This site is rarely updated. benbrophy.com is more up-to-date. - Ben
Scheduling updates with crontab
I just set up my laptop to do these blog updates for me automatically every 30 minutes. Here's how I did it.
- In the terminal type: crontab -e
- This opens 'vi' a commandline text editor. ESC i to edit
- I added this as the first line: */3 * * * * root /usr/bin/blosxom.cgi -password='mypassword' -quiet=1
- escape key, then ':wq' to save and leave vi
If you are reading this, it worked!
Google Template
I just added google search to this site, and customized the results page. It was quite easy. I was surprised to see that what method for customizing is a XSL file. You really get a lot of control. I'm delighted.
I've MIT's old search capabilities were nice but it was near impossible to customize the results pages. The new goolge search is going to e great for our clients at AMPS. Now that I now how to do it, I'll have to customize Stellar results pages.
Check out the handy IST info site on Google Search at MIT.
Simplicity
republished from my old blog
I'm moving to a new blog. My apologies to anyone reading, I hope you'll add my new RSS feed to your reader. If you like to read using an old fashioned 'web browser' you can visit the website, now called Inline Comments (it's a geek site, what do you want?).
My new blog is powered by Blosxom. I publish static files from my laptop over to my AFS locker on MIT. This means there are no comments or trackback. I have chosen to strip out a lot of other stuff as well, for example the home page displays only the most recent post. In fact, as I mention in the sidebar, the website is really just a life support system for the RSS feed.
Here's why I did it: Simplicity.
I'd like to continue publishing my notes, for my own record as much as anything, but since I am doing this from work, I can't devote a lot of time to it. With the setup, I write plain text notes and save them in a folder on my laptop. A chron job runs every 30 minutes and adds new posts to the blog in the background. If I write posts when I'm offline, they get published the next time I have internet access.
This is a fast efficient way to publish. As much as I love love love getting comments, they are another channel of communication to keep track of, and I've got a few to many of those. Just email me (note to self - add a cgi-email form to the site). Or blog it yourself, if I know you I'll see it in your RSS feed.
Latte to Go
There's a place in Berkeley where I buy a latte on my way into the office each morning. Once thing I really like about is you just ask for a latte. There are no sizes - not even small and large let alone 'venti' and 'grande.' The only choice involved is 'for hear' or 'to go' (or, since we're in California, 'para var').
Sometimes it's really satisfying to have fewer choices.