I've just rebuilt php on the web server, so as usual, please report any issues that may be caused by the version change to the web site concerns forum.
posted on: Wednesday - Apr 02 2008 (1:45pm) · posted by: Lev
Outgoing emails (notifications) confirmed to be working! ;)
Thanks to NeroAnima and Reverend Felix T Cat for mentioning that parts of the site weren't sending email.
It turns out, none of the site was. This was all due in part to a half-updated of the source. Grrr...
The problem was that none of the site's cronjobs were executing properly because they were failing to include the site configuration file, which in turn halted any emails from being sent.
Ironically, I knew about this problem around a week ago on my own personal site, but didn't realize TT would have been affected as well. So, once again, I feel (partly) bad that my site was running smoothly with the fix already in place for some time now, while TT still didn't get it.
There were 1857 emails on queue to be delivered, so these will still go out, but many will seem oddly out of place considering their dated nature. Every five minutes the server will attempt to send out 100 emails, so all notifications (and other emails) will be delivered within a couple of hours.
On a side note - yes, I know my site still has several features TT lacks... I don't expect TT to get the rest of the updates (aside from fixes) until I have the bug tracker all setup, so I can uniformly name and version package releases.
posted on: Sunday - Mar 30 2008 (5:26pm) · posted by: Lev
Sanctuary in the Virtual World
[ current mood | indescribable ]
[ thinking about | posers ]
In the recent few days past, I have spent quite a bit of time on TT. In this time I have noticed a disturbing lack of traffic. When I stumbled upon TT, I was blown away by the discovery. Here is this totally free site(multiple meanings), that I could possibly meet some people worth knowing. Even if it was only fleeting conversations and little snapshots of weird(and I love the Weird) people doing weird things... whatever that means. I don't fit in to societies view of what a person should be, or how a person should even see reality. To me the world is really nothing more than a collection of energy that managed to spread out into somewhere, and miraculously started becoming aware of itself through this amazing thing called life. Anyway, to find a "place" so full of fresh diversity was just what I had been searching for.
Now we come to present day.
I have spent many hours looking at all of the wonderful pictures, and reading through many forums, and the only thing I can say at this point is; What a shame. Where have you all gone... My Space... Fuck that over glorified glee club of a damn conformist society. This site will die without people to keep it alive. There is a forum about making the site better, I feel that the site is fine. What it really needs is members that actually give a shit about TRUE individualism, and from what I've read in profiles, blogs, forums, and seen in pics, they were here. This is simply one members' attempt to call you out, YOU... the one reading this, I challenge you to participate in something you will probably never appreciate.
P.S. Lev should not be put on a pedestal, but a little reverence for TT wouldn't hurt.
I've justed updated the version of the portal system TT is running on. Because of this, there may be problems which I am not aware of. If you run into any such problems please report them right away so they can be fixed.
posted on: Monday - Feb 18 2008 (8:51am) · posted by: Lev
TT welcomes new members
As many of you know, member sign-ups have been offline for the past 2 months (partly why the site is so dead lately).
This is because I've been using email activation for accounts, but since we are currently without SMTP access at the moment, I have disabled this. We have been in touch with our ISP but they haven't gotten back to us and I'm tired of waiting around.
In the mean time anyone can sign-up for an account on TT again, assuming they can read an image code.
posted on: Sunday - Feb 10 2008 (7:52pm) · posted by: Lev
I decided to conform
I don't know exactly why I started thinking about this lately, but for some reason I've been wanting to do what virtually everyone else does with their life - put it online.
With that said, I'm in the process of running my own personal blog for those interested. I'm going to be updating it probably several times a day, with everything that comes to mind. I'm sure a large part of what I will write about will revolve around video games, programming & technology, and religion and philosophy. Of course, I am sure I will rant on about the little things of everyday life that irritate and annoy me, and if you're really unlucky - what I'm eating for dinner.
I have a lot to say and write about all the time, so I thought it was obvious that having my own personal place for that online would be cool. An easy way to get people to write what I'm writing would be for me to constantly update it, so I think that should be easy for me.
posted on: Saturday - Feb 09 2008 (10:22am) · posted by: Lev
Problems with the site...?
Due to the fact that I have recently been working on optimizing the site's source code for portability, I have made several major changes today to the database structure. Because of this, many pages are now going to end with fatal errors. Other pages may be missing icons, or you may notice dead images around the site.
