Open Thread - 01-17-25 - One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
I'm still working on the site upgrade. It's been an eye opening experience to say the least. Things are much different in the Drupal community from when I built this site ten years ago.
I've learned about how a bunch of developers can ruin perfectly fine open source software for, IMHO, their personal gain. Anyway, I'll write more about that later.
I'm working on it on a local environment. What that means is I installed Apache server software, a Mysql database, a new version of PHP and the site building software on my computer at home. It doesn't need to function with the internet, so I don't have to worry about screwing something up on our c99 server.
I can't build the new site and upload it to our server, it doesn't work that way. I've pretty much built the new site on my local computer, but I'll have to rebuild it again once I install the new software on the c99 server. What I'm doing is familiarizing myself with the process so that when the time comes to go live I can save time so the site wont be down so long. As it is, we're looking at probably a day or two of the site being offline while I configure everything. A day or two, at least. I hope.
The site will still function pretty much like it does now, only with a new look and feel. I think you all are going to like it, there's a lot more functionality, especially the text editor. It will be much easier to compose great looking essays and comments. Uploading images will be much simpler, as will adding textual hyperlinks, links that show as text rather than a full URL address.
I've made the new site to match the current site as much as possible, esthetics wise. Same color, same layout. But it will look a bit different.
Well, that's enough for now.
In the end, it will all be worth it.
This is what I do to keep myself centered and level in a world gone mad, and in between bouts of intense study and zen-like contemplation. I am pacing myself in this endeavor.
Yeah, that's me.
2:01
The audio is not so good since I recorded this with my cell phone.
I started playing the dobro (resonator guitar) about 20 years ago. I didn't go very far with it because of work and a lack of practice time, so I gave it up. I took it back up seriously about two years ago. I'm still not very good but it keeps me sane, somewhat.
Please note on the video, at the end, the squeaky noise is not my guitar, it's otc come in through a door with a squeaky hinge. That's her contribution to my composition.
Comments
Good morning Free Rangers...
We've recently had a full moon, not a harvest moon, but a full moon none the less.
This is an open thread so tell us what's on your mind.
Just after the full moon
There will be a planet parade.
Looks like Saturn, Jupiter and Mars will parade across the sky. Maybe the moon too or it might be Pluto.
Scientists are concerned that conspiracy theories may die out if they keep coming true at the current alarming rate.
I miss ...
my telescope. I noticed a planet below the left quadrant of the moon. By the slight reddish tint I'm pretty sure it is Mars.
Speaking of seeking sanity
This site helps in that regard.
Thanks for all you do here!
question everything
That's exactly why...
it needs to be saved from extinction.
Thanks for all you do as well. This site would be nothing without our members.
Neil Young's got nothing on you
Nice cover of Harvest Moon.
Looking forward to the new and improved c99.
I'm great at multi-tasking. I can waste time, be unproductive, and procrastinate all at the same time.
Well...
that's a stretch to say the least, but thanks for the compliment.
Resonator guitar can't do what standard guitars do, specifically that is, to play minor chords. Major chords are no problem, but since the left hand fretting is done essentially with one finger since it's played with a tone bar, one can only get a couple of full minor chords per the key that the song is played in. To play the rest of the minor keys one has to play only one or two notes of the triad to make a reasonable facsimile of a minor chord. Because of that it's difficult to play a song on the resonator exactly as it was written.
Single notes and solos are no problem though as all of the notes are readily available in the different scales.
I'm looking forward to the new and improved c99 as well.
Heh, I once asked one of my much younger nephews what
the hell these "power chords" he kept mentioning in discussing "modern" music and he said:
, so there you is right up there is post punk metal music.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Heh...
watch out Slash. Gotta get me a wall of Marshall amps.
Good morning Johnny, Glad to hear that progress is being made
on the upgrade even though it's a PITA and the sofware has been disimproved in some respects. When you make the change to text links, try not to think about some of the places that less than clear links have taken you in the past.
great video. Living proof that a dough-bro isn't some dude who works in a bakery.
37 and foggy here, making our journey southward hat much more inviting, though it means that winter planting probably won't happen beyond what is already done. C'est la vie. Will leave 01/19 and not return 'til the end of the month to what we hope will be better weather. With luck we'll be able to avoid the vast majority of the gnus during that period but maybe still catch some yankee style "football" highlights somehow.
So I saw that Biden had commuted some sentences. Couldn't help but notice that commute means to change ones sentence or to travel to ones employment. There's an obvious connection there, but I can't put my finger on it.
Already phasing in the no gnus behavior, thanks to busy, and early withdrawal. Ennywhom, keep up the good work and good luck with the programming.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Thanks for a glimpse...
of the recent gnus, I haven't been keeping up because of extenuating circumstances, like re-educating this old brain of mine.
