Following Edge

While I continue to think hard about how and whether I can continue to publish anything here on followingedge.com, John Gruber at Daring Fireball has decided to do his blog in a serious way and has quit his "day job" to do so.

I don't have any desire to make a living off of blogging and I'm even still resigning myself to whether I'm publishing for you or publishing for me. But, I do appreciate Daring Fireball, a blog about technical things and specifically web and Macintosh technical things that I sometimes care about, and I know that if good writing and content are a good thing, then sincerity and dedication makes it even better. I joined Daring Fireball to help him find success. If you're a technical person and love Macs (which you should, or eventually will, of course), why don't you check it out and even join up. Joining couldn't be any easier since all it takes is buying one of the three cool t-shirts offered on the site.

Good luck, John Gruber. Hopefully, I'll soon have a similar moment of clarity about Following Edge, so that it doesn't just continue to languish.

This is the funniest thing! Taking a walk today, I spotted this "ad" on a pole across the street from my office. I can't imagine whether this is real or a joke. I can't find anything online about "Marceau". I'm scared it might be real. If I were him, I'd be cautious about performing at parties with much drinking... there might be violence!

Rent-A-Mime

For your next party!

Patrick "Marceau" Harrison

Call today: 683-3686

"He's the life of the party!" (Eugene Weekly)

Watch him...

• Get stuck in a glass box!
• Pull himself with a rope!
• Be inside a 'real' tornado!

Only $10 (Plus food)

Call today

Yes, Following Edge is back after a weeklong hiatus. Don't ask. It's sufficient to say that the time I usually spend writing had to be used to get the blog in shape to be online again. In case you missed my non-blog post this week:

Check out this article at Wired describing how to explain your suspicious web searches when the government gets access to records of your web searches. Funniest thing I've seen all week.

More will follow shortly. Thanks for sticking with Following Edge.

I've been hearing for a couple of weeks about a Windows computer virus called "Blackworm" or "CME-24". It's concerning for many because it erases many kinds of file (unimportant things like Word, Excel, etc documents). There was so much urgent talk about it 10 to 14 days ago that I thought it was going to do the erasing last Friday, but I eventually figured out that it's happening on the 3rd, this Friday.

Anne Marie naively said she expected news reports about it. I reminded her that, back at the time of the Code Red worm, I had been dealing with its affects on the network for weeks before the local news finally reported on it.

Humorously, the local news did get the news out before the event this time. Our local news reported on it this evening, and, while they can say that they reported the news before it happened, 6 hours of notice doesn't give most non-technical people much of a chance to figure out what to do about it. Hopefully, they already have up-to-date virus software, are skeptical enough not to open email files claiming to be Karma Sutra porn, or have a Macintosh, but competent reports claim that 300,000 computers are infected and will suffer major data loss tomorrow (or today, depending where you are).

I suppose I'm no better in my timing than the local news. I'm reporting this here when the damage is already starting, but anyone would be foolish to depend on this blog for timely, relevant, and accurate information. Many still cling to that expectation for newspapers and the evening news.

So glad today, as many days, that we don't run Windows in our company. It's sad that Windows is so frequently infected with viruses and that the local news waits to late to report on the issue when most of the affected people probably don't read the crazy high-tech news that I do. Hope none of you get hit by this, but, if so, there are some great deals on Macs right now with new models having just been released.

This is hilarious! I've been getting lots of calls and emails about our house for rent, but this one knocked me off my seat:

DEAR SIR/MADAM
MY NAME IS MICHEAL MORGAN I
AM WORKING FOR THE CANADIAN EMBASSY IN NIGERIA. MY
ORGANISATION, THE CANADIAN EMBASSY IS SENDING ME TO A
TRAINING COURSE SCHEDULED TO HOLD FOR SIX MONTHS, SO
THEREFORE, I HAVE CHOOSED TO RENT YOUR ACCOMODATION
FOR THIS PERIOD OF MY STAY IN THE PROCESS OF THE
COURSE DURATION
I WOULD WANT TO KNOW THE
TOTAL COST, BOTH THE SECURITY, AND FOR ALL NECCESSARY
REQUIREMENTS. I WOULD LIKE TO PAY VIA INTERNATIONAL
MONEY ORDER/CHEQUE . I EXPECT TO HEAR FROM YOU SOON.

