Author: Jeffro

Jeffrohttp://jeffc.meEnjoy writing about, talking about, and helping others with WordPress
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It’s Been 13 Years Since Layne Staley Left Us

A few days ago (April 5th), it was the 13th anniversary of the day Layne Staley, the lead singer of Alice in Chains passed away due to a drug overdose. Staley had a unique voice which matched up perfectly with the grunge rock era of the 90s. However, the MTV Unplugged session the band recorded in 1996 would be remembered as one of his best and last performances of all time.

Although it’s a bit late, here is the entire MTV Unplugged session from 1996 with high quality audio. The performance was one of the band’s final appearances with vocalist, Layne Staley. R.I.P. Layne, I miss your voice man, you left us too soon.

P.S. I’ve determined that there is no volume level too high for Nutshell.

Lyrics to Nutshell. Song by Alice in Chain

We chase misprinted lies
We face the path of time
And yet I fight
And yet I fight
This battle all alone
No one to cry to
No place to call home
Oooh…Oooh…
Oooh…Oooh…

My gift of self is raped
My privacy is raked
And yet I find
And yet I find
Repeating in my head
If I can’t be my own
I’d feel better dead
Oooh…Oooh…
Oooh…Oooh…

Lost in Fog with No Lighthouse

My mind is cloudy. I have no sense of direction. I need clarity, but do not know who or what can give it to me. I need a renewed sense of drive, passion, desire, fuel for the once raging fire that is now just embers. I need to step off this path I’m on and try another to reach a destination I don’t have or know about. Suffice to say, I’m fucked. 

P.S. I couldn’t sleep very well so by the time I went to bed, I saw the fog in my head was also outside. 

   

   

But This is What The Post Title Should Be

The purpose of this post is to save a draft with a post title, then edit the post title and hit publish to see if the changed title is pushed out to social networks through publicize.

Nope, it’s broken and doesn’t work the way it should.  The correct post title shows up on the front page when published, but the previous title gets sent out across social media sites.

The Rejuvinating Smell of Rain

It’s almost 2AM here in Northern Ohio and when I let the dog out, I discovered there’s a misty rain falling. There’s something about the middle of the night and the smell of rain. Don’t get me wrong, the smell of rain in general is a calming scent, but paired with the middle of the night, it’s quite a relaxing experience.

So, after the dog did her business, I shut the lights off and went back outside to enjoy it. After a harsh Winter in northern Ohio, a misty rain at nearly 60 degrees feels wonderful. It also smells great. If you’ve been wondering why rain has a smell, check out this science clip by It’s Okay To Be Smart.

One of Those Days Where I’d Like to Tell Everyone to Piss Off Gordon Ramsay Style

This content is rated R for redonkulous.

Today was a rough day. It started out with good intentions, but after getting a late start with work, it quickly submerged into a pile of crap.  I managed to get some things written when I rediscovered Post Formats in WordPress.

When I think about how there hasn’t been any improvement to Post Formats for at least two years and the poor user experience it offers, it’s upsetting. They’re a half-baked feature at best and if the core team is going to let it rot for eternity, it’s best to just get rid of it and move it into a plugin. This way, it might get a few volunteer contributors. Hell, it might even get forked and reworked into something more like Content Blocks. Think about the headline on that story “Post Formats Rises From The Ashes To Be Something Useful”.

Then, there is the discussion around the Happiness Bar name which apparently pissed some people off due to its ridiculous nature. I think it’s worth considering, but them being pissed off pissed me off and had me looking for a Happiness Bar in Colorado if you get my drift.

Last but not least, I read the news about Flickr allowing its users to choose CC0 and Public Domain license designations. While it’s a great thing in general, it’s maddening how their search sucks so bad, you’ll spend more time looking for an image that meets those license requirements than using them. Why can’t they have a facet available to where I can search only for images with those licenses, not just CC licenses in general. Doesn’t anyone who develops Flickr use their own product?

It’s a lot of useless frustration and anger today that I hope doesn’t bleed into tomorrow. With tomorrow being April Fool’s day, I’ll probably want to tell everyone to fuck off with their stupid jokes and pranks.

Playing Multiplayer SNES Games With People Hundreds of Miles Away

Jeff Matson figured out how to play multiplayer SNES games using Retroarch. Although it was laggy at first, we’ve made a few adjustments and now it plays smoothly with little lag. It’s a joy to be able to play SNES games with people hundreds of miles away.

I’ve ordered a retro SNES controller from Amazon because playing games with the keyboard absolutely sucks.  Once it arrives later this week, I’ll let you know how it is as I’ve read some reviews commenting on the quality of the D-Pad and sticky buttons.

Although it took a few games, I managed to beat Matson fair and square with Stockton and Malone from the Utah Jazz in NBA Jam TE. NBA Jam is an excellent game because there is a small learning curve and it’s anything goes basketball. It’s one of my favorite games from the 90s and one I didn’t realize was on the SNES. I thought it was only available on the Sega Genesis.

I win!

I win!

He’s Removed The Friction

I was recently told something by a friend that continues to make me think about things. It’s not an exact quote, but close enough. 

He’s removed most, if not all the friction so you can focus on what you do best. He’s removed any excuse for you not to succeed. 

Take full advantage of this opportunity and learn to enjoy it instead of fighting it. 

Easier said then done my friend, but thanks for the advice and yet another reality check.