Disqus - Latest Comments for nilobject

Re: The Joys of SEO - Jonathan Johnson's Blog

nilobject — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 21:30:31 -0000

Yep, I did the 301s last Thursday as part of the "change of address" thing in Google's webmaster tools. Didn't show up until yesterday still.

I do think a lot of it was caused by a new site showing up with a mirror of the content of the other domain that was already indexed, and then me issuing 301s. Unfortunately due to the legal things happening behind the scenes, I had to have both be independent until Friday night.

Hopefully it will honor the sitemap that says to update daily, and it will pick up my meta changes shortly. That should help give it a flying chance in the search results.

Re: Countdown for iPhone - Jonathan Johnson's Blog

JB — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:31:56 -0000

You rule. Thanks, man.

I know the last thing you want to do is write another version, but any way to add different forms of the hourglass? I think this one's ok, but I really liked the one used in 1.0. I'd be glad to do graphics to set up some alternatives.

Re: Countdown for iPhone - Jonathan Johnson's Blog

nilobject — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:00:50 -0000

Actually this was already implemented in version 1.2. You can individually turn of certain units, so if you want, you can turn off everything except for days.

Re: Site too fast...

nilobject — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 17:02:27 -0000

Hear.

Re: Welcome

nilobject — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 20:04:34 -0000

Ah, nope, made it to Twitter though. I wonder how often Facebook imports notes from a feed.

Re: Welcome

nilobject — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 20:03:17 -0000

Muchos Gracias. I assume this means it made it onto Facebook finally :)

Re: Countdown for iPhone - Jonathan Johnson's Blog

JB — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 17:54:29 -0000

Any word on days (instead of months, weeks) coming back as a view option?
Thanks.

Re: Biden a good choice? - Jonathan Johnson's Blog

mattskee — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 21:36:25 -0000

Interesting. Yeah, i wouldn't doubt it, because i remember reading a "family values" website back when Huckabee was still in the race, that was suggesting that ron paul was some how not pro-life, which is of course a joke after you know that he has delivered 4,000+ babies. But that doesn't surprise me when you look at all the past elections where the evangelical christians are voting based on one or two issues such as abortion or gay-marriage. Don't get me wrong, i am a definitely pro-life and believe God created marriage for man and woman, but sadly, as you know, many people don't look any further than the surface before voting, instead of the facts. So, i will definitely check that link out. Thanks for the info.

Re: Biden a good choice? - Jonathan Johnson's Blog

nilobject — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 20:40:07 -0000

It's propaganda as usual. If you research the bills (all public through the Illinois government site), you can see what was proposed, and see that he is telling the truth.

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/429328.aspx

Re: Biden a good choice? - Jonathan Johnson's Blog

matt — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 00:44:54 -0000

Yeah, i know you are already aware of these things. I just post links for other readers. Enjoyed reading your thoughts. Thanks for sharing!

Re: Biden a good choice? - Jonathan Johnson's Blog

nilobject — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 23:56:02 -0000

You don't have to convince me that the Iraq war is and was a huge mistake, and that we step closer and closer to a police state and fascism everyday. That was a good link you posted with that person's testimony about the situation in Iraq.

When I said that Paul's vision was the most idealistic, I was not saying that as a negative: I meant that his vision is ideal. All I was trying to make a point in saying is that even if Paul was president and could pull the troops out, he would have to do it gradually and with sensitivity to various regions around the world, as we are in some places as humanitarian forces and those people benefit our presence and desire it. I'm sure that's the minority, but all things considered, *all foreign relations* need to be carefully conducted otherwise we always risk blowback.

I saw what Clinton accomplished, although I do agree with Paul's assessment that it's not all Clinton's doing. What I'm even more positive of is that McCain will continue to drag us in the wrong direction, while Obama appears to desire to bring us back in the right direction. Ideally, we'd have Paul who would attempt to tear to shreds so much of our tax code that it would hardly be recognizable when he was done with it. Unfortunately, Paul isn't close to having a majority.

