Let’s get the painfulness out of the way: VLOS.
Now I love VLOS. I really do. It is a very nice improvement to Gentoo with the Gentoo roots that make it powerful. This is why it pains me to talk about VLOS 1.3 A4 that released last Monday. I thought this was a good time to load it on a physical machine, so I grabbed an older Athlon 1900+ (all normal hardware, should be easily supported) and went to town. Well… First it couldn’t find my hard drive during install. Wonderful. Try again. This time everything goes well and seems to install… until you reboot and it can’t find the kernel as it set up in GRUB. So i’m going to install the last version and update. I wanted this one though… *sigh*.
Now I said I was impressed by the Rails framework. This is, after all, a framework and nothing more. I know there are a lot of frameworks for PHP, so is there one as nice? Actually, there are more for PHP that satisfy that and things I don’t even need. I really love the Zend products. This isn’t because I’m certified through them. This is because they work directly with the PHP developers and have products that work incredibly well with all of PHP. It is no surprise that I like the sounds of the Zend Framework… except that it is only PHP 5 (and it’s really beta at the moment). Don’t get me wrong, I love PHP 5. I just don’t have it loaded on this server… and there are many others that are the same way. So maybe I’ll work with that one… but I have to work with a php 4 one as well. I found two that looked interesting: Cake and Seagull. I didn’t like parts of the Cake ideals (they seem to follow the idea that they are the best and all others follow…), but Seagull seems nice. So I’m going to try those out… soon I hope and see how they feel. I hope to pair Smarty to the templating side. Do you use any PHP framework? What do you like and why? I really would like some more people’s feedback.
Also, if anyone has a concise way to set up PHP 5 along side PHP 4 (both as apache modules. I dislike CGI for this) in Plesk, I would love the link. I worry that I’ll kill PHP 4 with Yum or me trying it by myself.
Man do i wish i could get some more coding done. I got to spend a couple hours on it last week sunday. Since then, nothing really. It makes me feel bad that my program/script is not done. It was one of the few I really pushed into the class system too. Here comes my looking into Ruby on Rails and PHP
As people can probably tell from my amount of PHP scripts, I am far more versed in php than RoR. I admit this now because I cannot really compare them too much without learning a lot more about RoR. I also should remind those who don’t know that I’m a ZCE (means PHP certified). So I will try to not be completely biased towards php.
As I expressed at first, I like classes. I think that OOP is the greatest way to program when done right. Short scripts for php do not need OOP. When implementing and organizing classes for a script to do one thing takes up more room than writing it out in spoken language and procedurally, I find it hard to argue for OOP. If you want reusable code, though, you really should set up your classes. It is worth it even in PHP 4. 5 makes it substantially better for OOP, but isn’t needed.
RoR is all classes and all in the “Controller Module View” paradigm. (Not sure if i got those in the right order…). For those not familiar with it, it generally means you set up your Modules to connect to the data and fetch or store it, your controller to actually deal with the processing of the request to request the data and usually to manipulate it if needed (manipulate as in parse, multiply, etc.), and then the views to actually display it. It is arguably the best paradigm in programming. I love it since it is so clean and organized. I usually implement it in various forms in all of my larger projects. Yes, php fully supports it. I can’t stress enough that just because RoR tries to require it and php doesn’t does not mean that they are set in their ways.
PHP, honestly, seems too nice to people at times. You can really put together some crappy code and end up with a working project. Updating and reusing is a nightmare and a half, but it can technically be done. RoR tires to force better practices while not making it difficult. I really respect this idea.
Though not as great of support yet, RoR might be my language/framework of choice (it’s not a language itself. Ruby is the language. Rails is strictly a framework, but a damn nice one and a damn clean one). I wonder if i could implement Xapian (search database) into it… then i could have a RoR movie database with enhanced searching. RoR and Flash. i need to read… I need time
I’m cursing far too many things. I really should be more positive, but this is just sad:
OK, some of you know that a couple years ago, my house was stuck by lightning (or struck close enough to cause MASSIVE problems). It went through basically every wire in the house. This was particularly bad since our network printer/fax has a phone line running to it. this meant that even though every computer was protected from the powerline as was the printer, it came in through the phone line and got into the network. Among the deceased devices were a few network cards, the printer itself, a switch, a router, a tv, two stereo systems, some phones and probably some more stuff I don’t want to remember. This time wasn’t as bad, but it still hurt the network. I’m pretty sure it got in the power lines and then got into the network through the switch in the basement. We were out another switch and lost one NIC thus far. This kinda took me offline while we tried various components of the network and rewired the important computers back in. Gah.
