Brian Dillard › Comments

"The reason I continued to use this utility even after the advent of Firebug Lite was the ability to filter log messages selectively. That and the nicer UI (pinning the console to different positions in the window) make for an intuitive utility. My problem with Firebug Lite is that when I install it in a dev project, it trips up over the real Firebug in Firefox. I end up with two console windows which drives me crazy. I end up having to comment out Firebug Lite when I am debugging in FF, then un-comment it in other browsers. It’s a real drag. Anyone else have that problem? At any rate, Firebug is super-functional, but its UI is dense and inflexible for my tastes. Competition on UI, not just features, can only enliven the JavaScript debugging arms race - in which case we all win." - Brian Dillard

Full URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch... - Brian Dillard

Full URL: http://burningtheground-djpaul... - Brian Dillard

"This smacks of somebody who whored around when they were young and smoking, then got a bit older and decided they wanted something deeper, and now wants to "grow up" and "explore monogamy." Wasn't this a plotline in one of the later seasons of "Queer As Folk"? Many of us have already explored monogamy, realized that it doesn't work for us, and attempted to find a balance between sexual adventure and domestic tranquility. Why unquestioningly accept the puritanical notion that you can have sex, or commitment, but not both? Why accept the idea that "growing up" means "not getting laid"? As "clearlyhere" said, take responsibility for your own decisions without being so narcissistic that you need to project your own current emotional state onto the entire gay community." - Brian Dillard

"I read this book in college and loved it. It's a very strange mixture of threads and tones, but it works." - Brian Dillard

How Chrome Changed the Web Overnight - Brian Dillard

When I complain about strollers, I am in no way dissing my friends, their beautiful kids or anyone else who calls me "Uncle Brian." I just resent the sense of urban entitlement of all these bobo yoga moms. - Brian Dillard

Totally agreed. It's the combination of entitlement + kids that irks me, not the kids themselves - and that combo is endemic to the people who have turned Wicker Park into Lincoln Park West. - Brian Dillard

"It's easy to break TV shows down into the "good seasons" and the "bad seasons," but it's spurious to do so with "Angel." Even its best seasons had long stretches of awfulness, and even its worst had frequent runs of brilliance. Season 1 was, indeed, a series of false starts, but some standalone episodes were brilliant, and it set up many of the themes and relationships that would power later seasons. It took a long time for the ensemble to gel, but the individual moments of character development really stand up even when the eps themselves are flat "X-Files" ripoffs. Season 2's Darla storyline worked brilliantly as an ongoing, season-long plot ... until casting problems led to a premature climax and a truly awful, tacked-on mini-series (the Pylea episodes). I'll never understand how the writers thought they cold make the Pyleans comic figures and also milk them for the drama of slavery. Every time Fred whined about "human cattle" in later seasons, I'd think back to the Dance of Joy..." - Brian Dillard

"@jeffk: No, Glenn Quinn died years after leaving "Angel." http://www.imdb.com/name..." - Brian Dillard

"Miss Manners - who should be an icon for all of alt-queer D.C. - would offer this advice: When somebody mentions your "special friend," affect a somewhat stagey but not altogether unbelievable look of incomprehension ... sort of like Lt. Data from "Star Trek: The New Gay" accessing his backup memory core. Then allow a joyous grin to spread across your face as the term "special friend" finally computes. Warmly announce, "Oh, you must mean my BOYFRIEND, Michael!" No bitchiness allowed. The point is to correct the person without seeming to correct them. This is a case of incompatible vocabulary and should be treated as such. It's a translation glitch, not an attack. Allow the conversation to resume as normal. All but the most oblivious conversationalist will have gotten the hint." - Brian Dillard

"@Michael: You are TOTALLY allowed to put more than one song per artist. You're just not allowed to put more than one song per artist IN A ROW. Who taught you the cardinal rules? I think they were pulling your leg. @coach: "Dorkiness sheathed in hubris is a pretty essential element in any mix." Killer." - Brian Dillard

Yeah, it's a terrible phone. The web browser blows because it ignores mobile stylesheets in favor of annoying pan & scan. The network connectivity is iffy. But I still love it because I can read books for free using the Stanza app and read my feeds on NetNewsWire and check my Gmail on the go. It's such a love hate thing - the same way I love 95% of the things about OS X but hate the other 5% so much that I curse Apple every day. - Brian Dillard

You know, when I was 22, other people's emotional armor seemed hot and mysterious. Anyone who seemed like they belonged to a club that wouldn't want me as a member? Totally entrancing. But now I see these guys - kids, really - and I just think, get over it and make some friends and be comfortable with yourself! Would it kill you to smile? - Brian Dillard

"My favorite Chinese restaurant, full stop. Hip, attractive and knowledgeable servers who rarely veer toward the over-familiar. Excellent specials and desserts. A separate vegan menu on every table.…" - Brian Dillard

"I loved this joint on my first visit on a quiet night in summer 2007. Great food, decent service, a nice, laid-back ambiance. However... I just got back from a repeat visit a year later on a busy…" - Brian Dillard

You mean it started off amazing and then slowly fizzled? If so, then I'll second that. - Brian Dillard

"Another advantage for skipping straight to HTML /CSS: Photoshop encourages all sorts of little design details that are easy to achieve in a static bitmap but difficult to achieve and/or maintain in CSS . I’ve had tiny little design details handed to me in a PSD file that caused huge nightmares on the CSS , JavaScript or JSP front. If you work in an iterative, collaborative environment, that isn’t as much of a problem. But if you’re a UI person and work in an agency/shared-resource environment where the visual mockup if your Bible, then having that visual mockup written in the actual language of the production code helps head off these mismatches." - Brian Dillard

"I've been a customer here since moving to Chicago in 1996; I even did mail-order from them when I lived in San Francisco for three years. Eric, the manager, is a total mensch. They stock the best…" - Brian Dillard

"Vegetarian and vegan food choices abound, most of them top-notch. The inventive chefs know how to whip up a special. It's easy to eat as healthily or unhealthily as you want; the menu is that…" - Brian Dillard

Amen, brother - Brian Dillard