Jason Pearce

Earlier this week Google released Google Maps API, a tool that lets developers embed Google Maps in their own web pages with JavaScript, adding extra features and functionality.

casualty-maps.com is one of the first sites I’ve seen to take advantage of these tools. Their map shows the progression of US military casualties from the Iraq war. Click on a casualty icon, and you’ll get the name, rank, and date of death. And you still maintain all of the Google Maps functionality; zoom, drag, satellite.

This is the type of functionality I hope to offer members of Lambda Chi Alpha on our site. Guys should be able to easily see which chapters are open or closed, where there closest friends reside, or where our traveling staff are currently visiting.

I have a lot to accomplish between now and then, but Google Maps API will make the job much easier when the time comes.

Last year, there were maybe three bullfrogs living in the small pond next to my condo. I used to enjoy hearing their deep croak as I drift asleep with my windows open.

This evening, I counted 27 bullfrogs as I walked the shoreline closest to my bedroom window. I can only speculate that my pond contains 50 adult bullfrogs, perhaps more.

Listening to just three bullfrogs was peaceful. It reminded me of the pond at home and gave me the perception of being closer to nature.

Fifty bullfrogs, however, are a different story. Windows shut, A/C running, stereo on, and I can still hear them croaking.

They croak all night long. It often starts with just one, followed by 49 others who respond in kind.

To put the noise in perspective, I live less than 300 yards from an airport and I’m writing about how the bullfrogs are loud.

I don’t know what to do. I thought about a humane way of gigging them (with a net) and moving them to another pond. But there’s just too many.

I also have a lot of spiders. I manage to find and kill a spider almost everyday. Though they are quite scary, at least spiders are quiet.

The good news is I don’t think I’ll see a mosquito at all this summer. I can grill in comfort knowing that I won’t be bit. Though I’ll still have to fall asleep with the noise of 50 frogs and the thought that a spider might be hiding in my bed.

On Sunday morning, I managed to crank out a redesign of CFEA’s website, an association that I serve as a volunteer and board member. Their old site, archived here, was also my creation but became too large to manage.

This new site is powered by WordPress, a great open-source blog/CMS. Though I’d like to give the site a custom template/theme, I only had time to modify the default Kubrick theme. This same theme powers my site, Third Goal, Expedition Hope, and other sites I’ve built.