Media Effects Artist

Is Mobify a good fit for Drupal?

2011-10-31T16:35:00.002-05:00

http://mobify.com/

I had a chance to try out mobify, and while quite impressive it's by no count automatic.
It would be fairly effective at simply scaling down images and limiting content by throwing out parts of the page, but after that your on your own.
For a simple layout not concerned with styling, menus, or sidebar content it may be a good shortcut.

However for anything beyond that, you would have to create many "extraction templates", and then style each of them basically from scratch. It's not particularly easier than creating new Theme, Contexts/Panels in Drupal, and with much less flexibly. External content such as ads would not be handled, though it appears you could manage other content (such as mobile ads) in the mobify tool. However that would be a manual process.

I'd expect a mobile design with modify to take +-20% compared to creating a custom mobile theme and pages in Drupal, depending on what your expectations were for final output.

If you are comfortable with Drupal themes and have a site built with Views and Context, just adding a couple of modules like Mobile Tools, Display Suite, and ImageCache are likely to get you you just as far down the path to a good Mobil site in about the same amount of time. But with the option to go a lot farther and with no additional cost. (and if your already using Display Suite, and ImageCache then your all but ready)

Using Panels based layouts, well I guess if your an expert you'll do fine, but I prefer Display Suite/Context and I think it makes for a much quicker Mobile theme development path.

I guess I must be missing something, and the mobify process is pretty impressive, but only for a limited time kids, new sites ought to be mobile ready from day one.

http://drupal.org/project/mobile_tools
http://drupal.org/project/context
http://drupal.org/project/ds
http://drupal.org/project/views
http://drupal.org/project/imagecache

Vivian at funhouse mirrors ay the NY hall of science

2011-05-25T20:35:00.001-05:00

Vivian at funhouse mirrors ay the NY hall of science, originally uploaded by hal(var).

Vivian at funhouse mirrors ay the NY hall of science

Mr. Daddy

2011-05-14T18:04:00.001-05:00

not sure how that happened but Vivian decided she needs to be more formal with me

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family breaktime at the beach

2011-04-02T15:08:00.001-05:00

Hawaii visit. Eva beach.

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suprize feature for St. Patrics

2011-03-17T18:35:00.001-05:00

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Riding out a tsunami - Harry Eagar - The Maui News

2011-03-16T10:16:00.002-05:00

Riding out a tsunami - Harry Eagar - The Maui News

My dad just happened to be taking a tug boat during the tsunami.

Enids breakfast

2011-02-26T18:03:00.001-05:00

Bacon the highlight of the day.

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Enids breakfast

2011-02-26T18:02:00.001-05:00

Well breakfast went well.

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confess repair

2011-02-23T19:38:00.001-05:00

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Sunnyside arch glory restored.

2011-02-23T19:35:00.001-05:00

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Confess install step one demolition

2011-02-07T12:11:00.002-05:00

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.6

The really painful part is it looked pretty much just like when I walked in and for the next two and a half days.

Which ate all my install time, and I had to throw he wiring into the ceiling at the last minute, with minimal testing.

And then they gave me no access panel as we discussed, so when I came in the next day and 4 pieces were not working just a few hours before opening ... well they just didn't get to work.

In addition the piece really needed at least a day to sit, as it turned out the WiFi was a little flaky. (isn't it always) and the dropouts caused lockups on my playback computers. I coded in checks and fixes but not until 2 days after opening when I had a chance to find out what was going on.
Now if I was on Ethernet as promised that would not have happened, or if I was able to install on Monday it would have been discovered and fixed by opening.

I'm very bitter about this really, not only did they &^#% me and the art piece by delaying me two days; and they &^#% me and the art piece by not leaving an access panel.
They also ^%$& the art piece because the ceiling still looks like sh*t. And finally they &^#% me personaly by lying to me about when things would be ready twice costing me 1 1/5 - 2 days of paid work time.

Anyway expect a more positive blog about the piece when I get a chance to take a photo of the fully working install.

i wear my sun glasses at night

2011-01-04T10:53:00.001-05:00

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trying out the mobile phone post again

2011-01-04T10:51:00.001-05:00

Well i really would like to post more, and every once in a while i try a helper tool to make it easy. So far they have not stuck. Maybe I'm just not one to blog. But at any rate we try again with blogger-droid. Maybe having a really smart smart phone will make this work.

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Bert Caught up with the Gingerbread Man

2010-12-20T23:52:00.002-05:00

IMGP2133, originally uploaded by hal(var).

Bert has gotten very into reading the gingerbread man story, and while waiting for our turn to wait in line for the train show we visited this exibit about the plants that make up gingerbread.
Bertram was very into being able to say hi to a life size steel gingerbread man.

Vivi was taking a nap or hiding from the cold mostly.

IMGP2137, originally uploaded by hal(var).

Gingerbread boy needed a kiss goodby.

First time with santa

2010-12-18T23:34:00.001-05:00

First time with santa, originally uploaded by hal(var).

I Took Bert to see Nutcracker, and Santa after the show. It was a quaintly mediocre performance perfect for a 3 year old, who while he could not stay it his seat, did not want to leave and enjoyed the show (the mice in particular.) However his favorite part was dancing and poping with the guy in the hall on the long line to Santa, he learned some new moves. Though I'm not sure I'm going to be able to re-enforce them though.

I really had not prepped him for Santa, it was an "after the ballet" extra and I spent all my energy prepping him for the Nutcracker itself.

It was Bertram's first time to meat Santa: Luckily the girl right before us was very happy to be sitting in Santa's lap, and Bert got to see that she got a present, up to that point he was not at all into the idea of visiting Santa. Well he had seemed into it until we were up to the end of the line. I'm not sure what it was he though we were waiting in line for an hour for exactly; considering that he had no interest or intention of saying hi to Santa when we arrived? Though it would not have been that long a wait in line if he had not been SO into break-dancing.

All the children were given a bear which Bertram was kind enough to let Vivian confiscate when he arrived home.

Playground @ NY hall of sci

2010-11-19T00:14:00.006-05:00

It seemed like winter had been here but went away for a few days so we went out. We go to the science museum about every other week on average. They have this really great playground, the only problem is the play is for 45 min sessions so you have to stop.

They also have a indoor Preschool play area that both Bert and Vivi love, giant bubbles, giant foam blocks, and a few other exhibits that are fun for the preschool set.

And it's way more convenient to get to than the children's museums, right on our subway line. (and right next to the zoo)

Also going to the science museum was always one of my favorite things to do, so my kids will probably get to go so often that they won't think all that much of it. In the same way lego's were my favorite toy and so Bert and Vivi have possibly to many legos already.

Playground @ NY hall of sci, originally uploaded by hal(var).

Hi silly.

Playground @ NY hall of sci, originally uploaded by hal(var).

Did I mention that she wears this hat every day, sometimes all day long.

Playground @ NY hall of sci, originally uploaded by hal(var).

Most of the water play was shut down in the fall, which were Bert's favorites, but this vortex tube that he is cranking here was still there and held his attention. Also we went down the super mega slides you see in the background a few times.

lunch @ NY hall of sci, originally uploaded by hal(var).

Crazy hair is partly due to the hat, happy face is due to the cheese.

This year it was a train engineer and a fairy princess.

2010-11-05T00:23:00.001-05:00

Halloween

IMGP2124, originally uploaded by hal(var).

IMG_20101030_154903, originally uploaded by hal(var).

Daddy Joined in the train theme as well.

What's down there?

2010-06-29T20:52:00.002-05:00

IMGP1787, originally uploaded by hal(var).

Bert met a little girl at "The Playground for all Children" and for some reason they flopped over this bench. it took Vivian a *lot* of work but she managed to join them.

IMGP1785, originally uploaded by hal(var).

IMGP1786, originally uploaded by hal(var).

Computer Experts

2010-06-29T17:54:00.002-05:00

IMGP1803, originally uploaded by hal(var).

Computer Experts at work on PBS Kids. Actually Bert's an expert, Vivian gets the idea but not the execution just yet.

IMGP1799, originally uploaded by hal(var).

Now Vivian is learning to use PBS Kids too.

IMGP1801, originally uploaded by hal(var).

IMGP1800, originally uploaded by hal(var).

