Lean mean XML parsing machine
I just finished writing a new engine for my dad’s website! It parses XML files and places the appropriate items in the title and body tags. I also have it so that it converts newlines to breaks using nl2br() (which is a godsend!). I’m getting ready to write him an editor for it so that he can’t break the xml either (I have the pages disguised as .wood, his business is Woodsmith Creations, documents so that Windows won’t pickup the extension and open it with the wrong program).
I also used a trick i found here to do mod_rewrite-ish URLs without mod_rewrite! (AcceptPathInfo must be on in your httpd.conf though, so that PHP can access the $_SERVER['PATH_INFO'] variable)
Now I just need my partner to finish up CSS and Images and we will be ready to rock!
Some specs for Linux on the PS3
Well, I knew that the ps3 didn’t have much ram. I didn’t think that it would only be 214MB though! I believe that there are actually 256MB in the PS3, but that 42MB are taken by the hyperviser (which prevents graphics card access). Thankfully the processor helps to make up for it by clocking in at just over 3.1Ghz. Not bad, eh?
Also the audio support (at least in Gentoo) is fantastic! I had to do nothing to get 5.1 Surround Sound working other than install amarok! Also very good. Maybe I’ll put a Gentoo installation guide for the PS3 on here soon…
Drupal What?
This week I was surfing around, trying to find a web engine that would allow easy collaboration on projects. I wanted something themeable, customizeable, and, most importantly, free. I came up with Drupal (drupal.org). It won CNet’s webware award last year, so I decided to give it a try. I installed Drupal 6.2 (the latest Stable) and it worked like a charm. The only problem is that the ‘Project’ line of plugins only work up to 5.7 (the previous Stable), and while the Project team is working feverishly to get it update for 6.2, it isn’t there yet. So, I installed 5.7 and am now running it. It works really, really well. I highly recommend for any website, it has blog, forum, news, projects, and many more functionalities. While there aren’t as many modules for it as for WordPress, there are more variety. Anyway, I am going to be working on setting up my computer to be a web server over the next few days, so all my free time is going to go towards that.
Illegitamite Trader
Hehe. The worship leader at our church wants my to write him a program that will automatically trade on the Foreign Currency Exchange Market (Forex). So, I set up a demo account in order to learn more about Forex (a real one would be illegal as I am a minor). It’s really interesting. By using the history of a currency, you can predict whether it will go up or down. I have gotten so-so at that, though I still have a lot to learn. By watching for certain patterns, it becomes easy to predict the market. The only problem with that is if something happens that is non-technical (aka tax hikes, worker strikes, etc.) it throws the predictions out the window! There is no way to plan for those, which is what makes it so risky.
Also, I think I set the world record for most losses in 5 minutes on the Forex market: $15,000 (note that this was a demo account, so that was 15,000 virtual dollars)
