A.R. Van Halleorg

Just add this. Replace the link.

<script src=”http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1″></script>
<fb:like></fb:like>
<fb:send href=”http://arvanhalleorg.com/” font=”"></fb:send>

OLD:

The old structure only required you to enter a status message, which you sent to the home.

http://twitter.com/home?status=I%20am%20doing%20this%20thing%20on%20Twitter%20@arvanhalleorg%20http://www.test.com/myurl/

NEW:

The new structure requires that you provide, at a minimum, a url, via, and text.
(note that the url and via are appended to your message, so you don’t need to add them to your text)

http://twitter.com/share?url=http://www.test.com/myurl/&via=arvanhalleorg&text=I%20am%20doing%20this%20thing%20on%20Twitter

The url will be shortened by Twitter’s internal API and @arvanhalleorg in this case, would be appended to the text.

Output is something like this:

“I am doing this thing on Twitter http://t.co/pTbu5c0 via @arvanhalleorg”, which appears in a tweet box.

No automatic tweet. This allows you to adjust the message, before blindly putting weird things on your timeline.

I’m one of those OCD people, who hates to not have an answer for a question I might have. It’ll drive me nuts and halt any attempts to keep writing, if I don’t find that answer. So, I generally go and find it. Even if it takes me hours of Googling.

On Wednesday night, I suffered the horrific fate, that can only be described as “What do you mean Google can’t find it?”. I tried ‘bar lock’, ‘lock slide bar’, ‘bar across door lock’, ‘the lock with the bar across the door’, and nothing came up! Much to my frustration. Google rarely fails me, but in this, it seemed persistent.

So for 18 hours, it was driving me nuts and I finally had to ask my coworkers if they might know what it was called. One of them gave me a comment to the tune of “barré la porte”, because of the bar. So of course, then it clicks. It’s a freaking Barricade. Which makes sense, because like a police barricade across a road, it blocks a passage.

So, this post is to save someone else the misery of trying to figure this stupid lock out. Not that it’s the most common search, but still. It’s frustrating.

Also, I think there might be another name again for it. If you know it, let me know. I like words.

Have a great day.

I wanted to get the list of providers from the oembed whitelist to use in the NFB Video Plugin’s next update for WordPress 3.0.

The global $OEMBED is the variable that stores all my other variables in the plugin, that’s why it’s there.

There’s probably a function somewhere that does this, but I didn’t find it. So, if there’s anyone else who was having difficulty with it, as a temporary solution you could go with something like this:

$INCLUDE_EXTERNAL_BASE_PATH = dirname(dirname(dirname(dirname(__FILE__))));
require_once($INCLUDE_EXTERNAL_BASE_PATH . ‘/wp-includes/class-oembed.php’);

function populate_list_from_wp_oembed_whitelist(){

global $OEMBED;
$wp_oembed = new WP_oEmbed();

$OEMBED->whitelist = array();

foreach($wp_oembed->providers as $provider=>$oembed_url):
array_push($OEMBED->whitelist, $provider);
endforeach;

return $OEMBED->whitelist;
}

$providers = populate_list_from_wp_oembed_whitelist();

** I would have put it in code tags, but apparently it’s not working correctly at the moment.

Just a little FYI for the upcoming month; if you’re into that kinda thing.

As some or even many of you may already know, it’s that time of year again…that halfway mark between Nanowrimo’s, when people from all over the world join in on the fun of Script Frenzy.

This year I’ve opted to participate with a partner and after weeks of hashing out the details, we’re ready to tackle the challenge ahead.

If you want another writing buddy…just because we all love to compare page results…

My Script Frenzy Page

For those of you who don’t know what that is:

You have 30 days (April 1 through to April 30) to complete 100 pages of original scripted material.

- Screenplays
- Stage Plays
- TV Shows
- Short Films
- Graphic Novels

It’s completely free to participate, but if you feel like donating, you can.

You don’t have to be a writer. You don’t have to know anything about writing scripts. There’s a resource section for information.

Script Frenzy website
Script Frenzy – Rules
Script Frenzy – Resources

Have fun and enjoy the challenge everyone.

When 2010 started out, I already knew that it was going to be a really cruddy year.

2011, thusfar, is already shaping out to be quite an interesting year. It opened with the news that my sister-in-law is pregnant and that there’s a chance it’s going to be twins. YAY. More to add to my niece and nephew collection. Loving it.

