Author: Daniel

Sysadmin turned bearpuncher. Whereabouts unknown.
General Nerd Stuff Work
December 15, 2010

PHP Lessons to my 16-year old self.

Over the past five days I’ve turned a sketch for a Basenotes March Madness site into a real, working application, and did it with efficiency, normalization and security in mind. Web design was something I started messing with when I was about 10 or 11 years old, with a little 64-page book that actually gave a good understanding of the basics. Though I don’t need to consult that book I still keep it around, maybe I’ll find some young nerd to pass it along to although quite a bit of it is deprecated code now. It wasn’t until 18 and in college that I learned C and subsequently PHP, and really got a feel for the database design that had always intrigued me. I’ve had several projects of varying scales, and picked up a significant bag of tricks. If I could go back and get my 16 year old self to do all the stuff he wanted to do, I’d have these words of wisdom for him.

  • Go pick up a copy of The C Programming Language. Forget about Perl, C will get you where you want to be.
  • MySQL is much, much easier to get started with than Oracle, and forget about ColdFusion, it’ll be dead soon.
  • JavaScript is sometimes a necessary evil. It can do things that are either way too cumbersome or flat-out impossible any other way. But don’t worry, JavaScript is becoming respectable.
  • Keep all your code from old projects. You’ll be amazed how much wheel reinvention you’ll save yourself when the time comes to implement a login system again.
  • All those ideas you’ve had in your head? You need to use $_POST[] and $_GET[] to make them work. That’s how you send data from page to page. GET is only useful if you only care
… (More) “PHP Lessons to my 16-year old self.”
Life Music
December 13, 2010

Audio Infinitum (Or, Five Songs Forever)

Music lovers know exactly what someone means when they say “I love the song, but I can’t listen to it all that often,” or something to that effect. Then there are comfort songs, songs to listen to when you’re happy, pissed off, maybe even drunk. (I’m not here to judge.) But what about a song to listen to forever?

It’s funny, this is actually a project I do inadvertently when I make compilation CDs to put in the car, or playlists to listen to on repeat. There will inevitably be weaker songs that I’ll grow tired of well before others. So I’ll tweak the selections, and try to come up with that perfect playlist to represent a genre. I know myself well enough to say I could listen to these five songs, on repeat, more or less perpetually, in this order.

BT – Dark Heart Dawning

Dark Heart Dawning is a relative sleeper track of BT’s, it never appeared on a single or EP after being released on the album Emotional Technology in 2003. While I have other favorites off the album (P A R I S and The Last Moment Of Clarity in particular) none of them exhibit the understated beauty of Dark Heart Dawning. Downtempo pedal steel guitar and a simple story segue into a powerful second half with a heavy gospel overtone. That’s off-putting to some, but I love the emotion you find in a song like this. Deep down I hope BT likes this one as much as I do.

Stevie Ray Vaughan – Riviera Paradise

I became a fan of SRV not long after I started playing the guitar, probably around age 14. I had a copy of Couldn’t Stand The Weather that I still think is one of the most complete displays of skill … (More) “Audio Infinitum (Or, Five Songs Forever)”

Fragrance Nerd Stuff
December 10, 2010

BMM11 Behind The Scenes: Best Laid Plans

I began preliminary work for Basenotes March Madness 2011 today, a paper sketch that I always seem to need to do before designing a website or a database. I’ll be designing both in this case, but the core of the game will of course be on Basenotes. The site I’m building will host the nomination and voting process to select what fragrances make the cut, and will also manage the bracket challenge, where users attempt to predict the outcome of each game. At the end of a day’s games, I simply give the website the final results for the day and it records it, and gives me the code for the next day’s events.

What’s the website look like now? This. But believe it or not, the hard work is nearly over, the actual construction of the website is a pretty simple process having done work with databases for so long.

I’m still spotty on a lot of details, but I can tell you several major changes from prior years events:

– There will be two concurrent tournaments, men’s and women’s. I didn’t run a women’s tournament the first year because I was uncertain as to the popularity of the event, and the second year because I didn’t feel I’d have time to do both because of the amount of manual work involved. The tournaments won’t be segregated by gender, men can vote on the women’s contests and vice versa. The only difference is the brackets themselves will be quite different.

