I'm really interested in how the music I listen to affects my running. Does my pace change? What about my heart rate? Does my rhythm become more consistent?

I'd love to be able to review playlist data (song tempo, and other analysis of the music) along with all the other stuff I'm used to - Elevation, pace, heart rate, distance, etc.

I have refined playlists for certain running tracks, and there are select songs that I use to motivate me in different situations. Long up hill sections tend to require the real pumping tracks (Doom E1M1, Mortal Kombat theme, etc), and the long stretches toward the horizon tend to be the more uplifting songs with nice melodies backed by a pumping beat (fro-08: .the .product, etc). Read more »

If you've been working on websites in the last.. hmmm... well if you've ever worked on websites, you'll be familiar with the problem of different browsers behaving differently. If it's CSS, JavaScript or even just ordinary HTML you'll find that each browser has it's own way of understanding what you want it to do.
HTML5 is well underway now, and things are looking up. It's all good, right?

Well, not. Not exactly.

Yes, things are in a much better state. Not just that, but we've also figured out ways to bend the browsers to our will - if() statements to check what JavaScript to use, browser specific <!--[if IE]> tags to fix up the CSS.
We've managed to get by okay. And now with HTML5, we've even got a bunch of new toys to play with. We can embed video without third party plugins, we can render vector graphics natively, and all kinds of awesome things.

There is one small problem though. At this early stage of HTML5 implementations, we're seeing the familiar problem of cross-browser compatibility.
I've recently posted about my use of the canvas element. One thing I had planned to post about there was some of the canvas bugs I've encountered over the last couple of weeks.
That post was getting rather lengthy, so I rewrote it, and have begun writing this one. Read more »

Recently, I have been working on some canvas rendered buttons and other UI elements for a little project. So, rather than downloading an image for the buttons, it can be rendered. One problem I encountered was the lack of rounded rectangle drawing methods in the canvas 2D context.
I decided I'd like to make my job a little easier and add a couple of methods to the 2D context:

• fillRectR()
• strokeRectR()

So, how do we extend the 2D context of a canvas? I'm glad you asked! Read more »

I'm talking to you PrototypeJS!

Every time I try and discuss the details of javascript prototypes, how they work, and why they are cool - almost invariably; someone will think I am talking about PrototypeJS when they google it.

It's not just that, though. I sort of find it offensive that they just step in and "grab" a major language feature as a name, and start throwing it around like they are helping you. I haven't used PrototypeJS yet (mostly because I am bugged by the whole name thing).

Anyway, I just wanted to vent here with that little rant. Read more »

Obviously, I haven't posted anything in a long while. (This seems to be the way I've begun all of my recent posts). It's not that I don't want to, I just haven't had time to bring my posts to fruition. I currently have two posts "in the hopper" which need a few more tweaks before I can publish them. One is about my keyboard, and one is about my computer case.

Because it's been ages, (and I don't seem to be able to get my posts ready to publish), I've decided to throw caution to the wind and publish this post.

I guess I'll talk a bit about Blender, since I've been playing with it this week. I'd never really used Blender before Monday this week. I had used a variety of other software (mostly 3D Studio Max), and whilst I wouldn't call myself a pro; I think I've become fairly proficient. Blender was surprising. Read more »