To see that happen is quite strange, akin to having your water supply cut off when the reservoir up the valley is full to the brim. There’s no easy way to ask why (and if you find your way through the webmaster tools to request reconsideration (in the stairless-basement; locked filing cabinet, “Beware of the leopard” sign etc), the likelihood is they won’t respond in a timely manner, and when they do respond the content will be terse and useless, at least, it was for me).

After much banging of my head on the wall of Google, eventually, an anonymous feedback engineer offered up that this site was “manually blocked” because someone else (let’s call them an operative, because it sounds dystopian) decided this is a “spam blog”. Google provided no more information than that, but eventually, after about 6 months, decided to unblock the pipes and people started to find the site again.

The Moral

The moral? It’s not safe to rely on only Google traffic for a business. If someone at Google makes an honest mistake then your whole livelihood can be removed overnight, with no warning, no explanation and no hope of a quick fix.

Hopefully, Google+ will go some way to alleviating this problem. The massive verified-human-crowd-sourced database of opinion on sites should go some way to removing the mis-flagging of normal small sites as spam blogs.

If you’d be so kind as to +1 this site, it might go some way to avoiding any future unplanned absence from the web (as google describes it).

• Comment on Google+
• Comment on twitter

story-and-journal-for-federation from Ward Cunningham on Vimeo.

cross-page-refactoring from Ward Cunningham on Vimeo.

wiki-json-coffeescript from Ward Cunningham on Vimeo.

Doing the sums, I noted I’d have to drink the whole Lemsip, and then a glass of (very nice by the way) Berrocca juice, before I could get to a cuppa. Not good; but it was seeing the ingredients together that prompted me to try dropping the Berrocca tab into the prepared Lemsip. Ladies and gentlemen, the result was a cup of warm gold. It’s bizarre to look forward to a cold, but henceforth, I shall.

After last month’s (previously undocumented) discovery that Marmite and Portsdown Honey go particularly well together (and who’d have known there’s a whole cookbook for Marmite lovers), I’m looking forward to my next surprising combination. Heston Blumenthal probably need not worry just yet.

Technical minded folk may be interested to know that the plug-in uses a custom post type to keep the content sane and the formatting and editing simple.
Tags appear to be working in the plug-in, but I need to tweak my theme.

In the spirit of release-early-release-often the code is here:

< ?php
/*
 Plugin Name: Link Republisher
 Plugin Version: 0.17
 Plugin Author: Rich Boakes
 Plugin Author URI: http://boakes.org/
 Plugin URI: http://boakes.org/link_republisher
 Plugin License: GPL v3 ( http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html )
 Plugin Description: Retrieves the n most recent links from a JSON delicious, feed ordered by date, and creates a slug based on the title of the bookmark.  If the slug does not exist a custom type post is created with the slug, link  name as the title, description as the body, tags set to match those in delicious.  Additionally the custom post type can be set to appear in the loop, so links appear as stories.  Link publish time is set to the time that the link appears on delicious rather than the time the script runs. The internal cron system is used to run the lookup hourly.
*/

// The Delicious feed URI is: http://feeds.delicious.com/v2/{format}/{username}

// TODO
// [   ] Extract default vars for easy tweaking / addition of a UI one day
// [   ] Someone outside of GMT might want to improve the date settings
// [   ] Abstract the uri & data map to work with other JSON feeds such as twitter,
//       e.g. twitter https://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/15493170.json
// [   ] Lookup user ID for when writing posts

// Change Log
// [0.1] Get basic functionality working
// [0.2] Add link metadata
// [0.3] Create special post template so link is rendered
// [0.4] Switch default status to Published rather than Draft
// [0.5] load every 15 minutes.
// [0.6] revert load every 15 minutes - silly idea
// [0.7] moved wp_cron registration to plugin activation event and added deactivation event
// [0.8] added cleanup to ensure multiple cron registrations are removed on deactivation
// [0.9] re-added 15 minute refresh
// [0.10] links are now downloaded when plugin is activated
// [0.11] added JSON based log
// [0.12] Get tags importing properly
// [0.13] Make it so that the entries really do show up for tag searches.  Tags included in link pages now appear in /tag/tagname pages making them useful.
// [0.14] Listen for the download links action so the cronjob now has an effect
// [0.15] various tweaks to try, unsuccessfully to make the cron event do anything at all
// [0.16] cron appears to be working again (hurrah!).
// [0.17] include links in RSS feeds 

$link_republisher_debug = false;
$delicious_user_id = "ear1grey";
$delicious_article_count = 10;

// Add a LINK post type
function create_post_type() {
  global $wp_rewrite;
  register_post_type( 'rjb_link',
    array(
      'labels' => array(
        'name' => __( 'Links' ),
        'singular_name' => __( 'Link' )
      ),
      'public' => true,
      'rewrite' => array('slug' => 'links'),
      'supports' => array(
        'title','editor','author','thumbnail','comments', 'custom-fields'
      ),
      'taxonomies' => array('post_tag')
    )
  );
  // is this a performance hit?  RSVP anyone with an answer!
  $wp_rewrite->flush_rules();
}