I must admit, I have some faith in Barack's genuineness, which cannot be described by facts alone. I have read both of his books, and discussed him with other people before I had even heard him speak. What can't be argued is that he possesses that similar ability as Paul to unite for an ideal. Barack's ideal is a step towards balancing programs to be more like how they were originally meant to be. Paul's ideal is to strip us of unneeded cruft and get us back to the roots of what our government truly needs to run.

Overall, Paul is my ideal candidate. Obama sits quite a bit below him, and McCain, while better than some other Republicans, sits even further below.

I didn't wait until the main election -- I voted in the primaries for Paul. What I think the real fight is, is to attempt to get people to realize who the candidates for congress are, and what *they* believe in. The President has a lot of power, no doubt, but congress is just as important. I'm going to be doing my due diligence this year and make sure I find the Paulites to support.

Thanks for the in-depth conversation. I wish most people could discuss politics in this tone, rather than resorting to ugliness. While I generally want to write about tech stuff on this blog, my main SDK of choice is under NDA, and I've been doing a lot of political pondering, and am always looking for an outlet.

Re: Biden a good choice? - Jonathan Johnson's Blog

matt — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 23:34:16 -0000

Thanks for the reply Jonathan.

"There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." Proverbs 14:12

There are so many things in life that seem to be a good idea or make sense, but ultimately are either not good at all, or may even be good things, but not the best.

I like your approach, which is to say that you do not make assumptions or superficial arguments against candidates. I agree with this kind of approach. More people need to become educated about the details, such as voting records, history of defending constitution or not, and so on.

It is important to research these people and see who they associate with and what they really represent. I try to do that, but i tend to be less conservative with my criticisms of politicians, because i absolutely hate the injustices they commit. I mean, if congress was worth its salt, things would be much different today.

I think I can see what you mean about Obama regarding his approach with our troops and foreign policy. It sounds good and seems right, at least to the casual observer and many who are unaware of the truth in Iraq and other nations. But it is hard to know the truth as you probably know and it takes continual research and how many Americans really have time or energy or interest for that matter.

Btw, here is a different perspective on iraq that you won't see much on the news. Just a different perspective.:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELjgVq6GtPA

Obama is probably sincere about some of his positions. But in the end, it is all just rhetoric. I believe that Obama is more interested in power and prestige than to truly serve the American people. Kind of like Oprah. Same thing goes for McCain obviously.

Even if Obama truly had our nation's best interest in mind, there is no solid proof that he will actually defend the constitution. That is the oath the president takes of course and that is one of the major differences between someone like Ron Paul and a politician.

Paul is not idealistic, he is realistic. He understands the media propaganda machine that has deceived the American people into believing that America can do no wrong. And though it is true, that America does do a lot of good things, compartmentalization and cover up keep the public from knowing many of the atrocities being committed by our own government on a daily basis. But people find that hard to swallow.

I think Ron Paul was correct in what he says about the McBama foreign policy because he was talking big picture, not details. Overall, their policies are not much different and the results are more of the same.

Nobody ever talks about the real problems that Paul and a few others address like the Federal Reserve (google fed. reserve), an illegal fed. income tax, trillions of dollars in debt and growing, nation building, economic hit men such as john perkins, the American global military empire with thousands of bases all over the world, the patriot act that pretty much destroyed 9 out of 10 of the bill of rights. Oh and did i forget to mention the war in Iraq and possible future war in Iran in the name of "democracy".

Wow, that makes me depressed.

No matter how many times senator Barrack Hussein Obama goes to other nations like Germany to deliver speeches or how many times he goes to Iraq to show how he can shoot a basketball and show how "cool" he is, he still continues to say nothing. If he is great at anything, it is his ability to say absolutely nothing and smile. If he ever addressed the real issues, and no i am not talking about "global warming", then i would respect him, but until then, he is a false hope for so called "change".

Too bad people wait until the general election to vote. The primaries and caucuses are where the real fight for power is and believe me, it is a dirty fight. The old guard brings out all the tricks to manipulate control of the system to their advantage.

