January 2006

Dealing with malformed atom requests in Drupal

January 4, 2006

Recently a mostly annoying occurrence was filling up my log files with errors. The problem seems to be with some atom news readers. The standard atom feed for this site would get turned into a request that would be "/atom/atom/atom/atom".... and so on. Often longer than Apache knew what to do with it.

So, a single line added to the httpd.conf file solves the problem.

  RewriteRule ^(.*)atom/atom(.*)$ - [G,L]

Now the request is met with a 410 error - resource gone. With a little luck this will lead the coders of the errant software to start picking up on the problem.

The problem with MLS

January 4, 2006

The New York Times had an article on Monday that covers the many ways that traditional real estate commissions are under attack. The article starts with a couple of paragraphs about cousins' Christie Miller, 38, and Mary Clare Murphy, 51, who run FsboMadison.com - a website that takes real estate listings for $150 and makes them available online.

The article notes that the cousins' website draws more traffic than the traditional multiple listing service (MLS) sites controlled by real estate agents. Really? Having recently spent some time on several different MLS-backed sites I can see why. While I don't know the complete justification that folks use to convince themselves, it seems most MLS subscribers are more concerned about trying to acquire customers by trapping them on websites than providing information.

Sucking consumers in like they don't have choices is a very un-web thing to do. I most often want to look at real estate listings late in the evening and want good information. Provide a site with good information and I'll be there. Put hurdles in my path, preventing me from getting to the information I need and I'll go elsewhere until I find somebody who will make the information easy to access - and they'll get my business.

The next digital rights war?

January 3, 2006

A major announcement from the Disney ABC Television Group today lends support to the idea that video over the internet is taking off. The new titles added will include clips from yesterday's games as well as free video podcasts taking clips from popular news and information shows.

How long until we have a war over not just the broadcast rights but the delayed video rights as well? When will the first college turn it's sideline video into a full-blown video podcast of the season? It is quite possible to choose to avoid the score of a game and watch it tomorrow. What will it do to the ESPN model of charging $20 for a weekend's games if I can download the one game I want to see on Sunday for $2. Sure the quality won't be great, but then again I'm as likely to be doing other things while watching anyway.

Updating the Drupal archive module for 2006

January 3, 2006

If you clicked on the calendar archive to the right of the page in the last couple of days you'd notice it didn't allow you to choose "2006" articles.

A quick change to archive.module and all is well. The line in question is this line:

  $years = drupal_map_assoc(range(2000, 2005));

By changing the 2005 to 2006 it again works. However a better solution would include a bit more code that checks for the current year and makes it go through the current year. To save cycles the current year could be specified in a configuration file or stored in the database though each of those has their own issues associated with it.

New money for the new year

January 3, 2006

New nevada quarter This new year brings new quarters for Nevada. Starting today the Denver Mint will begin minting the 36th state quarter. The design chosen by Nevadans features three wild horses running in the foreground and snow-capped peaks in the distance with sagebrush framing the state motto - The Silver State.

Other designs in contention paid honor to Nevada's role as the Battle Born state of the Civil War, Nevada wilderness, silver mining history and pre-columbian history.

The quarters will begin being distributed in Nevada on January 31. No word yet if you'll have to get them from a slot machine or if they'll be available from the local bank. It is thought, however, that the state quarter program may be a great assistance to grade-schoolers in American History tests calling for the date of admission for each state.

Mail Act-On a boon to getting organized

January 2, 2006

Without a doubt one of the greatest changes in the last decade has been the migration of e-mail from the realm of a small portion of the population to the pervasive force it is in our life today. Users of Apple's Mail application have a great tool available to help turn the mass flood of email into a manageable stream of information. Mail Act-On is a plugin that makes it possible to do any number of things to an email box with the press of a key (well two keys really).