If you run into ANY warnings, fatal errors, broken links, dead images or anything else that you think isn't correct, please let me know either in the web site concerns forum or in this thread here.
posted on: Sunday - Feb 03 2008 (6:18pm) · posted by: Lev
Conservatives’ Ban of Organ Donations by Gay Men Done in Secret
January 10, 2008 OTTAWA – The Conservative government’s decision to secretly implement a policy that excludes gay men from donating organs is yet another example of the shady way that this government operates, said Liberal Health Critic Robert Thibault.
“The government claims it widely consulted a variety of groups about this change and there were no concerns expressed about it,” said Mr. Thibault. “And yet here we have the head of Canada’s largest organ transplant program and two of the biggest organizations representing the gay community saying that they knew nothing about it.
“Just who did the government consult? It is very frustrating for Canadians to have a federal government that continuously operates in secrecy, and makes false claims about developing public policy in partnership with Canadians,” he said.
It was only through the media that the public learned that Health Canada recently implemented new regulations to determine who can donate organs.
The new regulations exclude any man who has had a same-sex partner in the previous five years from donating tissue. Doctors have expressed concerns that such a ban could lead to an increase of deaths by shrinking an already dwindling pool of donors.
Dr. Gary Levy, head of Canada’s largest organ transplant program at Toronto University’s Health Network, told CBC that he was not informed of the change, or even that it was being considered.
He called the new regulations “too tight” and “too restrictive,” estimating that seven out of every 100 organ donors at his hospital every year will be rejected because of them. (CBC, Jan. 7, 2008)
Both PFLAG Canada and Egale Canada, two of the largest organizations representing the gay and lesbian community, have said they were not consulted during the drafting of this new regulation.
Egale Executive Director Helen Kennedy called it “discriminatory,” saying the government is “perpetrating stereotypes.” They have demanded that the government suspend the policy. (Egale Press Release, Jan. 8, 2008)
Mr. Thibault pointed out that high-risk sexual behaviour and not sexual orientation is what puts an individual at risk for contracting diseases. In fact, he added, the statistics show that women are becoming the fastest growing population to contract HIV and AIDS - not gay men.
“Why is this government putting unnecessary barriers in place that will stop doctors from using organs they otherwise would?” he said. “They are stopping donors from donating organs at a time when people are dying from lack of access to needed organs.
“This is simply more evidence of ideological discrimination. In addition to cuts to HIV/AIDS community programs, opposition to the INSITE safe injection site and the elimination of the Safer Tattooing Practices Initiative, we see once again that the Conservative government makes its decisions based on ideology rather than empirical fact.”
Mr. Thibault called on the government to allow donor agencies to continue the policy of screening based on individual behavioural risk, rather than a blanket policy of exclusion based on sexual orientation.
posted on: Saturday - Jan 12 2008 (6:14pm) · posted by: Necromaster
Some services off
You may have noticed, that as of December 16th new member signups haven't been succeeding.
I don't want to give out too much information here or anything, but to summarize email has been blocked by my ISP because 90,000 spams were sent out from the server.
I have pretty much eliminated the possibility of it being related to email injection on any sites on the server, but will continue to consider it as a possibility.
I have a very good lead as to what is going on and who is doing it. I actually know a bit more than the person may think I know at the moment, but I only want to share the info that I feel is necessary.
Once I am ensure the server is no longer compromised I will work with my ISP to get email working again.
posted on: Saturday - Jan 12 2008 (5:39pm) · posted by: Lev
Taking technology to a whole new level
Maybe some of you have already got word of this, but a young software developer, and technology enthusiast, has recently devised a brilliant use of the Wii remote:
He has also come up with a method of creating a virtual white board and demonstrates finger tracking - all through the use of the Wii remote.
posted on: Wednesday - Jan 09 2008 (6:10pm) · posted by: Lev
How fast can you type?
Most of us are spending more and more time on the internet today, which means many of us are beginning to type at the speeds of machines. I type very fast, because I write so much (articles, thoughts, coding and so forth).
I hadn't tested myself for the "words per minute" in somewhere close to five years. I thought I was really fast back then at around 35 WPM. I just downloaded the GNU Typist tool and clocked my current typing rate at around 100-110 WPM on average (highest was something like 115 with around 2-4% errors).
How fast do you type? Has anyone else taking a typing test to see just how fast they perform?
This is what a lifestyle of coding and writing essays for many years will do to you. I'm sure some of you others are pretty fast, so I am curious, just how fast (with errors too)?
posted on: Tuesday - Jan 08 2008 (2:07pm) · posted by: Lev
Happy new year!
