Saturday, February 24, 2007

Navbar problems


Yeah, you can see it. I made my own template in blogger to match my web site's look. Faced a couple of problems while doing so.

1. Blogger doesn't allow their new "layout" style for blogs published using FTP (or SFTP).
I didn't know this until I finished working on my template. Since I had spent a couple of hours on the new template, I decided it is OKAY to publish in a blogger account. The blog address is now: http://ranganablog.blogspot.com/

2. All blogs using the new "layout" style and not published using FTP necessarily have the NavBar on the top. There is no way to turn this feature off. And it was pretty annoying as it was completely spoiling my template :( However, I accidentally figured out how to turn this feature off.

To turn off the NavBar in "non-FTP" blogs using the new "layout" templates:
0. Yeah, step 0 is to save your "layout" template in case you customized it.
1. Now, publish your blog using FTP after switching to a "classic" template.
2. Go to templates page and turn off the NavBar option.
3. Verify that your blog (still in "classic" template) doesn't show the NavBar.
4. Switch publishing back to a blogger account and upgrade your template to "layout" style.

And, voila... your "layout" style blog doesn't have the NavBar. If you now go and check the NavBar options in Page Elements (under Template), you will see that none of the options is checked.

I guess this is a minor bug that will probably be fixed soon. Till then, I am happy my blog doesn't have the ugly NavBar on top.

Do let me know if you think this looks better.

PS: I have uploaded my reading list and the coding problems using this template too. Have a look if you have time.
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Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Good, Bad and Ugly


The Good :

1. Research going much better. I had to re-read tens of papers just to catch up but now it's getting back to normal.

2. Finally finished "The Fountain Head". I suppose all "fat" books are worth the effort. In this case, the effort was minimal.

3. Moviez worth the time - Thank you for smoking, Rosemary's baby, Client, The Cider house rules and Donnie Darko.
Watched Donnie Darko twice. Finally managed to come up with my own theory which turns out isn't even close to the popular notion. Ill probably post my theory sometime.

4. Tendulkar's Century and man-of-the-match award
It has been a long time though. Hope the form remains through the world cup.

5. Shilpa Shetty wins Celebrity Big Brother.
I started following the show only after the controversy started. Anyone who followed the show will agree that she behaved pretty well. Watching the "bullying episodes" in you tube was pretty disturbing. If you think she wasn't all that good, you should have seen the desi version Big Boss. Seems Rahul Roy outdid others in lying and scheming.

The Bad :

1. Loads of TA work.
Grading 50+ students for a grad course isn't the best job around. It has made my cell phone a voicemail box since I am in the office all the time. (I don't get signal in there)

2. Night at the Museum.
Wonder why I subjected myself to this. After a long time, I slept during a movie in theater. This one made me doze off after the initial 10 minutes itself. I also wonder why "mugger" likes it so much.

3. Serena is back?
I was rooting for Clijsters, Hingis, Sharapova and Serena - in that order. Although I have never been a big fan of Serena, her recent lack of form (and my meeting her during the Cincinnati Open) got her some brownie points. Now I wonder if she is really back.

The Ugly :

1. Heavy snow, cold winter after a pretty warm January.

2.
Its Federer again.
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