Posts from 2008
Rails 3 and Merb - Robby on Rails
A great entry on the issues merging Merb with Rails that might arise. Robby makes some interesting points–if “convention over configuration” is the motto of Rails right now, is it really that great of an idea to add more choices, such as what ORM to use? I have confidence in the Rails and Merb teams that they’ll think hard about these things, but they definitely need to keep the entry barrier low for Rails.
Merb merged into Rails 3
This is going to be awesome. The performance and modularity of Merb plus the robustness and community of Rails is just going to blow everything out of the water.
A Review of Sennheiser HD-555 Headphones
A few months back, I got my hands on a pair of Sennheiser HD-555 headphones, and my experience so far has been overwhelmingly positive. Though they may be a little pricy for those who are used to paying $20-30 for headphones, they are more than worth it and make listening to music a joy.
I’ve had some past experience with Sennheiser products: my first pair were the HD 457s, which were followed by a pair of the portable yet powerful PX 100s, after which I got a pair of the HD-280s. Although I really enjoyed the HD-280s, I wanted to try out an open pair of cans (instead of closed), so I went ahead and got the HD-555s.
Closed vs. Open
One of the most important factors to consider when buying a pair of quality headphones is whether you want them to be “open” or “closed”. With closed headphones, your ears are completely sealed off, whereas with open headphones, there’s an opening for sound waves to propagate out from the headphones. Open headphones are generally higher quality, as the waves aren’t resonating off a closed earcup. However, it’s possible for people around you to hear what you’re listening to, which doesn’t happen with closed headphones. Also, the closed design blocks out a lot of external sound, so they’re great if you want to block things out.
Sennheiser HD-555
The HD-555s are open, and I can definitely notice a difference compared to my HD-280s. Bass is punchier, and music is, in general, much crisper. The 555s are also super comfortable: I’ve listened to music for hours at a time without feeling any discomfort, whereas the HD-280s get uncomfortable after about an hour or so.
Some negatives: if someone’s sitting near me while I’m using the HD-555s, they can definitely hear what I’m listening to. For the most part, it’s not an issue, but if I’m somewhere quiet, like the library or something, I usually use different headphones so as not to annoy others. In a similar vein, outside noises are definitely more noticeable with the closed design. With the 280s, I could take them on the plane and not hear the engine at all, with my iPod only at about 50% volume. My 555s, however, require me to turn the volume almost all the way up, and even then, it can be hard to hear quieter songs.
That being said, I definitely would recommend the HD-555s to anyone looking to get a high quality pair of headphones for a reasonable price (they’re right around $100). You could spend hundreds more and get some amazing headphones, but for casual listening, these are a great value.
Improve Your jQuery - 25 Excellent Tips
Some really great tips about improving the performance of your jQuery code, as well as some nice tips to be a more efficient coder.
Git Community Book
A great resource for Git information. I recently converted this site to use Git instead of SVN, and so far it’s been really great.
Rails Metal: a micro-framework with the power of Rails
Great writeup on Rails Metal, a nifty new addition to Edge Rails. I noticed the commit earlier, but I was a bit confused about what it was. Essentially, you can create simple pages for items that don’t need the Rails stack, and it’s a whole lot faster.
More Fields Plugin for WordPress
An impressive plugin that allows you to add more fields to the WordPress Write/Edit page. Though I still think ExpressionEngine is the better choice for complicated sites, this could be really useful for blogs that need a little more functionality.
Fitting curves to data using Ruby and the GNU Scientific Library
Great tutorial about generating graphs and trend lines using Ruby.
Wordpress 2.7 Released
Today, WordPress 2.7 was released, and, I have to say, it’s pretty impressive. Not only did they completely overhaul the admin interface, making it more usable, but they also now include the ability to update WordPress from the admin panel. Awesome!
