FYI, I’ve come under a major spam attack today, so I’ve shut down the comments feature until I have a chance to deal with things…
Nov222005
Site Issues
Nov182005
Like the New Style?
One of the things I’m liking about the new edition of Movable Type is a little plug-in tool called StyleCatcher, which enables you to quickly swap out pre-existing stylesheets with the touch of a button instead of all the tedious cutting-and-pasting of code that used to be required. Basically, it makes it super-easy to play with the look of the ol’ blog, so it selecting a style feels like less of a major commitment.
This particular style is called “Powell Street.” I find this one pretty pleasing, except for the khaki-colored sidebar. I’m not sure about that. Anyone out there have any thoughts? Feel free to leave comments, suggestions, expressions of disgust, or whatever seems appropriate…
Nov132005
Disclaimer About What I’m Doing Here
A few days ago, when I wrote about that pirate attack on a cruise ship, I pooh-poohed the idea that the liner had used a futuristic weapon to drive off the bad guys. At the time I wrote my blog entry, I’d seen only one mention of this weapon among several news articles and, because of the early lack of coverage on this aspect of the story, I felt justified in my skepticism. You have to admit, it does sound pretty far-fetched; even the name used to describe it in that one article, “sonic blaster,” sounds like something out of the old Buck Rogers TV series. And even though blogs like Boing Boing and DefenseTech have documented the development of such weapons over the last couple of years, I guess I remained unconvinced because I was seeing it on the Internet instead of a more traditional news source, like Time magazine or something.
It turns out that such weapons apparently do exist and were used in that incident with the pirates, as a reader named Eric was all too eager to inform me. My exchange with him got pretty snippy, and it’s just as well that it was among the comments that did not survive the server upgrade. However, our argument has left me thinking about my responsibilities as a blogger, and what my readers — whether I know you personally or not — need to understand about what I’m writing in this space.
I am not a journalist. I don’t even play one on TV. I’m just a guy who has a small-time online presence and who chooses to share the things that catch my fancy. I do this for my own amusement and that of my friends and whatever strangers may enjoy my particular way of assembling words. I have neither the time nor the obligation to check every fact or chase down links within links. This means that Simple Tricks and Nonsense is best described as an opinion column — it’s what I think, nothing more, nothing less. I’m not trying to excuse my failure to determine the true facts in the pirate story; I am telling you that you shouldn’t necesarily expect the facts to be correct in everything I write here. I try to get it right, but sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I just skim-read the articles I link to, and I miss vital details. And sometimes I just plain screw up. It happens.
If you catch me on something, feel free to let me know I’m incorrect. But be polite about it. And keep in mind what it is I’m doing here.
Nov122005
Photo Gallery Still Intact
Earlier today (today meaning Friday, November 11 — I’m up way past my bedtime), Cranky Robert expressed a concern that the Simple Tricks photo gallery had vanished in the server upgrade. The gallery is actually still available at the same old URL, http://jasonbennion.com/photos/, or you can just click on this link, if you prefer to do things the modern, convenient way. Among the other changes going on around here, I am in the process of adding new pictures — indeed, whole new albums — to the gallery. I’ll let you know when they’re up and ready for the public.
I’ll be back in the morning with more blatheration…
Nov112005
Dealing with Comments and Spam
I’ve been exploring my new version of the blogging software this afternoon, specifically the functions related to comments and spam-filtering. I have many more options in this regard than I did before, including an authentication feature that would make my loyal readers prove that they were real human beings and not spam-dealing Cylons every time they tried to leave a comment. That seems a little draconian for my tastes, and frankly I’m not enough of a control freak to go for the “moderate comments” option that would require me to approve or disapprove every single comment before it gets published. (Some of you experienced that feature earlier today.) It’s not that I get that many comments; I just find it more spontaneous and enjoyable to have the comments publish immediately, for everyone to see. I figure there’s no reason to deprive my readers of comments they may find interesting just because I haven’t seen them yet, and it’s also easier for me to just look at the public site to see if anyone’s been around, rather than logging into my author’s interface and checking the list whenever I want to see if I’ve had visitors. So for now, I’m going to trust the spam filter to keep the junk out. If that doesn’t work, I’ll reconsider the authentication option. Just thought you might want to know…
Nov112005
New Digs
So, kids, you’ve probably noticed a few changes here at Simple Tricks and Nonsense. To explain, my Webmaster Jack has finally made good on that long-promised server upgrade, and this site is now living on a shiny new machine located on the 86th floor of a towering Manhattan skyscraper, surrounded by the very latest products of modern “super-science” and dedicated to the fight against evil in all its worldly forms…
Okay, so I’m embellishing a bit, but the site actually has been transferred to a new physical home, which should make things a bit more efficient on the back end. I don’t know if there will be a noticeable differences for my three loyal readers, either good or bad; if you have any problems, please leave a comment in this post or shoot me an e-mail at jason @ jasonbennion.com (remember to remove the spaces before and after the “@” symbol).
As for the change in the blog’s color scheme and layout, that’s because Jack also updated the Movable Type software that enables you fine folks to read all my blather, and it turns out that the new version doesn’t support my old stylesheet. I’m still trying to decide what to do about that; this new look is kind of nice, but I’ve always thought the old one provided a nice signature effect for the site. (I’ve seen very few other blogs that used my old color scheme, whereas this lighter, brighter one seems to be pretty common.) You’ll also notice that the customary list of links is missing. It should be back before too long in a new and improved form, as well as a couple of other ideas I’ve got brewing.
