Is this how time normally passes? Really slowly, in the right order?
Friday, March 09
Off The Record
One of the shortcomings of the editor I'm using for Minx - a shortcoming that is mirrored in every open-source and commercial editor I've looked at - is that there is no support for blockquotes. This sucks, rather, because blockquotes are very commonly used in both blogs and forums, exactly Minx's target market.
Now, I have source code to the editor, and it has hooks for adding custom buttons and tags, but it doesn't look trivial to make it work properly.
Meanwhile, you have three options:
I wonder what would happen to performance if I made it the default. Well, I can soon find out.
Before:
After:
2.6 milliseconds? I think we'll survive.
One of the shortcomings of the editor I'm using for Minx - a shortcoming that is mirrored in every open-source and commercial editor I've looked at - is that there is no support for blockquotes. This sucks, rather, because blockquotes are very commonly used in both blogs and forums, exactly Minx's target market.
Now, I have source code to the editor, and it has hooks for adding custom buttons and tags, but it doesn't look trivial to make it work properly.
Meanwhile, you have three options:
- The least attractive: Use the Edit HTML option in the editor and stick the blockquote tags in manually. The editor will preserve them; it just doesn't have a feature to put them in for you.
Like so.
- Use the indent button in the editor to mark your quotes. This will work fine, but doesn't pick up your CSS style settings for blockquotes.
- That will look like this. At least, it does if you do it in the middle of an ordered list.
- Use the [ quote ] bbtag.
That looks like this.
It also has the helpful feature that you can soSo and so wrote:
and it comes out as
So and so wrote:
Blah blah blah.
I wonder what would happen to performance if I made it the default. Well, I can soon find out.
Before:
Hello Pixy Misa, you are logged in to Minx.
Processing 0.09, elapsed 0.0975 seconds.
36 queries taking 0.018 seconds, 127 records returned.
Page size 92 kb.
Powered by Minx 0.93.05b.
Processing 0.09, elapsed 0.0975 seconds.
36 queries taking 0.018 seconds, 127 records returned.
Page size 92 kb.
Powered by Minx 0.93.05b.
After:
Hello Pixy Misa, you are logged in to Minx.
Processing 0.1, elapsed 0.101 seconds.
36 queries taking 0.0178 seconds, 127 records returned.
Page size 92 kb.
Powered by Minx 0.93.05b.
Processing 0.1, elapsed 0.101 seconds.
36 queries taking 0.0178 seconds, 127 records returned.
Page size 92 kb.
Powered by Minx 0.93.05b.
2.6 milliseconds? I think we'll survive.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
10:03 PM
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Testing BBTags
Let's see how this goes.
This should be italic.
This should be bold.
This should be underlined.
This should be strikethroughed.
This should be a link.
Oookay, I think I need to work on the blockquotes...
Oh, yeah, I did change that. I think I'll change it back... Done. Good.
This should be subscript. And some normal text.
This should be superscript. And some normal text.
This should be the Ambient Irony logo:
Now, what else do we have?
This is a citation, which will probably just look like italics.
Oh good, that one works. I hadn't tested it before. I wonder:
Excellent. Onward!
A line in the sand?
This should be small.
But this should be big.
Hmm. The spoiler and nsfw tags don't work yet, I know that.
Oh, what the heck, let's make a table!
Yep, that works too.
See extended entry for the markup.
more...
Let's see how this goes.
This should be italic.
This should be bold.
This should be underlined.
This should be a link.
And this should be a blockquote.
Oookay, I think I need to work on the blockquotes...
Oh, yeah, I did change that. I think I'll change it back... Done. Good.
This should be subscript. And some normal text.
This should be superscript. And some normal text.
This should be the Ambient Irony logo:
Now, what else do we have?
This is a citation, which will probably just look like italics.
Churchill wrote:History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.
Oh good, that one works. I hadn't tested it before. I wonder:
Winston Churchill wrote:I always avoid prophesying beforehand, because it is a much better policy to prophesy after the event has already taken place.
Excellent. Onward!
A line in the sand?
This should be small.
But this should be big.
Hmm. The spoiler and nsfw tags don't work yet, I know that.
Oh, what the heck, let's make a table!
| One | Two | Three | Four |
| Ant | Bee | Cat | Dog |
Yep, that works too.
See extended entry for the markup.
more...
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
09:25 PM
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Reboot, Reinstall... CentOS?
I've been having some strange issues with Shampoo, one of the two main servers for mee.nu. I decided that I'd better get Softlayer (our hosting company) to do a reinstall, because these issues now include not being able to start Apache.
So I opened a support ticket, saying that the server was screwed up, and could they do a memory test and if that doesn't show anything, reinstall Linux.
And they responded saying that this will cost $3, and I said, well, fine, and they said, hey, your server is screwed up, you'll need to reinstall Linux.
And I said, huh?
And they said, there's a button in our management site. Choose the server, and you can repartition your drives and reinstall the operating system.
And I said, cooool.
And did just that.
Update: It still doesn't work, but hey, I got to reinstall the operating system from the other side of the planet.
Update: The network ports weren't autonegotiating properly, which was causing collisions and errors, which was causing problems with automatic RPM downloads, which was screwing up the install process. Fixed.
I've been having some strange issues with Shampoo, one of the two main servers for mee.nu. I decided that I'd better get Softlayer (our hosting company) to do a reinstall, because these issues now include not being able to start Apache.
So I opened a support ticket, saying that the server was screwed up, and could they do a memory test and if that doesn't show anything, reinstall Linux.
And they responded saying that this will cost $3, and I said, well, fine, and they said, hey, your server is screwed up, you'll need to reinstall Linux.
And I said, huh?
And they said, there's a button in our management site. Choose the server, and you can repartition your drives and reinstall the operating system.
And I said, cooool.
And did just that.
Update: It still doesn't work, but hey, I got to reinstall the operating system from the other side of the planet.
Update: The network ports weren't autonegotiating properly, which was causing collisions and errors, which was causing problems with automatic RPM downloads, which was screwing up the install process. Fixed.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
11:52 AM
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There Really Is A (Thunder) God
Back in 2005, you may recall, I was forced to move house twice. I rent, and in June the Pixy Central of the past seven years was sold. I'd been thinking of moving, so this didn't upset me overly, but moving after being in one place for that long was something of a disaster.
For New Pixy Central I was offered the usual twelve-month initial lease, but a few days later - after I'd started arranging things for the move - the real estate agent called back and said that the initial lease was only six months. I assumed that this was because the units were brand new, but it turned out to be because the unit I'd selected (one of five available at the time) was on the market to be sold, something the agent neglected to tell me. And three months after I moved in - just after the last remaining rental unit in the complex was occupied - it was indeed sold, and I had to move out by Christmas.
Not a happy Pixy.
Fortunately, another new complex had just been built immediately behind New Pixy Central and the first two units were available for lease right at that time. One of them suited me just fine, so in November I put in an application for it, and was approved.
And then I waited for the lease to be ready for me to sign.
And waited.
And waited.
And waited.
For five weeks, until, in mid-December, the agent admitted that they had no idea when that unit would actually be ready to occupy, but the other unit - the one that I didn't like - was ready now.
Which became New New Pixy Central. The one advantage of which is that the main bedroom is on the ground floor where the air-conditioning is. (Admittedly, given the weather in the two summers since then, this has been a major advantage; but Old New Pixy Central had a balcony off the main bedroom where I could set up my portable air conditioner.)
Aaaaanyway.
Along comes Christmas '06, and I receive a letter advising me that my lease had run out, and that the owner was happy with my tenancy and wanted to offer me another twelve-month lease. Given that this was when I was starting to work full-time on Minx and mee.nu, moving house was the last thing I wanted to do, so I accepted.
And then I waited.
And wondered if something was up.
And was going to contact them again to see if everything was going okay, just as soon as I finished doing some on-site tech support work (have to pay the bills somehow).
And the day that I finished doing said work, the agent called me and said that the unit was being sold, and that he knew I had a lease and they'd make sure the sale complied with the lease, and so on. Except that of course I didn't have a lease, as they would have found out once they looked at the paperwork.
So. I could wait it out, or I could move to the unit that had just opened up next door (there are a lot of fairly new townhouses in my immediate area). I chose to wait it out, through four weeks of having people wandering in and out every Saturday afternoon.
And last Saturday I was discussing with the agent showing the property about how I'd already had to move twice recently, and he sympathised, and told me that the owner didn't really want to sell, but business had been slow recently and he needed the money. So I asked what business he was in, and it turns out he owns a company that specialises in repairing hail damage to cars.
And business would be slow for him, because Australia has been in the grip of drought for several years now, and there hasn't been a decent storm in Sydney for ages.
And I joked that given his occupation, I should really hope for bad weather.
And in the past week, the area has been hit by three major thunderstorms. The owner has at least six months worth of new contracts, the property has been taken off the market, and the agent is preparing a new lease for me to sign.
So, sometimes, things really do work out.
Oh, and if you happen to meet Thor, tell him Pixy says hi.
Back in 2005, you may recall, I was forced to move house twice. I rent, and in June the Pixy Central of the past seven years was sold. I'd been thinking of moving, so this didn't upset me overly, but moving after being in one place for that long was something of a disaster.
For New Pixy Central I was offered the usual twelve-month initial lease, but a few days later - after I'd started arranging things for the move - the real estate agent called back and said that the initial lease was only six months. I assumed that this was because the units were brand new, but it turned out to be because the unit I'd selected (one of five available at the time) was on the market to be sold, something the agent neglected to tell me. And three months after I moved in - just after the last remaining rental unit in the complex was occupied - it was indeed sold, and I had to move out by Christmas.
