Recently in Tech Category

Well, it seemed like just about that time to completely overhaul the site again. Now that Movable Type version 4 has been out for a while, and seems mostly stable, it seemed like a good time to make the switch. Since I’ve basically been cobbling on updates for as long as I’ve been running MT, I figured it was time for a clean install, including using MT4-style templates. So here it is.

The behind-the-scenes stuff, like blog maintenance and entry posting and editing is really quite well put together. And there’s some nifty changes to the “front end,” too.

You may notice the “Sign in” link at the upper left corner. As many of you bloggers know, comment spam got way out of hand in a big hurry a few years back. One of MT’s early solutions was to institute authentication using their “Typekey” system. I thought that was pretty cool, and my unauthenticated comment spam was getting out of control. This prompted a switch to Typekey, only to have readers and commenters complain about having to sign into Typekey.

So I brought back anonymous comments, but moderated them. Typekey folks got their comments published immediately, but others had to be approved. You can imagine how onerous that became as the comment spammers ran wild. Then a wonderful person put together a CAPTCHA plugin for Movable Type comment forms. CAPTCHA is an authentication system where you’re shown a graphic with random letters and numbers, and you have to type them into a box — the theory is that only a human being can see them, so only a human being could type them in. This allowed the non-Typekey folks to comment without being moderated, and kept the spam out, too.

In the current incarnation of GeoffBrown.net, there are all kinds of options to let people comment at will while keeping spammers at bay. There’s still Typekey, if you have that. But now you can also register for a login and password directly from GeoffBrown.net. And if you don’t like the idea of coming up with yet another username and password, you can also use your LiveJournal login to post here, too (which should be good for the many friends I know who use LiveJournal). You can also use OpenID, if you have that or your Vox login if you have one. Coming soon, you’ll be able to use WordPress to login, or even your AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) login. That should pretty much cover a lot of folks. And for the stubborn among you, you can still post comments without logging in if you fill in your name and email address, and don’t mind filling in that annoying little CAPTCHA box.

And I’ll even be sure to do regular backups, so that I don’t have an unfortunate comment loss again.

I’m still learning about all the new bells and whistles in MT4, so while I’m checking those out, one never knows — I might even post a few things more often.

Unfortunately, I had a bit of a database hiccup, and it seems that all of my comments went bye-bye. That’s right — all of them, going back almost five years or so. So if you thought I deleted that witty comment of yours out of spite, I assure you I didn’t.

Movable Type just released version 3.1 of their blog software, and after a little bit of shoehorning and modification, I've upgraded. You shouldn't notice much of a difference, as I'm still using my old template and style sheet. The primary difference will be the comment system. In an effort to cut back on the considerable comment spam, the new M version allows for comment registration. In order to post a comment, one should obtain a free TypeKey account. The upside for you is that your one TypeKey account can be used to log into lots of MT blogs for commenting. The upside for me is that it allows for easy restriction of comment spam. For you privacy conspiracy folks, you can provide as much or as little personal information as you like.

Other neat stuff includes better category management, the ability to use dynamic pages, a better interface, and the ability to schedule future posts. It looks like everything ought to work alright, but some kinks may yet reveal themselves. As always, comments are welcome.

UPDATE: I've decided to make TypeKey registration for commenting optional. However, I may change that if I get bombarded with comment spam. If you have a TypeKey identity, you can and should should sign in with it.

UPDATE II: I've switched comment registration back on. I got bombarded with comment spam when I allowed unregistered commenting, and the new version of my Blacklist plugin seems not to be working.

Dean Esmay has been threatened with a lawsuit by an attorney who was displeased with a comment someone else made about him in the comments section of the Dean's World blog. Apparently, the attorney in question skipped simply asking Dean to remove the post, and jumped right into the lawsuit threat. Anyhow, Dean is looking for some legal help, so if any of you attorney types are reading and need to fulfill that pro bono requirement, drop him a line (sadly, I cannot help, as my current employer prohibits me from practicing law or giving legal advice.)

I'm not sure whether this would thwart any but the dumbest of laptop thieves.

Congratulations to Ken Lorenzo and Chris W., the winners of my Gmail contest. Their prize is an invitation to join Gmail, Google's new 1 GB free email account.

A total of seven people entered, and six people answered all of the questions correctly. Thanks to those of you who entered. I ended up having two, instead of one, invitation, and Ken and Chris were chosen at random from the correct entry. For the answers, see below:

The fine folks over at ArborBlogs have seen fit to include GeoffBrown.net as one of the member sites. ArborBlogs is a collection of Ann Arbor-based blogs.