// include the LINK post type in the feed
function rjb_get_posts( $query ) {
	if ( is_home() &&
            false == $query->query_vars['suppress_filters']
        ) {
	    $query->set( 'post_type', array( 'post', 'rjb_link' ) );
	}
	return $query;
}

function download_links() {
	global $delicious_user_id, $delicious_article_count;
	json_log("Loading links.");
	load_links($delicious_user_id, $delicious_article_count);
}

function load_links($user, $count=10) {
	$raw_content = file("http://feeds.delicious.com/v2/json/ear1grey?count=10");
//	$raw_content = file("http://feeds.delicious.com/v2/json/$user?count=$count");
	$content = json_decode($raw_content[0]);
	foreach ($content as &$bookmark) {
		import_link($bookmark);
	}
}

function slug_exists($slug) {
	global $wpdb;
	return $wpdb->get_row(
            "SELECT post_name FROM wp_posts WHERE post_name = '$slug';"
        );
}

function import_link($bookmark) {
	$slug = sanitize_title( $bookmark->d );
	if (!slug_exists($slug)) {
		// Create array for wp_update_post or wp_insert_post
		$id = wp_insert_post(
			array(
				'post_status' => 'publish',
				'post_type' => 'rjb_link',
				'post_title' => $bookmark->d,
				'post_content' => $bookmark->n,
				'post_name' => sanitize_title( $bookmark->d ),
				'post_date' => date('Y-m-d H:i:s', strtotime($bookmark->dt)),
				'post_date_gmt' => date('Y-m-d H:i:s', strtotime($bookmark->dt)),
				'tags_input' => $bookmark->t
			)
		);

		update_post_meta($id, 'url', $bookmark->u);

		wp_set_post_terms($id,$bookmark->t,'post_tag',true);
		json_log("Add: " . $bookmark->u);
	} else {
		json_log("Ignoring: " . $bookmark->u);
	}
}

register_deactivation_hook( __FILE__, 'linkrepublisher_off' );
register_activation_hook(__FILE__, 'linkrepublisher_on');
add_action( 'init', 'create_post_type' );
add_filter( 'pre_get_posts', 'rjb_get_posts' );

function linkrepublisher_on() {
	reset_log();
	json_log("link republisher on");
	wp_schedule_event(time()+200, 'hourly', 'link_republisher_update');
	wp_schedule_event(time()+1100, 'hourly', 'link_republisher_update');
	wp_schedule_event(time()+2000, 'hourly', 'link_republisher_update');
	wp_schedule_event(time()+2900, 'hourly', 'link_republisher_update');
	json_log("events scheduled");
	download_links();
}

add_action('link_republisher_update', 'download_links');

function linkrepublisher_off() {
	json_log("link republisher off");
	// ensure any and all crons are killed.
	wp_clear_scheduled_hook( 'link_republisher_update' );
}

function reset_log() {
	$log = array();
	update_option('json_log',json_encode($log));
}

function json_log($msg) {
	$raw_log = get_option('json_log');
	if ($raw_log) {
		$log = json_decode($raw_log);
	} else {
		$log = array();
	}
	$date = date('Y-m-d H:i:s',time());
	$log[] = array("t" => $date, "m" => $msg);
	update_option('json_log',json_encode($log));
}

add_filter('posts_where', 'include_rjb_links' );

function include_rjb_links( $q ) {
  if( is_tag() ) {
    // regex used under GPL from:
    // http://www.michelem.org/wordpress-plugin-tags4page/
    return preg_replace(
       "/ ([0-9a-zA-Z_]*\.?)post_type = 'post'/",
       "(${1}post_type = 'post' OR ${1}post_type = 'rjb_link')", $q );
   }

  return $q;
}

/*
 * Debug Page
 */
function lr_debug_menu() {
	$raw_log = get_option('json_log');
	$log = json_decode($raw_log);
	echo "

";
	print_r($log);
	echo "

“;
}
function add_admin_menu($s) {
add_submenu_page(‘tools.php’, ‘LR Debug’, ‘LR Debug’, ‘administrator’, dirname(__FILE__) , ‘lr_debug_menu’);
return $s;
}
add_action(‘admin_menu’, ‘add_admin_menu’);

// add rjb_link entries to the any rss feed
function myfeed_request($qv) {
if (isset($qv['feed']) && !isset($qv['post_type']))
$qv['post_type'] = array(‘post’, ‘rjb_link’);
return $qv;
}
add_filter(‘request’, ‘myfeed_request’);

?>

Released under the GPLv2 license as always.

On boot today there was a problem with one of the aforementioned RAID disks, and the machine failed massively. I dutifully went and found the Vista installation Disk as suggested, but hmmm, when I tried to use the “repair computer” option, it couldn’t find the disks to repair them! Total failure. My prefered option now is to resort to the latest live Linux CDs and access the files that way. I just hope todays builds are support the RAID hardware.

