Archive for category Blogs
Patching ljcharm (python-based LiveJournal client)
Posted by Biffster in Blogs, Debian/Linux, Miscellany, Open Source on May 17th, 2007
I am a big fan of ljcharm, a console/command line LiveJournal client written in python. I’ve been using it for a while now, mainly because I’ve gone super-minimalistic with regards to ‘net applications. I use mutt for email, centericq for chatting, slrn for newsgroups, and ljcharm for posting to LiveJournal. With screen to tie them all together, of course.
Anyway, there were a couple of things that annoyed me about ljcharm. Actually, two very similar items:
- The moods list is displayed in four columns, which takes up too much screen space (more than one screenful)
- Worse, tags are only displayed in a single column
- Tags are not pulled from the server, so it’s hard to tell what tags have been used before, and its easy to accidentally create a new tag (say, “trips” instead of “trip”)
I decided to fix this. Since ljcharm is written in python and is open-source, one can make changes directly to the application. So that’s what I did! This was a little tricky, because I don’t actually know how to code in Python. But I took a crack at it anyway. The changes I made are:
- Changed the number of columns to 5. This was actually pathetically easy, thanks to excellent code documentation by the ljcharm team
- I modified the tag list display screen manually to use columns. I set it to print out 5 columns, which makes all of the tags fit on one screen (I have 103 tags currently)
- I had to cheat on this one.
I edited .charmcache manually, adding in all of my tags from LiveJournal (and cleaning up my tags on LJ while I was there)
The end result: I am even happier now with ljcharm!
(If anyone wants to laugh at my code, just let me know and I’ll send you the modified ljcharm.py. And yeah, I submitted my changes to the ljcharm team.)
Google Sitemap Generator for WordPress
I’ve been meaning to get around to setting up a Google sitemap for a while now, but I just keep procrastinating. Tonight seemed like a good night to do so, though, so I installed the Google Sitemap Generator for WordPress, and I have to admit I am shocked at how easy it was. This plugin rocks, making the task of creating a sitemap a one-click process. And it’s also set-it-and-forget-it; the sitemap will be automatically updated as I add posts to the blog. Ultra-cool: if you use WordPress and don’t have this plugin already installed, Get It Now!
New *good* WP plugin for YouTube
Okay, so it isn’t new anymore, but it is still a good WordPress plugin for embedded YouTube videos (via GeekLimit):
If you’re interested in putting videos in WordPress posts, [...] just head over toone [sic] of my personal favorite plugin guys, Viper007Bond, and download his Video Quicktags plugin. Same great functionality as my method, but with pretty buttons in the WYSIWYG editor!
While the buttons aren’t as pretty as we are led to believe, the functionality is great. Easy embedding of YouTube (and others) videos without having to turn off the WYSIWYG post editor in WordPress. Best of both worlds, baby!
Geek News Central’s Todd on “Netcast”
First off, let me point out that I love Todd from Geek News Central like a brother. His podcast is one of my absolute favorites, and I tend to listen to it within a few hours of its release. However, there are some times when Todd can be completely off-base. And that is definitely the case regarding Todd’s response to Leo LaPorte’s call to rename “podcasts” to “netcasts”:
Sure we have a long way to go in educating the public. But let’s be honest, when I break podcasting down into a 45 second elevator pitch people can immediately say wow that’s pretty cool.I am not here to dismiss Leo’s idea, but I think Leo should work with everyone to help drive public awareness of Podcasts and not the word Netcast. If we as Podcasters engage our audiences to start spreading the word about podcasting and give them a central resource to find info then I think we can really make a difference.
So my challenge is to Leo will you reverse course and help in the education of this new media.
I think that Todd has totally missed Leo’s point. Leo is trying to stave off Apple, as Apple tries to take control of all things “pod.” Apple does not have a right to the term “podcast,” but it seems very obvious that they are going to do their best to take control of it. The term itself is becoming a hindrance, as it draws an instant belief in potential new listener’s minds that this is an Apple/iPod thing. I know I am not the only person who has had someone ask, “Don’t I need an iPod to listen to a podcast?”
I think it is very cute that Todd has created his own little phrase that podcast theoretically stands for. But that’s all it is: cute. No one is ever going to associate “podcast” with “personal, on-demand broadcasts.” Sorry, Todd, but the “pod” will always call “iPod” to mind for people who are new to this form of media.
Having said that, I must point out I’m not thrilled with netcast, either. I mean, it’s a step in the right direction, and one can see an association there – internet broadcast = netcast. And lord knows I can’t come up with a better phrase myself.
Anyway, if anyone has the right to argue with Laporte on this issue, it is Todd. After all, he did write the book on podcasting. But I think he is backing the wrong side on this. Leo has a good idea, and the movement is worthy. Back netcasts today!
Google Docs & Spreadsheets: a new blog post editor?
All about Linux takes a look at Google Docs & Spreadsheets and find some good stuff there. But the most interesting thing that I read in the article is this:
3) Post to Blog – This is the most interesting one. It is possible to post your document to your personal blog. At present Google docs supports the following hosted blog services : Blogger.com, Blogharbor.com, Blogware.com, WordPress.com, Livejournal and SquareSpace. But if you host your own website, then it allows you to publish the document to your personal blog in which case you have to select the “my own/ Custom server” choice
This means it should be a breeze to use Google Docs to write/edit blog posts. Which means it probably won’t be long ’til someone comes out with a Firefox extension to make it easy to use Docs as a blog post editor. The thousands of us using the crappy challenged default editor in WordPress all take note.
How to Post to Two Separate Del.icio.us Accounts Easily
There’s a post on www.jessirae.com detailing a supposedly easy way to use two Del.icio.us accounts without having to log in and out of Del.icio.us. The solution given was to install two different Firefox extensions, Del.icio.us Buttons and Del.icio.us Complete. However, I disagree with the resolution, because Del.icio.us Complete can handle this by itself. When you open up Complete’s posting window, there’s a drop-down menu allowing you to choose which account to add the bookmark to. What’s easier than that?
Definitely read the article on jessirae.com, then follow my advice, dump Del.icio.us Buttons and stick with Del.icio.us Complete. It’s good stuff!
Automatic MySQL Backup
Posted by Biffster in Blogs, Open Source on May 29th, 2006
Here’s an interesting script, something that I’ve been searching for for awhile: Automatic MySQL Backup. What does it do?
Everyday AutoMySQLBackup will run (if setup on /etc/cron.daily) and using mysqldump and gzip will dump your specified databases to the /backups/daily directory, it will rotate daily backups weekly so you should never have more than 7 backups in there.
Every Saturday AutoMySQLBackup will again backup the databases you have chosen but they will be placed into /backups/weekly, these will be rotated every 5 weeks so there should never be more than 5 backups in there.
For those of us who use a blogging package that uses a MySQL back-end, this is an ultra-cool utility. It’s much more convenient than using WordPress’s backup plugin, since it requires no further user intervention once it is configured and added to cron.
