grep life by Jeremy Glover

Issues Synching Amazon Kindle Notes and Highlights to iPhone

The Issue

I don’t mind reading Amazon Kindle books on my iPhone, but sometimes a bigger screen is nice. Thankfully Amazon has Kindle apps for PC, Mac, iOS, Android, etc. The issue I’m having is that my notes and highlights don’t usually sync correctly from Kindle for Mac to Kindle for iOS.

I tried manually synching, but that just seems to push the furthest read page rather than notes and bookmarks. I tried all the combinations you can imagine in terms of the order in which I open the app on the two devices. No success.

The Fix

What I ended up having to do is archive the item on my iPhone and then re-download it to get the correct set of notes and highlights. My guess is that it’s a bug in the iOS app.

Anyone else having this issue and figured out a different work-around?

Posted in Annoying, Depressing, IT, Ridiculous, Software, Technology | No Comments »

Welcome to the Western Caribbean!

Kara and I just returned from a fabulous week-long Carnival cruise to the Western Caribbean. We flew from Greensboro to Miami and the ship sailed to four beautiful ports: Grand Cayman, Roatan, Belize, Cozumel. The best part of any cruise for me is the food, and this was no exception. I’ll spare you the details and get right to the pictures. Enjoy!

Posted in Amazing, Entertainment, Food, Life, Vacation | No Comments »

PHP script to send test emails on a schedule to make sure you are able to receive email

Ever wondered if your email was actually working? I’ve had numerous people over the past few years wonder the same thing. Ideally you would use a consistent, dependable email service provider (think Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo!, etc.). But sometimes that isn’t an option. If you think you might be receiving email intermittently or not at all, feel free to use this script to send test emails to yourself on a regular basis. If you get the test emails, you know at least someone can get to you.

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<?php
 
// Set this to your timezone
date_default_timezone_set('America/New_York');
 
// Start at 8:00 AM (24-hour time)
$startTime = mktime(8, 0, 0);
 
// End at 5:00 PM (24-hour time)
$endTime = mktime(17, 0, 0);
 
 
$currentTime = time();
 
// Do not send the email if it is outside of the allowed hours
if($currentTime < $startTime || $currentTime > $endTime)
{
	print('Not sending an email after hours.');
	die();
}
 
// Get the current day of the week as an index (0=Sunday, 6=Saturday)
$dayOfWeek = date('w');
 
// Do not send the email on weekends
if($dayOfWeek == 0 || $dayOfWeek == 6)
{
	print('Not sending an email on the weekends.');
	die();
}
 
// Info of person to receive the tests
define('TO_EMAIL',		'me@test.com');
define('TO_NAME',		'John Doe');
 
// Info of person sending the tests
define('FROM_EMAIL',	'webmaster@serversendingtests.com');
define('FROM_NAME',	'Email Tester');
 
// Example: 8:00 am on 1 Nov 2010
$subject = 'Test: ' . date('g:i a \o\n j M Y');
 
$message = 'This email was automatically generated. Please send an email to yourusername@youremailprovider.com if you would like to disable these automated tests.';
 
$result = mail(TO_NAME . ' <' . TO_EMAIL . '>', $subject, $message, 'From: ' . FROM_NAME . ' <' . FROM_EMAIL . '>');
var_dump($result);

And finally, setup a cron job that runs on a regular basis (every 15 minutes in this case):

*/15 	* 	* 	* 	* 	wget http://myserver.com/path/to/script.php

I realize that you could do some of the scheduling being done in the PHP script in the cron job definition, but I wanted to have more control over that for future features (think pulling schedules from a database for a multi-user environment).

Posted in DIY, PHP, Programming, Web Development | No Comments »

AT&T Ramblings About iPhone 4′s Antenna Issues

The following conversation took place with AT&T Sales via LivePerson chat on September 11, 2010 at 7:10 PM ET:

Jeremy Glover: When will the next iPhone be released?

Tausha: We do not have any information for that, the new iPhone 4 just came out in June.

Jeremy Glover: Why are they discontinuing the bumper program at the end of September?

Tausha: There will be a firmware update coming in the next few weeks. However, the issue is not with the antenna itself but with the formula they use. It should not effect the quality of service. That will eliminate the need for the case.

Jeremy Glover: How can a firmware update fix a hardware flaw?

Tausha: For any further questions on that, you would want to contact Apple. We do sell the service, they created the phone. I am sorry about that.

Posted in Annoying, Apple, AT&T, Customer Service, Depressing, Hardware, Ridiculous, Software, Technology | 1 Comment »

My New Pet Orb Weaver Spider

As I was mowing the grass in my back yard two weeks ago, I was startled by a huge spider that crept out from under a board on our fence. I wanted to take some pictures of it but after I finished mowing it was gone. Today, however, the same spider (I assume) kindly relocated itself to a very nice place from which to capture it.

Here’s a video of the spider in action:

Posted in Bugs, Scary | No Comments »

Shorten URLs with Zend Framework and bit.ly

This function uses version 3.0 of the bit.ly API. You’ll need to register for an account with them if you don’t already have one. Then you can retrieve your API key and begin using it immediately.