Of course, it's a classic "Nigerian" 419 fraud scheme, where they send you a money order and then get you to send back some real money before you realize the money order is worthless.

I've seen this scam used with eBay auctions, domain names, and job offers, but I think trying it with a house rental is a bit rediculous. Of course, the normal interview/application/reference process for renting a house wouldn't include renting to unknown Canadian diplomats in Nigeria. I hate to say that anyone who would fall for this might deserve to lose a bit of cash.

Anne Marie pointed out that the email doesn't work on so many other levels: Why does a Canadian diplomat need to come to Elmira for a class? Redneck studies? Front-yard auto repair 101? Instructions from Nokie Edwards on playing "Hawaii 5-O"?

Hopefully, we'll have slightly more credible applicants show up to see the house today, but, given that it's Elmira, maybe not.

I took a trip to Portland overnight for unexpected work.

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Tossing aside my usual "Following Edge" mindset, I upgraded to WordPress 2.0 less than a week after it was released. Of course, I am a member of the Wordpress "testers" mailing list, so I've known about some of the issues and concerns about the new version. I was also very careful in comparing the upgrade to the old (1.5) version.

Even as careful and informed as I was, my impression is that most people could switch to WordPress 2.0 using the simple upgrade instructions, without my careful methodology, and have no trouble at all. In fact, despite people's concerns and talk of unresolved bugs, I think this upgrade from 1.5 to 2.0 was not as significant and difficult as the upgrade from 1.2 to 1.5.

You'll probably notice that things look identical, which I think is a good thing. The "behind the scenes" stuff is quite a bit fancier, with a what-you-see-is-what-you-get editor, easier image uploading, etc. I don't know if that's a good thing, since I didn't mind the old way. I know that a number of local Eugene bloggers use WordPress (even though my friend David has long forsaken WordPress for TypePad). I suppose the upgrade could be fodder for real blogging discussion at an upcoming Eugene Weblogger Get-together.

I didn't really upgrade for myself. First, I wanted to be sure that my Efficient Recently Commented posts plug-in appears to work fine with WordPress 2.0. In fact, all of the plug-ins I use seem to be having no trouble.

The second reason is that there's a new project afoot at work that will probably use WordPress 2.0 for managing articles and other content published on our various web sites. I had previously started the project with the older version, but put the project on the back burner after the person that was going to use it left the company. Now, there's renewed interest, so if someone new is assigned to use it, I'll probably get it set up for the company in the next month.

Recently, my work activities have me thinking about creative solutions.

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I visited Redmond for work, things went well with Keith's help, and I'm looking forward to returning home to the family.

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A project I recently completed for work involved the compexity of integrating in two directions with a "legacy" computer system. I'm spending some time with Lauren and anticipating a visit from my dad.

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Unexpected technical trouble has kept me busy over the Thanksgiving holiday, which we spent in Portland.

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I was happy this morning to see that Scooter Libby's indictment for perjury and obstruction of justice made front page news. After Tuesday's revelation that Libby's own notes contradicted his testimony, I was dismayed that the story only appeared on page 4 of the Wednesday newspaper. When the top aide to the Vice-President is lying under oath, I would expect that to be very important news, even before criminal charges are brought against him. The more sincere coverage today seemed appropriate, but I do notice that the article has slipped way down on The Register-Guard's web site to allow more prominent coverage of river otters. Almost unbelievable.