Sorry, but i am not very optimistic about real change in this nation. That doesn't mean i won't continue to stand for truth and hope for the best, but i am a realist. Thanks for letting me rant a little. Oh and nice website btw.

in case your interested, here are some other videos that merely touch the tip of the iceburg called corruption:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDAFozFn4kU
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=from+free...

Re: Biden a good choice? - Jonathan Johnson's Blog

nilobject — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 16:03:04 -0000

That is a good clip. I'm anxious to see how the Rally for the Republic comes out next week. From what I gather, there's a chance more people will be attending that than the convention itself.

Re: Obama being another politician. I would agree with that somewhat, but I haven't seen anything to really counteract that what he speaks about he truly cares about. I've seen a few compromises, but not without what I feel is a pretty reasonable explanation.

I don't quite agree with Paul in saying that their foreign policies are the same. I genuinely believe that Obama will use force as a last resort. Obama is not advocating being aggressive with Iran or Russia. He has repeatedly stated we need to talk with them and let them know how we feel and try to come to an understanding. Obama supported putting 12k troops back into Afghanistan, which I can see both sides. It's our fault for not quite finishing the job we set out to originally because we focused on Iraq. However, the other part of me wants to pull everyone back.

While in theory I agree with no troops anywhere, we need to do it carefully and with cooperation with the governments abroad. If we pull out quickly in an area that their government and people truly want us and need us to help stabilize (peace keeping only), we should comply and help build them up so that we can leave. If we just jet out of every area, some foreign people will hate that (others will love it), and we must take caution not to cause any further conflicts because they felt we wronged them by leaving.

Foreign policy is a hard subject, and even though I want our troops here at home, I also foresee that we can cause blowback by pulling everyone back quickly in areas that may genuinely want us to continue helping out. We are so influential in the world that if we pulled everyone back, there would be significant changes happening nearly overnight.

Comparing to McCain's "I need a draft to have enough troops to operate my foreign policy", Obama's is much more sensible. Paul's is the most idealistic, but even he wouldn't be able to just pull the plug overnight without causing a lot of grief.

Re: Biden a good choice? - Jonathan Johnson's Blog

nilobject — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 17:39:10 -0000

Wow, thank you for the thoughtful response. I'm glad I was able to spread the word about Paul to at least one person. Let me reiterate: my wife and I are Paul supporters, and I will be watching congressmen and women here for their views, and voting with my heart there.

On the national level, the two party system is a joke. I already know about Barr (not about Baldwin though) and Nader. However, Barr and Nader will not be in the debates, and I don't think any of them will have any bearing on the national election except to disrupt people who are normally republican to not vote for McCain.

The election system needs major reform. Candidates should be able to debate if they can meet a criteria that is enough to show a possibility of being popular (ie, let's say a petition with 100,000 signatures, although that's an arbitrary number). Unfortunately, the news stations have no interest in supporting third parties, and so no national debates will include the third parties for the foreseeable future. Without another debate forum happening that is an independent source, we can't get national coverage that is needed.

Additionally, the two candidates have no interest in including third parties: why dilute the vote further?

Basically, I'm fed up with the electoral system as it is today, and I feel it needs reform. However, I don't see any hope for getting anyone except McCain or Obama elected. Essentially, I'm anit-McCain, which leaves me slightly for Obama in the sense that I feel he's the only route to not having McCain elected.

It's sad that it's come to this. I know people who say they are just going to write in someone, Hillary for example, and I applaud them for doing it. But until the nation as a whole is exposed to the idea that you can vote for people who aren't listed on the ticket, or until we can get national coverage for the third parties that actually do get on the tickets, we're stuck. I will do whatever I can to see election reform take place, by voting for congressmen and women that believe in liberty and freedom, and not for strictly voting party lines.

I signed up for Campaign for Liberty, and should probably dedicate a post to it to spread the word. To this date, my only contributions have been to Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich. I most likely will not donate to Obama, unless the poll numbers are actually very close.

I'm starting to lose track of this post, as it's really long also. The basic conclusion is that I have no hope for third parties (except on a local and state level) during this election, simply because the reform needs to take place to get the information out about them. This isn't happening on a national level with the most common form of media: TV. Because of my hopelessness of the situation with third parties, I do feel it's only a race between Obama and McCain, and I feel so strongly about McCain being a horrible choice for president, I would try to help Obama out if I could.

