I’ve made some additions to Bryar 2.6 to allow it to work in Mod_Perl 2.0.
Without these changes (see diffs below), you will see random caching problems
because it loads Frontend/CGI.pm instead of Frontend/Mod_Perl.pm.

Bryar/Config.pm:

44c44
+ $ENV{’GATEWAY_INTERFACE’} =~ /^CGI-Perl\// or exists $ENV{MOD_PERL} and $ENV{MOD_PERL} =~ /^mod_perl\//)
—
- $ENV{’GATEWAY_INTERFACE’} =~ /^CGI-Perl\//)

Bryar/Frontend/Mod_Perl.pm

3,5c3,5
+ #use Apache::Constants qw(OK);
+ #use Apache::Request;
+ #use Apache;
—
- use Apache::Constants qw(OK);
- use Apache::Request;
- use Apache;
12,44d11
+ BEGIN {
+
+ eval(’require mod_perl;’);
+ if ( $@ ) {
+ require Apache2::mod_perl;
+ }
+
+ $::MP2 = ($mod_perl::VERSION >= 1.99);
+
+ if ($::MP2) {
+ require Apache2;
+ require Apache::Server;
+ require Apache::RequestRec;
+ require Apache::Log;
+ require APR::Table;
+ require Apache::RequestIO;
+ require Apache::SubRequest;
+ require Apache::Const;
+
+ Apache::Const->import(-compile => ‘OK’,'DECLINED’,'FORBIDDEN’,'NOT_FOUND’);
+
+ }
+ else {
+ require Apache;
+ require Apache::Constants;
+ require Apache::Request;
+
+ Apache::Constants->import(’OK’,'DECLINED’,'FORBIDDEN’,'NOT_FOUND’);
+
+ }
+
+ }
+
58,62c25,27
+ sub obtain_params {
+ #my $apr = Apache::Request->new(Apache->request);
+ my $apr = new CGI;
+ map { $_ => $apr->param($_) } $apr->param ;
+ }
—
- sub obtain_params { my $apr = Apache::Request->new(Apache->request);
- map { $_ => $apr->param($_) } $apr->param ;
- }
65c30
+ Apache->request->status(’OK’);
—
- Apache->request->status(OK);

Recently Peter Moore of Microsoft and Phil Harrison of Sony both recommended the Wii as the companion of choice to either the XBox 360 or the Sony Playstation 3. This has left questions in everyones’ minds as to what Sony and Microsoft are doing, recommending people buy one of “the competitors”. Why recommend someone that could likely take away your marketshare?

The answer is just that - they both can’t afford Nintendo to be part of their marketshare. By Nintendo being considered “a companion” to the Microsoft or Sony consoles, it may no longer be considered in the minds of the consumer as a possible “competitor” to Sony or Microsoft, making the market share 50/50 instead of 33/33/33. This means more money for both companies, and in theory, less money for Nintendo, as people will think of Sony or Microsoft as their “Main Console”.

Now, the main question lies on how Nintendo approaches this moving forward. If approached right, Nintendo could turn this to their advantage, selling the Nintendo as “a companion” to the Sony or Microsoft consoles, focusing on the game elements. This will get them in the game for future competition. Then, once that is accomplished, they should produce a competing “media console” similar to the PS3 or XBox 360 that benefits the consumer when used in conjunction with the Wii. Nintendo will say “Wii” all the way home when Sony and Microsoft get the last laugh. Nintendo - are you listening?

I’ve determined I’m going to get somewhat of a dream added to Jeens. For awhile, I’ve been dreaming of the ability for a blogger to add a small wiki section to their blog entry. Only the section they designate can be freely edited by others. This could be used for collaboration, for review of code, for documentation, or whatever. Perhaps a product description written by the users? I’m going to use this blog entry as a test. Here’s some text:

This is test wiki text

Have at it!

Recently, our CTO was asked the question by CIO Magazine, who were over interviewing him about BackCountry.com’s use of Open Source Software and our success in using it for a very successful retail company. The question was,

“How has your company saved money through Open Source Software?”

He responded with a list of applications we use and their proprietary equivalents and what it would cost to purchase and support those equivalents. He then mentioned the number of developers it would take to support the proprietary software, vs the thousands of developers working on the software in an Open Source application.

That got me thinking. Why would I not want to make my work more productive? I am paid to make my work as productive as possible. Therefore, if I can write a piece of software that others can then use to make their work more productive, and receive help in developing that software, making my development faster, why don’t more businesses release their code to the community? All costs aside, wouldn’t this be the most productive method of doing my job?

Not too long ago, Open Source was born with a group of developers going to school with a similar problem - they wanted to make their work more productive at that school. The GPL was born, and now we have Open Source. We have the same problems in the workplace today as those students did back then. Why not share our code between businesses? It’s good for the marketplace, it’s good for individual businesses, and will definitely put harder, more productive work in the workplace, stimulating the economy even further.

Perhaps the real answer to stimulate America’s economy and therefore put us in better competition with the Global marketplace is to get rid of our greediness and share our code and other technologies! The wheel is reinvented way too many times in America.

Well, the good news is I’m up on Fedora Core 5 now. The bad news is that because of the upgrade to MP2 and Apache 2.2, many things don’t work now. I had all this working with MP2 at one time, but with all the changes since then, I need to fix some of the URI and Request handling. Bear with me until I get all this fixed.

A month or two ago, we started hearing rumors that Google is seriously looking into a desktop OS of their own. I snickered at it, with the looming thought in the back of my mind that yes, some day Google will rule the world.

