Well after taking over the HOG (don’t ask…it’s a LONG story that requires time and beer) and ABATE (they just kept staring at me with ‘puppy dog’ eyes in the meetings), I feel like I haven’t been as good a webmaster as I should be. I know both groups understand and that as a volunteer webmaster for HOG and ABATE I’m not under any requirements to get the sites setup/working in a real timeframe.
It’s just been with ;@+#%!%&work(see article
Another weekend down the tubes …), I haven’t had time for anything. However starting this week, things should be back to a dead run till May <smile>.
Soon the new HOG chapter website will be up (can’t show it to you yet), which
runs on postnuke like this one does, and will have more features. The nice
thing also will be that once it’s up in a CMS (Content Management System) I’ll
be able to allow the Chapter Members to submit articles (moderated of
course).
With the ABATE website, it’s pretty static so once I get it up (using
FrontPage — YEECH), any of the ABATE board members or officers can shoot me changes to
update quickly and down the road I’ll setup include pages that they can update themselves (also moderated).
I thinking this new look will be it for the website. It’s a) clean and b) the
colors aren’t hard on the eyes.
Some have asked for the ability to change their own themes so I’m considering having 10 or so themes that you can choose from to make the site experience more suited to you…kinda like the weather feature.
BTW…please let me know if the weather module is glitchy. I’ve come across people on the boards who are complaining about the graphics not
loading correctly if you change the defaults.
STOCKHOLM (Reuters 21 Feb 2003 12:51 GMT) – Dead people are increasingly going out with a bang in Sweden and the trend is posing serious occupational hazards for crematorium workers, a Swedish church newspaper reports.
Kyrkans Tidning reported a growing number of explosions in caskets during cremations, sparked by undetected items including heart pacemakers, whose batteries ignite in the intense heat.
Swedes have increasingly taken to cremation and the paper said next of kin and friends were adding to the problem by leaving explosive farewell tokens such as bottles of alcohol, ammunition cartridges and pieces of fireworks in the coffins.
Silicon implants in women who had had cosmetic breast surgery were also known to have exploded during cremation. (more…)
I guess it wasn’t bad enough working on Valentine’s day weekend, now I’m back at it again!
The good news is that this will be the next to last time we should be doing this for quite some time. We’ll also be doing offline db backups (allows for consistant restore) at each phase and one final one after I’m finished getting the server to current maintenance levels and settings.
I have to remember that this will make my job easier.
I’ve attempted — unsuccessfully, I might add — to upgrade the existing site to PostNuke version 0.723. Why? Well, it would be nice to be able to get my PN module code on a current version. You see, there have been bugs across various versions, and…. well, I just thought it would be a good idea. I guess ideas at 2am very seldom turn out to be good ones, huh?
Luckily we backup the server so I have a backup of the site and was able to roll it all back.
I’m going to try this again later this weekend…I’m sure that I’ll run into the same problems again by upgrading, but I’ll be doing it with the help of a
couple of friends who are better at this than I am (shocking that someone is better at this than I am, but it’s true nonetheless I’m afraid <smile>). So…rather than face failure again in the not-too-distant future, no matter what happens — I’ve decided to just roll with it regardless of outcome when I restart this.
Also, please excuse my tinkering with themes for the next few weekends… I’m still trying to find one that I like, since I don’t really have the time to learn how to put together a custom one for myself at the moment.
One good thing came out of this though. My dinking around allowed me to get the weather module to finally work! For registered users, you will be able to set the weather to your favorite location when you log in! If you are not registered or logged in it’ll be set to here in Alaska.
These are entries to a competition asking for a rhyme with the most romantic first line but least romantic second line:
Love may be beautiful, love may be bliss
but I only slept with you, because I was pissed.
I thought that I could love no other
Until, that is, I met your brother.
Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet, and so are you.
But the roses are wilting, the violets are dead, the sugar bowl’s empty and so is your head.
Of loving beauty you float with grace,
If only you could hide your face.
Kind, intelligent, loving and hot,
This describes everything you are not.
I want to feel your sweet embrace,
But don’t take that paper bag off of your face.
I love your smile, your face, and your eyes-
Damn, I’m good at telling lies!
My darling, my lover, my beautiful wife:
Marrying you screwed up my life
I see your face when I am dreaming,
That’s why I always wake up screaming.
My love you take my breath away,
What have you stepped in to smell this way.
My feelings for you no words can tell,
Except for maybe “go to hell.”
What inspired this amorous rhyme?
Two parts vodka, one part lime. (more…)
The back and forth volley between the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Verizon appears to be continuing. Friday, the RIAA made attempts to block Verizons motion to delay revealing the name of one of its users suspected of downloading copyrighted material over the Internet until the appeal can be heard.
Now it is difficult to argue with the RIAA’s stance. A crime is being committed, and Verizon is blocking attempts to find the culprit. This does overlook one very large detail, however. The RIAA seems to think that the only use for the Internet is to steal all of their music. I mean, what else could anyone possibly be using it for? And as such, it is the RIAA’s right to know every transaction from every user across the Internet, right?!? Verizon, thankfully, is trying to protect our rights to privacy.
