arthur.wiebe

I Have a New Blog

2007-01-25T11:52:00.000-05:00

I've started a new site, artooro.com. It is now the location of my new blog. This blog is as of now no longer active.

This blog will now automatically redirect to the new site.

Mahmoud Abbas, a Moderate?

2007-01-14T08:46:00.000-05:00

Mahmoud Abbas, "Aim your rifles at Israel."

For so long Abbas has been touted as a "moderate", someone who wants peace but is OK with the idea of Israel staying on the map.
Since Abbas replaced Arafat I've been highly critical of the man. It my opinion, it were better a moderate were an extremest in a way, either on one side or the other. If you're in between, you'll either get shot or not accomplish anything. Abbas has not accomplished anything since he started his current post. Yet some say "strengthening him" will help the peace process. I hope you see differently now.

CheckFields Objected

2007-01-02T19:59:00.000-05:00

As what usually happens when you first right some code, and then put it into real world use, you make some changes to make it more efficient and easier to use. The same thing happened with my CheckFields function posted earlier.

So here's the code:

/*
'name',
 'int' => 'year',
 'email' => 'email',
 'date' => 'date',
 'length=2, int, date' => 'month',
 'passwordsmatch' => 'password, confirmpass'
);

$input = array | example=($_POST || $_GET)
*/

class CheckFields {
 public $lastError;
 
 public function __construct($reqs, $input) {
  foreach ($reqs as $type => $id) {
   $fields = explode(', ', $id);
   foreach ($fields as $field) {
    if (!isset($input[$field]) || $input[$field] == '') {
     $this->_ret(false, 00, $id, '"' . ucfirst($id) . '" Must be completed in order to continue.');
     break(2);
     //return array(false, $id . ' resulted in err00');
    }
   }
   
   $types = explode(', ', $type);
   foreach ($types as $t) {
    switch (preg_replace('|(^.+)(\=.*)|', '$1', $t)) {
     case 'passwordsmatch':
      $fields = explode(', ', $id);
      if ($input[$fields[0]] != $input[$fields[1]]) {
       $this->_ret(false, 06, $id, '"' . ucfirst($fields[0]) . '" must be the same as "' . ucfirst($fields[1]) . '"');
       break(3);
       //return array(false, $id . ' resulted in err06');
      }
      break;
     case 'date':
      if (strtotime($input[$id]) === false) {
       $this->_ret(false, 05, $id, '"' . ucfirst($id) . '" Is not a valid date.');
       break(3);
       //return array(false, $id . ' resulted in err05');
      }
      break;
     case 'email':
      if (!eregi("^(.+)(@)(.+)(\.)(.+)$", $input[$id])) {
       $this->_ret(false, 04, $id, '"' . ucfirst($id) . '" Is not a valid email address.');
       break(3);
       //return array(false, $id . ' resulted in err04');
      }
      break;
     case 'length':
      // Make sure the field is the correct length
      preg_match('|(^.+)(\=)(.*$)|', $t, $m);
      if (strlen($input[$id]) != $m[3]) {
       $this->_ret(false, 01, $id, '"' . ucfirst($id) . '" Is not the correct length.');
       break(3);
       //return array(false, $id . ' resulted in err01');
      }
      break;
     case 'int':
      if (!is_numeric($input[$id])) {
       $this->_ret(false, 02, $id, '"' . ucfirst($id) . '" Must be a number and it is not.');
       break(3);
       //return array(false, $id . ' resulted in err02');
      }
      break;
     case 'text':
      if (!is_string($input[$id])) {
       $this->_ret(false, 03, $id, '"' . ucfirst($id) . '" Must be text and it is not.');
       break(3);
       //return array(false, $id . ' resulted in err03');
      }
      break;
     default:
      trigger_error('Invalid type provided to checkFields()', E_USER_ERROR);
    }
   }
  }
  //return array(true, 'err7 - Success');
  if (!isset($this->lastError)) {
   $this->_ret(true, 07, NULL, 'It was a success!');
  }
 }
 
 private function _ret($value, $code, $field_name, $description) {
  $error = array(
   'value' => $value,
   'code' => $code,
   'field' => $field_name,
   'description' => $description
  );
  $this->lastError = $error;
 }
 
 public function __get($id) {
  return $this->lastError[$id];
 }
}

The major revisions include:

Is now object oriented.
Does not return a value. To get information use $field_object->value/code/field/description or directly access the lastError array.
Provides a description suitable to give straight to the client. The error information could be used to highlight fields which failed the requirements using ajax or another JavaScript technique.

So now the example I have earlier, redone would look like this:

$requirements = array(
    'date' =>  'date',
    'text' => 'name',
    'email' => 'email',
    'date, int, length=4' => 'yearofbirth'
);
$field_check = new CheckFields($requirements, $_POST);
print_r($field_check->lastError);

PHP checkField() Function

2006-12-23T17:01:00.000-05:00

I wrote a function in PHP that checks submitted form fields for certain requirements. It works by passing in an array of requirements and the array of submitted data such as $_POST or $_GET. The requirements array contains the fields types and names. For example to check for a date field, a name, an email address, and year of birth, you could do this:

$requirements = array(
    'date' =>  'date',
    'text' => 'name',
    'email' => 'email',
    'date, int, length=4' => 'yearofbirth'
);
$resultArray = checkFields($requirements, $_GET);

It allows you to mix certain types together (where it makes sense) and the function is easy to expand to include new types.
It returns an array. The first key is either true or false depending on how the input validated, and the second key contains an error code and description.

Now with no further delay, here's the code:


/*
 $reqs = array(
     type => id
     'text' => 'name',
     'int' => 'year',
     'email' => 'email',
     'date' => 'date',
     'length=2, int, date' => 'month',
     'passwordsmatch' => 'password, confirmpass'
 );
 
 $input = array | example=($_POST || $_GET)
*/
function checkFields($reqs, $input) {
    foreach ($reqs as $type => $id) {
        $fields = explode(', ', $id);
        foreach ($fields as $field) {
            if (!isset($input[$field]) || $input[$field] == '') {
                return array(false, $id . ' resulted in err00');
            }
        }
        
        $types = explode(', ', $type);
        foreach ($types as $t) {
            switch (preg_replace('|(^.+)(\=.*)|', '$1', $t)) {
                case 'passwordsmatch':
                    $fields = explode(', ', $id);
                    if ($input[$fields[0]] != $input[$fields[1]]) {
                        return array(false, $id . ' resulted in err06');
                    }
                    break;
                case 'date':
                    if (strtotime($input[$id]) === false) {
                        return array(false, $id . ' resulted in err05');
                    }
                    break;
                case 'email':
                    if (!eregi("^(.+)(@)(.+)(\.)(.+)$", $input[$id])) {
                        return array(false, $id . ' resulted in err04');
                    }
                    break;
                case 'length':
                    // Make sure the field is the correct length
                    preg_match('|(^.+)(\=)(.*$)|', $t, $m);
                    if (strlen($input[$id]) != $m[3]) {
                        return array(false, $id . ' resulted in err01');
                    }
                    break;
                case 'int':
                    if (!is_numeric($input[$id])) {
                        return array(false, $id . ' resulted in err02');
                    }
                    break;
                case 'text':
                    if (!is_string($input[$id])) {
                        return array(false, $id . ' resulted in err03');
                    }
                    break;
                default:
                    trigger_error('Invalid type provided to checkFields()', E_USER_ERROR);
            }
        }
    }
    return array(true, 'err7 - Success');
}

ZFS Coming to Mac OS X

2006-12-22T16:49:00.000-05:00

The Zettabyte File System is coming to Mac OS X Leapord, so I hear from various sources.

If you're listening Apple, allow us to install OS X on a ZFS filesystem. No more of this HFS +++ stuff.

Hi, Again

2006-12-01T17:45:00.000-05:00

So I have not posted here for quite awhile. Been busy you see.

Work has been quite busy for some time. It's busy now too but we're being kept back by some bad weather, which is why I have the time to write this.

MacFlightGear now has a new hand. Tat ( tat_michy)
He's been doing an awesome job. Make a working universal binary. Rewriting the launcher in RubyCocoa adding some neat new features at the same time. A big thumbs up to him. It's great to see others taking things under control when you can't.

I've been building a web site using the Zend Framework. Components used are currently Zend_Controller, Zend_View, Zend_Search_Lucene, and Zend_DB. It works great. I plan on using GData once it's integrated and we'll see what else.
The ZF is really coming along. It'll be interesting to see what's next.

But for now, tacos taste great....

Let Israel Win the War

2006-08-02T20:34:00.000-04:00

Let Israel Win the War
By Charles Krauthammer, New York Daily News, July 28, 2006

What other country, when attacked in an unprovoked aggression across a recognized international frontier, is then put on a countdown clock by the world, given a limited time window in which to fight back, regardless of whether it has restored its own security?

What other country sustains 1,500 indiscriminate rocket attacks into its cities -- every one designed to kill, maim and terrorize civilians -- and is then vilified by the world when it tries to destroy the enemy's infrastructure and strongholds with precision-guided munitions that sometimes have the unintended but unavoidable consequence of collateral civilian death and suffering?

Hearing the world pass judgment on the Israel-Hezbollah war as it unfolds is to live in an Orwellian moral universe. With a few significant exceptions (the leadership of the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada and a very few others), the world -- governments, the media, U.N. bureaucrats -- has completely lost its moral bearings.