Much, much closer to home, I completed both of the outstanding personal chores that David had suggested I might need to outsource. I repaired the TV, which turned out to be crippled by bad spots on the hard drive (which took out such unimportant-sounding, yet critical, files as /dev/mem and /var/spool/). I also have sent the "kicking you out" letter to our renters. I gave them until December 4 to vacate. It's sad to do, but it's not as if I haven't given them lots of chances over the last 3 or 4 months. I've heard a lot about people having trouble kicking renters out in less than 3 months, but I haven't found any indication of that in the law. If you know something about that, let me know.

And, so far as David's suggestion of outsourcing goes, I suggest he keep his mind on which of his own projects he can outsource. I don't think it's possible to build any part of your chimney inside your house, then move it to your roof. Even if it was possible, it still wouldn't be wise. Go review the situation and let him know if you think he needs some help.

My work has been busy, with interesting technical hurdles, and looks to be busy in the near future.

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I'm experiencing depression, maybe related to being sick for 11 days, worrying about the Eugene Weblogger Get-together, needing to write an eviction notice, and work stress.

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Last week, I wrote a WordPress plug-in (PHP software) to help out Ampersand (aka Barry) at Alas (a blog). Yes, this is the same Barry that's drawing the banner for this site.

"Alas" frequently focuses on feminism, same-sex marriage and liberal (even ultra-liberal) topics. The blog's accurate focus on these issues, and its open and thoughtful nature, have led to it being a platform for lengthy discussions amongst readers. In order to support this discussion, Ampersand had provided a "Recently Commented Posts" list on the side-bar so that readers could easily follow where new discussion was happening. Unfortunately, the plug-in he was using wasn't written with the mindfulness to efficiency that is required when your site has more than 42,000 comments, as "Alas" does. As a result, his web hosting service had to take the site off-line a few times, ultimately resulting in the total removal of the list.

The problem was really right up my alley since I have some experience with WordPress on this blog and an almost ridiculous focus on efficiency when I write software. After waiting a while to see if other volunteers would be able to write the plug-in, I wrote the "Efficient Recently Commented posts" plug-in last week and helped Ampersand get it set up on "Alas". You can see it on the right side of every page at "Alas" or under "Posts with Recent Comments" in the side-bar here.

I felt very good about my work on the plug-in and wanted to share it with others. Normally, I release my non-work projects like this under the GNU General Public License (GPL), which has gotten a lot of press in the last few years and which gives anyone the right to use the software, and gives anyone the right to modify or enhance it so long as they only distribute the modified (derived) work under the GPL license. It's a very generous license that ensures access to the software and ensures access to improvements to the software.

But, I haven't released the plug-in under the GPL, because the WordPress folks say that I must release it under a GPL-compatible license. I know that they're wrong. The GPL FAQ says that plug-ins must be licensed under the same license as the program, unless the plug-in links dynamically. Without even getting into whether a PHP script links dynamically, the issue of the program's GPL license is only at issue if I modify or distribute the original program under its GPL license, combining the new code and the old as part of a "combined work".

For something like my plug-in, where I am the only copyright holder (since it is a 100% original work with no part of it written by anyone else), there is no connection to the GPL that can require me to license the plug-in under the GPL, or any other license. It upsets me that they want to use their misunderstanding of the license to require people to be generous, instead of just asking people to be generous with their plug-ins. It's as if you made something for someone and planned to give it to them, but when they saw it they say "You have to give me that, because you owe me". It changes one's perception of the situation, perhaps.

I suspect that I'll eventually get over being pedantic and childishly irked at their demand, and license the plug-in under the GPL. For now, I'm festering and licensing it for free on a very restrictive basis, just because I can.

Andrea (another great feminist, liberal (oops) progressive blogger) added the plug-in to Shrub.com as well. It's really rewarding to see software I wrote helping people use these sites.

I've been managing crises at work, running out of gas, and having conflicts with our rental tenants.

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A reorganization has resolved an issue at work and I am now addressing interesting technical challenges, while enjoying recently increased Apple stock prices and plans for a weekend at the coast.

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