While some people may be using some of their bandwidth to download music, they are also using it to write to old friends, meet new friends, research topics of interest, or even view pornographic material…<GASP>. And while there may be some moral objections, that is still legal (and none of that is the RIAA’s business). And what about users who are downloading MP3′s of music that they already own on a vinyl record, tape, or CD, and just find it more convenient to download it than to make their own MP3? Isn’t that fair use? And how will the RIAA tell the difference?!? The traffic all looks the same, regardless of the user’s intentions.
RIAA Fights Verizon Bid to Delay Naming Downloader Fri February 7, 2003 08:20 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on Friday opposed Verizon Communications request for a stay on a judge’s recent order requiring Verizon to turn over the name of a customer suspected of downloading songs on the Web.
Last week, Verizon filed a motion for a stay on the order until the company’s appeal of the decision could be heard.
Verizon was not available to comment late Friday.
U.S. District Judge John Bates in late January said Verizon must cooperate with recording industry efforts to track down online song swappers, rejecting the telecommunications giant’s assertion that such a move would violate customer privacy and turn it into an online copyright cop.
“There is no right to anonymously commit crimes. No one, including Verizon, disputes that its users are downloading and disseminating copyrighted works in violation of the law. Individuals who infringe music on P2P networks are not engaged in private conduct; they are agreeing to freely share files on their hard drives with millions of other users on a public network,” said Matthew Oppenheim, Senior Vice President, Business and Legal Affairs, RIAA, said after the group filed briefs opposing Verizon’s request for a stay.
The RIAA represents the five largest recording companies: AOL Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Music; Sony Corp.’s Sony Music; Bertelsmann AG’s BMG; Vivendi Universal’s Universal Music Group; and EMI Group Plc.
Getting started on a website project for Lynn’s brother, Steve. It’s Steve’s
Sports Bar Online (www.stevessportsbar.com). We’ll be doing things like pictures,
a menu, online calendar (for opening times, events, etc), sports newsfeed (almost ready now) and possibly a ‘Stump Steve sport’s knowledge’, forum, webcam
and online store in the future. One of the more fun aspects
to this project will be setting up a "complaint department" headed by
Elaine, Steve and Lynn’s mother!
So if you have a complaint about the website or the bar itself, you’re going to be
complaining to Steve’s MOM! The replies should be very
interesting to read should someone choose to do so!
We also picked up www.alaskasportsbar.com as a secondary pointer to the site. More exposure means…well…more exposure
for the bar.
Since I’m doing this because a) I like Steve and b) I’m going out with his
sister…this will be a more "fun" project.
I really like Steve’s idea for the Steve’s Sports Bar “Bikini, Strip, and Wet T-Shirt Competition”
sections of the website!
There will be a group from Alaska (@50 bikes) taking a direct route to Sturgis
from Anchorage to connect with the northwest route, which starts in Portland, OR
and ends up at Milwaukee, WI. The ride starts 17-18 Aug 03 and is in Sturgis, SD
on 23-24 Aug 03 (which is where we’ll connect up), before finishing up in Milwaukee on
27-28 Aug 03. It has routes, dates and times, and I’ll have more of a definitive
plan detailed out at as we get closer.
The HD celebrations is 28-30 Aug 03, with The Party on 31 Aug 03.
Essentially we’re riding from Anchorage for eight days to Sturgis, Lynn will
meet me there (she can’t get all the time off unfortunately) and ride with me onto
Milwaukee and ship/fly back to Alaska the week of September 8th.
Total miles (estimated for this trip is 4,123 miles). That’s not including riding around Sturgis or Milwaukee.
I’m also going to see if I can route via Portland to see the grandkids and Seattle to see dear friends too. It’s a great way for everyone to finally meet Lynn!
If I can pull it all off, that would be totally sweet! (more…)
This article, written by one of America’s most
respected thinkers, Dennis Prager speaks to what if the President were to side
with the few elite that have the MONEY and MEDIA CLOUT to voice their dissent at current American
policy/strategy.
I recall that Rob Reiner said he’d leave the United States if Bush was elected. Wonder how
the house sale is going?
Now I’ll sound politically incorrect but…if you don’t like what’s happening in
America — VOTE! If your vote did not get your person elected DO MORE for the next election. If you don’t like the country the way it is and aren’t willing to do your part (i.e. wanting socialized medicine but not willing to allow an increase in taxes to pay for it) or move somewhere else, I suggest you shut the @_*@#$%*_+% up!
Anyways Dennis Prager hosts a nationally syndicated radio talk show based in Los
Angeles. His Web site is www.dennisprager.com.
I truly love his articles…even though I’m Black! (more…)
Come out & see the planes fly tomorrow at Arctic Thunder. Do this in honor of the lost crew. We will be honoring them...you should too. http://twitter.com/hogbiker13 mins ago
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