The word that obviates all thinking and magically inverts victim into aggressor is "disproportionate," as in the universally decried "disproportionate Israeli response."

When the United States was attacked at Pearl Harbor, it did not respond with a parallel "proportionate" attack on a Japanese naval base. It launched a four-year campaign that killed millions of Japanese, reduced Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki to a cinder, and turned the Japanese home islands to rubble and ruin. Disproportionate? No. When one is wantonly attacked by an aggressor, one has every right -- legal and moral -- to carry the fight until the aggressor is disarmed and so disabled that it cannot threaten one's security again. That's what it took with Japan.

Britain was never invaded by Germany in World War II. Did it respond to the blitz and V-1 and V-2 rockets with "proportionate" aerial bombardment of Germany? Of course not. Churchill orchestrated the greatest land invasion in history that flattened and utterly destroyed Germany, killing untold innocent German women and children in the process.

The perversity of today's international outcry lies in the fact that there is indeed a disproportion in this war, a radical moral asymmetry between Hezbollah and Israel: Hezbollah is deliberately trying to create civilian casualties on both sides while Israel is deliberately trying to minimize civilian casualties, also on both sides.

In perhaps the most blatant terror campaign from the air since the London blitz, Hezbollah is raining rockets on Israeli cities and villages. These rockets are packed with ball bearings that can penetrate automobiles and shred human flesh. They are meant to kill and maim. And they do.

But it is a dual campaign. Israeli innocents must die in order for Israel to be terrorized. But Lebanese innocents must also die in order for Israel to be demonized, which is why Hezbollah hides its fighters, its rockets, its launchers, its entire infrastructure among civilians. Creating human shields is a war crime. It is also a Hezbollah specialty.

On Wednesday, CNN cameras showed destruction in Tyre. What does Israel have against Tyre and its inhabitants? Nothing. But the long-range Hezbollah rockets that have been raining terror on Haifa are based in Tyre. What is Israel to do? Leave untouched the launch sites that are deliberately placed in built-up areas?

Had Israel wanted to destroy Lebanese civilian infrastructure, it would have turned out the lights in Beirut in the first hour of the war, destroying the billion-dollar power grid and setting back Lebanon 20 years. It did not do that. Instead, it attacked dual-use infrastructure -- bridges, roads, airport runways -- and blockaded Lebanon's ports to prevent the reinforcement and resupply of Hezbollah. Ten-thousand Katyusha rockets are enough. Israel was not going to allow Hezbollah 10,000 more.

Israel's response to Hezbollah has been to use the most precise weaponry and targeting it can. It has no interest, no desire to kill Lebanese civilians. Does anyone imagine that it could not have leveled south Lebanon, to say nothing of Beirut? Instead, in the bitter fight against Hezbollah in south Lebanon, it has repeatedly dropped leaflets, issued warnings, sent messages by radio and even phone text to Lebanese villagers to evacuate so that they would not be harmed.

Israel knows that these leaflets and warnings give the Hezbollah fighters time to escape and regroup. The advance notification as to where the next attack is coming has allowed Hezbollah to set up elaborate ambushes. The result? Unexpectedly high Israeli infantry casualties. Moral scrupulousness paid in blood. Israeli soldiers die so that Lebanese civilians will not, and who does the international community condemn for disregarding civilian life?

Announcing Leeper - A Library Catalog Manager

2006-08-02T17:09:00.000-04:00

I am pleased to announce a new product which has been developed behind closed doors for some time now during spare time. It is being developed for a local organization but may be useful for others.
What is it? The name is Leeper, a library catalog manager.

Features:

Web based - All you need is a browser that can handle XHTML, CSS, and SVG. (Firefox 1.5 or Opera 9) Works on Mac OS X, Windows, Linux.
Categories.
Users.
Logging of activity.
View overdue items.
Check-out and check-in items.
Search.
Browse.

It works really well. It's written in PHP and is my first released project using the Zend Framework.
And it's also hosted by Google.

It's very easy to setup, uses SQLite for the database which means zero setup. All you need is a web server and PHP 5.1 or later.

It's not designed for newbies as there is no documentation at all. I just wrote it for a local organization and it works great for us.

The UN: A Useless Body

2006-08-01T14:26:00.000-04:00

Quote from Joseph Farah of World Net Daily:

Annan threatens to pull out his United Nations peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon if Israel does not declare a unilateral and immediate cease-fire.

Can I ask an obvious question? What good have the U.N. peacekeepers done? Have they kept the peace? Have they prevented Hezbollah terrorists from raining thousands of rockets down on the civilian population of northern Israel? Have they prevented the transport of arms to the Lebanese-Israeli border?

If anything, the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel is proof-positive that the U.N. is completely ineffective, complete irrelevant – and so are the diplomatic "solutions" endlessly offered up by its busybody leaders.

I agree completely. The UN has never been able to stop a war or help bring a solution, and never can because such an organization has no such capability. They are only good for talk but can't walk.

Realignment Bad for Israel & Everyone Else

2006-07-08T11:51:00.000-04:00

I'd like to simply quote James Woolsey from the WSJ.

West Bank terrorist state: The folly of Israeli disengagement

By R. James Woolsey, Wall Street Journal, May 23, 2006

What does one say to a good ally who seems determined to reinforce failure? That the U.S. will pay for the undertaking?

Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was in Washington last week, where he asked for advice and assistance in financing the withdrawal of 50,000 to 100,000 Israeli settlers from 90% to 95% of the West Bank and major portions of Jerusalem, and for the Israel Defense Forces to be repositioned largely near the security barrier Israel is constructing. Most Americans are inclined to believe that such disengagement may be a reasonable step toward a two-state solution, even if some territorial disputes remain to be negotiated. It is also widely assumed that Palestinian hostility to Israel is fueled by despair that can only be reduced by Israeli concessions. Both assumptions, however, may be fundamentally flawed.

The approach Israel is preparing to take in the West Bank was tried in Gaza and has failed utterly. The Israeli withdrawal of last year has produced the worst set of results imaginable: a heavy presence by al Qaeda, Hezbollah and even some Iranian Revolutionary Guard units; street fighting between Hamas and Fatah, and now Hamas assassination attempts against Fatah's intelligence chief and Jordan's ambassador; rocket and mortar attacks against nearby towns inside Israel; and a perceived vindication for Hamas, which took credit for the withdrawal. This latter almost certainly contributed substantially to Hamas's victory in the Palestinian elections.

The world now needs to figure out how to keep Palestinians from starving without giving funds to a Hamas government in Gaza resolutely focused on destroying Israel. Before his massive stroke last year, Ariel Sharon repeatedly said he would not replay the Gaza retreat in the West Bank. With good reason: Creating a West Bank that looks like today's Gaza would be many times the nightmare. How would one deal with continuing launches of rockets and mortars from the West Bank into virtually all of Israel? (Israel's Arrow missile defense will probably work against Iranian medium-range ballistic missiles but not against the much shorter-range Katyushas.) A security barrier does no good against such bombardment. The experience in Gaza, further, has shown the difficulty of defending against such attacks after the IDF boots on the ground have departed. Effective, prompt retaliation from the air is hard to imagine if the mortar rounds and Katyushas are being launched, as they will be, from schools, hospitals and mosques.

Israel is not the only pro-Western country that would be threatened. How does moderate Jordan, with its Palestinian majority, survive if bordered by a West Bank terrorist state? Israeli concessions will also make the U.S. look weak, because it will be inferred that we have urged them, and will suggest that we are reverting to earlier behavior patterns — fleeing Lebanon in 1983, acquiescing in Saddam's destruction of the Kurdish and Shiite rebels in 1991, fleeing Somalia in 1993, etc.

Three major Israeli efforts at accommodation in the last 13 years have not worked. Oslo and the 1993 handshake in the Rose Garden between Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat produced only Arafat's rejection in 2000 of Ehud Barak's extremely generous settlement offer and the beginning of the second intifada. The Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000 has enhanced Hezbollah's prestige and control there; and the withdrawal from Gaza has unleashed madness. These three accommodations have been based on the premise that only Israeli concessions can displace Palestinian despair. But it seems increasingly clear that the Palestinian cause is fueled by hatred and contempt.

Israeli concessions indeed enhance Palestinian hope, but not of a reasonable two-state solution — rather a hope that they will actually be able to destroy Israel. The Iranian-Syrian-Hezbollah-Hamas axis is quite explicit about a genocidal objective. When they speak of "ending Israeli occupation" they mean of Tel Aviv. Under these circumstances it is time to recognize that, sadly, the Israeli-Palestinian issue will likely not be the first matter settled in the decades-long war that radical Islam has declared on the U.S., Israel, the West and moderate Muslims. It will more likely be one of the last.

Someday a two-state solution may become possible, but it is naive in the extreme to believe that this can occur while the centerpiece of the radical Islamic and Palestinian agendas is maximizing Jewish deaths. A durable compromise will be achievable only when we no longer, to borrow from Daniel Patrick Moynihan, "define deviancy down" for the Palestinians.

