Cafe Bucky

I’m getting set to launch my WordPress blog, but in the meantime, I keep getting comment spam here (which, at this writing moment, means Movable Type.. but this entry will show up in WP later). A quick google search of “mysql mt_entry entry_allow_comments” lead me to this entry by Rogers Cadenhead. If you are comfortable with the MySQL CLI, then this statement will turn off all comments for posts older than a week (you back up your MT db, ya?). Usual disclaimers apply.


UPDATE mt_entry
SET entry_allow_comments = 2,entry_allow_pings = 0
WHERE entry_created_on < date_add(curdate(), interval -7 day);


It’s pretty likely that I will reopen all of my entries to comment once I am on WordPress. It’s just that dealing with comment spam in MT is like being pecked to death by parakeets.

I’m mulling over which blogging package I am going to use for my upcoming blog switcheroo. When I think about Movable Type, I get all itchy poring through the poorly written install docs and amount of manual work that goes into it. It’s 2005, they want to charge me $$, but the package feels so last century. It doesn’t seem like it has evolved that much since I started using it in 2003.

WordPress has a nice feel to it. I like the install. I like how it detects so much and does (mostly) the right thing. It starts out with a good experience.

I’m running some sample installs on my PowerBook, just to get a feel for how the “real thing” will go on my Linux server that hosts daniel.org. There are a couple of things about WordPress that I would do differently:

• Separate out the hardcoded template stuff from the PHP code. I wrote an article which shows one approach to this. It looks like this will be addressed in 1.5 as Themes
• Don’t allow listings (in Apache) of WordPress files, such as the wp-images and wp-content directories. There should be a little more “security through obscurity”.

I’m pretty impressed so far. I’ll probably send the $$ to the WordPress authors that I would have sent to SixApart.

Central Park, a half hour ago. Not a snowflake in the air.

I am thinking I will wrap up this version of the blog, migrate all of my postings to something off of daniel.org, and change or upgrade blogging software.

I’ve been teetering about changing things for a while. The question about “should I keep using Movable Type?” has kept me from action. Need to do a little research…

The original idea of “JavaJoint” was to have a coffeehouse atmosphere, where others would post. I had some wild fantasy that I could actually write, and that I would get comments, and that I would give some people a login. A “tech meets art” sort of community was the original goal. You know, a JavaJoint.

So that’s why I kept it separate from my personal web site: It was going to be its own entity. Other people there, and all that.

Well, it’s a good time to change or upgrade the software, since my 2.64 version of Movable Type is getting long in the tooth. Since I’m about to do that, it’s the best time to change direction a bit. For one thing, it’s time to use software that handles comment spam more effectively (I use mt-blacklist) - it’s always a little disheartening to see “oh! I’ve got a comment!”, and then to find it’s just another spammer. I’d rather not be reminded in that way that it could have been a real comment.

So that’s a bit of the nutshell. I could be bummed about ending one thing, or excited about starting something new, with a clean slate. I’ll choose excited.

I can’t get into the details of what I am working on, but I’ll comment on a few things I’ve across with ActionScript 2.0 … (sort of as a marker of where I am, so I can come back in a few months and see what I’ve picked up)

MovieClips as Classes: this one still throws me off a little. I’m used to thinking in OOP terms with my C++ background. The fact that a MovieClip can be extended as a class, and it acts as a container AND an object on the stage strikes me as “different”. I think of a class definition as a container, which happens to have graphical objects within it.

Poor MM Support for Dialogs: I’ve written my own window manager for my app. I make my dialogs with a MovieClip acting as a container for all of the little widgets inside it (textfields, a header for dragging the dialog around, buttons, etc.) This is all dynamic. I looked at the Macromedia Popup Window class for about 5 minutes, shrugged in a sort of “you’ve got to be kidding!” manner, and dug into it. It was easier to do this stuff in Motif back in the early 90’s.

Patterns: I’m having fun with Patterns. I’ve modified the Singleton Pattern for a class of dialogs so that: a) I can have multiple “edit this item” dialogs simultaneously, but also b) I never have more than one instance of any given item to be edited. Not sure what the resulting pattern would be called (an “Indexed Singleton”?)

Ignoring The Timeline: I’ve been following the track of doing OOP ActionScript, and haven’t been thinking of the extra dimension of the Timeline. It hits me that it’s a handy method to flip between entire states of a largish app (each with it’s own instance of a window manager…) hmm …

I’m in the market for a 17″ LCD monitor. I was all excited about the Samsung 173P, until I discovered that it only has one button (power). It’s adjusted by driver software, and they don’t offer a driver for the Mac.

So ixnay on the amsungsay!

Here’s what I want:

• 1280×1024 resolution
• Prefer analog and DVI input (I’m predicting that a PowerBook and a Mac mini and/or Linux box will be feeding this…)
• Under $350 after rebate
• No Speakers! I love my Logitech Z3’s, and don’t want to waste money on monitor speakers that I won’t use

The VIEWSONIC VX710 seems to fit these parameters (I can dash down to J&R on the subway and grab one), but I’ll have to check it out in person. Any others I should consider?

Update: the Sony SDM-HS74 looks awesome, has great specs, gets fantastic reviews, and worth a few extra $’s… dusting off MetroCard…

I’ve installed Skype. The Mac and Linux 1.0 versions just came out, so I thought I’d give it a go. My user name is “javajoint”.

For those who are wondering what Skype does, it’s free internet-based telephony. It’s encrypted. You can chat and send files. You can also call out to phone numbers for a small fee. It doesn’t do video, like iChat, but it can handle conference calls of up to 5 users.