... well, not quite yet.
I was just curious what any of you fine folks are doing for new years eve? Getting drunk, wasted or just bored off your ass?
I will be at home with Nero getting drunk. I haven't drunk in ages so I hope this alcohol cider does the trick. I wanted to get toasted but my hookup is in Somalia.
posted on: Sunday - Dec 30 2007 (4:54pm) · posted by: Lev
Objective journalism? - yeah right... First Gamespot, now IGN...
I stumbled upon an article today that mentions a troubling bit of information: IGN's Nintendo Editor, Matt Casamassina, is married to a PR representative for Nintendo.
This comes as rather worrying news after the recent incident involving the so-thought firing of Jeff Gerstmann from Gamespot over a negative review.
Gamers now need to seriously think about how credible the information they are being fed is. We now have discomforting evidence to suggest both of the leading gaming communities are not as trustworthy as have been thought.
Here is the recent article published suggesting the conflict of interests between IGN's own Matt Casamassina and Golin Harris' Edie Kissko.
-----
VGMWatch.com has been able to confirm that IGN Nintendo editor Matt Casamassina is married to Golin Harris Vice President Edie Kissko. Golin Harris serves as Nintendo’s PR firm. Sources connected with both Golin Harris and IGN.com were able to validate this information. While VGMWatch has no interest in personal affairs, undisclosed conflicts of interest plaguing the game industry’s integrity cannot be ignored. To that end, there are several journalistic red flags surrounding the facts of this case.
Unfortunately, we have yet to discover any public acknowledgment from either Nintendo, Golin Harris, or IGN Entertainment informing customers of this conflict of interest. Furthermore, IGN.com has continued to allow the Nintendo channel editor to manage Nintendo product coverage. Likewise, the Golin Harris VP in question is responsible for promoting Nintendo products. Clearly, millions of IGN readers’ trust has been violated by this irresponsible abandonment of principle.
Make no mistake, people cannot help with whom they fall in love. As such, the personal integrity of the two individuals involved with this case is completely irrelevant. Indeed, it is principle and principle alone which concerns VGMWatch. The buck stops with IGN and Nintendo to address any conflicts of interest they may have. Simply put, the line between product coverage and sales should be clear and uncompromised. The mere appearance of journalistic impropriety of this magnitude should be avoided.
When game media outlets and publishers taint product coverage it hurts the industry as a whole. Gamers should not tolerate this type of gross irresponsibility. It is also completely unfair to the game publications and publishers that do practice integrity and sound business principle. Frankly, we are tired of seeing reputable industry outlets dragged into the mud due to the careless actions of others. Let’s face it, a newspaper dining critic would not be allowed to review a restaurant his/her spouse managed. If the publication was aware of the potential for conflict of interest, the journalist would most likely not even be allowed to review any restaurants in town. This is basic journalistic integrity consumers expect. The game industry deserves nothing less.
Needless to say, we are disappointed with IGN.com. However, we do want to offer some advice to the network to remedy this situation. First, we strongly urge IGN to not make the network editor a scapegoat in an effort to save face. It is the network’s responsibility to deal with these issues, not the employee. Furthermore, IGN.com should issue a public statement to its readers regarding the conflict of interest. Also, the Nintendo editor should be assigned editorial coverage that does not conflict with his/her personal relationship. We strongly urge Golin Harris/Nintendo to take similar measures on its end.
We contacted IGN and Golin Harris representatives as well as the individuals directly involved. Currently, we have received comment from Golin Harris:“All GolinHarris employees who work on the Nintendo account sign and adhere to a strict confidentiality agreement.” VGMWatch will continue to investigate this story and any other conflicts of interest that come to our attention.
Updated Editor’s Personal Note: I was uncomfortable publishing this story. In fact, I have been sitting on this piece for many months debating whether to run it or not. However, with the game media beginning to take a closer look at cases of corruption, it is time to address this issue. Personally, I find it sickening that these companies’ mistakes happen to be connected with personal affairs. That’s why, rightly or wrongly, I refuse to mention the two individuals’ names. The original story I published did not contain the individual’s names. However, after recommendations from fellow journalists, I have reluctantly decided to disclose the names of the individuals involved. Unfortunately, there is an element of responsibility that falls on the individuals involved as well. Nevertheless, I respect them personally and realize that marriage is a wonderful institution. Rather, my frustration is completely directed towards IGN, Nintendo, and Golin Harris. While it was very difficult for me to publish this type of story, I could not in good conscience continue to shelve it. I also understand that some folks inside the industry have known of this marriage already. However, it would be disingenuous for our publication to not report on such a conflict of interest for the general gaming public. Hopefully, if we continue to engage in open dialog regarding problematic issues facing game journalism we can aid this industry in its maturation.