Today we cannot envision the 250,000 Jewish settlers who live outside Israel's pre-1967 borders being permitted to live at all, much less live free and unmolested, in a West-Bank-Gaza Palestinian state. But some 1.2 million Arabs, almost all Muslim, today live in Israel in peace among some five million Jews — about double the percentage of Jews now in the West Bank as a share of the Muslim population there. Israel's Arab citizens worship freely — one hears muezzins calling the faithful to prayer as one walks around Tel Aviv. They vote in free elections for their own representatives in a real legislature, the Knesset. They give every evidence that they prefer being Arab Israelis to living in the chaos and uncertainty of a West Bank after Israeli withdrawal.

A two-state solution can become a reality when the Palestinians are held to the same standards as Israelis — to the requirement that Jewish settlers in a West Bank-Gaza Palestinian state would be treated with the same decency that Israel treats its Arab citizens. Until then, three failures in 13 years should permit us to evaluate the wisdom of further concessions.

Songbird Not Yet 0.2 for Mac OS X

2006-06-27T07:06:00.000-04:00

Songbird not-yet-0.2 was released today for Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows.

One cool thing about Songbird is that you can go to any web site that has links to audio files and play them from within Songbird. You have a browser and media player integrated. You can then subscribe to a web page or add the files to your local library.

There are many little bugs here and there, but I think this project will be interesting to watch. It can already play Ogg, MP4/M4A, and MP3. It cannot yet play native FLAC files.

Launch of BBNBI

2006-06-06T17:12:00.000-04:00

A few days ago, the Bible Broadcasting Network announced BBNBI, the BBN Bible Institute.

I'm currently going through "The Names Of God" by John Mitchell.
The way it works is you first listen to a lesson (of which there are a few per class) which is in the MP3 format at 128 kbps. What I do is download it and save it into iTunes. Once you've listened to the lesson you take a test. There are 15 questions on each test. Once it's been completed, you go on to the next lesson.

This is a great application for those who want to learn more about the Bible and El-Shaddai, but cannot afford to go to a school or simply cannot for some reason. It works around your personal schedule and best of all, it's free. But of course donations to cover operating costs are much appreciated.

I definitely recommend it!

Apple Notebooks Actually Cheaper

2006-05-18T13:40:00.000-04:00

I did a little comparison to see how Apple's new MacBook compares with equivalent PC laptops. So I went to TigerDirect.ca and looked for laptops with the Centrino Core™ Duo Processor. Then I took the cheapest one and configured it to the specs of my MacBook configuration.

2.0 GHZ Centrino Core™ Duo Processor.
1 GB DDR2 SDRAM.
100 GB SATA Hard Drive.
DVD/RW Drive.

The Systemac PC: $2,061.
The Apple MacBook: $1,749.00.

They both use the same Intel GMA 950 graphics, the exact same processor, the display is the same size, while Apple's is wider, has a built-in iSight video camera, and more software bundled with it.
But the Systemac is slightly lighter being 0.45 pounds lighter than the MacBook, but I'd hardly notice that.
The MacBook is thinner but overall larger.

At least for myself, this debunks the claim that Mac's are more expensive. There's just no trace of that in this case.

Canadian Gun Registry, Safety or Control?

2006-05-16T11:04:00.000-04:00

Liberal MP John Godfrey says the registry cost more money than at first thought, and knows his party will be blamed. But he says the issue isn't money, it's public safety.

"The most important point is why we established it in the first place, which was to make Canada safer, so we would know where guns were and who owned them," he said.

I just have one question. Is it really public safety these guys are after or is it control they long after?

The gun registry does not help a bit when it comes to public safety. Who really thinks someone who wants to use a gun for an illegal purpose will actually register it. Anybody knows how easy it is to get a gun without having to license it, should know that the gun registry only oppresses those who already obey the law, and at the same time makes it easier for those who break the law, to get away with it as not so many good people have guns in order to stop them.

Those liberal people love to make half-baked, dimwitted, and ludicrous things sound good to the public in order to gain personal support.

Why is Music Important?

2006-05-13T21:32:00.000-04:00

Why is music important? It's something that is seen my most people I've talked to as something a lot like food. Some people have a taste for that while others have a taste for that. And I agree. Music is a lot like food. There is bad food and there's good food. For example I'd say rhubarb soup with the leaves and all would be considered bad. In fact you'd get sick from it.
Now rhubarb stems chopped up and made into a salad would be considered good food. Good for your body.

Some people might not have a taste for either of the dishes mentioned, but somebody else might. Does that mean it's good?

Take smoking cigarettes for example. Everybody knows it's unhealthy (read bad) but some people do it because they have developed a taste for it. Does that mean it's good? No.

But for some reason a lot of these people believe everybody has a taste for different music and it's all good. These people are also, usually addicted to poison.

Music has power. It controls the emotions and effects your Spirit. Play a certain kind of music and you can be inviting an evil spirit. Play another kind and you could be inviting a peaceful spirit. Play another kind and you could be inviting a spirit that will cause you to jump cliffs and commit suicide.
You may observe this at will.

Just a food can make you sick or keep you healthy, music is exactly the same way. You choice of music effects your mental and emotional health.
And just as it is possible to become addicted to that which is unhealthy, it is possible, and common for people to become addicted to unhealthy, if not wicked music. Just as one must go on a fast to regenerate oneself. You must go through a mental cleansing over time, in order to get your body used to that which is good once again.

The effects are amazing.

What is good music? First, follow your heart. In the most literal sense. Does the beat follow the rhythm of your heart beat?
Second, make sure the melody is foremost, then harmony, and lastly rhythm.
Third, does the music bring honour to your Creator? Does it lift your spirit?

Because of This!

2006-05-08T09:52:00.000-04:00

Why do I like Firefox? Because unlike Safari, you type in a keyword and it automatically finds the web site you are looking for using Google's "I'm feeling lucky" feature.
Why? Because with the tap of a key I can find whatever I want on the page in a split second as I type, unlike Safari where I have to tap twice the amount of keys and then use a dialog to slowly find what I want.

Why do I like Mac OS X Terminal? Because before the application even launched it already catches what I'm typing and inserts into standard output. This way by the time the Terminal application window is open, "cd Music; ls -g" is already inserted into the command line interface.

Why do I love God? Because when I went astray, he still liked {loved} me and wanted me back!

My Mac is Fixed

2006-05-04T06:12:00.000-04:00

I have finally fixed my iMac--by purchasing a MicroNet external Firewire hard drive, and using it as my main hard drive instead of the internal disk. Why? Because my iMac's internal hard drive has some very wierd problems where it will make a beeping sound and nothing will work at all. When it's the boot volume the whole OS will simply lock up.

At least I've finally been able to point it down to the hard drive or IDE interface system.

Would have FlightGear OSX Released By Now But...

2006-04-22T21:32:00.000-04:00

I would have FlightGear 0.9.10 for Mac OS X released by now. I was in the process of building universal frameworks for PLIB and SimGear and had fixed the blocking bugs in RenderTexture, but then I changed a system library and now the entire system is hosed. My Mac is now unusable and it will probably be mid-May before I get it fixed because that's when the device is coming that I need to fix it.

Well such is life. Sometimes more than one Mac would be nice.

Apple's Boot Camp

2006-04-05T19:09:00.000-04:00

Launched today, Apple Boot Camp. What's next, Apple ditching Mac OS X and preinstalling Windows on Apple computers? I think I'm going to switch completely to Linux soon.

Boot Camp allows you to dual-boot Windows XP and Mac OS X on the same machine without losing data. It even provides all the Windows drivers for stuff like graphics and sound.

I assume it works be resized the hard disk partitions and creating some. Related, Apple released a firmware update that adds legacy BIOS support to Intel macs.

MacFlightGear is No More

2006-03-31T16:23:00.000-05:00

As I've posted is the forums, I will no longer be working on the FlightGear flight simulator--of which I have been doing a Mac OS X distribution.

My reasons include the following:

It takes up too much time.
I'm sick of being the only one working on the Mac release.
FlightGear is so badly designed in some vital areas it makes me want to quit.
FlightGear is an unorganized project.
There should be no need for what I was doing.

So I quit. Let me know if you would like you continue the project, I can give you some pointers and help you get going but that's about it.

First Sun Burn for 2006

2006-03-29T20:42:00.000-05:00

Today my skin was burnt for the first time this year. And it sure felt good being up there on the roof with the all the warmth.
Finally the cold weather is gone and I only have to wear one layer instead of five.

New Time Statistic

2006-03-16T20:58:00.000-05:00

You can update my time statistic for work to 67%.
It seems these days I work from sunrise to sundown. And I pretty much do. How things change in a year.
Maybe it's time to start a night shift.

2006-03-09T13:45:00.000-05:00

My goals for the first beta release which will be the first public release are listed below.
I'm not going to do an alpha series this time around because this way I can pick up where v3 left off.

Real time iCalendar syncronization.
Ability to manage events over the web.
Users and Groups.
Recurring events.

This will make the web calendar useful to most people, including myself. Also included of course is localization support which is better than anything I've ever built, and customizing via templates is easier and more flexible than ever.

The current source is available from the subversion repository.

The Zend Framework

2006-03-07T19:37:00.000-05:00

Zend recently released their first preview release of the Zend Framework. At first I looked at it, and thought maybe when it matures I'll start using it in ACal 4. I've already written a database layer for ACal which is in my opinion easier to use than the one in the Zend Framework. But after trying to figure out how to build the template system I decided to try the Zend_View component. Zend says they use that component on their web site already so it must be good enough to use.
So I checked it out, and after having incorporated into the ACal source code, I can tell you it's staying. The concept is very similar to what I did in MachCMS. It's very simple and yet works really well.

