July 29, 2003

Son of Napster

Bob Cringely is my favourite columnist on the net. This week he's come up with a brilliant idea: Snapster. Bob believes he can bring about inevitable changes in the recording industry, and possibly make one of you lucky readers rich. The reason Bos says he's writing this column is two-fold. To start with, simply because he would like people to consider lateral solutions to problems: pushing the concept of problem solving in a new way.
The second reason: he doesn't like the current situation in the recording industry where power is concentrated in the hands of executives who are doing all they can to stop the rotation of the Earth.

 Posted: July 29, 2003, 05:35 PM | Comments (2) |

July 25, 2003

Angel went down today

Angel went down this morning, after having been up for 18 months. Angel is our Linux server, which has been up for one year and eight months without a reboot. Try that on a Windows machine. As Angels metal house, a dual processor Pentium IV server, is standing in a university server building somewehere in Holland, somebody had to make a call to someone, and another someone started to ask himself the hack in which corner they'd placed that machine in december 2001. When they finally found it, the culprit was a broken fan, so the machine had overheated and come to a safety stop. Eighteen months is so different from Windows machines that leak themselves to multiple crashes, were you have a fat chance of crashed disks because of the multiple daily reboots.

 Posted: July 25, 2003, 10:27 PM | Comments (1) |

Let's all MoveableType

Why not everybody and everything that has anything to do with text, moving to MySQL and PHP, or, as on this MoveableType system, a combination of MySQL and a bunch of well written and well coded cgi-scripts that build HTML, indexes and XML?
I understand that for instance banks and insurance companies have other problems with security and scalability, but a newspaper, in terms of bulk and security, is a very simple daily routine. I mean, we`re only talking about a couple of hundred articles a day, instead of millions of customer data that have to be handled. Security? Only temporarily, because what a newspaper website is producing can be read by everybody seconds later. There`s nothing worth stealing.
A newspaper that publishes on the web can save itself tons of money by operating on a PHP/MySQL platform instead of using Vignette Storyserver, Microsoft Professional servers, Access dabatases, or other bloody expansive stuff.

 Posted: July 25, 2003, 04:41 PM | Comments (0) |

July 22, 2003

The White Site

It's an old idea of mine - copy, steal or borrow it if you want: the ultimate white website. By the way: are there überhaupt new ideas, or is any idea, true or not, honest or not, a rebirth? Let's google the net for the string "white site". Hmmm, about 5800 hits, so the idea, mine or not, was never new. White sites cover a lot of ground: Bryan White websites, a Great White Site about, you guess it, great white sharks, a Single White Site about Bridget Fonda, landscaping sites, a government site in Singapore which sells white sites, blank spots in the city, to developers.
I expected Aryan sites too, who predict stupid things about the superiority of the white race, but a quick check didn't show them immediately. There's a white site about magic, but most of the white sites have a lot of colour in their design, because in those cases the term white has nothing to do with the colour. I haven't been able to find another thing i suspect there must be out there somewhere: a complete white site. Of course some joker has made one, where everything is white, background as well as the fonts and the images, just for fun. Can you find it?

 Posted: July 22, 2003, 03:55 AM | Comments (0) |

July 21, 2003

Breda to Århus

Dimitri visited me at the newspaper today, one of the makers of the beautiful Århus Breda Citymirror. The other maker is Ingrid, a Dutch girl who lives in Denmark.

The idea might not be new or authentic, wich they admit themselves on their About this website. I know, you know, everybody knows it's as good to execute an existing idea into perrfection as to struggle something new into something beautiful and good working. Ingrid and Dimitri who have never met in real life, are making and maintaining something special. I like the plain, simple lay-out of the site, with lots of white. I like it so much, in fact, that i might change my style sheet from the phpbb subsilver scheme to an all white scheme.

 Posted: July 21, 2003, 11:41 PM | Comments (1) |

July 19, 2003

This is Dorus

That's my wheels, my daily driver, though she's spending the winters, that we're spending Down Under, in a big shed between caravan trailers and other old timers.

