RandomStringOfWords

RubyPress

So a while back I had thought my WordPress install was getting exploited through some bug and decided I wanted to write my own replacement.. Turns out that bug had nothing to do with wordpress but was rather an issue with my host.. It’s been resolved, but that niggling desire to create my own blogging software stuck..

This is something I wanted to create from the ground up that would be a 100% “my own” solution to include even the look&feel theme of the thing and I decided that it would also be 100% open source from the start.

I wanted to use this project as a possible way to expand my horizons but I also wanted something functional that I could use and expand on quickly;  the more I thought (and still think) about this the sooner I wanted off WordPress, not because WordPress is a bad thing (it’s not) but because I wanted something that was fully mine that I could modify to my hearts content.

So with that, I moved forward with my project and started looking at which language I wanted to write it in.   After some consideration I decided to limit myself to writing the code in Python, Ruby, Node, or PHP.

I knew from the get-go that I didn’t really want to write this thing in PHP.   PHP is a great language but it’s getting a little long in the tooth and frankly some of the frameworks out there leave a lot to be desired.   Plus I have been writing PHP since ’96 or so.. I’m ready to move on..

Read more…

Tellico Turnings Sign

So while in Tennessee with my father, I told him I’d make him some signs for his shop.   This was the first time I had ever attempted to do something like this and it took me the better part of 4 days working a couple hours a night to get one done.

Sign Template

I created a template in photoshop that I thought would look nice based on discussions I had with dad while up there with intent of creating a sign wider than it was tall that would hang over the door of the shop.

The sign would be made up of three 1/4″ thick plywood panels.  Each outer panel would have the lettering cut out via the scroll saw and the inner panel would be stained dark and then sandwiched between the outers in order to give the final appearance.

I made one side “clean” and professional looking (or rather as professional as I could with my meager skills), and one side more of an “art” look to it where I intentionally over sanded some of it just to get a unique look.  The edges are routed and rounded over and the sign as a whole is sanded smooth.

I don’t know if I like the “art” side.. I mean it doesn’t look horrible and it does have that unique scrubbed and hard used look I was going for, but I used too much glue when putting the sign together and it shows..  lesson learned..

The sign is 20″ wide by 12″ tall by 3/4″ thick and all in all not too bad if I do say so myself.

Tellico Turnings Shop

This last week I got to spend some quality time with the folks in Tennessee and more specifically time alone with my father (which I haven’t gotten to do in years) at his new store.  It was pretty great!

Dad has finally opened his shop at the Turkey Creek Market in Tennessee (Booth R&S 20!) and will hopefully be a bazillionare in short order..

He had contacted me a while back about doing this and I was fairly excited about it with him but I had a different vision of what I thought the store should look like.   I had a some what more sterile and professional business notion in mind and I’m really glad that they didn’t go that route.

Instead the store is a warm and inviting one that presents the goods in an orderly but not overly professional manner that is probably far more appealing to people than anything I could have come up with.. (Leave the designing to the designers I guess.. Its good to know what I’m not good at..heh)

Read more…

Latest Image

I have always been a very artsy-craftsy¹ person as I thoroughly enjoy making things.  I like working with my hands and creating something from nothing.   I’ve made leather and steel armor for the SCA, bows and crossbows and a mandolin that actually doesn’t sound half bad.  I’ve done some wood turning and created all manner of pens, peppermills and even a rolling pin and I have even tried my hand at making furniture — I’m not bad at it!   For whatever reason I seem to have a knack for crafting.

So in my time, I have worked with wood, steel, leather, plastic and various resins and agates..  The thing I have noticed is that no matter what I craft, I always seem to come back to wood.    There’s something about wood that I am not sure I can put to words;  It’s just easy to work with in that it’s forgiving, versatile and beautiful.

The problem is no matter what I have made with wood (and there has been a lot) not any particular piece or style has ever really “grabbed me” as something I really enjoyed and wanted to do a lot of.

My father is an avid wood turner who cranks out pens, bowls and other awesome stuff that he sells at his own little shop and I have to admit, that’s really inspiring..  He’s making a living by turning a hunk of nothing, into something beautiful that other folks want!  That’s cool as hell.

Read more…

I realize that it’s been a while since I posted to my blog and it’s something that I want to be better about in new year but it’s very difficult for me to get excited about anything that’s going on right now.   I find that I’m doing a lot of work for my company and while I enjoy that it tends to keep me from doing many of my hobbies like blogging.  2011 has been a blizzard of activity and I’m sure it will only continue into the new year.

On that note; Happy New Year everyone..

I’m still very keen on creating my own custom blogging software as I posted previously and it’s something that I definitely am going to get around to but its slow going.  I’ve been working on it about an hour each night if the time is available.

Read more…

Click for Example

Final Update:  Okay.. I owe a huge apology to the wordpress folks..  After doing a bunch of digging this isn’t a wordpress bug at all, but rather a server exploit that someone used to edit a good portion of the .php files on my site in order to inject their shitty obfuscated iframe crap.  There were files that were edited completely outside the realm of wordpress, on my server that the wordpress user didn’t even have access too.. So wordpress is completely off the hook!  Sorry guys.

Now having said that I’m still planning on making my own blogging software for funsies.. but I am not feeling as much pressure now since I now know how to purge the iframes off and wordpress isn’t to blame.

Update: Click the image to the right to see the highlighted code that got injected into the site tonight.. I have no clue how it got in there and am actively taking steps to figure it out.. it’s magically there one second then a refresh shows its gone..   I have tested my codebase thoroughly and I can’t find it anywhere, nor can I find it in any of the javascript that is being called..  Either way,  Please don’t install or run anything that you download from my site.  Note: I’m deactivating all extra plugins for the time being until I figure out whats causing this.

As many of you know, I am very much my own special kind of nerd.  I enjoy doing many a’geeky thing that others wouldn’t even dream of.  To be honest, I think all software engineers have to be a bit brain damaged just to do their job.  Recently my own affliction has been leading me down the path of writing my own blogging and content management system.

Read more…