There are many things that are possible in ACal using the framework, some which I never even thought of before.

Zend_Feed - RSS feed of latest events.
Zend_Mail & Zend_Mime - Event notifications and related
Create PDF of events.
Zend_Search_Lucene - Search calendar. I doubt it'll be used though because the technique may not work in our situation.
Zend_Service - Allow images in events through Flickr.

Overall the framework is interesting and will become even more useful as development continues. And it may even make my life easier.

ACal 2.2.6 Released

2006-03-06T09:18:00.000-05:00

This week I decided to fix the two security vulnerabilities reported by one named Alex in ACal 2.2.5.
So first I changed the code so instead of including the header and footer files they would be read as a file instead of as a PHP script. Second, I got rid of the cookie based authentication system and switched it over to session based authentication. I have to remove the "remember me" feature for now but at least the security hole is gone.

But even after looking at the 2.2.x source code, I can hardly believe so many people use ACal, but I guess at least it works, and now that I've released 2.2.6 they can rest in peace.

SubEthaEdit Replaced with Eclipse

2006-03-04T14:33:00.000-05:00

I've been using SubEthaEdit for all my coding for some time. The things I liked about it was nice syntax coloring, block-edit, and automatic tab-indenting among other nice features.
But recently with the release of 2.3 they no longer offer it for free to non-profit users and because I'm not willing to pay $49 CAD for a little piece of software, I quickly looked for something else to replace SubEthaEdit on my system.

I tried TextForge, and others that I've forgotten about, but ended up with Eclipse. Once I had Eclipse installed I installed two plugins, PHPEclipse and Subclipse. And so as of today, Eclipse has taken over my cross platform development environment.
For Mac OS X specific projects, Apple's Xcode is still the master.

Automatic Schema Update

2006-03-03T11:17:00.000-05:00

I've been working on ACal somewhat--on the database constructor method. I thought to myself, there's a good chance that the SQL database schema is going to change in the future. It would be very convenient if ACal automatically updated the schema as needed. And so I got to work and after about 3 hours of work and debugging, and 101 lines of code, it's a reality.

So now instead of doing this to upgrade the ACal calendar:

Backup data.
Delete database.
Reinstall calendar.
Import data.

It becomes a single step:

Upgrade calendar.

So much nicer if I do say so myself. No other PHP system I know of does this right now.

How Can I Tell?

2006-03-03T09:08:00.000-05:00

People have asked me, how can I tell if someone is a born-again Christian?

For some time I've had an about me on this site saying how I'm a Bible believing believer. I try to refrain from using the label Christian because of how that word is so misunderstood today.
I have placed my faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ. Who now stands between me and God the father making intercession for me so that I can enter into an eternal life of glory when He comes again.
He has paid the penalty for sin, none of us can pay, and now if only we let Him he gives us NEW life! A new life starting with the spirit within us transforming us into the image of Christ.

How do I know if you are one of of them? If you live like it! In your everyday life, in your talk and in your walk.
Gen 1:11 says, "And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so."

If you are born again in the spirit of God you will produce fruit of the same matter. And that's how I know you are real.

ACal Project Update 2006

2006-03-02T11:51:00.000-05:00

Nothing has happened to ACal in a very long time. Currently there is an open security bug and version 3 is pretty much a mess.

I decided to start version 4 as I have time. Here's the preliminary goals.

Should use a standard template system.
Include L10N support.
Be tightly integrated with iCalendar systems.
Use PHP 5.1's new native timezone support.

So ACal 4 will require PHP 5.1. The main reason I want to start afresh is because in version 3 I went a bit to crazy wanting to make everything really cool. There was no template system which also caused a lot of pain in the long run. This is basically what needs to change.

ACal 4 will use PDO for the database system.
Also the source code is now hosted at Sourceforge.net again using their new Subversion service.

Don't Click Here!

2006-03-02T11:19:00.000-05:00

I really recommend everybody who even remotely works with web site to read the W3C article, "

Don't use "click here" as link text

I've made the mistakes laid out there many times, but have really improved on that over the years. Now what really bugs me is when other people do it on their web pages :)

Sourceforge.net Now Offers Subversion

2006-02-23T19:22:00.000-05:00

As of today, all projects on Sourceforge.net have access to their new Subversion service.

Administrators should go to their Admin pages and enable the SVN service there.
Here's to the fall of CVS!

If Hamas must renounce violence, so should Israel, says Linda McQuaig

2006-02-19T08:58:00.000-05:00

TheStar.com - If Hamas must renounce violence, so should Israel, says Linda McQuaig

Ottawa also made clear last week that Canada would withdraw financial support unless Hamas renounced violence, recognized Israel and accepted previous Israeli-Palestinian peace agreements. At first glance, this seems reasonable. But why are these demands placed only on Palestinians? Shouldn't Israel also have to renounce violence? As the World Council of Churches recently argued: "If violence is incompatible with democracy and with peace, it is incompatible for both the Israeli and Palestinian authorities." As for recognizing Israel, Hamas has implicitly indicated a willingness do this if Israel ends its occupation. Hamas official Khaled Mishaal told a Russian journal last week that Hamas would halt its armed struggle if Israel withdrew from Palestinian land it has occupied since 1967.

The writer of this article is obviously confused. Perhaps she should live in Israel for a couple of weeks and see the situation with her own eyes before writing such a reprehensible article.

Hamas is a terrorist organization. Their goal is to use violence such as suicide bombings, rocket attacks, or full fledged war in order to at try to completely destroy Israel.
This is not something talking can resolve. It is impossible to negotiate with these people. They believe in what they do.

Now why should Israel renounce violence? Should Israel just stand by and watch the palestinians come in and destroy them? Can Israel just stand by and watch as they are being attacked?
It's not Israel on the offensive--at least for the most part. It's the palestinians. But the awesome part is, Israel can not ever be destroyed, unless it be from the inside out.

And NO! Hamas has never had a willingness to halt it's terrorist activity. They may have expressed such in order to deceive the west, just as their previous leader has lied to the west so consistently only to say something completely different to the palestinians and his friends.

Israel has the complete right to the land it is on right now, and even right to some of the land it's not on. Much of it was won in a war the palestinians started. Why should the back down? To make some terrorists happy? I THINK NOT!

Improve or Redo?

2006-02-17T15:46:00.000-05:00

I know from personal experience and from watching others that many times when building software, after awhile it gets bloated and messy. Things get disorganized and you feel like starting over. And many times that's what we do.

But what's the best thing to do? I've done two major rewrites of software so far; And once I tried to do a rewrite but ended up just improving what I had because of time restraints.

What are the advantages of redoing (rewriting) your software rather than improving it?

You get to start from scratch and use your previous experience to build something with a much better foundation.
You can reorganize without breakage.

The disadvantages include:

It takes a lot more time.
You need to work on two release branches simultaneously.
Requires more resources.

When improving the advantages are:

You can do it as you have the time.
There is no need to redo parts that have no faults.
Instead of writing something new from scratch, you can refine what's there resulting in code without the lot of bugs.

And disadvantages include:

It's easier to say I'll get to it later and leave it as is.
Some things might be impossible to improve without major reconstruction.

But overall I believe the better choice in most cases is to improve. Except in those cases where you need it in another language or it requires some major code reconstruction.

Why I wrote this I don't know. But maybe it'll help someone. It's like this in life a lot of times too. People say, starting this year I'm going to turn my life around! Usually it doesn't work that way. They start but end up turning back because it's too difficult.
Meanwhile if we turn our life around gradually, it is much easier to do, and usually is more successful.
But even then we can't do it ourselves. Only through the power of Jesus Christ can we do anything of worth. Much in the same way, only if we have the resources can we improve or redo software.
But the power Christ gives is enough to redo our life in a split second. Like redoing software, it starts at the heart and works it's way outward. And the result is amazing.

Camino 1.0

2006-02-16T09:16:00.000-05:00

I downloaded and started to use Camino 1.0 a couple of days ago. I like how much better it integrates with Mac OS X and many things are more "snappy". But the thing that is driving me back to Firefox, is extensions and Firefox's builtin RSS/Atom feed reader.

Camino is very nice, but simply lacks the power I'm used to with Firefox.

The Problem with Spare Time Statistics

2006-02-11T18:50:00.000-05:00

I recently heard someone talk about how we have so and so many hours every year where we do nothing and how all this time could be used elsewhere doing something of use. I must agree to come extent. But not in the way implied.

There are 8,760 hours in a calendar year. Here are some statistics about how my time is spent in a year according to current conditions:

27% (2,372.5 Hrs.) - Spent Sleeping.
6% (547.5 Hrs.) - Eating & Drinking.
33% (2,920 Hrs.) - Working outside.
6.6% (584 Hrs.) - Out with friends/family/church.
2% (182.5 Hrs.) - Maintaining church web site and audio editing/publishing.
1.6% (146 Hrs.) - Working on several software projects.
5% (438 Hrs.) - Personal time--usually prayer and reading of scriptures.
1.2% (109.5 Hrs.) - Physical cleanliness.