Now, I finally have an explanation as to why I always through this guy was so full of it and licking the shit off of Nintendo's slimy boots. I can recall several IGN weekly videos with this lamo in which I couldn't help but think "man, this is so full of shit". Don't get me wrong - I like Nintendo games too, but I'm not a blind patriot that will kiss their ass. Either Matt is a completely impartial fraud, or a completely whacked fanboy who has no sense of objective.
posted on: Friday - Dec 21 2007 (2:43pm) · posted by: private
Gamespot.com suspends my account (took less than a week)
I thought I was contributing quite a bit to the community, with some 70+ posts and 11 written reviews, but it seems I have already been suspended.
I received a message stating my account was temporary suspended - a time was not given.
The reason - derogatory use of the word "retard".
It claims that if I want more information I should click a link to review my moderation history - upon doing so it tells me:
"Excellent job! None of your contributions have been moderated."
I cannot even recall using the word, so I am left wondering when and where I used it, if I indeed did. The site is telling me different, and I haven't been given any proof right now so I am a bit irritated.
What I find most amusing about the entire situation is that even if I did use it, I find that absolutely laughable. The word "retard" has made it's way into common English slang a long time ago and does not necessarily refer to handicapped indivudals (which is what they are saying I violated). The word "retard" derives from Latin and means "slow", so to claim it directly indicates offensive behavior is incredibly asinine.
I hope this little story makes some of you here appreciate just how much you can say freely on this community without ever having to fear being punished for doing so.
This little episode has brought a harsh reminder to me of why I never bother participating in communities elsewhere to begin with.
Someone please tell me I am not the only one who thinks this is absolutely ridiculous?
I just paid $40 for a total access membership and I am already considering telling them to shove it and delete my account. I don't know right now - all I know is that is retarded.
posted on: Wednesday - Dec 12 2007 (11:22pm) · posted by: Lev
Really amusing email I got on TT recently...
I received a message from someone who used the contact form, with the subject of "TTContact - dearth penality". Here is the complete message, it its unedited form:
----- BEGIN MESSAGE -----
hello fellow country men and women, am a nigerian citizen residence in france,i saw the disgrace news concerning some useless and hopeless nigerian citizen practice lesbian and gay in my beloved country...please am advice the nigeria government to pass law against them for dearth penality,stop them from employment,stop them from any social or public place,imprisonment of their parent if them refused the movement of their children,stop them from entering public or private transports,any gay club or internet chatting should be monitor with state security services,gay relationship is a sin against God and crime against humanity,its disturb christianity and our africa tradition forbid gay,even if france some are ashame to speak in public and none of their parent know about it,even some who speak their parent they are been refuse from family....please speak with fedral government not 5 yrs imprisonment just dearth penality and our country authority must not listen to international body because if we must fight them and stop them totally,
posted on: Friday - Dec 07 2007 (10:39am) · posted by: Lev
Physical therapists prescribe Wii time
LOS ANGELES, (Reuters Life!) - Franklin Perry used to spend hours performing video game feats with his thumbs but lately he has been using the Nintendo Wii, and the rest of his body, to regain his strength after suffering a stroke.
The 51-year-old, who had a stroke about three weeks ago, has been working hard to rebuild the muscles in his immobilized right side at Ohio State University Medical Center's Dodd Hall Rehabilitation Hospital in Columbus.
"I'm just now getting some movement back," said Perry, who before entering the center logged his game time at on a Sony PlayStation 2 home console or in shopping mall arcades.
Robbie Winget, an occupational therapist who oversees use of the Wii at Dodd Hall, said news that a rehab hospital in Alberta, Canada, was using the popular new video game system sparked the idea.
Winget played with the Wii at a friend's house and was convinced that it could help patients build balance, coordination, endurance and upper and lower body strength.
"I thought it was cool that you used your body to control the movement," said Winget, who added that Nintendo has not provided the hospital with the video game console.
The hospital has been using the Wii for about four months to help people recovering from strokes and spinal cord or traumatic brain injuries, according to Winget.
Therapists at Dodd Hall use the Wii's tennis, golf, bowling, baseball and boxing games -- which require patients to mimic real-world play while holding a motion-sensing controller -- for physical therapy. Patients also use the Web-connected console to find information on its news or weather channels to improve brain function.
