...more recent posts
For no apparent reason I decided to download the latest Mozilla browser build (0.7.) Wow. Much better than the last one I tried (M14.) Perhaps I'll find stability problems over several days, but right off the bat it feels better than 4.7.6. I had no idea I would think that. If you've got a fast line, or some to kill, give it a try.
Can't believe I never found this one before: the internet encyclopedia of philosophy.
Here's a weekly tech-news sort of site (think TBTF crossed with /.) Looks good.
Here's a new Samsung flat panel display I'm keeping my eye on for MB.
Here's a massive XML-RPC howto.
Not counting vacations (and even counting some of those) this past week seems like I've been away from the web more than ever before. I guess I was ready for a little break, and then my monitor situation gave me the excuse. I read Bruce Schneier's new book "Secrets and Lies" which isn't really meant for me, but was fairly interesting nonetheless. Mostly though I've been thinking about what I'm always trying to think about: the next version of the mythic "perfect web publishing system." Of course this beast doesn't really exist because "publishing" means so many different things. Anyway, it's been a productive week. At least in my head. This slashdot article about this project aiming to make mySQL into file system really got me started. I'd always wondered about this possibility, but since I'd never heard it mentioned I figured there was some basic problem that I wasn't seeing. Maybe not. Now I'm thinking about my project under the name FFS (for Fluid File System - I stole this from someone posting in the slashdot thread,) or alternately as VSFS (for Very Slow File System) just so I remember the main problem I am facing. One quick (although slightly misleading) way to describe what I'm thinking about is to ask this question: What if every Get request to your web site (no matter what the URL requested) 404'd, except instead of serving a static page informing the surfer that the page couldn't be found, the 404 page is a script that parses the path info (of the requested URL) and uses the directory structure of the request to form an SQL query on the database and return a page with posts that seem to fit the request? Hmmm.
Still broken.
Sick of IT yet? Today the speculation turns toward sterling engines. And oh yeah, now there's a whole site dedicated to monitoring the event.
Nope, still broken.
I don't want to jinx my good luck by speaking too soon, but I've rebooted my computer 3 times today and the monitor has come back on every time. I'll try shutting down when I go for dinner and see if that works too. Not sure how it could have fixed itself (or even that it really has,) but here's my theory. There are two batteries in the monitor, one big one that powers the storage of all the preference info for the on screen display settings, and a smaller one that serves to just protect the most important low level stuff that allows the monitor to work at all. The problem I was having was "solved" by unplugging the monitor for > 2 hours, which I think was just draining the main battery and forcing some sort of internal reset which would allow the monitor to work again. But the problem was in the secondary battery which has a much longer life. This one had never run down during the unplugged times until this weekend when it was off for 4 days. Maybe this finally cleared out the problem? I can hope right? In any case, if it is actually fixed, this will be good evidence that procrastination can sometimes pay off, as I would have spent at least $200 to have someone else solve this (potentially) simple problem. Keeping my fingers crossed...