Black Belt

After 16.5 years of doing martial arts, I finally got my black belt a couple of weeks ago. I am still a little shocked, but it is very exciting. I’ve been very close a few other times and have a collection of brown belts, but I had mostly given up on getting a black belt. …

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Happy 10th Anniversary WordPress!

WordPress 10th Anniversary

WordPress will be 10 years old on May 27th, 2013. Hard to believe it has been so long! Dougal Campbell had a great idea to start the WordPress 10th Anniversary Blogging Project. I have been using WordPress since v 0.71 and it is still my favorite way to build a website. What better way to celebrate …

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Hyperfocus

Hyperfocus | Freelance Freedom

Happy Autism Acceptance month everyone! So nice to read all of the positive posts about autism. I sometimes still have a hard time seeing the positive aspects of autism in myself, but there are at least a few that I am thankful for. I think my favorite one is hyperfocus. Hyperfocus (according to Urban Dictionary) …

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Autism Acceptance means…

By Karen Hillman Fully accepting that my partner’s autism shapes her world, but does not define all of who she is – she is autistic and also a web developer, a gamer, a cat lover, a music lover, a brown-belt in karate, a geek, a great listener, a vegetarian, a wife, a sister, a daughter, …

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Laravel Learning Resources

Laravel logo

Over the past year or so, I have become enamored with the Laravel PHP framework and have a huge code crush on the soon to be released version 4. After attending Laracon in Washington D.C. a couple of weekends ago, I was inspired to start the Baltimore Laravel meetup group. I am compiling this resource …

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2012: The Highlights

If I had to pick one word to describe 2012, it would be ‘busy’. If I had to pick 2 words, they would be ‘too busy’. Living in Baltimore is very busy. I don’t think I will ever get used to it. Work was way too busy for a while. It is great to have …

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Second Annual ASAN Gala

Autistic Self Advocacy Network

Last night Karen and I went to the 2nd annual ASAN Gala at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. It was even nicer than last year’s event, which was also very nice. There was a reception with excellent food and drink, followed by the opening speakers. First to speak was the evening’s host and …

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Autism Is Gray

Autistics Speaking Day 2012

Once again, it is Autistics Speaking Day. I want to write a post about the positive aspects of autism, but at the moment, it is hard. It has been almost 8 years since I found out that I was autistic. At first, it freaked me out because there is no cure. Eventually, I started to …

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Unsolicited advice to NTs out there with partners on the spectrum considering a giant life change

By Karen Hillman Note from LB: This article was originally published on the Autism Women’s Network website and is reprinted with permission from the author. It is about Karen’s and my move here last year from Oakland, CA. We are both still learning to adapt to our busy lives here, and for the most part, we have both managed …

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Favorite Mac Tip of the Day > Rename Files from the Title Bar

Rename a file from the title bar

Rename files from the title bar

Thanks to Devir Kahan for the tip!

Rename a file from the title bar
Rename a file from the title bar

Instead of having to locate the file in the Finder to rename it, you can now just click on a filename in the window’s title bar to rename it. This same sort of thing works for bookmarklets too. You can also move a file to another location from the title bar by clicking its name and choosing Move.

Disable Save Password Prompts in Safari 6

Safari 6

Safari 6 has a feature that prompts the user to save passwords. A window pops up with the options to save the password or to never save the password for that site. I am pretty sure this feature has been around for a while, but in Safari 6 it seems to enable itself. I am …

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Favorite Mac App of the Week: Boom

Last October, I got a shiny new 15″ Macbook Pro and have been using it as my main work computer ever since. It is much faster than my iMac, and other than watching movies and working in Photoshop, I find that I prefer using it over the iMac.

The only thing that has really bugged me about this computer is that the sound sucks. In many cases, the volume is too low to hear anything above the outside street noise. At least it was until yesterday when I discovered an awesome little app called Boom.

Boom is a volume booster and equalizer for macs. From the moment I installed it, the volume on my system has been quite a bit louder. After turning on the built-in equalizer and setting it to ‘Vocals’, the sound was even better while watching a video podcast that I had not been able to hear earlier. The app is $6.99 and can be purchased from the seller’s website or from the Mac App Store.

One day I woke up and I was 45…

I remember when I was younger, thinking that 45 was very old. The past few days, I have been thinking about what it means to ‘get old’. Is 45 old? 40? 65? 85? Does it matter? I don’t think it is a bad thing, and considering the alternative, it is an awesome thing! I am …

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Video: The Dragonborn Comes

Beautiful rendition of ‘The Dragonborn Comes’ (Skyrim Bard Song and Main Theme) by Malukah.

You can download the mp3 for free at http://www.malukah.com/free/

Chords - The Dragonborn Comes
Chords - The Dragonborn Comes

2011

In a word, 2011 has been CRAZY! I’ve had some crazy years in my time, and while this year is not nearly as crazy as some have been, it definitely holds a place on the “Craziest Years Ever” list. A Brief Summary of 2011: Moving Karen and I gave up hopes of selling our house …

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The Autistic Freelancer :: Autistics Speaking Day 2011

I have been running my freelance web development business for over 15 years, the last 8 of which have actually involved a business license, paying taxes, and making money. Each year, I do a little  better than the last. Running a business can be challenging to everyone, and as with most things, can provide extra …

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RIP Steve Jobs, Derrick Bell, and Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth

Derrick Bell, Steve Jobs and Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth

I am sad that Steve Jobs is gone. I didn’t know him, but like many other people, he changed my life. There have been many tributes to Mr. Jobs in the past week and it is easy to see how widespread his influence was. There is also some negative sentiment in which people are furious …

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Change Admin Post/Page List Color By Status

Favorite WordPress tip of the week: This snippet will change the background colors of posts, pages, and custom post types in the administration post/page lists based on their status, i.e. draft, private, pending, etc. <?php add_action('admin_footer','posts_status_color'); function posts_status_color(){ ?> <style> .status-draft { background: #ffffe0 !important ; } .status-future { background: #cf9 !important; } .status-publish { …

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Five Ways A Root Canal Can Ruin Your Day

Root Canal

It is preceded by an earthquake It takes 2.5 hours It involves numerous shots of novocaine and other random things that burn It can not be completed and you need to go back again. Your face swells to the size of a grapefruit and you spend the next morning in the emergency room. Numerous thanks …

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