I just moved this blog to a "custom domain." The custom domain is blog.yintercept.com.
A custom domain is still hosted by blogger.com. The reason I chose the custom domain route over the FTP route was that Google redirects the old pages to my new site. The blogger program says that the FTP route simply deletes the old yintercept.blogspot.com domain.
If anyone has links to this site, you might want to change your links. The old links should all URL forward to the right place.
Of course, I am pretty much the only person who links here. I will be changing links this afternoon.
Showing posts with label web sites. Show all posts
Showing posts with label web sites. Show all posts
Monday, November 12, 2007
Saturday, July 07, 2007
777 - A New Start
I spent the day working on the Community Color Calendars. I am rewriting the calendars from scratch as the original prototype of the calendars depended on the "Register Global" feature of PHP. The project is taking a long time simply because I've found that I've lost interest in the project.
I looked at my clock, and realized that it would soon be 7PM on 7/7/7.
I love working on web sites, but I want to do something different.
Several years ago, I purchased the domain name y-intercept.com to work as a community based research web site. I never found a community interested in doing research. So, I decided I am going to do something different with the site. I will use the site to write a project that will be called "Rich Theory."
Rich Theory is a rather involved and ambitious project. Unfortunately, I am being called away for the evening. So, will use this moment simply to announce the beginning of the project. The announcement is on a page called start start.
I will tell you what will be in the project in the upcoming days.
I looked at my clock, and realized that it would soon be 7PM on 7/7/7.
I love working on web sites, but I want to do something different.
Several years ago, I purchased the domain name y-intercept.com to work as a community based research web site. I never found a community interested in doing research. So, I decided I am going to do something different with the site. I will use the site to write a project that will be called "Rich Theory."
Rich Theory is a rather involved and ambitious project. Unfortunately, I am being called away for the evening. So, will use this moment simply to announce the beginning of the project. The announcement is on a page called start start.
I will tell you what will be in the project in the upcoming days.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Quality Photo Blog
This was unexpected: Ann Torrence dropped a note on my Lake Blanche post. It is intimidating when an exceptional photographer drops a note on an amateur photographer's site. I follow both Ann Torrence's photo blog and check in on her galleries on a regular basis. She is one of those photographers who've elevated the craft beyond snapshots to true storytelling.
I admit, my photo site exists primarily for database design experiments. This blog exists simply because blogging is the in-thing-to-do.
Theoretically, the value of my type of mindfart blog is that it can help point out quality sites. I hope that this posts directs some traffic in Ms. Torrence's direction.
I admit, my photo site exists primarily for database design experiments. This blog exists simply because blogging is the in-thing-to-do.
Theoretically, the value of my type of mindfart blog is that it can help point out quality sites. I hope that this posts directs some traffic in Ms. Torrence's direction.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Something Simple
I made my philosopher janitor story HTML strict. It is pretty much the only piece of writing I've done that's come out half way decent; so I figured I should try to present it in the best format possible.
This is the story where the janitor cleans so well that he cleans himself out of existence.
Sadly, parts of it are true. I worked in one office where a janitor was fired because a person claims to have lost two pennies. In another office, the janitor was canned because an executive placed important company records on the trash can for the evening, and the janitor threw out an extremely important report.
The story was originally an epic poem about the janitor. I decided to change it to a mix of poetry and prose.
The real point of the poem was that we all see the world from different perspectives. The janitor sees the world as a thing that needs to be maintained. He also spends his life working in negative space. There is all of this stuff in life. What we remove all of the fluff and gradually dig down to ourselves.
The predictable twist of the story is that janitor starts out seeing cleaning as a moral question, but later sees it as an existential question.
Anyway, what I thought would be a quick clean up of code (just before bed) turned into an epic struggle itself.
Replacing the tables with a DIV took about 2 minutes. Formatting the page in HTML strict took about 15 minutes. The thing looked good in Internet Explorer. Getting an HTML Strict document looking passable in Firefox took an hour and a half. I still can't figure out how to get rid of one gap in the document.
