philisha.net

November 2003

Monthly Archive

Apology

Posted by phil on 13 Nov 2003 | Tagged as: Uncategorized

I’ve got a lot going through my mind right now. I know anything I say is going to quite bungle things. So perhaps the best way to clear my mind right now is a defence of my governance and policies. There has been some unrest expressed recently over my announcement and declaration of meritocracy. I think this merits an explanation as there is really something behind this.

As would be evident from any perusal of this site, it has a decidedly technical bent to it. This is a guiding decision of mine that stems mostly from the stated purpose of the site: to allow me to gain a better understanding of web development and enhance my skill at administrating it. Consequentially, many of the posts on the blog section would be incomprehensible to Joe Sixpack. The Slashdot links, the FSF/OSS-centric comments, and the embarassingly geeky pages of Bahamut Lagoon all serve to reinforce this key fact.

Coming from this perspective, it seems sensible that the site would favour the technologically competent and the hackers (not crackers!) that visit it. Just as people will pay more attention to you in a gathering of surfers if you are a skilled surfer yourself, a bit of hackish tendencies in a person should give them greater influence on a tech site. Having said that, an explanation of the voting on this site.

Here at the Beach of One Thousand Shrunken Heads, voting is based upon a complex system of HTML forms and CGI scripts. In order to ensure that any idiot could not unduly skew the outcomes of certain polls, checking is done to make sure that each vote comes from a unique IP address. While each computer is connected to the network, it is given a unique address with which to identify it. This makes it possible to ensure my policy of one vote per IP address.

There are some interesting side-effects to this. For instance, if someone has used your computer to vote already, you cannot vote. Thus the system punishes you if you are not on top of things and caught up. On the other hand, it also has the side-effect of rewarding ingenuity and effort; see below. Thus the title of meritocracy and favouring the technically inclined.

There are actually four ways to influence the vote. First and most obvious is the so-called “legitimate” method; that is, vote from your own computer. Everyone gets one vote based upon the very fact that they own or have access to a computer. Secondly, the newly-christened “Dustin” method which takes very little thought to come up with, but a good deal of effort to enact. It involves visiting several different computers with unique IP addresses (often in a computer lad), and registering a vote from each of these. While this is terribly inefficient, it does a great deal to increase your influence.

I’ve recently been reminded of the joy of discovery. Hacking is much more fun if you can figure it out on your own…. So I’ll leave the other 2 methods secret. Each of them takes a good deal of skill to discover, and a little bit more skill to implement, but that’s the fun of it. Like I said…. Meritocracy. If you don’t care, you’ll get one vote. If that doesn’t sound fun to you, then stop complaining about your small voice. If you are clever, you may be able to figure it out. (Oh, so tempting, isn’t it?)

With that out of the way, my rule with an iron fist of benevolence goes on. I’m open to new ideas that aren’t stupid. Projects for the future include:
-Database-stored comments

-An option to use preformatted text in comments as opposed to HTML
-A recepies section where I store all my greatest culinary hits!
-More user interaction with the site.

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Announcement

Posted by phil on 11 Nov 2003 | Tagged as: Uncategorized

Announcement:
The Beach of One Thousand Shrunken Heads is a meritocracy.
That is all.

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A Fable with no Moral

Posted by phil on 06 Nov 2003 | Tagged as: Uncategorized

I went and sold my soul, so I could pay the rent,

I waited by the mail, but the check was never sent.
So I called the devil up, but I just got his machine.
I left an angry message, said I gotta have the green.

I didn’t give up then, but I made another plan.
If Satan didn’t want my soul, I’d sell it to the man.
I tried to find his number, but it wasn’t in the book.
I’d get the money anyhow, no matter what it took.
No matter what it took…

A paragon of virtue,
At least I’m not a thief.
It’s so easily justified,
But always leads to grief.

So I got myself some cardboard, and I made myself a sign,
To sell my soul below the market rate was my design.
I went down to the street, and I tried to make the deal.
A land rover drove right by with Satan at the wheel.

He saw what I was doing and said, “That’s not yours to sell.
You’ll get your check tomorrow, and I’ll see you down in Hell.
So you’d better spend it well.

-by Quasi from Field Studies

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