david rasch - making stuff work » Misc

thanks!

drasch — Fri, 21 May 2010 02:58:14 +0000

Thanks to the help of the collective generosity of the internet, I’ve imported all the old Blog posts from my S9Y blog into WordPress!

Thanks

Eden Platform Gets You More Search Engine Traffic

drasch — Sun, 17 May 2009 01:40:04 +0000

I recently had the distinct pleasure of taking Preation’s Eden Platform for a test drive. The Preation team together with its Eden Platform make sure that your website will continue to deliver long after the initial setup. Through the platform you can add content, contact forms, calendars, navigation, look and feel, and media all through an intuitive user interface. Move pages, content, and articles around using drag-and-drop interface. Eden Platform is one heck of a CMS, but that’s not the best of it. Eden Platform integrates throughout the entire process information about every page, navigation, and even the analytics to let you know exactly how to get the most free traffic to your website via the search engines. It provides feedback on keyword density, links, URLs, and navigation. Best of all, it provides specific advice on how to address any flags that come up.

There are many cool technology aspects behind this project including the analysis of page content, drag-and-drop interface, scalability and caching concerns to keep things running smoothly.

And, Preation’s just released the Eden Optimizer (which provides the SEO feedback mentioned above) as a standalone product. See what the Eden Platform might do for you by evaluating your current SEO score.

Clay’s 2-month photos from Monday

drasch — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 02:50:44 +0000

courtesy of Libby as chief photographer

Clayton Week 5

drasch — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 13:53:35 +0000

Clayton enjoyed the swing once, the first night he came home he slept in the swing for a few hours while mom and dad got some sleep under the watchful eye of Gm+Gp Bucholz. Since then, he has had no affection for the swing and usually starts to cry within 30-90 seconds of being placed in it. However, in the last few days he’s started to enjoy watching the mobile. We think that perhaps he can now see further and the mobile can hold his attention.

Clayton Week 5

He’s also been standing (when held up that way), which makes him feel like a human.

Clayton Week 5

Clayton turned 1 month old yesterday

drasch — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 02:09:36 +0000

See some photos!

Marshall gets his revenge

drasch — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 00:50:12 +0000

Marshall gets his revenge

trying my own video player

drasch — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 01:05:48 +0000

In the interest of being thorough, I’m also trying out my very own video player. Please let me know if this video looks better/worse than the Motionbox variety. Interestingly, it’s actually going to be easier to create a video of this kind because I can automate it.

trying my own video player

Thanks to:

Either way, I’ll post my conversion command lines, and any other support tools/configurations.

Trying out MotionBox

drasch — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 00:24:45 +0000

Eric seems to like MotionBox for hosting his videos. Emulation is the truest form of flattery, so I’m trying it out.

Lily and Marshall adjust

drasch — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:52:41 +0000

Lily and Marshall adjusted to Clayton’s arrival with more grace than we’d expected. Libby made the brilliant move to send a blanket of Clayton’s home to give the pups to smell and get used to before we came home.

Read on for the story in photos…

Upon our trip home, Libby went in to greet the dogs first, while Clayton stayed outside. The kids were quite interested, but not overly pushy.

After this, Marshall just relaxed and wanted some attention too. Lily wasn’t quite as sure, but we encouraged her with some canned-cheese.

Over the past week, they’ve both been quite good. Lily seems to realize that Clayton’s another little human and not to be played with. In spite of Clayton’s many smells, noises, and motions, Lily seems to have accepted him and we have to tell her occasionally to leave him be, but she always listens quite well. As Lily and Marshall napped with Libby and Clayton the other night, we weren’t worried to let them rest. We’re very proud of Lily and Marshall for being so accepting. We can’t impress enough the value of the training we’ve done with them and how it helps to be able to give them commands, and make requests of them and expect them to obey.

Lily and Marshall won’t be brushed aside by Clayton, but they’ll continue to be just as important members of our now larger family.

Happy 1st week Clayton

drasch — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 06:47:16 +0000

Clayton was born 1 week ago tonight. Reflecting on the last week, it’s been the experience of a lifetime.

As Clayton was born a week ago, we were charged with the awesome thought, “what do we do with him?” As we were alone with him in our room, we quickly learned that we knew more than we thought, and more than anything he just needed us to be there and love him.

In his first week, we’ve made progress with the communication barrier, feeding him, clothing him, and other basics. On both his side and ours, we desperately seek to better communicate. Libby and I always try to remember that with each cry, whimper, and wail he asks us for something. The true pleasure is discovering what he seeks and working to provide it.

One of the greatest pleasures for which he needn’t ask has been to sit and watch him take in the world through his wide eyes, ears, nose, hands, and, of course, his mouth. When he stares with the deepest look of wonder and curiosity it always makes me wonder what things he’s discovering. For much of the last week, especially the birth itself, Libby and I haven’t looked much at clocks, calendars, or emails, nor responded to pressures from much of the rest of life.

Libby claims that my eyes light up when I look at him and hold him. I know the feeling I got when I wrapped him in a blanket and helped him calm down that first night; it made me realize how important I was to this little guy who wanted nothing in the world other than people to care about him and take care of him. Anyone who knows me would quickly tell you that nurturing isn’t one of my strong suits or, some might argue, even a skill. In fact, in my own ways, I do everything in my power to help people around me grow, learn, and become better in everything hey do, but my methods stray far from the conventional definition of nurturing. It just so happens that at this point, Clay needs help in areas that we take for granted including food, cleanliness, warmth, rest, and affection. At this point, we play with this very small deck, and look to add cards one at a time as Clay and his parents grow together.

Oh, and your reward for reading all this…more photos.