This is the story where the janitor cleans so well that he cleans himself out of existence.
Sadly, parts of it are true. I worked in one office where a janitor was fired because a person claims to have lost two pennies. In another office, the janitor was canned because an executive placed important company records on the trash can for the evening, and the janitor threw out an extremely important report.
The story was originally an epic poem about the janitor. I decided to change it to a mix of poetry and prose.
The real point of the poem was that we all see the world from different perspectives. The janitor sees the world as a thing that needs to be maintained. He also spends his life working in negative space. There is all of this stuff in life. What we remove all of the fluff and gradually dig down to ourselves.
The predictable twist of the story is that janitor starts out seeing cleaning as a moral question, but later sees it as an existential question.
Anyway, what I thought would be a quick clean up of code (just before bed) turned into an epic struggle itself.
Replacing the tables with a DIV took about 2 minutes. Formatting the page in HTML strict took about 15 minutes. The thing looked good in Internet Explorer. Getting an HTML Strict document looking passable in Firefox took an hour and a half. I still can't figure out how to get rid of one gap in the document.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Chela chis-chela
While moving stacks of books around, we found a small poem from my Great Aunt Susie Kerin called The Firemaker. According to a note attached to the poem, this was written in memory of a young Souix girl who died at the Lower Brule Agency in 1926. I uploaded it to a site containing her other published poems.
Friday, March 09, 2007
Moving a Domain
I am currently in the process of moving the Community Color web sites to a new host. When I started a community directory, my idea was simply to pound out a quick and dirty prototype in PHP. If the program tapped into a good market, I would have redesigned the program in C++ or Java and moved to a dedicated server. So, moving the site to a new discount webhost is an admission that the idea was a failure.
I should note, I started this set of programs up in Missoula. People in Missoula are so supportive of their community. I also really liked the University of Montana. It appears to be a good school with level headed people. The experiment I started with Missoula.WS was a success. I moved back to Salt Lake to watch the Olympics, and the fact someone else I know wanted to do a Missoula. The general reaction to the Salt Lake directory is simply: "You aren't Mormon. LEAVE!"
Utah has a strong counter culture. I am just not that good of a counter-culture type person. I actually see all of the groups in Utah as part of the Utah culture.
My little idealistic world view is that everyone who lives in an area is part of that community. We should develop the good parts of the community and find ways to overcome the bad things. No group should be dominating everything. When one group starts dominating, a community devolves into action/reaction mode, and the worst of people surfaces.
The goal of Community Color is to include everyone. In a community like Missoula where most people simply love being in Missoula, the idea of a community directory flies. In a fractured community, like Salt Lake, the idea falls flat. Of course, a community that is fractured by ideology is in greater need of things that encourage communication between the factions.
When you analyze the link structure of blogs and web sites in Utah, you will generally find that people only link to their group.
Just today, Natalie R. Collins put up a post about how she is excluded from Mormon link lists. Her site, of course, is part of a nexus of ex-Mormon and anti-polygamy sites. If you put up an intentionally pro-Mormon or an intentionally anti-Mormon site, you will get a very large number of links. Bemoaning the fact that you don't get all links is ludicrous.
The community color directories have several intentional biases. There is a bias toward small independent organizations that are within defined cultural centers of the state.
A business in Salt Lake City would get a higher slot than one in WVC. I allow that bias because I believe that the established cultural centers are important, and that sprawl is one of the major problems facing the Mountain West. The primary reason that I have not moved to Moab is that I don't want to be part of the sprawl that is consuming that little piece of paradise.
The small town is something very near and dear to the Western heart. The problem is that we can't all live in such places. When we try to, the small town we love sprawls.
I tried to figure out how to move to Grand Junction. My sights are currently set on moving the Denver. Although I've lived in Utah most of my life, enough people in my lineage were born in Denver to claim that I am a third generation Coloradan.
