Eric Brooks

Beyond Tragic

Posted on Thursday March 29, 2007Sunday June 5, 2011 by Eric Brooks

Jesus… 🙁

I don’t even know where to begin with the MeanKids/Kathy Sierra/Allan Herrell thing. It was just pointed out on Problem Adults, where I saw a disturbing screenshot of the comments made by Rev ED.

But I do know Alan Herrell… and that ain’t him making those comments as “Rev ED”.

When I first arrived on the web scene in the late 90’s, thinking I was some badass, I was snubbed by most of the Techno-Elite. The Head Lemur (as well as Jeffrey Zeldman) was one of the few who were kind to me. We’ve spoken on the phone many times… and he’s offered nothing but encouragement to me.

One thing about my almost-10-year friendship with the Head Lemur… He doesn’t bullshit you. He tells it like it is and he doesn’t mince words.

And he sure as hell doesn’t hide behind a screenname when he speaks his mind.

The posts on Unclebobism is so clearly a frame job. It’s his pic with words that sound nothing like him.

Continue reading “Beyond Tragic”

Ahhh memories! 1984 one Kool year

Posted on Tuesday March 20, 2007Sunday June 5, 2011 by Eric Brooks

Summer of 1984. My band, Distant Thunder used to do this cover song. 😀

Kool & The Gang – Tonight

Forget Michael Jackson and Springsteen. To me the 80’s was ALL about Prince, Motley Crue, Van Halen and Kool & the Gang:

— From Wikipedia —-

Kool & the Gang is a highly successful American R&B/soul/funk/disco group. They originally formed in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1964. They went through several musical phases in their career. They started out as practitioners of R&B and funk, eventually went through a phase where they were a smooth disco ensemble, and wound up the successful period of their career recording tunes that were a mixture of pop and R&B.

Kool & the Gang is one of the most sampled artists of all time.

Always loved them. Always will.

How to skin your WordPress theme

Posted on Monday March 19, 2007Sunday June 5, 2011 by Eric Brooks

I have comments again, YAY ME!
Not that anyone leaves comments… buuut… 🙁

When I upgraded to WordPress2, I had a hard time making a flexible theme, so I ditched that idea and decided to parse the code myself (like I did with the original WordPress). The problem? My individual posts no longer had comments. (UH OH!)

So how do you make a theme that is flexible with your Domesticat-like skinning abilities?

You make a theme inside a theme, of course. 😀

Open your wp-content/themes/[yourtheme]/header.php file
Put in your skinning information in the header like you usually do.
Open your wp-content/themes/[yourtheme]/footer.php file
Hard code the variable information that you need, particularly this part…

<?php
$total_skins = 3;
$default_skin = 3;

if (isset($_REQUEST[‘newskin’])) {
$newskin=(int)$_REQUEST[‘newskin’];
if ( ($newskin<1) OR ($newskin>$total_skins) ) $newskin=$default_skin;
$skin=$newskin;
} elseif (isset($_COOKIE[‘skin’]))
$newskin = $_COOKIE[‘skin’];
elseif (isset($_REQUEST[‘newskin’])) {
$newskin=(int)$skin;
if ( ($newskin<1) OR ($newskin>$total_skins) ) $newskin=$default_skin;
} else $newskin=$default_skin;
include(‘/home/yoursite/public_html/skins/$skin/footer.php’);
?>
</body>
</html>

That part is the one that tells your theme what skin the reader has selected using. (It’s slightly changed from the Domesticat version as you can’t set cookies in the footer.).

For whatever reason, WordPress kills all your variables right after it does its thing. You need to re-code your variables in the footer as well.

See what I mean? 😀

Writers wanted

Posted on Saturday March 10, 2007Sunday June 5, 2011 by Eric Brooks

So good to see the Queen of Hearts back on Problem Adults. 😀

We didn’t have the capabilities and know-how that we have now, so her Majesty was forced to post her column in message boards, now she can do it right in her own section.

So, do you write? Tutorials? Erotica? Columns?

Well we WANT YOU! With the newly-remodeled Problem Adults v3.0, we’re going back to our original vision of making the site a one-stop-shop for all your web needs. It’s a great place to promote yourself and even escape the pressures of everyday life.

What we lack in pay (none, actually) we more than make up for in international fame. 😀

More details in my Zoints blog entry over there.

What you can’t see it? Guess you have to join us then, huh?

