What URL can you use to track USPS items?

Submitted by Phil Horney on Sat, 2011-11-19 14:44

For a current project I've been working on, I had the need to generate a URL that tracks a USPS (United States Postal Service) package, letter, or whatever.  I did the cursory search on the web and found something from 2004 that I thought would work.  Of course, it didn't, so I ended up visiting the USPS tracking page and checking out their source code.  For all of you that need to do this somewhere, like on your web site, here's the URL you need to ganerate a link to tracking information for a given tracking number:

https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction.action?tLabels=<yourtrackingnumber>

Hackin' the Mac(book Pro) with Windows 8

Submitted by Phil Horney on Tue, 2011-10-25 12:03

A few weeks ago now, the Windows 8 developer preview found its way onto my hard drive, and like all things new and shiny I wanted to take it for a test drive!  I installed it on new Dell laptop and, well, let's just say my initial thoughts were less-than-trilling.

While it's neat and all, the biggest problem is that the new METRO interface really needs you to touch it, and aside from my iPad, I don't own a touch-capable computing device.  Sure, I could disable the touch interface, but what fun would that be?  I might as well just use Windows 7 if I want my desktop back.

Cell phone radiation levels (watts absorbed per KG of body tissue)

Submitted by Phil Horney on Thu, 2011-04-21 23:50

From Wired Mag May 2011 - Cell phone radiation levels (watts absorbed per KG of body tissue)

  • Samsung Galaxy S (AT&T): 0.42
  • Google Nexus S: 0.58
  • Apple iPhone 3GS: 0.79
  • Blackberry Torch: 0.91
  • Palm Pre 2: 0.98
  • Nokia N8: 1.02
  • HTC HD7: 1.15
  • Apple iPhone 4: 1.17
  • Motorola Droid Pro: 1.39
  • HTC Incredible: 1.40
  • Motorola Atrix: 1.47
  • Palm Pixi: 1.56

The direction things are going is scary.  Wonder what an iPad puts out?  It radiates out nearly 3 milligauss of AC magnetic field via Wi-Fi, but only near the headphone jack. Holding the iPad in the traditional way should result in near zero exposure levels, so it's not bad at all.

Give Office 365 a try in the Public Beta

Office 365I know I'm a bit slow on this since Office 365 was opened up for public beta yesterday, but hey, Microsoft Office 364 was opened for public beta yesterday!

What is it?  Microsoft's answers to Google Docs, Microsoft Office 365 lets you work from virtually anywhere, on almost any device, and get access to powerful web-enabled tools.  It's designed for both SMBs and the Enterprise, and stands to provide a good option for many businesses already using MS Office.

It includes email and calendar, Office web apps, websites and collaboration, and instant messaging and online meetings.  Check it out at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/online-software.aspx.

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Portal 2: Conceptually Simple, Puzzlingly Complex

Submitted by Phil Horney on Wed, 2011-04-20 09:23

Portal screen shotPortal 2 went on sale yesterday and all I can say is... let me get back to playing it!

The concept is simple: use the game's single "weapon" - a device that allows you to create an entry and exit "worm-hole" portal through space - to make your way in, on, around, and through various puzzles in a 3D world.  It sounds simple, right?  Well get ready for some real mind benders!  Portal 2 takes over where the first award-winning game left off in terms of a far more expansive game world with both single player and even larger co-operative campaigns where you and a friend attempt to make your way though a new wave of complex challenges.

My kids, whom are all 10+, could hardly wait to get their hands on it!  This is one of those games akin to Spore where your kids will both have a great time and advance their complex problem solving skills.  It's rated E 10+ so most everyone in the family can enjoy it, and I highly recommend it, especially if you're tired of mind numbingly boring WII games.

IE9 Still has CSS Limit

Submitted by Phil Horney on Thu, 2011-04-14 08:38

It's hard to believe that IE9 still has the CSS limitations found in its previous versions.  You can still only have up to 31 top-level style sheets, each with up to 31 imports, up to 4 levels deep, with 4096 rules per style sheet.

To get around this in Drupal, you still have to visit admin/settings/performance and turn on the "Optimize CSS files" setting.  To improve performance a bit, you can also install the Drupal module CSS GZip, which speeds things up even more.

One would think that with all of the other improvements to its rendering engine and adherence to standards, that this annoyance would have been taken care of.
 

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