That leaves 17.6% (1,541.7 Hrs.) Now say 12% of that is spent doing something else (such as posting this here.) not part of the regular week, or just not worth seperating above. Which leaves 5.6% (499 Hrs.) of my time left doing nothing.

Have you ever tried to work constantly over the entire day? From sun up to sun down? I've done it and can say if you do it constantly every day, you will end up a nervous wreck. Our bodies are designed to require rest. And while it is true by far most people have too much time on their hands, it's not because they're doing nothing.

My point is, you are always doing something. You are either sleeping, thinking, or working. It's not about how much spare time you have doing nothing, it's about how you use your time and whether or not it's used in a benificial way.
It's impossible for us to do nothing as long as we live, but we can choose how we use that time, and these decissions are highly significant.

Now back to my time chart above. I must confess it's not the best at all. In a preferred time statistic, time spent alone with God would meet or exceed 10% or 876 hours in a year.

Software Should be Free

2006-02-03T14:47:00.000-05:00

I just read the following quote,

Software should be free in this very competitive world and to make money charge customers for support.

That is the most silly thing I've heard about free software for some time now. Just think about it. Sure, the concept sounds good. But what would this really mean for users?

I can almost hear it now. "Because we make most of our money off of support, why not make our software a little more difficult to use."
The software might be free, but you would see the quality go down the drain. And it's bad enough already.

Hamas' Electoral Win Shouldn't Surprise Us

2006-01-31T17:40:00.000-05:00

Hamas' Electoral Win Shouldn't Suprise Us....

I highly recommend the above linked to article. Hamas winning didn't suprise me at all but this article is something everybody in the west should read.

The Conservatives Won!

2006-01-24T06:25:00.000-05:00

Yesterday night the Conservative Party of Canada won the election and now has a minority government.

To tell you the truth, I was strongly hoping for a majority Conservative goverment but maybe next time!
It's about time Canada got some new leadership. I just hope now the Liberals and NDPs are kept out for a long while.

Google Earth Now for Mac OS X

2006-01-10T16:05:00.000-05:00

Official Google Blog: Google Earth in a Mac world (PC too)

As of now, Google Earth is available for Macintosh (Mac OS X 10.4)
I just installed it and here's a screenshot.

It's kinda of choppy on my iMac G4 with 256MB of RAM, but I'm sure it would make steam on the new Intel Macbook!

Mac OS X 10.4.4 Coming Today

2006-01-10T12:27:00.000-05:00

Straight from the keynote, Mac OS X 10.4.4 is coming today along with a Google Widget, new Address Book, and Calendar.

X-Plane 7.30 Gets Huge Frame-Rate Improvements

2005-12-31T09:37:00.000-05:00

Austin, "Now, what's new for 8.30? TONS OF STUFF, my favorite being he HUGE (85%!) frame-rate improvements and HUGE (50%!) scenery load-time reductions!"

My installer is running right now...

FlightGearOSX Update

2005-12-29T11:00:00.000-05:00

Today I checked in the Advanced Help window into CVS.

My next priority is the aircraft and scenery installer. This and the main user help builtin.

That's about it for now.

Darwine 0.9.4 Released

2005-12-26T22:18:00.000-05:00

Darwine 0.9.4 was released recently. It is based in the wine 0.9.4 release.

You cannot yet run an x86 .exe on a PPC OSX machine, and so in my opinion Darwine is not yet ready for anything all that useful. But it's getting close. Currently all that's missing is support for loading dynamic libraries in a reliable way.

And you think it's funny that I'm posting about something with the name "darwin" inside of it. Well I do not like the name of these projects, --darwine and darwin/opendarwin-- but the name does not always define what the product is.

Is Creationism Destructible?

2005-12-24T22:31:00.000-05:00

Is Creationism Destructible? - Where to go from Dover. By William Saletan: "Scientifically, Jones settles the issue. Culturally, he fails. And until we learn the difference, the fight over creationism in schools and courts will go on.

The decisive assumption in Jones' opinion is the definitions of science proposed by the National Academy of Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. First, scientific explanations must be natural, not supernatural. Second, they must be testable. These criteria instantly kill ID as science. Its explicit aspiration was to defeat 'methodological naturalism.' Once you accept naturalism, as Jones does, you guarantee his conclusion that supernatural theories are a 'science stopper.'"

This article is kind of interesting. But raises the question, is Evolution testable? Well I don't think it's any more testable than Intelligent Design. So it should instantly kill Evolution as science as well.

And one more point I'd like to bring out. I believe that truth never changes. And that the truth lasts forever. Now if you don't agree you probably also believe there's no such thing as absolutes.
Now Creationism has been around since the beginning, it has never changed, and is still around without any doubt it's staying. Now Evolution was thought up by a man around 1958-1959. Only some 40 years ago. The first people to pick it up were communist. How can anyone trust such a theory of their own existence?

Crazy Things in Life

2005-12-24T21:48:00.000-05:00

Landmark US decision on evolution vs creationism - 21 Dec 2005 - Technology & Science: "The school district was sued by a group of eleven parents who claimed teaching 'intelligent design' was unconstitutional and unscientific and had no place in high school biology classrooms. "

It's stuff like this that really makes me realize how weird our world has become. Why don't they realize this evolution theory is not science either? ID is more science that this Darwinism stuff.
Now I don't agree with Intelligent Design 100% either. But this is a situation where people's opinions overruled facts.

Sourceforge.net Subversion coming January '06

2005-12-23T16:18:00.000-05:00

In the site update email I received today,

As we enter a new calendar year, our focus remains on further
improving the quality of our service. To that end, I am pleased to
announce that SourceForge.net will offer Subversion in early January
2006, initially as a beta program available to approximately 50
projects. Then, if the Subversion beta period proceeds as smoothly as
we expect, we will deploy Subversion site wide by March, 2006.

I'm looking forward to it even though I don't have time to work on my SF.net projects anymore, at least not much.

Safari » SVG Has Landed

2005-12-18T20:46:00.000-05:00

Safari now has SVG support in the nightly builds. This means it could be in the next release! Catching up with Firefox now eh.

New Firefox extensions

2005-12-15T19:12:00.000-05:00

Google has released two new Firefox extensions. I'm using one of them called "Blogger Web Comments." It is pretty neat. I even found out about some interesting links to my web sites.

Darwinports 1.2 Released

2005-12-15T19:09:00.000-05:00

Darwinports 1.200 has been released.

I've Started Roofing!

2005-12-15T16:13:00.000-05:00

This week I've started a roofing job. It seems all the work I've done and continue to do in open source projects doesn't pay very well :)
Next to nothing other than small donations here and there. And on top of that people don't like clicking on my advertisements :(

So now I'm working outside in the cold and snow on the roof.

I'll try to keep this blog updated and work on the projects as I have time. But we'll see how it goes.

How Did The Moon Get Into Orbit?

2005-12-05T19:43:00.000-05:00

I stumbled across this today, "How Did The Moon Get Into Orbit?"

I found it interesting. As was the following quote.:

There are some people who think that the moon was actually placed into orbit.
It neither came from the Earth or outer space. It began its journey in a circle
on the circle. But they are just unscientific aren't they?

Yeah, just about as unscientific as those who say we came here out of nothing. It still amazes me how many people still have faith in the evolution religion even though it makes no sense at all.

It's also a neat example of what Firefox 1.5 is capable of.

PHP 6 Thoughts

2005-12-05T10:24:00.000-05:00

Writing as someone who uses PHP for web development and also wants to write an extension, PHP 6 looks like it will be good as usual. While I have not tried the Unicode support yet it looks nice.
Namespace support will be nice to have. But while the language is getting better and better, PHP 5 doesn't even have a good thorough documentation system for writing extensions!

The day PHP has some good extension writing documentation, is the day I won't look to other language for things PHP can't do.

FlightGear Mac OS X Downloads

2005-12-02T22:36:00.000-05:00

All I can say is, wow. I never thought something I was a part of could be so widely distributed.

The Mac OS X port of FlightGear was downloaded over 18,000 times in November acounting for 2.1 terrabytes of data. All downloads are close to 70,000 and 7.6 terrabytes of data.

The strange thing is that I still use X-Plane. Version 8 is really good.

Zend Framework

2005-12-02T19:45:00.000-05:00

Chris Shiflett: Zend Framework Webcast.

PHP Collaboration Project.

I am looking forward to the Zend PHP Framework. It will make many things so much easier, and better with a lot less code.

Audacity: Free Audio Editor and Recorder

2005-12-02T12:40:00.000-05:00

Audacity: Free Audio Editor and Recorder

Version 1.2.4 and 1.3.0 Beta have been released today. I've been using 1.3 preview releases and can say that it's certainly an improvement from 1.2.3.

PHP 5.1.0 Released

2005-11-26T09:55:00.000-05:00

I know I'm late but anyway, PHP 5.1.0 has been released. The major new features include timezone support (I like it), PDO enabled by default, speed increases and other updates.
Overall this is a great release. I've been using it for MachCMS 1.1 development. Too bad MCMS is not yet ready for release as well.

Also ACal 3.0 svn source has support for PHP 5.1's new timezone support.

Xiph QuickTime Components

2005-11-25T19:53:00.000-05:00

As of now, Arek has announced "Xiph.org: QuickTime Components."

I've been using the component for some time now. It works although it's slower than native formats and some features such as streaming are not yet supported. It will be great once FLAC is supported in the component.