After moving from Missoula, I never received any feedback on what people want in a community site. This moving to a new discount host is an admission that the project failed. Most ideas fail. That's the way science and the free market work.
I am not really upset at failure. It is the fact that I haven't received the feedback on a better direction to follow that's got me feeling gloomy.
Anyway, one of the reasons I've been pounding out mindfarting "anti-progressive" posts is that I've been trying to avoid the fact that I need to get this domain moving project completed before the end of March. I started the project in December. So, I will write about PHP programming for the next several blog posts.
I should note, I started this set of programs up in Missoula. People in Missoula are so supportive of their community. I also really liked the University of Montana. It appears to be a good school with level headed people. The experiment I started with Missoula.WS was a success. I moved back to Salt Lake to watch the Olympics, and the fact someone else I know wanted to do a Missoula. The general reaction to the Salt Lake directory is simply: "You aren't Mormon. LEAVE!"
Utah has a strong counter culture. I am just not that good of a counter-culture type person. I actually see all of the groups in Utah as part of the Utah culture.
My little idealistic world view is that everyone who lives in an area is part of that community. We should develop the good parts of the community and find ways to overcome the bad things. No group should be dominating everything. When one group starts dominating, a community devolves into action/reaction mode, and the worst of people surfaces.
The goal of Community Color is to include everyone. In a community like Missoula where most people simply love being in Missoula, the idea of a community directory flies. In a fractured community, like Salt Lake, the idea falls flat. Of course, a community that is fractured by ideology is in greater need of things that encourage communication between the factions.
When you analyze the link structure of blogs and web sites in Utah, you will generally find that people only link to their group.
Just today, Natalie R. Collins put up a post about how she is excluded from Mormon link lists. Her site, of course, is part of a nexus of ex-Mormon and anti-polygamy sites. If you put up an intentionally pro-Mormon or an intentionally anti-Mormon site, you will get a very large number of links. Bemoaning the fact that you don't get all links is ludicrous.
The community color directories have several intentional biases. There is a bias toward small independent organizations that are within defined cultural centers of the state.
A business in Salt Lake City would get a higher slot than one in WVC. I allow that bias because I believe that the established cultural centers are important, and that sprawl is one of the major problems facing the Mountain West. The primary reason that I have not moved to Moab is that I don't want to be part of the sprawl that is consuming that little piece of paradise.
The small town is something very near and dear to the Western heart. The problem is that we can't all live in such places. When we try to, the small town we love sprawls.
I tried to figure out how to move to Grand Junction. My sights are currently set on moving the Denver. Although I've lived in Utah most of my life, enough people in my lineage were born in Denver to claim that I am a third generation Coloradan.
After moving from Missoula, I never received any feedback on what people want in a community site. This moving to a new discount host is an admission that the project failed. Most ideas fail. That's the way science and the free market work.
I am not really upset at failure. It is the fact that I haven't received the feedback on a better direction to follow that's got me feeling gloomy.
Anyway, one of the reasons I've been pounding out mindfarting "anti-progressive" posts is that I've been trying to avoid the fact that I need to get this domain moving project completed before the end of March. I started the project in December. So, I will write about PHP programming for the next several blog posts.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Name on a Banana
Reach Upwards is in an ethical quandary about people who offer him money to blog about their company, product or issue. Fortunately, for me, since I lack integrity, no one has ever offered me money to compromise my integrity.
This idea of advertisers buying spots on blogs is interesting from several different angles. Personally, I like the idea of independent people getting money for their blogs. Such a market helps distribute wealth and it provides bloggers with more resources for their activities.
The fact that bloggers are faced with ethical decisions about writing for money increases the overall awareness of the economic forces on the information around us.
Personally, I would love to find clever ways for people to "monetize" their web projects without a minimal impact on their integrity.
After reading Reach Upwards blog, I stumbled onto one such clever idea. The Site BananaNames.com is a clever idea. For a price, the company will write your name on a banana. Take a picture of the banana, then post the picture of the banana on their blog.
