Category: General blog entries

Remembering the saying:
    It if ain’t broken, do not fix it!
I left my server untouched as pretty much everything on there is in use so wrecking stuff might be a problem 🙂

However, after 9 months or so I decided it was about time to update the server and make sure everything works as expected (again). I extracted the database content as the update guide explained and started the mysql compile for upgrade. 15 minutes or so in the compile I discovered that the SQL export file was empty… After cursing and some frantic Googling I decided to stop the compile, copy the raw database files back and keep my fingers crossed as I fired up the incomplete mysql server.

Although I saw loads of errors it seemed to come online – sorta.
I tried extracting the data once more, copied the backup, backed up that one once more, moved it off site and then made the whole collection read-only – just to be sure, ya know 😛

After 3 more hours of compiling (why did I shut down the compiler again?!) it was finally done and after some agonising moments after entering the startup and import commands I was relieved to see the whole shabang coming back to life.

I was planning on doing the apache server next but for now l think I’ll leave it at this 🙂

Cyberwizzard signing off at 4:31 AM…

I found a plugin for LCD Smartie for people who want to show TS data on their display. Unfortunately the original plugin couldn’t show one speaker for each line – which looked the coolest in my opinion. So I started coding in the plugin and after 30 minutes I got a modified version ready to go 🙂

Download the the binary version of the dll using the download menu or grab it on the next page.

Continue to the main text for instructions, source code and downloads.

Ooohhh I just came up with yet another extension for this site: a list of my publications.
You see, I work freelance for a dutch computer magazine called PC-Active. Although the list of publications isn’t world shocking yet I thought it might be nice to record it anyway – perhaps even re-release my writings online (after a while offcourse – I can imagine my boss getting a tad pissed off when I publish in his magazine as well as online).

Ahh well – lets see if I can set this up

Its official – the new lair is online and viewable by the public!

Use the guestbook to tell me what you think or use the contact form to drop me a note.

Well, time for more alcohol and some deserved R&R 🙂

After hours of fiddling with settings and some basic skin changes I’m confident enough to make the switch between Etomite and Mambo. WIthin a few minutes I’ll flip the switch and this baby will be put public.

Here goes nothing….

I received a few emails from people who wandered onto this site (no clue how they got here or what they were looking for) but the question was the same: what is your site about?

To keep it simple: nothing in particular.

Now  that may seem like a useless answer but its accurate, at least at the moment. I run my own web server and somehow people seem to visit the root to see whats on here. I had only an empty home page to have an index but the hits kept coming and I wondered why.

Then I discovered that some people used the url from the gallery that I was running for personal use to find out what was on here. That gave me the idea to put a page at the root so visitors would have at least something to look at.

After a first attempt to build my own CMS I gave up when I found out how complex this could be and in the light of hundreds of out-of-the-box solutions I started out with phpNuke. For some reason I got hacked twice in 3 weeks and after I found out the database was flooded with racist slogans and nazi propaganda I gave up on phpNuke (yes I followed the manual to the letter so I don’t know what went wrong but I was pissed like hell and just got rid of it all).

Next was Etomite as I explained in one of the first news postings. Although a nice CMS, its hard to skin and the project died a few months ago from this writing date.

Finally I settled for Mambo, the current CMS. It looks nice, its high customizable and although having a steep learning curve I’m giving it a go with all my good ideas in mind. I’m still planning on adding useful content and Mambo can be altered to provide support for reviews, programming examples, articles – you name it.

So far I have nothing ready yet but in time it will be added 🙂