dustinfluke.com

Well, I’m back online.

I figured I’d have a nice site layout and what not before all that happens, but it turns out things aren’t always working out that great. Besides, I’m too pumped about the upcoming 4th of July to think much about learning and theming wordpress. I’ll get something going I’m sure, but it’ll just take some time.

I’ll find some cool theme here shortly and read a liitle about customizing wordpress so I can make it suit me. If you’re reading this, you might have to update your blogroll / rss links and what not. I’m actually not really sure if you do or not, but I’ll find out once my new message is posted. I’m almost certiain you do.

Lastly, I got an apple macintosh G4 powerbook on the way to me. I’m planning on using it for development and what not so I’m sure that alone will spur some changes to the site. Cheers.

Well, the time has come to change providers, but I haven’t chosen one yet. That said, the website will be down for a while as I move to another provider for hosting, but that’s not going to help those who are tyring to visit that don’t see this message first :)

Depending on how long it takes me to make a decision, the site could be down for around a month. Hopefully then I can restore all these entries. Thanks for reading/visiting.

Lately, I can’t seem to go to bed before 1 am. I don’t know why. I suppose that’s the reason for this late night post.

For those that visit my site or utilize my rss feed some changes are going to come about. I’ve got all sorts of stuff in the works. No- it’s not my pyrotechnic plans, but that’s part of it, I’m talking about the site. I’ve got newsvine, del.icio.us, bloglines (still deciding) flickr pro and all other goodies that I wish to roll into my blog soon. My good friend Jeff has been providing hosting for me for a long time now, but has changed hosting solutions and can no longer support my site as well for no cost to me. That said, I’m considering two options. The first is to host my own site on my own box. The downside – lots of work for time I don’t have right now. I’m considering signing up with Dreamhost. They seem awesome and prepaid rates are really good for everything offered. I’m thinking about switching over to WordPress, another blogging software. I’m also planning on lots of other things to finally put something into the site. I’ll be paying for it, so I have to make it worth my while. I’m not sure what to do yet, but rest assured I’ll be sharing a lot of my life in the area of pyrotehcnics on the site for all to enjoy as I approach my May group gathering/training/fireworks buy as well as the electronic ignition system I’m working on for this years 4th of July show. I’m stoked. It’ll be an amazing year. Well, it’s 1:00 and time for bed.

No, I’m not dead. There have been so many things going on right now that I just haven’t had much time to put into this web site. No, I didn’t get around to my Dreamweaver 8 review because I havnen’t spent much time with it, as the reader can very well see. On top of that work has been very busy. We just hired on the job I left and are back to full strength. Now I won’t have to do the job of two people much longer, which will be very nice.

On another note, I bought a house! I don’t have any photos yet. I’ve seen it and love it. It’s in the area we were looking and because it needs some work in a few areas, I got it pretty cheap. We’re excited, but not very excited to be moving around Christmas time for the second time now. Strange how during the worst time of the year to be moving I’m blessed with a house to move to.

Hopefully once work calms down, we’re moved, and everything else, I can sit in my new house next to the fireplace and code away at something more meaningful that this site. We’ll see.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Well, it certainly has been a long time since I’ve last posted. Here’s a brief recap of recent events:

• Lana, my mother in law is in rehab. Her recovery is coming along excellent.
• The Fall semester started at Washburn. I took over my former boss’ responsibilities while the search to fill his position was ongoing.
• Work was extremely busy. I didn’t even have time to check Slashdot.
• Work is very busy.
• Work is still busy.
• Hurricane Katrina plowed through Lousianna and Mississippi as well as surrounding areas. I’ve seen the pictures on the news and it doesn’t seem real. So much devastation. It’s crazy to hear about all the looting, shooting, and sheer destruction.
• My cousin Heather had thier baby boy. Congratulations!
• I had my interview today for the Online Education Coordinator position. It went very well.

That said I hope that if selected for the job I applied for I can hire another full time WebTech to take my place. If it isn’t obvious all my time recently has been absorbed in work and I didn’t exactly feel all that great about trying to redesign this site. Instead I’ve been playing Battlefield 2. I’m hooked. I always play sniper, which has its unique challenges. Speaking of being hooked, I can’t stop listening to Black Eyed Peas "Pump It" song. Very addictive.

Watch for next months update where I’ll explain how once again I’ve neglected my personal home page. :)

According to Jeff, I’ve been featured in Bluff magazine. I haven’t seen this article yet, but I’m searching for copies of the magazine now. Hastings might have it so I’m going to check there first. I suppose it’s pretty cool to be in the article even though all I did was help Jeff build his poker table.

In other news, I met some really great people over at Pyro Universe’s forums. A few of them are even close to me geographically. As you may have read, I’m building an electric firing system for this year and plans are coming together really nicely. I should get started on purchasing materials and construction in a few days. If you’re looking for good advice on fireworks, search the forums and you’ll likely find what you’re looking for. If you’re not into forums, check out their main page. You’ll find all sorts of good information and tips.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Yes, July 4 is approaching. While Christmas might be some folks’ favorite holiday, I prefer July 4. As most of my friends and family know, I like to have a special project every year. This year: electric ignition. That’s right! I found some resources online for how to make a cheap firing box with some semi common items. Hopefully this will give me the chance to set things up early so I can have a proper show. No more blow torch finales for me. (we’ll see) This year I’m also attempting to fit in another mortar rack like last year’s Big 20. I am going to do things a little more right this year and make plugs for my HDPE pipe. I’m thinking about different rack building methods. The whole custom made drill bit didn’t exatly work out the best last year. Also on the list of new items, a bottle rocket launchpad. I read in a newsletter to use pegboard and morning glories (powder inside) for the launch pad and ignition method. We’ll see. Last on the list is a roman candle stand. I’d like to line them all up and light ‘em with some quickmatch (which I’m also looking into making) for a rain shower of flaming balls. I always have lots of ideas. Executing them on the other hand is another thing.

I’ve also been giving some thought about finding a club for other pyros/pyrotenics/firework types of folks. I’ve read about them online, but there isn’t one really close to where I live. If I’m to keep ramping up my displays it’s going to start costing a lot of money for consumer fireworks. Someday I’d like to get a liscense to purchase higher grade fireworks as well as all the supplies to make them. I’ve already purchased fuse and other stuff online, so it only goes up from here. No more festival balls for me – give me the big toys :) Of course, I’ll have to finish school first. That leads to another thought; I’m taking this summer off. I’m going to enjoy it too.

While I’ve got the summer off this year I also plan to put some time into this site. Lord knows it’s been forever since any updates or regular information comes across. I’m just really busy with everything.

I don’t even know where to start. Another month has gone by and I haven’t updated my own personal web page. Surprise surprise! True, I’ve been busy, but not horribly busy. I suppose my lack of interest in my personal website is due to the fact it pretty much sucks. The content is good (at least I think so) but the site design lacks so many features that I want in my personal website.

That said, I’m redesigning! – for the 500,000th time.

At least this time I have some goals. May 1st marks the May 1st Reboot. I’m not joining the project because I’m not really sure I can finish before May 1st at this time. Besides, after the reboot, I may be able to feed off some of the old and new designs I’ll be reading about all over the web. I’m currently gathering ideas from sites like that of my friend Jeff Croft, and CSS Zen Garden, Simplebits, etc.

Secondly, I’m going to demo a trial version of Westciv’s Style Master CSS editor. If I really like it, I’m probably going to buy it. It’s going to be extra cheap compared to the price Adobe is going to jack up Macromedia products since they got bought out. Hopefully we’ll see some good of this merger. I’m not sure what to expect.