BTW, blogs aren't just influenced by money. Inbound links have a tremendous economic value. If you stick to the talking points of a particular political interest, you will get a large number of inbound links. This increases the influence of your blog. People who stray from the party line by talking about issues from multiple angles lose the precious inbound links.
On the issue of links as an economic concern, Newspapergrl is lamenting about link stinginess in local papers. The newspaper will report on a local business, but will rarely link to the local business--despite the fact that such a link would improve the story and help support the local economy. (NOTE, Newspapergrl has her name on a banana. That is where I found the NoaB site.)
Perhaps one of the greatest things about the blogging phenomena is that it has us thinking about the influences on the information around us. In just one short web session, I found discussions of blog advertising, link stinginess and entrepreneurs writing names on a banana for manna.
This idea of advertisers buying spots on blogs is interesting from several different angles. Personally, I like the idea of independent people getting money for their blogs. Such a market helps distribute wealth and it provides bloggers with more resources for their activities.
The fact that bloggers are faced with ethical decisions about writing for money increases the overall awareness of the economic forces on the information around us.
Personally, I would love to find clever ways for people to "monetize" their web projects without a minimal impact on their integrity.
After reading Reach Upwards blog, I stumbled onto one such clever idea. The Site BananaNames.com is a clever idea. For a price, the company will write your name on a banana. Take a picture of the banana, then post the picture of the banana on their blog.
BTW, blogs aren't just influenced by money. Inbound links have a tremendous economic value. If you stick to the talking points of a particular political interest, you will get a large number of inbound links. This increases the influence of your blog. People who stray from the party line by talking about issues from multiple angles lose the precious inbound links.
On the issue of links as an economic concern, Newspapergrl is lamenting about link stinginess in local papers. The newspaper will report on a local business, but will rarely link to the local business--despite the fact that such a link would improve the story and help support the local economy. (NOTE, Newspapergrl has her name on a banana. That is where I found the NoaB site.)
Perhaps one of the greatest things about the blogging phenomena is that it has us thinking about the influences on the information around us. In just one short web session, I found discussions of blog advertising, link stinginess and entrepreneurs writing names on a banana for manna.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Startup Princess
I've been reading posts on Start Up Princess. This site from Provo is putting together a network of women entrepreneurs.
Yes, I know, I am not supposed to be there. I was actually harvesting links from the site. That's where I found Raw Melissa. Anyway, I think groups like this show entrepreneurship at its finest. The basic metaphor for the site is that the market is a magic kingdom. The goal of the start up princess is to help motivate startups by providing resources including access to venture capital and a to a network of fairy godmothers. A fairy godmothers is a successful entrepreneur willing to help other women achieve their entrepreneurial dreams.
It is a fun metaphor, and people are putting together some really worthwhile ventures such as the Now I Can Therapy Center.
Unfortunately, many of the start ups listed on the site seem to be in marginal industries like scrapbooking. One thing that I worry about is that, since so many of the primary industries in our society are dominated by a few well financed conglomerate, we end up burning our entrepreneurial spirit on on low margin markets.
Again, I was on the site to do link harvesting, and a large number of the links are already broken as people's stab at marginal markets failed to manifest. Anyway, I thought I would blog on this resource because it might add more power to the Start Up Princess's magic wand.
Yes, I know, I am not supposed to be there. I was actually harvesting links from the site. That's where I found Raw Melissa. Anyway, I think groups like this show entrepreneurship at its finest. The basic metaphor for the site is that the market is a magic kingdom. The goal of the start up princess is to help motivate startups by providing resources including access to venture capital and a to a network of fairy godmothers. A fairy godmothers is a successful entrepreneur willing to help other women achieve their entrepreneurial dreams.
It is a fun metaphor, and people are putting together some really worthwhile ventures such as the Now I Can Therapy Center.
Unfortunately, many of the start ups listed on the site seem to be in marginal industries like scrapbooking. One thing that I worry about is that, since so many of the primary industries in our society are dominated by a few well financed conglomerate, we end up burning our entrepreneurial spirit on on low margin markets.
