Month: February 2003

Categories
Burningbird

Host problems

If you tried to access my site this morning, you probably found yourself gettiing a DNS type of error. Not just me, you found this same error if you tried to access Jonathon Delacour, Allan Moult, wKenShow, Big Pink Cookie, Moxie, Scripty Goddess and a host of others. The reason was a gateway router problem at the NOC (Network Operations Center) responsible for maintaining the servers for all of Hosting Matters.

Hosting Matters just came out with a detailed explanation of the problems we’ve had in the last two weeks, and their plans — see Network Statement.

One of the things I’ve really liked about Hosting Matters is their honesty about problems. And it looks like the organization is making moves to improve things for the future. I respect that.

Still, when my current term is up, I hope to lease a dedicated server, and get about 20-30 webloggers to chip in each a month to pay for it, with me contributing sweat equity (I’ll manage all the software, database support, sub-domain and domain installation). We’ll be able to increase our disk space to about 1GB each, as well as increase sub-domains, databases, bandwidth use, and decrease burden on CPU, for less than what Hosting Matters costs now.

The physical server, including backups, security, and network access will still be managed by the company hosting the server.

An advantage of having a group of us together is that a software update, such as an update for Movable Type, can be easily ported to everyone once it’s been tested. And the other webloggers wouldn’t have to worry about server-side software, unless they wanted to have access to it. We’d be a co-op, with virtual meetings to determine what to install next, plans for each month’s software updates.

I want to be able to install the recent version of Python. I want to be able to install Perl libraries. I want to have a Tomcat/JSP/Java server. I need more room for my photos.

I want ‘root’ back.

Categories
Weblogging

Double takes

Dorothea accepts a challenge that I don’t remember making and has put her weblog into the public domain. Well, cool. Aquarionics took her up on her offer in a surprisingly short amount of time. Comments look nice in the design.

Personally, I could care less what people do or don’t do with their writing, painting, photography, music, weblogs, web sites, and even tables. Seriously. You’re all big boys and girls and can do whatever you want, and accept the consequences of same.

I think I’d rather talk about something else, such as music. For instance, if you haven’t heard Norah Jones sing, you’re missing out on a wonderful experience. I don’t care if you like Pop, rock, country, jazz, blues, or soul, you’re going to like Norah. Luckily, there’s two sites that contain complete recordings of some of her songs, including ones from her debut album, Come Away with Me. I love the whole album, but favorites are The Nearness of You, Come Away with Me, Nightingale, Shoot the Moon, and Don’t Know Why.

I guess that’s half the album. But then, I also like the Painter’s Song, and …

Look: Take a moment, click a link, sit back and enjoy beautiful, beautiful music. And then go over to Aquarionics and leave him a comment that he can continue to use the image if he keeps the look.

Categories
Technology

How not to create software

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

If you develop open source software, or software that you give to the public out of the kindness of your heart, document it. I know people will say, “But it’s free! How can you add more demands on the caring, giving person who wrote it?”

Easily. Software that requires one to edit C makefiles because this little tweak or that little tweak won’t get picked up by the auto-configuration tools; J2EE applications that require tiny little tweaks in a dozen different text files; software that requires you ‘guess’ exactly what you’re supposed to do on a screen Are Not Helpful.

Undocumented APIs. Errors that provide no messages. No documentation because the developer is too busy building the next version of the software to write a silly thing like documentation. These Are Not Helpful.

I have worked with wonderful commercial and non-commercial, proprietary and open source software in the last several months for Practical RDF. These will all be included in the book, with full attribution for the creators as well as full appreciation for the good work and great software that’s a pleasure to both install and learn to use.

Software that is neither is not included. Simple as that. This evening I reached my Tweak/Fuss/Guess/Muck Overflow Point.

Categories
Weblogging

Only room for love and run-on sentences

Congratulations to Ben and Tempe Vierck on the birth of their baby Rebecca. This event is made more special by knowing how hard and how long Ben and Tempe have been trying to have this little sweetheart. A little peek into the archives from about a year ago says it all.

Then, Ben wrote:

 

we will have children. it’s been almost 7 years of anticipation, disappointment, doctors visits, cycles, drugs, tests, and surgeries, but we will make it.

Ben writes today:

 

monday morning at 7:56am my daughter arrived weighing 9 pounds 11 ounces measuring 21 inches from head to toe. she is beautiful and healthy.

i’ve been searching for words since monday night… and i haven’t found any… except to say that she has healed me even though i did not know i was sick. we have had many moments, some lasting for hours, where she makes me perfect. room 768 is our world and there are only 3 people. mommy, daddy, and rebecca. she sleeps on top of me while i lay on my back and she heaves and hos her little belly and breathes little swishes of air in and out onto my cheeks and in each breath there is no room for war, or economy, or labor… there is only room for love and run-on sentences.

Rebecca already has her own weblog.

You know, sometimes this is all worth it, isn’t it?

Categories
Weblogging

Here come da Librarian

Congratulations to my favorite librarian-to-be, Dorothea Salo, for getting accepted into the UW-Madison School of Library, starting Fall, 2003.

Enjoy Dorothea’s weblog now, while you can. Come this fall, the writings going to dry up for sure when she has to hit the books.

Congrats, Dorothea!