All the patients at Dodd Hall usually undergo a total of three hours of daily therapy and work with the video game system for about 30 minutes per day two to three times per week.
Winget said he didn't think other home video game consoles could match the Wii's appeal with older patients.
"The idea of sitting there fiddling a couple of buttons on a video game (controller) is not motivating or interesting at all," said Winget.
Perry, who favors his left hand when playing games, said his Wii therapy includes holding the "Wiimote" controller in his right hand while he bowls for strikes or punches and jabs an on-screen opponent.
His therapists said he is pushing hard on all of his exercises, but Perry said the video games are helping him go to the next level.
"This is more fun. It makes it more exciting. It gets me to work harder," said Perry, who has a fierce video game rivalry with his teenage nephew.
But Winget said the Wii will not replace conventional therapy. "It's one more way to meet specific goals associated with therapy," he explained.
Perry said he has two goals -- getting home by Christmas and getting a Wii, supplies of which are tight for the second holiday season in a row.
"I wish I could find one," said Perry. "Anybody that's over who wants to play can play. If not, I'll be on that thing all by myself."
I knew this day would come. Nintendo was very smart for promoting the physical uses of their system because it is the opposite of the inactive lifestyles games have gotten the reputation for having. Nintendo has turned the table in this regard, and for that alone, it has taken a nice fortified position in the gaming market by being able to advertise and say "we're the only gaming system that is healthy for you". Smart move, Nintendo.
I tried to do a Wii Sports workout each day - usually I am pretty good with it, but occasionally I'll miss a day. You definitely get a work out playing boxing and bowling.
posted on: Thursday - Dec 06 2007 (4:56pm) · posted by: Lev
Finnish man kills 8 in school shooting
The gunman shot himself in the head and later died from his wounds in hospital, officials said.
The shootings took place in Tuusula, some 50km (30 miles) north of the capital, Helsinki.
Finnish police said an 18-year-old man killed five boys, two girls and the female principal of Jokela High School.
Investigators have reportedly identified the gunman as Pekka-Eric Auvinen.
A teacher said the gunman, who had posted footage foreshadowing the massacre on video-sharing website YouTube, was a student at the school.
Police responded to a call made at 1144 (0944 GMT) and made contact with the gunman when they arrived at the school 11 minutes later, said Timo Leppala, the officer in charge of the police operation.
"Police ordered him to surrender, to which he answered by shooting towards the police," Mr Leppala said.
He described a scene of chaos with students jumping from school windows and running for shelter as more police arrived.
It is not clear when the gunman shot himself in the head.
Police said he was armed with a .22 calibre pistol for which he obtained a license on 19 October. He did not have a criminal record and "was from an ordinary family," a police spokesman said.
A Tuusula municipality spokeswoman said the gunman opened fire during a lesson at Jokela secondary school, which has 400 pupils between 12 and 18.
'Unreal'
Kim Kiuru, a Jokela teacher, said the head teacher announced over the school public announcement's system just before noon (1000 GMT) that all students should remain in their classrooms.
"I stayed in the corridor to listen to more instructions having locked my classroom door," Mr Kiuru told Finland's YLE radio.
"After that I saw the gunman running with what appeared to be a small calibre handgun in his hand through the doors toward me after which I escaped to the corridor downstairs and ran in the opposite direction."
"It felt unreal - a pupil I have taught myself was running towards me, screaming, a pistol in his hand."
Mr Kiuru said he saw a woman's body as he fled the building. He said he then told his students to "jump out of the windows... and all my pupils were saved".
'My war'
The gunman had posted a video called "Jokela high school massacre 11/7/2007" on YouTube in the past two weeks.
The video showed a picture of a building by a lake and photos of him holding a gun.
Going by the username Sturmgeist89, he called himself a "social Darwinist" who would "eliminate all who I see unfit". "Sturmgeist" means storm spirit in German.
The video has now been removed from the website.
He had also reportedly posted on another website a rambling manifesto.
In it he said: "death and killing is not a tragedy... Not all human lives are important or worth saving."
He wrote that he was acting alone and nobody is to blame for his actions. "This is my war: one man's war against humanity, governments and weak-minded masses of the world."
posted on: Thursday - Nov 08 2007 (9:57am) · posted by: Lev
Happy Halloween!
Happy Halloween to everyone who celebrates the day and/or dresses up.
Halloween in Sweden is lame to the max - it's nothing but a handful of kids wearing cookie-cut costumes. No older people seem to dress up and absolutely no one does anything creative over here.