Again, I was on the site to do link harvesting, and a large number of the links are already broken as people's stab at marginal markets failed to manifest. Anyway, I thought I would blog on this resource because it might add more power to the Start Up Princess's magic wand.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Raw Melissa
I wonder if this young lady has a hard time finding a date? I worry about her having to sit at home eating alone on a Friday night, Munching on carrots. The Raw Melissa Blog talks about her cooking classes and the joy of small green plants peeking out from under the snow.
Raw Melissa reminds me a bit of that poor Rachael Ray girl on the food network ... You know, the girl who has to travel around with only $40 a day to spend on food. Every show ends up with poor Rachel Ray dining alone with no-one to talk to.
Anyway, this Raw Melissa stands out as a gem. The site is working on perfecting healthy desserts and cuisine made from whole organic foods. It looks yummy indeeed. I think this type of site is much more interesting than this blabber about politics site. It has great photography and promotes healthy food.
Raw Melissa reminds me a bit of that poor Rachael Ray girl on the food network ... You know, the girl who has to travel around with only $40 a day to spend on food. Every show ends up with poor Rachel Ray dining alone with no-one to talk to.
Anyway, this Raw Melissa stands out as a gem. The site is working on perfecting healthy desserts and cuisine made from whole organic foods. It looks yummy indeeed. I think this type of site is much more interesting than this blabber about politics site. It has great photography and promotes healthy food.
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Xmission Site
As xMission customers, my folks have a small amount of web real estate. So, I made them a small feeder web site (Joe Delaney's Site. This is just a one page bopper with links to other projects.
To make the site visually interesting, I put small bars with images across the tops and bottoms of the pages. Now that I have a little bit more bandwidth at my disposal, I might add image bars to my Community Directories. Of course, I will need to check this site on a few different browsers before I make that step.
Since bandwith prices have dropped, I have wondered about making the thumbnails larger. Right now, I make the leading edge of the thumbnail 100px. My temptation is to up the thumbnail size to 120px.
To make the site visually interesting, I put small bars with images across the tops and bottoms of the pages. Now that I have a little bit more bandwidth at my disposal, I might add image bars to my Community Directories. Of course, I will need to check this site on a few different browsers before I make that step.
Since bandwith prices have dropped, I have wondered about making the thumbnails larger. Right now, I make the leading edge of the thumbnail 100px. My temptation is to up the thumbnail size to 120px.
Monday, November 28, 2005
msn spaces
I started playing with MSN Spaces. Anyway, I think I will use a MSN Blog for comments on current events, and use this blog primarily for discussions about philosophy, programming, community and math.
The one advantage of the MSN program is that it allows categories ... which prevents blogs from diverging on a large number of subjects...like this blog does.
Back to important matters. My premilary look at stats shows that I had no sales on Saturday or Sunday (which is typical). My big hope is today. One problem of course, is that an open directory structure doesn't do any preselling. For example, Denver Clothing store page simply shows links to stores in the area. It makes no attempt to explain why a store might be compelling.
When I shop, I just want to know about what options exist.
Of course, the mixed message of a community directory that lists web sites with franchises fails here as well. The community directory only shows a the subset of shopping options that have both a web site and local store. Many of the most compelling apparel stores don't have physical outlets.
So far, I show one sale today. Not enough to pay for a server, but at least it is a start.
The one advantage of the MSN program is that it allows categories ... which prevents blogs from diverging on a large number of subjects...like this blog does.
Back to important matters. My premilary look at stats shows that I had no sales on Saturday or Sunday (which is typical). My big hope is today. One problem of course, is that an open directory structure doesn't do any preselling. For example, Denver Clothing store page simply shows links to stores in the area. It makes no attempt to explain why a store might be compelling.
When I shop, I just want to know about what options exist.
