the song “The One I’m Waiting For” by saying, “This is a song about Katy Perry.”

Now, I found that somewhat interesting. I mean, if you don’t know anything about Katy Perry or Relient K, it might not mean much. Relient K is a relatively popular band in the Christian music market. Katy Perry sings songs about kissing girls and liking it. Why would Matt Thiessen write a song about Katy Perry? What was going on?

I had happened to stumble across something before relating Katy Perry and Matt Thiessen, but I didn’t think too much about it. On Kelly Clarkson’s newest album, the song Long Shot was written by Matt Thiessen, Katy Perry, and Glen Ballard. Okay. Odd. But still. He writes songs (and Kelly Clarkson doesn’t). Big deal. Kelly Clarkson seems like she might ask for his help and ask for Katy Perry’s help. She has a clean image to uphold, so she could like his work, but she’s also a woman who might like Katy Perry’s input as well.

As it turns out, you can find a video of Long Shot on Youtube, as performed by Katy Perry before it was recorded by Kelly Clarkson. And there’s this fellow playing the guitar in the video who looks an awful lot like Matt Thiessen. And she’s singing to him and looking at him like he’s more than just a friend.

A little research into the subject turns up a lot of surprising information that I simply wouldn’t have expected based on what I’ve heard from Katy Perry on the radio and in the news. She has changed quite a bit. In 2001, Katy Hudson, the daughter of a preacher, released her solo debut on Red Hill Records. It flopped pretty badly. She then changed her name to Katy Perry to avoid confusion with actress Kate Hudson, and was signed to Island Records, where she worked with Glen Ballard, writing songs including Long Shot, but was dropped from the label before releasing anything. It was during this time period that she was apparently dating Matt Thiessen of Relient K, as the song he mentioned at the concert (“The One I’m Waiting For”) was released on the album MmmHmm in 2004. In 2005, she was signed to Columbia Records, and shuffled around for years without a major release until she was dropped from Columbia, signed with Capitol Records, and put out her popular album, One of the Boys (2008).

They broke up years ago, but they apparently still talk and have worked together recently (scroll to the bottom for the quote), and he has been mentioning her at his concerts and in interviews recently, which can be seen in the following video from approximately 3:35 to 4:55.

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My Amazing Artistic Talent

This may come as a shock, but in addition to being the coolest dude I know, I’m also an incredibly talented artist. And a nerd who really likes Star Wars. Check out my amazing artwork below!

(Please note this is entirely a joke. I know I cannot draw well. I just thought it was hilarious.)

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Mass Effect

Several years ago, I was introduced to Bioware via my love for Star Wars. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic debuted on the original XBox in 2003, developed by Bioware. I absolutely loved it. In 2005, they released Jade Empire, another game I really enjoyed. More recently, I played Dragon Age: Origins, another fantastic product by Bioware. So, when Mass Effect 2 came out, developed by Bioware, I was facing a bit of a conundrum. It was developed by Bioware… and I love every Bioware game I’ve played. But I never played the original Mass Effect. How could this be?

Apparently, I somehow managed to miss Mass Effect’s release in 2007, and have been going about life entirely unaware. Well, no longer! I’ve finally managed to get a copy of the original Mass Effect, and I must say I wasn’t disappointed, despite the game being a couple years old now.

As with all Bioware games that I have mentioned, Mass Effect is a roleplaying game. In this case, you play the part of Commander Shepard, a human officer assigned to the Alliance Fleet. The game takes place in a futuristic world, in which humans have learned interstellar travel by the means of ruins found on Mars. We have made contact with alien races, who, oddly enough, also learned the ways of interstellar travel by means of ruins they have found. The mystery of just who built these ruins really drives the story behind the game, and it is the story which makes Biowares products so outstanding.

Don’t get me wrong, this game does have some issues. Occasionally the closure at the end of some missions was a bit lacking. A lot of the areas in the game seemed repetitive. And if you simply played through the main storyline of the game, it would go by pretty quickly. But this game was released in 2007, and it is still outstanding even today. I can hardly believe I missed it for so long, and I can’t wait to get my hands on Mass Effect 2.