So what is everyone doing for the holiday? Anyone dressing up? Would love to see some pictures if anyone does dress up.
posted on: Sunday - Sep 23 2007 (5:42pm) · posted by: Lev
Retaliation to recent Swedish cartoon with bounty & death threat
Al-Qaida is rewarding anyone who kills Lars Vilks, the Swedish cartoonist who recently drew an image of Muhammad as a dog.
They have stated they will offer $100,000 for the death of the Cartoonist, or $150,000 if he is "slaughtered like a lamb".
(religion of peace religion of peace religion of peace religion of peace)
... Say it with me, people.
Here is some food for thought:
1) Islam doesn't believe in free speech (read the Quran) 2) If you criticize what they believe in, you can be killed (read the Quaran & look around) 3) They preach peace and practice hate (why do the good ones hide?) 4) It is their world, or ours (regression and progression cannot mutually exist) 5) Read "Islam versus the free world"
Spread the word - these people do not understand OR respect our lifestyles and beliefs, and many even want to kill us if we question or ridicule what they believe in.
There are good Muslims out there, but they are very few in numbers and have the obligation to root out these fanatics, if they wish their religion to be observed as peaceful. It is the obligation of every devote and peace-loving Muslim to reject those that preach violence and hatred by making THEIR voices heard as well. Sadly, there don't seem to be many doing this.
I am appalled that I used to go to demonstrations and protests to defend these people, and Palestine. I renounce any former effort to defend these people and I now reject the thought of defending anything associated with Islam in any form. I am absolutely disgusted by what many Muslims continue to do in the name of their faith every single day of our lives. I am repulsed by the fact that so many hate anyone who thinks different than them and wishes to silence any opposition. I regret every time I made any effort at protecting these people and would like to apologize to everyone for defending such hate mongerers.
Download HARD TIME and distribute it. Post it in public locations, past it out to family, bring it to school, forward it to your contacts. If anyone wants free printed copies, let me know and I will send you some as long as you pass some around to people you know.
We all need to wake up and realize that we have a very serious problem here. Many of these people want nothing to do with our way of life and want to slaughter us for having different perspectives. These extremists are growing in numbers everyday as society cowardly allows hate mongerers to hide behind shielded religious veils. The rest of us need to step forward in denouncing ANY ideology that practices violence and hatred.
We've got a bigger problem than imperialism right now, and it's RELIGIONS OF HATE.
posted on: Saturday - Sep 15 2007 (3:26pm) · posted by: Lev
HARD TIME returns with "Islam versus the free world"
After a couple of years of absence, HARD TIME returns with my latest offering titled, "Islam versus the free world".
While anyone who reads the entire thing should realize this, I thought it should be pointed out specifically here that it in no way serves as an attack on any Muslim personally, as I have had several close Muslim friends. It instead serves as a depiction of an ever-rising collision between Islamic and democratic philosophy.
It was most inspired after the events which took place with the Danish presses publication of the Mohammad cartoons, and the even more recent cartoon drawing of Mohammad's head on a dog's body, by a Swedish cartoonist.
Being an open advocate of freedom of speech, I felt it was necessary to do my part in expressing the fear I have of what I see as to be a major threat to a secular society. I hope that my words do not encourage even more of an outrage, but instead urge a response that religious ideals are going too far in societies that are supposed to retain their segregation from religious thought.
As a firm dis-believer, I feel that tolerance cannot be achieved through censorship and that we will only be able to live peacefully if we are to accept that our ideas and beliefs should be subject to open criticism.
posted on: Wednesday - Sep 12 2007 (4:18pm) · posted by: Lev
Fucking dumbass Lev! Member signups work FINALLY
I think I mentioned not too long ago that there was a bug I had introduced which prevented member sign-ups from going through successfully. I fixed that about a month ago, but didn't realize that all along there was ANOTHER bug in which the accounts couldn't be activated.
It seems I wrote "Dababase" instead of "Database" in one of the main source code files, which prevented everyone trying to activate their account from doing so. And since I have a cronjob running on the server to automatically delete any unactivated accounts after 2 days, this means anyone who signed up in the past month... well, they are gone.
Everyone is welcome to blame me because I have been shouting my fair share of obscenities at myself after trying it out again today and realizing there was still a problem.
Long story short, it has now been fixed. So, to explain the lengthly dead-time here, just blame me cause that was just pathetic.
posted on: Saturday - Sep 08 2007 (5:35pm) · posted by: Lev
Listen up all you Americans - Bin Laden wants you to convert!
