Tonight I realized that the upgrade I did from MovableType 3 to MovableType 4 broke any and all links to my old articles once I had rebuilt my blog. The problem lies in the configuration option named “Basename Length” under Preferences->Blog Settings->Entries in MT4. The default value in MT4 is 30, whereas the default setting in MT3 was 15. Now I thought I could easily fix this by changing the value to 15 in MT4 and republishing my site, but that didn’t work. So instead I wrote this little PHP script to make copies of all my old archives articles and truncate the filenames to 15 characters. Now thinking about it, what I should have done - instead of making copies of the files, is create files with truncated filenames but that contain a PHP Header() directive that points at the current article with the 30 character filename. Anyway, here’s the script I wrote. Maybe it will help someone else. Be sure to CHMOD -R a+w archives/* before you run the script so that the script has permissions to create the new files. Then make sure you put the permissions back to what they should be when you’re done.
It’s fascinating to think that the industry that I fell into while trying to be an actor has set Hollywood on fire. The work I do at my day job adds fuel to the flame as we find creative ways to attract bigger audiences on the internet using video and interactive experiences. So Hollywood finds itself in the same position I’m at in my professional life - re-invent yourself or die. So while Hollywood struggles to find a profitable place on the internet, I struggle to find a profitable place in Hollywood as Talent. But I see myself as the next generation of content creators and talent. Not only do I have the skills to produce anything and everything on the internet, I also have the skills to be in front of, and behind the camera. I’m like Robert Rodriguez meets Kanye West. So while WGA strikes and SAG talks about a strike next year, I will be making my move.
Here’s an inside look at why Hollywood is in trouble:
——————–
This WGA strike is going to suck.
The other side is prepared to have us sit on our asses until the SAG
contract is up in JUNE. They all claim to be working toward a resolution,
but um… They are already reshaping the midseason. Do the math.
The studios and networks are sitting pretty and seem fairly convinced that
they own the internet.
THE WGA HAS NO FUCKING CLUE WHAT THEY ARE DOING IN THE NEW MEDIA REALM.
I met yesterday at the WGA offices and have agreed to help them try to
create a web presence worthy of the fight they are launching over new media.
As it stands, I had to explain that a BLOG is not a website.
I have my hands full.
They asked me yesterday, “how do we link videos to our website?”
What?
The two members of the communications committee
asked me what FACEBOOK is?!!
We are truly doomed if our negotiations committee doesn’t fold and take a
shitty deal. Seriously. The PR alone is going to kill us.
I’ve tried to explain the advantage to using the internet to our advantage.
Today I’m supposed to present a plan to use daytime soap fans to bang down
the doors at Colgate Palmolive and boycott their products unless they put
pressure on the other side to give us a piece of new media.
I talked to a communications member last night who didn’t realize there are
soap opera discussion boards and mailing lists!!!
“How do we find out where they are?”
I was having caching problems with the search functionality across two of my MovableType blogs. At first I thought it was a problem with the FastSearch plugin I was using. But my other blog was having similar problems and was not using the FastSearch plugin. It turns out that I had the page caching option enabled in mtview.php:
$mt->caching = true;
Once I commented out this line the search worked fine.
I also noticed that in migrating over my blogs from MovableType 3 to MovableType 4, MT4 created a different naming convention - leaving all the old MT3 files in the archive directories. So I decided to delete all the archive files and just rebuild/republish the site. I needed a Linux command that would recursively go through all the directories and delete all php files. After consulting google I found my answer:
I recently noticed that I wasn’t receiving any comment email notifications from Movable Type so I decided to dive into the system to figure out what was going wrong. Running mt-check.cgi reported back that sendmail was installed so I thought it might be a permissions issue between the the apache user process and sendmail. I typed in ’sendmail’ at the prompt and received back a message talking about “Exim“. Well, I’m not a Linux guru, but I do know that Sendmail!=Exim. So I turned to google to tell me what the heck Exim is and how do I figure out what’s going wrong. Google pointed me to the exim log file on the system which I watched as I sent test emails from Movable Type. The exim.log showed that it could not resolve the email addresses and was failing. A second thing I noticed was the ton of spam it was successfully blocking. So I went back to google to find out more info. I tried searching on keywords “exim movabletype”, “exim configuration” and couldn’t find anything useful. Then after staring at the exim.conf file for 10min, the lines “domainlist local_domains=” hit me. Google had told me that Exim was used for transferring and relaying local mail. My mail is being hosted at google through google apps. So I did a new google search for “exim google apps“. That search gave up a clue that got me one step further: If you are using a linux server, don’t forget to edit the /etc/remotedomains file to delete your domain. Well after poking around the file system I knew that I didn’t have a “remotedomains” file, but it did sound very similar to my “/etc/virtual/domains” file mentioned in my exim.conf. So I googled “/etc/virtual/domains“. And saw my final clue titled: Disable SMTP to certain local domains? That article did not have the exact answer but gave me enough information for me to solve the problem. To disable SMTP/mail service for specific domains just copy “/etc/virtual/domains” to some other file such as “/etc/virtual/domains_with_smtp”, edit the file and delete all the domains which use google mail, then point exim.conf “domainlist local_domains=” and “domainlist relay_domains=” to use this new file.
Over the past couple days I’ve been upgrading my various blogs to Movable Type 4. So far it’s been a pretty bumpy road - especially since I’ve also been migrating from a shared hosting plan over at Dreamhost to a super-fast VPS at Zone.net.