Halloween : Safety Inspector : "hand over your candy for inspection please"

2009-11-26T23:48:00.000-05:00

IMGP1078, originally uploaded by hal(var).

It's a toy miner helmet I found at our local super random discount store, south pole, so some folks took him to be a MTA employee not a Construction worker as we intended, but I think Mr Danger would have been even more excited if he thought it had something to do with trains.
But I don't think he's got that level of detail down, I had thought to try and put MTA on the hat, and make him one of those MTA lanterns, maybe later I'll attempt that if it interest him.

IMGP1086, originally uploaded by hal(var).

though it is impossible to get everyone face at the same time here's the best family costume pic: here we go embarking on the trick or treat adventure, Bert didn't really get it yet, he just wanted to eat that first pack of M&M's.

Actually he never really understood why you would just put the candy in the bag; you have candy you eat it, then maybe you go get some more.

IMGP1090, originally uploaded by hal(var).

Bertram was not that into wearing his hat, so we started using it to collect candy.
As you might see it's a family costume, though Daddy didn't manage to get in on it this night.
Or in case you can't tell, Vivian is a traffic cone, and Rachel is the road.
I was a traffic cone the week before, but tonight I was considered the pot-hole.

And as you can see in no photos is he holding his flag.
Bertram was so into watching the construction workers 43rd ave this summer, and spent many mornings just watching that one of the construction workers gave him his flag. It was fairly large for Mr Bert and on a long hard dowel, so for the costume Rachel make him a scaled down version that was very fun for Bert to waive, but that was it's own game separate from the going out apparently.
But Vivian's big is also made from that flag fabric.

We only did about half a street but it was more than enough loot for Mr Danger. I mean he surely would have kept going but didn't need the candy and did need the rest.

Choosing a pumpkin.

2009-11-24T00:04:00.000-05:00

023, originally uploaded by hal(var).

Another special event at Sunnyside Gardens Park early in October; the pumpkin patch. Mr Bert eventually picked a pumpkin that he could carry, and managed to carry it for quite a while.
We latter drew a face on it, and Mom carved it for us on Halloween.

021, originally uploaded by hal(var).

and in case there was any doubt, Vivian spent the day being cute too.

006, originally uploaded by hal(var).

First day sitting

2009-11-22T23:40:00.000-05:00

060, originally uploaded by hal(var).

She managed it for a few moments at a time before this, but this was the first really satisfying (to Vivian) sit up and play by ones self.
Oct 24th Daddys B-day. It's old hat now, but I'm slow to get things posted.

Size comparison

2009-11-20T23:44:00.001-05:00

046, originally uploaded by hal(var).

Bertram's not allowed in the crib, but I they were having a grand time. Bertram is always looking for ways to play with Vivian, he can't wait until she gets more interactive. Little does he know that havoc that will cause.

Bert is just about exactly twice her weight for the moment. And boy does he feel it. I can for the moment still carry both of them for a short distance.

Vivians first solid food

2009-11-18T23:59:00.000-05:00

038, originally uploaded by hal(var).

Another late firsts post, Oct 18th Vivian started eating solid food.
One month later and she's ready to eat only solid food.

Yes that's right we broke all the rules AGAIN and put the Bumbo seat on the table, and here's the visual evidence to prove it.
now one does not walk away from the baby when doing this. Actually one does not walk away from Vivian while she is eating or she will let you know very loudly that she is not done eating.

Anyway Bertram happy gave up his Stokke chair for a Ikea junior chair, (I'm not sure he even noticed) and Vivian got the hand of sitting up by herself one week after this so this was a short lived transgression.

Long URL's please

2009-11-17T12:35:00.000-05:00

Sure a url shorten-er is useful for deep links, but it's WAY out of control. The majority of posts I see with a shortened url have the characters to spare to include the full url. In fact they even have the requisite spare characters left to fit in a Re-Tweet string on the front with the full url.

I've even seen URL's lengthened by shorteners, UG!

But why should you not use a url shortener?

If the service goes away, or decides to dump it's old database your link is Dead.
Because I want to know where you are sending me, there is a lot of information encoded in a url, though most of it is in the domain name.

Domains creating their own URL shortening service like the US government is great and I'm all for it.

You are giving away the link cred to the shortener service, and effectively hiding yourself as the source of the link.

in other words the google juice goes to the service not your blog page etc...
the refer value that the site you linked to sees in there log will be the shortener service not your blog or wherever you like to post.

Grim Reaper?

2009-11-16T23:32:00.002-05:00

No not really that's a golf club, or the toddler equivalent. Halloween party at the Sunny-side Gardens Park.

queen victoria 012, originally uploaded by hal(var).

And The Frog Princess waiting for her kiss.

queen victoria 005, originally uploaded by hal(var).

Bert and Vivan both got to wear this one, turned out to be too hot to stay in it for cute pictures though.

Probablity of Children having fun. 1:1

2009-10-15T21:43:00.001-05:00

041, originally uploaded by hal(var).

I took Bertram and Vivian to the Queens Museum of Science, it was thrilling.

Possibly Bertram's favorite thing in the museum was the balls falling through a series of pegs into slots that showed the "normal curve" Both visits he insisted on just sitting and watching it for a long time.

037, originally uploaded by hal(var).

Plenty of time to take pictures of Bert, and his interest also gave me a chance to change and feed Vivian and give her some attention. ... why yes she did come to the museum with us, but didn't interact with the exhibits much, and when she was out of the stroller or sling was not a time when I had hands to pull out a camera. She was however very entertained all day, mostly by watching Bertram run around like a mad man.

Box of babies.

2009-10-13T21:36:00.003-05:00

010, originally uploaded by hal(var).

Toddler and baby actually. 6 month old Vivian and 2 1/2 Bertram.
Our fridge stopped working so for a couple of days we only had a freezer, but now we have a brand new fridge.
Kind of irrelevant to the photo but I emptied out this bin to put all our food in while they swapped out the refrigerators, but an empty box can't go un-played with.
Mostly my Mr Danger, but Vivian was glad to join too, she loves to do anything Bertram does. And for Bertram's part that's swell too, I know he can't wait until she can really play with him more.

Of course I could not get a photo where both of them were looking at the camera at the same time.

Sweet big brother

2009-10-11T21:22:00.004-05:00

046, originally uploaded by hal(var).

Sweet big brother gives Vivian toys, sometimes she doesn't need them, but mostly it's very much appreciated by little Vivian who tends to lose hold of whatever she'd got a lose it periodically.

It's been chilly and here Vivian is dressed up to go out, she's looking far more grown up than usual here.

forces beyond our control

2009-10-03T22:07:00.000-05:00

originally uploaded by hal(var).

On our trip to the Kentucky State fair we rode the Merry-go-round three times, Bertram was very excited by the "forces" (horses); at least these painted horses, the real animals were a little to much for the city boy. Cows were OK, and goats were of interest, but cute bunnies, and ducks were apparently terrifying.

Hugs are fun, and cute.

2009-10-01T22:32:00.003-05:00

originally uploaded by hal(var).

Well the song which Bert is singing in these photos just goes Hugs are fun. It's a Yo Gabba Gabba song, though I'm not sure if they say "hugs are fun" Though they often put new words to their tunes, this tune as one of his favorite songs "I like fish") But in this case he shows that he likes Lola at least as much as fish. Hugs seem to inevitably end in a tumble over. About even ods on which child lands on top, and shockingly no injuries. Bertram tried to hug Milo too, but he just wasn't interested.

Baby World Leader

2009-09-28T22:59:00.003-05:00

Does your Kid Look Like a Tyrant? Well of course I want to see a baby who is not a tyrant. The question really is, which tyrant are they? The 3rd baby world leader costume contest is open. http://www.saltchunkmary.com/everydayart/bwlcontest.html

Self feeding at 3 months

2009-09-27T21:56:00.003-05:00

038, originally uploaded by hal(var).

Wow Vivian feeding herself. (of course she does loose hold of it often, but it's impressive.) Actually after this first amazing go at it she's not done so well, she gets so agitated and pulls the bottle toward herself so hard it pops out of her mouth. Update: a couple of week later, she's pretty good at feeding herself now. Not perfect and not that we really expect her to do it, but it's an impressive feat, and even a few seconds of free parent hands can make all the difference.

baby-dolls

2009-09-25T21:56:00.003-05:00

040, originally uploaded by hal(var).