She used to be an ordinary Bug until 1984, when a guy called Dorus cut her in in half and spent the rest of the year rebuilding her to a pick-up, as the Americans call their trucks. Of course i better like the Australian way of calling them 'utes', short for 'utility cars'.

The base of my 'ute' that I bought from Dorus in may 1986, is a basic 1969 VW Beetle (Kever in Dutch). Drive train is a 'flat 1600-engine', from a VW Ponton. The engine is modified for lead-free so she may be old, but she's not more polluting for thatv reason.
The engine purrs fine on a Volvo 164 carburetor, attached to the engine on a Saab 96 manifold. Exhausts are stainless steel Dune Buggies, seats from a Ford Ghia, tires are Vredesteins 185-70 on American Eagles light alloys, front suspension lowered a full inch. Which means you have to be careful; oversee one pothole and you're lucky if you're only losing a teeth-filling or two. It also has a Webasco heating that is fueled by a bottle of natural gas. 'Dorus', as we call her, in honor of her builder Dorus, sounds and drives like a four wheel Harley. Through the years we've been taking her on trips to Great Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and through the former Yugoslavia all the way to Athens and the Peloponnese. During that which trip we drove her to almost the top of Mount Olympus, to the point were the goath-path became to steep. However, as nobody was selling stickers up there, we put the 'This car climbed Mount Washington' sticker up her back. That was another trip - to New Hampshire - and another story.

Link: Photoalbum Dorus The Beetle

 Posted: July 19, 2003, 08:21 PM | Comments (3) |

July 16, 2003

An iPod Beetle?

Interesting post on iPodHacks. According to a bloke called Blakespot a website called Silicon Valley Biz Ink has reported that Volkswagen and Apple are teaming up to provide a complimentary 15GB iPod and a $100 Apple Store cupon (on purchase of $999 or more) with the purchase of a new 2003 Beetle sedan.

The iPod provided in this campaign that the two companies have dubbed "Pods Unite" is custom engraved with Volkswagen's "Drivers Wanted" logo. There are various other items that come with the offer, as well.
You'd alsmost buy a New Beetle, but first i've got to find another hack: a cable to connect the 2003 Ipod to the 1986 radio in the 1969 Old Beetle Pick Up (the one you see left in the logo on top of the site)

 Posted: July 16, 2003, 04:08 AM | Comments (0) |

iPod full again

Tuesday morning: whole kit and caboodle is working now according to the manuals. How did i do it? Dunnow.... All i did was put the iPod in the cradle, and connect the cradle to the fire wire card before i booted the computer. Now Music Match finally did see the iPod, but when i wanted to start the synchronisation process the iPod manager warned me that iPod has been making love with another computer (my friends iMac) and asked me if i wanted to end that engagement. After having killed that relationship, it took about fifteen minutes to pump 2339 mp3's - a total of 7.7 gigabytes - from the mp3 directory to the iPod.

Next step: firing up the internet and Google it for 'iPod hacks'. By default Music Match (and Itunes on the Mac) is set up in such a way that you don't see the files in a directory view from the computer when it is connected. I don't like that, i mean what i have bought is a 30 gigabyte external disk with a mp3 player on top. I want to see and treat it like that, so that i can simply click and drag files from any disk or directory on the desktop (or straight from any network or device) to the disk in the iPod. I'll let you know when i've found a solution.

Guess what Google tops for iPod hacks (what's in a name?): iPodhacks.com

 Posted: July 16, 2003, 03:57 AM | Comments (0) |

July 15, 2003

iPod troubles running

Strange troubles with the synchronizing process of my brandnew iPod (dis)connecting to the pc. A process that ended in frustration friday afternoon with an empty 30 gigabyte disk: only thing i managed - and don't ask me how - was deleting the almost 2000 mp3's on the iPod.
It started allright. When the postman delivered my new toy, i didn't have a fire wire card in my machine, nor a usb2 cable that fitted. So i took the iPod to a friend who already had one, and owns an iMac. Problem one: my 30 gig Ipod is fatter than his 15 gig, and didn't fit in his synchronisation pad. No problem: tha fire wire cable also fits in the Ipod, and his 1800 plus songs were uploaded in a couple of minutes. Nice collection too, nice listening over the weekend, nice way to learn to know the handling of the iPod.

