Hacks

How to Write a Hack for O’Reilly

How to Write a Hack for O’Reilly

[Ed note: this was originally posted on the O’Reilly Network on August 30, 2005.] As lead editor for O’Reilly’s Hacks series, I field proposals for Hacks books on a daily basis. I also usually have several books in various stages of acquisition, writing, or production, all of which of course have authors and (this being […]

Syntax Hacks

[Ed note: this was originally posted on the O’Reilly Network on May 16, 2005.] For a few weeks now, I’ve been noodling around the idea of some kind of Eats, Shoots & Leaves meets Chicago Manual of Style cum writing style guide and technical publishing primer, all wrapped up into a collection of tips and […]

LEGO Mendocino Motor

Here is a variation on the Menocino Motor project. The Mendo Motor is a solar-powered magnetically levitating motor invented by super maker Larry Spring, of Mendocino California. This is a great project to do with high school kids. The Motor incorporates woodworking, electricity, magnestism, troubleshooting, and can also be used as a way of teaching […]

Val ties the canoe

For the past couple of decades, Val has been using this knot to tie down everything from canoes, tarps and other implements of camping and boating. Last summer, I captured it on camera as he showed it to me and Mark. Whenever I see somebody driving down the road holding a mattress on the roof […]

Flash bridge for Facebook Connect

Flash bridge for Facebook Connect

Pieter Michels wrote a nice actionscript/javascript bridge that allows you to use Facebook Connect services within a Flash application: It currently supports automatic login, retrieving friend list and friend information (can take a while), current application users, sharing a link on Facebook, posting a predefined story and updating your story (make sure you set the […]