Of course, the mixed message of a community directory that lists web sites with franchises fails here as well. The community directory only shows a the subset of shopping options that have both a web site and local store. Many of the most compelling apparel stores don't have physical outlets.
So far, I show one sale today. Not enough to pay for a server, but at least it is a start.
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Domain Change
Over the weekend, I moved the domain Proto Photo to a new server. The reseller account I was using had a limit of a paltry 200MB...not sufficient for a photo gallery. Not only did they have low bandwidth and space restrictions, the account had a punitive pricing structure. It was basically the thing that if the site got popular, I could have ended up with network fees in tens of thousands of dollars.
Because of that limit, I had stopped adding pictures or development on the account. I also had compressed all of the images in the gallery to the point that the quality of the images was compromised.
My new account has a 2GB limit and it has a reasonable upgrade path if I exceed that amount. That means I can start adding photos again! That is, if I can get everything working again.
I waited so long as I really was expecting my web host to change the pricing on my original account.
I am slowly getting the new account to work.
Because of that limit, I had stopped adding pictures or development on the account. I also had compressed all of the images in the gallery to the point that the quality of the images was compromised.
My new account has a 2GB limit and it has a reasonable upgrade path if I exceed that amount. That means I can start adding photos again! That is, if I can get everything working again.
I waited so long as I really was expecting my web host to change the pricing on my original account.
I am slowly getting the new account to work.
Saturday, June 18, 2005
More Community Sites
I added two more sites to my family of web directories: Fort Collins (FtCollinsCo.US) and Durango. It will take awhile before I have enough links in these directories to be interesting, but I really like both of these towns. Anyway, it takes a couple of months for search engines to find new sites. So I figure that's not too big of a problem.
Friday, November 05, 2004
Name Change
I decided to change the name of my group of community directories from LinksAlive.com to CommunityColor.com. The new name does a better job describing what I am trying to accomplish with the directory. The purpose of the Community Color directories is to list sites for a geographic region. This makes it easy for people in an area to connect with others in their community.
BTW, I did not choose the name Links Alive. It was given to me. At the time, I really didn't care about the name of the top directory. Now that I am more emeshed in the project, I realize that the dynamics of communities demand that I build more interconnections in the projects, and the top domain is becoming important.
Anyway, I am likely to sell the name Links Alive after I go through the gradual process of changing the directory name.
The name Linksalive always bugged me. People who read the domain name often think "Link Saliva." It also sounds a bit to "link-exchangish" and spammy. The new name emphasizes the diversity of a local community.
BTW, I did not choose the name Links Alive. It was given to me. At the time, I really didn't care about the name of the top directory. Now that I am more emeshed in the project, I realize that the dynamics of communities demand that I build more interconnections in the projects, and the top domain is becoming important.
Anyway, I am likely to sell the name Links Alive after I go through the gradual process of changing the directory name.
The name Linksalive always bugged me. People who read the domain name often think "Link Saliva." It also sounds a bit to "link-exchangish" and spammy. The new name emphasizes the diversity of a local community.
Saturday, February 22, 2003
Second Post
My second entry! Yep, entry two is on the same day as entry one. How boring. But instead of taking about today, I will talk about yesterday. How's that for a compromise?
Yesterday, I stopped in Murray, Utah and snagged a few photos of the city. When I first moved to Salt Lake City in the '70s, Murray was way out in the boondocks. With people zooming along I215 at 80 miles an hour, the town in pretty much in the thick of things now. Since Murray is on tracks, it might even be possible to live there when gas is $5 a gallon after this next war.
Okay, yesterday wasn't that exciting. But the blog lives on.
Yesterday, I stopped in Murray, Utah and snagged a few photos of the city. When I first moved to Salt Lake City in the '70s, Murray was way out in the boondocks. With people zooming along I215 at 80 miles an hour, the town in pretty much in the thick of things now. Since Murray is on tracks, it might even be possible to live there when gas is $5 a gallon after this next war.
Okay, yesterday wasn't that exciting. But the blog lives on.
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