Mon, 14 Mar 2005
Blosxom Static Rendering with Writeback Plugin
This site runs on a poor little Pentium MMX 200, so the performance of Blosxom, the software that drives the site, isn't very good. Luckily, Blosxom has a static rendering mode which allows Apache to serve flat html pages. In order to use the writeback plugin, though, POST requests to trackback an entry or post a comment must be handled directly by Blosxom.
So I set up Blosxom in a hybrid manner where new entries are rendered statically every 15 minutes, and the entire site is re-rendered every two hours to bring in comments and trackbacks to the flat pages. All POST requests are handled by Blosxom, as are requests for pages which haven't been pre-generated yet. I can also temporarily disable static rendering if I want to preview a new post without it showing up on the index pages.
My crontab
*/15 * * * * test -f /usr/local/www/xn.pinkhamster.net/.gen && /usr/lib/cgi-bin/blosxom -password=xxxxxxxxxxx -quiet=1
# regenerate all pages to pull in comments
15 */2 * * * test -f /usr/local/www/xn.pinkhamster.net/.gen && /usr/lib/cgi-bin/blosxom -password=xxxxxxxxxxx -all=1 -quiet=1
I can remove the .gen file and preview an entry by going directly to the entry's URL.
Apache Rewrite Rules
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_METHOD} !^POST [NC]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^$
RewriteCond %{DOCUMENT_ROOT}/static/$1 -f [OR]
RewriteCond %{DOCUMENT_ROOT}/static/$1 -d
RewriteRule ^/blog(/?.*)$ /static/$1
I test for an empty query string so that Blosxom will handle the request when I want to enable autotrack. Also, if I want to preview changes to an entry that has already been generated, I can just tack something on to the query string.
It looks like this is similar to Rael's setup, but he only serves the statically rendered index pages directly from Apache and has Blosxom handle all individual entry pages.
Fixing Web Sites with Javascript
Hat tip1 to John Battelle for pointing out Greasemonkey, a Firefox plugin that allows you to run Javascript scripts on arbitrary sites to improve their appearance or usability.
The one script I find most immediately useful is one that fixes some deficiencies of Allmusic. Allmusic is a fantastically useful site, but since it's redesign, it has the annoying trait that every biography is truncated and ends with a Read More link. The script replaces those links with Javascript links that pull in the full biography using XMLHttpRequest. It is remarkably fast considering how sluggish the site often is in general.
1. John must get a lot of hat tips considering he has the number two result on google for hat tip on a page for which the term only appears in links to it.
"I Refuse Your Business"
There's a story on CNN Money about some dude that makes t-shirts who refuses to sell them to Wal-Mart. There's no indication in the story that Wal-Mart wants to buy his t-shirts, which apparently feature naughty words and poker-related imagery. Good job in the publicity department, Mr. Carlton.
business » marketing | Permanent Link
Finished 1120S
I finally finished the federal corporate taxes for Postica, the 1120S and
related forms and schedules. It took a long time, but less than the 184 hours
that the IRS estimates. Seriously, the IRS estimates it will take more than
one man-month to file just the 1120S and K-1.
I filled out the return by hand first, and then copied the information into Taxsoftware.com's forms. Their software is
very minimalist, especially compared to TaxAct
which I've been using for years to do my taxes, first their Windows version,
now the online version. The Taxsoftware software is a bunch of Java applet
forms which, once completed, are used to generate a PDF form of the tax forms.
Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out how to fix the background color of
selected fields so I had to fill out each field blind, then remove focus to
verify that I had entered the correct value. I tried changing a bunch of X
resources to get the color to change, but was unsuccessful.
I'm almost done with the California return, 100S, too. Luckily, it's mostly copying data from the federal return. I do have to keep a separate depreciation schedule though since California doesn't allow the 50% bonus depreciation.
business » taxes | Permanent Link
Sleazy Used Car Sales Tactic
I received an advertisement in the mail from Superior Nissan of Mission Hills, located in Mission Hills, California. The return address on the envelope identified the sender as GM Notification Sender for some reason.
As part of their used car sales promotion, they claimed to be giving away some prizes. In the envelope was a card with two scratch-off numbers. If the numbers match, you're a winner of one of five prizes. The prizes are A) an XBox or PlayStation 2, B) a $500 gas card, C) a $1,000 shopping spree, D) a 60" Wide Screen Color TV, and E) $15,000. They might as well have made a trip to Mars one of the prizes too.
I scratched off my matching numbers, but of course, it doesn't say which of the fabulous prizes I've won. Instead, it tells me to call an 800 number to set up an appointment to pick up my prize at the dealership. If you're clever, you may have already figured out the scam. Here's what the small print says:
...the odds of winning prize A, B, D & E are 0:10,000, prize C is 10,000:10,000.
Everyone gets the "$1,000 shopping spree" on goshoppingmall.com which charges an outrageous amount of money in shipping and handling fees, generally between 40% and 60% of the price of the item. How slimy.
Renting Cheaper Than Buying
NPR
picked up The Economist's story about it now being cheaper to rent
than buy in many markets.
(Via patrick.net)
