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Tech Note
2012-03-25
I've been working under the hood since our comments freeze in the middle of the week. I've killed an entire swarm of bugs that have been existing in the hidden corners of our digital cupboard, even though they weren't the cause of the freeze. (I did fix the other problem, at least for another few years...)

I'm embarking on an extensive rewrite of much of the Burg, starting with the main page. If interested, you can follow the progress at cindex.php. You'll be able to watch as I create a duplicate in appearance of the front page, with significantly different code and (I'm hoping) database behind it.

I've been getting a slew of requests for access to archived material in the past few days, implying that one of the bugs I fixed tightened up the access to the way it was supposed to be. On the other hand, I got a request from one long-time member, which says there's another bug to be killed there. I just have to find it.

Except for things like that, I'm trying not to make any significant changes to the existing Burg, for fear of breaking something else. If I do, let me know. If there's an improvement you'd like to see, also let me know and we can all argue about it.

It's a rainy day today and it's a gym day. When I come back from making myself gasp and wheeze like a beached whale I'm going to try and put the comments into the new version.
Posted by:

#22  Sad to see Skunky go. You can reset your cookie to him just by typing it in the Your Name box.

Kinda miss old GrinsSlupert****, too. Wonder what happened to him?
Posted by: Fred   2012-03-25 21:59  

#21  My old Dell laptop running xp finally secumbed to a glass of coke. So it and Skunky Glins*** were replace by a netbook running W7. Seems like every few days Firefox updates and I lose display formats for several of my regular websites until the next update. And yet my old desktop running xp has no problem with the same sites, same fox updates.

'Burg always looks ok except with the tiny screen on the notebook and my failing eyes I use the magnify feature a lot which messes up everything.
Posted by: manversgwtw   2012-03-25 21:30  

#20  Lets not visit indexed views for a while then...
Posted by: Bright Pebbles   2012-03-25 19:58  

#19  Turns out I had the field anyway. I'd just forgotten it was there...
Posted by: Fred   2012-03-25 19:33  

#18  I do the same thing, but I use float8 to finely tune the order.

It works and Pg's order routines leaves much to be desired.
Posted by: badanov   2012-03-25 18:35  

#17  I was trying to avoid adding a field to the table. I hate doing that, do it too often, and I end up with dead columns when I come up with a better idea. I always hate to drop them because of the certainty I've used them somewhere and forgotten about it...

But that's the only solution I can see at the moment.
Posted by: Fred   2012-03-25 18:07  

#16  In my databases I tend to use a element that stores the display order and then cluster(ed index) the table on this element.

Fast to display and you can come up with your own sorting rules.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles   2012-03-25 18:03  

#15  Ow! I was going to comment that IE 10 beta in Windows 8 CTP does not seem to work too well at Rantburg. Had to jump on my Win 7 desktop to send this comment...
Posted by: M. Murcek   2012-03-25 18:01  

#14  Prof tried to protect the class account from infinite 'do' loops by requiring outside data input (from paper tape) every x ms. Neglected to account for malicious students taping the ends of a punched paper tape together....
Posted by: Glenmore   2012-03-25 17:51  

#13  Definitely a Control Data machine of 1970s vintage, probably a 6000 or 170 series. The 'double eye' console design is very distinctive. It was an operator's console, meant for monitoring the flow of 'jobs' (time-shared card decks, whee!). Normally not used as an interactive terminal in the current sense - that would imply user privileges beyond those available to most mortals back then.
Posted by: Nero   2012-03-25 17:29  

#12  The comment is about Fred. The young woman needs no comments.
Posted by: badanov   2012-03-25 14:06  

#11  [grumble]

Postgresql sorts differently from MySQL. I can get the articles with no banner to go to the top, but the banners starting with "_" sort with the rest.

I'm off to the gym. Maybe I'll be smarter when I come back.
Posted by: Fred   2012-03-25 13:45  

#10  Fred's work or the girl in the picture, Bad? ;-p
Posted by: Barbara   2012-03-25 13:30  

#9  Very nice.
Posted by: badanov   2012-03-25 13:10  

#8  Looks like a CDC 70 or 74. Although, from what I remember, the operator would have been freezing in a short outfit like that if the terminal was in the same room as the main processor(s). They kept those rooms pretty chilly and dry.
Posted by: Mullah Richard   2012-03-25 12:45  

#7  I'll bet you think that fellow orbiting in the background at the reel-to-reel has nothing better to do as well.
Posted by: Besoeker   2012-03-25 12:18  

#6  I'm doing my first testing using Chrome, so let me know if something doesn't work on Safari or Firefox.

I do the bloid on a Windoze machine, so I guess it's got a copy of IE on it, so I can test that...

I don't have IE9, though. Can't stand Vista or Win7, so I likely won't test on that...
Posted by: Fred   2012-03-25 12:17  

#5  Code, Fred, code! ;-)

It's not spreadsheets, Besoeker. That's a print-out, and they're probably discussing debugging the bloody punchcards neatly stacked on her desk...again.
Posted by: trailing wife   2012-03-25 11:55  

#4  Is that guy with the zebra tie and spreadsheets always just hanging around?
Posted by: Besoeker   2012-03-25 11:48  

#3  I wonder if she could use a shoeshine?
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839   2012-03-25 11:46  

#2  Great job, seems to be working well. I love that photo. I remember when I thought the guy hanging the tape was fat and the girl at the console just right. Actually I think she's still just right, but I give the tape jockey a bit more respect.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2012-03-25 11:31  

#1  Thank you, Fred. You go above and beyond for us.
Posted by: Barbara   2012-03-25 11:15  

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