XSet is the personal website of Rob Dudley, a 29 year old software and web developer who lives in the Channel Islands...
// October 26th, 2004 // No Comments » // Personal
well … more my parent’s childhood.
The Goon Show
“Alone in the desert…
Without compass or a guide!
However, by carefuly noting the position of the sun I could tell it was still daytime!”
They don’t make them like that any more…
// October 25th, 2004 // No Comments » // Personal
That is all.
// October 22nd, 2004 // No Comments » // Personal
Life’s soundtrack is coming but in the mean time:
Q: What’s the difference between the Vietnam War and the Iraq War?
// October 21st, 2004 // No Comments » // Personal
Well Jeremy over at World of Soil has an interesting Meme.
He believes that life needs / has a soundtrack and would like to know what yours is:
Well mine will be in the extended entry once I’ve thought about it for a bit.
I always seem to be listening to music of some kind. I wake up to the radio, The MP3 player gets plugged in first thing at work and once I get home again the stereo is second only to the computer in the order of switching on.
I’m also amazed by the way that simple music can shift perfectly normal circumstances into the utterly bizzare. For example, just try going to your local super market whilst listening to the Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky … seriously weird!
// October 20th, 2004 // No Comments » // Personal
I meant to post this yesterday but Markiss beat me to it.
I found this one yesterday via the ever informative (and just recently returned) MezzoblueDailys and have to say the whole thing is as true as is humanly possible:
If Architects Had To Work Like Web Designers…
At any given time I seem to have 5 or six design projects on my plate of varying sizes but they always seem to follow this pattern. This is why I love getting a call from an existing client who wants more work done because the extensive processs of client education that I seem to undertake for every new project has already been completed.
Now most of the people reading this will already be web literate and may even have worked on designing your own site or a site for other people. If you haven’t can I make a recommendation that may sound a little arrogant?
If you are catching a flight to Barbados you shop around and find the best price. From then on all you have to do is turn up at the airport and answer the questions you are asked. The airline do the rest for you, and you know what? They’re really good at it … that’s why they’re an airline.
So why can’t you apply the same mentality to web design? Find a company you want to work with and then open a dialogue, answer their questions, ask some of your own if you wish but please remember that the company you’ve just hired really do know what they are doing and second guessing them at every turn will only hinder the progress of the project.
After all you wouldn’t tell the pilot he’s flying wrong would you?
(Hat tip: Mezzoblue – Oct 19th 2004)
// October 19th, 2004 // No Comments » // Personal
Synopsis: The Guardian are running a campaign to get brits to contact Americans in Clark county to try and influence swing votes.
The responses from the US citizens are mixed but are mostly outraged and rightly so…
What frightens me is not the outrage but the simple truth that the voting choices of the US impact on the entire of the rest of the world and that each an every American voting is duty bound to consider this when they approach the ballot box.
It’s not just about your internal policies and taxation. The choices you make on election day have massive lasting consequences for every country on this green Earth.
Now I personally feel that the Guardian are wrong in attempting to influence the elections of another country. Granted it was done passively but the action has done little to improve American opinion of overseas influence. But it could be suggested that the actions of the paper are indicative of a large wave of international unrest at America’s current disregard for the scope of its actions.
I’m not going to suggest that we should take part in American politics any more than I am prepared to open our own political process to other countries but I would say that all you citizens of the most powerful country in the world … start acting like it. realise the implications of your actions and please try to understand that you are part of a global community which is pretty pissed at you at the moment. Maybe rather than getting indignant and ranting about it you should seek out the root cause for this dis-satisfaction…
(hat tip – Frank J oddly enough)
// October 16th, 2004 // No Comments » // Tech
Yesterday evening I copied all of the stuff over to the new server, restored the DB and re-initialised Expression Engine. I only had one small problem:
When migrating Expression Engine to a different server you must delete the contents of the sub folders in your cache directory … or it throws a wobbly.
I tested the site on the subdomain and everything was working fine. So I threw the DNS switch and sat back to await the seamless transition from one server to the next.
Except this morning when I came to log on to the new server, nothing was working.
Confused? You betcha!
I checked the config file – a ok
I checked the permissions on the EE folders – also ok
I checked the migrated folders and … hang on … where the hell are the migrated folders?
A quick check revealed that all the stuff I’d uploaded earlier had disappeared into thin air.
So I re-uploaded the system and restored the database (again) and lo and behold, the site appeared.
Now I’m not sure why all the content was deleted. It’s a little worrying as I certainly didn’t do the deleting. But anyhoo, it’s all up and running now and everything seems nice and happy.
As per usual, if you notice anything weird going on then leave a note in the comments box … unless comments are being weird in which case hit the email addy in the top left corner.
// October 15th, 2004 // No Comments » // Personal
At least according to this international poll by the Guardian.
Personally, I’m not surprised by the results. The UK are a political ally but only because our government ignores it’s people when it comes to international policy but what do we know …we voted them in so we didn’t have to think about this stuff.
Israel love Bush and the US as is … probably thanks to the simple fact that, every time GWB stands up and re-states his commitment to the war on terror they have an excuse to blow up some more Palestinians … not that they needed an excuse before but at least they can claim the moral high ground.
But what made me laugh the most was Canada’s response to the question “Do the United States wield excessive influence on international affairs?”
I fully expect that the leftists will jump on this as overwhelming evidence of Bush’s lack of suitability for office (which it is not), those on the right will quote the uselessness of statistics and will just manage to skirt round the edges of the blatant xenophobia that makes America the proud nation it is today and the centrists will just shake their heads in sorrow at what is simply another sign of a world in turmoil.
(Hat tip: Kelvin)
// October 15th, 2004 // No Comments » // Personal
Doesn’t work on my computer!!!
Apparently there is a problem with UDP networking and MS Firewall client, both of which I have installed.
So it looks like I have to wait for a release where Google has resolved these issues *sigh*
// October 14th, 2004 // No Comments » // Personal
You just listen to the ol’ Pork Chop Express an’ take his advice on a dark and stormy night:
When some wild-eyed, eight-foot tall maniac grabs your neck an’ taps the back of your favorite head up against a bar room wall an’ looks you crooked in the eye an’ he asks if you’ve paid your dues.
You look right back at that big sucker an’ remember what Jack Burton always says at times like that.
“Have you paid your dues, Jack”
“Yes, sir, the cheque is in the mail!”
