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 		The Blob: Ciaran's Journal

Welcome to my journal. This is where I'll be revealing my innermost thoughts and feelings to the world. Occasionally I'll talk about other stuff, but mostly about my experiences.

Are you looking for the journal code?

16 entries shown (most recent first):

[view all entries]
Mar 28, 2002: Done! :-D (link | trackback: 0)
Time: 22:32 - Mood: Very happy - Location: Home - Now playing: n/a

Okay, I've done it. I've installed Windows 98 SE, installed most of the drivers needed, and got a connection to the Internet using the ADSL modem. And yes, it is faster. :-D

I'll carry on with the other bits tomorrow, like installing the drivers for the sound card. But in the meantime, I'm off to sleep. 'Night. :)
Mar 28, 2002: Nearly all set! (link | trackback: 0)
Time: 20:59 - Mood: Happy - Location: Home - Now playing: n/a

Well, I'm just about set to install Windows 98. I'm writing this entrry from within Konqueror in Slackware Linux. I've backed everything up, I've made a Linux boot disc (still got to test it though), and I've done everything else on my plan. At Neil's (author of Neil's World) suggestion, I've decided to use a program called 98lite to install it without IE, then install IE5.5 on that. Apparently, it works better that way. :)

Right, I'm off. Next time I write here, I'll hopefully be in Windows 98. :)
Mar 28, 2002: The Great Downgrade (link | trackback: 0)
Time: 12:06 - Mood: Happy - Location: Work - Now playing: n/a

Well, I decided a couple of nights ago that I was going to finally get rid of Windows Me from my system and replace it with Windows 98. I mean, Windows Me is, quite honestly, crud.

Yes, it does have some nice features - the way that the Start Menu only shows your most frequently-used stuff is great, and it has a nice Home Networking Wizard that makes it really easy to set up a home network (well, duh).

But I find that my system probably isn't as fast as it could be. I've got a 1.4GHz computer with 256MB of RAM, and I expected it to speed along. And yes, it obviously is a lot faster than my old 120MHz computer with 16MB RAM. But I think it could go faster still.

So I don't really view this as a downgrade, despite the subject of this post. Plus, with Windows 98, I can again use DOS. I've been missing real-mode DOS since the new computer came.

I've set up a plan of action if you want to take a look. I've already backed up the entire Windows directory, compressing it into a RAR file. The RAR file took several hours to make, and the final thing is 2.44GB (yes, gigabytes) large. However, it'll prove to be very welcome if for some reason the Win98 setup screws up and I'm left without a Windows OS. Mind you, that might be a good excuse to enlarge the Linux partitions (currently at 6GB for / and 4GB for /home - or it might be the other way round, I can't remember) and work with that instead... :)

I'll be sure to let you know how I get on. :)

Oh, and I've re-discovered the delights of demoscene music. You may have noticed that I've been listening to an online radio station called Nectarine Demoscene Radio. Well, I've decided that I want to get involved, so after I've done the upgrade, I'll probably work on that. :) My favourite demoscene tune so far has to be Feats of Valor, by Elwood. I would provide a link, but I can't be bothered right now.
Mar 25, 2002: Wheee... (link | trackback: 0)
Time: 20:57 - Mood: Happy - Location: Home - Now playing: Nectarine Demoscene Radio

Yep, once again I find myself at a loss of what to put for the subject. :)

I've adapted this blog CGI for use as a news script on the OpenMoz site. It'll be able to be posted to by any developers on the project, so if you want news on how OpenMoz is progressing, that's where to find it out. :)

I just beat a friend 20-6 on Quake III. I like it when that happens. :-D

(Oh, and btw, the post before this one was dared on me by the people in the #odp chatroom. Just in case you were wondering.)
Mar 25, 2002: Just a word... (link | trackback: 0)
Time: 20:50 - Mood: Happy - Location: Home - Now playing: Nectarine Demoscene Radio

...editor mya is a total babe.

Hey, I was dared to say this...
Mar 21, 2002: New blog link! (link | trackback: 0)
Time: 11:16 - Mood: Happy - Location: Work - Now playing: n/a

If you've got sharp eyes, you may notice that I've linked to a new blog. It's called What*s The Deal?, and it's pretty good, and seems to be updated very regularly. I'm gonna let Luanne (the author) know in a moment.