I was shocked at how much Drupal has changed in ten years, not to mention the changes in the process of building a site. Open source was supposed to be about the "free beer". Drupal is still free but the beer is no longer gratis.
About the video, in retrospect I should have put new strings on the guitar, those sound dead. It's been a while since I've restrung it and those strings have lost their brightness.
Starting Sunday night we're going to have nightime temps in the mid 20s for two or three days, that's pretty cold for down here. I thought I had left that weather back in Illinois.
Thanks as always, mi hermano, and have big fun on your trip!
Parasites gonna feed.
That is what they do. When the host is dead, they look for a new one.
Mary Bennett
I concur...
money will do that.
I think it was
Mark Twain who once said
Many software development groups, especially in open-source, can certainly be thought of as committees-on-steroids... (;-)
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Yes...
and this Drupal "committee" is shooting themselves in the foot. They're driving away small time site builders like myself. Drupal has had a dwindling user base for some years now and it will shrink even more because of the complexity of the software. It used to be much easier, now you almost have to have a very expensive development team to build and maintain a site. That's all by design, I suppose.
Speaking of News, with a word to the wise:
https://www.reuters.com/science/meat-was-not-menu-human-ancestor-austral...
As we know, Australopithecus didn't make it. Just sayin'
be well and have a goof one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Heh...
Grass fed Australopithecus is good eats!
They were probably more times than not the main course on a sabre tooth's dinner menu.
Just sayin'.
You inspired Me...
to check in on what Jerry Douglas is doing these days. Quite a lot, it seems. There was a John Hiatt co-project I missed and then I found this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHHg7bQtn4Y There is also a studio version the band did of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NapY6mIxJQE
I loved the story of Jerry turning down Eric Clapton's request to play with the band because it would distract too much attention from the songs.
How cool is that? Just how cool, huh?
Way cool...
Jerry Douglas is the Michael Jordan of resonator guitar, colloquially known as a dobro. Close second is Rob Ickes of the band Blue Highway, and Josh, "Buck" Graves who played with Flatt and Scruggs and was the innovator and creator of the three finger picking style of playing.
Thanks for the video, that was great. One of my favorites is Jerry's rendition of Duane Allman's Little Martha:
What beautiful music
Thank you Moser.
Uploading photos
was my biggest headache.
But it will be nice if that becomes easier. Getting a new laptop in a few days. My Toshiba is 12 years old and no longer supported by windows 10 and will not load 11. Too old. Battery has gone completely and I have to keep it plugged in.
I started out with Windows 8.5 way back when. I kept taking steps forward but they took away the path.
Thanks for the OT.
Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.
Have I told you lately
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Glad you like it
I was just reviewing the Tik Tok/Rednote controversy.
Apparently, millions of Tik Tok refugees are migrating to another Chinese social media site and finding the 300 million Chinese subscribers are welcoming them with open arms.
They have already started exchanging info like food prices and rents. Americans are finding the Chinese are great people with a great sense of humor and very polite.
The ban, as with everything this cabal does, has backfired in a most spectacular way. Americans are finding out the Chinese people are not our enemies and are both intelligent and peaceful.
The latest position of the rulers is to not "enforce" the ban, but leave it to the incoming regime to decide.
Whole lotta backpeddling going on.
Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.
Can't describe the
The police gave me the creeps (Oh!They do here in the US too!), the people everywhere I went gave me love and respect, and I gave it to them in return. Childless as I am, to them, I am "Mama".
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
generally speaking
.
.
all of my Asian experiences have changed the outlook
of regionally cultured peoples. Unfortunately most travel
challenged Americans can not grasp the differences and
similarities we all possess. Fear of the unknown? Benefit
of the doubt. Assume we are linked and bridges are built.
question everything
For me, it has been culturally linked,
I have been to maybe 76 countries in Western Europe, Eastern Europe, South and Central America, Africa north and south in total, and the love and respect we ordinary people have for each other is overriding all our stupid government and banksters competition.
We love one another! We do!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
I read that someone in China
asked if it was true that if someone needs an ambulance they are charged for it.
Gawd the insurance companies have a great rigged game don’t they? So many civilized countries don’t even have insurance companies. The medical bills just get paid.
Scientists are concerned that conspiracy theories may die out if they keep coming true at the current alarming rate.
Hi JtC
The description of your process enhances my limited understanding of the feat in front of you. I’m glad you have the dobro to help smooth the process. Hopefully before your transition work on c99 is complete you will also have an even closer relationship with the dobro and its possibilities. The sound you recorded was music to my ears.
Hey JtC
Hey fearless leader!
Thankss for the guitar playin'! That was outstanding, I loved it! Great sheet mon! Wonderful sound that guitar has! That type of playing requires more finesse than I posses.
Fridays are impossible for me...
take care,
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein