December 2004
Sitepoint: Which PHP libraries do you use?
PHP Libs I have users/will use again on a live website:
Smarty
Pear Libs
Definite
DataObject
DB
HTML_Table
QuickForms
HTML_Template_IT
Possibly
Auth
Net_Curl
XML_Parser
XML_RSS
For interest, wondering what PHP libraries people use? By use I mean libraries you actually trust and are willing to use / have used on a live website.
...
Photo matt: Getting Dark
Kinda random, but I was thinking about this today as I walked home. It was about 5pm here in Ohio and it was almost pitch black outside. I found myself wondering how dark it must be on the east coast, seeing as it was also 5pm there. Then I saw this on Matt’s blog just now:
Boston is so weird, it’s only 4 in the afternoon and it’s already almost dark.
URI: Getting Dark.
...
Reference: Editing id3v1/v2 tags via python
On preliminary glance (just reading the docs), it seems like this module might prodvide a decent interface to id3 tag editing in python.
I’ll have further comments tonight. The plan is to post-process incoming mp3 files and modify their genre for easy sorting in iTunes. This is almost necessary because every person who distributes a podcast seemingly picks a different genres, making it...
Python 2.4: Final
Can’t believe I missed this today. I’ve been so busy at work I totally forgot to check out my python news feed or even Slashdot!
Python 2.4 is the result of almost 18 month’s worth of work on top of Python 2.3 and represents another stage in the careful evolution of Python. New language features have been kept to a minimum, many bugs have been fixed and a variety of improvements have been...
November 2004
Bittorrent support is going well
BitTorrent integration for my Podder script is going pretty well. Before I went to sleep last night I successfully created a python script that imports the BitTorrent.download module and passes it the torrent to download from the command line. Once the file has completed downloading, the script exits. Not the best behavior for a BitTorrent client, but at least it works.
I can’t really let...
Podder.py version 0.3.3
Fixes a problem where curl wouldn’t follow an HTTP redirect and the download would fail.
Podder.py 0.3.3, my Python version of the script (Mac OS X/NNW2.0 only)
I’m working on some sort of solution for downloading podcasts that are distributed via torrent. Bittorrent, at its core, is Python, so it shouldn’t be that hard
If you haven’t checked out my podcast grabbing script for...
Roku: this thing is pretty cool
!http://phaedo.cx/images/M1000-mid-new.jpg!
Built-in support for Windows® Media Connect and Windows Media Player 10; Apple Rendezvous and iTunes®; and any music services using Windows Media DRM 10 such as Napster, Musicmatch and WalMart.com.
URI: Roku.
!{vertical-align: middle;}http://phaedo.cx/images/SoundBridge_leftelevation.jpg!
Basically, you plug in this...
Textile 2.0 Reference
I always lose this link and it takes me forever to find it (bookmarks? pfft):
http://bradchoate.com/mt/docs/mtmanual_textile2.html
For my own reference :)
Busy Weekend
Lets see what did we do since we got back from Chicago?
Added coupon code functionality to Test Tube T-Shirts.
Basically you can now input a little code before you buy your shirts and it will reduce the cost by an amount that we’ve associated with that code. Its something we’ve used in the past for special deals for specific communities of people and it’ll vastly simplify...
Test Tube T-Shirts: Almost ready for the holidays
Tonight I’ve been getting Test Tube T-Shirts all cleaned up for the holiday shopping season. I’ve been getting the database ready for our two new shirts, adding in some new features (coupon codes), and I put up some silly holiday graphics for the interface:
I’m also getting an announce-list set up so that people can subscribe and get emails when we make big changes to the site/add new...
Done with Thanksgiving (From I-465 South / Mile...
Jacqui made a post about thanksgiving and that pretty much sums it up pretty well :)
We had a good time! Lots of good food and erm..unique beer..and fun people to talk with. We kept the little kittens hidden away in Jacqui’s room and brought one or two people up at a time to keep them from freaking out. Everyone loves them and thought they were beautiful.
On Friday we:
Lounged around...
Accidents on I-65
Really weird. In the span of about 1 mile we passed about 2 car accidents and one guy changing his tire on the side of the road. All-in-all about 6 or 7 cars and one semi we’re involved in all of this. Of course every single one of these events caused traffic to literally stop on the highway.
So much for avoiding the stupid people by driving on Thanksgiving day :)
Chicago is still 101...
Snowy Indiana
We’re just outside of Indiana. We stopped to get some gas and something to eat from Burger King. The cats have settled down and are sleeping soundly and being quiet for a while :)
It appears to have snowed a bunch here in central Indiana. There is probably close to one inch of snow on the ground! It keeps getting snowier the closer we get to Chicago.
Blogging From I-74
I am currently sitting in the passenger seat of the Passat on our drive to Chicago for Thanksgiving. We just crossed the Indiana/Ohio border. There are two cats in the back seat meowing like crazy and we just noticed that it is beginning to snow!
We’re driving up to Schaumburg to spend the holiday with Jacqui’s family and then staying up there for a day or two.