– Instead of the prediction contest’s old scoring system, where each game in round 1 was worth 1 point, then doubling in value for each round, users will be able to bet varying amounts for each game. Essentially each round’s old point values will be multiplied by 10. … (More) “BMM11 Behind The Scenes: Best Laid Plans”

Fragrance Work
December 10, 2010

Chanel Platinum Egoiste – The Prophet Biggie Smalls

How does an early 90s aromatic fougère get street cred?

“…easy, call em on the phone and Platinum Chanel cologne and I stay, dressed, to impress…”
-Notorious B.I.G., Nasty Girl

I’m fairly sure Platinum Egoiste is the only bottle in my collection that has been rapped about, but smelling it, it’s hard not to see that Biggie was on the right track. Platinum Egoiste is an aromatic fougère, meaning it combines the fern, lavender and oakmoss trio of a traditional fougère with additional woods and spices. 1993 was a transition year for the fragrance industry, some of the last few heavy-hitters and offbeat mainstream offerings before CK One and L’Eau d’Issey Miyake in 1994 set the stage for the aquatic-dominant industry we find ourselves in now. Where most current offerings are either soapy, inoffensive aquatics, or cloying sweet club scents, Platinum Egoiste is neither, and instead opens with a blast of rosemary, clary sage and vetiver that is herbal, slightly bitter, and very “aromatic”. Give it a bit to settle down and you see that the top notes have made some room for the cedar and even a fleeting floral hint, which Basenotes lists as geranium. This combination is unique to my collection, Pasha de Cartier comes close but Platinum Egoiste does a more classy job of it. It’s fairly linear from this point, drying down and losing some of that effervescent, sparkling quality but retaining the slightly sweeter herbal scent.

It’s my belief that fougères are some of the best out there when you need to show a professional, mature side. It’s my go-to scent for job interviews, for example. It rarely overpowers unless grossly overapplied, so it’s workplace friendly. Projection is right about where I’d want it, longevity is average at 5-8 hours.

The marketing campaign for the … (More) “Chanel Platinum Egoiste – The Prophet Biggie Smalls”

Blogging DanielTharp.com General
December 9, 2010

Polished Turds and Reinvented Wheels

I did a pretty major reskin of the blog, in anticipation of some upcoming projects. I liked the previous theme, don’t get me wrong, but it was difficult to work with and had some nasty bugs of it’s own. This one is simple and quite a pleasure to use so far.

One thing I’ve come to accept is for the past 7 years I’ve been blogging, it’s been largely an emotional outlet. I have Twitter that serves admirably in that regard, and it’s taken away from the amount of other writing I do. I’m hoping I can keep motivated through 2011 and stick to the weekly schedule of Music Mondays, Wildcard Wednesdays (photography, gaming, rambling), and Fragrant Fridays. The latter will be crossposted on Il Mondo di Odore, a blog run by several high-profile Basenoters and some good friends. I’ve never been a contributor to a blog that wasn’t my own, so I’m quite excited about that.

The site is more secure than ever, I’m seeing the occasional 500 error I can’t pin down, but a refresh always seems to clear it up. I have four days to finish my final group project for Professional Writing and then I suspect I’ll start trying to get a feel for the self-set schedule and how much work and design I want to do. Stay tuned.… (More) “Polished Turds and Reinvented Wheels”

30 in 30 Music
November 7, 2010

30 in 30: Lazersword – Lazer Sword [86/100]

By request I’m putting line breaks between track descriptions. Sorry about that.

Notes: “Tar” opens up with chiptunes aplenty, transitioning into a moody electronica sound, definitely on the experimental side, a lot going on that I wouldn’t be able to really explain but that’s typical of the genre, not bad at all though you do need to be a fan of the genre to appreciate a lot of what’s going on. If you’ve listened to Infected Mushroom or Shpongle you’re suitably prepared for what’s going on here. Good opener.

“Agrokrag” opens up very heavy on dropping the beat altogether, this one’s less the realm of Shpongle and more like a Squarepusher or Flashbulb sound. The crystal synth they chose gives them an interesting sound, the track would be less palatable without it. Nice buildup to a bridge with time-stretched handclaps. Solid ending. This one’s not quite as solid as the first track but should have its share of fans.

“Surf News” has a watery opening true to its name, and the first vocal sample I could understand. This one’s even more experimental than the last, we’re getting into some obscure stuff like Prabhamandala. These are admittedly hard to grade, but the song isn’t bad.

“I’m Gone (Feat. Turf Talk)” has a wild bass drum sound opening up the track which is the first electro-rap song on here. Soundstage is a bit cluttered, instruments are drowning the vocals in the verses. The last minute or so serves as an outro and it’s top-notch.

“Batman” has a great syncopated rhythm section, with little vocal stings and pad synths throughout. This one’s pretty different from anything I’ve heard in the genre, the rhythm gives it a hypnotic quality. If you’re the sort that prefers better living through chemistry, you’ll probably have this song … (More) “30 in 30: Lazersword – Lazer Sword [86/100]”

30 in 30 Music
November 6, 2010

30 in 30: Eric Clapton – Clapton [94/100]

Notes: “Travelin’ Alone” opens up the album with a tricky little blues run and organs, Clapton’s vocals are as inspired as ever, he may even be improving with age. Maracas and bongos give character to what might be a pretty sterile Lil’ Son Jackson cover without it. High hopes for the album after this opener. Arrangement is even slightly different from standard blues (that’s a good thing). “Rockin’ Chair” is a slower affair, giving homage to the original Hoagy Carmichael version of 1929. Brushes on snare, piano and clean electric guitar. Eric’s looking a bit older on this cover art but this is more of a morbidly humorous song than your typical blues. “Old rockin’ chair’s got me / cane by my side / Fetch me my gin, son, / ‘fore I tan your hide” Simple but good song. “River Runs Deep” opens up reminiscent of an old Carlos Santana song, with touches of modern strings. This one covers JJ Cale’s “River Runs Deep”, and the tone is fascinating, if you’ve heard Santana’s stuff around the Abraxas era you’ve got a good idea what’s going on here. Electric organ, vocal harmonies, latin blues riffs, even a couple of horn stings. Long chanted ending with some reversed guitar for good measure. An early favorite on the album. “Judgement Day” opens up with a gospel-blues sound, standard blues scale and harmonica, choral opening. Call-and-response chorus, as solid a harmonica solo as I believe you can really manage with the thing. I’m thrilled to hear four totally different approaches to the blues in four songs, people that say you can’t innovate in a genre like this have never given a master like Clapton a thorough listen. “How Deep Is The Ocean” opens with acoustic guitar, upright bass and piano. This covers Irving Berlin’s … (More) “30 in 30: Eric Clapton – Clapton [94/100]”

30 in 30 Music
November 5, 2010

30 in 30: 10 Years – Feeding The Wolves [84/100]

Notes: “Shoot It Out” starts out feeling much darker than their past releases, dissonance and repetition used effectively. Angrier lyrics and vocals have me quite intrigued if their sound has changed drastically. “The Wicked Ones” is downtempo rock in 4/4 that reminds me of Switchfoot more than anything, in a good way. Chorus is in double-time and pretty different from anything in their past works, and there’s a screaming aspect that wasn’t there in previous albums evident in the first two tracks. Not a bad track at all. “Now Is The Time (Ravenous)” has a more Division-esque sound than the last two, complete with betrayal theme and lyrics that are generously described as hit-and-miss. Good vocal arrangement though, interesting rhythms arranging the vocals in dotted 16th notes through the chorus. Solid melody improves the track, I’m admittedly a big fan of Division so the fact that I like this one isn’t surprising, take it with a grain of salt. Interesting to note they closed this one out with a scream too. “One More Day” has Jesse singing over clean electric and acoustic guitars, transitioning into another downtempo rock song. Interesting chord choices which they’ve done well for quite a while, with a well-done bridge, but the arrangement is far from a new one for 10 Years, I’m hoping to see some innovation in this aspect on the album, though it’s admittedly tough for a songwriter to rework the arrangement they get comfortable with. Ends with violins, interesting choice. “Fix Me” goes for a hook early with catchy melodic electric and bass guitar. This does sound quite a bit like the last track honestly. Bridge has slight tinges of electronica, then dropping everything but piano and vocals and picking back up with the works 4 bars later. Not great. “Chasing The … (More) “30 in 30: 10 Years – Feeding The Wolves [84/100]”

30 in 30 Music
November 4, 2010

30 In 30: Linkin Park – A Thousand Suns [90/100]

Notes: “The Requiem” is a slow fade in, industrial sounds and echoes transition into piano and vocal harmony, then a vocoded female, “God Save Us Everyone” which I’ve heard on the single towards the end of the album. Progresses into “The Radiance”, very industrial techno sound, Oppenheimer’s “I am become death, the destroyer of worlds” sample dominates the short track. Fades out, first actual song three tracks in in “Burning In The Skies”, piano, clean electric guitar, nu-metal drumkit. Provoking lyrics, “I’m swimming in the smoke / Of bridges I have burned / So don’t apologize, / I’m losing what I don’t deserve” The sound is quite clean, distances itself quite effectively from “Minutes To Midnight”, a rather tame guitar solo bridges a song that’s pretty standard of the genre with regards to arrangement. Progresses into “Empty Spaces”, wartime samples of explosions, short segue track into “When They Come For Me”, jarring industrial-distortion on the electric guitar is quite different from anything I’ve heard them do before. Congas and this buzzing guitar sound lead into a very interesting blend of tribal and industrial, M. Shinoda’s rap is on-point and really a great arrangement on a very unique track. Reminded of Nonpoint’s earlier stuff for some reason, “Bullet With A Name” is a distant cousin but I really like both. Song closes out with greater emphasis on vocal harmony, Chester’s chanting gives it a very tribal ending, gritty, focused, powerful, the song may not makes waves on Rock radio stations but it’s one of their best since Meteora. “Robot Boy” uses their usual opening of piano and nu-metal drums, but kick drums and claps slow the tempo to half-time. Chester in three-part harmony, gently swelling strings in the background transition the song into a reverb-heavy echo chamber that’s a drumkit shy … (More) “30 In 30: Linkin Park – A Thousand Suns [90/100]”

30 in 30 Music
November 3, 2010

30 in 30 Club, You’re Invited

I’m going to listen to and review 30 albums, nearly all of them new releases, over the next 30 days. Each Tuesday will feature a new release from that day. I’ll warn you in advance, the selections are quite varied, this will be a challenge for someone that considers themselves only to be a fan of one genre. I think if you’re bothering to read this, you’re open-minded enough to try some bands you may have either never heard of, or never had any desire to listen to. In 30 days we will cover pop, rock, metal, R&B, rap, electronica, blues, ambient, easy listening and more. So grab your headphones and follow along on the journey. This is being posted to multiple sources, Facebook, Twitter, my personal Blog and the MOG.com website. You will need some type of music streaming service to participate, if you don’t have one I recommend MOG’s unlimited streaming for $5 a month, and a free 14-day trial.

Alright, are you ready? Today’s album is Linkin Park’s fourth studio album, A Thousand Suns. Give it a listen or two today, my review will be up tomorrow and then we can share thoughts and experiences with the work. Also, if you like, my review of yesterday’s album, Come Around Sundown by Kings of Leon, is also available for comment.

Date Artist Album
2nd Kings Of Leon – Come Around Sundown
3rd Linkin Park – A Thousand Suns
4th 10 Years – Feeding The Wolves
5th Eric Clapton – Clapton
6th Lazersword – Lazersword
7th Machinae Supremacy – A View From The End Of The World
8th Good Charlotte – Cardiology
9th Kid Cudi – Man On The Moon II: The Legend Of Mr. Rager
10th Andrew Bird – Useless Creatures
11th Mumford & Sons – Sigh … (More) “30 in 30 Club, You’re Invited”