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.wp_codebox_msgheader {
        box-shadow: 6px 14px 11px #808083;
}
.wp_codebox {
        box-shadow: 7px 10px 10px #888;
}

The overlapped area seems smooth with this setting.

I also added bottom margin to the codebox, see if you like it.

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.wp_codebox {
        margin-bottom: 20px;
}

Then install homebrew. Go to this link (https://github.com/mxcl/homebrew/wiki/installation) to find the installation command. As of May 2012, the command is:

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/usr/bin/ruby -e "$(/usr/bin/curl -fsSL https://raw.github.com/mxcl/homebrew/master/Library/Contributions/install_homebrew.rb)"

Then after the process finishes (it took like 30 seconds), run

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brew doctor

This is just to make sure your environment is good to move on. If your Xcode is old you will get a complain here like the following:

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$ brew doctor
 
Error: You have Xcode 4.1, which is outdated.
Please install Xcode 4.3.

I have installed the mcrypt lib myself, and I got warnings about that (see below). If that happens to you just ignore it.

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Error: Unbrewed dylibs were found in /usr/local/lib.
If you didn't put them there on purpose they could cause problems when
building Homebrew formulae, and may need to be deleted.
 
Unexpected dylibs:
    /usr/local/lib/libmcrypt.4.4.8.dylib
Error: Unbrewed .la files were found in /usr/local/lib.
If you didn't put them there on purpose they could cause problems when
building Homebrew formulae, and may need to be deleted.
 
Unexpected .la files:
    /usr/local/lib/libmcrypt.la
Error: Unbrewed static libraries were found in /usr/local/lib.
If you didn't put them there on purpose they could cause problems when
building Homebrew formulae, and may need to be deleted.
 
Unexpected static libraries:
    /usr/local/lib/libarmdis.a    /usr/local/lib/libAstrisAPI.a

Then Install git by:

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brew install git

You can make sure git is successfully installed by issuing:

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git --version

Then install MySQL. Now, I believe you already have it if you are using Lion. Type the following command to see if you have mysql installed.

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mysql -u root

If you get a mysql prompt, then you are good. If not, install it by issuing:

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brew install mysql

You can alternatively install MAMP if you like, as MySQL will be one of the packages inside MAMP.

Then install RVM. This is the Ruby Version Manager. It will make your life so much easier down the road.

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bash < <(curl -s https://raw.github.com/wayneeseguin/rvm/master/binscripts/rvm-installer)

After installing rvm, edit your ~/.bash_profile file to include the following line. Make sure it’s there.

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[[ -s "$HOME/.rvm/scripts/rvm" ]] && source "$HOME/.rvm/scripts/rvm" # Load RVM into a shell session *as a function*

Then source your bash_profile file as you always do.

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source ~/.bash_profile

Now Install Ruby. Lion already has 1.8 but we are going to install the latest 1.9.3.

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rvm install 1.9.3

It will start downloading and installing. Just wait until it’s done, all automated. Isn’t it nice?

After installing check your ruby version by issuing:

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ruby -v

You should see something like ruby 1.9.3p194 (2012-04-20 revision 35410) [x86_64-darwin11.3.0].

Then lastly install Rails.

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gem install bundler
gem install mysql2
gem install rails

Now that we have rails installed, it’s time to test it out! Let’s create a simple test app in our home directory.

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cd
rails new mytest

All your new projects files are inside the newly created directory called mytest. Now to run this app issue:

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cd mytest
rails server

You will see something like the following:

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$ rails server
=> Booting WEBrick
=> Rails 3.2.3 application starting in development on http://0.0.0.0:3000
=> Call with -d to detach
=> Ctrl-C to shutdown server
[2012-05-18 17:09:11] INFO  WEBrick 1.3.1
[2012-05-18 17:09:11] INFO  ruby 1.9.3 (2012-04-20) [x86_64-darwin11.3.0]
[2012-05-18 17:09:11] INFO  WEBrick::HTTPServer#start: pid=7008 port=3000

So open a web browser and type in http://0.0.0.0:3000 into the location bar. If you see the rails welcome page, then congratulations! You are on Rails now!

You can find more very useful info on the rails official site at http://guides.rubyonrails.org/getting_started.html

I heavily borrowed much content and edited some portions from http://thinkvitamin.com/code/ruby-on-rails/installing-ruby-rails-and-mysql-on-os-x-lion/.

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if ($('#my_element').length > 0){
  // it exists!
}

If you need to check whether a dropdown has any options, here is how

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if ($('#my_dropdown option').length > 0){
  // contains options
}

How does one cook pasta “just right”? According to the National Pasta Association:

1. Boil 4 to 6 quarts of water for one pound of dry pasta. (You can divide this recipe depending on how much pasta you are cooking.)
2. Add the pasta with a stir and return the water to a boil.
3. Stir the pasta occasionally during cooking.
4. Follow the package directions for cooking times. If the pasta is to be used as part of a dish that requires further cooking, undercook the pasta by 1/3 of the cooking time specified on the package.
5. Taste the pasta to determine if it is done. Perfectly cooked pasta should be “al dente,” or firm to the bite, yet cooked through.
6. Drain pasta immediately and follow the rest of the recipe.

