Another Picture of the Day script
Posted in Other Projects, Tutorials May 27th, 2020 by dotcomboom
<?php
$today = (int)date('Yz');
    
srand($today);
    
$files = glob('*/*/thumbs/*.jpg');  // your folder structure goes here, my new one is like 2018/september/thumbs/*.jpg
$file = array_rand($files);

// open the file in a binary mode
$name = $files[$file];
$fp = fopen($name, 'rb');

// send the right headers
header("Content-Type: image/jpeg");
header("Content-Length: " . filesize($name));

// dump the picture and stop the script
fpassthru($fp);
exit;
?>

Embedded like this:

<img src="oftheday.php" alt="[img]">

(If you need to display EXIF information or link to the original image, see this script instead.)

IRC on Leopard
Posted in Apple, Software, w2krepo May 24th, 2020 by dotcomboom

Since it was surprisingly difficult for me to find, here is LimeChat 2.26 on SourceForge. It’s not the last version that can run on PPC, but it’s what I could find an active download link for. I might sift through the Wayback Machine if need be.

Runs great on my G4 with a quick setup.

New Kicks
Posted in Apple, Software May 22nd, 2020 by dotcomboom

Some ambient music picks
Posted in Music May 22nd, 2020 by dotcomboom
Feels like an adventure, honestly. Reminds me of a particular dungeon crawler.
I’m calling this the Pituophis 1.1 theme.
This is actually from a band in Argentina influenced by works like Yoshimura’s and Kyoto soundscapes. (Note the similarities to the Wet Land cover.) Their discography is all free downloads, so check them out.
Here’s a full album because it’s just that good. Strikes me as 2000s System Menu OST-y for some reason.
The Triumphant Return of Pituophis
Posted in Other Projects May 16th, 2020 by dotcomboom

May is Gopher month, and Pituophis, a project I hadn’t worked on since last year has finally gotten some of the treatment it deserved. 1.1 is now out with a bunch of changes.

I’ve refactored a ton of stuff, changed things around, etc. etc., and on top of that wrote a graphical Gopher client (in 200 lines!) to demonstrate it. Long timers may remember this essay I wrote on the Somnolescent blog mid-last year; while this doesn’t implement all that desktop integration stuff I’d love to see in a Gopher client eventually, it does implement the tree view part, at least partially. Consider it a proof of concept. Maybe not the most pretty looking thing in the world, but decently functional.

It doesn’t stop there though, as I caved and cleaned up Gophew a whole bunch, which is a couple of scripts for hosting a search-enabled server. It’s running on the new and rejuvenated Somnolescent Gopher server as we speak.

(displayed in OverbiteFF)

Looking forward to doing more with this protocol soon. It’s good to be back.

Patio, a la 2007
Posted in Site Updates May 6th, 2020 by dotcomboom

Updates to the blog!

First off, a WAP version of the Patio is now accessible here. Put simply, it uses a lightweight variant of XHTML designed for earlier mobile phones and cellular networks. It uses this WordPress plugin.

WinWAP is now available at w2krepo as well.

And also, the Patio itself has gotten a fresh coat of paint with that sweet, sweet Aero flair. I came across the theme on an archived version of the WordPress theme index, though you may still find it here. (Good luck finding it through much other means, as browsing WordPress’s theme index for anything but new, overly modern stuff is rather difficult past Twenty Ten.) I tweaked it just a little bit, and man is it looking spiffy, complete with working Start menu.

I like it. It strikes as just enough to have that early personal weblog feeling to it while being distinct. And really shiny. I’m not sure if I’ll keep this look, in case I come across another theme that matches the general feel I’m trying to accomplish with this blog, but it’s likely going to stick around for a while.