February

3/3/12 by AC
  Server Maintenance
    A learning moment on my world outline server
    data roots grow quicly and the larger they are, the slower they make the server over time.
    An important one to watch is domainStats.root
    My WO server wouldn't even start up properly intil I deleted it, which was *only* 250 megs in size. Once I did problems were resolved.
      tested by tweeting a link on the server. It held up beautifully!
    Also, the hits and threadWatcher scrollers definitely use up more resources that I want to make available to it in order for it to always be running.
  Steps taken in debugging crashes
    Since the server would start, and freeze within about 10 seconds and then crash, I had to repeat my steps several times until I had enough info:
    observed the scrollers to see what threads were not going away
    Immediately saw that very long URL's were being requested that existed when we were still pointing to each others' WO servers. these url's would look like this:
      curryverse.com/adamsWorld/TopLevel/OtherTopLevels/dropBox/blorkIncludeOutline/davesWorld/worknotes/etc/etc/etc/etc
    I had no way to trap the exact url's requested, but some were rediculously long
    Knowing that these were no longer accessible, I suspected bot and crawler traffic.
    Verified by using Tcpview.exe (part of the SysinternalsSuite of tools for Windows)
      goolebot and baidu were crawling and apparently still don't understand that getting a 404 means don't crawl
    Confirmed the freeze would happen when the server got a request for a very long non-existent url followed by a crash
    Went through my checklist of filemenu.savecopy of the following roots:
      config.root
      wordouotlineStats.root
      members.root
    After each root was saved I swapped it out and restarted the server to see if that was the problem.
    No change after looping through the process of saving each root
    Then tried it with domainStats.root
    Still no change.
    I then deleted domainStats.root
    The problem immdeiately cleared and the server no longer frezzes, crashes and performance is like a brand new WO server.
    Size of domainsStats.root was not very big, 250 megs.
    Maybe because it has to write to so many tables with a long URL?
2/27/12 by AC
  Editing Roots not on Roots Page
    I want to clean up my roots page, but do not want to have to go back to the server to set the flDeleted flag to 'false' when I want to edit a root no longer on the roots page
    It is very easy to find the opml file for any root I want to edit, since these are displayed as the xml icon on all world outline pages
    Working on a little script that will do the following:
      Open a dialog asking for the url of the root to opem
      Open the specified root for editing as if it was accessed from the roots menu
    Core script
      opmlEditor.worldOutline.openArchivedOutline ("URL", "TITLE")
    Challenge is sthat this script requires a TITLE parameter, openeing and saving it will effectively change the title to the title parameter, it does not get the title param from the outline.
    Being able to read this from the opml file would make the process seamless.
  Blorkmarks for my own domains
    blorkmarking for my own domains that are set up through route53 does not work on my studio install of the OPML Editor
    I remember a table I have to configure somewhere. Looking for it
    Found it: user.opmlEditor.blorkmark.domains
    It worked
    Trying now to change the default blorkmark to be my own domain name:
      Looks like there is a pref there, but it doesn't set my domain by default. Hmm
  Testing the new fonts feature
        Josefin Slab
    This should appear in the Josefin Slab font from google
    Hmm, it didn't work :-(
    Changed the nodetype to a blogpost and it worked.
    Nice!
2/25/12 by AC
  Writng the OPML Editor on Ubuntu HowTo
    If you want to run the OPML Editor (windows version) on Linux, here is a HowTo that I have been able to replicate on two desktop machines With Ubuntu 11.10
    Your results may of course vary due to hardware differences and Murphy :-)
    OPML Editor on Ubuntu
      Overview
        WINE is a framework that allows many windows applications to run under Linux operating systems. It is far from perfect, but often with some tweaking, you can get everything to work.
        Wine1.3 finally had enough tweaks that you can run the OPML Editor for windows on a desktop machine under Ubuntu 11.10
        The usual caveats apply, as this may not work for you depending on hardware differences and Linux 'mojo' :-)
      Installing Wine1.3
        Release 1.3 is not officially supported out of the box on Ubuntu as of 2/25/12, so intallation cannot easily be done in the GUI.
        Open a Terminal window
        type:
          sudo apt-get update
          sudo apt-get install wine1.3
        You will be asked if installing from an 'non-trusted source' is ok. Confirm you are ok with this, but only if you are!
      Configuring Wine1.3 for the OPML Editor
        From your Ubuntu applications, open the Configure Wine application
        You should see something like this screenshot
        If it looks exactly like this, then you can move to the next step
        Click on the 'Graphics' tab
        Configure this tab like the screenshot below
      Installing the OPML Editor
        In your Ubuntu browser (this default is Firefox) download the windows version of the OPML Editor
        Save it to your Downloads folder and extraxt the zip file so you have the 'stock' OPML folder.
