CogBlogged from ‘December, 2004’

Found while trolling some of the graphic design gems over at Cameron Moll’s Authentic Boredom Billboard Backside Blunder Only pure coincidence could create a scenario like this. Posted along I-15 in Provo, Utah, this billboard stand demonstrates what happens when an advertiser fails to consider what might be posted on the back of his billboard: You have to see it yourself… There’s a lot of nice graphic style happening over at the A.B. site- check out the snazzy logo for the RSS links- this is no obscure little orange icon box!

< ?php include '/Volumes/web/html/alan/inc/better_mt.php'?> What’s in a file name? Well it is the URL that you will publish, so make the most of it. You can make room for flexibility in your blogs if you set things so all content created is published as *.php rather than *.html. What is PHP? A long forgotten acronym, but it is a powerful server side language for mixing in some script like commands that can make web pages be much more dynamic than static HTML. Even if you never use one iota of PHP code, your blog site can still spit out web friendly content, HTML only if you change things as described below. It is an once of prevention (well maybe more than an ounce) that creates opportunity down the road. So in this bit of MT, we will show you how to change everything so your blog is on the PHP [...]

I’ve been at the blogging biz using MovableType (MT) since April 19, 2003, and along the way I’ve been putting aside some ideas for things I have done beyond the out of the box set up that might help others. Also, since I am still living in the free land of MT 2.661, I have no idea how much transfers to the 3.$$$$ versions. Quite a good chunk of this is MovableType specific only, but since I have been recommending new bloggers get their feet wet with Blogger.com, I have some ideas that can be applied over there as well (especially the section coming up on Making Better Archives. For quite some time I have seen that every weblog software pretty much considers “archiving” the act of stitching together all posted entries into one long, ever loading web page. There is a better way. Also, since I spin a lot [...]

We just got the notification for our presentation on our Ocotillo projects at the League For Innovation’s “Innovations 2005″ conference to be held March in New Yoirk City. The conference is tagged as: Join the most innovative community college professionals as they come together to improve student and organizational learning through innovation, experimentation, and institutional transformation. Yet, in 2005, when the World Wide Web is almost 15 years old, and completely interweaves just about all aspects of an educational organization, the notification includes: PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING: Session rooms DO NOT come equipped with an Internet connection. The cost of the Internet connection will be the financial responsibility of the presenter.  The current rate for the connection through the Marriott Marquis is $750.  If you would like to order an Internet connection, please email me at XXXXXX@league.org and I will forward you the appropriate information.  I can accept that the limitation [...]

Jill Walker’s description of an easy to use QwikiWiki is just a piece of what she describes like assembling her own bits of small technologies loosely joined: So I’m thinking Blogger.com blogs (no comment spam, no setup for me, they own it completely; no trackbacks but c’mon, comment spam is too high a price to pay), a fictional “reality show” project in Flickr (no, I’ve not quite figured that one out yet, but I can just feel that it’d be cool), make something collaboratively in a wiki, maybe contribute something to the Norwegian version of the WikiPedia, and then the standard group website project but using a web-based project management site to experience that kind of group interaction, and hopefully, help the groups to work together better. And no, the university’s CMS won’t do all those things. No single system will. (Emphasis added). Is there anything radically new about a [...]

Found surfing RSS feeds of someone else’s del.icio.us tagged bag… If you’ve not come across the beta of Google’s new feature, take a peek at Google Suggest, which works like autocomplete by responding with common/popular search queries based on the first few letters you type in the search field. What do you think? Dose of good, evil, or apathy? Anyhow, Adam Stiles opened up the JavaScript scope to detail how this works.. Google’s Suggest feature is lighting up the blogosphere these days. It functions as like autocomplete for your search box, where Google attempts to determine what you are searching for and gives you suggestions. Web tinkerer that I am, I had to dig in a little and see how this works. At its simplest, Google Suggest is javascript code that looks at what you are typing in the Google search box. When you press a key, GS phones home [...]

Spammers can hid, but they are not invisible. On Dec 10, I invited readers of this blog to send us some Trackbacks to MLX Packages… while I am eager to see this technology used, this was actually a bit of bait. Our regular MLX spammer bit the bait completely. Within a few days, they triggered 1200 identical Trackback insertions of the same URL. I allowed them to think their tactic worked, but this was all a ruse to get them to stick their spam roach feet in the honey pot, where they left some incriminating and useful bits of information (the spam has been cleansed in one click). The evidence collected clearly indicates that this spammer is a CDB reader. Lovely. I have been advised not to bait and taunt spammers, and to allow them to continue their bully like tactics. Fortunately, I did not take this advice, and recently [...]

While doing some of our holiday decorations today, the television was providing some background white noise. We both were caught off guard by this statement. This is 100% honest– I think it was on the Disney Channel. This broadcast of “Ernest Saves Christmas” has been brought to you by Preparation H. No comments necessary.

I got this message late Friday afternoon: I am a college student at Syracuse University. I am writing an article about weblogs. I understand you do a bit of “blogging” yourself. I would love to ask you a few questions about weblogging. Unfortunately, my deadline is tonight by midnight. I’d appreciate your help and eagerly await your response.. what are the benefits of weblogging? i’ve talked to a handful of colleges that are using current students to write weblogs. Admissions are using the weblogs to attract prospective students. do you think this will become a trend? have you heard anything about this? what do you think are the cons of blogging? I guess I am not the only person who works up to the deadlines. The best I could do is dash off some quick thoughts likely too late for Courtney’s deadline (is there a lesson there, Court?) especially for [...]

It’s a sunny day in Phoenix, but a cloud of pessimism is on the horizon, an unfortunate evolution of innovative internet innovations that start as open environments, only to become more convoluted, and polluted as they mainstream. This came as I examined a series of new borg-like “RSS Services” that read like ads for Direct E-Mail software, full of shiny people in suits telling you how great RSS is for creating happy customers. There was e-mail I remember in the 1980s, an invigorating way to connect with mostly colleagues in academia.. fast forward to the glut of email spam and viruses, spoofed bank messages, and people avoiding email. There were once vibrant communities of newsgroups, sharing ideas and resources in a very open space of topical interest… fast forward to newsgroups as the garden of porn sharing and software piracy. The web I recall in 1993, a place of wonderment [...]