In an incredibly amusing recent video tape in which the self-proclaimed leader of the holy war himself, Bin Laden, declares that if Americans want to end the war they need to convert to Islam.
I hate to say it, buddy-boy-Bin-Laden, but I think you may have just made your religion look a whole lot worse to a whole lot more people.
posted on: Saturday - Sep 08 2007 (5:07pm) · posted by: Lev
Change with "Featured Member"
You might have noticed that the featured member is staying the same for most of your page views while browsing now. This was due to a recent change with how the featured member is pulled. I decided to can the concept of pulling a member at random that is "featured" and instead the site now pulls the last modified profile that is "featured". This was done because it significantly boosts the query execution time, therefor making the site load even faster.
In other words, if you want to show up more often in the featured member area just edit your profile more often.
In case you are wondering who is "featured", I feature basically everyone that has a profile image.
Thanks to this change, the majority of page loads are now executed within less than a 1/10 of a second, while still maintaining just as much dynamic content.
posted on: Friday - Aug 10 2007 (7:29pm) · posted by: Lev
Strengthen your password
I spent a lot of today writing a function to determine how secure a password is. It's based on a wide variety of things ranging from the length, number of unique characters and whether or not it is common - just to name a few. I've tested it for several hours and it seems to be quite realistic.
Basically it breaks down any string into 200 points, and a password earns points based on different credentials it meets. From my experience with researching how cracking is done this seems to be a fairly accurate approach.
Aside from checking the syntax of a password, it is also checking the password against a database of the most commonly used passwords. I currently only have 3,000 give or take but hope to increase this database when I can get a-hold of an even larger one. Even though this database is quite small in comparison to how large it could be, I was able to crack over 100 TT members' passwords using the database. This goes to show - many of you don't have very safe passwords. For those of you who have a password found in the common passwords database - your account could be cracked in a matter of mere seconds by someone with the will. That is not an exaggeration since I have tested this on some of my own as well.
Anyhow, whenever new members sign up or whenever you reset your password, it will now perform a live check to determine how safe it is. It is not only comparing the syntax of the password, but checking the database through an AJAX call to determine if you have made a bad decision.
The less of the colored bar (red) you see - the worse your password is. The more of the colored bar (green) you see - the safer your password is.
If you have questions about what makes a safe password feel free to ask.
We now enforce a required password strength for new members and updating your password. Passwords are ranked on a scale of 0-9 (0 being weak and 9 being strong) and your password must be at least rank 4 - you can determine this if the colored meter is at least half filled.
I've attached the source (as of now) for any curious coders.
posted on: Wednesday - Aug 01 2007 (11:44am) · posted by: Lev
What are your thoughts on approving posts to your guestbook?
I was thinking that it looks like there could be situations in which you don't want posts to your guestbook on your profile and was wondering if any of you think our site could benefit from having a feature where members choose whether they want to approve posts before they are added to their profile.
Anyone have any thoughts about such a feature?
Would it be a good thing or a bad thing?
If I feel that the demand is great enough for such an option then I will add it, but otherwise I wont bother if it will just be a waste of programming time.
posted on: Friday - Jul 20 2007 (4:41pm) · posted by: Lev
An explaination of the newly public "review" section type
While the "review" mode for sections is in fact not new to me since I wrote all the code for it over a year ago, it has only become public just recently with the release of the club function.
What I mean with the "review" mode for sections is that TT now has support for sections and items that are reviews or other material (such as for film, games, music, etc...). I define the term "mode" for sections as the format at which items are displayed while viewing them directly and browsing their sections. For example, browsing thumbnail gallery sections will show you all the thumbnails of images for every item in the section, while the forum mode will list items in a structured table with the number of posts and what not.
Much like other modes, this new review mode has it's own unique display format which includes a "new" field known as the item's description, which gets displayed only while browsing the section itself (the description does not actually display with the item). As well as a description, review modes obviously are geared towards reviewing material based on certain criteria.
For example, if one were to be reviewing games you would want to be able to review/rate a game's graphics and game play while if you were reviewing music you may want to review/rate a song's sound and lyrics.
Since I am doing everything I can to avoid making a feature too restricted to a certain concept, I of course allow these review criteria to be customized based upon what the section serves to review.
I would like to explain in detail just how this system works so everyone interested in running their own club has all the knowledge necessary to creating great review sections.
For this example, let's assume that I am creating and maintaining a movie themed review section.
