Chuck Heintzelman's Blog, page 2
May 30, 2012
Cover for Strange Perceptions
Check out my new cover for Strange Perceptions.
Take Cover Designs created the cover for me. I’m quite happy with how it turned out. It conveys mystery and a darkness that fits many of the stories in the collection.
I’ll have a blog post in the next couple of days explaining how you can obtain a copy of Strange Perceptions.
May 25, 2012
How fast do you read
I’ve discussed how fast people read before.
How long it’ll take a reader to read an ebook or web page is hard for the reader to judge because she doesn’t have a physical copy of the book. The thickness cannot be seen. Unfortunately, word counts have no meaning to most people. How long is a 5,600 word short story? I bet nine of of ten people you asked wouldn’t know how many pages that is, or how long it would take them to read. But if you say the same story takes an average reader between 16 an...
May 1, 2012
How to multiply a 2 digit number by 11
“If you think dogs can’t count, try putting three dog biscuits in your pocket and then giving Fido only two of them.”
~Phil Pastoret
Today is Random Tidbit Tuesday at StoryChuck, where I post something I find strange but interesting.
It’s amazingly easy to multiply 11 by any two digit number if you use the following trick. Split the number apart, add them together, and stick the sum in the middle.
To illustrate. Let’s say you have 52 X 11
Split 52 apart. 5 _ 2
Add the 5 + 2 together: 5 + 2 = 7
Put t...
April 26, 2012
One True Sentence
“All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence you know.”
~Ernest Hemingway
Today is Writing Thoughts Thursday at StoryChuck where I share my thoughts about writing and publishing.
When I first heard the above quote by Hemingway, I gave it only a passing thought. It seemed too artsy-fartsy for my taste. What is a true sentence? What is truth? Eh, dunno.
Some years later I started thinking about it. After all, Hemingway wasn’t an artsy-fartsy type guy. Sure, maybe he wro...
April 11, 2012
23 1/2 hours
Today is Healthy Habits Humpday at StoryChuck"Meandering leads to perfection."
~ Lao Tzu
I ran across this YouTube video that is amazingly motivating. It's about a healthy activity that has been shown to do the following:
Reduce rates of pain and disability in patients with knee arthritis by 47%Reduce the progression of dementia and Alzheimer's by 50%Reduce progression to full blown diabetes for those at risk by 58%Reduce hip fractures in post menopausal women by 41%Reduce incidents of anxiety...April 9, 2012
Examining Akrasia
Today is Simplicity Monday at StoryChuck where I share my quest to find simplicity in this chaotic world."If one judges action A to be the best course of action, why would one do anything other than A."
~Socrates
Lately, I've been obsessing about this concept called akrasia. Dictionary.com defines akrasia as:
n. philosophy weakness of will; acting in a way contrary to one's sincerely held moral values
In other words, it's when you do something you know you shouldn't. Or don't do something you...
March 29, 2012
KanBan for Writers
Today is Writing Thoughts Thursday at StoryChuck where I share my thoughts about writing and publishing."The best way out is always through."
~ Unknown
There is a project management technique known as KanBan. It's a system to manage and optimize production that Toyota developed in the 1940s. KanBan translates to "signboard" or "billboard" and is an effective way to manage your workflow.
A Simple KanBan Whiteboard
The simplest KanBan uses a whiteboard and sticky notes. Imagine drawing two...
March 27, 2012
Malaria Comes From Bad Air
Today is Random Tidbit Tuesday at StoryChuck, where I post something I find strange but interesting."Fighting patents one by one will never eliminate the danger of software patents, any more than swatting mosquitoes will eliminate malaria."
~Richard Stallman
The word Malaria comes from the Italian word Mala meaning "Bad" and Aria meaning "Air." This comes from the days when diseases where thought to come from bad, dirty air.
Almost 250 million people get malaria each year and a million people d...
March 26, 2012
5 Tips To Simplify Your iPad/iPhone/iPod
Today is Simplicity Monday at StoryChuck where I share my quest to find simplicity in this chaotic world."Our life is frittered away by detail… Simplify, simplify."
~Henry Thoreau
I went a bit crazy with my iPad and iPod Touch. I downloaded apps, books, songs and every day checked Free App A Day to get more goodies. My iDevices where stuffed with dozens of things I seldom used. When iOS introduced folders, it was great. I created folders, organized, and got my iPad down to five screens full...
March 23, 2012
Locking Down a PHP Object
Today is Code Monkey Friday at StoryChuck"Controlling complexity is the essence of computer programming."
~Brian Kernigan
When programming in PHP one of the most annoying gotchas is when there's a typo in an object property that isn't readily apparent. Let's say you have a simple object as follows:
class Stupid {
public $Gotcha = 1;
}
And then you some code using this object:
$obj = new Stupid;
$obj->gotcha = 2;
... more code ...
The problem is that pesky lowercase 'g' in gotcha. In the...
