I am a web developer by trade. I write a lot of ColdFusion code for my job, I write a lot of PHP in my spare time. Being involved in both the CF and PHP communities, I have seen an overwhelming number of tutorials for things like generating RSS feeds using PHP, but not too many geared towards CF developers.
Here is some quick and dirty code that I wrote using CF MX to generate an RSS feed using some data that I had stored in a MS SQL database.
WOW! I didnt think that I would get such a big response from posting my tutorial on how to replace an ipod hard drive on digg.com. I was really blow away by it. At the time of this post I had close to 700 diggs in 15 hours. amazing. My blog has never had this much activity. It really inspires me to write more articles and document more things. Thanks to everyone who has left comments and suggestions.
Here is a link to the story on Digg.
http://www.digg.com/apple/Replacing_a_hard_drive_in_a_4th_gen_iPod_:_Step_by_Step
I wonder if this will make the diggnation podcast? I think I would crap myself if that happened.
Follow me on twitter for more great tips. CLICK HERE – twitter.com/JoshHighland
My brother Justin loved his 20 gig 4th generation ipod until he dropped it at the gym one day. It stopped working all together and would make clicking noises when he would try to start it.
He had gotten it as a gift and didnt have the reciept for it, so he couldnt take it back unter warrenty I guess. Apple said that it would cost $250 to fix. Instead of fixing it, he spend the money on
a 30 gig 5th generation. I asked him for the broken ipod so I could tinker with it. After I got it from him, I decided that it would be cool to own an ipod, and that if i could fix it for less then the
retail price, I would be a head of the game. I documented my adventure of trying to fix my ipod, check it out.
I was really supprised at how easy it was to replace the hard drive in a 4th gen ipod. Im sure that someone is going to call me an idiot for opening the case that way. I dont care though. I got this thing working and that all that matters, and I did it for under $100. Screw apple for wanting to charge $250 for 20 minutes worth of work and $100 worth of parts.
I hope that through my experience, someone else can bring back to life one of their dead ipods.
Follow me on twitter for more great tips. CLICK HERE – twitter.com/JoshHighland
On Monday I went to The Showcase Theatre in Corona California to see xDEATHSTARx, and Embrace Today. I got there before the doors opened and hung out with everyone, and caught up with some old friends outside until xDEATHSTARx took the stage.
I havent seen xDEATHSTARx play a decent venue since I left the band 6 months ago, so I was excited. It was strange to not be on the stage at showcase, but cool at the same time. They opened up with 2 new songs that I didnt know, they were fast, heavy and all around good. I moshed the entire set. Its really different when you are on the other side of the music that you helped write, and going up for the sing-a-longs that you wrote. I did the guest vocals for Represent, and that really made me miss being in the band. Damn me for having a career that makes it hard to tour. All in all it was a great time, good kids on the floor dancing with me, and good friends on the stage.
After xDSX, Embrace Today went on. Talk about good. I love their music, their message, and the guys in general. The best part of the set for me was when they covered firestorm. It sucked that only about 10 kids at the show knew the words. What the hell happened to kids knowing who Earth Crisis is? "Firestorm" is the "Stairway to Heaven" of straight edge hardcore!
After Embrace Today was done, Massive Matt introduced me to the peacock brothers, and I interviewed them for a new podcast that Im going to start. We talked for about all sorts of things, from politics, to religion, to education. It was a really deep conversation. I learned a lot about those guys that I never knew, like how they were valedictorian and salutatorian of their high school, received full ride scholarships to college, but dropped out to be in embrace today. After all of that. I checked my mp3 recorder (my IEpod)… it didnt record any of it! stupid device! grrrrr! Im sure I will get a chance to talk to those guys again. They were awesome. Probably the best dudes I have met in a really long time.
Saturday I went to chain reaction in Anaheim California. Cave-In was playing. We got there early because we thought it would sell out. The show was only about half capacity, about 120 people or so, which was really cool.
The first band Lorane Drive, I did not like at all. I was given their cd to review a while back, I couldnt handle it. Seeing them live made it even worse. They FAKED an encore! Opening bands dont get encores. It was lame.
Second up was Doom Riders. They ruled. Straight party music. Good times for sure. The singer reminded me of Andrew W.K. a bit. The sound was SOOOOO loud that I had to go into the bathroom and pack my ears with toilet paper. It was that loud.
Next was Cave-In. If you dont know about Cave-In, you dont know about their colorful past and music styles. Cave-Ins first album was full of heavy break downs, mosh parts and screams. Their later albums are really spacey indie rock. Thier newer album has brought them back to the hardcore scene with heavier music. At their shows you get a nice mix of indie and hardcore kids.
Cave-In took the stage sporting some amazing facial hair. Everyone had beards but the drummer who had a hessian ass mustache going on. I loved it. They are amazing musicians who put on a great show. After 3 songs Little Ryan started to heckle them to play "juggernaut" (their heaviest song). The band thought it was funny because they dont normally play it. A few songs went by, then they played "Moral Eclipse", a heavy song. Only a few measures into the song, and the place was going nuts. Myself included. Cave-in is probably the only band that can play music a song that will made me want to cry, then one song later make me wont to rip someones head off. They played a lot of good songs. "Jupiter" is one of my favorite songs so Im glad they played that one. Ryan continued to heckle them between songs to play juggernaut. They finished the set without playing it. The house lights came on, and the show was over. About 10 of us kept screaming at them to play "Juggernaut". They finally came back out and were still surprised that we wanted to hear it. The lights went out again, and the started playing. When the first break down hit, it felt like a bomb wet off. The floor instantly opened all the way up. Front to back, side to side, no place was safe. Bodys were flying, kids were moshing, it was amazing. I dont think many people realize that Cave-In used to play amazingly heavy songs. I also dont understand why Cave-In doesnt normally include many of their heavier songs in their set. Its obvious that people like them and appreciate them still. It was a really good show. Im glad I went.