» Today's date is » 11-12-13. Good day to post a forward-looking entry. Cuz we know what comes next. And we know what happened the last time .. that a century ended with the number fourteen. We'd rather not go there again.
It's times like those that try mens' souls .. and can wreck their faith in the ability of their leaders to make wise decisions.
Not sure what topic to pursue today, but I have a few in mind and today seems like the perfect time to begin.
Only tangentially related, but nonetheless interesting » point. And this one, too. Ooh, this too. Okay, David. Definitely this. This, also.
First however, I need to convert the previous entry into Moveable Type pages.
Oh. It looks like Moveable Type 6.0 was released last month .. but they have done away with the freebie version, and the cheapest license is now » $595.
If you look at the top-right of this home page » you'll see that I normally install each new version as its own installation ..
.. beginning with MT v2.x, seeing that I have my own VPS and can do whatever. So MT6 would become » Ye Olde Rad Blog v5. That would be the perfect time for me to take it to the next level.
[ Update - January 29, 2014 .. talk about taking it to the next level. Wow. Did you see the house rocking? Rock-rap synergy.
In physics, fission is what they call it when you » split atoms apart .. but fusion is when you » put them together.
More difficult to » put atoms/nuclei together.
Here on earth, we use nuclear reactors to » break apart atoms (.. but really in order to turn matter into energy. Cuz that is something people will buy. ).
But the sun » puts them (atoms) together. So my sense is that » powerful creative forces were at work there. Pavarotti is famous for doing a similar thing. (Hi Christina.)
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This is an easy way for me to go back and see how my interests have developed over the years, along with my skillz and the relentless march of digital technology. My writing. My life. (My first post with Moveable Type came in May, 2003.)
Abandoning the freebie version is exactly the kind of stuff that torques some people ..
.. seeing that the folks at Moveable Type (Six Apart) have done this very same thing before ..
.. which is what ignited the disgust that led to the remarkable rise of WordPress.
MT has been losing market share. Might be a good time for me to try ExpressionEngine. Then I could do a nice compare-n-contrast.
My first post with MT was May '03. So I have more than a decade's worth of entries .. with Moveable Type. You think they'd offer me a free install of MT6 for that reason alone.
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••• today's entry continues here below •••
Back then (2002), I didnt even know what a web log was. People would write and ask, "Dude, what blogging software are you using?" And I would reply, "Blogging software? Umm, Dreamweaver?"
ExpressionEngine has a free 'core' version that comes in a stripped-down package, without features that I can probably live without.
If you want the whole dealey-o, that will set you back three bills ($300).
My concern with EE is that » if you are not a paying customer, then nobody is much interested in helping when you hit a snag and need an answer to some quirky problem. That's exactly what happened to Moveable Type .. after they went to the sub$cription model. (Totally under$tandable.)
Or maybe I could even go for MODX .. tho I do not need a full-blown CMS. Revolution is at v2.2.10. Do you remember when I installed a pre-release beta copy (beta5)?
Okay, I just perused the MODX site. Revolution looks like one sweet piece of software. Good vibes there. Just reading the documentation posted at the site gives you a feeling of competence.
"Yes, we know wtf. We gotta handle on this shit. Lemme show you how we roll up in here." (< would you consider this quote a 'characterization'? I've been thinking about Stendhal.
'Revolution' seems to be a name they take seriously. I have always been drawn to competence.
I would be proud of that site. And I remember their support was both friendly and helpful.
Back before the 1.0 launch, I told them that » good documentation makes all the difference, which includes videos.
I traded many ideas with the author of this book (bob), back when he was just thinking about publishing a book (.. which turned out to be » 772 pages).
Oh, this is funny. Check out the subdomain » rtfm (reading the, uh, freaking manual). Clever. We had a similar phrase in nuclear power, except the F stood for a different word .. one more common with sailors. They are obviously having too much fun down there in Dallas.
Whereas Moveable Type is Perl-based, EE is based on the PHP application framework » Codeigniter, and MODX uses all the latest/greatest most forward-looking technology.
This is why I feel MODX currently represents the best vehicle to take today's CMS'er into the future. (Plus I like the name of their flagship product » Revolution.)
The final version of MT 5 was » MT 5.2.7, which you can still download » here. (I currently use v 5.12.)
Archives are posted » here (tho not 5.2.7) in both the zip and the tar format (which I prefer).
Today's entry remains very much a work-in-progress.
Okay, I have completed converting the previous entry into Moveable Type [ » Last Days of Summer (2013) ]. It turned out to be a 2-page entry .. that I probably should've made three.
Oh, I see that Page One is 650-KB. How can that be? I normally shoot for 250, or 300 max. So 650 is definitely two pages worth. Even Part 2 is heavy at » 450-KB.
I should break up Page One into two separate pages. That suks. [ Now done. ] But I am too ready to move on right now.
» The Littlest Things Can Change One's Whole Course of Life
Before looking ahead I should tell you about a key point (in retrospect) in my life. Perhaps you will disagree. [ ooh, it feel like i'm 'synthesizing' dostoevsky. that has never happened before. would 'vibing' be a way to put it? ]
Hmm. Now I am thinking out loud .. and the thing that most surprises me .. is that this .. [ uh, i'm not even sure what to call it ] syncing-with-dostoevskys-style ..
.. is so much » s.l.o.w.e.r (deliberate?) than i wouldve thought. Because he comes off as neurotic .. in a way.
It feels kinda déjà vu-ish, but it is definitely not a déjà vu. [ If I read this tomorrow and it sounds corny, I can easily delete the entire mentioning. ]
The reason that it surprises me .. is that I did not know Dostoevsky could be [ .. again, I'm not sure of the word to use here .. more than imitating, but less than channeling ].
I had put Dostoevsky on such a pedestal that I considered him untouchable.
So when I felt that deja vu-ish thing .. it surprised me.
But my sense is that .. on the other side of Dostoevsky (on the writer's side), you have a stable-calm-center. Great gravity.
I might say that my sense here is intuitive .. except that it actually feels beyond intuitive. More than intuitive.
The one year anniversary of the Sandy Hook school shooting will be next month. I seem to gravitate toward Dostoevsky during times of tragedy or trouble. Naturally. (Isnt that strange?)
When I think of Dostoevsky, I think of » prophecy and prophets. And governments. And the decisions they make. That affect the people. And I think of censorship. And suffering. And children. And fathers. And brothers. And revolution. And stuff like that.
If we are going there, then I need to get ready. I would need to prepare to go there.
The end. ■
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