Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Codeigniter and PHP Parse Errors

I'm learning the CodeIgniter php framework.

By default, CI disables php display errors for security purposes. So, if you've missed a semicolon, a curly brace or whatever, you get a blank page. Actually, that's all you'll get in anything that relies on that controller, model, or view. Less than helpful for a novice programmer.

Finally, I figured it out. I'm a little embarrassed about the simplicity of it.

In index.php do this:

ini_set('display_errors', 1);

And you'll get those wonderful parse errors in CodeIgniter instead of a completely blank page. Line numbers, file names, and all.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Charlottetown gets rocked

I've been watching it for a while now; at first, from my bedroom window, then from my deck outside. The radar shows promise. It's coming this way.

I need to relocate, I need to be higher, so I jump in my car. Within minutes I'm standing with my tripod setup at the end of the asphalt the middle of an abandoned farmers field. It's the closest location I could think of. It's coming right at me.

The moon is shining brightly over my shoulder, but ahead, it's a different story. At first, it's broad, it's all over the place, lighting up the sky like standing inside an enormous light box. I can't see what the storm looks like until I review the capture.

It's big. Really big.

It'd dead still where I stand, no breeze, and it's dark. I'm giddy with anticipation, I'm nervous when I review the last capture. This storm is like a black void rolling in like a rumbling wall of darkness.

The only sound above the crickets is the sound of my shutter every 20 seconds. It's getting closer, I can see defined strikes. I quickly change from landscape to portrait orientation, flick the shutter release lock. bang.

did I get it.

I got it.

It's cropped from the portrait, a little noisy, and a little out of focus. But I got it.





Even with its faults, I'm thrilled. I'm thrilled because Storms like this don't happen very often, and when they do, they slide right by with little action, or they happen during the day.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Confederation Court Mall

It's changing. Not to many years ago I thought that the confederation court mall in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island sucked. It was dirty, old, smelled funny.

It's been updated, it's about to get a major change, too. A part of the mall will be removed, and replaced with a hotel, and then they'll put an under-street tunnel to connect the mall with the confederation center. Cool.

I quite like the Urban Eatery in the mall, I enjoy the wide open space, or eating area, I guess. It's wide open, has wifi and pretty funky chairs and tables. Good place to sip a cup of coffee from Kickstart.

I guess that's one reason why PEI Rocks.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

I love my mac

I love my mac. It's a joy to use. OS X has so many features that help me do what need to do.

Stuff like easy access to recently used directories, a true windowed operating system, and then this new application I just added... quicksilver. It's kickass.

Truly, it's not Mac I love. It's OS X. It kills Windows; I would totally use PC hardware if I could run a supported copy of OS X. It's that nice.

osxrocks.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Running out of time

oh man... I finally went out last weekend for a winter photo shoot. I've been meaning to do it since the first snow fall. It always seems I'm busy with hockey, or the light sucks, or, I suck and just don't make time.

I enjoyed it; a lot. So much that when I walked out the door to go to work on Monday, I saw the fog over the river and decided right there that I will be late. I had to go shoot.

There is, for the lack of a better term, abandoned farm land across the river with a paved, unmaintained access road.

A man on a schedule can make marry luxuries as 4wd and an access road quite quickly.

I did.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Wait, are the stalls empty? Shoot.

Most are familiar with the facebook news feed, right?

I log in, in my feed, there's a comment added to a photo. A simple +1.

With my interest piqued, I click. What's this about...

It's an entry for a "most beautiful girl on facebook" contest. The interesting thing about this submission is the venue in which the photo was taken. A large bathroom. Public, I assume; at a bar, perhaps... plastic beer cup in hand.

I can think of another contest that photo would do well in. Perhaps better.

Wait - who am I to judge.

>click< ha! open profile. It's nice that potential employers can get a look at the a possible reason for low productivity on certain day-after days.

I hope she washed her hands.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

peirocks.com

I own peirocks.com if you happen tohave a bigger vision for it than an easy redirect to my blog, you can rent it from me. I'll change the redirect.

As another option, you may write a cheque for a ridiculous amount of money and my name on it, and you could own peirocks.com. It better be a sum so great that friends family and relatives will disown me for the very idea of rejecting such a generous offer.

Until then, I like the easy redirect, but everything has a price.

Welcome to PEI Rocks.

It's not what you think.

PEI Rocks is not pronounced PEI Rocks!

To help define PEI Rocks, let me say this.

Prince Edward Island is Canada's smallest province, in being the smallest province, it also boasts the smallest population. I make up one of the population of Prince Edward Island.

The thing about PEI, is that is has no rocks. PEI is a sand bar. A sand bar on steroids if you will. What holds it together is sand compressed centuries ago. Likely by a herd of Mastadon's. That may not be true, but I like to think that it is.

I hear it's good for growing potatoes and the writing of wholesome stories about red hair pig tailed youth adventurers. Let us not mention her again.

With that said, picture in your mind, if you will, a pile of these red "rock" impostor's and you have successfully defined PEI Rocks. Insignificant ramblings from one person living among Canada's smallest population in its smallest province and lying about its geological composition.

I am a photographer, a learner, a rambler. Fasten your seat belt. It's the law.