AJAX, States, and Pushstate()

AJAX stands for Asynchronous Javascript and XML. Many popular websites make use of AJAX, for example Google and Twitter. To understand why it's being used, we have to understand how the traditional World Wide Web was meant to be built. The web was intended to work like this: you use a web browser application (eg. Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, Safari) on your computer to visit a web page, by giving the browser that page's URL address (eg. http://www.google.com). The browser, or client, connects to a web server via the internet and requests that web page, which is merely a text file, specifically an HTML file. That server serves that file back to the client browser, and the browser displays that page, also requesting any additional files such as images needed to completely display that page. You can then click on a hyperlink to visit another web page, and your browser goes and connects to whatever web server is that file is stored on to get that page. But as the web has matured, websites have gotten more complicated, bigger, and more visual, and the basic HTML web model has become obsolete. We moved from mostly text-based pages to websites consisting of many web pages, all with consistent visual elements (eg. logo in the top left, a navigational menu along the top or side, a footer) which are there to make the web more user friendly. We've also developed new technologies, like CSS, Javascript, and PHP, to supplement our basic HTML websites, and one of these technologies is AJAX.

Ha Jin's The Bridegroom (2000) Book Review

In "The Bridegroom," Ha Jin seems more interested in writing stories about circumstances than about people. Almost all of the short stories collected in his 2000 book are concerned with lower and middle class folk living in China, struggling against greater, sometimes conflicting, forces: communism and capitalism, encroaching western values and small town prejudices, societal pressures and familial obligations, and an overarching bureaucracy trying to stabilize and control a vast population in a country in transition. The stories explore life within this paradoxical environment, and are much more preoccupied with introducing and stepping through the injustices and dilemmas facing the characters than the characters themselves; they are powerless to effect the unfolding situations imposed upon them, and develop little more nuance beyond "worried businessman" and "foreign-educated woman". This lends a universality of sorts, and the stories do well in presenting different tableaus, even if the stories tend to beat somewhat repetitious drums. As a pounding critique of life in China it may work, but the futility that permeates all the stories leads to a sameness, and at some point all of the senselessness starts bleeding out, such that it's hard not to redirect some of it onto the stories themselves. 

Videos of live performances from The Weakerthans, Steven Page, and Gorillaz

The Weakerthans - Fallow (acoustic on Backstage Pass)

Olympus Has Fallen (2013) movie review

Olympus Has Fallen is a mind-blowingly stupid and ludicrous movie about Korean terrorists taking over the White House. This premise alone should tell you what type of movie it is. But you know what? I loved it. The general advice for going to these types of big dumb action movies is to shut your brain off, but honestly, I had a lot of fun laughing at all the glaringly obvious plot holes there were. The writers did just enough work to keep the movie moving at a brisk pace and to have everyone in the audience understand everything that's going on, and nothing more.  I mean, if you're someone who gets offended by movies like this where everyone (except maybe the protagonist) acts like complete idiots, then this ain't the movie for you. But hey, this might be a dumb blockbuster, but this also is a dumb blockbuster that's both better and dumber than any other dumb blockbuster in recent memory. Better than Battleship, better than 2012, and better than Transformers.  Also, surprisingly brutal violence, definitely not the typical PG-13 stuff you see these days, but some real, up-close, headshots, torture, and executions, which was, if nothing else, a change of pace.  

#TeamWalt, Fictional Heroes and Villains, and Interpreting Morality in Breaking Bad

I am not on #TeamWalt. Walter White should go to jail, for all the morally reprehensibly things he has done for morally dubious reasons. Many people, though, proudly label themselves members of Team Walt, and actively cheer for the Breaking Bad protagonist, and they'll even have justifications for all of Walt's actions; they say Walt's always been doing everything for his family, to provide for them, to keep them safe, and that includes his surrogate son, Jesse. Others don't deny that Walt's done bad things, but they say it's fun to cheer for Walt, to see him succeed, and he is the protagonist, after all. This is his story, and those viewers want him to keep going, keep outsmarting people, keep doing terrible things in order to survive, because that's what keeps the show moving forward. There are people that are fervent in their defence of Walt's actions, and I want to take a closer look at that viewpoint here.

What is Facebook Marketing?

There are people, I understand, who are confused about the whole concept of Facebook marketing and advertising. Why would you waste money investing in advertising on Facebook instead of using traditional methods? Especially for people who didn't grow up with Facebook, it can seem like a fad, something their small business can simply ignore. In fact, I'd agree with that somewhat; not all small businesses can or should invest in Facebook marketing. But we'll get to that in a moment. First of all, Let's go over exactly what Facebook marketing is.

Live Performances of Past Lives - Paralyzer, Fucked Up - The Other Shoe, The Hold Steady - Stuck Between Stations

Past Lives - Paralyzer (Live on KEXP)