See Grandma Bertram has dolls. He's gotten very into taking care of his baby doll lately. He likes to play with the cute baby-doll in Mama's arms too. One of these is Rachel's doll he doesn't play with much, but he's got one baby and one skater boy doll that he's named Henry and William. (which are the names of the two baby boys at his sitters. though there not really babies anymore). none the less he puts them to sleep and feeds them, and gives them time out etc...

Vivian Giggles, terminally happy baby.

2009-09-23T21:31:00.004-05:00

originally uploaded by hal(var).

While it's true that Vivian can set of the air raid siren when she gets hungry, and sometimes she only gives you 30 seconds warning, she is generally a shockingly happy baby. In fact the short warning is because she may just be having too much fun to start fretting until it's TIME TO EAT.

I hope she's this happy and satisfied for he whole life.

Wow airplanes from the outside, and tired boys.

2009-09-21T22:56:00.003-05:00

IMAGE_00084, originally uploaded by hal(var).

Final minutes of Bertram an My adventure to Louisville.
This is little Bert out on the tarmac waiting for our bag, he was pretty excited by the airplanes and trucks.
He seemed a lot less tired in person, jabbering about airplanes and trucks, but I did have to get him up at 5:30am for the trip. You can see here just how super tired he was too. We are almost home and he crashed in the cab and was out for 5 hours. But the whole flight he was bouncing boy, and I just managed to snap these shots with my phone while holding on to his arm so he would not go bolting off to see the trucks.

I though I got one with more airplane for Bert to look at, but these should be plenty entertaining. Even though he was ready to drop dead asleep he also seemed ready to take off running on the tarmac, so I didn't want to let go of his arm or I might have been able to get a better shot. (The "camera" was in the bag we were waiting for though)

The ladies stay home.

2009-09-20T22:50:00.001-05:00

d44a128c7fa0__1251146845000.jpg, originally uploaded by hal(var).

While Bertram and I were having an adventure visiting Aunt Kachina, and Grandma and Grandpa in Louisville, Rachel and Vivian stayed home. Rachel with a recently broken toe, which just increased the already difficult task of traveling with a toddler and newborn too much to attempt. I took the "good" (aka decent quality, but "indestructible" Olympus SW camera ) but Rachel was fooling around with her camera phone, and I was pleased to get this as a message on my phone.

face facts dad, I'm cute.

2009-09-03T22:22:00.002-05:00

originally uploaded by hal(var).

Just a smattering of cute Vivian shots for the record, and grandparents.

Customer Service, Observer thyself.

2009-07-07T14:46:00.004-05:00

Maybe not blog worthy since I'm sure it happens to you every day, but I'm blogging it anyway. Today I went to get a lunch at the "Spanish American Restaurant" (that's really it's name not just a description), and since I almost always get lunch late they were (as always) out of black beans and yellow rice. Now it occurs to me, that perhaps since they run out of black beans and yellow rice at about 1pm every day that they should ... make more each day. Now if beans and rice cost a lot (so that any waste was a big loss), or if they only ran out half the time then maybe I could see there being some reason *not* to make more. But since that is not the case I conclude that it is simply that they can not fathom the idea of making a different amount of white, yellow, and brown rice, and equal amounts of black, brown, and red beans; people should/must like them all equally right? This happens every day, and yet nothing changes. I suppose that it is not as bad as yesterday when dunken doughnuts was "out of iced coffee", though they did still have coffee and ice. Or the drug store in Hawaii where a friend who needed boot laces and was told, oh we stopped carrying them, they sell too quickly we just could not keep them on the shelf. Or the local key food, where they order equal amounts of all Ben and Jerry's ice cream flavors, and do not re-order until all Ben and Jerry's ice cream is sold. Note that cherry garcia, and heath bar sell out in 1-2 weeks (as noted by myself, other flavors might go as quickly or even faster?) However the last 5 pints pistachio, and funky monkey sit on the shelf for another 4 weeks. But for some reason it seems un-fathomable to order more of certain flavors, or to re-order thous flavors when they run out. One wonders how these businesses compete with those run by employees who are able to think. And now it's time for me to think about what equivalent mistake I might be making each day/week/month.

Twitter for the economic soul?

2009-05-08T13:02:00.001-05:00

Twitter for the economic soul? on WPA I've been looking back on some of my past project collecting stories on the internet. They all have a much smaller focus than this, but I have found it surprising how much interest they continue to gather. If one was to build a sharing site for WPA 2.0 what would the question posed be? My first though is "In this time of economic fear and change, what has been your glimmering star of hope". I'd love to hear others ideas of a compelling question. The content sharing sites gather tends to be mostly short sound bite length reactions, which is the predominant content length for the web. However about 2% is quite full, epic, and interesting. I find that these very interesting and expansive submission do not feel like they belong on the "collection site" as they are stories of there own. But in the projects I've done there has been no where for those stories to grow. That is I think the nature of a collection site. Primarily they provides catharsis of sharing, but a small number of items shared have a great value. The sites I've worked on (Turns, and Confess among others) are anonymous, and the contribution is limited to a one time offering of a single medium (text, image, sound) so unto themselves they don't match up with the idea of creating a supply of material for documentary use, nor a real archivist level collection of stories. However a quick fix, share your own story site with a bit of a fun face might still be a valid way to find your way to those few really interesting stories begging to be told. The majority of work is in creating the engaging and safe form to submit the story, and in marketing the site to find users. (as art pieces, Museums have been our best marketing, but Library are a close second, and might fit the WPA 2.0 ethos) Do you have any opinions as to weather a playful quick response survey would be of any use toward the overall objectives?

WPA 2.0

2009-05-05T20:12:00.003-05:00

I've been out of the stream at the office for a few weeks with a new baby girl, but while I was out one of the projects we are involved in has exploded into a potently really interesting ... thing. WPA 2.0 / WPA 2.0 community On the one hand it's a mashup of our interest in media archives, with social networking, social activism, and media creation. Anyway it sound great to me, but that's just my interest in the work, not the content, which is as always the core of a good idea. The idea in a very very small nutshell, is to document this point in time, from the perspective of the economic stimulus package. And who's not got the economy on their mind at least part of the time right now. Even with a new baby (and hey partly because of her) it's been on my mind. From an arts community perspective, hard time bring really interesting effects. Those effects might be part of a recovery project, or the effect might just be the documentation of the recovery projects. Or it might (more likely) will be something completely unexpected. The real interest and power is the energy and excitement that continues to build around the idea. anyway, for the bigger nutshell, and the real nut meats, hit www.wpa2point0.org

Sick boy birthday

2009-04-26T21:46:00.002-05:00

Cake this year was much more subdued, but I think Bertram may have enjoyed it even more than his first birthday. New Shape sorter including all the shapes Bert loves including Hexagons, Octagons, and parallelograms. All of which it's hilarious to hear him say. He often still calls the parallelograms "gram" or "pentagram" "Pentagram" he came up with himself, and they don't seem to feature in any of his books so I've not been able to switch that word over to it's correct symbol. New Play kitchen for Bert's second Birthday. We set it up in the bedroom the day before so that Mom could play with him and the kitchen a bit. Not to say that Rachel is totally stuck in the bedroom, she is mobile but little Vivian keeps her in the nursing chair quite a lot.

Did I say daily?

2009-04-20T21:27:00.003-05:00

Well, it's not unbelievably exhausting as one is lead to expect, but I'm just enough under slept that I have not managed to get any daily updates posted. Or any of the videos posted at all either. So more pics soon, though even the photos have been a bit slow. But now for the report. Vivian is doing great, and still spends all her time sleeping. Rachel is still in pain and wishes she could sleep more comfortably. Bertram thinks Vivian is fine for now. Vivian saw the doctor and looks great, and has started eating more and gaining weight, she got down to 7lbs 12oz at the end of he hospital stay. Unfortunately her eating is painful for Rachel, apparently to a bit of "tongue tie". We have a little baby swing set up in the play room, and that's the best place to put Vivian for Bert interaction, becasue she is down low enough to be visible, and reachable. Anyway the couple of days Bertram has gone over and told her "I love you Vivian" and given her kisses which is very sweet. He also really wants to push the swing, but much harder than it ought to be pushed. Bertram has been getting lots of attention for the last few days and I hope he is over his worries about his parents leaving for 3 days last week. Though he got to see us every day at the hospital we didn't come home with him, and he has been very concerned to make sure that Daddy comes with him any time he leaves the house, and I'm not sure I can / should leave without him myself any time soon. However he has been beating himself up a lot, he fell off his high chair, fell out of his "big boy bed" and has just been walking into things and hitting himself with cabinet doors etc. No bruises yet, but it's hard on him, he's also been teething something fierce it seems and pretty clingy and whiny at his low points of the day. For the past few weeks counting has been all the rage with Bertram, but that's cooling off, and now he's using 3,4,5 word sentences pretty regularly, and having fun with long words which he just loves right now. Pig-el-let, Decoration come to mind as ones he found quite fun. Singing has also become common for him over the past few weeks, as has jumping. He just jumps and jumps. So he's seems to be doing just swell regardless of his parents preoccupation with baby girl.