Monday morning step three, or was it four? Went to the shop, bought a fire wire card and put in my machine. Windows 2000 recognizes it allright, installs it and the device manager says the IEEE 1394 host controller is working properly. The iPod manager also shows up in the system tray, according to Windows, you guess it, working properly. Fine, but Music Match Jukebox refuses to see the iPod. When i connect it to the fire wire port the iPod says: 'do not disconnect'. That's all folks, no scrollbars or graphics wich are showing me there's actually something happening. Of course i took a look at the task manager and indeed there are some iPod processes running, but what the hack are they doing? First time iPod told me not to disconnect i waited - and waited - until i had to leave the building and when i finally did disconnect the result was an empty iPod. Now what?

 Posted: July 15, 2003, 10:34 PM | Comments (10) |

A MySQL ImageFolio?

One thing you know for sure playing with a website: development never stops. Some people have been asking me about ImageFolio, the application that displays picture albums on this site. For all documentation have a look on the ImageFolio Website, and if you have questions about hacking the program and/or the templates the Resource Center is the place to go.

If you have specific questions about how i've hacked my own templates or the ones i've done for the newspaper where i am working, send me a mail.

An old wish will become true later this year: a MySQL version of ImageFolio.
Not really necessary, the makers of the application believe, but nevertheless written because so may people are asking about it.
I understand why they think there's no need: at the newspaper'we've got always between 5000 and 8000 pictures in the system and it's always fast and stable. But then again, an SQL version will give you better possibilities to do all kind of things with the captions, thumbnailcaptions and keywords for the searches.

 Posted: July 15, 2003, 03:36 AM | Comments (3) |

Skeptical Links

Links to Skeptical sites

 Posted: July 15, 2003, 02:28 AM | Comments (0) |

July 14, 2003

The Skeptics Society

The webmaster of this site does not believe in any God or devil, religion or spirituality, new (old) age stuff, handline reading, Tarot Cards, fortunetelling, astrology, Nostradamus, chrystal balling, aura's, or any other non proven stuff.

This webmaster is a member of the Skeptics Society: a scientific and educational organization of scholars, scientists, historians, magicians, professors and teachers, journalists and anyone curious about controversial ideas, extraordinary claims, revolutionary ideas and the promotion of science.

The Skeptics Society is your pathway to critical thinking, where everything must pass under the magnifying glass of scrutiny.
Learn more about the Skeptics Society on their website Skeptic.com, and how you can become a part of this growing movement. Subscribe to Skeptic Magazine to stay on the cutting edge of criticism. Receive the weekly SkepticMag Hotline via e-mail for even more timely updates.
The annual conference is a must for serious skeptics! Held each May in Pasadena, CA, this weekend conference is packed with respected authors and researchers who will educate and shed new light on tough subjects.
The Skeptics Society also sponsors a monthly lecture series at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, ca. The lecture tapes are available in both audio & video for a modest fee. Every year they also host a scientific conference centered around a major theme. The conference is especially popular with out-of-towners who enjoy the opportunity to dition to the lecture and conference speakers and the cutting edge articles in Skeptic magazine. The Society also maintain a catalogue of scientific and skeptical books that are discounted for members.

Dutch Skeptics: have a look at the website of Stichting Skepsis

And a lot of international Skeptic Links

 Posted: July 14, 2003, 11:46 PM | Comments (0) |

Why Watchking?

Every winter, been there, done that, i'm going Down Under. On the very first occasion, in november 1985 i was booked on Olympic Airways. After the stop-over in Athens, it turned out i shared the back of the 747 with the national Australian soccer team. The previous night, november the 20th, they had played 0-0 in Scotland, so they were in a pretty good mood.

