Please bear with me.. The update to WP 2.0.1 has caused some problems, and I am working on resolving those as I write this post.
Update: I’ve gotten the fonts and images re-installed from a backup. Things should work now.
Archive for the ‘General’ Category
It seems there’s a bug in the now-bundled backup plugin in Wordpress 2.0. I found the fix for it on Drab as a fool, aloof as a Bard posting from December, but only after some searching. My hope is that this post will make it easier to find for others.
Update: I’ve since discovered this is a bug in PHP 5.1.1, and only that version (there are claims that it was fixed in CVS, but I don’t want to run that on a production server). I’ll have to work up updating that ASAP. Either way, the work around seems to be working.
!!!
Wow.
Press Release
Recently, I’ve been active in discussions involving TinyMux regarding the implementation of PHP in the server. It got me thinking on other languages that would work as well, if not better, in such an environment.
First a bit of context.
For those of you who don’t know, TinyMux is a “Multi-User eXperience”, an offshoot of an old internet game called a MUD. The basic idea is not unlike that of a MMOG, except they’re typically text-based, and don’t have (usually) thousands of players attached - the most I’ve seen in my experience has been about 120 players. You move around by typing simple commands, such as “look” to look around the “room” you’re in, and can interact with the “environment” as much as the builder built into it.
Mux is an object-based system with inheritance. What this means is, you create an object with a command, and it starts out its life as a literal tabula rasa. It has no properties, no description - it’s a chunk of ephemeral existence. Einstein would argue that it’s spooky, I suppose. From there, you “describe” the object (what someone is given when they “look” at the object), give it some basic properties, and - if you know what you’re doing - program functionality into it using MUSHCode. MUSHCode is a simple programming language that can do things such as make “noises” in the room, dispense in-game “cash”, or in some extreme cases, generate a character “sheet”. The inheritance part only means that you can then create a second object, and set its “parent” as the first object. You now have a copy of the original, but you can now modify it, including the properties that were set on its “parent”. It will “inherit” anything you don’t change from the “parent”, meaning you can now have two ATM machines in your game - one for each in-character bank network.
MUSHCode is great for what it does, and it’s been a point of contention whether it needs to be improved or not - in some cases, individuals believe that if you want MUSHCode improved that badly, change the “hard code” - essentially modifying the server software that manages the Mux. For some this works - for others, it doesn’t.
The current proposal on the floor is adding a couple of new functions within MUSHCode that allow someone to execute PHP code on objects and rooms (which are essentially giant objects). This means a potential for cleaner-looking code, extremely flexible functionality, and the ability to make complex, custom functions for an object. I’ve already played around with this, and have created a simple stub that’s only missing the connecting piece to the PHP interpreter. In the process of this, I realized the difficulty in doing this with the current mux code. Brazil’s done a lot of work on the code over the - decades!? - and it’s always improved. But the server simply doesn’t have the architecture to add scripting languages within it, at the moment.
During my research into embedding PHP into software, I started looking into embedding Python into Mux. I found that LOTS of newer video games on the PC platform have already started to use Python for an internal “scripting” language. Python is a “pragmatic” language. This means that the language syntax is structured in such a way that what you tell it to do, it does. Here’s an example:
def MobAttack(target):
target.health -= MobObj.calc_damage(target)
Because everything in Python is an object, you can do all SORTS of neat things if you embedded it in a Mux, or made it the object-language.
Well, I feel bad because I only did 90% of the work I was supposed to do, but I got sick near the end of it all.
Anyways, Jalopy Journal has a new look and feel - Ryan did the design, I did the HTML and Wordpress templating.
I think it’s a kick-ass design.
It’s only a matter of time. There’s a working Python interpreter - written entirely in Python. That’s right. You have to run Python, execute this script, and you have a new Python environment, written entirely in Python.
Ow.
The point isn’t to slow down your scripts, but to create an interpreter layer that can be ported for any language.
Then there’s the (old) news that Google has pretty much publicly endorsed Python.
And the paranoid question of the day: Does anyone actually know someone that works at Google? Like, you’ve seen them since they started their job?
http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Science&article=UPI-1-20051207-16462700-bc-us-photons.xml
Anyone here read the Ender’s Game set of books?
Ansibles are a quantum network.
http://www.glidedigital.com/
I’m skeptical, as they ask for a credit card for their /free/ service. However, a made up (and blatantly fake with all the 1234’s in it) Mastercard number apparently works.
Not like I’m buying anything with it.
check this out!
www.pandora.com