I’ve assembled and maintained several PCs over the years, but after 15 months using a Mac I’d blithely forgotten all the crap that building windows PC entails. Yes I paid a little more for the Mac, and I’m limited to pretty much the hardware that Apple choose, but the beauty is that it works, solidly, day-in day-out. Since my goal is not “to build a working system” but “to do something with the system, and not always wonder if I could do it faster with a different driver or kernel tweak” I’m happy to pay that small premium for a machine that works reliably.

So that’s it, my last Windows machine is dead. Fifteen years after I was forced to start using Windows for commercial purposes, I am free of it. Normally a dead machine is a sad day, but this marks the first day of a Windows free life. It’s a good day.

Update: My fix seems to have stabilized things and Pablo rolled it into the release a few days ago, so it’s available in release 2.8.3.

1. They’re too large
2. They’re paid regardless of overall bank performance.

Here’s an alternative: use a bonus-malus system that is regulated and applies across the European banking sector.

If a banker / bank does well and deserves a bonus, they can have one. They can, however, take an equal malus if they or the bank do badly.

This would limit the size of the bonus to what the banker can afford to lose (pay back).

The system would need European regulation to ensure malus were paid back even if the employee jumps ship.

Perhaps they should even be required to invest that money in advance, in a central fund.

Since I have no way of contacting the sender other than here, this is my reassurance: Anonymous, your messages were not published. Only you and I saw them, however, the allegations you made were of a very serious nature and at the very least you should contact crimestoppers, because the people involved then, will most likely be doing the same thing now. It’ll help them in the long run.

“The petition, set up by Dan Frydman of web firm Inigo, currently has just 44 signatures.”

Since when is a petition with 44 signatures worthy of front page BBC News? Does someone in their web team have an undisclosed anti-IE6 agenda, or has the Beeb started doing marketing work on the side?

Since the BBC story was posted, the petition has gained approximately 1300 signatures.

Update: 11 hours later and the petition has 4400 signatures.

top - 12:40:22 up 134 days,  2:52,  1 user,  load average: 10.24, 6.99, 5.46
Tasks:  90 total,  15 running,  75 sleeping,   0 stopped,   0 zombie
Cpu(s): 94.7%us,  4.0%sy,  0.0%ni,  0.0%id,  0.0%wa,  0.7%hi,  0.7%si,  0.0%st

Everything’s locked down using WP Super Cache and as a result the server seems to be coping, though its CPU use is way up.

Note: if you’re going to reference the article please just link to it, and don’t hotlink the image. Depending on how much residual traffic the current hotlinking generates I may have to deny access to the image and redirect to a picture of a kitten, or something.

The cloak room, bursting with colour from everybody’s personalised gym bag, and darkened by damp snorkel jackets. Discovering that by the time we’d got to J4, the infants toilets were really titchy and then reminiscing about how little we were when we were young.

Friday morning TV in the hall, with the fold out sun-shield. Queueing at the dinner hatch. The light streaming in and catching dust particles in assembly. The kid who always added an extra “of kings” at the end of “sing hosanna”. When we first learned we had to do a class play for the whole school and really bricking it. Billy Beacon (which scared the smaller kids).

Friday lunchtime, when Mr. Pascoe would retrieve all our balls that we’d kicked onto the roof throughout the week. Rugby on the top field in the winter, frozen to the core and smothered in linament. Mrs. Davies spraying her perfume around the room because the boys smelled so bad when we came back into class. Winning the Div-4 West football league. The Summer Fete. The bloke that mowed the grassy slopes with a flymo on a rope. Walking home down the lane towards Wimmerfield with an ice-cream from Brian, who stopped outside most summer afternoons.

Small glass bottles of milk with blue straws. School Sports day. School attendance being so low that the green team was dissolved. School trips to St. Helens swimming baths; Brynmill Park; Fairwood Lake. The Alton Towers Trip. The Christmas Carol Service in St. Hilarys. Watching a film at the end of term, in the hall, on a reel to reel projector. Helpers. Mr. Smith’s delicate use of “Six of one, half a dozen of the other.” when investigating the cause of a disagreement between 8 year olds. The awful, terrible, fashion mistakes of the early 80′s. The “art” areas. SMP. The installation of the water fountains.

School letters, hand written, and copied on the purple photostat machine. Sitting all day in the quiet room to watch the first shuttle launch.

The school getting it’s first ever computer, which we were allowed to use in breaktime, on a strict rota, with the older kids having priority time. Learning to type CH."" and dutifully responding to the "PRESS PLAY ON TAPE" message.

Most of all, when the sun was shining, it was a good day for a fire drill. We’d evacuate the building quickly and clamly. Then as a reward for our swift and safe exit someone would be sent into the hall for the brown plastic box on wheels that contained the hoops and bats and balls that meant a game of crazy cricket was upon us. I still remember the sound that thing made as it was wheeled out over the paving and tarmac; that’s that sound of summer.

1. Say what it does.
2. Show a working example.
3. Include the full code of the example.
4. Explain the example using code chunks interspersed with descriptive paragraphs.

A simple & sensible blueprint!