Matt’s Rating:

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Polish Tragedy

The Polish equivalent of Air Force One crashed today in Russia, killing 96 people, including the Polish President Lech Kaczynski. The Russian designed Tupolev 154 crashed as it descended toward Smolensk Airport in a dense fog. While the Tu-154 has largely been replaced in Russia, the older plane isn’t the reason for the crash. According to ITAR-TASS news agency, flight controllers recommended the plane divert to Minsk due to the dense fog, but the pilot chose to attempt to land in Smolensk any way.

Among the 96 killed were President Lech Kaczynski, his wife Maria, Wladyslaw Stasiak (Chief of the President’s Chancellery), Aleksander Szczyglo (Chief of the National Security Office), Slawomir Skrzypek (Chairman of the National Bank of Poland), Jerzy Szmajdzinski (Deputy Speaker of the Lower House), Andrzej Kremer (Foreign Ministry’s Undersecretary of State), Stanislaw Komorowski (Deputy Minister of National Defence), Przemyslaw Gosiewski (Deputy Chair of the Law and Justice Party), Franciszek Gagor (Chief of the General Staff of the Polish military, Andrzej Przewoznik (Head of Poland’s Council for the Protection of Struggle and Martyrdom Sites), and Tomasz Merta (Chief Historical Conservator).

The sad irony of the crash is that they were heading to Katyn forest in Russia to recognize the 70th anniversary of the Katyn Forest Massacre, in which the Soviet Union killed approximately 22,000 Polish officers in 1940, during World War II, in an effort to entirely wipe out the Polish officer corps. Due to Poland’s conscription policies at the time, all university graduates were required to serve as officers, it had the effect of wiping out many of their brightest young citizens. The Katyn Forest was already a dreadful place for the Polish people, and now it has claimed 96 more of Poland’s best.

President Kaczynski’s predecessor, Aleksander Kwasniewski, summed up what must be the overwhelming feeling in Poland today, “This is unbelievable — this tragic, cursed Katyn.”

For further information see:

• Katyn Massacre (Wikipedia)
• Polish President Lech Kaczynski dies in plane crash (BBC World News)

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Clash of the Titans

I’d meant to post about this sooner, but for some reason I didn’t. So, here it is.

Last Saturday, April 3rd, I watched the new Clash of the Titans movie. I had rather high expectations, which is something I hate to do before seeing a new movie, but how could I not? I absolutely loved the first one. I went to the movie theater hoping that I wouldn’t be disappointed and eager to see a childhood favorite brought to life with modern digital effects.

Clash of the Titans (1981), directed by Desmond Davis and starring Harry Hamlin (Perseus), Laurence Olivier (Zeus), Maggie Smith (Thetis) among others, was a real fixture of my childhood. It was a movie that, while not perfect (the specials effects and some of the acting are really quite poor, now that I watch it again), really drew me into the world of Greek Mythology and inspired a lot of further reading and movie watching for me. And having gone back and watched it again, I maintain that it is a fantastic movie. I also noticed that Maggie Smith, who played the Goddess Thetis, a nominal enemy of Perseus throughout the film, has moved on to Harry Potter fame as the actress who plays Professor McGonagall.

So, when I went to see the new movie, I hoped, basically, for a simple refilming with modern special effects. Unfortunately, that isn’t what I received. The movie immediately diverted from the script of the original, as the scarred and disfigured enemy of Perseus from the first movie… isn’t the same scarred and disfigured enemy of Perseus in the new film. Perseus never meets the kindly old playwright from the first film. And while there is a touch of a romance in the new film, it isn’t the one I was expecting. Rather than a story of the romance between Perseus and Andromeda being the driving motivation for Perseus to defeat the Kraken, Perseus is angry at the Gods, specifically Hades, and eager to spite them.

While I enjoyed this film, it strayed violently from the original, and I really don’t think it improved by doing so. What should have easily been my favorite film of the year has fallen regretfully short.

Matt’s Rating: (1981)

Matt’s Rating: (2010)

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