Categories
Development

Google Maps v3 Weird Controls Rendering

I just upgraded a few of my Google Maps to v3. But, I noticed that my Controls and InfoWindows weren’t rendering correctly. They were looking pretty weird.

So I began much investigation. Turns out that it was a CSS conflict with styles on my site.

For Responsive goodness I was using:

img { max-width: 100%; }

and this was the source of the conflict.

Fixing turned out to be really easy once I narrowed down the problem.

I just set the max-width of the images within the map container to none.

#map-container { max-width: none; }

Now my maps look pretty and my Responsive goodness is still working like a charm!

Categories
Books

The Lord of the Rings

It dawned on me that I still had never read the Lord of the Rings books. I figured with all the reading I’ve done that past few years, this was a rather strange omission for myself. So my recent quest was to read all three.

Having seen the movies numerous times and knowing general story beforehand, it was kinda cool to read just how different the books were and how much didn’t make it into the films.

Like the movies my favorite book was the first, the Fellowship of the Ring. I just enjoyed the whole quest aspect, and when the whole fellowship is together. While there separate adventures were very cool, I do enjoy it best when they’re a group.

I was surprised at just how much the hobbits journeyed together before they finally met up with the rest of the crew. I also wasn’t aware that the elves held 3 of the other rings. I can’t recall if that was in the movie or not.

Excellent books and I’m glad I finally gave them a shot.

Categories
Video Games

Fire Emblem Awakening

Fire Emblem AwakeningI’ve been a big fan of Fire Emblem games for many years now, and I do believe Awakening was the finest installment yet. I definitely played this game too much and found myself wanting to play it at weird times. While this also says a bit about perhaps I need to find better things to be doing, it clearly also reflects what a fine game this was as well.

I do enjoy strategy games, and challenges as well. The perma-death, is what really makes this series stand out to me. When a character that you’re spent way too many hours leveling up and kinda getting to know in a weird way dies in a battle, they are dead. No extra lives, bringing back from the dead, phoenix downs, etc. They are gone.

While it many sound ever more strange is how attached you become to these stupid characters and just how much effort and thought I found myself spending before each and every move to ensure their safety. There were nervous moments indeed, but I somehow played through Hard level without losing anyone until the very last chapter. I thought that was pretty impressive given how hard and unforgiving this game can be.

This was easily one of my all time favorites and was really impressed with how well done and how much there was to do in this game. The amount of downloadable content has been impressive as well, fine job Nintendo. Though I’m bummed that it’s over, I’m also very glad that I feel like I’ve gotten a good chunk of my life back as well.

Categories
Development

jQuery Mobile Hi-Res Images

I’ve been developing a little mobile app using jQuery Mobile and PhoneGap and ran into a little difficulty with supporting both Retina and earlier iPhone displays. Turns out it’s not too difficult using some CSS3 media queries.

However my hi-res images were showing up way too big still.

Simply adding the background-size attribute to what a “standard size” image should be did the job. It did make a lot of sense too, even though I hadn’t thought of it at first.

For instance, my 640px x 1136px image needed a background-size attribute of 320px x 480px to display properly on the Retina display since they pack a much higher pixel density.

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@media only screen and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio:2) {
    .ui-body-a, .ui-overlay-a {
        background: url('img/home_bg_2x.jpg') center bottom no-repeat;
        background-size: 320px 480px;
    }
}
Categories
Adventure Sports

Flyers vs Devils

My friends thought it would be a fine idea to get everyone to hang out by going to a hockey game. I believe it was Kevin’s idea, and glad that he came up with it. It’s tough to get everyone together now, so any attempt is most welcomed.

Well my naive self figured, sure that’s a great idea because a hockey ticket could only be $20, right? Well I found out that I was most wrong on this assumption of the current rates for a hockey game. Despite having a moral stand on paying money to see a grown man play a sport while my lazy self is seated, I would find out that I would be $140 the poorer for attending.

For that price I surely thought I would if not be allowed to play, to at least touch the ice. However alas, it was not the case and I could only sit and watch.

And act like a fool during the whole game, since I’m really not into hockey at all. My favorite thing to do was to start “Jared Chants” throughout the game. Such as, “Let’s go Jared!”, a simple “Jared” and even an occasional “Jared you suck!”

Apparently no one on the ice was named Jared, so I probably seemed that much more a fool. Oh well, it did entertain the Shepherd a few rows ahead of me.

It was also discussing hockey with Tim and Wes. I mean, there was just so much hockey to be had! Hockey was everywhere!

I did wind up stealing an ice cream cone accidentally. I swear it had nothing to do with revenge for the ticket price, I truly thought that it was paid for as I walked away. It was cookies and cream in a waffle cone, and very delicious.

We did wind up hanging out a bit afterwards in the cold parking lot even though a warm refuge just feet away. It was nice to get to see everyone and chat a bit. It is amazing just how old everyone is getting, yet how little we have all changed over the years as well.

Perhaps the most amazing event of the night was when Alex started his car for us in the parking lot while he was using the restroom in the Spectrum. This used of technology truly impressed us all, some more than others.

Categories
Sports

Dodgeball Winter 2013 Playoffs – Round 2

Very excited to be playing on the second week of dodgeball playoffs for the first time, we knew we were facing a mighty tough task this week. We’d be facing off against That’s What She Said, whom has the finest girls squad in all of dodgeball. They’re all very good players.

This week we were lucky to have our full roster on hand, and everyone seemed to be feeling pretty positive coming off last week’s incredible performance. We discussed pre-game strategies and were ready to go.

Their girls took the first match, but ours held their own. At this rate it was looking like we might be able to win a few as the night went on. Our guys took the first match with a pretty solid performance. We seemed to of continued where we left off last week.

The Badgers got off to an early lead when the girls upset their squad and took a win. At this time we were all feeling pretty great and knew that we’d gotten off to the start that we needed to. Now we just had to keep applying pressure for the rest of the night.

Well that plan kinda didn’t pan out. Unfortunately That’s What She Said would go on to win the remainder of the matches that night. It stunk, to see us lose this way after having a great start.

I didn’t play very well. My throws just weren’t sinking like they usually do. It resulted in two of my throws being caught, which is the same amount that were caught in the previous ten games this seasons. Not good.

Despite the loss, I was still very proud of the team. I thought we handled things well, and did give it our all throughout the night. I didn’t see any quit from any one. Even when we were down 6-2 the troops still believed we could come back! I’m not sure we’d have such resolve earlier in the season, so that I was very glad to see.

It was also fun watching the championship game later in the night as well. One of the matches was so excited that a few of us were lying on the floor looking under the curtain just to get a glimpse of the excitement. It was pretty funny.

I’m also glad that many of the Badgers hung around to watch the later games too. It was a true honor to of crafted mat bleachers and hand out with the girls watching some good dodgeball. They’re a pretty great bunch, and I was very lucky to have them as teammates.

Hopefully everyone can return for next season and we can continue to improve.