Moulton Castle – Newburyport, Maudslay Park

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Growing up working on one of the oldest farms in America (run by the same family since the 1680s), my interest in local history was definitely the cause of some long-winded conversations with some of the old-timers. The farm was located adjacent to Maudslay State Park in Newburyport. In fact, the park itself used to be part of the farm before it was sold off to the Moseley family (Originally spelled Maudesleigh) around the turn of the century (1900s).

One bit of local history that always really interested me was the “Moulton Castle” that used to sit on what is now called “Castle Hill” in Maudslay State Park. To sum up, Henry Moulton was this civil war soldier. After the war, he came back and built a very real castle in Newburyport. I’ve known about it since I was a teenager, but every time I tell someone about it I always get the same response; “Yeah, right. A castle in Newburyport…”

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Create valid xHTML-Strict, Search-Friendly iFrames Using jQuery

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Web Developers continue to argue whether it’s really that important to validate every website using the “Strict DOCTYPE”, or if valid website markup code is really even that important. While this is a discussion for another time, I try to publish every site I author in valid, Strict xHTML. I believe standards are made for a reason, and if you wish to write good code – just follow the standards.

Occasionally I find the need for a page element that is not considered valid xHTML-Strict markup. One big one that has come up is the good ole’ “iFrame” tag. Granted you can always change the DOCTYPE to “Transitional” and still have valid code, or you can use the “Object” tag to get the same results and be valid. In the past I’ve done both of these, but I’d rather use the Strict DOCTYPE and let’s face it; “Object” tags simply do not play nice across browsers.

Also, sometimes you want to embed xHTML strict iFrame Vimeo videos, or Amazon iFrames that are SEO-friendly. I’m sure there are other ways to display this sort of external web content (ajax, CURL), but I’ve yet to find any useful when building simple pages. Regardless, I found what I think is a MUCH better solution to including iFrame content, both technically speaking and considering Search Engine Optimization (SEO; search bots don’t like iFrames).

Note: This outline is designed for people with at least a little to moderate web design and developing experience. Also, this technique is a workaround that is Search Engine friendly for use when iFrame content is inevitable. It should be noted that iFrames are not valid elements for a reason and should be filtered out if possible. While this will allow your pages to “validate”, it’s really just tricking the browser.

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Home network, backup solution – now I can sleep.

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It’s been about two weeks since I updated my home network with a file server and backup drive. So far, the performance is fast and the backup has been flawless. I didn’t have a ton of cash to spend on setting it up, so I went on the “frugal side”. Here is an outline of the set up if anyone is thinking of doing this.

Need

I realized not too long ago that all my music, client work, finances, pictures, emails and everything was in danger of being completely lost in the case of a drive failure. It hit me with an uncomfortable unease to think that I had no way of saving any of this data because I had no copy or backup solution for home (big) media files. I needed to set something up, asap. Once I realized it was all at risk, I became all paranoid about even faintest “odd noise” my laptop made.

I also have a big media collection on my machine (80 or so gigs of mp3s). I share the library across the network to my wife’s laptop, but it’s availability was contingent on my machine being on. And, she could only “read” the files. This meant that I had to actually burn CDs when she wanted one. I wanted a way for her to be able to manage the same library as me, but of course did not want to actually duplicate it on her machine. I also stream media to my PlayStation 3 from my laptop. Again, my machine needed to be on for this to work.

I figured it was time to build a backup solution and media server at home to deal with all this. Besides, I’m a web developer/techie anyways. My home network was lacking to say the least.

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WordPress on PHP 5.3.0, “General Settings” blank screen bug fix.

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I recently ran into a frustrating issue when WordPress (2.8.4) started acting bad once the server was updated to the latest php 5.3.0. The main issue is pretty well documented if you search Google, and is not a WordPress code problem rather a php bug. My issue was that my “General Settings” screen stopped loading, and hung with a mostly blank page. This was nothing more than a pain. I’ll wait to update my php for a real fix, rather than rolling back to 5.2.

Here’s what I did to make the problem go away.

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Track downloads with Google Analytics using jQuery

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If you currently use Google Analytics for website statistics, but want to get even more details on what your visitors are doing on your site – you may want to implement custom event tracking. Using this method, you can track nearly every action a user takes on your site. External link clicks, email link clicks, file downloads and more can all be tracked and recorded. Any webmaster will tell you; the more details you can get about your visitors – the better you can cater to them and increase your return on investment.

I am constantly trying to better my understanding of my site’s visitors. Using custom tracking has allowed me to adjust my content ever-so-slightly, creating a significant increase in conversion rate. For example, one big item has been the ability to track what links people are clicking to leave my sites. I found that there were a few links that got clicked way more than the rest. Using this knowledge, I created content on my site that was similar to the link the users where clicking. After a bit of tweaking, I was able to retain that visitor and increase my conversion rate.

I’ve asked new clients before about their current site activity, and received confused “i have no clue” responses. After installing Google Analytics and generating some reports – the client is always amazed. They had no clue certain pages were the best traffic, or that certain pages rank for certain keywords.The bottom line is this; If you don’t have detailed reports on your web traffic, you’re missing the boat. The method below just adds a new layer of detail to what your site is (or can be) doing.

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Who needs all their tongue anyways? Uhg…

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A number of weeks ago I noticed a little lump on my tongue. Actually, I noticed a little lump inside my tongue – on the right side, near the tip. It didn’t seem to give me any pain.  It was just a small, hard lump that I could roll around between my teeth. It felt like a frozen pea, or kernel of corn embedded inside the flesh of my tongue.

Perhaps it was fear of knowing what it was (or could be), or perhaps it was just ignorance,  but I didn’t tell anyone about it for nearly a month. I figured it was a swollen something or other and would simply sort itself out. As it turns out, not so much. In fact, it slowly started to grow and discolor. It was obvious that I needed to have it looked at.

I bolted out of work at 10am for a visit with my primary. By 1pm, I had met with three doctors (two surgeons) and was scheduled for the “first available” surgery at the hospital. Needless to say I’m a little overwhelmed by it all. I mean, I’ve never needed any sort of surgery beyond my wisdom teeth, and now I was to have a section of my tongue removed as soon as possible. Eff that. I mean, I thought for sure he would tell me to put ice on it, take some Advil, and stop being such a baby.

Everything is happening so fast now, and I’m still a little freaked out by the whole thing. Actually, I’m a lot freaked out (as you can probably imagine). Talking with the doctor didn’t help much either. He talked at me in matter-of-fact, professional tones and used phrases like “probably benign,” and “remove the surrounding tongue tissue,” and best of all – “be aware, tongue procedures are among the bloodiest.” It felt like a joke – until I signed the paper giving him permission to operate on me and remove the necessary tissue.

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Possible 18th century New England card table??!?

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I just acquired this from close (and slightly mental) friend of mine. He is dealing with some family estate items and gave it to me because he knew I really liked it. I’ve been a big antique roadshow fan for years, and anyone that has seen that show has heard of the infamous “card table” that turned out being one of the highest valued pieces they had.

Now, I’m not claiming this is one of them. The thing is, my friend said the appraiser took a quick look at it, got “very” interested. She said it was most likely an authentic late 1700s antique table. I know a little about these things, but not enough to claim I have anything extraordinary. I’m not sure I would sell it even so, I really like how it looks and would want to keep it in the family.

I can say with certainty, this came out an authentic 18th century Newburyport farmhouse. It was a farmhouse on a local farm run by the same family since 1683. The house is literally a museum of authentic, pristine colonial and federal relics. This table was just one of three similar tables my friend has.

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