Movable Type 4 template designer

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Ok, so I need some help from a template designer who knows movable type 4. I don’t need a lot, but I do need someone else to suffer the slings and arrows for me. Payment will be in sexual favors and good old yankee dollars. I don’t intend to port my old template as is, […]

Ok, so I need some help from a template designer who knows movable type 4.

I don’t need a lot, but I do need someone else to suffer the slings and arrows for me. Payment will be in sexual favors and good old yankee dollars.

I don’t intend to port my old template as is, but I want to keep some of it’s elements, so I’ve got a pretty clear idea of a starting point.

Brave New World in Gray

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I know. I know. It’s scary in here. Different. It’s ok. Really. It’s the same old moronosphere with a new skin. Change is good, they say, and if it isn’t, change is still change. The real story is that I’ve just upgraded to Movable Type 4.1, and because the folks at six-apart feel the need […]

I know. I know. It’s scary in here. Different.

It’s ok. Really.

It’s the same old moronosphere with a new skin. Change is good, they say, and if it isn’t, change is still change.

The real story is that I’ve just upgraded to Movable Type 4.1, and because the folks at six-apart feel the need to change things completely, whle feeling no need at all to maintain backwards compatability, everything in my blog design had to be abandoned in order to convert.

It took me a really long time to feel ok with that. But I think I’m there. And I gotta say, this took a hell of a lot less time than trying to convert everything, even if the result is somewhat grim. I=n fact I managed to do this in between tasks today while waiting for builds to finish

Don’t worry, my logo, at least, will come back. I’m attached to it. I just have to figure out how these fucking widgets work.

Sad Songs of Server Troubles

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You may have noticed we’re having some server instability around here; comments disabled for various moronosphere-hosted blogs, server not responding, etc. For those of you I host, you’ll have seen it as well when you try to post. We’re working on it. We have several small problems that are adding up to a systemic pain-in-the-ass, […]

You may have noticed we’re having some server instability around here; comments disabled for various moronosphere-hosted blogs, server not responding, etc.

For those of you I host, you’ll have seen it as well when you try to post.

We’re working on it. We have several small problems that are adding up to a systemic pain-in-the-ass, and solving these issues has more to do with bandwidth (ours, ie, time to work on it) than with any seriousness of the problems.

Fixes should be in place soon, though we may have some downtime somewhere in the next week or two while we update things. I’ll post warnings before that happens.

Happy V

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I’ve talked about it before; I will again. I don’t think a lot of the idea of valentines day.

Pink candy hearts and paper cards are not part my celebration of carnal, physical love, nor are they pat of my celebration of romantic love.

My kind of love leaves marks, bruises, welts. It leaves one spent. It doesn’t include a sugar rush and a lot of packaging.

All that aside, though, love is what we make it, and it needs to be celebrated. We need to remember to say it out loud, and to show it with forgiveness and acceptance, respect, an open mind and an open heart.

For those to whom I’ve not say i love you enough lately, I do, even when I forget to say it. For those to whom I have said it, I mean it. Those words don’t come lightly from my lips, and when I say they, they are absolutely real.

Happy Valentines Day, people.

Helping the Helpless

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Y’ever try your best to help someone who just won’t be helped? Actually I’m talking about work. We pretty much all have been there when it comes to personal life. I’m in deadline hell; the story is complicated and even if it were worth telling, I couldn’t really tell it anyway. But to tell a […]

Y’ever try your best to help someone who just won’t be helped?

Actually I’m talking about work. We pretty much all have been there when it comes to personal life.

I’m in deadline hell; the story is complicated and even if it were worth telling, I couldn’t really tell it anyway. But to tell a short version, there are software licenses that expire at the end of this month, I have travel plans that eat half a week next week, and due to plans gone awry (I suddenly want to say it like bobby burns, Gang aft agley), and due to unexpected software bugs, I suddenly find that I need to replace infrastructure software two months sooner than expected.

Ok. I can do that. CAD tools and engineering infrastructure is what I do. Solve Problems. Only here’s the thing; sometimes one man can’t do it all.

The tool I’m replacing – a batch queueing system – is wired into every damned thing, in about twenty different ways. Which means that the things that need to change are not all under my control. But I can manage that, I’ve got plans and schedules. I don’t really need sleep, you know, and I can ignore my friends and put off things that need doing at home and at work.

Only today, one of the users I’m giving it all for came back to me with a whole new plan which consisted of, “no, I don’t know anything about what you’re doing, and don’t really understand what you’re asking, but I reject it and propose you do it all my way.”

Ten years ago, I guess I would have come back with exact details on why he’s such a fucking moron and explained to him that if he’d just try doing things the right way (ie,my way), suddenly most of the problems he’s having would go away, fucking *poof*. And then I would have stared updating my resume.

Sigh. Sometimes growing up sucks.

I managed to respond in a businesslike way, clarifying that 1) I was doing all this to support his team, 2) no, the solution he countered with was technically impossible, and 3) his fears of disaster were based on not understanding the technology. And I even said it all without using the word ‘idiot’ even once. Tomorrow, I fully expect him to re-iterate his points, adding extra emphasis, in effect saying “I don’t have time to read your email, just go make pigs fly for me, slave!”.

And I’ll brandish imaginary weapons, then I’ll go solve his problem against his will, knowing that I’ll win in the end, without him ever knowing I’ve again saved him from himself.