I also started to go to the gym after having done no sports or exercise for the last 8-9 years. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not overweight, but what I do have has been accumulating. I’m at 130lbs and I’d like to stay at that weight, just a little more toned. It’s mostly for my cardio that I’m doing it. I’m tired of my heart feeling weak, so gym it is!… What’s a little bill of 2,000$ to get what I want, right?…

Aside from that, I’ll be starting up my French lessons at work again. It’s always an 8 week program of intense proportions, but I WILL be speaking French fluently, even if it kills me. Currently, I speak street Quebecois. Lots of cussing and slangy French. Incredibly unattractive. If anyone wonders why I’m perfecting French, it’s because I live in a French place. It’s disrespectful to speak English when the locals don’t.

Writing is going extremely well in this new year. I’ve written upwards of 50,000 words so far on various stories. I know I should only be working on one at a time, but working on the 3 stories I love is actually getting the words out faster and the period of evolution shifts much quicker as well.

I got to hang out with one of my best friends that I haven’t seen or talked to in the last 2 years. It was as if we’d never stopped speaking. She was a little concerned it would be different and all that stuff, but being my usual carefree, laid back self, I pretty much guessed right when I said it would feel normal.

My goals before June are to finish at least one of the stories I’m working on and have at least a second draft for it. It doesn’t have to be the final draft yet, but at least the second. Finally update my website. I have this nice theme that I worked on, but I haven’t got around to fixing the small details to be able to put it online yet. It’ll be much friendlier for navigating and pretty for the eyes. Yay! Also, no more ads in the middle of articles. I hate that and I apologize for subjecting you to it.

I’ve been working on two articles as well. Creating fear in child characters in a way that draws the reader into the story, fearing for the child based on their emotions in the moment, and another that talks about the rambling that writers tend to do, that others find incredibly annoying, but it as important to a writer as discussing a bug in code for a programmer.

Update soon!

Have a great day and I hope you’re all having a great start to your new year.

In many ways, the internet has affected the way literature has evolved in recent years. Like the film industry, it has paved the way for the underdog to rise up and really make a name for themselves. I’ve enjoyed quite a few of them and there are those who share their work freely on the internet who truly deserve to be published, but don’t.

If this were an article on publishing great works as an independent author, then I’d go on about it, but this isn’t that kind of article.

Independent publishing has removed the necessity of being rejected multiple times by a publishing house, because as humans who haven’t mastered an art form, we hate to feel rejected. So sad. Sniff.

Forget art. A few simple steps, a credit card and a click of a button can get you published. Ego fully intact. Congratulations, you’re an author…

I know, I sound bitter, but really I’m just frustrated. I think we’ve forgotten somewhere along the way that there is a learning process behind those rejection letters. If someone didn’t like it, there’s a reason for it. The world isn’t out to get you. Sometimes, you can glean some kind of information, sometimes valuable, from a rejection letter that might tell you what went wrong. Yeah, I know, not all of them will. Most won’t. But gems aren’t meant to be a dime a dozen. Unfortunately, many will tell you how crappy your writing is and you’ll feel discouraged enough to quit. Don’t quit. A little pain is worth it when you finally get that book published and your name is now attached to a legitimate piece of art that won’t embarrass you in the future.

After all, that’s the fun of being a writer, right? We all want to be the next Asimov, Tolkien, Reichs, Rowling, Cussler, King….Right!?

Right.

When I started writing at 5; my own internal solution to learning English, I just wanted to write my very own Goosebumps story. Simple enough, I’d say. I was told it was very hard to get published, but that if I worked really hard and didn’t mind people telling what was wrong with my story, then it was always a possibility.

I’ve been writing for 21 years, I’ve soaked in every piece of criticism, whether I liked it or not. I’ve had the fortune of teachers who provided me with editors and librarians who invited guests like Barbara Henner to speak to the kids about writing books and getting published. I was instilled with the belief that if I took every rejection letter, learned from it, and managed to do so well that even a big publishing house would publish me eventually, then I’d done what I set out to do. I would be a true author.

In the meantime, I decided to tell my stories to my friends. I wrote for them. I told for them. I aimed to please them. I drove them insane with hundreds of unfinished stories. I was just too excited to get all those ideas out of my head. But it was a positive solution to minor setbacks.

Despite the lure of a simple solution that would leave no room for true heart-ache, I have avoided the independent publishers. For one main reason.

They lack credibility.

No, not the publishers themselves, but the authors who choose to have their work published. I was appalled to realize just how many first drafts were published directly; spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, structural issues, and even things as simple as keeping their character’s eye colour consistent. It sounds silly, but it’s little details that make an author look like a rank amateur and make people never want to buy another book by them ever again. Heck, they want to draw and quarter them for wasting 10.99$ on a piece of crap.

