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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..

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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.

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C# Confusion

I’m really kind of frustrated at the general lack of helpful input from other people on the internet when it comes to trying to learn a new programming language..  It almost seems like folks just don’t want to be bothered or that they have the opinion that “by god it was hard for them, so it should be hard for you.. ”

Human beings are blessed with the ability to learn from one another, and while we are also often cursed with the disinclination to do so, quite often it seems that those “in the know” don’t want to share that knowledge when others are clambering for it..

I’m fairly new to C# and am interested in learning it..  I’m not new to programming though so I understand most of the basic concepts, I just need to learn the syntax and the “flavor” of the language..  The IDE is pretty familiar because I’m an old time Delphi programmer (C# was written by the same guy apparently)..

I decided I wanted to write an application that take a screenshot of a DirectX game while it was in the background (not minimized)..  I’m having a lot of trouble getting it to work correctly, and trying to find people to help is very much like trying to find Venuses arms..

I can’t help but feel very alone in my struggle and that plain sucks..

So something that I have been pondering is the creation of a rapid application framework/IDE similar to Delphi for javascript, in javascript..  Bear with me..  This is more or less theoretical conjecture at this point, but it amuses me and I wonder what kind of value there would be to be had from such a platform.

Where Delphi has always excelled, even to this day, is where its IDE and it’s VCL meet – you design the look of the application first, and then slap code in behind it second.   Not the other way around.   Users are given a “form” on which they can drag components from the visual component library.   The VCL is a vast palette of components and elements really allowing you to make your program look however you want..   Afterward positioning everything and making the program look “correct” you go into each component and add the various bits needed to make them do what you want.  

When it comes to rapid application development, Delphi is king.   It beats VB, VC and Java hands down for easy of program design.  This is my opinion of course and largely an opinion based on my experiences with it years ago.   I don’t use it any more but I know a lot of folks still do and it’s doing fairly well..  I also see a lot of elements of Delphi’s innovated IDE in other IDE’s out there.. (*cough*Eclipse*cough*)

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WPOS7 Screenshot

So I have been plugging away at creating my OS7 theme.. I previously stated that IE8 sucked completely and I have to take that back.   It doesn’t suck completely.. infact, it sucks a lot less than I realized..

I found that I was using IE8 in “quirks mode” and of course it behaved quirky.  My main question is;  What the hell is the point of quirks mode?!  “Here have our browser in a mode that is completely broken.” I just don’t get it.. I guess quirks mode is basically IE6 as they seem to render similarly.. (I have IE6 on my laptop still for testing purposes..) If that’s the case it couldn’t be better named..

Apparently since I had a misspelling (or something) in my doctype it defaulted to quirksmode.. Once I found that I was in the wrong mode, found out why and fixed it, I started to test my new UI in IE7 and IE8.. It actually works!!  Ever so minor bug in IE7, but its hardly worth mentioning..   IE8 works fine, but a little slow. er.. in fact, a lot slow.. IE8 ain’t zippy at all.. Read more…

Wordpress OS7 Theme

So I have been using Windows 7 for a while now and I really do like it.  It’s no Snow Lepoard but it’s what I have.. heh  Honestly, its not bad at all..  I also have been using wordpress for a goodly while with the same theme “Microblue” a theme I created a year ago.

I’m getting bored with Microblue so its time for a change and I thought it would be fun to combine Windows 7′s look and feel into a wordpress theme.    This lead me down the road that I had started with my jQuery Windows post and posed an important question;

Do I implement a windows manager within a webpage?    God what a pain in the ass..

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