csquared.org

I probably should update this more than every couple of years...

Anyway, I just received an email from BlueHost, my hosting provider, that someone in Pennsylvania using a Comcast cable account "forgot" the password to the domain.

More than anything else, I'm amused, but it was enough for me to change my password.

So, Mr. Limited Bandwidth Script Kiddie in PA, move along. Oh, and here's a stock photo just for you! Enjoy!

In a word -- wow.

After messing about with GoDaddy.com's hosting, this is like heaven. I was up and running in exceptionally short order -- even the domain was propagated in no time flat. I did run into a bit of a problem with adding on the ciulla.org domain, but this stems more from my impatience than anything else as I tend to forget that propogation takes time.

While it's tempting to completely dog GoDaddy's service offering, they do a great job for their target audience -- folks new to web hosting.

Once I get all of the old content off of ciulla.org, I'm definitely cancelling GoDaddy's hosting service.

I'm now a character in a Science Fiction novel...

"WordPress database error: (Errcode: 17)" -- panic-inducing words indeed.

As you may or may not know, I moved WordPress up to ciulla.org's root directory. At least I don't have to worry about the homepage getting stale. This got me about half way -- I think I still need a more flexible content management system to do quick hits against the rest of the static content around here.

Anyway, I put the finishing touches upon the tableless version of my resume. After fighting with unordered lists and list elements for the better part of today, I threw in the towel and changed everything to paragraph tags. Despite this, I think it looks pretty sharp. It just bugs me that CSS doesn't do what I think it should do. Either that, or the way IE and FireFox renders stuff.

Since I installed Spam Karma 2 (SK2), I've been an absolute fiend about checking to see if any spam has been harvested. Before, I'd get about 20 "please moderate such and such comment" emails a week... Sometimes more.

It's been so effective, I have to write about something else, I suppose...

So, here's what I've been doing for the past couple of days (besides working, of course):

• Working on a CSS-only (read: non-table) version of my resume
• Looking for a very lite content mangement system for the site's static content
• Fixing overheating issues on the other computers laying around the house and playing family System Administrator
• Playing around with a second-hand copy of SuSE Professional 9.1

This site is where you get filters for your Adblock plugin for Firefox.

Highly recommended.

Updated: URL Change

So, "What the hell is an ASBO?" An ASBO, or "Anti-Social Behaviour Order," is the UK's answer to help deter people acting like dumbasses.

Let's say you get mad at your neighbor's kids for throwing rocks at your siding. You'd go over and have a chat with their parents, right?

Well, there are some people who would rather mow their lawn at 3:00am every day for a month rather than having a civil discussion. Among other things... While it was clearly wrong for the kids to stone your siding for no reason, it certainly doesn't make it right for you to be grooming your yard at "Oh Dark Hundred." If we were in the UK, it would be entirely within my neighbor's right to apply for an ABC, or "Acceptable Behaviour Contract."

You can read all about it here.

Properly enforced, I think this would be an outstanding way to crack down on dumbasses with their souped up stereos in their rusted out shitboxes. I'll get you, DJ Jazzy Trevor. Oh, yes. You will rue the day.

"Hoodies," or hooded sweatshirts, have been effectively banned in the UK. How very odd.

There's a couple of authors that I'll read just on the the strength of their name on the cover. However, one stands out: Leo A. Frankowski.

I've always been a fan of the "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" genre, but he takes it to a new level with the "Cross-Time Engineer" series. Most authors have their protagonists gently mincing though time, afraid to step on a bug for fear of somehow altering their futures.

Bah. I say, "Bring it on." So does Frankowski.

I've always had a pet theory that time is like an infinite amount of possibilities where everything that could have occurred did occur. Therefore, a misstep by a klutzy time traveler wouldn't affect causality. Getting back to where you left would be problematic, as you would have to navigate a finite -- but nearly infinate -- amount of subjective "futures" from which to choose . But, I digress. When my inner geek is faced with a problem, he starts to get sidetracked with potential solutions.

Anyway, after reading the adventures of Conrad Stargard for the umpteenth time, I decided to see if he's put out anything new and stumbled upon his web site. I was able to get in touch with Leo, and he was kind enough to send me "Conrad's Crusade" -- the as-of-yet unpublished 7th book in the "Cross-Time Engineer" series. My jaw dropped. Needless to say, I spent the next couple of hours tearing through it.

So, not only is he one of my favorite authors, he's also a hell of a guy.