Vivian Adventure Eagar Pics

2009-04-17T16:09:00.003-05:00

Daily updates to the baby feed. We got home, which was much more exhausting than expected, and while we haven't quite figured out how to settle in "comfortably" we are settling in. Visitors are welcome if you want to come over to visit, just give us a call.

Big Brother is Watching [her]

2009-04-14T20:07:00.004-05:00

You are probably not safe from the big eye in the sky, or the nano bugs. But that's no concern to Mr. Danger, who is getting to know Miss. Adventure. Big Brother Bertram was pretty interested in Baby Sister, (though with a toddler attention span). He was also pretty happy to see Mom and Dad, and get to have ice cream (a big boy only food). Vivian was also thoughtful enough to give Bert some books as a gift. We'll see what he thinks tomorrow.

Granpa Harry and his specialty naps

2009-04-14T19:55:00.003-05:00

Getting to meet the un-named baby Eagar girl. Vivian Adventure Eagar got a name today, and is starting to get the hang of this world. Grandpa Harry helps with his nap techniques.

Who is this baby girl?

2009-04-14T07:27:00.003-05:00

**The stats** Weight: 8lbs 5oz Length: 20inches Arrival time: 11:42am April 13 2009 Demeanor: Sleepy Hunger: Low Name: ??????

Xmas in Maui

2009-01-01T00:23:00.004-05:00

Well our travels to Maui were long and exasting, but not as bad as it could have been, it looks like our friends spent over 48hrs getting to Maui with the Weather and power outages. And they left the same day as we did. We only got delayed 3.5 hrs for a total of 15.5 hrs of air travel (plus about 1.5 for car). Wow what a monster trip. But Bertram Loved the Ocean, he was afraid of it almost every time we went to the beach, but had a ball once he got over that fear each day. And on the last two days he was totally over it. And luckily for him we were staying at a house on the beach for those days. (maybe that helped get over the fear too) The ocean in Kehei and Makena was a calm as I have ever seen the Pacific, almost too calm as Bertram Loved being hit by the waves the first day out when it there was a bit more action. But even that was super calm. I'm sure it was big surf on the other side of the island, but the south shore was perfect for little boys.

plastic bags or furoshiki

2008-12-11T16:06:00.001-05:00

One of the guys at work had an idea to market the use of reusable bags as furoshiki. The idea has caught on, not through our efforts, just because it's a good idea, though it seems to be a bit commercialized here; and they clearly own the web presence for furoshiki. At any rate I did some thinking about bags and re-use, which you can explore below. But I feel the best idea I came up with is for a retailer, or even better a group of retailers to add a club card type bar code to a bag. You only get the club discount if you bring and use your eco bag with the code. And like other discount cards at grocers it tracks the amount you have saved by using your own bag. So after the 78 visits to the grocery store in the first year you get to know you saved about $3.90 - $7.80 Not a lot, but it would cover the cost of the bag pretty quick. But that's why I would want multiple retailers to support it, it would add up much quicker if it worked at the grocer and clothing stores etc... Perhaps just one of those key chain type club cards, but that was only valid if attached to your own eco shopping bag. That's where I put my Stop and Shop card, so I know I need to remember the shopping bag.

There is Joy in Repetition

2008-12-06T18:24:00.003-05:00

Or so says Prince, and clearly toddlers agree. I was just thinking about this love or repetition, which Bertram clearly shares. He loves his sign language video even though he has seen it numerous times, and now he know what part comes next. It occurs to me that it's probably enjoyable because repetition confirms their understanding of the world. And when you are just starting out that is your prime objective, to figure out the world enough that you can predict what would happen next. We model the universe (as we understand it)so that we can predict what will happen as a result of your actions. So something like a video, or the Animatronic singing snowmen that we borrowed from Milo and Lola, is that they are predictable. Safe and reassuring that you can depend on things to go the way you expect sometimes. And I imagine that for a toddler that is a feeling you don't get often enough in the confusing world. No conclusion to tack onto this, just an observation.

A Anagram Bred Regret

2008-11-06T21:43:00.003-05:00

But I hope that this one does not. So we are thinking about names for our next child due in April exactly 2 years after Bertram. We don't know the sex yet, still waiting one more month until the anatomy scan, but based on the ultra sounds so far (today's in particular) she's likely to be a she. Anyway no names yet, but I was thinking that it needs to be a name with some good anagram possibilities. I ran through a bunch of anagram options for Bertram Danger Eagar when we were working on his name. "A Anagram Bred Regret" is my favorite. Other good options include:

Greater Man Dare Brag
Am Greater, Bar Danger
Grab An Greater Dream
Great Arm Earned Brag

But there are lots of options that make more or less sense. I did like Ready as a middle name, and while it's still available it does not go with many girls names well, so it's not a likely option this time either. I hope Bertram enjoys his name and it brings him no other regret than a silly anagram option. Danger is my middle name will probably get old a a joke for him, but I'm sure it will come in handy at least once or twice.

Add-Art

2008-10-16T13:55:00.002-05:00

http://add-art.org/ This is simply the best browser plug-in I have ever seen. And one of the best "mash up's" too. Add blockers themselves have never interested me, I'm fairly good at not seeing adds, and maybe I want them to tell me what I should be interested in on some subconscious level. But to put something that I really want to see there, now that is cool. I notice add areas much more now, and I'm often surprised. "why in the world would they put that there" ... oh right "they" didn't Steve Lambert Eyebeam and Rhizome did. I look forward to future curated selections. I might think it would be cool to click on the art and find out more, but I don't think it should be done, then it really would be like trading one add for another, but I do like to have a site where I could get the credits for the art shown. Get it, love it.

Online retail packaging

2008-10-13T14:13:00.001-05:00

excessive packaging has been getting me down lately So I really feel that products should be packaged for either retail or online retail sales. I'm sure there must be some action in this direction going on, but I didn't run into much on the web accept complaints, and comments that consumers claim they don't like it. However I guess we are not voting with our dollars enough to convince manufacturers. Not that I feel there are a lot of options, Lush is one for bath products, but I'm not a big consumer of bath products. I mean I do take my daily shower, but how can I expand this to oether atreass, particularly the really bad ones like consumer electronics.

Walking in NYC its what we are about. (sometimes)

2008-10-10T14:49:00.000-05:00

It's a funny thing a few weeks ago I was trying to post to my blog from my phone about the urban / technology ennui I felt. And somehow I just could not get that post to go up to the site, it's like the technology didn't like what I had to say. But this week I've been noticing a more positive aspect of my environment. Not quite a ray of sunshine I guess if I think about it. I suppose it's more like a very interesting little desk lamp. Basically I have noticed that I prefer to walk to the subway stop just slightly further from my home or office than the closest. I'm not sure it's not just the longer walk, or just the environment. Some combination I guess. At work it's not that much of a distance difference. The stops on the N/W train are at 23rd and 28th st; and my office is at 26th st. But the walk down is through crowded sidewalks of wholesale hawkers. The walk up is through the area around Madison sq park that has just recently tried to clear up the traffic concision of Broadway, 5th ave, and 23rd st all crossing, by taking over a lot of what used to be roadway and coating it with a light tan sandy pebble surface and making it a paved extension of the park area. It's really quite nice, good work by whomever designed that. I hope it stays nice. In Sunnyside I go from 45th to 40th instead of 46th. When I drop off my son at the stitter I'm acutaly on 46th already. But it's just nicer to have a walk rather than hurry directly to the subway.

