Day: September 28, 2002

Categories
People

When friendships fade

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

Loves come and go, but a friendship should last forever. Well, so the story goes, but we know that in reality, this doesn’t happen.

Over time people change and friends grow apart and the connectivity you once shared with a friend fades away — daily calls giving way to weekly giving way to monthly and eventually being replaced by an occasional note.

Even in this threaded void, connectivity waxes and wanes like myriad new moons; except in this universe, the moons are free to pull up their orbit and move about. And let me tell you, this plays havoc with the tides.

Loss is a part of life, including the loss of a friendship, but still, there’s a tiny little hole in your life that used to be named Friend. No matter how rich your life is, no matter the number of new people you meet, that hole doesn’t go away.

Categories
Technology

PHP/MySQL Help

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

My system has MySql 2.23.51, Apache 1.3, PHP4, FreeBSD, and I’m running into problems trying to update or insert into MySql with PHP. The update or insert works, but I get warning back:

Warning: MySQL: Unable to save result set

The change is saved, but the application breaks. No error message is generated in log, no error number is returned. I can insert or update using Perl without a problem.

I researched the problem and tried compiling PHP as a shared Apache module — and not. I’ve used PHP’s default MySql libraries, and have also tried local MySql libraries.

I’d sacrifice a chicken at midnight, if I thought this would work. Anyone recognize this problem? Suggestions?

Categories
Weblogging

RSS, XML, and Namespaces—oh my!

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

Dave writes that the use of namespaces is fundamentally flawed because the hasty introduction of namespaces into RSS 2.0 generated problems with several aggregators:

If this is true, we can’t design using namespaces until:

1. All the parsers are fixed, or

2. Users/content providers expect and accept this kind of breakage (I don’t want to be the one delivering that bit of bad news, got burned not only by the users, but by developers too, people generally don’t know about this problem, or if they do know are not being responsible with the info).

Anyway it looks to me like there’s a big problem in the strategy of formats that intend to organize around namespaces.

Sam Ruby writes:

I therefore must change my opinion. Where I previously thought that RSS 2.0 suffered from a simple omission, now I must consider RSS 2.0 fundamentally busted.

My oh my oh my oh my.

Dave, saying that the problem you experienced with the hasty rollout of RSS 2.0 is because namespace implementation in XML is flawed, is about the same as me saying that MySQL and PHP aren’t working correctly on my system because the theories behind relational databases and web application script engines are fundamentally flawed.

Damn PHP and MySql for mucking up my system, anyway. Bad boys.

Update: I think Dave’s essay was deliberate bait. I think he was having fun with us when he wrote it: pulling our legs, yanking our chains, getting a rise out of our choleric reactions. Why, if he really believes in what he wrote, I’ll eat Jonathon’s hat.

Update Two: Lovely posting on this by I. M. Orchard. More fodder over at Ben’s. Now, ‘scuse me, I have to find work to do.

Categories
Weblogging

The hunt for the wild MT Documenters

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

Jonathon Delacour and Allan Moult have started their Movable Type Documentation posts. If ThreadNeedle had existed, this tool would be perfect for tracking their work, as well as ancillary writing and posts related to their generous efforts. I know it’s only a matter of time before others also post their own tips and experiences, and ThreadNeedle could have pulled this all together into one lovely package.

However, ThreadNeedle, the tool, does not exist, for which I must bow my head with shame. (Well, not really with shame; more of a slight nod of consternation –a bot mot of “Oh well, it didn’t get done and loss of techie karma points to me”.) Therefore, I have no other option: I am become ThreadNeedle.

(Don’t sue me for that ‘become’, Ryan.)

I have created a new weblog, The Hunt for the Wild MT Documenters specifically for tracking Jonathon’s, Allan’s, and other’s efforts related to User-originated Movable Type Documentation.

Why have I done this? Well, one reason is as I stated — there is no ThreadNeedle tool, so I am become ThreadNeedle personified. However, a second reason is that I’m blatantly crashing Jonathon and Allan’s party. The wonderous thing about the Internet in general and weblogging specifically is that you can’t keep out the riff raff out no matter what you do. And baby, I can be the worst form of riff raff.

So join me at the new weblog, The Hunt for the Wild MT Weblogger, as we spy on the elusive and wiley MT Documenters going about their every day life. The first installment, The Hunt’s Afoot, and the second, First Sighting have already been posted.

MT Documenters: Serve with capers and a fine red wine, and in the company of someone you love.

Categories
Just Shelley Photography

Kick own butt—the elephant marches on

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

Well, I was feeling sorry for myself earlier until my friends told me to lay off and ‘quitcherbellyachin’ — sort of.

In particular, Loren reminded me that rather than being out hiking in the woods, or at the St. Louis zoo as I was today, I could be as he is — poor soul, chained to his desk and computer, slowly converting his weblog from Adobe GoLive to Movable Type by copying and pasting each individual entry. Select-Copy-Paste. Select-Copy-Paste. Select-Copy-Paste.

Loren, though you’re not the first to make the move to Movable Type, you’re ahead of the pack in quality of material posted … and in the sheer volume of work necessary for you to make the conversion. So, this photo’s for you.

elephants