On a more positive note, I installed Vida Linux on a virtual computer (Version 1.2.1 R2). I installed it back in version 1 also and was not impressed. I’ve used Gentoo since 2003 on an off. I loved the operating system but had problems with it. I went 64-bit when they just added the support and had terrible application support. It also takes one hell of a long time to compile Gnome on Gentoo, so that’s a lot of downtime waiting. But I loved it every time I compiled it (I actually compiled it from a network install on my laptop once. It ran as well as I could expect, but I couldn’t get it to recognize 1024×768 and that caused major annoyances when my laptop does not stretch the video). Vida Linux is based on Gentoo, but it uses Anaconda to install Stage 3 on your machine (for those who aren’t as Linux savvy (not that I am, really), that means easy install of precompiled software. That’s a lot faster). The install was very painless. I think it took approximately a half hour to forty-five minutes for it to partition and install everything available. That’s pretty good (note, i’m using the free download version, not the "complete" pay version). I like Gnome and there was a quite pretty background to greet me when I logged in.
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Well, today started a sale at Office Depot for I/O Majic 40 gb 1.8 inch hard drives. My instant thought was "upgrade." This was not met without some hesitation, though. I really don’t want to drop $100 on this drive and find no use to it. I don’t really need another external hard drive. I have 120 gb PATA drive sitting in a static bag on a shelf that I could stick in a drive box if i needed the space. This means it was time to research.
Ok, well I started by trying to find out what actually was inside of those boxes. What brand? I wasn’t terribly concerned with its brand, but I did want to know about it’s connector. If it was a standard connector, I could just open the case (hopefully by removing screws… or just cracking the damn thing open) and disconnect it. I might be able to hook up my current 20 gb one to that connector and make it a standard external if I was lucky even. But finding out that it was directly sodered on would mean that I was out $100 and probably just broke my external too. That would suck, to be blunt. Well, I can’t seem to locate anyone who actually cracked one open to tell me any of this. Ok, so maybe I could find out the brand of the hard drive. If I know a brand, it has to be to the brand’s socket. So I’m looking around and notice something. First, no one will tell me. Then I notice that Hitachi and Toshiba have different connectors (found this out when I saw 2 different adapters for 1.8 inch hard drives). Oh crap, this is suddenly more important. So I go to look a bit more into everything that this could be. My iAudio M3 (as I expect all of them) contains a Toshiba MK2004GL. That happens to have a 2mb cache and be 5 mm high. Great, so what difference does that make? Well, the cache is unimportant. It’s the height. When looking at the Toshiba hard drives (since I highly doubt that the 40 gb version would use a Hitachi. They would have to have a different socket and more), I see that the only 40 gb 1.8 inch harddrive they make is the MK4004GAH (take a look at this list to see all of their hard drives. Both mentioned are listed.). That is the obvious choice. But this one is GAH, not GL. What gives? It’s a different style that, most importantly in our case, is 8mm high, not 5. That’s 3 mm different. If you look inside one of these things (or just outside, really), you will realize there isn’t 3 mm spare. But there is a 40 gb version… that is in a larger case. It’s listed in the specs of them on iAudio’s site. This means that there is very little chance of being able to upgrade the hard drive, if any. It won’t fit in the case. the connector might not be positioned on the new hard drive in such a way that you can make it even connect to the connector. So, I’m probably going to either buy a Creative one and stick a large hdd in it (something with a 2.5 inch hard drive) or maybe an Archos since Rockbox runs on them so well.
Two little other updates: I found that the DC adapter for the M3 has a 2.35 mm OD with positive in the center. This was because I was looking through old cell phone car adapters to see if any would work. They don’t. But Radioshack does sell a A style (that’s the correct style: 2.35 mm open end) universal tip and a bit of cable to soder into another cable (like an old cell phone charger) that would cost about $8 for that.. plus tax and shipping. I also found I could order an official one for $18.
I also have been working on a web interface for Azureus (that functions through an independant web server) that can search also. isohunt isn’t playing nice at the moment though, so I have to rewrite it.
Ah, yesterday was a grand day. I acquired new music from two sources. First a bit from S. Zeilenga and then that cd I was looking at from Felix Laband. So how were they?
The release from S. Zeilenga is different from most that I’ve heard. It really is a different, ambient piece. A nice piece with a nice feel that really is foggy. It’s slower and has a bit of an organic feel (of which I enjoy when done right). I somewhat expected a bit more excitement but was not disappointed by this different piece. I recommend that people have a listen even if you are drawn away from ambient for the most part. It is ambient and still may not be to your taste, but it is quite good ambient. And it is very nicely named "Fog and Other Elements."