Up until now, I never really thought Google had any chance at an OS of their own. Everyone keeps talking about them incorporating their gmail client, maps, calendering, and even rumors of an office app into an OS, but I could never see how they could do it.

Well, my mind has been cleared. Recently I’ve been reading Manning’s AJAX In Action and well, it has inspired me of an entirely new revolution in web development. Boys and Girls, the web has finally moved to the desktop.

Concepts of AJAX teach that a web application is initially loaded to the desktop, and then all of the application logic for that application occurs on the Desktop itself, rather than the server handling it all. Javascript sends and receives XML back and forth to and from the server, resulting in less data being transferred, and more control over the UI. Essentially, it has become the equivalent of Swing or Gtk for the web.

Now, here’s my vision, and I bet you $100 that Google will adopt this: Imagine a simple, open-source, easily extendible OS such as Ubuntu running on your computer. Now, replace Gnome (or KDE for you Kubuntu fans out there) with a nice, AJAX front-end to control all your apps. Essentially, the desktop and the browser will be one in the future. You just won’t know you’re using a browser - you will come to miss “the good old days” of the browser eventually.

These guys have the right idea, but I’m imagining a more integrated system with the OS. Because this type of desktop management system is very easily extendible, it supports the OSS model much better than the closed-source models. Microsoft had better take note, because if they haven’t already started on this, they’ll be stuck to writing XBox Games and Entertainment Centers. But then again, Google could rule that too.

As I sit here waiting for my version of the Fedora Core 5 DVD (3 Gb - wow) to download via bittorrent, I can’t help but admire what one man has done for the community. Through a protocol called Bittorrent, one man has single-handedly brought the community of downloaders together, forcing them to each play their part.

Bittorrent works like this: Let’s say I want the latest Fedora ISO (completely free, and completely legal), usually a 1-3 Gb download total if you get the DVD or all the CDs. Normally if I were to download this via the web it could take days to a) wait for someone else to finish downloading it from the server, and b) wait for me to finish downloading it from the server when it’s my turn. What Bittorrent has done, is allow you to download the file in pieces, looking for “bits” someone else has already downloaded (while their download may even still be in progress), and download those instead of waiting for an entire file to finish. In the meantime, while you are downloading those “bits” someone else is downloading the “bits” you have already downloaded. This speeds up the download time tremendously.

Here’s where it gets really cool. Not only is your download time sped up, but you also get priority to the better streams if you also allow people to upload from you at higher speeds. So in essence, it “rewards” you for sharing the wealth.

Now, lately there has been a lot of talk about GPL3. This license is supposedly even more OSS friendly than GPL2, but very unfriendly to businesses. Businesses and money I feel strongly are what drive the current GPL2 and has made applications using it so popular. But, even the GPL2 has it’s limitations.

Here’s where Bittorrent comes in. What if we were to write a license that rather than only trusting people to give back to the community as they use others’ software, rewarded them for what they give back, similar to what Bittorrent does when one allows others to download from them? The license could allow greater usage priviledges, maybe even free support privilidges if they take the software and extend it for the community, or even write their own and distribute it under this license.

I am all for socialism in the pure way that Marx put it (I don’t agree with the current philosophies however), but frankly, I don’t think man is capable at the moment of just freely giving as they receive. We are currently seeing that most usage of the GPL are for monetary reasons. Why not take advantage of this, and push open source the capitalistic way? “The more you give, the more you get!” I think this is what will drive people the most into freely giving of their own will.

Any lawyers in the audience?

Comments now work - comment away! (note that it doesn’t redirect anywhere after you submit a comment. Just hit home or go back for now - I’ll fix that later)

nonubuntu repositories

I’ve been battling a fight recently with Verizon for trying to charge me a ridiculous fee for terminating my DSL service early. I was never told when I signed up I was entering into a contract, nor was I told when I asked to cancel that I would be charged a fee. Instead, to my surprise I received a bill about a month after I cancelled wanting to charge me $99 for an “Early Termination Fee.”

I called Verizon, talked to 2 reps, asking both to talk to a supervisor, and having both tell me one would contact me within 72 hours. Finally after about a week a supervisor calls telling me despite their deceptive practices I would still have to pay the $99.

So I decided to play hardball. I filed a report with the Better Business Bureau and sure enough, after about a month, I get the following letter (verbatim):

September 2, 2005

Better Business Bureau of Greater Maryland, Inc.
BBB Consumer Education Foundation
1414 Key Highway, Suite 100
Baltimore, MD 21230</p

RE: 23040497 Jesse Stay, Sr(Note I am not Sr - that would be my grandfather)

Verizon has investigated the Stay’s concerns. As a result, Verizon has issued a credit for the $99 termination fee on account ***-***-****. We apologize for any inconvenience the Stay’s may have incurred.

Sicnerely,
Phyllis McNeil
Verizon Customer Relations

Needless to say I was extatic to receive an apology! I was finally going to get the money they owed me and hopefully the collectors would cease their calls.

Well, it’s now been 2 weeks, and Verizon still does not show this on their records, nor have the credit collectors stopped calling. In fact, they are getting downright ruthless now, doing things that I’m pretty sure are illegal, calling after-hours, harrasing my wife, hanging up on her when she asks for a supervisor and other things. Someone really needs to sue the pants off these guys - any lawyers want to take a free case? I’ll give you 10% if I win. Despite the apology, Verizon still sucks, are frauds, and I will never do business with them again. Kudos to the BBB for their hardwork - donate to them! More to come…