        Next we are going to move the OPML folder to a 'special' folder where WINE stores programs and user data
        Open your Download Folder in your File browserlike this screenshot
        Now go the the Menu for your file browser and select 'New Window'
        Go to your Home Folder
        From the file browser menu select View->Show Hidden Files
        You will see a folder called .wine
        Open the .wine folder and navigate to drive_c->Program FIles
        Drag the OPML folder from your Home folder to the Program Files folder
      Starting the OPML Editor
        open the OPML Folder and double click on opml.exe
        A new window should open containing the OPML Editor like this
        The OPML Editor will ask to connect to the server to download updates, if you are connected to the internet confirming this will work
      Working with the Editor
        Unless you install a Wine based browser (which is a whole other HowTo) you will be using your Ubuntu based Firefox browser to interact with the OPML Editor
        Entering http://127.0.0.1:5337/opmleditor will get you to the editor where you can select the prefs menu to start configuration.
      After Installing
        After the first time you start up the OPML Editor, it will be accessible from your Ubuntu Applications menu or when you select Dash Home at the top of your dock
        Unless you have installed a windows browser on wine, the OPML Editor does not know how to communicate automatically with your Ubuntu browser, so menu items like the Tool Catalog will not work.
        Instead just access everything from the menus in Firefox from http://127.0.0.1:5337/opmleditor/
      Notes
        Use the comments section if you have feedback on this howto, if you ran into trouble, but especially if it worked!
        I will keep this howto updated based upon the feedback.
  Rules as a Macro
    "Header Template"
    Testing something that came up on the podcast yesterday
    "smiley1"
  Suggested 'Friends'
    Stealing address book data from iPhones to help users make connections is not a very sophisticated way of connecting people
    Re-enter "Share Your OPML
    In the World Outline this takes on a whole new meaning!
2/24/12 by AC
  HowTo Test
    Basically Just Curious
      I want to see what the template looks like for howtos in the new corner turn that was released
    Another Heading
      I probably should start using rules more often eh?
    FInal Heading
      That is all!
      Good night!
  Using the microscope
    I installed the threadWatcher script Dave released but hasn't yet announced.
    What a fantastic tool!
    I was able to identify a lot of include nodes that were literally looping around to themselves when a webcrawler would hit it
    Removed all of the offenders and pared down te homepage of curryverse.com
    Server hasn't been this calm in ages!
    No flatlining
  OPML Editor on Linux
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    During the World Outline Podcast today I mentioned to Dave that I have been running the OPML Editor in Wine1.3 under Ubuntu Linux
    Apparently this hadn't been clear from my blog posts about the subject.
    I agreed it would be a fun experiment to get this up and running on a server to test it.
    Log of steps taken
      Started up an Ubuntu 11.10 instance on Rackspace
      Problem: how to start the VNC or Remote desktop server on it. I can only ssh into the shell
      After googling a bit...
      Chatted with online help at rackspace
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      The chat log
        Adam Curry: HI. I just started a Ubuntu 11.10 cloud server and I want to access it from my Ubuntu machine at home through Ubuntu's Remote Desktop Viewer. Is there a howto on this?
        Chase N: You would have to install an x windows/VNC server or Gui on the Ubuntu Server. By default it is a minimalist base command line install
        Adam Curry: ok. any pointers on how to do that in the knowledge base?
        Adam Curry: I have ssh access of course and understand how to do installs
        Chase N: They are not in the knowledgebase, but you can look it up in the community/wiki on the ubuntu page. They have a lot of tutorials.
      This page looks like what I'm looking for
      Addition to the instructions, first type: sudo apt-get update then continue the instructions from the top. This updates the servers database of available packages.
      The instructions, when followed carefully work. Care should be taken when setting the port number with :0 instead of :1 since the Ubuntu desktop RD viewer app talks to port 5900 by default
      OK, now to install wine1.3 The vnc interface is super slow, maybe because I chose such a small install memory. Might try it via command line.
      Looks like we might have a show stopper
      When wine starts, the vnc connects dies, xserver freaks out and I have to reboot in order to reconnect.
      Googling to see what I can find abou thtis issue.
      ok, set vnc connection to 16 bits and it appeared to work, briefly
    ==============
    Wow, I really made a mistake in my thinking. The way a headless install works with VNC is that you start up a new X11 session when you log in, so even though I was able to get the opml editor working for a bit, even accessible over the net, when the vnc connection breaks, the entire session closes.
    So this would only really work if you had a server with a monitor attached. That just seems like a non-starter.
    Oh well... at least it works on my desktop machine!
2/22/12 by AC
  Mountain Goat continues
    Changing default sound volume with the built in mixer
    Looks like suspend/hibernate is a bug in 11.10
2/19/12 by AC
  Moving to Linux
    I really want to try to make the move to linux. Now that the last program I absolutely can't live without runs under WINE-1.3, I'm ready to give it a try. Documenting my journey here.