Not a happy Pixy.
Fortunately, another new complex had just been built immediately behind New Pixy Central and the first two units were available for lease right at that time. One of them suited me just fine, so in November I put in an application for it, and was approved.
And then I waited for the lease to be ready for me to sign.
And waited.
And waited.
And waited.
For five weeks, until, in mid-December, the agent admitted that they had no idea when that unit would actually be ready to occupy, but the other unit - the one that I didn't like - was ready now.
Which became New New Pixy Central. The one advantage of which is that the main bedroom is on the ground floor where the air-conditioning is. (Admittedly, given the weather in the two summers since then, this has been a major advantage; but Old New Pixy Central had a balcony off the main bedroom where I could set up my portable air conditioner.)
Aaaaanyway.
Along comes Christmas '06, and I receive a letter advising me that my lease had run out, and that the owner was happy with my tenancy and wanted to offer me another twelve-month lease. Given that this was when I was starting to work full-time on Minx and mee.nu, moving house was the last thing I wanted to do, so I accepted.
And then I waited.
And wondered if something was up.
And was going to contact them again to see if everything was going okay, just as soon as I finished doing some on-site tech support work (have to pay the bills somehow).
And the day that I finished doing said work, the agent called me and said that the unit was being sold, and that he knew I had a lease and they'd make sure the sale complied with the lease, and so on. Except that of course I didn't have a lease, as they would have found out once they looked at the paperwork.
So. I could wait it out, or I could move to the unit that had just opened up next door (there are a lot of fairly new townhouses in my immediate area). I chose to wait it out, through four weeks of having people wandering in and out every Saturday afternoon.
And last Saturday I was discussing with the agent showing the property about how I'd already had to move twice recently, and he sympathised, and told me that the owner didn't really want to sell, but business had been slow recently and he needed the money. So I asked what business he was in, and it turns out he owns a company that specialises in repairing hail damage to cars.
And business would be slow for him, because Australia has been in the grip of drought for several years now, and there hasn't been a decent storm in Sydney for ages.
And I joked that given his occupation, I should really hope for bad weather.
And in the past week, the area has been hit by three major thunderstorms. The owner has at least six months worth of new contracts, the property has been taken off the market, and the agent is preparing a new lease for me to sign.
So, sometimes, things really do work out.
Oh, and if you happen to meet Thor, tell him Pixy says hi.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
10:51 AM
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Wednesday, March 07
And There Was Much Rejoicing
James Burke's Connections and The Day the Universe Changed - available for download.
James Burke's Connections and The Day the Universe Changed - available for download.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
09:39 PM
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Post contains 18 words, total size 1 kb.
Monday, March 05
More Dragon Drops
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
10:33 AM
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Post contains 3 words, total size 1 kb.
Sunday, March 04
Testing File Upload Thingy
Let's see if this works.
Upload...
Drag...
Drop...
Boobies.
Let's see if this works.
Upload...
Drag...
Drop...
Boobies.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
11:32 PM
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Post contains 13 words, total size 1 kb.
Welcome to Minxville, Population 1
Here we are, up and running on the almost-beta version of Minx (instead of the old alpha version). The limited beta test will start on Tuesday (March 6th) for existing mu.nu users, with a larger-scale test following on the 13th, weather permitting.
Have a look around, let me know if you run into any hiccups. The title box looks a bit funny under Internet Explorer; I'll be hacking on the CSS tonight to see if I can fix that.
Most of the rest should be mostly working. I think.
Here we are, up and running on the almost-beta version of Minx (instead of the old alpha version). The limited beta test will start on Tuesday (March 6th) for existing mu.nu users, with a larger-scale test following on the 13th, weather permitting.
Have a look around, let me know if you run into any hiccups. The title box looks a bit funny under Internet Explorer; I'll be hacking on the CSS tonight to see if I can fix that.
Most of the rest should be mostly working. I think.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
05:31 PM
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Post contains 94 words, total size 1 kb.
Saturday, March 03
No Joy In Screenville
I just acquired a compact, quiet, elegantly-styled home-theatre PC.
I just acquired a compact, quiet, elegantly-styled home-theatre PC.
Yesterday it was a notebook.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
08:48 AM
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Post contains 22 words, total size 1 kb.
Abenobashi!
Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi rocks.*
Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi rocks.*
Panyo Panyo Digi Charat not so much. It seems to be the only Digi Charat released here in Oz, and the one DVD I bought of it was pretty annoying.
* Warning: May contain traces of boobies.**
** Warning: Avoid spoilers! Don't look at any other pages! Don't read the text on that page, either!
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
01:34 AM
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Post contains 62 words, total size 1 kb.
91kb generated in CPU 0.0304, elapsed 0.3228 seconds.
59 queries taking 0.3002 seconds, 427 records returned.
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59 queries taking 0.3002 seconds, 427 records returned.
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