Last night, Will Read was in...
This is a test of the quoting system
I am going to be using blockquotes for quoting from now on :) I just read a really cool article about it. Before this I had been using div’s with a CSS class applied to them. However this isn’t very semantic and it basically removes all indication that the text is a quote when the HTML is rendered with a different stylesheet (or none at all like in an RSS aggregator).
There are several ways...
New Cat Cage
The Christmas Tree Cometh
We went to Florence, KY++ today to get a bigger cat carrier for the two cats to ride in on our trip to Chicago nextweek (thanksgiving) as well as a disposable litter box and some more treats. Well we needed some pop so we headed to the Target next to Petsmart to see if we could find anything.
Well we made our way back to the Christmas tree section to see if there was anything we liked and we...
Python 2.4: RC 1
There are some pretty neat improvements in 2.4 over 2.3 that might make my life easier. Its faster and a some of the modules have had their C routines optimized, new sorting methods, generator expressions, reversed(), and some cool new string methods.
Python 2.4: “We are pleased to announce the release of Python 2.4, release candidate 1 on November 18, 2004. This is the first release candidate...
Cincinnati: Issue 1 hurts all nontraditional...
Nick Spencer pointed to an excellent editorial that ran in the Cincinnati Enquirer about how Issue 1, a ban on Gay and other non-traditional marriages that passed overwhelmingly in this past election. The editorial points out something I felt was happening when I discussed the Issue with people I work with (republicans). I made a subtle point of pointing out that this Issue would not just affect...
T-Mobile Loves Me
I got recognized this quarter in my market for doing “good things”, basically putting together some cool scripts that churn out annoying little SMS messages twice a day. Personally I think they’ve helped a bit, more so for keeping us out of the office on the weekends. ;)
In any case I get $50 worth of stuff from the Tmo store and a $100 dinner for me and a guest. Now where should we go eat...
The Cincinnati Group: What's in a name
For the record, my name is Clint Ecker and I live and work in downtown Cincinnati ;) I even have a picture of the elusive Brian Griffin!
What’s in a name?: “p.s. And a shout-out to pheado.cx. I can’t even understand what the hell you’re talking about, but I love that you link to us. Thanks, Mr. Phaedo, or whatever your name is. “
(Via The Cincinnati Group.)
SubEthaEdit v2.1
SubEthaEdit v2.1 is out: “ — The new version adds some often requested features: A UNIX command line utility to enable complex and interactive pipe workflows with your terminal. Overhauled printing, including all bells and whistles, even with collaborative metadata. Exporting to HTML, again with metadata. Completely user customizable syntax highlighting through styles. Support for editing files as...
Yahoo deploys DomainKeys, hopes for the best
Yahoo deploys DomainKeys, hopes for the best — Yahoo has begun attaching digital signatures to outgoing e-mail in an effort they believe will subvert the overwhelming deluge of spam e-mail being sent with forged headers. Yahoo’s system has potential to become a major player in this market, besting rivals such as AOL and Microsoft, because their technology is the least dependant on external...
InsBot aims to enter the cockroach's den
First reaction: “Wow, that’s pretty awesome!” Second reation:
InsBot aims to enter the cockroach’s den: “By mimmicking cockroach movements and smell, InsBot makes friends with large groups of cockroaches and makes them feel safe in areas that allow exterminators to do their thing. ”
(Via Engadget.)
Site changes
I added a bunch of links on the sidebar as well as re-categorized them by locale. There are a lot of really neat blogs in there so I’d encourage you to check them out. That’s how I’ve found nearly 99% of the sites I read (following links from sites I already enjoyed).
I also added a style-sheet for “handheld” browsers. If you have a browser on your handheld device that understands CSS and...
See anything wrong here?
Yes, kids. I post I made last summer has been cited in someone’s paper. The world is doomed.
I found that my post was linked from several places while doing a search for my name on Google when I found out that they’d doubled their index from four billion pages to eight billion.
PDF Location ([local mirror])
Its also linked from the [Wikipedia article on Atom)]
Hostrocket Sucks, Part II
Here’s the entire timeline of the problems.
I came home from dinner on Friday and posted some pictures of my food. I noticed that the site was moving really slowly, and it persisted for about 10 minutes so I opened a ticket with my hosting provider, HostRocket:
When I try to go to my site (phaedo.cx) it just times out but I can get to my control panel and phaedo.cx/stats. When I try to...
Buy the University of Iowa Jumbtron on eBay
Buy the University of Iowa Jumbtron on eBay: “Dude, they’re selling the freaking Sony Jumbotron from the University of Iowa football stadium on eBay!”
(Via Engadget.)
Full story tomorrow
I’ll rant about the whole hosting debacle tomorrow, but for now, here is a picture of Chintaro’s christmas stocking, it has a little window where you can put a little picture ( click for a bigger version, silly ):
Hostrocket Sucks
They deleted my mysql db before I could grab it. 48 hours? More like 11 :P
Hopefully I can reconstitute my posts from my newsreader or something :(
Site is all jacked up
Hey I know the site is all messed up, I’m switching hosts:
Account Suspension: Your site is using too many apache web server processes. This is causing all sites on the server to be inaccessible. You will need to upgrade to a semi-dedicated account.