Flow and being Stuck. (Open the Pod Bay Doors Hal)

2008-10-09T10:53:00.005-05:00

One of my colleges just pointed out the power of the Nap which I agree with, though I'm not sure I want to put myself in a pod of any sort, though I %100 agree that sleep is often the best solution. Now I can give some statistically meaningless examples if that would help. (oh wait that never helps) Anyway on a small scale I just switch projects (or when coding maybe just switch to a different area of the code, as long as I haven't broken the whole thing ;) when I get very stuck, or have a unidentifiable bug, or when I come up against what looks like an intractable problem, or if it still looks hopeless when I come back, no longer frustrated then I sleep on it. Unfortunately that does not usually mean a nap, but rather waiting for tomorrow morning. But I find that quite often my brain has solved the problem for me, or by having to search around in the project code to get back to where I was brings me to the forgotten or unexpected point where the problem (bug) or solution (challenging feature) lies. Oh that brings up one more point. When I stop working on something because I have other priorities but it's going well, I often leave it open hoping to drop right back into the same spot and regain my flow. But if things are frustrating or I'm stuck, then I close everything down. That process removes me from it far more than just going away from the computer. It frees me, I don't see the problem staring at me when I come back to the computer, and I don't feel it hovering just over my holder, it's a good 2-10 minutes away just to look at it again. I think that as well as the chance to delve back into it and navigate through the project to the target area helps. It's something that a good IDE can make happen or not. I'm somewhat interested in the idea of "flow", action without effort or thought, and I've though about the things that break flow, but this line of thinking makes me think about the things that break the writers-block, being stuck, or bug-lock (I just made that up). It's kind of like the anti-flow, and it's funny that the things that are the enemy of "flow" can also be the enemy of being "stuck", and thus used positively.

DPI residents for 2009

2008-10-08T13:54:00.004-05:00

DPI Artist Residency Program : 2008-2009 Residents. Digital Performance Institute is an Arts Service organization serving experimental Media and Technology Artists. DPI has just announced their 2009 resident artists and projects. It's a pretty interesting mix of projects that hits on most of my artistic interests including: New Media Theatre: Ruth Sergel - Alchemy of Light Robotics and Art/Theatre: Jennifer Tsuei - The Mahler + Machine Project Physical Interfaces and Performing with a Computer: Michael Chladil - rope&pulley Experimental use of Media in Performance: John Kelly - ‘cara viaggio’ While the context of DPI is always Arts & Technology, the criteria used to select residency projects is always experimentation and risk. Artists and projects that can move forward the whole field and genre of technology and arts by doing things we may never have though of. It really ties in tightly with the Innovation focus that that we have been developing at Learning Worlds, the partner commercial organization of DPI.

osX and Sugar complaints, I'm a whiner today.

2008-10-01T10:49:00.003-05:00

I made a DVD of some work samples for a friend of mine, and they asked how to make a copy. They have a MacBook so I figured it should be pretty easy, though not having a mac I don't know the process. [....] OK a google search turned up these instructions http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/making_dvd_copies.html or if you don't like those these http://www.gbradhopkins.com/archives/2004/09/duplicate_dvds.html But I have to say WTF apple that is a pain in the neck! How about a button somewhere that sais. "Copy Disk" ... "please insert source [DVD|CD]" .... "please insert blank [DVD|CD]" I mean this is version 10.5 right, and they charge $130 for each upgrade, and have had five major upgrades to add this feature. I thought that it was supposed to be "Intuitive", though I never believed it. If you are in a stage of life where you are exploratory then you "intuition" says just try everything and learn, and heck even the OLPC "sugar" is probably intuitive enough for you. If you are not exploratory, forget it no matter what OS you are using, you want a "single use computer" like the lowest end cell phone. Or the Presto Internet Printer, or a DVD player. By the way I think OLPC's Sugar is a huge mess, and a bad idea. Hey I know lets give computers to third world children ... But hey lets give it a freaky interface which will keep them ghettoized to our system so they don't get into that evil Windows / Mac world. And hey lets try and lobotomize the web browser to keep them away from commercial websites. That way when they find themselves at an internet cafe, or applying for a job they will be totally unprepared. I know that's probably and unfair assessment, the Nintendo/X-Box/PlayStation all have custom interfaces and kids learn to use them. And learning how to learn interfaces is a skill in itself, and throughout life we need to learn new interfaces constantly, for the car, phone etc. Also the "window manager" / "desktop" standard User interface is not necessarily the best. So the idea that you should throw it out and start from scratch is commendable, if a bit grandiose. But the idea that you should make is so different that there is little way to shift from one interface to another is just sadistic. I guess us geeks learned on a CLI via our Vic 20's C64's and (in my case) TI994A's which were far far from Windows and we made the transition. But that just brings up the question, where did those millions of C64's go and why not just ship them to the children of the world, surely they are less than $100 each. (though with the use of a CRT TV they are not all the power efficient.) Blah blah, there it is, some whining from hal.

Grandparents Info link: photos

2008-09-16T21:26:00.003-05:00

http://flickr.com/photos/rustproof/tags/bert/ Sorry for lack of Bertram photos lately, one reason is one of our cameras is acting up, and I haven't had time to hit it enough times to get it to work. (that fixes things right?) The other is everyone else seems to have a camera so why take more pictures? Well the reason is that we rarely have time to go collect copies of photos, but here is a quick way to find a few pictures of Milo and Lola's visit to Bert, and his visit over to see them.

Pop Bead Hat

2008-09-16T20:53:00.004-05:00

Bertram is still a lively and fun little boy, but Mom and Dad have been pretty busy and exhausted lately So I'll just keep this to a A quick photo blog of Bertram showing off his Pop Bead Hat. Bertram loves hats, His hats, Daddy's hats. Hat: is of course a popular word.

A smattering of words for the week.

2008-09-08T20:33:00.004-05:00

As I expected my word list for Bertram has fallen hopelessly behind. However that seems fine since it's clear that his verbal ability is doing just fine. This post is a bit haphazard since I'm over busy lately, but I do manage to include a good smattering of Bertram's words. And I had better get a move on listing them here because there is no way I'm going to keep up with him for long. Recent additions that I can still recall are: Elbow: wow, that's a mouth full for him, but he like it. And it's less painful to point out than a nose tweak. Belly / Belly Button: Luckily without a tweak involved at all. Toy: Nothing exciting to report other than the fact that he can use general and specific words for the same thing. And understands the abstract group "toys" Play: which he both says and signs. The sign is a double shaka, (a.k.a. the surfer hand signal, "hang loose") which I think is just great. He does not quite have the gesture down yet, but I imagine it might come in handy some day. Slide: Swing: Goose: surprised me, I didn't know he was learning that one but he spots it in the book and at the Zoo a couple of weekends ago. Which reminds me of the many other animals Bertram can identify and say: Duck: a long time favorite, he quacks too. Dog / Doggy: which he signs and says, and barks. (he is sometimes afraid of dogs but not always). I don't think he has picked up Puppy yet. Frog / Froggy: Butterfly: which started out Fly, but is getting the butter added on lately. I'd like to include Bumblebee because he loves to try and say it, but it's just to hard to get out that many syllables. And he's not content to call them "bees" so they are yet and un-mastered animal. Cat / Kitty Cat / Catty: He also says Meow, and is quite fond of cats, real and photo. Cow: He signs and says cow, but never has any interest in saying Moo. I recall when he first worked this word out, it was one of the first words he said, and he was still working out how to control the sounds he was making. We were out at a restaurant and had brought along a plastic cow from a farm set Grandma Tricia bought for Bertram birthday, and he correctly identified it as "cow" and was so delighted to have managed that that he went ahead and said cow some 50 or so times with various adjustments to the pronunciation. This super repetition was really only given to Cow and Fan, most other words popped up a few times a day for a couple of days, and then disappeared for a week or two before becoming standards. Now days a new word will get extra use for the first week but then does not seem to have the disappearing habit, it just goes into normal rotation. Lion: He loves to say and identify lions, though I think perhaps only male lions are clearly lions so far. Monkey: which he signs but does not say, or not much. It's quite a cute sign, just act like a monkey. His initial vague variation on the Monkey sign was very cute, but unlikely to mean monkey to anyone but his very attentive parents. Much like his Fish sign will only mean fish to us. But it's interesting to see how it has gradually started to get closer to the correctly executed sign. I don't think anyone would guess monkey, but I think they could see what he's trying to do. It's still cute, and when he gets it just right and can stick his finger in his armpits and wiggle them while saying "ooh ooh" I'm sure it will be both cute and embarrassing for the parents. (the saying ooh ooh part is not technically part of the sign, but I can't help doing it myself) In fact I have a bad habit of telling him he looks like a monkey when he is at the park and he grabs hold of the safety railing bars on the equipment and shakes them (well shakes himself) and screams with joy and tries to shove his face through the bars. And he often replies by signing Monkey. More useful words: Go: which he signs and says, an old standby that he's been using for a long time. Please: still working on using this one more but it's going OK. He signs and says please. And as added entertainment, in one of his alphabet books there is a picture of vegetables including "peas" which he can correctly identify, but along with the sign for "please" which means we are probably being very confusing to him suggesting that he ought to say "peas" when he wants some toast or a cookie. But he takes it in stride. Thank You: which he says sometimes and has for quite a while, but now he says it at more appropriate times. He has a habit of picking up small things (like the things that should not be on the floor of an infants home such as bits of paper, fuzz, leafs) and handing them to you. To which we always reply thank you. Or when he hands us his ball or toy to share we say thank you. So Bertram figured that out quick and so whenever he gave you something he would say "thank you" well "ankoo". But he's got that pretty well sorted out and knows that you also say it when getting something. Early on Bertram loved talking and used his words at home and out, but lately he has become very shy. He won't even say hi and goodbye most of the time. Which covers two more words; interestingly he says Goodbye not bye, but only uses hello on the phone (toy cellphones, or when he grabs our phones), but says hi to greet people. Not sure he knows Hello : Hi are the same greeting or if he knows why you say "hello" on the phone at all. I've been trying to get him to say "I would like a large peperoni pizza" whenever he is on the cell phone, but that's been going no where so far.