It isn’t impressive and if you brag about it, you look like a bigger ass than before. This isn’t the tabloids and you aren’t an actor trying to stay in the media. Bad writing is bad publicity and bad publicity makes people not buy your book. I don’t care how many people tell you otherwise. If your goal is to catch the eye of some network or production studio, then please, go write scripts. Stop cluttering literature with garbage.

Most of all, people resent 3 things when authors publish shoddy work. 1) The money they put into it, 2) The wasted time, and 3) Their lowered IQ.

1) You can say, ‘Oh, it’s only $10.99’, but what gives you the right to take someone else’s hard-earned money for your lazy literature?…Obviously, you don’t care if you bothered to do it in the first place.

2) Who has time to waste? Not many. If you want them to sit down and read your book, you better make sure it was worth their time. Maybe not everyone will be happy with your story, but you want your target audience to mostly like it.

3) Ever read a story and felt dumber at the end than when you started? Don’t insult your audience. They don’t like it and they’ll hate you for it and smear your name all over the internet about how much of an arrogant ass you are for ever publishing it. Especially if they find out you self-published.

Having said all that. I may not have finished NaNoWriMo on time, ever, but I have pride in what I write. I work it and re-work it until I’m satisfied. I will continue to do so, until I feel like it’s worth the money I’m going to make someone spend on it.

Love your audience, respect your audience and if you MUST go through an independent publisher….please get your work edited or reviewed and listen to what people have to say. Some demands might be completely illogical and will be outright trolling, but there’s usually a hint of truth and they just don’t know how to tell you why. Look for the reason why or try to find alternatives that work with your story and please the readers too. No opinion is a sole opinion. Keep that in mind.

Have a great day!

Thanks for reading.

A small tale of my adventure.

For a while now, I’ve had supplies and equipment to work on chain-mail. No, not the sort you get in the post or e-mail. I mean the sort that you’d have worn in medieval time. It’s a little hobby that I picked up a few years ago and just had a knack for it.

I love doing the metal weaves. From the English 4-1 to the Japanese 12 in 2, it’s the most interesting hobby I’ve had. I don’t consider writing a hobby. I’ve been doing that since I was 4 years old. It’s a love and passion, it’s different.

Anyways, so one day my toilet was acting up and the chain in the bowl broke off from the black bit that lets you flush the toilet. So, the only tools I have around the house are a screwdriver, the Ikea Alan keys, wire-cutters (to cut metal coils into rings), and several sets of pliers, all under the size of a dry-erase marker.

Obviously, my first thought is…let’s use my tiny pliers to fix the parts in the toilet. So after replacing the black bit and reconnecting the chain, all was well with the world and true to my lazy self, I left the pliers in the bathroom.

I spent the better part of the next few weeks, contemplating the pliers and telling myself that I would finally get off my butt and put them where they belong.
(more…)

Fear is one of the most fascinating things I really enjoy writing into a story, because when you get to the point where you’re freaking yourself out on behalf of your character, you know you’ve captured it. It gives you a rush as if you have finally had a ‘real’ writer moment.

Ideally, you would best describe me as a morbid writer, because I write about fear, death, murder, and even torture as passionately as a sappy person writes a romance novel.

We write about the things we know about from experience. That does not mean that I am a psycho murderer who enjoys torturing people. I just enjoy capturing the emotions; not the happy sort.

Back to the introduction: What kinds of people do and do not write about fear? Why?
(more…)

Those who know me personally; outside of work, know that I’m completely inept as a cook. Actually, to be more precise, I haven’t got the patience to bother cooking well. I always end up forgetting about it and burning it. I’ve managed to burn water. Well, I guess the sediment IN the water.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I was taught how to cook at least the basics. I did home-economics like everyone else and learned how to stir fry. Be damned if I remember how to make it though. Give me a programming language, I’ll pick it up in a few weeks and create some interesting snippets of code, but cooking? Forget it.

So, for my birthday (Sept 3), I got a recipe for Carolyne‘s Lasagna of Doom (I love that name *heart*) and I’m finally getting to it today (Sept 21). It’s in the process of sitting out its time in the oven like a good little meal. Why did it take me so long to accomplish? Because I love to procrastinate; especially when it comes to food. I’m one of those people who thinks taking the time to cook and eat is a waste of time. I could be doing something productive, like reading, writing, playing WoW or Starcraft II, programming or watching a season premiere of one of my favourite shows.

Now my kitchen is completely chaotic. I mean really chaotic. My inner OCD (Obsessive compulsive disorder) is sitting in a corner, off to the side, whimpering and trying to get as far away as possible from it. I don’t blame it.

BUT. The food smells delicious and I have high hopes of it actually tasting pretty decent.

Have a great end to your day!

Cheers