Holland wasn't, because that same wednesday night they did beat Belgium in Rotterdam 2-1, but a late Belgium goal by Georges Grun robbed us of a place in the 1986 World Cup. Not that the Aussies did mind about that. Somewhere halfway between Athens and Singapore all the gantries in the 747 were out of beer. After refueling in Singapore more beers followed, so by the time i finally arrived at Tullamarine after 22 hours of flying and drinking, it wasn't only jet lag i was experiencing. The three friends i had made a year earlier in Portugal, Damien Simmons (Simmo), Jon Garrard (Animal) and Graham Crockett (Croche) were waiting. That super trio and some other Aussies had spent parts of the summer of '84 sleeping in my bed or on my carpet during the daytime, recovering from long nights in Cafe De Beyerd. 'Gd'day mate, g'd to see ya, let's go party', and they took me straight from the airport to yet another couple of parties. On the first one, in an apartment painted completely white inside out, and apparently therefore called 'Mikonos', i was introduced to a big and very loud-talking guy, Andrew Ornsby. His nickname was 'The Big O', and by the time we met i could not know we wouldn't meet for another ten years.
That was because of some difficulties The Big O, his profession was cook, had with the Australian Tax Revenue. Minor he called them, but it turned out they were major enough to force him to go cooking in cities like Paris and Lyon for the rest of the eighties. Anyway, everybody in Australia has a nickname, and Andrew was the one who gave me mine.
'Leon?', he asked, shaking my hand, 'well, from now on you're The Watchking, mate'. 'Watchking?', i said, 'why that?'. 'Yes, pal, you're Leon the Watchking, don't bother why, eventually you'll find out why, so don't worry now about how or what, fair dinkum, you wanna beer, dude?
Weeks later i saw my namesake on television. It was a spot from some kind of joint-venture between insurance companies and the Victorian police, or maybe some national action against petty crime. In the sport some actors played thieve, pickpocket, joy-rider and more professions like that. They all had names and Leon, neat black mustache, golden teeth, was the guy who had his two underarms covered in silver and golden clockies: 'psssst, hey mate, wanna buy watch from Leon...?'
'Nope dude, i'm sorry, fair dinkum, no worries, no flies on me..' Never having bought stolen watches, i'll never ever lose that nickname again, at least not Down Under.

 Posted: July 14, 2003, 11:42 PM | Comments (10) |

July 11, 2003

Milbertus saved my day

The resource community of Moveable Type is fast and helpful: the problem with my buttons is solved thanks to Milbertus. Problem was too simple, but i oversaw it: wrong name in the line of code (class=button instead of class=input.button).

Check out Template section on the Supprt Forum the board if you have problems.

My problem was solved this way.

 Posted: July 11, 2003, 09:34 AM | Comments (0) |

System running, now what?

Installing and hacking an new content management system is one thing, putting content in the database is something else. We all know garbage in means garbage out, so ...
For the time being i`ll stick to a daily update of the building of the system itself.

I`m stil not totally satisfied with the styling. I started with one ot the default templates of Moveable Type, as well as the default sytle sheet. I`ve hacked the templates and i`ve added the body tags of phpbb`s Sub Silver style to the style sheet, because i like the soft silver background and scroll bars.
No why the hack do the preview and submit buttons on the individual archive entry form refuse to behave nice?

 Posted: July 11, 2003, 09:30 AM | Comments (0) |

July 02, 2003

MT up and running

Up and running: MoveableType (MT). I've been looking for a good content management system for a long time, and i think i've finally found one.
First time i ran into MT was on the site of Pieter-Jan Krijnen (no family, but also an avid traveller)
I liked his side as well as his system, that made me curious. It looked like some content management system, with an xml-button on the bottom.

Apparently anybody can react to anything on the site. I've got the system running now for five days, and i'm beginning to understand the routine of editing templates, indexes en the main style sheet. Especially the style sheet looked like a bitch in the beginning, but i'm getting somewhere now.
Until this one, style sheets that i've been using only had influence on fonts and colours, but this one is also determinating height and width of lines and fields in the tables, wich is a bit confusing in the beginning.

 Posted: July 02, 2003, 09:42 AM | Comments (2) |