    LOL, I just tweeted that I'm naming my new system.
    MacBook Air + Ubuntu = Mountain Goat :-)
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    Log Entries
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      2/22/12; 11:44:11 AM by AC
        Changing default sound volume with the built in mixer
      2/22/12; 12:24:59 AM by AC
        Looks like suspend/hibernate isa bug in 11.10
      2/20/12; 11:24:51 AM by AC
        8 hours later and still no help from 'the community' on my suspend/hibernate issue'
        Just came up with a name for my setup: Mountain Goat :-)
        Tweaks I'm working on are basics today, suspend & hibernate
        Got wine-1.3 running yesterday evening. Trying to tweak all configurations today
        Most importantly, the OPML Editor is now running stable, the last bsastion! Without that on my machine I cannot manage anything in 'my world'. So that's all done.
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    Subsections are apparent:
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      Learning
        key commands
          The OS. Getting used to the difference between the [meta] key and [control]
          OPML Editor
      Stuff to fix
        Suspend/Hibernate
          Not a lot of luck, documentation appears out of date.
          Looks like suspend/hibernate is a bug in 11.10
        Trackpad will freeze sometimes, not a lot, but still
      Stuff to install
        Wow, not much to do on this front!
      Done
        Google voice notifier -installed
        Kupfer to replicate Quicksilver -installed
        Skype -installed
        GPG -installed
        msql front end -not needed. Thunderbird does indexing of email very nicely over imap and has great search!
        Wireless is weak, there appears to be a fix
          Installed the enhanced driver, not sure if its any better or not.
          A possible fix
          Jury i still out on the wireless adaptor, feels better though
          I'm moving this to Done, since the broadcom driver appears to be pretty good. Not annoying enough to tinker with any further
  OPML Editor under WINE redux
    Shut up.
    I just updated wine to 1.3 on my Ubuntu install running on the macbook air and it appears stable?!
    WTF!
    Not celebrating just yet, running throuugh tons of tests before I rejoice.
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    Tests
      OK, I do see the double 'Outline' menu itme I've seen in Windows 7. Not a big deal, as only one of the menu items actually works.
      OPening a root from the Ubuntu native based Firefox works, opens the correct outline in the Editor. Clicking on the view button in the editor however does not talk to any browser. Need to see if that's a pref I can set.
      Not one crash yet..
      installed worldoutline.root and have all that configured and working. w00t!
      Not much more I need than that reall, well of course Scripting2.root, but I'll test that in a bit.
      HAPPY!
      Booksmakrs and boilerplates appear to work
      Now to install dropbox for linux on this machine...
2/15/12 by AC
  River2 Atom feeds problem
    I've been seeing this for a while now, and am pretty sure something changed on blogspot.com with their Atom feeds
    When I subscribe to a feed like this: http://venitism.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
    The feed that gets parsed and displayed when clicking on a story in my River of News is this: http://venitism.blogspot.com/feeds/8572075396722689632/comments/default
    For some reeason although the headline and truncated story display properly in my RoN, the url link goes to the comments of the post, which results in a display error.
    This is replicable with all blogspot.com Atom feeds
  River Subscription problems
    I started noticing that I wasn't receiving items in my River Of News from high item feeds, like my twitter rss subscriptions.
    After some investigation I saw that the feeds associated with my subscription list opml were out of synch.
    Weird
    tried re-saving my list to ensure a fresh copy was uploaded to S3
    Next to the server, still no joy after rescanning and some basic server maintenance.
    Turned off garbage collection in the prefs just to be sure. -> No joy.
    Now I'm noticing my config.root is 1.1Gb in size.
    Whoops, gonna save a coy to compact it. Hopefully that will shake everything out
    After bringing donfig.root to the front, the command to save a copy is:
    filemenu.savecopy("c:\config.root")
    Did the switch and still the same.
    Missing A LOT of my subscriptiptions.
    Unsubscribed from the list and any remnant subs that suddenly appeared.
    Resubscribed. Still only about half the list.
    Waiting for a couple cycles to see if it gets better
    Many subscriptions still not showing up even when I subscribe with a new account that I made. This is truly baffling.
    Copied all of my feeds and created a new outline and then pasted the feeds in, subscribed to that and it looks like I'm subscribing to my feeds again. Phew.
    Maybe the opml file got corrupted somehow in dropbox.
    My bet is still on the config.root file that just grew too big and fucked everything up. I think all my feeds are now back and being scanned. Hopefully this didn't mess up any other rivers too badly and if it did they will shake out as well.
    Will continue to monitor
  Saving a copy of config.root
    Putting this here for search
    filemenu.savecopy("c:\config.root")