I stumbled across it while searching for the lyrics to "Love Song", by Third Day. Turns out it's her "most favorite song in the entire world, makes me cry everytime I hear it". I know exactly how she feels. :-D That song is just soooo awesome...

Just to be with you, I'd do anything,
There's no price I would not pay, no,
Just to be with you, I'd give everything,
I would give my life away...

Wow. Deep stuff. :) It's worth noting that the song's meant to be Jesus singing to us, rather than us to Him. You can tell this later on in the song:

I know that you don't understand the fullness of My love,
and how I died upon the cross for your sins,
and I know that you don't realise how much that I give you,
but I promise, I would do it all again...

If you haven't heard it, borrow a CD off someone who does have it, and listen. Think about the words. I promise you'll love it. :-D
Mar 21, 2002: Checking for JavaScript (link | trackback: 0)
Time: 09:15 - Mood: Happy - Location: Work - Now playing: n/a

Now and again, you need to check that visitors to your site are using JavaScript (incidentally, this site doesn't require it at all). Often, you want to redirect to another page if they don't have JavaScript, telling them of this.

The trouble is, how do you do such a thing without scripting? <g>

The easiest way to do it is to redirect to two separate pages. To do this, add the following line to your <HEAD></HEAD> section:

<META HTTP-EQUIV="refresh" CONTENT="1; URL=nojs.html">

and also change your BODY line to add:

onLoad="document.location='js-supported.html'"

So, your BODY line might look like this:

<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" onLoad="document.location='js-supported.html'">

This will cause JavaScript-enabled browsers to redirect to "js-supported.html", while others go to "nojs.html". Problem solved!

...or is it? Often, when people do that, they say in the non-JS page that "you have an old browser. Please upgrade to the latest browser." But it's perfectly plausible that visitors to the site simply have JavaScript turned off, sometimes without even knowing it.

This annoyed me so much that I thought that there had to be a solution. However, I couldn't think of one, as theoretically, there shouldn't be any difference between a browser that doesn't understand JavaScript, and one that does but has it turned off. After scratching my head a bit and experimenting, I found that there is one - a three-way redirect.

Browsers which don't understand JavaScript will normally attempt to parse it as normal HTML, which is why a lot of the JavaScript code you see include HTML comments in the script... looking something like this:

<script language="JavaScript">
<!--
...code goes here...
// -->
</script>

As an old browser coming across this would parse it as normal HTML, the code would show up in the page if it weren't for the comments. However, JavaScript will ignore HTML tags such as the opening section of the comment. It won't ignore the end section by default, so a JavaScript comment is placed in front of it.

My redirection trick relies on the fact that old browsers will parse the JavaScript as normal HTML. To make this work, do the same as above, but also put this lot in your <HEAD></HEAD> section:

<script>
<!--
// --><META HTTP-EQUIV="refresh" CONTENT="0; URL=/nojs-notsupported.html">
</script>

The above code takes a bit of explaining. Here's what happens:

  • A browser which understands JavaScript and has it turned on ignores it, because the critical line begins with "//", which denotes a JavaScript comment. However, it will see the JavaScript redirect command in the BODY tag and act upon that, which should redirect to the normal, JavaScript-enabled page.

  • A browser which doesn't understand JavaScript acts upon this HTML redirect. Reason: if a browser doesn't understand JavaScript and comes across a script, it'll treat it as normal HTML (as explained above). Here, there are HTML comments, but they're only to comment out the "//", otherwise it would display on the screen. As the delay for this redirect is set to 0 and the other (in the HEAD section) is set to 1, this takes precedence over the other one, and should redirect to an "Upgrade your browser" page.

  • This is the make or break part... a browser which understands JavaScript but has it turned off will completely ignore the script section. It sees the script tag, and skips the whole script, without bothering to look at what's in it. It will also ignore the redirect command in the BODY tag further down, and end up acting upon the HTML redirect in the HEAD section, which should redirect to instructions on how to turn on JavaScript in the popular browsers.
So as you can see, it's possible to redirect to one of three pages depending on the way the browser parses HTML, which is good. :)
Mar 20, 2002: New blog stuff (link | trackback: 0)
Time: 17:09 - Mood: Happy - Location: Work - Now playing: n/a

Well, as you can tell, I've been at work on the blog CGI that I use. :)

You may remember I told you about the new sidebar earlier on. Well, I've put some other stuff in too, like the method I used just now to link to the earlier blog entry. :) The entries are now available to be referenced by their POSIX time stamp, and you may have noticed a little "(link)" link beside each entry's subject. If you copy the URL from that and paste it somewhere else, you can link directly to the entry in question, like I did above. :)