So check it out, it's been a long time coming!

My Base on Google Base

2005-11-22T15:46:00.000-05:00

The Google Base entered Beta a short while ago. And so to test it out I posted my locally famous cookie recipe.
Overall I believe Google Base leaves something to be desired. It's an interesting concept but I doubt it will get further than Google Talk.

On the other hand my laptop's screen seems to be dead and the sound card has decided to stop working correctly too.
Anybody want to send me a new one? :)

FGFS 0.9.9 for Mac Out

2005-11-22T08:41:00.000-05:00

I said I'd post it here and so I am. FlightGear 0.9.9 for Mac OS X (10.4 or later) has been released to the outside world.
As already posted to MacUpdate, Freshmeat, and soon Apple downloads, changes since 0.9.8 include universal binary, terrasync, and advanced options. Plus much more in the actual flight simulator.

Work continues....

FlightGear 0.9.9 Released

2005-11-18T18:02:00.000-05:00

The source for FlightGear 0.9.9 has been released. A slackware package is available and the Mac OS X package will be available tomorrow if everything goes well. If not it could be awhile because of some Mac bugs.

Watch this blog for updates on when the Mac release is out.

New Windows Experience

2005-11-16T19:56:00.000-05:00

The last time I actually really used the Windows OS was a couple of years ago with Windows 98se.

Today I installed Windows XP after I couldn't find a Linux disto that would fully work with my Crystal 4237B sound card.
The sound card works fine but here's what I can't understand. My CardBus network card worked out of the box (or plug-n-play) when using Linux but Windows XP SP2 fails to recognize a network card with drivers available since 2001!

If I had that kind of experience with Apple's OSX they wouldn't have my support for long. It's amazing how much Microsoft can get away with and still be a market leader.

Sourceforge.net get's a New Look

2005-11-14T14:58:00.000-05:00

Check it out. All I can say is that it looks, fresh.

[Update] Looks like they switched back. Oh well.
[Update 2] Since Yesterday evening they once again turned on the new look for good this time.

FlightGear 0.9.9 on the Horizon

2005-11-11T22:02:00.000-05:00

I've been rather busy lately with trying to get FlightGear on OSX working well before the final is released. A preview is now available from the project.

Major bugs right now include.

Splash screen don't work on startup.
Aircraft that define their own spash screen crash fgfs.
Segmentation fault when launched from command line.

Meanwhile everything is ported to universal binary. The entire package size is way smaller. It's much more stable. But these are the major features I plan to add soon once the major bugs are fixed:

Aircraft/scenery installer.
Advanced panel you can use to pass custom flags.
Atlas extension.

Note the Atlas is last on the list now. While it is important FlightGear is the most important. And so it must be taken in perspective. Release is coming near and it's not ready. Some stuff has to be cut in order to have a stable release.

MacFlightGear Going Universal

2005-11-07T14:26:00.000-05:00

With Intel Mac's coming soon--maybe even in January already, I will do my best to have a universal binary of FlightGear ready before mid-December. It's not a lot of work but because I have to use lipo and some makefile stuff needs to be converted to Xcode, it might take a little while.

When it's done I'll make a test binary available.

MySQL or SQLite?

2005-11-03T17:23:00.000-05:00

MachCMS now supports SQLite (default for php5) and MySQL (default for php4). After doing to MySQL implementation I found out a few things.

I really don't like MySQL.
I don't really like MySQL.
MySQL really doesn't like me.

Now it might be fine for those database fanatics but I like pure simple and flexible data storage which is exactly what SQLite provides.

What brought this on? Well I really don't like the fact that you have to specify the length of varchar in MySQL. And then in some versions it's actually a byte value. Not my idea of flexible storage.

Other than that, I am currently working on adding security features to MachCMS before do testing and making a PHP4 version.

MachCMS 1.1 - Search Implemented

2005-11-02T09:10:00.000-05:00

I have implemented a search API into MachCMS.

There's a crawl script which you can run in the background. It updates the index every 10 minutes by default although you can change that by passing an option to it.

The index is stored in the database. It contains all the words contained in pages, and time the pages were last updated, and more.

When you search it looks for matches in each page and ranks the pages by how many times the searched string was found in the page.

I did not implement caching because there was no need for it.
And I said when you saved virtual pages the index would be updated at the same time as well but I have not implemented that yet. That will only take a minute though.

Now I will be working on finishing plugins support and working some more on the editor before getting ready for release which includes adding mysql support so it can run with php4.

By the way Firefox 1.5RC1 has been out for awhile.

MachCMS - Page Grouping

2005-11-01T11:30:00.000-05:00

Something many content management systems have is groups or sections. For example if you want to manage sitemaps using the admin pages, you would go to http://domain/admin:sitemaps.

If I have time this is something that will go into MachCMS 1.1 but more likely will land in version 1.2.

I have fixed a major bug now that allows me to work on search. More info will come as progress comes.

UPDATE: This has been implemented for v1.1 because it was needed for restricting search results to page groups.

SourceForge.net: Subversion service

2005-11-01T08:23:00.000-05:00

SourceForge.net: Detail: 1341005 - Master RFE: Subversion service

Starting now they are planning deployment. Finally me thinks. (Excuse my grammer please.)

Creationism Folly and More

2005-10-28T16:22:00.000-04:00

I've been reading some web sites and I noticed something like never before.

When those trying to refute a theory or fact written by a Creationist, they often make the same mistake they are accusing the Creationist of.

After reading for awhile it was just confirmed to me that denial of Creation is only a symptom of the denial of God.
Because if Creation is true God has to be real. And this obviously creates some problems for these people.

We are well on our way to the third world war. This is how we got there:

Throwing away moral principles.
Because we want to live how we please, throw away the Bible and say it's only a story or a nice book.
Throw away prayer because God does not do anything anyway.

What's happening in the US right now is really sad for example. Choosing the Judge. How has faith in God become such a crime?

MacFlightGear Update 10-2005

2005-10-26T18:54:00.000-04:00

Today I did some work on MacFlightGear again. TerraSync is now fully integrated and there are not nearly as many problems with it as there are in the 0.9.8 version.

I've been learning how to work with threading and processes in C++. TerraSync, FGFS, and MacFlightGear all run in their own process which only means good things to those with a Quad or Dual PowerMac.

Next up it Atlas. I'm in the process of downloading the source code and should have something running in the next two days.
In case you're not clued in. Atlas for Mac OS X will be made available for MacFlightGear as an extension. Exactly how it will be integrated yet, I do not know.

Iranian Leader: Israel will be destroyed

2005-10-26T09:47:00.000-04:00

Iranian Leader: Israel will be destroyed

When you fight against Israel you fight against God. Men will never be able to destroy Israel.

Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places. Deuteronomy 33:29

The only time the Lord is against Israel is when they obey not His commandments. When they transgress, or break the covenant. But even then it is only to bring them to repentance and in right standing once again.

"Anybody who recognizes Israel will burn in the fire of the Islamic nation's fury, any (Islamic leader) who recognizes the Zionist regime means he is acknowledging the surrender and defeat of the Islamic world," Ahmadinejad said.
"As the Imam said, Israel must be wiped off the map," said Ahmadinejad, who came to power in August.
Ahmadinejad referred to Israel's recent withdrawal from the Gaza Strip as a "trick," saying Gaza is part of the Palestinian territories and the withdrawal was meant to make Islamic states acknowledge Israel.

I hope this shows you at least a little how that you cannot negotiate with these people. They believe in destruction. Anyone who does not believe as they do is an infidel and must needs be destroyed.
This is the reason why Islam is not a peaceful religion, as many people here in Canada seem to think.

For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts, is his name. Amos 4:13

MachCMS 1.1 - Database

2005-10-24T18:28:00.000-04:00

With the introduction of a search system, caching, and more. The database is being used more and more and it will be very difficult to build a php4 version out of mcms 1.1 because of the current exclusive use of SQLite via PDO.
So I have been working on adding support for multiple database systems. For the 1.1 release SQLite3 via PDO and MySQL will be supported. In the future MySQL enhanced may be added as well as SQLite2.

PHP4 compatiblity is an important issue, and yet something I wish wasn't needed. How long will it take for the hosting companies to upgrade?

By the way, I've been trying out other content management systems lately including Drupal, Xaraya, and Joomla.
Xaraya wouldn't even install properly. I believe it's not compatible with PHP 5.1.0RC3.
Joomla's theme system was just to0 complicated. I didn't want to learn a templating language.
Drupal was the best out of the three. I like how easy it is to make themes. You can use three different systems. But in the end I just couldn't customize everything exactly how I wanted it. Although with enough work it would have been possible.
While I could have done what I wanted to do with all three of these CMS's, I wasn't prepared to spend the amount of time needed to do it.

And that's the reason for MachCMS. Power in simplicity, and flexiblity. With MachCMS 1.1 the main focus is to make it more extendable. Over time it will load more features and some people other than myself might even start to deploy it. But work continues.

UN Gives Green Light for Israel, Syria, Iran War

2005-10-21T19:08:00.000-04:00

From the Israel News Agency, UN Gives Green Light for Israel, Syria, Iran War.

I can only think of one thing. I knew it would happen sooner or later, but I never thought it would happen like this.

