WordPress has Facebook-like link excerpting

Remember when I wished I had Facebook-like link excerpting in WordPress? It turns out I already do: it’s a bookmarklet built into WordPress called Press This.

Here’s how to use it:

In your WordPress Dashboard’s menu, click Tools. Drag the Press This link at the bottom of that page to your browser’s toolbar.

Now, when viewing a webpage that you’d like to add to your blog, simply highlight whatever text you’d like to include in your blog post and click on the Press This bookmarklet you just created. A new window will open up with your selected text already added to the editor and the title of the post set to the title of the webpage you were viewing. You can then adjust the text accordingly (add comments, etc.), and then click Publish. Super easy!

A big hat-tip to Scott Reston for pointing out this nifty feature!

Cheap thoughts: Sound museum

A few weekends ago I was visiting my parents when I thought to look for one of the 1970s-era telephones they had in storage. I had recently realized that my kids had never heard the sound of a real ringing telephone and I thought that was a shame. Modern phones all come with electronic ringers, which pale in comparison to the urgency that a bell provides. The closest they could get to hearing the sound of a ringing bell is a ringtone on an iPhone. I found the old phone I was looking for and made it ring a few times for the kids’ sake (and ok, for mine too). What a contrast it provided to today’s phones.
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Father’s Day

I’m putting the finishing touches on a pretty fun Father’s Day weekend. There was dancing and clowning around at Music on the Porch Friday night; puttering around the house and playground fun at Lions Park Saturday; a friend’s birthday party Saturday night; and projects with the kids, a seafood lunch, and pool time today. It’s been a hot, dry weekend but still my body is feeling pretty happy now.

This evening after the kids went to bed Kelly and I were chatting. “Parenthood is going by fast,” I exclaimed, following it with “ is going by fast!” I will never have another Father’s Day when our daughter is eight and our son is 5-and-a-half. Those events of the past 48 hours that just moments ago filled my senses are now only memories. Happy ones, but memories still: in the book, closed out, and never to be lived again.

The question to be asked at the end of each day is “did I live this day to its fullest?” For today, the answer is yes. I hope that holds true for the rest of my days.

Misleading photo of I-95 bridge

I saw a story in Sunday’s News and Observer about the state potentially adding tolls to I-95. The story was illustrated by a photograph taken by Chris Seward of trucks driving under an I-95 bridge. It included this caption:

At exit 75 on I-95 southbound in Harnett County, tractor-trailers have a tight squeeze at this bridge, one of the interstate’s dangerously low overpasses. If a truck hits one, it can close the highway for hours.

First off, let me say I’m sure Seward is an honest, ethical, upstanding photojournalist and I am not questioning his motives here at all. I don’t think he was trying to mislead anyone with this shot. That said, this photograph gives the viewer the impression that the truck in the center of the frame just barely made it under this bridge. This is obviously not the case as any truck approaching a bridge that low would have to slow down to a crawl. By studying the shadows you can see that the bridge is in fact behind the truck in question and therefore is quite a bit taller than it appears in this picture.

This is the due to the way a telephoto lens distorts the depth of field, making it appear shallower. Again, I don’t think it was intentional but the photograph makes the bridge look a lot lower than it actually is.

(By the way, I support putting tolls on I-95. That highway needs all the help it can get.)

Lions Park playground dedication

Lions Park Playground Dedication

Yesterday was the dedication of the new, community-built playground at Lions Park. This is the park that Kelly, the kids, and I helped build, along with dozens of other volunteers.

It was wonderful seeing the park finally finished. It was only seconds after the ribbon was cut that all the kids present went whooping towards the playground equipment. What a delightful sight that was! I bet Mayor Meeker wishes everything he did got that kind of response!

I posted pictures from yesterday’s dedication on Flickr. Check them out!

Graffiti problem gets attention

The news media have begun picking up on the graffiti problem on state-maintained roads around Raleigh. I’m hopeful that these stories will convince our state transportation officials to take the graffiti issue more seriously.

I got interviewed by Anthony Wilson of WTVD at lunch today, during which I offered my story of how I’ve been pleading with N.C. DOT to give this attention but to no avail. I’m not looking for an overnight solution, either. A little progress on the issue would be enough.

I’ll be watching the news tonight to see if the story runs. There’s a chance that the state will agree to deal with the issue and that might fundamentally change the story. I would be thrilled if my story never ran because the state stepped up to the plate and made the story moot. We’ll see what happens.

Graffiti is a problem that affects us all. It takes a coordinated effort to get rid of it. If one party opts not to tackle it there’s little others can do to pick up the slack. That’s what’s happening here. If the N.C. DOT won’t fix it, let Raleigh crews fix it, or hire a contractor. Putting it off only makes the problem worse.

Maybe not that adventurous

I realized that when I say I would be behind my kids’ adventures all the way, referencing Abby Sunderland’s circimnavigation attempt, it couldn’t possibly be the same. While I like doing adventurous things I am certainly not doing it full-time, like Abby’s father does. The kids have a few hours of sailing under their belt, they certainly don’t practically live around boats like the Sunderlands.

Now, if my kids want to learn extreme system administration (like, how to upgrade a computer without having a backup – yikes!), then I’m their dad!

Lightning strike

We had a massive, city-shaking lightning bolt strike somewhere within a few hundred yards of our house at 3 AM this morning. I fully expected to smell smoke after that one.

The storm rolled up quietly in the night and as I dozed I figured it was a typical summer storm, where there’d be a few low-amp bolts and that would be it. There wasn’t even much rain falling. Instead, I suddenly saw a series of connected flashes as the feeders probed the earth. Then the flashes merged into one hugely bright flash, followed by immediate thunder that sent my already-skittish dog running for cover.

The kids and I spent 15 minutes hunting for the lightning’s unwitting conductor this morning but we haven’t found it yet. Something must have gotten cooked by that bolt! Thank goodness I disconnected that yet-ungrounded satellite dish I was playing around with yesterday!