I'm planning more enhancements, but I'm not sure what they'll be yet. Give me ideas!
Mar 20, 2002: More OpenMoz stuff (link | trackback: 0)
Time: 13:55 - Mood: Happy - Location: Work - Now playing: n/a

Well, it certainly looks like March has been the month that work on publicising OpenMoz has succeeded - at least in my mind, it has been. :)

Tim and I have mostly been working on the OpenMoz site, which will have things like an OpenMoz TWiki, news items posted on the front page (courtesy of SAFARI), and, of course, links to where you can download the files once we get to a point where we can release some version of it.

If you'd like to join us, the best thing to do would be to sign up for the openmoz-devel mailing list, and tell us what you'd like to help with. We've got plenty of jobs, but we'd appreciate it if you could show us an example of your work. :)
Mar 20, 2002: New sidebar! (link | trackback: 0)
Time: 13:13 - Mood: Happy - Location: Work - Now playing: n/a

You've probably noticed that I've added a sidebar to this blog. I did this because I needed some place to put the links that were accumulating at the top of the page and threatening to push the content further down than it already was. I hope you'll agree with me that the new layout looks good. :)

Don't like it? Tell me what you think!
Mar 19, 2002: Google Bombing? (link | trackback: 0)
Time: 17:28 - Mood: Happy - Location: Work - Now playing: n/a

Arg!

Sorry, I didn't realise just how long it's been since I wrote my last journal entry. I guess I'll have to update you as to what's been happening, from most recent to least:

Firstly, you may well have heard of the fun exercise called Googlewhacking. This is where you take two words and put them into Google, in the hopes of getting only 1 result. No quotes allowed. :)

Well, there's a new thing out there - Google Bombing. This is where loads of people (typically bloggers like myself) create a link to a site using the same title/keywords - the outcome being that Google pushes that page up higher in the search results for those keywords.

You see, Google doesn't just order the sites according to the frequency of keywords on a site - among other things, it also analyses the number of pages which link to it, and the text that they use for the link. This means that if a whole load of people were to link to this blog with the words "Neverending Blog", I might possibly rise to the #1 spot for those search term, with no effort from me required. This is the whole idea behind Google Bombing.

I find that link quite interesting, actually. It's a very extensive resource on what exactly Google Bombing is, and its implications. Go read it. Now. :)

Okay, I did say that I had multiple things to say, right? :) Second thing is I've come across a cool site called RinkWorks. More specifically, I've come across RinkChat, the web-based chat system that (IMHO) is the heart of the site.

It really is a cool community there. Nyperold, Silon, Darien - if any of you (or anybody else) are reading this, then hi! :-D

Right, that's enough... more later. Honest. :)
Mar 7, 2002: Just some stuff... (link | trackback: 0)
Time: 16:45 - Mood: Very happy - Location: Home - Now playing: Twila Paris - God Is In Control

God is in control,
We believe that His children will not be forsaken,
God is in control,
We will choose to remember and never be shaken,
There is no power above or beside Him, we know,
Oohhh, God is in control!
Oohhh, God is in control!

-- Twila Paris, "God Is In Control"

Yay. It's a nice, sunny day, and I'm feeling particularly happy today. Why? Well, I took my driving theory test today, and I passed! Praise the Lord! :D
Mar 6, 2002: OpenMoz (link | trackback: 0)
Time: 17:00 - Mood: Happy - Location: Work - Now playing: n/a

Heya. :)

I'm feeling good about myself. I've managed to set up a TWiki for a project we're doing called OpenMoz. The TWiki's in the final stages of being ironed out, and hopefully I'll be able to give you the URL when everything's up the way we want it. It'll be used as the main discussion and documentation platform for the project, which is why it needs to be ready. :)

As you probably guessed, the site's in the process of being built. Eventually it'll contain information on what OpenMoz is, how to get involved, and where to download any releases we put out (obviously, from the SourceForge files download page).

It promises to be a fun project for all involved, especially programming-savvy DMOZ editors. I'll let you know when the site updates. :)

Oh, and I've included a link to another journal at the top of the page - this time, it's to Tim's Journal. Tim is the co-founder of OpenMoz, and a fellow Christian DMOZ editor. :) His blog uses my code - it's quite easy to set up, but I'm planning on making it even easier later.

