Flock: A Social Web Browser?

Flock is a Web browser that tries to put a friendly face on the Web by tightly integrating with a bunch of different kinds of social software, including del.icio.us, Flickr, Blogger. The idea is that rather than jump from page to page, utility to utility when you want to bookmark or blog something, you just use this Firefox spin-off instead. It's fun to play with, though sometimes it feels a little too cute for its own good.

del.icio.us

I've finally created a del.icio.us page to track my bookmarks. Share and enjoy!

GD Said What?

I recently had a problem where images that were supposed to be edited into three different sizes by the GD module within Apache were simply being copied to a new folder. I got three images, and their file sizes were different from the original, but their height and width were identical to the original photo.

Turns out that it was the GD module's doing -- it seems that JPEG support wasn't enabled, so rather than fail it just sort of faked it, copying the images, but not really manipulating them. I figured out what it was up to by running this bit of PHP code:

$gd = var_dump(gd_info());
print_r($gd);

gd_info snags the GD settings and throws them into an array that I then dumped. That's what told me that JPEG support was set to "false". So now you know ... and knowing is half the battle!

Patch Job

I'm pretty comfortable with Unix nowadays, but there are moments when I still feel like a stranger in a strange land. One of those moments was when I first encountered the patch command. Sure, I'd used patches before, but never a command line patch, and unfortunately (as is usually the way of such things in Unix) everyone just assumes you know how to do it, and never offers an explaination.

Fortunately, Wikipedia has one. The entry provides an overiew of the patch command, some history, and examples of its usage.

Giving Apache What It Wants

In Web development, it's a good idea to give the Web server read/write access to the files/directories it wants to read/write to (and ONLY the server, since giving too much access is an invitation to hackers/crackers/script kiddies), but doing that can be a somewhat ... arcane process. After some web wandering, here's the process I've come up with:

1. Figure out what user/group the server is running as. On Mac OS X boxes, the default is www/www; on Unix boxes I think the default is apache/apache, but it depends on where you are. If you have root access, you can look at Apache's httpd.conf file, which explicitly states which user and group apache runs as. If you don't have root access, then you can look at the Unix process list and see what Apache is running as.

2. Change the file's user and group Use the unix command chown command thusly (assuming the user/group the server is running under is "www"): chown www:www [file], where [file] is the name of the file/directory you're changing. You'll probably need root access to do this as well (something I'm still trying to work around on Nuketown's test server, a Linux box that I don't have root access to).

World of Waiting

You know, it figures. I've been out of World of Warcraft for weeks, only poking my head in occasionally to see what's up. Tonight I actually want to make an extended excursion and ... the server's down. Ugh.

Free Your Mind

It's not quite Neal Stephenson's virtual desktop, but Freemind still looks pretty cool. It's a Java-based "mind mapping" software, providing a visual tool for organizing your thoughts. I haven't tried it yet, but its on my list of stuff to play with this week.

The Power of Mdfind

This article on O'Reilly explains mdfind, which offers all the flexibility of Spotlight from Mac OS X's Unix command line.

Lego Mindstorms Gets an Upgrade

Too cool. The next-gen Mindstorms robots can react to ultrasound, sound, light and touch, etc., and can be programmed via Bluetooth or USB (as in, one guy demoing the robot was able to control it from his freaking phone!). it's going to be expensive -- $250 -- but so was the first one. Plus, it is educational ... right?

Get Firefox 1.5

The latest version of the open source Web browser is now out, offering interface tweaks, faster page loads, better updating and more.

Control Lego Mindstorms via MacNQC

LEGO's Mindstorms robots are a lot of fun to play with but out of the box they don't work and play well with Macs; the software that ships with them is Windows only. Fortunately there's MacNQC (the NQC stands for "Not Quite C", which is programming language that drives the bots) which lets you update the firmware on your LEGO brainbrick, write and upload new programs, and run diagnostics on its hardware.

The software doesn't have the ultra-easy to use "drag and drop" interface which lets Windows users program their bots without actually having to write code, so you'll actually have to write code in order to control the bot. However, as this article in MacWorld illustrates, it's not all that hard.

I spent last weekend playing around with my Mindstorms (when I wasn't cleaning the basement) and I've now got a little robot that scurries around the first floor, much to the delight of my 2-1/2 year old. The current version has treads; I quickly learned that wheels don't work well when you've got a mix of carpets, hardwood floors, and assorted toddler toys scattered about (though Jordan did love it when she saw one of the wheels come flying off after a particularly nasty bit of failed robotic navigation).

BrikWars

I'm a gamer, but generally not a wargamer, mostly because the collecting/painting elements of Warhammer 40k and its kin just don't appeal to me. I want to game, not spend hours trying to get that perfect shade of red for my orcish shock troops, not to mention spending a fortune on miniatures.

Enter the perfect solution: BrikWars, which combines LEGOS with wargaming. Yes, now those LEGOS you played with when you were 12 can be used to throw "the peaceful worlds of your favorite construction toys into wanton chaos and destruction!" (so says the site). I started reading the rules over lunch -- looks cool, in a very geeky sort of way.

Death By Caffeine

A few years ago, the guys in my gaming group had a spirited debate about how much Mountain Dew you'd have to drink in one sitting before it killed out. Energy Fiend has the answer.

Radio Active Resurgent

I was finally able to record a new Radio Active podcast during lunch. It's mixing down now, and should be good to go by the time I get home. It's a short show -- about 20 minutes -- but man, it was really nice to be recording again! It was also nice to have the PowerMac back -- I didn't realize how much I'd missed working in the ol'home office until I was sitting down at my desk again.

Not the RPG Tool I was looking for...

In search for new role-playing game computer tools for a KODT column, I came across the U.S. Navy's "Regulation, Policy and Guidance (RPG) Comparison Tool".

From the site: "The RPG Comparison Tool allows you to simultaneously view subparts of the most current versions of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), the Defense FAR Supplement (DFARS), the DFARS Policy, Guidance and Information (DFARS PGI), the Navy Marine Corps Acquisition Supplement (NMCARS) and the Navy Marine Corps Acquisition Guide (NMCAG)."

I think I'll stick to Dungeons & Dragons.