July :: 2008 :: Chris Jean

Archive for July 2008

Time to Switch to Linux?

by Chris Jean

July 31st, 2008

Over the past few years, I have developed a very strong desire to dump Windows entirely from my day to day computing. I tire of the obscure errors that no one has answers for yet are easily reproducible, the way that Microsoft is enforcing its “genuine Windows” initiative in ways that irritate paying customers while only mildly bothering pirates, and how Windows always has a black box model of operation which always keeps me, the user, out of the loop on what my own computer is doing. The final insult: User Account Control. I disabled that within minutes. Talk about a useless feature. People who know what they are doing will always click yes because they know what they are doing. People who don’t know what they are doing (the ones that were the primary focus for this feature) will quickly learn to always click yes because clicking no may prevent them from doing what they want.

Categories Random Ramblings
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Empty uploaded files with Perl

by Chris Jean

July 30th, 2008

I work for a company that has a proprietary CMS software package written in Perl. We have a number of servers that run this code, and everything has been fine for a number of years and many different versions and customizations. A few months back, something changed. One of our servers started producing completely empty files for all uploads. This affected all of our code, all of our versions, and every site.

After some time debugging and testing, I finally found the problem. Apparently some code was updated, either Perl itself or one of its packages, and that caused my CGI object to be recylced before the upload code ran. When the CGI object gets recylced, all the file handles are closed resulting in reading and saving an empty file.

The solution was deceptively simple. All I had to do was store the CGI object in a persistent variable that has scope throughout the end of the program execution.

Categories Development
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AnimeFest registration problem solved

by Chris Jean

July 25th, 2008

Good news. I was contacted by someone with AnimeFest earlier today, and I got my registration taken care of.

So, let this be a lesson. If you having a hard time getting a group to contact you, call them repeatedly, send emails to every address you can find, post on the forum, and send PMs to every person on the forum who has a title.

Categories Random Ramblings
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Adding AJAX to WordPress plugins

by Chris Jean

July 25th, 2008

One of the these days I’m going to have to start working with AJAX. To date, I haven’t really had a need, but I’m going to get way behind the curve unless I start working with it now. I recently stumbled on a page in the WordPress Codex called AJAX in Plugins. This will be my starting point for working with AJAX and WordPress. Hopefully I can start cranking out some cool new plugins with AJAX goodness soon. Once I do, I’ll blog with some more details about what hurdles, if any, I faced when developing WordPress plugins with AJAX support.

Categories Development, Tips 'n Tricks, WordPress
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AnimeFest registration problems

by Chris Jean

July 24th, 2008

So AnimeFest is about a month away. My friends and I have been planning on attending for about six months now, and we’re really getting excited. About three weeks ago, I tried to register and hit a big snag. The payment page apparently has problems since it refuses to try to process my card and tells me to call a number instead.

Fast-forward to today, and I have called that number many times and left a number of messages with callback details, I have sent multiple emails, and I have posted on the official forum. To date, I have not received a single call, email, or forum response. From looking at the forum, I’m not the only one having problems as artists and merchants are running into problems and pulling out their hair since no one will confirm or deny their registration, give them information that they require to be able to set up their table, or give them any type of response to their questions.

Worst case scenario, I have to pay for my registration when I get there. It won’t kill me, but my biggest concern is how this will affect the con in the long run. They obviously have some core logistical problems. If these problems aren’t dealt with in a timely manner, this might be a sign that AnimeFest is starting to fall apart.

Categories Random Ramblings
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Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog

by Chris Jean

July 16th, 2008

I found this gem right before going to bed, and I’m so glad that I stayed up to check it out. It’s a series of three short musical-style episodes about a mad scientist with aspirations for villainy who longs after a woman at the laundromat.

Joss Whedon, yes the same Joss Whedon who brought us shows like Firefly and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, cooked up a crazy idea to break outside of the standard mold of show making. The idea came up during the Writers’ Guild of America strike that effectively paralized Hollywood for half a year. Joss wanted to test how successful a show could be outside the grips of production studios and networks; Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog was the result.

By pooling all of his connections, Joss Whedon put together this series of three shorts on a very limited budget but with great results. Some very famous and recognizable faces make up the cast. You may recognize Neil Patrick Harris from How I Met Your Mother, Nathan Fillion from Firefly, Felicia Day from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Simon Helberg from The Big Bang Theory. The combination of these easily recognizable faces with witty lines and silly songs makes for great entertainment.

I hope that Joss Whedon, the actors, and the talented crew that helped with development and production are all handsomely rewarded for their efforts.

For more information about Joss Whedon’s idea and the plan for Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, check out the plan page.

Categories Random Ramblings, Videos
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Important changes in WordPress 2.6

by Chris Jean

July 3rd, 2008

WordPress 2.6 allows for moving the wp-content folder and the wp-config.php file. Some code guidelines have been published to help developers standardize their plugins with the new changes. The following code will allow code to work with current versions and the upcoming 2.6.

wp-content

// Pre-2.6 compatibility
if ( !defined('WP_CONTENT_URL') )
    define( 'WP_CONTENT_URL', get_option('siteurl') . '/wp-content');
if ( !defined('WP_CONTENT_DIR') )
    define( 'WP_CONTENT_DIR', ABSPATH . 'wp-content' );

// Guess the location
$plugin_path = WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/plugins/'. plugin_basename(dirname(__FILE__));
$plugin_url = WP_CONTENT_URL.'/plugins/'. plugin_basename(dirname(__FILE__));

wp-config.php

$root = dirname(dirname(dirname(dirname(__FILE__))));
if (file_exists($root.'/wp-load.php')) {
    // WP 2.6
    require_once($root.'/wp-load.php');
} else {
    // Before 2.6
    require_once($root.'/wp-config.php');
}

Categories Development
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