July 2005 Archives
This post is to claim the name Pylon for my flash/multi-user server. I like it because it sounds like “pile-on”, an inherently multi-person activity! And, of course, because it is programmed in Python, it has ‘PY’ as part of the name. Perhaps most importantly, google doesn’t seem to know of any other projects which use that title, that are Python related. So, there you go.
And this isn’t vapor-ware, it is in use for one of my proof-of-concept applications.
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UFO is a DOM script that detects and embeds Flash objects. It contains several features and best practice techniques that other scripts currently don’t have. UFO is inspired by Geoff Stearns’ FlashObject.
For those of us trying to make digital content using Flash, tracking the stuff can present problems. MochiBot.com is offering a simple, free service which gives you the ability to see how often your .swf file is being viewed and from where. This can be really handy if you offer your stuff for download or for syndication, to see how much traffic each site is creating for your content. Heck, it could even work as a simple alert, allowing you to see if someone has “stolen” your swf off your site, and hosted it on theirs.
I had an interesting discussion with one of the dev’s Bob Ippolito about issues of security and trust, which stemmed from one of his blog posts. Suffice to say, i don’t think they are doing any “funny business”, and the service offers good value, for me. Check it out and see what you think.
I should also mention that the Mochibot site itself is an Ajaxian site, using the free (MIT License) MochiKit javascript library. “MochiKit makes JavaScript suck less”, sounds pretty good to me. I like it because the developers come from a Python background, and anything that makes Javascript more Pythonic is a “good thing” ™ in my book.
I find it hard to track the time i spend on projects. You’d think that, since time is money, i’d be excellent at this. Unfortunately, not so. This is a mixture of laziness, forgetfulness and loosing myself in the work.
Now, however, i have a solution to this problem. TST, or “Time Shall Tell” is a nice time tracking tool, written in Python. You select a project, start the timer, and you get a nice, small desktop widget, counting up the seconds, minutes and hours you’ve been working. Its got a simple pause feature, and when you are done, you can enter notes. Nothing is set in stone, you can go back and re-edit any values after the fact.
The only bummer is that this software has pretty high requirements for anyone who wants to install it. There are several dependencies, even with the binary installer, and you also need to have access to a computer running MySQL.
I contacted the developer, to enquire about helping to make the DB and install issues a bit less steep, and since its written in Python i figured i actually could help. The dev got back to me, and it sounds like he is going to be doing some work to change how the DB portion works. I suggested moving to SQLObject, which would factor out all the SQL statements, and also give access to all the different DB platforms that SQLObject supports. The one that i think is most important for this software is SQLite, which runs pretty much everywhere, and is a snap to setup, even for a typical windows users. I’m not sure if i will be playing a roll or not, but i’ve offered my help.
If you are technically savvy, its not so hard to get it all setup, and, if you are looking for a nice, simple tool to help you track your time, this one is pretty good.
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Designing The Band is an example design project where we (meaning you and I) create a band from scratch and design a Web site for them based on a user-centered and standards-based design process.
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In this installment of my Design Techniques column, I analyze the flexibility and performance implications of inheritance and composition, and I give guidelines on the appropriate use of each.
Yep, i’m talking toilet paper. But, this toilet paper is made from poo. Elephant poo. No joke. Check it out. Thanks to Ciara for this find.
It turns out that KOS is not as gone as i’d previously written. They just moved to Bathurst and Dupont. I just gave them a quick call to confirm that it is still “KOS” from College street. Now, i’m also sure that it will never be the same, but at least it still lives on in some form.
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TST allows users to easily track the time spent on projects and generate simple reports. It features centralized data storage in a database server and includes a simple tool for user administration.
Managed to get the Katana 650 running tonight. First real step on the road to … getting it on the road!
There is still some electrical stuff to figure out, and i have to replace the ignition lock/key. But hey, i got it running!
I’ve been listening to the CBC’s Radio3 podcasts. The Canada day broadcast, in particular, was excellent. So far I’ve picked up Quebec Connection’s album “Bonjour Expo” and The Organ’s “Grab that Gun”. Quebec Connection is Kraftwork-ian-disco-pop-fun-electronica. The Organ is my current favourite band. The sound and lyrics and everything about them is just fantastic. Call them “alt-pop” or rock if you want, but check them out. Amazing.
Internet and Tech related, new self-publishing site, Lulu, offers cheap book publishing, with no start-up costs. You can read a review of it here. Sounds pretty good - under $10 (USD) for a paper-back style book, and ~$16 (USD) for an 8x10. With “real” bindings to boot. I’d like to do a test “photo” book for Conor.
Also, Ted over at PowerSDK has released IFBIN, a service which offerers users tested and documented examples of flash projects, which can be used commercially. Pretty good idea - i know there are many times i have something i want to accomplish, and if i just had a good example, i could get it done in no time at all. You can read Ted’s announcement and some info about the service.
I’ve got some proof-of-concept stuff happening on ThirdPlaceGames.com. Right now its just a chat demo. Its updated as i work on the project. More to come!
I know its been reported everywhere else, but i feel that i have to make some note of this. James Doohan, who played “Scottie” on Star Trek:TOS died on Wednesday the 20th.
We are over the hump now, and, finally, getting better. This was a brutal cold/flu thing that Ciara and i had. However, better to have it now then during our vacation in August!
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This is the web presence of the NSLU2-Linux development group and user community. We discuss, develop and modify the firmware and hardware of the Linksys NSLU2.
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A complete Web Authoring System for Linux Desktop users as well as Microsoft Windows and Macintosh users to rival programs like FrontPage and Dreamweaver.
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Assuming that a user can easily create text documents —this is the case for most programmers and techies, we do this all day, and we all have our favourite text editors— this system allows you to store various kinds of data across multiple documents. Yo
Last week was not good for the family. All of us had some kind of killer cold or flu. Conor has been the least affected, which is good, but both Ciara and I have been hammered. I’ve been so groggy and tired that i did nothing last week. I’d hoped to catchup over the weekend, but this illness is damn tenacious, and is hanging on with some strength. Today its moved into my ears, so i’m feeling partially deaf.
We’ve been sick more this year then any other that i can remember. Sucks.
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Tweener class
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KnowledgeTree™ is an Open Source document management system. The product provides a content repository, workflow and routing of content, content publication and content metrics definition and analysis.
Still a busy little code monkey. The flash multiuser server is coming along nicely, as is the flash class that works with it. I’ve got a testing flash app that connects and communicates with the server, using some nice dispatching. Things are coming along!
I also went crazy and registered a new domain name “ThirdPlaceGames.com”. Nothing there yet, but, once i get this rolling, i’ll be launching my games (ha!) and related stuff there. Of course that means time spent designing a site, and less actually programming, so it might be empty till i get this first project to a demo-able level. And really, who the heck knows when that is going to happen?
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The Halftone Conspiracy is a collaborative poster project. Monthly, the co-conspirators gather, with posters they’ve created in hand, to transform a pre-determined location. The posters can be of any size, shape or method that the conspirator chooses. Th
I finally got around to trying out the flash AdminTool. The authors recently rigged it up so that it will work with MTASC, so you can now do some pretty rich debugging and tracing without needing to use the Flash IDE from Macromedia. I’ve been using the FAME setup, but i really like using EditPlus for all my editing needs, so having the AdminTool work with my favourite setup gets me out using FAMEs. I’d talk about the project that i’m working on, except that i always talk about them and never show anything, so i’m just going to wait till i have something to show this time!