It'll be brilliant when OpenMoz development takes off. It looks like its getting somewhere this month, so things can only get better. :-D
Mar 3, 2002: New blog link (link | trackback: 0)
Time: 02:01 - Mood: Happy - Location: Home - Now playing: Nothing

You've probably noticed that I've linked to another blog at the top of this page. It belongs to fellow ODP editor totalxsive, and it's well wroth a look. :)

He asked if I would consider having a feature to allow the journal to output in RSS format. I'm taking a look into it. Apparently it helps programs track changes. :)

Oh, and the ice skating went fine. I fell down quite a few times, but what do you expect? It was my first go. :) I loved it though, and would definitely do it again, given the chance.

Blarg... it's 2am, gotta go to bed...
Mar 1, 2002: Ice skating tonight! (link | trackback: 0)
Time: 16:44 - Mood: Happy - Location: Work - Now playing: n/a

Sometimes, when I feel Your love
as I walk along the busy street,
I whisper Your name under my breath...

Sometimes, when I feel Your touch
in the quiet place of my room,
I sing Your name in adoration...

There are times when I feel like I'm burning,
with Your love, so strong and so true,
And in my heart, I feel such a yearning,
I want all the world to know You love them too!...

-- Paul Oakley, "I Love Your Love"

I'm gonna be going ice skating for the first time tonight with my church youth group. Yes, I know - at 19, you'd probably expect that I've already been ice skating at least once, but I haven't. That's because I actually have a mild cerebral palsy which affects my balance, and so far, at every opportunity so far to go, I was quite young and my Mum didn't want me to hurt myself - which you can understand.

Actually, I tell a bit of a fib there. The same youth group did go ice skating about a month or so ago, but I didn't want to join them that time. This time, however, I'm up for it. :) Of course, I expect I probably won't last too long before I slip, but it hopefully won't be too painful.

I'll let you know how I get on...
Mar 1, 2002: The Spider and the Stats (link | trackback: 0)
Time: 10:41 - Mood: Puzzled - Location: Work - Now playing: n/a

...okay, so MusicMoz is an interesting project. But for some reason AltaVista's spider seems to have a fetish on my CSV file containing MusicMoz stats. I often see in the log a reference to /robots.txt, and then a request to /musicmoz/mmozstats.csv. Then it stops, and next time it spiders it does the same thing.

It's almost as if the spider has a crush on it. Hmm...

*cue dreamy music*


[scene: the Internet, a big flashy place with files and programs walking around (yes, I've played too mach MMBN). The camera zooms in on a spider trying vainly to keep up with a file that calls itself "mmozstats.csv"]

Spider: ...but... I love you! Don't leave me!

mmozstats.csv: I'm sick and tired of you crawling all over me.

Spider: Crawling over files is good! We index them!

mmozstats.csv (stops walking): Why would you want to index *me*?

Spider: You're a file! All files must be indexed!

mmozstats.csv: I'm a file, yes. But it's very unlikely you'd want to index me.

Spider: All files look the same to me.

mmozstats.csv: Darn spiders.

[The file starts walking away, a bit quicker this time. The spider quickly starts trying to catch up.]

Spider: I... I didn't mean it! You look different from any other file! You're... special.

mmozstats.csv: Yeah, right.

Spider: You change every day! Another new line is added to you every day, and that's what I keep coming for!

mmozstats.csv: In that case, there's no point in crawling several times a day, is there?

Spider: Uh... I, er...

Big thundering voice: Fear not, my good CSV file. I will protect you from crawling!

[a big earth-shaking (or at least Internet-shaking) bang occurs as a big slab slams down between the spider and the file. On it is written: "ROBOTS.TXT"]

mmozstats.csv: Oh, thank you, kind webmaster!

Spider: I hate robots.txt files.

...

<newwave> dude
<newwave> Ciaran?
<Ciaran> newwave?
<newwave> Lay off the crack.
<Ciaran> :(


*poof*

Okay, I'm back. Yes, that was one of my stranger outpourings in this journal. Still, who cares? ;-)

I had to skip a proper breakfast this morning, as I was late getting up. The reason? I had stayed up last night until 2:30am, knowing full well that I'd have to get up at 6:30am. As a result, I slept soundly all the way through the alarm (which is actually just my favourite CDs playing), had a couple of slices of toast for breakfast, came in, and I'm still yawning now. Ah well.

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