So next time you can appear to be cultural at an Italian restaurant by saying to your waiter, “May I have my pasta al dente please?” … Um… actually nevermind.

Well, here is how you can do it in command line:

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sysctl -a | grep mem

Then look for hw.memsize in the list. The number is in byte size, so you will need to do some conversion in your head. For example, if you see hw.memsize = 12884901888, that’s actually 12 * 1024 * 1024 * 1024, which is 12Gb.

Interesting thermostat from Nest. The website also has an installation tutorial video.

If you ever want to donate to school kids, check out this DonorsChoose.org website!

Here’s how it works: public school teachers from every corner of America post classroom project requests on DonorsChoose.org. Requests range from pencils for a poetry writing unit, to violins for a school recital, to microscope slides for a biology class.

Then, you can browse project requests and give any amount to the one that inspires you. Once a project reaches its funding goal, we deliver the materials to the school.

You’ll get photos of your project taking place, a thank-you letter from the teacher, and a cost report showing how each dollar was spent. If you give over $50, you’ll also receive hand-written thank-you letters from the students.

At DonorsChoose.org, you can give as little as $1 and get the same level of choice, transparency, and feedback that is traditionally reserved for someone who gives millions.

Before converting, you want to make sure you won’t be truncating anything. Run the following to make sure

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SELECT MAX( LENGTH(  target_column ) ) 
FROM  target_table

As long as the returned length is less than your varchar length, you are good to go.

I like how it gives you its traffic stats as well.

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json_str = JSON.stringify($('#my_form').serializeArray());
 
$.ajax({
  url: 'do_something.php',
  type: 'POST',
  dataType: 'json',
  data: {
    form_data: json_str
  },
  success: function(data) {
    // do something with data
  },
  error: function(request, error) {
    alert('error: '+error+'\nreadyState: '+request.readyState+'\nstatus: '+request.status);
    alert('responseText: '+request.responseText);
  }
});

Yea, serializeArray() will convert a form object to a javascript array. Notice this method can only apply to form objects. Then the stringify method will convert the array to a json string.

Once the json string gets sent over, here is what happens on the php side. I like associated arrays.

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$form_data_encoded = $_POST['form_data'];
$form_data_decoded = json_decode($form_data_encoded);
 
// building an associated array
$form_data = array();
foreach ($form_data_decoded as $obj){
  $name = $obj->{"name"};
  $value = $obj->{"value"};
  $form_data[$name] = $value;
}

In case you are a pure javascript dude, here is some code to build an associated array in javascript out of that json_str from above.

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var arr = jQuery.parseJSON(json_str);
var dict = new Array();
for (k in arr){
  arr2 = arr[k];
  dict[arr2.name] = arr2.value;
}

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$filename = 'your_file.xls';
 
require_once 'PHPExcel/Classes/PHPExcel.php';
 
// Create new PHPExcel object
$objReader = PHPExcel_IOFactory::createReader('Excel2007');
$objPHPExcel = $objReader->load($filename);
 
foreach ($objPHPExcel->getWorksheetIterator() as $worksheet) {
 
  $sheet_name = $worksheet->getTitle();
 
  foreach ($worksheet->getRowIterator() as $row) {
    $cellIterator = $row->getCellIterator();
    $cellIterator->setIterateOnlyExistingCells(false); // Loop all cells, even if empty
    foreach ($cellIterator as $cell) {
      if (!is_null($cell)) {
        $cell_coord = $cell->getCoordinate();
        $cell_val = $cell->getCalculatedValue();
        if (preg_match('/^([a-zA-Z]+)([0-9]+)$/', $cell_coord, $matches)){
          $col = $matches[1];
          $row = (int) $matches[2];
          do_something_with_this_cell($sheet_name, $col, $row, $cell_val);
        }
      }
    }
  }
 
}

For do_something_with_this_cell($sheet_name, $col, $row, $cell_val), you can either store the value into DB for later analysis, or look up a mapping array and determine what that cell carries.

Sometimes you may need to deal with cells that carry dates. If you simply make the getCalculatedValue() call you will get some strange integer back but not the actual date string. The reason for that is, the date object in excel is actually masked by a date formatter. In order to get the desired date string, do the following:

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foreach ($cellIterator as $cell) {
  if (!is_null($cell)) {
    $cell_coord = $cell->getCoordinate();
    $cell_val = $cell->getCalculatedValue();
    if (preg_match('/^([a-zA-Z]+)([0-9]+)$/', $cell_coord, $matches)){
      $col = $matches[1];
      $row = (int) $matches[2];
 
      // check for date object
      if(PHPExcel_Shared_Date::isDateTime($cell)){
        $cell_val = PHPExcel_Style_NumberFormat::toFormattedString($cell_val, "YYYY-MM-DD");
      }
 
      do_something_with_this_cell($sheet_name, $col, $row, $cell_val);
    }
  }
}

1. Call 1-800-266-2278.
2. If you don’t have a residential phone number, just wait until they ask for your other phone numbers. For me, they have my cell phone number on file.
3. Then just a lot more options with the voice machine to get to an actual person who can assist you to downgrade your service.

For all other issues, you can try out the online chat service at: https://www.comcastsupport.com/chatentry/