On the positive side, the new version of MT is supposed to be much better at handling comment spam, so we’ll have fewer embarassing incidents involving “male enhancement” products. And you can now search through past entries according to category, a luxury we didn’t have before. Guess I need to be more careful about how I file things from now on.
One final note: comments made in the last few days did not survive the transfer to the new server, so if you’re wondering what happened to your little piece of intellectual property, rest assured that I did not delete anybody’s thoughts on purpose. Just one of those things, and I apologize.
More a little later.
Oct172005
A Word of Explanation
Regular visitors to this site — all three of you — may have noticed that the frequency of my postings has become erratic of late, and that the posts themselves are shorter and, well, lamer than they used to be. I feel like I owe you guys an explanation for what’s going on.
Sep012005
Outage
Well, we’re back on the air. As some of you may have noticed, Simple Tricks and Nonsense disappeared for a good part of yesterday. I’ve no idea what happened — my best guess is that either my Webmaster Jack was handling some sort of crisis, or the Ugnaughts went on strike again. Treacherous little fiends…
Anyway, as far as I can tell, everything’s functioning normally again. I’ll be back later with a couple of entries, real-world job permitting…
Jun202005
Changes in the Gallery, and New Warbird Photos
I’ve finally made good on my threat to reorganize this site’s photo gallery. If you go over there now, you’ll find that I have folded everything into three basic groupings: Random Snapshots, Travels, and Diversions. The “Random Snapshots” album remains unchanged since the last time you may have looked at it; it’s your basic grab-bag of personal subjects that most of you probably won’t care about, i.e., miscellaneous photos of myself, my girl, friends, etc. “Travels” is self-explanatory. And the “Diversions” album is where you’ll find photos of things I’d like to share, but which don’t quite fit into the other two categories, things like my warbird flight experience or some of the weird stuff I’ve been involved in or which interests me. For example, I plan to put up a sub-album showing you how my father and I once transformed a twenty-foot-long classic automobile into a rolling replica of the RMS Titanic, complete with the movie characters Jack and Rose on the “bow.” If that makes no sense to you, be patient; you will understand at some point in the (hopefully) near future…
In the meantime, check out the latest addition to the gallery, a selection of shots taken yesterday as Anne and I toured the B-17 Fuddy Duddy with her parents. (In my earlier posts, I was under the impression that the plane coming to Ogden this past weekend was the Aluminum Overcast, but I found out yesterday that the Overcast was damaged in a bad landing a year ago and is currently undergoing a complete overhaul and restoration. The Fuddy is owned by the same organization, the Experimental Aircraft Association, and has been filling the other plane’s tour obligations.)
The Fuddy Duddy is a beautiful example of this model — it includes most of the vintage equipment that a B-17 would’ve carried back in the day, including one of the legendary Norden bomb sights and a stack of radio equipment the size of your average filing cabinet. I also liked the Fuddy‘s color scheme, which consists largely of the plane’s own aluminum skin, unpainted and polished to a shiny finish. (The nose-art was disappointingly tame, however.) This plane is fitted out a bit differently than the Nine o’ Nine, the last B-17 I toured, so it’s easier for tourists to negotiate a walk-through, and I would imagine that it’s also fairly comfortable for those who choose to take a flight: unlike the B-24 I flew on, this B-17 actually has jumpseats for passengers to sit in during take-offs and landings. (I had to sit on the floor when I flew on the Dragon…)
Incidentally, touring that particular aircraft on Father’s Day had a special significance for Anne’s dad, whose own father built B-17s for Boeing during the war. I can only guess what he must’ve been feeling as he imagined his late father’s hands working the metal, installing avionics, or pounding in rivets. (Unfortunately, no one in the family is quite sure of what Anne’s grandpa actually did on the Boeing line, aside from “building B-17s.”)
Jun112005
New Photo Album at Last: Warbirds!
For all you folks who may be into that InterWeb voyeurism thing, I’ve uploaded a new album to my photo gallery. It’s a collection of shots I took two years ago when the Collings Foundation “Wings of Freedom” tour stopped off in Utah for a weekend. As you may have gathered from my warbird-themed entry earlier this week, the Wings of Freedom tour consists of two World War II-vintage bomber aircraft, a B-17 and the only airworthy B-24 left in existence, which travel around the country giving people the rare opportunity to see them up close and in the air.
Even more exciting than seeing them, however, is the chance to actually ride in one of them. My dad and I took that chance, and even though the initial price tag seemed ridiculous in return for a mere twenty minutes of airtime, we’ve never regretted spending a dime of it. For the record, we chose to fly on the B-24, reasoning that if it’s the only one left, we may never get another chance with this particular model.
Feeling the vibration of the plane’s engines in your belly, shouting to make yourself heard over their roar, smelling the exhaust and the hot oil and the sun-baked aluminum fuselage… there’s no other word for it except “thrilling.” It’s the closest thing to time-travel you’re ever likely to experience. If you have any interest in history, any desire to know, at least in some small way, what the grandfathers of Generation X went through some sixty years ago, you really must try and catch one of these flights. Some day I intend to write a detailed blog entry about the experience, but for now take my word for it and check out the photos.
A quick technical note: I haven’t linked directly to the new album because I plan to reorganize the gallery’s directory structure in the next little while (as well as add lots more pictures!), and I didn’t want to leave dead links all over the place. So, for now, just hop over to the gallery and open the new album manually. It’s the first one at the top of the page.
In addition, for anyone who may be interested, I’ve posted a recent picture of my girlfriend Anne and myself in the Random Shots album.
Enjoy!