He inexplicably mimicked me hiccuping

2008-08-29T19:17:00.003-05:00

Well, not really hiccuping but Bertram has become an expert at mimicking, he still pronounces his works in that hard to distinguish baby way which means only mom and dad and a few other trained ears can make out a lot of what he is saying. I's say about half of his words are pronounced well enough for the general public, and half fall into the mushy area. However today at the Pharmacy while waiting for a prescription I took Bertram out of the stroller to run around, and he was patting on one of the waiting chairs and just blabbing nothing. (or at least nothing I could distinguish, something like ba be ba sush sush) Then another nice couple comes up, to wait in line, and Bertram is giving him his big making friends smile that everyone gets, and they ask if he is saying chair? To which I say no he doesn't say chair yet, but maybe Blue (which he says, and the chair is blue). I give Bert the prompting look, and I say "blue", he thinks about it and says ... "chair". Now I don't think, or at least I'm not sure he knows what chair means just yet. He is a good mimic and if you say something 10 times he's likely to give that word a try too. (depending on his mood) Which is why before I add a word to my list I wait until he provides it at the appropriate time without prompting. Such as when looking at an ABC book I point out the 'A', 'B', and 'C' on the cover, and he points to the 'A' as well and says "A". That's great but I don't expect him to really know 'A' just yet. But the next time when I point to 'A' and he says "AAAY" and hops of my lap to go get another alphabet book and show me it also has an 'A' on the cover, then clearly he really does have it down. It's only the letter 'A', and only caps. 'C' is generally identified as "Ball" or "D", and 'B' holds no interest whatsoever. So let's see which of Bertrams words have we covered. "A": maybe not a word, but it's on my list Ball: a very early word for him, and a mega favorite. It's one of the few he started saying, and now he signs it too. Blue: quite recent, and only very clearly identifies blue in one animal book, which has a color page. But he's identified it correctly in other circumstances. He also reminded me today to include a few of his other favorites. Baby: which he signs and says, and he loves his baby doll, on which he can point out the nose and eyes. (maybe ears) Nose: a very early word for him, which he also identifies on himself, and us by grabbing hold of quite painfully Eyes: which luckily he does not poke to indicate. Socks: which often get's confused with shoes, but we work it out. He insisted on putting on socks today, (we were putting away the laundry) but it was just to hot, so I only let him wear them for a few minutes. Ding: another brand new one, he's got a lot of much more practical ones, but this week seems to be about the onomatopoeia's. Today when the toaster bell went off in the kitchen from Mommy making some toast, Bertram and I were in his room and he took off like flash yelling "Ding" to go tell mom in the kitchen that something went "ding". He also brought up various Ding's several times today. I think were were some other new words today, but I can't keep track and I've probably fallen hopelessly behind in my list. But he can remind me about them all weekend.

Those are Dangerous Words

2008-08-26T15:35:00.004-05:00

So I've been keeping a list of words that Bertram has learned to say or sign. It's funny when people ask if he has learned any words. Because he has known many many words for a long time, he understands them just fine. The question is has he learned to "say" any words. Which of course he has, lots and lots. It started out slow, and a new word would appear and then disappear for a few weeks, which made me wonder. But then it would creep back in, and there are weeks when I hear a new word every day from Bert, which sounds like an exaggeration even to me. But keeping the list it really is true, even on the "slow" weeks there are probably at least 2 or 3 new words. I've noted down a little about each word, and each is probably worth a sentence or two about why he likes that word, and a list of 60 works is not that interesting so I'm going to start transferring my list here and maybe try to fill out some of those remarks. I doubt that it's particularly interesting to the world in general, but Grandparents and Great-Grandparents may want to know. The list is 62 words right now, and I think I'll do them a few at a time so it's bound to be longer by the end. But I'll start with a few of the newest. nany nany: clearly baby talk this is nap in Romanian, and he learned this at the sitters. So I don't know much of the story other than to say that Bertram hates to nap or to sleep at all. He's wobbling between the two short naps he used to take and just one nap. Unfortunalty the one nap is not long enough for him and he ends up with big bags under his eyes, and pretty upset at bedtime. He was taking one nap at 10 or 11 ish in the morning and 3 or 4 ish in the evening. Though I hear he would take one long nap at the sitters instead often. Now he just skips one of those no matter what we do, but those are still the times when he gets tired. hair: this is another one I don't know how he learned, but the sitter suggested that he knew it, and yup he does. Maybe one of the other kids really likes hair, or maybe one is a grabber? Bert happily does not pull our hair. bean: Bertram has loved to eat black beans for a long time, but it was Mommy getting him some dried Lima beans to play with that got him to say it. She read about using them for practicing spooning, which he really does need to practice, but giving him food that needs spooning is asking for a big mess, so we are on mostly finger foods now days. mine: oh well, I guess he learned that from the 2 year old's at the sitter's for sure. We like to hope that's where he learned No as well. I haven't heard it that much yet, but he did say mine and play keep away with a toy when he was visiting his friend Charlie last weekend. On the up side it was the first time that they really played together, they are both walking and chased each other around Josh and Jessica's new apartment. bang: I thought he was trying to say bean which he pronounces 'bien' but it turns out he was saying bang, which is what we say he is doing when he hits the measuring cup on the floor. Its great to get more verbs into his vocabulary, they are a lot more tricky. He does pronounce it a bit Biang. the 'B' sound just seems to want an short i sound after it according to Bertram. beep: He also mimics us saying beep, I do tend to say "beep" though had not felt like I was doing it that much. But Bert sure has plenty of toys that beep. Though far less than a lot of friends, we do tend to hide them away so they get less use, and he seems to prefer things like balls, the beans, straws, and bits of paper now days. Not that he shuns his bright colored toys, but he wants the kind of stuff the adults have. whale: Mr. Danger was incredulous that the photos in the animal book and the plastic squirt bath toy whale were the same thing, but believes it now, or at least uses the same word for them both. Grandma Tricia bought him the bath squirt toys for his birthday when she was visiting, and he has loved to get squirted with them for a long time, but he has only managed to start squirting himself with them a couple of weeks ago. He was so excited to figure it out that he just screamed and bounced the whole bath. He kept squirting himself in the face, eyes, mouth: which would have made him quite mad if I did it. However it seems to be the preferred thing to do with the whale now that he can make it squirt. one more for today, and it's not a new one. shoes: Bert both signs and says shoes. He has been signing it for well over a month I don't recall, and saying it for quite a while as well, but I'll include it in this batch because Bertram just got some new shoes. They are his first "real" shoes, stiff leather things with soles. They should do for the fall, he's been wearing some transitional sandals all summer. But the sandals with leather souls are a bit slippery, and can be a problem at the park, and his feet just barely fit in them. So when we were visiting Charlie this weekend we stopped by the highly recommended Buster Brown store in Forest Hills to get his feet measured and fit for fall shoes. Bert really loves his new shoes, and is very happy to say shoe shoe shoe for you.