Isn't that just sad?

Re: Application Support - Jonathan Johnson's Blog

Buff Allen — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 18:28:55 -0000

Don't apologize..... it's not your fault. I thought you'd like to know that you're not alone. Now here's something else.... I had an iPod touch before getting the iPhone, and iTunes offered to transfer all my data from one to the other, using the same name of the device. This is silly, but I know that the sounds won't be heard on a touch without headphones. Could there be some audio setting was transferred that shouldn't have been? (but they don't work with headphones, either.)

Re: Application Support - Jonathan Johnson's Blog

nilobject — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 18:18:59 -0000

So, the volume of my app is controlled by the ringer volume. If your ringer volume is up loud, the app will be loud. If it's down to nothing, you will not hear anything.

I can't find anywhere on the phone to turn off any other sounds that may affect my app. Even if I turn off all sounds, as long as my ringer volume is on, I can hear the metronome.

I'm at least relieved somewhat that it's not just my problem. My next version will fix this issue, as it is a side effect of moving to different APIs that allow me to control my volume.

Sorry for the inconvenience and my inability to figure out what's wrong.

Re: Application Support - Jonathan Johnson's Blog

Buff Allen — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 15:57:41 -0000

When I play another third party app, my volume controls on the iPhone work as volume. In Metronome, it still says "Ringer volume," which means something is not connecting with the audio controls on the machine.

I appreciate your kind offer, but let's wait until your next release and see if it will work.

Thanks.

Re: Application Support - Jonathan Johnson's Blog

nilobject — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 15:34:09 -0000

And all of your other third party applications function with sound? I'm not using any crazy APIs to play the sound, so I can't think of any reason why it would work on my phone and many, many others, but not on yours.

I will be rewriting part of the code that plays the sounds to allow me better control over volume, so that may fix it for you, but if you'd rather not wait and chance it (and I don't blame you), I would contact Apple for a refund (which can be done through your account page in the iTunes store).

Re: Application Support - Jonathan Johnson's Blog

Buff Allen — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:28:00 -0000

I thought about the idea of deleting and reinstalling, although that didn't work either. Then I read your last post above, and downloaded it again from iTunes. Unfortunately, that didn't work either. Hmmmm.

Re: Application Support - Jonathan Johnson's Blog

nilobject — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:19:09 -0000

Unfortunately I'm out of ideas. This is the first report I've had of this. I would suggest deleting the app and reinstalling it, perhaps even re-downloading it in iTunes (Apple will not charge you if you "purchase" it again, it will recognize that you had already bought it).

Re: Application Support - Jonathan Johnson's Blog

Buff Allen — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:14:56 -0000

Yes, the dot's flashing. It's only a visual metronome for me.

Re: Application Support - Jonathan Johnson's Blog

nilobject — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 13:48:12 -0000

Is the red dot flashing? To turn on the metronome, you need to click the Play button.

Re: Application Support - Jonathan Johnson's Blog

Buff Allen — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 13:46:28 -0000

I'm on an iPhone. The silent switch is not activated. When I'm in the iPod area, the volume goes considerably high, but when I'm in Metronome and raise the volume, there's a superimposition on the screen that shows "ringer volume" but nothing comes out of Metronome.

Re: Countdown for iPhone - Jonathan Johnson's Blog

nilobject — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 10:23:43 -0000

It's possible, but currently it automatically rearranges based on how much time is left. If I allowed manual reordering, I would have to disable the auto-sorting. I'll have to think about it.

Re: Application Support - Jonathan Johnson's Blog

nilobject — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 10:16:31 -0000

Do you have an iPod Touch or an iPhone?

If you have an iPhone, is the silent switch on? Metronome honors the silent switch. If not, you can use the volume buttons to increase the volume.

If you're on an iPod Touch, the noise will only be audible through the headphones. In the next version I'm investigating being able to make the click noise instead, but there are various difficulties with that and can not promise anything.

I hope this helps.