Flock 0.4.8 - Umm

2005-10-21T10:05:00.000-04:00

I tried it, found it unpolished, saw that Yahoo was the default search engine, saw that it did nothing special, quit and uninstalled.

MachCMS 1.1 - Search

2005-10-20T08:47:00.000-04:00

I have not implemented anything yet but here is my plan for the built-in search function in MachCMS 1.1.

But first let me clarify something.
Hard pages are pages located on the hard disk in the pages folder.
Virtual pages are pages stored in a local database file. Previously these were referred to as WIKI type pages.

In hard pages, you can use the search functions like this:
$search = new Search;
$search->for('chocolate'); // This will search all the pages for chocolate.
$search->showResults(); // Display the results of the most recent search in HTML.
$myResults = $search->getResults(); // Return array of results which you can use as you wish.
$search->displayForm(); // Display an HTML search box.

Now how is the search going to work? We are going to use indexing and caching for speed. Whenever virtual pages are saved the index will be updated and there will be a crawl script which goes through all the hard pages and updates the index as needed. The crawler can be run in the background or initiated at will.
The index will be stored in an SQLite database and so will the cache.

The cache will simply store searches and their results so that the index does not have to be searched through again.
Whenever the index is updated, and if the cache references that updated section that part of the cache is removed.

There will be some plugins included as part of this search function. The main reason being PHP code does not work in virtual pages and yet you might want to use search in them.
In hard pages you can still use the plugins but using the PHP classes is a lot more flexible.

Somewhat off topic but there is one more thing to be added about plugins.
What if a plugin wants input?
[plugin:[myPlugin('input string')]] For now only one parameter will be allowed. But how will it be delivered to the plugin?

In the PluginName.plugin folder, if your plugin excepts input you must have another file named start.php.
This simple PHP file will define a function which is called by load_plugin().
For example:

global $pluginInput = NULL;
function machcms_PluginName_start($myInput) {
global $pluginInput;
$pluginInput = $myInput;
}

Then in your PluginName.php file you can access the input as $pluginInput. Of course this start function can contain any valid PHP and so can do anything you want before the actual plugin is initiated.

MachCMS 1.1 - Plugins

2005-10-18T12:52:00.000-04:00

Soon after I deployed MachCMS 1.0, a feature I need was plugins. So here is my plan.

There will be a plugins folder. This folder contains plugins with this mapping.

PluginFolder.plugin
- PluginFolder.php

This will allow a few basic things. The .plugin folder extension simply identifies it as a plugin to the user installing it.
Inside this folder there must be a PHP file with the same name as the folder with the extension. This PHP file can load other files inside this plugin folder.

The plugin's PHP file can contain any valid PHP code and simply outputs everything directly which is caught by an output buffer.

Now how do pages use these plugins? In a virtual page, you can embed a plugin using this syntax:
[plugin:[myPlugin1][myPlugin2]...]
Like this you can embed more than one plugin in a single area. There are loaded in the order specified.

In a hard page you can use this syntax:
load_plugins('myPlugin1,myPlugin2 ...');

Now to implement this in an efficient way...

Debian Versus Ubuntu

2005-10-16T22:03:00.000-04:00

Ubuntu seems to be the most popular Linux distribution these days. And in my opinion the best choice on the desktop PowerPC platform.
And it was my first choice on the x86 laptop I purchased. But the major problem was that my sound card would just not work. No matter what I tried.

So I downloaded the Debian Sarge netinstall cd image, burned and used it to install Sarge and the sound card still didn't work.

Upgraded the kernel to 2.6.12 and it worked fine.

Atlas and FlightGear on Mac

2005-10-15T18:41:00.000-04:00

So... in the MacFlightGear forums and via email there's been a lot of talk and questions about Atlas on Mac OS X recently.
While personally I don't care much for it. It is currently at the top of my todo list next to using threading for terrasync (and atlas). But now I have one question for you as users, the ones who want this.

Should Atlas be bundled with the default FlightGear installation, be offered as a MacFlightGear extension, or some other method?

Currently my plan is to offer it as an extension which will require me writing an installer.

It's ACal aGain

2005-10-08T11:48:00.000-04:00

The acal3 trunk has a lot more bugs that I had thought. Now I found a major flaw in the acal_alarm script where it can't open the database when the value is UNDER_DOCUMENT_ROOT. The good thing is it's easy to fix and will get fixed today.

Other than that I cleaned up code and fixed other bugs lately. So what exactly is my current plan to get to the final 3.0 release?

Beta Release October 15th
Release Candidate October 22
Final release somtime the next week

I hope you don't expect it to happen exactly like that :)

ACal 3.0 - Some more work

2005-10-06T18:51:00.000-04:00

Today I worked on ACal a little. The trunk now includes ie7 0.9.0 and the source now conforms to PHP strict standards.
But a major problem is that now my time zone code does not work at all. It seems to be all messed up with PHP 5.1 which has it's own time zone support.

So I have a question. What should I do?

[Update]
Problem solved. How? I added a check so that if the PHP version is less than 5.1.0 it will use the old date class. But if the PHP version is 5.1.0 or greater it will use PHP's new builtin time zone features.
This is done using a seperate class for each method. It works great too!

Israel Resumes Offensive Against Hamas

2005-09-24T17:24:00.000-04:00

After Palestinian terrorists attacked Israelis recently, Israel has resumed it's offensive against these Islamic terrorists.
This proves what I said a few months ago. There will never be a lasting peace in Israel so long as there are descendants of Ishmael on this earth, or Islam for that matter.

But what I found very interesting was this quote from a mother whose son was killed today by the IDF.
"Farhad's mother, known as Um Nidal, said all three of her sons have been killed in fighting with the Israelis. "I am so proud," she said. "I wish I had more sons to offer."" - Newsday.com

What can be the cause of such perversion? This is the teaching of Islam.

Mac FlightGear Project Report

2005-09-24T13:52:00.000-04:00

It's been a long time since I posted anything about FlightGear on Mac OS X and there have been some very good developments lately so here it goes....

Over the past couple of weeks I rewrote the GUI in C++ which really speeds things up and allows more features plus offers a lot more stability. The downside is that development time is increased because of the time needed to compile each change in the source code.
Overall C++ is a lot better than I thought. Especially with Xcode 2.2pre1 which makes things pretty simple. All you have to do is focus on the code.

Now sometime during June, 2006 Apple will introduce a Mac or two using the Intel proccessor. And if I'm correct, users won't appreciate running FlightGear under Rosetta as you already need a good CPU in order to run FGFS smoothly.
So during the next two weeks I'll have the following software ported to Universal Binary and optimized for altivec on PowerPC and sse3 on Intel:

PLIB [DONE]
SimGear [In Progress]
FlightGear
MacFlightGear

This will allow FGFS to run at the same relative speed on both platforms.

Improvements are also being made to MacFlightGear. TerraSync will be enabled by default. There will be builtin support for multiplayer and Atlas 3.0. Real weather, 3D clouds, drag-and-drop aircraft/scenery installer, and more.
This won't all be done overnight, but I hope to have it all done in time for the 1.0 release of the FlightGear Flight Simulator (FGFS).
Beta releases are in the pipeline.

Figure Math Problems with PHP

2005-09-20T10:54:00.000-04:00

You gotta love PHP when your mind does not seem to work any more but you need to figure out what 3 digit number ending with the digit 4 multiplied by a single digit number equals 1242. A simple script figured it out for me in less than 2 seconds.

$t = 104;
$b = 1;

$answer = 'f';
while ($answer == 'f') {
if ($t > 994) {
$t = 104;
$b++;
}
if ($b > 9) {
exit("\n\nThere is no answer!\n\n");
}

echo "$t * $b = ";
$tmp = $t * $b;
echo $tmp;
if ($tmp != 1242) {
echo " False...\n";
}
else {
echo " TRUE!!!!!\n\n";
echo "THE ANSWER HAS BEEN FOUND #########\n";
$answer = $tmp;
}

$ft = substr($t, 0, 2);
$ft++;
$t = (int)$ft . 4;
}
?>

PHP's always there is your time of need :) - Sometimes it's easier to write a script than figure it out manually.

Learning Hebrew

2005-09-05T14:34:00.000-04:00

That's what I'm up to now. Learning Hebrew. As in the language of Hebrew.
So that's right. Don't expect any project updates for awhile.

GMail Notifier Available for Mac OS X

2005-09-01T17:48:00.000-04:00

Just released today, the GMail Notifier is available now for Mac OS X 10.3.8 or later.

It's just like they say. Not obtrusive and yet does a great job. You can set GMail to your default mail client and read/compose mail.
It's works great.

What's Planned for MachCMS 1.1?

2005-08-26T22:05:00.000-04:00

I've been working on an active deployment of MachCMS 1.0 recently, and there are a few things I would like to add for the next release.

Google Sitemap integration. MachCMS would automatically create and keep updated a sitemap.xml file which Google can use to crawl your pages.
Integrated search. A built-in search extension. It can be used to search all the MachCMS pages using an MC generated search cache.
Support for plugins. So anybody can write a plugin that pages can use.

Other than that I will improve the learning curve by improving the experience when the system has been setup. Going to it originally will instantly tell you how to get started step by step.

