The Crooked and the Straight

I took a look at my server access logs for the first time in ages today, and as a result I've patched up a few minor weblog-related things...

I noticed that there are still a bunch of people whose aggregators point to feeds from my old weblog that no longer exist. Those requests should now get properly redirected (via a 302) to the correct feed. I apologize for leaving that problem uncorrected for so long.

Also, there are a handful of entries from my old weblog that seem to be still fairly popular (based on the number of requests for them that go 404). I've re-instated six of the most requested entries. Here's a list, in chronological order:

• XrpGen and a little luck (February 23, 2003)
• RDP, Console Sessions, Windows 2003 Server, And You (May 20, 2003)
• How I got here (June 12, 2003)
• Everybody here works on Word (October 01, 2003)
• The anatomy of a bug (October 25, 2003)
• When "good enough" isn't (November 02, 2003)

Any incoming requests for these entries at the old URLs will also get the 302 treatment; the links above are the current ones.

And just out of curiosity, does anyone other than me use the Crooked Links sidebar? I put it there basically so I could have a searchable history of my bookmarks (and don't bother telling me about del.icio.us; I am not enamored with that service). If you like it, hate it, or ignore it completely, I'd like to know.

Posted at 05:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

I've been using Movable Type to manage my weblog for almost three years now. I recently upgraded to their latest version, 3.2, and I've been so impressed with the new release--particularly it's effectiveness at dealing with comment and trackback spam--that I finally got around to registering my copy. I also spent some time and converted the rest of Headblender.com to also be managed by MT, including the homepage and my about page. The upside is that all the layout is CSS-based now (no more ugly tables) and it's a lot easier for me to keep things updated.

Of course, I'm probably the only one who cares, but it took some work to pull it off so I'm mentioning it here. So there. Nyaah.

Posted at 07:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I've been making some changes to the site today... the visual style has changed a bit (which you won't notice if you read this in an aggregator). This was a result of upgrading to Movable Type 3.2 and converting all of my customized templates and stylesheets to the new format.

There are a few things that should be better now, since I finally got around to fixing them:
1. The site should render correctly in both IE and Firefox.
2. Printing should also work again.
3. Viewing the site in Pocket IE (e.g., on a Pocket PC or Smartphone) should work now.

I'm still working the kinks out of the new stylesheets (there are still a few places where spacing and font sizes are speficied in pixels rather than relative units, etc.), so if you find anything that looks wrong, let me know. Comments and everything should work the same as before, but if you run into problems, tell me and I'll get right on it.

[Update: I inadvertantly broke the RSS and Atom feeds. They should be fixed now. If you can't read this in an aggregator, let me know. (ha ha)]

Posted at 11:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Sometimes I find an interesting site that's worth linking to, but I don't have a lot to say about the entry besides "hey, check this out because it's neat." (Either that, or I'm just feeling lazy.)

I don't like to make short, boring entries just to point out something I think is neat, so I created a separate blog just for my bookmarks: Crooked Links.

The 5 most recent links will appear on the sidebar of this weblog (thanks to some Movable Type hackery), but if you want to get Crooked Links in your aggregator, it has separate RSS and Atom syndication feeds. The entries on Crooked Links will have comments enabled (although I can't imagine people really wanting to comment on them). Clicking on the sidebar link will take you directly to the linked page. If you'd prefer to visit the corresponding Crooked Links entry, click the "»" link instead.

Okay, enough of that crap. See? This is why I don't like to write entries about links. Whatever.

Posted at 11:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I haven't been writing much here, but that's on purpose. I haven't written anything about computers yet either, and that's on purpose as well. I can't promise it will happen (or that it will never happen), but it might.

Also, here is bunny. I hope you like it.

Posted at 12:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A couple of people have asked me what the new name means. It comes from Sun-tzu's The Art of War, specifically from a couple of passages from Chapter 7, "The Fray:"

The difficulty of the fray
   Lies in making
   The crooked
   Straight
   And in making
   An advantage
   Of misfortune.

and

Victory belongs to the man
   Who can master
   The strategem of
   The crooked
   And the straight.

These specific quotes come from the translation by John Minford, which is one of the more eloquent translations I've read. (Other translations will undoubtedly differ.)

Posted at 08:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)