It’s a thankless task, but someone’s gotta do it.

Nerd Handbook

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Rands In Repose has written a frighteningly, hysterically accurate piece called The Nerd Handbook. “Understand your nerd’s relation to the computer. It’s clichéd, but a nerd is defined by his computer, and you need to understand why. First, a majority of the folks on the planet either have no idea how a computer works or […]

Rands In Repose has written a frighteningly, hysterically accurate piece called The Nerd Handbook.

“Understand your nerd’s relation to the computer. It’s clichéd, but a nerd is defined by his computer, and you need to understand why.

First, a majority of the folks on the planet either have no idea how a computer works or they look at it and think “it’s magic”. Nerds know how a computer works. They intimately know how a computer works. When you ask a nerd, “When I click this, it takes awhile for the thing to show up. Do you know what’s wrong?” they know what’s wrong. A nerd has a mental model of the hardware and the software in his head. While the rest of the world sees magic, your nerd knows how the magic works, he knows the magic is a long series of ones and zeros moving across your screen with impressive speed, and he knows how to make those bits move faster.

The nerd has based his career, maybe his life, on the computer, and as we’ll see, this intimate relationship has altered his view of the world. He sees the world as a system which, given enough time and effort, is completely knowable. This is a fragile illusion that your nerd has adopted, but it’s a pleasant one that gets your nerd through the day.”

Read the whole thing. If you’re reading this blog, you almost certainly are that nerd, or live with that nerd, or have at least dated that nerd. You know exactly what Rand is talking about.

(Thanks to my dear, sweet Merrick for sending that to me!)

Gonna be a long night

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Man, I love this song. I heard it last night on The Shield: Heard that you are new in town Someone said you party down Well, later I’ll be comin’ round We’ll rack ’em up and suck ’em down Don’t call your mother – don’t call your priest Don’t call your doctor – call the […]

Man, I love this song. I heard it last night on The Shield:

Heard that you are new in town
Someone said you party down
Well, later I’ll be comin’ round
We’ll rack ’em up and suck ’em down

Don’t call your mother – don’t call your priest
Don’t call your doctor – call the police
You bring the razor blade – I’ll bring the speed
Take off your coat – it’s gonna be a long night

There’ll be no 2nd chance for you
Tomorrow you’ll be black and blue
Show your friends your new tattoo
911 won’t help you, fool

You’re gonna suffer – you’re gonna bleed
I’ve heard it all before – you will concede
I’m takin’ everything – you’re goin’ down
Lock up the doors – it’s gonna be a long night

It’s gonna be a long night – it’s gonna be a catfight
It’s gonna be a gang-bang

(link to track removed)

take it, torchwood, and my truck

Karl Elvis2 Comments

I spent last night trying to write; my family were out, and I was alone, and reasonably free of urgent must-do tasks after having worked most of the weekend. I had in mind a short piece of erotica, something inspired by a scene in an episode of The Shield (the phrase ‘take it‘ has a […]

I spent last night trying to write; my family were out, and I was alone, and reasonably free of urgent must-do tasks after having worked most of the weekend.

I had in mind a short piece of erotica, something inspired by a scene in an episode of The Shield (the phrase ‘take it‘ has a way of inspiring my erotoc imagination). I have characters in mind and the barest bones of a story.

Alas, I had a can’t-sit-still moment. I felt like I’d been pounding Pimp Juice all evening;Iwound up fidgeting and twitching, couldn’t stay in my chair long enough to actually keep my hands on my keyboard. Instead, I did laundry, washed dishes, and then finally managed to watch the season two opener of Torchwood (James Marsters snoggin’ John Barrowman; I mean, come ON, how can you not love this show a little?).

At least I got something started, though, so we’ll see. By boss is on vacation, and that used to be a good time to write, back when I had a little leeway to goof off; but who knows, maybe I’ll find a couple of hours this week for producing slacking.

In other news, my truck is due back somewhere around the end of the week. I miss it like a walrus misses his bucket. I’m drivin’ a tan mini-van right now, and I could not feel more out of place than I do in this vehicle. The only good thing about vans is that when the seats come out, there’re a great place for a mid-day shag, but who has time for a mid day shag anymore? Plus, I just put a better stereo with ipod integration in my truck, and I’m about to tear off my own ears from having to listen to the radio.

,

baby it’s cold outside

Karl ElvisLeave a comment

Sometimes a guy needs a new coat.

I had a coat like this in about 1971; a real vietnam-era vintage m65 field jacket. I loved that coat, wore it constantly. It was covered with patches with things like peace signs and the Sgt Pepper drum head and various hippy-dippy sentiments; I wanted Freewheelin’ Franklin painted or embroidered on the back but I never found anyone who could render it properly. The left breast pocket was full of rat chew holes; I always carried my pet rat in that pocket.

My mom still has that jacket, and I started thinking recently that I wished I could get another.

The vintage ones are hard to find, and obviously, the commonly desired sizes like L and Xl are virtually impossible. So I started looking at new ones. They turn out to all be cotton-poly now, the new ones, which wasn’t the same. And I didn’t want a black one, or camo, just the same old green, cotton field jacket I had when I was a kid.

Then I found the jacket above; all cotton, vintage styled, skul-and-spade logo which, you know, is so damned me, and *on sale* for a third the price of the current GI surplus ones.

I couldn’t be happier. Has kind of a travis bickle look to it, doesn’t it?