Shows what happens when your site gets a little too popular and linked from too many big sites ;P
I should be back in action by tonight or...
Yummy dinner
We ate dinner at J.Alexanders tonight:
Harsh criticism of MSN beta search: A wasted...
A wasted opportunity for Microsoft and the rest of us: “Was there any reason at all for us to come to the briefing? There’s no difference between what we said to you four weeks ago and what the public is saying about the product now. We didn’t need to come from all over the world to give you our view of what you were doing, because you didn’t use any of the ideas and feedback we provided. It might...
Podder.py 0.3
Fixed a problem with my Podder.py script that made the script break when certain metadata wasn’t returned from NWW that is usually returned.
Updated 11/30/2004 – Version 0.3.3
Fixes a problem where a HTTP redirect would cause a download to fail
Podder.py, my Python version of the script (Mac OS X/NNW2.0 only)
Cool new leather coat
Microsoft has Google, Yahoo in their sights
Microsoft has Google, Yahoo in their sights: “Microsoft is set to unveil a new search engine that hopes to take the crown from two long-standing and well-respected online search companies.”
(Via Ars Technica.)
Awesome new Trashcan
Its totally cat-proof!
List of URL objects
Apple Mailing Lists via RSS Search the Apple Mailing Lists Virtual PC Updated to fix G5 issues Bluetooth’s 3 year roadmap Six Tuner Homebuilt PVR Baby planet defies theories Mice regrow damaged spinal cord
Intel flip-flops on WiFi in the chipset
Intel flip-flops on WiFi in the chipset: “With elections out of our way, we’re hot on the trail of tech-sector flip-floppers. Not really, but Intel does seem to be having a hard time deciding whether or not “WiFi connectivity” is an appropriate addition to their Desktop-level chipsets.”
(Via Ars Technica.)
By Me, of Course
MeoooPURRoowww
Election Results as Cartograms
This page shows election results by skewing the shape of the states and counties by their population sizes to create some pretty unique representations about how people voted and gives you a better feel for how our nation is actually distributed beyond those two-tone maps you see on TV.
versus
Check out the page for more cool graphics and the reasoning behind the creation of the maps.
Knoppix Hacks
PreReq: “Knoppix itself is a portable Linux distribution with hundreds of Linux programs and utilities a veritable Swiss Army knife in CD form.”
A regular poster in the Linux forums at the Arstechnica Forums has written a book for O’Reilly and it’s now available at Amazon
Reasons I cannot use Safari
Reasons I cannot use Safari
Major Issues
I can’t make it so that a normal click on a link opens in a new tab. In Firefox I have every link open in a new tab behind my current tab.
Floating window search box
No incremental search
Only one search engine built in
Lack of useful plugins (most are 3rd party hacks 1)
Aqua widgets make web surfing a painful experience 1 2
Not...
Firefox Google Search
Wow! Nice!
The new default homepage for Firefox users is a customized Firefox google.com search page! Google and Mozilla working together, isn’t it grand?
Firefox 1.0 is out
/header.png” width=“305” height=“150” alt=“Get Firefox” style=“float:left;border:0px solid black;” />
Yay! I’ve been using Firefox in its various incarnations since about 0.5 on I think, and Mozilla since somewhere around 0.8. Firefox is my full-time browser on every platform I use and I absolutely love it The best thing about firefox is that it is absolutely FREE and at least 10,000 times...
Pictures of Cats, Hats, and other miscellany
Click here for the entire gallery (12 pics)
Bill Cunningham is a Scumbag
The only thing worse than a sore loser is a sore winner:
Bill Cunningham is a Scumbag: “CUNNINGHAM: Well, it’s over because Elizabeth Edwards has now sung. “
(Via Cincinnati Blog.)
The BIG Announcement
Nick is running for City Council.
The BIG Announcement: “Because the people of our city deserve better, and because the potential for our city is limitless, I am proud to announce that I will seek a seat on Cincinnati City Council in 2005. I believe I have the new ideas necessary to get our city moving again. “
(Via Nick Spencer.)
Phaedo.cx Zeitgeist for October 2004
Some people like to do this, so I think I’ll do it too:
Most popular search strings leading to Phaedo.cx
1 952 38.90% ipod mini
2 328 13.40% ipod
3 199 8.13% switch case
4 46 1.88% mini ipod
5 42 1.72% something awful
6 16 0.65% ipod photo
7 16 0.65% phaedo
8 10 0.41% isock
9 10 0.41% switch-case
10 8 0.33% apple isock
11 8 0.33% building pics
12 8 0.33%...
Secret Santa
Wrote up some PHP code and did some HTML design and popped out this Secret Santa thingie for Ars Technica’s lounge:
We’ve got nearly 90 people signed up for it so far!