{code type=php}
function bitlyShorten($url)
{
$client = new Zend_Http_Client(‘http://api.bit.ly/v3/shorten’);
$client->setParameterGet(array(
‘longUrl’ => $url,
‘login’ => ‘xyz’,
‘apiKey’ => ‘xyz’
));

$response = $client->request();

if($response->isSuccessful())
{
$response = Zend_Json::decode($response->getBody());
if($response['status_code'] == 200)
{
return $response['data']['url'];
}
}
return (false);
}
{/code}

Example:
{code type=php}
$myLongUrl = ‘http://www.jeremyglover.com/blog/’;
$myShortUrl = bitlyShorten($myLongUrl);
{/code}

Posted in APIs, PHP, Programming, Web Development, Zend Framework | No Comments »

Outsourced Pest Control

I spotted this creepy spider while I was getting the mail this evening. Scary!

Anyone know what type of spider this is?

Posted in Bugs, Scary | 3 Comments »

Hilton Head Island, SC – Day 8 of 8

It’s over

We had a wonderful time and great travels to and from the beach. I won’t bore you with the details of today, so here are some pictures that didn’t make it into the other posts.

Enjoy!

Day 1 - Not quite relaxed yet

Sign on the last hole of mini golf

Hit it, Maestro!

Too expensive

Swinging with Mom

Lazy day at the ranch

Pony rides

Baked oysters

That dog will bite you!

I'm on a boat!

Saving the best for last

The crazy crab

My new toy (I wish)

Choreography disaster

Where's my mommy? Ohh right...

Low rider

I hope you all had fun following along!

G’night!

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8 (you are here)

Posted in Life, Vacation | No Comments »

Hilton Head Island, SC – Day 7 of 8

Today was soo relaxing. We slept in late and headed back to Skull Creek Boathouse for brunch. It, again, was fantastic and I forgot to take pictures. I had “drop doughnuts” which looked like giant hushpuppies rolled in sugar. It came with eight doughnuts but I quickly bartered two of them away for a piece of Kara’s cinnamon vanilla French toast and one of them for one of my mom’s egg and ham biscuits. Pam also donated half of a bagel with cream cheese to my cause. All-in-all, my $4.00 doughnuts turned into a veritable buffet. Yum!

Rating: 5/5

After brunch we traipsed down to the beach. The waves today were ridiculously choppy. I saw several fish jumping and Kara was whacked in the hand by what she assumes was a fish. After about an hour, we both were exhausted from staying afloat so we went to the pool. It was much more relaxing.

Then we headed back to the condo where the nap fairy visited my mom while the rest of us read for awhile.

I have a really bad habit of watching the Food Network when I’m not hungry and within 30 minutes, you can almost guarantee I’ve got dinner planned…

So we chose One Hot Mama’s. It’s another of the Serg Restaurant Group’s holdings. Giuseppi’s and Skull Creek Boathouse both got 5/5s, so I figured we couldn’t go wrong. And I was right.

Southern Style Ribs

Pulled Pork Sandwich

The ribs were great (5/5), but I’m only going to give the meal a 4/5 because the sides could have been better.

We get no cell service in the condo, so as we pulled up to the building I was updating the apps on my phone. They didn’t quite finish so I figured I’d go to the lake behind the condo to let it finish before I went into the dead zone. Here’s the sign I found.

The evening wrapped up with ice cream, Scrabble Slam, regular Scrabble, and the Food Network.

Tomorrow we head home

G’night!

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7 (you are here)
Day 8

Posted in Life, Vacation | No Comments »

Hilton Head Island, SC – Day 6 of 8

Ahh…today was awesome!

We started out with tennis at 7:30. I won 6-1, 6-1—not as good as I had hoped, but not too shabby.

Then we went down to the beach. While there, Kara had the fabulous idea to have Flamingo’s Doughnut Cafe for dessert for lunch. So we punctuated our water time, had a quick lunch, and headed to the best doughnut shop in the world.

After that we headed back to Sea Pines for a dolphin-watching cruise. A big thank you to our parents for buying our tickets!

Waiting for the boat to take off almost reduced me to a puddle of goo. It’s also a good shot of the hat I told you about earlier.

We saw dolphins surface 15-25 times but never got a decent shot of them. I was really hoping for a shot of one jumping out of the water, but no cigar.

On the cruise we saw Daufuskie Island which is accessible only by sea and air. The captain said building materials cost three times as much there!

Here’s a shot of a “haunted” light house on that island.

My beautiful wife:

After the cruise, we headed to Main Street Cafe & Pub where I had the most delicious crab legs ever!

Rating: 5/5

If you’ve been following along, you probably think I’m being gracious to all of these restaurants I’m giving 5/5. Nope. I’m probably the toughest food critic you’ll ever meet. These places have all been absolutely fantastic!

After dinner, we headed back to the condo, had ice cream (yes, somehow I had room left) and watermelon, and relaxed. Kara and her mom took a walk on the beach, but after 14 or so clusters of crab legs, I wasn’t feeling it.

Tomorrow we’re going to sleep in and grab brunch some place, then chill out at the beach and pool, and probably knock another awesome restaurant off the list.

G’night!

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6 (you are here)
Day 7
Day 8

Posted in Amazing, Life, Vacation | 1 Comment »