In addition to the obvious things like highlighting email and doing things when email arrives in the inbox, Mail Act-On makes it easy to perform rule actions at a later time. I generally find two pairs of rules are quite useful. One pair files email in the archive - depending on which account it was sent to, and the other files them in an action folder, again depending upon which account they are in. This makes it easy to have a single inbox and to whip through the email while deciding whether something is to be replied to immediately and then archived, simply archived, or put into an action file for later follow-up.

Mail Act-On is a great tool for having an email box that is empty at the end of the day and being more productive while doing it.

Neighborhood Improvements?

January 2, 2006

My battalion lives in LSA 11. This stands for, I think, Living Sustainment Area 11. It is our neighborhood. Two days ago the civilian contractors began pouring concrete sidewalks between the CHUs in our LSA. These will be invaluable once the rains start. The alternative would be slogging through what I hear is oatmeal-type mud. The sidewalks, however, are a little depressing. They seem to be a permanant fixture in what I like to believe is a temporary environment. I have attached a photo of the sidewalk in my little row of LSA 11. My CHU is the second down on the right. It is just past the door with the porch and the santa picture. Oh, Happy New Year!

Flight recorder

January 2, 2006

I came across a post looking for ideas on recording in flight. I've recently talked about trying to setup just such a system. Mentioned in the comments on the post above is the Firestore FS-4 which seems like the ideal recorder for this sort of thing. In my case, however, I'd like the camera mounted externally to be essentially disposable - i.e. I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars.

The ideal setup would seem to be a method of connecting an iSight camera directly to a Firestore FS-4 without needing to have a computer to attach the iSight to. And I'd like to be able to record audio as well (plug into the intercom or put a small microphone in the ear-cup). The bullet and lipstick cams look interesting but still rely upon relatively expensive equipment (cameras) inside the aircraft that would also need to have tapes changed during flight - not something that is possible in the application I'd like to experiment with.

A new year....

January 1, 2006

New Year's resolutions have never been high on my list of priorities. In part it is because I always have a plan. The next few years mapped out, the next goals and important things to work on in life. These aren't things that wait nicely until December and then organize themselves into a great list ready to get a jump on January 1.

None the less, here are some things I aim to do this year:

  1. Stop reading meaningless blogs - There are blogs I read just because I can. The best way to make sure I read your blog is to tell me not to google you. I've been reading some blogs whose authors wish to be anonymous for the last couple of years, not because they are good, just because I can and I know who the authors are. I'll get precious time back by taking them off my list. Same goes for technology pundits who spend more time spreading flame wars than doing productive things. Sure there are occasional gems in the midst of such mud-slinging, but the cream will rise up and be picked up by others who have a stronger stomach for tolerating the junk.
  2. Exercise more - Is there a list this isn't on? Somewhere between the hours of work and darkness I need to find more time to have a life!
  3. Use less energy - The goal will be a 50% reduction in the energy that I consume. It will be a challenge as I've never been one to leave lights on needlessly or be wasteful, but there is always room to improve. In a few years the goal will be to be a net producer of energy instead of a consumer, but that's a ways out yet. A few simple changes to my driving and car-maintainence have already netted a 33% reduction in the energy I use in the car. Getting more conservative will help and there is likely a hybrid in the future, if not this year then next. Anyone interested in reducing energy consumption will find some great tips at the Rocky Mountain Institute website.

Apple Store's Easy Pay

January 1, 2006

Though iPod Express is gone from the Apple Store, apparently until next holiday season, it is still possible to find store associates with the handy little "EasyPay" machines for taking your credit card and sending the receipt to your email box. A great boon when I popped in for an iPod case today and the line was huge. Faced with having to wait until another day or wait in the huge line I was debating but was able to find an associate with their express scanner, get the case and be on my way.

In addition to saving time in line these little gizmos do a great job of reducing paper. The receipt arrives in the inbox straight away and one less piece of unnecessary paper is generated. Keep your e-mail capable phone handy and you can check for the receipt's arrival if you have any concerns.

All in time to be home for the last power outage of 2005. Here's to a great 2006.

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