Yeah, there’s always a catch with me.
You should know that by now. 😉

Our Pocono Community

Posted on Wednesday February 28, 2007Sunday June 5, 2011 by Eric Brooks

Our Pocono Community website Do you live in the Poconos and looking for a great online community to mingle with? Check out Our Pocono Community. It has news, resources, a hi-tech chatroom, an arcade and a group of vibrant personalities on their message board, The Pocono Speakeasy.

I’ll be adding this to my Pocono web design section today. Truth be told, I’m kinda proud of my contributions to it. There’s still more tweaks to do and 70 more arcade games to add… but it’s got the EricBrooks.Com Seal of Approval. 😀

I love you too, dear…

Posted on Monday February 26, 2007Sunday June 5, 2011 by Eric Brooks

Hope the marriage thing is going well and thank you for not making a website dedicated to hating me….. 😀

Gawd knows there’s plenty of them out there already. *eyeroll*

AIDS Ride

Posted on Friday February 23, 2007Sunday June 5, 2011 by Eric Brooks

Mikki - AIDS/Lifecycle Ride My good friend Mikki is taking place in an event in June: AIDS/Lifecycle

From June 3-9, 2007, I’m bicycling in AIDS/LifeCycle. It’s a 6-day, 545-mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles to make a world of difference in the lives of people living with HIV and AIDS.

Help me support the HIV/AIDS services of the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center by giving what you can. We’ll keep riding until AIDS and HIV are a thing of the past. 🙂

I want to thank everyone for stopping by!

All The Best!!!! Mikki

For more information on how you can help, you can visit Mikki’s Lifecycle page here.

There’s a party, and you’re probably not invited

Posted on Tuesday February 20, 2007Sunday June 5, 2011 by Eric Brooks

W00t! 😀
Problem Adults - Party Planet We’re still closed to the public, but Problem Adults 3.0 is still under renovation and getting better and better….

I just unveiled the new design for our latest incarnation “Party Planet” – It’s kind of our hope to attract more “hi-tech” and “creative” types to the joint. We’ve got some great people there… a few are making more layouts, and they truly “get it” with what we’re trying to do there. We were just chosen to be beta testers for new software and we are gonna blow people AWAY!!!!

I just feel like bragging here…

Who ROCKS? WE ROCK! 😀

Is our children learning?

Posted on Thursday February 15, 2007Sunday June 5, 2011 by Eric Brooks

U.S. scores low on child welfare

Quote:

The United States and Britain ranked at the bottom of a United Nations survey of child welfare in 21 wealthy countries that assessed everything from infant mortality to whether children ate dinner with their parents or were bullied at school.

More…

From what I’m reading in this, there seems to be a total breakdown of support for families. Particularly for single parent households.

You have religious wack jobs who will tout the “Nuclear family” and nothing else. You have zealots on the right who scream against Hillary’s plan to bring a “Universalized Health Care” system to the U.S. Fact is, kids get sick, and parents can’t afford to take them to the doctors with no insurance.

That’s not to let the Left off the hook. Children being bullied with the lame-ass cliche of “fighting is not the answer” and nothing else doesn’t help. There’s a great program in our district that teaches kids to negotiate and reason with their enemies… but in the real world we know that doesn’t always work.

And Child Protective Services? Don’t even get me started on how many things are wrong with that bureaucracy…

Why I’ll probably never work for another candidate or take advertisers.

Posted on Saturday February 10, 2007Sunday June 5, 2011 by Eric Brooks

Simply put, I’m a snarky, sarcastic, jaded bastard.

I value my All-American rights to free speech and voicing my opinions… regardless of who I piss off. (Don’t get me wrong, I realize I am a reflection of my employers to a certain degree, so I *DO* exercise a certain level of responsibility and accountability in all I do and say). But I despise having to self-censor myself.

Oh and did I forget to mention that I helped make websites and strategies for two campaigns? One Republican and one Democrat. Both were facing major hurdles as underdogs but in the end, they won in landslides.

Yes, this is why some of us colorful web personalities are hired by candidates. Though we have a ton of skeletons in our archives, we’re incindiary, controversial, riveting and damned good at what we do in commanding attention.

Which brings us to the “Brawl of the Week” (hat tip to Wulfgar).

John Edwards, Amanda Marcotte & Melissa McEwan -vs- Michelle Malkin, William Donohue & The Fighting 101st Keyboarders

The Plot: Right Wingers dig up dirt from the archives of Pandagon and Shakespeare’s Sister and demand Edwards fire his bloggers for their content.

The Review: Manufactured outrage by people with skeletons in their own closets who would never vote for Edwards anyway… so why even listen to them? Continue reading “Why I’ll probably never work for another candidate or take advertisers.”

WHUZZUP!

Author: Eric Brooks