Now for Felix. I actually downloaded this from iTunes and not because I ever have used the service or anything. It was because to order the cd from the link below would have been 13 euros for the cd and 11 euros to ship which comes out to 28.59 USD. I downloaded the album, Dark Days Exit, for 9.99 USD. It was well worth the cost. It starts with some of the best use of bass I have seen in ambient/chill out music. This is not traditional ambient. I would call it more of chill out. It is more of a blend. I can say that there is a definite style that I have never heard before and would love to hear again. S. Zeilenga has his own style. Budha Building has his own style as well. Felix Laband is amongst these artists who do not compose to a style, they make their own. The bass is awesome when utilized by Felix as well as the very small amount of vocals. They work to compliment the music masterfully. I cannot say that all the tracks have this awesome feel to them. Unfortunately some become a bit mundane, but then are followed by a new aspect of style. It’s subtle, but there are organic elements added to some of the tracks that really work for flair (and not in the Office Space way. This is good work). The CD progresses to bring both the bass and the organic feel together in one track, but only bits of both worlds appear. Each track is to itself a work. It is somewhat unfortunate that the tracks do not blend together into an overall feel, but I would have to argue that we as listeners may not be able to experience all of the emotions that Felix Laband has so well expressed throughout the various tracks. The last five minutes of music leave you with such a good taste of the music and desire for more that I can only hope that there will be more and sooner than later. This is a hair from Superb. Go download it on iTunes. You won’t be disappointed. (I see this music as being similar at times to Lemon Jelly’s acoustic feel, Budha Building’s organic tones, and someone skilled in bass techniques (can’t think of example) but at spots. There is a variety)
Well, I’ve been noticing my increase in blog activity and realize that maybe Flock is a bit more useful to me now. So of course, I went and downloaded it again (actually the latest hourly build since i’m weird). I like the improvements they are making. Sure the hourly build doesn’t install all of the extensions (so a bit of hacking may be needed to allow them to install… why can’t i just tell it "trust me" or something?). The blog editor has certainly improved and I still like the look.
On other notes, S. Zeilenga has announced that he will be releasing a remixed song every friday for the next six weeks. Make sure you check out his site to get them as soon as you can!
I was listening to Nothing Is As It Seems (mixed by S. Zeilenga) and picked out a very attractive track in my opionion. It is “Whistling in Toungues” by Felix Laband. $0.84 postage to get my order form there and 13 Euros (plus shipping I expect) and a couple weeks and I should have some new music. Then Xerxes’ album which was remastered and has a new track… I love music.
If you haven’t noticed, Cardamar Music and Xerxes Music have some mighty fine looking web badges for their links on the left. Both were created by the wonderfully talented, S. Zeilenga In case the left side of the screen is too far to look and to point them out more, here they are again:
I found a bunch of references on Flash and ActionScript that I’m eventually going to read through, but I think I’m going to invest in a large book hopefully on some of the latest Flash topics. In case anyone else is looking for them, here they are (all official Macromedia/Adobe):
These will funciton as a note for me too. I need to finish so much first… then read… then come back.
UPDATE: I found this fantastic artile that discusses embedding flash into pages while still being standards compliant. It’s by Drew McLellan, a standards supporter and part of the Dreamweaver Standards Project. You end up lacking the versioning advantages, but I think that modifying the loading script would make it work or maybe javascript. Either way, i have the amunition, now I need to learn this crap
Flash is cool. It gives us not-so-artistic people the option to make things more interactive and neat looking. It also makes for some very integrated sites without extensive javascript (of which is more or less supported by various browsers and so on).
I happen to remember this script called FlashChat and found the homepage for it. You can go look at the $5 Script Archive for various neat scripts. They aren’t free (actually, there are 3 free ones), but $5 is pretty damn cheap. Essentially, it’s free with a donation as far as I’m concerned. I do have to admit, there is an even cooler image gallery here than the last one I linked. If only I had a point to it, I might actually pay the $5 to play with making a php editor for the xml.
I think I’ll go look for a good Flash book sometime soon. I have a couple really out dated ones and never learned Flash completely by any means. Flash front ends, php back ends… god that’s sweet. The trick will be a means to allow people to have flash if they want it, but also have a stripped down but standards compliant version. I’m not sure how i’m going to do this. Maybe weird css… or just php backend with some javascript checking or… i have no idea.
Anyway, you chould check out the five dollar script archive (via my affiliate link please) and get one if you have any use for them. How about a flash interface to your forum? I might try to give my blog a flash interface… after i get a good book
I’m no artist. That doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate art though. After a load of emails tonight, i was poking around on a couple of my friends sites and eventually through links to links to links, i have a few that I have to share. First a little note.
S. Zeilenga made two web badges that look really nice. They are below.
Now for some other image sites. I found a link to Nyssa J. Brown.net on Xerxes site. She has some quite good photography as well as digital images. I got the link to Chris Potter’s Photographs from S. Zeilenga. And his work is amazing. Just poke around on the stock.xchng to see a ton of awesome photographs. Any time I want a new background, I know where I’m going.
And for those artists who want to display there work, Felix Turner created SimpleViewer. It’s a really neat little flash image gallery. It is one of the best I’ve seen. The version that is free (compiled) has no way to link the user back to the original image… my idea for an easy solution would be to just turn indexes on in your image folder and let the users go there if they want to get the images. You could also opt to pay for the source code for $45, but I think you would really want to have a good reason to invest that money. Felix Turner has shown me some really cool applications of Flash. How I hate it and love it…