Flash programing

2008-08-25T17:37:00.002-05:00

This may seem pretty off topic, and it is, but it's one of the few projects I've worked on that you can just look at on the web. Most of my work is either integrated into a installations or a theatre show both of which are tied up in physical locations. And a lot of the other corperate work for hire I do is often ranks somewhere between "non public" and "super secret". So it's nice to be able to link to a finished product. It's a bouncy flash website, that I did the programing and animation for. http://h10o.com/ Here was my chance to build a flash website, in what I hope is the "right way", since I'm often frustrated by flash websites myself. All the text is pulled from a couple of XHTML files, which makes a single point to update the text and also makes the content accessible to search engines and non-flash browsers. And all the relevant text is selectable so you can copy and paste the e-mail or street addresses should you care to. I also added in support for Google Analytics which was super easy to implement, because I used a centralized state controller so that you can go from any page to any other page with a smooth animation. I did not implement a Bookmarking workaround, because it's such a small site and all the links are easy and obvious to get to. There's no need to bookmark into a deep page on this site.

To make up for lack of photos

2008-07-08T17:47:00.005-05:00

Until I get the photos from the recent trip from other peoples cameras, I'll try and make amends by providing some of the photos from Bert's last big trip.

Bert's first, or maybe 20th steps.

2008-07-08T14:02:00.004-05:00

I know everyone has been eagerly awaiting Bertram's first steps. Well maybe Mom and Dad are a bit neutral, on the one hand not watching out for dirty or bruised knees is a plus; as is being able to put Mr. Danger down for a moment in a restaurant. However keeping up with a toddling boy sounds like a lot of work. None the less Mr. Danger is on his way. Over the 4th of July weekend away visiting grandma and great grandma, (and aunts and cousins a well) Bert managed a few steps on his own. I think he's tried a few steps before, but not with much success, so maybe those were his first steps. He's not walking on his own yet of course, but yesterday, and today he did manage to take a few steps and not topple over. Or sit-fall as he tends to do very gracefully. In fact those steps often look like it's a lot of work:

Take one little step
deep knee bend squat to gain/maintain balance
lift back to standing
one little step
repeat

But he has lots of energy to practice with, also this weekend Bertram did a Marathon walk when we went to the park with cousins Frank and Luke. We walked from the edge of the outfield to home base and back. Frank and Luke had a race of the same distance, but Bertram and I just tagged along with the challenge to finish, not to win. I have to say I was very impressed and surprised by his determination to go all the way, I though for sure we would give upon hte way back. Unfortunatly we were bad parents and didn't take any pictures, but it was because there were plenty of other cameras out. Now I'm not sure how to get those photos, but I'll see what I can do.

bert swing @ home

2008-03-16T21:51:00.002-05:00

bert loves to swing, almost more than anything else. so on a rainy day we decided to shorten the doorway jumper he wa just given by his baby pall charlie to make a swing. that is we decided to because letting pore bert cry was not an option.

bert swing @ home

2008-03-16T21:35:00.001-05:00

DPI Artist Residency Program : 2007-2008 Residents.

2007-10-01T12:55:00.001-05:00

DPI Artist Residency Program : 2007-2008 Residents. DPI announced this years resident artists. Later than expected but it looks like a great group.

DPI is please to announce the selections for the 2007-2008 Artist Residency Program.

Joe Silovsky : The Future of Stanley To further develop Stanly the robot, and “The Jester of Tonga”, as a way to integrate, story, puppetry, robotics/mechanics, and video.

Ed Purver : Untitled research-oriented project to investigate the online performance of self through Second Life and other MMO’s. To build a video sensor grid, and multiple projection environments to present research and interviews.

Mallory Catlett / Juggernaut Theatre Company : Oh What War To further develop the technical video system; a hybrid surveillance system / video game for the production of Oh What War, and to explore the dramaturgical integration of the technology with the characters on stage.

Caden Manson / Big Art Group : SOS To build an “interactive multimedia matrix for performance” to generate ideas and build the production.

www.haleagar.com - Hal Eagar

2007-07-07T21:56:00.000-05:00

www.haleagar.com - Hal Eagar Blog my own website? Why sure the first of many "interesting" links.

Waldy's Pizza

2007-06-27T16:22:00.000-05:00

http://www.waldyspizza.com/ I highly recommend Waldy's! 800 Sixth Avenue, NYC Price for a cheese "slice" in NYC just went up to about $250 on average. That's $5 for two, or $6-8 for two with toppings. And while a good slice is still a great thing when you are hungry and in a hurry, $5-$6.50 for a gourmet topped crisp wood-fired crust small that is about the size of 2 slices (or a bit bigger) is quite a deal. (no not sliced gourmands, ew. Just various fancy toppings. ) This is in sharp contrast to the other new upscale restaurants in the neighborhood like brgr where you can get a$10 burger.

Just how big is that baby.

2007-06-27T15:59:00.001-05:00

Here is Bertram visiting the Jahn Oberle twins Milo and Lola about a week and a half ago. Boy is he Big. But really even though his is only 2 months old, he's got 3 months growing time on them, since as twins they came a month early.

Mama Rachel and I thought Bertram was getting to be a very big boy, he's grown out of all the 0-3 clothes and is in 3-6. But at his 2 month checkup yesterday he was "only" 12lbs 4 oz.
And that is plenty big, but really kind of average too right in the 50-60 percentile range.
But average babys are just right :) and he's cute and chubby just like you want them.

The only bad news was for Bertram who had to have a shot and oral immunization, which meant a really uncomfortable afternoon for Bertram, which daddy missed while he was at work. I think I'll make sure to stick around to help sooth next time. But by last night and this mornign he was his smiley self. Maybe even more smiley than usual.

Baby's and technolgy : Baby Comfort Monitoring

2007-06-27T13:37:00.001-05:00

Well since what I think about for a living tends to be technology, and what I think about in my off time is Babies, it stands to reason that the two would start to collide in some way. I'm actually kind of shocked that I found the time to write this down, and believe me it took quite a while, it was and idea I had before Bertram came along. Anyway since it's just slightly related to work, I posted it one of the office blogs http://sketchbook.learningworlds.com/

Baby Comfort Monitoring

2007-06-10T08:38:00.001-05:00

Bert must be going though another development spurt because he has been doing lots of feeding. It's scary to think what a "spurt" means since he is already 12 lbs and gaining about 2/3 of a pound a week. I think I've been saying this for a while but he's smiling at us even more and being awake and bright eyed for long periods. This increased awareness and ability to see is great, but it means that going out to eat is a much a lot more work, since one of us will have to take Bert out for as stroll or take a break so Bertram can get a meal himself. In fact we went out for a stroll in the big Cadillac stroller just yesterday to pick up what turned out to be a stylish burp cloth and some baby exercise DVD's. Not exercise for Bert, exercise that Bert can help his mom with. (though daddy will stick with the baby curls.) Bert and Rachel went to visit Charley Putnam Peskay Who for this one brief moment is half Bert's age and almost half Bert's size. I haven't gotten to meet him yet myself. And My friends Michael and Lisa just had twins this morning. Soon enough all these babies will have their chance to become friends at play dates, but for the time being, it's the parent support network :) I'll pass on the baby photos for the twins as they arrive.