Step 1
As you can see in the first picture, you need to first ensure that the club you are creating or modifying has a "review" section as a part of it.
Step 2
In the second screen shot you can see that I have circled a special tool that appears when you own a section which reads "control section review elements". Use this link to manage a section's review elements.
Step 3
The third screen shot shows that there is already one review element for this section ("Story") and in the text field I have entered another review element, in this case "Acting".
Step 4
If you try adding/submitting an item to this section you will now notice a field called "Story" and a field called "Acting". Both of these fields have a selectable drop down menu to rate the item you are reviewing between 1 and 10, as well as a small text area to add comments about why you gave it this score (these commends DO appear with the review, though they are not necessary).
Step 5
Screen shot five shows how this item would like when viewed. If you notice, above the review's text there is a brief rundown with the overall score (an average) as well as the score for each review element. Below the review's main text body will appear a more detailed break down of the score containing additional comments that you left for each review element.
Step 6
The sixth screen shot shows how this section would display while browsing the section's items. Next to the item's icon will appear the rundown of the review score and to the right appears the review's description.
There are a wide range of uses that could be devised for this new mode and I'm sure some of you will be creative enough to put them to good use.
To see this all in live action, I have created and am using a real review section for video games, which can be found here!
posted on: Wednesday - Jul 18 2007 (8:57pm) · posted by: Lev
Introducing CLUBS! :)
Please consider this a work-in-progress, though I think it is at least finally to the point to where it is presentable to the public.
I have been working tirelessly lately on getting a club system in place in our community. This allows members of TT to create their own clubs for whatever theme they desire with special sections for each club.
Club owners can allow everyone to join, or only those they want. Members can be automatically entered in the club or only after approval by the club owner.
Club sections can also be limited to only those members who are a part of the club.
I won't go over all the features since there are quite a few, but I am sure you will enjoy most of the features or have ideas or recommendations.
I am only permitting new clubs to be created by any member that has upgraded their account. Those who have not upgraded their account cannot create new clubs but can still join clubs and be active in clubs.
Please post any bugs or problems you encounter to me as soon as you come across them.
UndyingFantasy (5:59am): is he the guy who's on PBS and he gets on and lets you now what lanets are viable and wh ich way to look and shit? if so.. yeah. my dad watches him a lot for some reason,
Lev (6:35pm): haven't heard of him. what channel is that? the skies in the part of california I lived sure weren't clear. Man that sucked... Even when I could see some stars it was never like what I've been able to see here. Although, in the mountins in California I saw some really clear skies
lee (5:54pm): Very nice...could she buy some more? Have you ever watched the "Starguy"...he's good for knowing what's up with the stars,lol. I heard that the skies of the Californian desserts are really clear for star gazing.
UndyingFantasy (5:37pm): my sister got a telescope like 3 years ago for christmas.. fucking top of the line.. and she's used it twice. since then she's lost all the lenses for it and it's worthless.
Lev (2:29pm): It's really irritating too because the sky has been really clear
Lev (2:28pm): I can't use it because one of the body belt clamps doesnt have the hole drilled all the way through.. lol I need a replacement.. the store should help me.. I posted a pic of it at levlive.com
lee (11:50am): Awesome...what kind id you get? I want one I couldn't afford...Why can't you use it now? (if don't mind me asking?)
Lev (8:15pm): I got a super wicked telescope today. only problem is I can't use it now
UndyingFantasy (6:34pm): i'll also let you guys figure out which parts i'm being serious about and which parts i'm just taking the piss on. i'm fucking baked (woo, obama is actually pro legalizing/decriminalizing weed.. maybe i should vote for him?) but yeah. you decideee ('08). hahahaha
UndyingFantasy (6:31pm): plus, after all this terrorist bullshit do we really need someone named BARAK HUSSEIN OBAMA (which isn't his real name, he took that name when he was a child while being involved in a muslim community and going to an islamic school) running this country? seems to me it'd be the last thing we need. plus, he won't say the pledge of allegiance, which is just fucked up. if you're trying to be a leader of the country shouldn't you have pride and support YOUR FUCKING COUNTRY? no it's just a well devised plan by towel heads to fuck us over. take over our fragile little minds and turn us into allah believing towel heads.
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Conservatives’ Ban of Organ Donations by Gay Men Done in Secret
How fast can you type?
Objective journalism? - yeah right... First Gamespot, now IGN...
Gamespot.com suspends my account (took less than a week)
Really amusing email I got on TT recently...
Truth about islam from an ex-muslim woman