Okay, folks, I have one Gmail invitation up for grabs. Rather than sell it on eBay like some mercenary, I thought it would be cool to have a contest for it. So here's the deal: I am going to send hopefuls on a little scavenger hunt. You'll need to email me with the answers to a series of questions below. All of the answers can be found on the Internet. You have until 12:00 noon EDT on Wednesday 16 June 2004 to get your answers in. The one who answers all of the questions correctly wins. If more than one person gets of the answers correct, I will select the winner at random from among the correct entries. If no one gets all the answers correct, I'll go to the person who got the most correct answers. I will be the sole judge of all entries, the rules, the deadline, and of who is the winner, and, of course, my judgment is final on those issues. So here goes:

1. I had an article published in a local publication in December 1995. (a) What is the name of the publication; (b) what is the title of the article; (c) what is the exact date of publication; (d) name the four people I refer to in the article.

2. What is my State Bar of Michigan membership number?

3. In college, I did a web report for my Biology of Fishes class at the University of Michigan. What kind of fish is the subject of my report?

Well, thanks to the Gmail Swap website, and the generosity of a guy named Austin, I received an invitation for my very own Gmail account. It is, indeed, pretty cool. However, I do not, at this time, have any of my own invitations to share -- Google apparently assigns this privilege basically at random -- but if I ever have some extras, I may well devise some sort of contest or other for one or more of them.

So Google is in the testing stages of a free email service, Gmail. The service offers a free web interface and one gigabyte (that's about a hundred times more than Hotmail) of storage. It also features some rather innovative search, filtering, and sorting features based upon Google's search engine technology, and boasts superior spam filtering.

Another feature, that has privacy paranoia types up in arms, is that Google's targeted ad engine will apparently scan emails and serve small, unobtrusive text ads relevant to the content of the email. Google insists that the ads are pretty out-of-the-way, and most users have stated that it really isn't such a big deal.

Apparently, people are going totally batshit over this service. Google hasn't officially launched yet, offering test accounts to a lucky few, who are then given the ability to invite one or two other people to sign up for their own accounts. Folks desperate to try out Gmail are buying invitations on eBay, or batering goods and services at a special website designed to match those who have invitations with those who will do any number of things to get one.

Now, I haven't been fortunate enough to have been invited yet, but if there are any GeoffBrown.net readers out there with an extra invitation, and a desire to donate one to me, well, now, I wouldn't complain a bit.

In a fit of geeky frenzy, I managed to extend the useful life of my six-year-old PowerBook G3 Wallstreet 233 MHz laptop by several years this weekend by swapping out the 2 GB hard drive for a brand-spankin'-new 40 GB drive (the old drive went into a FireWire/USB enclosure so I can use it, for, well, anything other than gathering dust), adding another 128 MB RAM, and upgrading from Mac OS 9.2.2 (which itself was the fourth or so upgrade) to Mac OS X v10.2.8. Those supposedly in the know say that this machine is woefully underpowered to run OS X, but it seems to work fine to me -- better graphics, cool programs, and not having to buy a new computer all while maintaining my nerd street credibility. What more could I ask for?

My good friend Ben Kepple has managed to make the news. He was a featured guest on the New England Cable News, which was doing a story about blogs and blogging. Ben appeared to talk about his blog, Ben Kepple's Daily Rant, as well as the blogging phenomenon in general.

How Appealing reports that the Senate Judiciary Committee has entered a blog post from Law Professor Eugene Volokh, of Volokh Conspiracy fame, into the record of its hearing on "A Proposed Constitutional Amendment to Preserve Traditional Marriage."

I somehow doubt that my previous post about cleaning my cat's ears will earn the same distinction.

Findlaw today reported that "Microsoft Admits Flaw in Windows Software." Apparently, Microsoft's newest spawn, Windows Server 2003, touted as the most secure version of the OS ever, has a gaping security hole you could drive an armored tank division through. And, of course, with Windows, it's not altogether a contradiction to say it's the safest version ever despite the fact that there are blatant, gaping, and inexcusable security holes in it. Microsoft released a patch for the server that will close the hole, fixing that problem, but who knows when the next problem will pop up.

The funny thing is that people still act surprised to hear things like this. It happens all the time. Microsoft code tends to be big, bloated, and inefficient, and easily exploitable by even mildly saavy hackers. Yet when one counters that MacOS, which Microsoft strives ardently to copy at every turn, is more stable and doesn't have the big security holes of Windows, one gets scoffed at in response. This is exactly the kind of thing I had to deal with before I left my brief IT career behind for the legal profession -- stuffed shirt MBA types with little or no technical knowledge have, for decades, been getting fished in by the Microsoft Windows sell job, and we all get stuck with products we'll never be sure are safe or secure. Which is why I use my trusty Mac whenever possible.