Safari Pulling Ahead

2005-08-26T21:36:00.000-04:00

I'm a really active Firefox user. The only time I use another browser is when I'm downloading Firefox or doing some testing.
But Safari, or technically Webkit has been pulling ahead of Mozilla in terms of implementing new W3C standards such as CSS.
Mozilla has XForms and SVG which Safari doesn't but SVG is already planned and knowing them it won't take nearly as long as it took the Mozilla SVG project.
But it's really in the area of CSS that Safari is pulling ahead of the game fast. Just checkout the latest blog post about new support for parts of CSS3.

I wonder how long it will take before somebody builds a Windows version? Linux already has Konqueror.

Google Talk Released

2005-08-24T09:28:00.000-04:00

Today Google Talk has been officially released. It already worked yesterday but today it became official.

They have a client that is only available for Windows operating systems but almost any jabber client including iChat can connect to the server.
If you would like to talk to me my user id is artooro.
The service requires a GMail account so if you need that leave a comment and I can get you one.

Israeli Forced Evacuation

2005-08-17T18:01:00.000-04:00

Read more at the Jerusalem Post.

What is my position? I am totally against the disengagement for several reasons.

Why should the Israeli people suffer so that the Palestinians can enjoy some more fruit of their labors? Their labors being suicide bombing and attacks against Jews in general.
The Palestinians have done nothing, and I repeat nothing to help the peace. There have been talks but what good is a talk without the walk?

And that basically rounds my thoughts up. The only thing the Palestinians want is to destroy Israel. This forced evacuation will do nothing to help the peace. After things have settled down I expect a new surge in violence because now the Palestinians believe they have won and can continue to win more land with their attacks against civilians. This is the result of Islam.

Audacity 1.2.3 Versus Sound Studio 2.2.4

2005-08-15T21:22:00.000-04:00

Sound Studio wins without any real competition from Audacity except for being cross platform (Sound Studio only runs on Mac OS X) and free. Sound Studio is payware (except in my case where I got it free from Apple) while Audacity is free as in open source.

It's a pity Linux has no real good audio and video editing software that can compete with what I can run on my Mac.

Amaya W3C Web Browser and Editor on OSX

2005-08-13T12:22:00.000-04:00

I just checked out Amaya again today as I've been looking forward to the native Mac OS X version for awhile now and it's been fulfilled.
Here's a screeshot of the left.

I have not done much with it yet but on first glance, I think I will be using it a little at least.

Back to wxPHP Again

2005-08-12T19:13:00.000-04:00

Well today I finished releasing MachCMS 1.0 to the world. Yesterday the MacOSX installer was released and today the standard releases.

So I started work on wxPHP again. I've been kind of fed up with the GNU style make system and so will leave that for somebody else to figure out. Meanwhile I'm going to move to Xcode.
I've linked wxWidgets to wxPHP which is the first step. The next major step is to get a window to appear.

MachCMS on PHP4 Attempt #2

2005-08-09T15:31:00.000-04:00

Today I tried once again to get MachCMS working together with PHP 4. With my experience from the last attempt, it only took me 3 hours of constant work. I rewrote the DataBase class which uses a CSV based file format (PHP4 only) instead of the much better SQLite which is only supported with PHP5.

I cannot make these two versions compatible with each other though. For example in the PHP5 version you could do this to set a value in the template:
$template->MyValue = "This is my value";

While in the PHP4 version you have to do the same thing like this:
$template->values['MyValue'] = "This is my value";

As you can plainly see, the latter is more complex and is simply means more typing.
So pages written for PHP4 are compatible with the PHP5 version, but not vise-versa.

I am now going to put MC through some real world testing and then build a Mac OSX installer before releasing.

Evolution or Intelligent Design?

2005-08-06T15:43:00.000-04:00

If you've read my blog or know me at all. You know that I know that the false theory of evolution is just that. False.

But what about this relatively new thing called Intelligent Design? While I do agree with them when it comes to there being an intelligent designer. I do not believe they can have much of an effect because they do not acknowledge the designer. So to the eyes of the "unbelievers", it's an incomplete theory. Not that evolution is anything but incomplete. The problem is brainwashing and the will many people have to deny any supreme being. Religion seems to = really bad for society these days.
They are doing some good though, through challenging evolution in the public schools. And I do wish them success to a degree.

I provoke you now to read this article called "Evolution--Impossible to Embarrass Its Believers."
I hope it will have some effect on you. Yes I do believe in Creation. Not only because it's the only "theory" that makes any kind of sense. But because anything in the scriptures must be true. If we cannot prove it now, it will be proven in the future.

I challenge all of you to a dual. Leave a comment about why Creation cannot be true or challenge it in some way, and while you're at it leave a pro-evolution comment. Let us see here who wins.

MachCMS 1.0 RC1 Released

2005-08-03T15:09:00.000-04:00

I have written the documentation and finished the feature list and fixed all the bugs I know about.
Read the news on the MachCMS web site.

What needs to be done before the final release? Well right now I'm working on the PHP4 version. This will take a couple of days at least because MachCMS uses a lot of PHP5 only features. For example SimpleXML, PDO, overloading, classes & objects.

The more difficult part will be writing a PHP4 version of PDO. I do not plan on actually doing that but instead writing a flat file database system that is transparent to the current Database class in MachCMS. It will interact just like PDO but that's as far as the similarities go.

Then it needs to go through some real world testing before it's ready for release. I hope to release it by or on August 12th.

UPDATE:
I have now finished PHP4 support. It's full of dirty hacks and stuff that is hard coded. Both which are foul language in the programming world. I'm not even sure if I'll release it because the code looks so ugly.
Guess we'll find out next week.

MachCMS Short Term Foresight

2005-08-01T20:52:00.000-04:00

OK, I've been working on polishing up MachCMS 1.0 for release. It's going to be great. I don't care if nobody else uses it but I know it will be of great value to me. And this is the first time I released a piece of software that I can actually really make good use of. :)
Well it's not released yet but soon will be.

So when will it come out? Simple answer: When it's done. Long complicated answer that doesn't make sense: The first half of August.
Most of the code is written. Basically it needs to go through some more testing and real world use.
The main thing that needs to be done yet is write some good documentation for installation, configuration/customization, and usage.
It's not difficult but it would be if not documented.

MachCMS 1.0 will require PHP 5.0.0 or later with PDO installed. PHP 5.1.0 or later is good too when it's released :)

Right after v1.0 is out, I'm going to make a PHP 4 version. Why? Because some crazy people still use it that's why. Including a server I want to use MC on.
The php4 version will use it's own custom database system, only the code that has to be changed will be changed or rewritten as needed.
Also I want to release a Mac OS X package and so it needs to be php4 compatible for that.

The php4 version will be maintained as a branch beside the main head. It will probably slip back a release or two sometimes just to provoke people to upgrade to php5.

So anyway the main thing that needs to be done is write docs. My next post will hopefully be announcing it's release.

Trying to buy a Laptop

2005-08-01T15:58:00.000-04:00

I'm trying to buy an old used laptop computer that still works good. The only requirements are:

It works well enough.
Has at least 64MB RAM. 128MB is preferred.
Has 300Mhz or greater x86 processor.
Has audio line-in/out.
A bootable CD-ROM drive.
Some kind of network capability.

The only thing I want it for is recording audio digitally in other locations and testing my software on another platform.
I don't care how heavy it is or how ugly it is.

So I've been watching Ebay closely, but can't seem to have the guts to place a high enough bid on anything.
I don't even care if it has no OS installed. I'll be replacing it anyway with Linux.

Just thought I'd post this here in case somebody reading this has an offer to make ;) Or some tips on where to get one cheap.

CBC Radio Ogg Vorbis Stream

2005-07-28T09:47:00.000-04:00

I just found an ogg vorbis stream of CBC Radio 1 & 2.

The only somewhat acceptable player I could find for OS X though was Whamb. VLC can also play it as well.
Whamb works good as far as playing audio is concerned. But it has bugs, and some really bad ones too. Mostly concerning the playlist.
I also find the user interface badly designed.

What I would really like is for Apple to support OGG Vorbis in QuickTime/iTunes.

[UPDATE]
For those who want to play Ogg Vorbis or Speex in iTunes or QuickTime 7, checkout Xiph.org QuickTime Components.

MachCMS is Bug Free

2005-07-26T19:02:00.000-04:00

After a lot of debugging and fixing code, I believe MachCMS 1.0 is now ready to roll so to speak.
But it currently requires PHP 5.1 CVS because of a bug in PDO in 5.1 beta3.

I will wait until for a PHP release that works before releasing MCMS 1.0. It's just makes more sense. It the meantime it will be tweaked and enhanced.

MachCMS Update 07

2005-07-23T11:18:00.000-04:00

There seems to be a bug in PDO in PHP 5.1.0 beta3 because in my database class for MachCMS 1.0 keeps locking up the entire system.
That is the main thing blocking the release. I need to either work around this bug or wait for it to be fixed.

I'm also not sure yet whether I want to wait until the PHP 5.1 final release before releasing MachCMS. But we'll see.
I just do it'll be a great release.

What is MachCMS? It's your replacement for Frontpage, Dreamweaver, and any other desktop web editor.
It's content management made really easy yet powerful. It's page based instead of module based. It does not require a database server but it does require the very lastest PHP release.

It's template based. It's customizable to no end. And much more.

If the future more features will be added but for now I'm working on getting something stable out so that I can go back to work on ACal 3.