One of the biggest problems I had was with the new commenting system. Everything else seemed to be working fine, but every time I submitted a test comment the server would take a while to respond then give me a 500 error. Several google searches later and still nothing. I had a hunch that my problem had to do with the new captcha implementation in MT4 and the use of ImageMagick, but no documentation suggested that ImageMagick was a required component. Besides, I didn’t have captcha verification turned on. Another hour passed and I decided to go ahead and install ImageMagick…
BINGO! Now comments worked. So the lesson learned is:
ImageMagick is REQUIRED in a MT4 installation even if you don’t use captcha verification.
One of the biggest thing you’ll notice is that MT4 has a completely new look and feel. Personally, I don’t like it. It doesn’t seem to make it any easier to administer the system. In fact, it seems a little harder to navigate around MT4 since all the options are now buried within the new drop down menus. Another notable feature is the implementation of Javascript WYSIWYG text areas which make it easier to format text without having to type out HTML tags. There is also an option to switch between different text formats depending on your needs (coding, word formatting, etc). The MT Template tags have also been expanded to include the ability to set variables and create If/Then/Else logic structures. All of this is pretty helpful but I’ve found it better to create new index templates which output PHP modules which are then called by all the PHP archive pages (and main indexes) to include the content. For example, my Recent Entries sidebar module is actually setup as an index template which outputs a recent_entries_module.php file which is then included into my other pages using PHP:
<?php include (’recent_entries_modules.php’) ?>
The benefit of using this method is that this content is only generated once and written to the file system which saves on MT4 processing time when rebuilding pages. I’ve also found this method beneficial for more static content such as AdSense code, Flickr photo code or YouTube code because I can easily update those modules and have the change reflected across my entire site without having to rebuild the entire site.
There are still many more features in MT4 that I have not yet begun to explore, but so far I’m not all that impressed. BUT I still think Moveable Type is one of the best blogging/publishing platforms available - and I’ve tried the majority of them.
Are you willing to sacrifice everything to win at all costs?
Well I sacrificed many sleepless nights over the past few days to get the Damages, Win at All Costs Instant Win Sweepstakes up and running. It’s coded in PHP, SQL server, AJAX using MooTools and some of my own custom methods for displaying multiple pages of content using a single file. The show looks really interesting. I’ve probably seen the trailers a hundred times now while testing the application. Come check it out!
Breathing is the most basic part of life but the majority of people do not realize the power that breath has on mood, energy and focus. That’s why you’ll find that in Yoga and Martial Arts, breathing is an essential component in training. In the past it would take years of practice and training under a Master in order to perfect breathing techniques, but now there exists affordable biofeedback devices that can quickly train you how to breath properly in order to reduce stress.
Recently I’ve noticed ads in different magazines for a device called StressEraser.
Basically it’s a small portable biofeedback machine which gives you a visual guide on how to breath while measuring your heart rate. It’s been receiving a lot of good reviews from very reputable sources such as Good Morning America and The Washington Post so I decided to look it up on the internet. The device costs $300 which is kinda expensive, but you’re paying for an easy portable way to train yourself to relax and relieve stress. A few years ago I actually bought a biofeedback device which you connect to your computer and is bundled with gaming software, called The Wild Divine Project.
What attracted me to this system was not only the good reviews, but the idea that you could use a video game to train yourself different breathing patterns. This idea alone sparked my imagination and I had to try it. The Journey to Wild Divine only costs $199 and comes with a biofeedback monitor and software. The software is a game called The Journey to Wild Divine and has a similar feel to the popular game Myst. In the game you explore this magical land and encounter different puzzles which you can only solve by changing your heart rate and breathing patterns in different ways. I really enjoyed the system. The difference I see between the StressEraser product and the Wild Divine product are portability and flexibility. The StressEraser is aimed at reducing stress and is ultra portable. The Wild Divine can be used to not only reduce stress but teach you different breathing patterns to create energy and change your mood.
I originally purchased The Wild Divine to help me with focus and to help me combat my anxiety attacks which had sent me to the emergency room twice. Well, it worked. I haven’t had an anxiety attack for more than a year now. My next goal is to conquer my hyperhidrosis/stage fright which I know stems from lack of self confidence - which I feel like I already have a good control over. It’s all the result of knowing how to breathe.
This is my 4th bluetooth headset. Three of my old headsets were used as chew toys by my dog. The last one I had I lost somewhere in the office. I decided to get the Aliph Jawbone because of the military-grade DSP processing which helps to filter out background noise.
The idea is that you could be in a moderately noisy environment and the DSP would filter most of the noise so that your voice is loud and clear to the listener and background noise is kept to a minimum. In reality it seems to work pretty well, but it’s weakness is wind. The headset itself is designed pretty slick but it’s big. I guess they needed space to put in that military grade DSP circuitry. But even though it is big, it’s comfortable to wear using the earloop and it doesn’t feel heavy at all. The trick is to realize that the earloop wire bends. I didn’t figure this out right away and always felt like the headset was going to fall off my ear if I moved around too much. But now that I’ve adjusted the earloop wire, it fits perfectly.
The other caveat with the design is that it’s not easy to carry. It’s not the kind of bluetooth headset that you can just stick in your pant pocket without having a weird bulge. I have resorted to storing it in my sunglasses case.
So is it worth the money? Yes, if you can live with it’s size.
If didn’t already know… convergence is the wave of the future - the merging of Hollywood and the Internet creating a new digital media landscape. Joost is the company/buzzword of the moment which was started by the lucky bastards who created and sold Skype to Ebay for a couple billion. Joost is TV on the internet delivered to your computer full-screen with added features such as instant messaging and search baked right in. Right now, Joost is still in beta and is invite only. But you can get your own invite right here. But they only have 20,000 invites so you better click the link right now.
