Here's my tutorial to contribute to the Blogger community. ;)
Tutorial Description: Having one of the LightBox variants for your users to view the pictures on your blog is very nice addition. Blogger is made to be very simple for most web users and that has added a few quirks that makes the installation of a typical LightBox script a bit buggy.
Solution: I like the Christophe Beyls' SlimBox because of it's nice look, simple function, and extremely small size (7kb). So I've updated his script to work around the Blogger quirks. I also set a 640px cap on the image width to keep the image comfortably within the user's screen.
Installation:
1. First off you'll need the scripts and a place to host them. For me, I'm using my Google Page as the host.
SlimBox Parts (w/ MooTools 1.11)
2. After you've unzipped the files and uploaded them to your host, update your blog to use them by following the screens below.
3. Now that you've made it this far, add this code below your <head> tag (update with your actual hostname):
<link href="http://www.YOURHOST.com/slimbox.css" media="screen" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
<script src="http://www.YOURHOST.com/mootools-release-1.11.js" type="text/javascript" />
<script src="http://www.YOURHOST.com/slimbox_4Blogger.js" type="text/javascript" />
4. Done. Now just follow regular LightBox html syntax for it to work. For more details, see the SlimBox website.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Add LightBox to Blogger
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
2008 Eagle Scout Reunion
"[The Lord] makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
he enables me to stand on the heights." - Psalm 18:33
In late February of 1996, my good friend (Richy) and I stood before a gathered crowd of family, friends, community leaders, and peers. Despite our young ages, I distinctly remember nods and smiles throughout the crowd that quietly communicated to us a new respect and validated a young man's maturity. The history of the award set before us almost seemed mythical at times with an achievement rate of only 5% of all Boy Scouts. As well as the fact that men like Gerald Ford, Neil Armstrong, Hank Aaron, Sam Walton, and even Steven Spielberg[a] had reached this accomplishment as an early milestone into their famous landmark careers.
Most young men get involved in a number of things in their adolescent years that prevent them from focusing completely on the goal that sets such a high mark in scouting. Yet we had the upper hand due to our early roots in BSA Troop 27. By GOD's grace, we joined into a group of men that had birthed a strong lineage of past Eagle Scouts. Young men dedicated to learning and teaching survival skills, knot-tying knowhow, fire building speed, foundational values, and above all, campfire culinary proficiency.
As I look back today, I am certainly glad I listened to the teachings and encouragement of scoutmasters as well as fellow scouts years ago. There's not a day that goes by that I don't get an opportunity to use the communication, leadership, practical thinking, or even first aid skills I learned in scouting. Each rank in the BSA has certainly helped form me to who I am today and prepared me to be prepared for life tomorrow.
And over the past 10 years, I more than often find myself reminiscing about the camping and outdoor adventure that was so regular in my youth. Thankfully, I'm not the only one! So, this past weekend I returned to Camp Avondale in Clinton, LA with a group of vaguely familiar faces.
After dedicated planning, generations of our troop's Eagles gathered together once again with our scoutmasters. Sunny, cool weather set the perfect stage for GOD's grace to reunite us after all these years. And it didn't take long for us to catch up on lost time by sharing old camp stories over jambalaya and fishing in Tigator Lake. As the night came in, we dined on apple/pineapple and peach cobblers just like old times.
 Link to Photo SlideShow |
(not pictured, but present: Mike Cox, Dave Vallet, Larry Nalls)
Please leave a comment using the link below.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Financial Series
"The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender."
- Proverbs 22:7
I'm glad to see the excitement in our small group as everyone looks forward to freeing themselves from personal debt in accordance with foundational teachings from GOD's Word. Remember the steps we covered:
- Build "oh no" fund of $1000-$2000 in case of unpredictable expenses.
- Complete your debt snowball. (see below)
- Build reserve fund of 3 months salary.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
It's snowing in GA? in March?
The forecast for this morning called for rain, but we never expected a light snow flurry!
The sun did come out later on and it's kite-flying weather outside!
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Mike's Good Run
I really like Mike... and so does Chuck Norris as well as millions of other fans of his positive attitude and Christian integrity. I certainly consider myself a fan of LSU football, but not in any form an avid fan of the 'political ring.' Although there is nothing wrong with that at all and I'm glad that a number of people find it exciting and engaging.Yet, after watching an email clip of Gov Huckabee last year, I've been intrigued to say the least. His stance on about any issue seems to be just that... a true, solid, stance. That means alot to me, especially after all the political 'back-stabbing' that is cast out in routine conversation. I find it sad that the people of the most prosperous nation in the world can't find many good things to say about our government or law enforcement. After 3 wonderful trips to South America, I certainly couldn't come back to the states with an attitude that these entities here aren't doing anything right... Actually I felt quite the opposite.
So I'm really sorry to see someone like Mike Huckabee have to step down, yet my prayer is that it is only temporary. Because I personally believed that his character, wisdom, and integrity would have really mended the ridiculous 50/50, Republican vs Democrat mentality that plagues a nation founded on being "UNITED."
We'll Miss ya Mike
Even Uncle Sam!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
History of the Cancienne Canal and Hard Times Plantation
The following article was found at my PawPaw's house and details a brief history of the Cancienne Canal and Hard Times Plantation in south Louisiana.
Leo Seprien Cancienne started working on a plantation for laborer's wage, inherited some money, and later when the plantation was offered for sale, he bought it. It is said that when his oldest son, John, asked him what he would name his new plantation, he is said to have answered, "I've seen so much hard times working here that I should call it 'Hardtimes'."
To this day it is still called "Hardtimes Plantation," however according to maps and papers of the Southern Pacific Railroad which crosses the plantation it is called "Cancienne Plantation."
Cancienne Plantation had its own sugar mill. In 1900 sugar farmers were badly in need of some means of drainage in order to be successful with sugarcane harvest. Leo Seprien, as President of the Assumption Parish Drainage District #1, undertook to solve the drainage problem. His eldest son John supervised the work. A year in the making, the project employed 280 men using shovels, wheelbarrows, and other hand tools. They dug a canal six miles long and 50 feet wide from Bayou Lafourche to Lake Verret. It was completed in 1909 and the Government, in recognition of Leo Seprien's work, named it "Cancienne Canal." It was used by pleasure boats between Bayou Lafourche and Lake Verret.
On Cancienne Plantation, Leo Seprien built a one-room school house and asked the school board to supply the teacher to accommodate the students who were the children of "Hardtimes Plantation" and surrounding areas. This request was granted and one teacher taught five grades having a total of about 25 pupils in the one-room schoolhouse.
Map of the Cancienne Canal using Google Maps as guide:
View Larger Map
Monday, February 11, 2008
Get Perpendicular
- 1 Samuel 12:16
Hard drive size is constantly on the move... up! And that's exactly what's going on with PMR technology. (Perpendicular Magnetic Recording) I thought this was a creative and innovative approach by Hitachi to educate consumers on this fairly new technology that explains why hard drives have dramatically increased in capacity.
Enjoy!