Big Daddy Visits

2007-06-05T11:22:00.001-05:00

Another photo update, lots of Bertram. He finally got to meet his final Grandparent Big Daddy Frank Ford. http://www.flickr.com/photos/haleagar/sets/72157600313976187/

resting

2007-05-27T20:16:00.001-05:00

Did I say Bertram was and easy baby. well I guess he is. Every time I get to the point of being really tired because of bad days for Bert, or just too much to do, he has a good day, or I get a weekend and recover. So some days I'd take it back and say it's not easy. But then I don't really like easy things :)

What to say about Bertram

2007-05-23T10:39:00.001-05:00

He eats, he sleeps, he is just starting to get to really playing. He's really cute, and it's nice to have him sleep on you chest. Sometimes he is inconsolable, but you just keep trying until you find out what is wrong. Or if it's gas or a cold then you just console him as much as you can. He likes to dance, he likes to be sung or hummed to, he likes to eat. He puts up with kisses from daddy's prickly face. He has gained 1.5 lbs in the last two weeks so He's 9lbs 11oz. Still easy to hold in one hand. I think he is a nice easy baby, he sleeps 3hrs at a time about twice a day. Mama who is trapped on the couch feeding does not find it quite as easy. Particularly at week 2 when he decided to eat every 20 minutes all day, and put on that extra weight. I just started back at work on Monday, and the 3+1/2 weeks with Bert were great, I could just keep doing that forever. So maybe it will get harder now? Right now at 4 weeks old he has a cold, and needs to have his nose cleaned out a few times a day just to be able to eat. :( Boy does he love that ) : We go out to the park and for brunch or dinner as often as we can manage. He is getting used to the outside world. But it all changes so fast that there's no point in Moma and Daddy getting to used to anything.

More Bertram Pics

2007-05-23T10:32:00.001-05:00

I've been asked for more pics. There had been a few added to the flickr, but here is a whole new batch. Bertram Danger Eagar First Three Weeks

Katys pics

2007-05-23T10:31:00.001-05:00

My sister Katy's pics were linked in the comments, but I think that link was not visible on my home page, so here it is. http://picasaweb.google.com/katynewcomb/Bertram

The face of Danger

2007-04-30T17:09:00.001-05:00

My son Bertram Danger Eagar was born on April 26th at 3:25 am 8lbs 2 oz 21 1/4 inches long We all spent the last few days the hospital, but everyone is fine, and home, eating sleeping and etc... The PICS! http://www.flickr.com/photos/haleagar/sets/72157600161624622/ I know I promised to update everyone right away, but I'm always the optimist and things turned out harder than I expected and I never got home or even online. I tried sending bulk sms messages but that seems to have not gone well, anyway trouble shoting tech was not on my mind so things had to wait.

Waiting for Baby

2007-04-16T16:13:00.001-05:00

So my son Bertram Danger Eagar is due to join the world any day now, and contrary to rumor he is not here yet. News is forthcoming soon I promise. and 'Danger' one for middle name. (blame me, I'm sure he will ;)

Digital Performance: A History of New Media in Theater, Dance, Performance Art, and Installation

2007-04-16T16:08:00.000-05:00

Digital Performance: A History of New Media in Theater, Dance, Performance Art, and Installation by Steve Dixon The MIT Press - A Leonardo Book In his new book Steve Dixon takes a look at the last decade of "digital performance". And I can be gratified to see that I get my name in there on at least one page. And DPI and GSRT get their fair share of mentions as well as many of the other NYC artists I look to as pioneers of digital performance. I've just scratched the surface so far but I'm enjoying the read.

RSS? is it really syndication?

2007-03-05T19:34:00.000-05:00

I've only recently gotten into writing my own posts for blogs, but I'm surprised and a little disappointed in RSS. Not really disappointed in the feeds, just disappointed in the ways in which I can syndicate content. I imagined that I could post to my work blog and my theatre blog, and them somehow have my personal blog subscribe the the RSS feeds on those with a search for author. Then I'd have a nice syndicated mix. However there seem to be very few tools that really allow that, and the ones there are are not efficient or easy to use as far as I can tell. I'm starting to get there by including the Digital Performance feed below, and by including the feeds in my homepage. But I'm still looking for a lot more control, and I suppose as a Web Developer I ought to get in there and create it myself, but the drive for this feature is not quite strong enough in myself, so I'll just take what I get, which is more than I've ever had before right ;)

Growing babys

2006-12-05T20:18:00.000-05:00

I gave a hint at this in my last post, but the news is I'm pregnant. (ok so Rachel is pregnant, and I know she's got to do all the hard work) It's been interesting telling people, I just tell them "I have some news" and then make them tell me what they think that news is, and bingo 90% of the time they got it. I wonder if I'm showing already?

Number one Post

2006-11-20T01:05:00.000-05:00

Step one for me is to put this blog on my google apps page, if I can do that then I'll start doing some consistant updates to the blog. Aslo feed it into DPI. (update as you might note from Post 2, semi success, enogh to work with anyway)

Marital Bliss

2006-10-05T20:18:00.000-05:00

Rachel Ford, (aka cupcake) has become my spouse, I know most of you have already noticed we have been linked in excessive cuteness and domestic happiness for a year already but now we have these swell rings that announce it to the rest of the world. Just wait till you see what's next...

Momentous events

2006-08-05T20:17:00.000-05:00

Marriage, specifically to Rachel Ford, sometime soon, it's been on the verge of happening for a while but it may just be time, maybe next week, maybe in September. ;)

On Internet life

2006-04-05T20:15:00.000-05:00

Photo sites, Blog sites, Webmail it's all getting pretty good, but the bit that is missing for me is still a Calendar. I thought the Google Calendar would finally do the trick. And maybe it will but not quite yet, it's still a manual import export, and there is not pubic HTML view. I know I could write my own to parse the XML feed, but I'm sure someone else will do a nice job of that soon. So still waiting for auto sync with my PDA (or other offline viewer/editor), Color coded events, and public HTML view.

Is everything in the world too much to ask ;)

(well google added public html view, but it's still a bit lacking, My employer swiched to Zimbra which is a great tool with a calendar to rival Google's, but I'm still not 100% satisfied with anything I've found so far.)

On changing life styles

2006-01-05T20:13:00.000-05:00

I feel that the "On being unsure" entry below is a little week and self battering, however it happened to coincide with several new life changes. I guess I did know "what next" but only the vague outlines.

I started working on the tour of Supervision with The Builders Association, and trying to support myself with freelance New Media theatre gigs. (if you know of any gigs let me know)

I have moved to Woodside Queens with my Girlfriend Rachel Ford whom I would rate as the best girl i NYC!

(quite surprisingly I am able to support myself as a theatre artist)

What Next

2005-09-12T20:12:00.000-05:00

I just finalized my divorce from Erin Orr after 2 years of separation. I just took a new job (touring with The Builders Association) , and just to top it off I'm adding various extra drama to my personal life. (dating and breaking up)

On being unsure

2005-09-05T20:10:00.000-05:00

So, I've been trying to "work on my issues" for the last couple of years, and writing about it. Now looking back on what I've been thinking I'm not sure how useful it is, I can now identify, and explain what the issues are, and even the cause in many cases, however I still have all the same problems.

what next?!

(for background, my wife left me "recently" so I've been questioning everything)

Media Beam

2005-06-05T20:05:00.000-05:00

I've been using this great thing called MediaBeam in most of the theatrical projects I'm working on lately, It's more a concept than a product, I've got a couple of different working versions with different features. If you've got a project that you think could benefit from the Media Beam then contact me. The basic features are a Projector, and a Robotic Mirror (DMX controlled) which allows me to move the projection around the space and project on multiple screens and objects with one projector. The system I am using is made up of a Projector $2000, a PC with a good Graphics card $1000, a DMX mirror $300-$800 and a DMX interface $400. So for about $4000 I have a system that works like a $50,000 commercial product, which makes it very accessible to small theatres.

April 2005

2005-05-05T20:00:00.000-05:00

I've been working on some Isadora User Actors, they are pretty useful, at least to me. (I had included some downloads with this originally, but need a new place to host files for download, however Isadora has been tremendously helpful and I use it for almost all my theatrical video work, it almost never lets me down)

On being in NY - 2005

2005-03-05T19:59:00.000-05:00

I stand enjoying the peaceful silence for some time before I noticed the tumult of noise. The whir of the subway fan, the crash of the wheels on horribly crooked NY tracks, and I though god I am a New Yorker now. Silence has lost its meaning, silence is the lack of meaningful noise; no music, no talking, but the volume! the volume never ceases. NY silence is not quiet, rather it is devoid of coherent sound.

On feeling Lucky feeling blessed - 2005

2005-02-09T19:58:00.000-05:00

What is it that I should be focusing on? Since I don't need to focus on so much, because so much is given to me.