Quick and dirty benchmarking with Python
I needed to benchmark the HTTP request time of a list of URL's. I've been hacking around with some Python lately so figured it was up for the task. Below is the code. I'm sure it is ugly as hell by Python coding standards but it seems to work.
Simply add a text file containing the URL's you wish to test, 1 per line and let a rip!
Big Changes
I'll be the first to admit this site is not very pretty. I cranked it out in one weekend simpley to get a site powered by Drupal out the door. I've begun the process of completely overhauling it so expect some BIG CHANGES in the coming weeks.
My goal is to focus entirely on writing how-to and resource articles for implementing open source technologies. All examples will be based on real world scenerios making them exteremely relevent. I'm really looking forward to it!
Modify Authoring Information in Drupal
I just finished an article on how to allow non admin users to modify "Authored By" and "Authored On" node attributes in Drupal. The article can be found here: http://prolucid.com/node/79
I also created a module in github with a working example found here: http://github.com/ngmaloney/modify_authoring_information/tree/master
Embedding swf in Drupal Nodes
I'm currently working on a project where I need to embed .swf movies in a Drupal 5 node via TinyMCE. I'm using D5.x.dev CVS and the TinyMCE 5.x-1.9. What I thought would be an easy mission turned out to be lots of reasearch with a simple solution. I'm not certain if this is applicable to the WYSIWYG API (which i like very much). I did not have the luxury of being able to swap out any modules.
The core of the problem was by default TinyMCE 5.x.1-9 module does not have the media plugin enabled. Additionally it also strips out the HTML embed tag.
Why I run mac.
People often associate Mac users with rabid fanboysm. As a relatively recent convert (4 yrs) this association has always bothered me. Prior to switching I used linux on the desktop. I got fed up when I'd have to spend time that should have been billable fixing wireless drivers, fiddling around with X-config and not having access to various commercial software tools (Photoshop, MS Office, etc.). Running Windows was never an option and never will be.
Drupal GitHub Repo
Drupal.org running D6
The Drupal team did a great job relaunching Drupal.org in Drupal 6. When you can relaunch an entire site with end users bareley noticing you did something right. I'm currently working on a large Drupal 5 to Drupal 6 migration so I can relate to the process. I'm actually finding it to be an enjoyable project as it was one of my earlier Drupal sites.
Eaccelerator on a MediaTemple DV
I'm currently wrapping up a fairly large Drupal 5 project. All the development is complete, caching is enabled as is CSS aggregation. I still need MORE speed! Enter Eaccelerator.
eAccelerator is a PHP accelerator derived from the MMCache extension for the PHP programming language. eAccelerator provides a bytecode cache. eAccelerator is open source and thereby free to use and distribute.
Open Blue Dragon
This weekend I began a project to see if it was possible to migrate some of our legacy Coldfusion applications to an open source stack where they can live out their lives in GPL happiness. The verdict so far is an almost definite YES! It can be done quickly and easily too. Below I attempted to document as much of the process as possible.
G1 acquired
I picked up the new T-mobile G1 last night. I like it. It seems stable and functional. It doesn't have the style and elegance of the iphone but in terms of UI performance it is more responsive. Applications also seem more stable than the iPhone. It hasn't crashed yet (which is more than can be said for iPhone).
Other features I like are the REAL qwerty keyboard, DRM-FREE music, gmail/google integration, and I do like the Android Interface. I also had a chance to fire up Eclipse and start tinkering with the API. So far the API seems robust.