PolarLava::Blog

I'm now running what will likely be PolarBlog V1.4.0 on this site.  The only noticeable change you will see is the addition of the "Topics" links in the right navigation menu.  This, like most of the features can be turned off via a configuration option if you don't want it.  There may be some additional features added, thus the "Alpha" aspect of this, but mostly it is a "Beta" of what will be released.  See this changelog for the quick rundown of what else is in this release.

It seems a A 21-year-old Perth man who for obvious reasons has chosen to remain anonymous, nearly killed himself using what I've termed "The Beer Pump".  Beer Bongs are crazy enough, but this truly is insanity.  This is sort of a "Darwin's Work" lite though, as he did survive…likely to do something incredibly stupid in the future that will end his days.

Well, I've finally gotten back on my bike after nearly a three month layoff.  This year was an unmitigated disaster for me when it comes to cycling.  I took no long rides and had very little time on the weekends to ride.  Then in September I got sick.  Then I got busy.  Then I got sick again.  Then I was on vacation.  Then I got sick —again!  And all the while laziness settled in and the house started getting cold in the morning…a sure recipe for failure.   Now with less than two weeks left in the year, I've suddenly found some motivation.  This means very little for this year, but could be a good springboard into 2005.  I now just need to stay motivated and overcome the cold floors and general lethargy in the mornings to maintain it.  Must think strong.

PolarBlog V1.3.0 has been released.  This release contains…

Enhancements

• Internationalization (I18N) Support - PolarBlog should now be capable of displaying in languages other than U.S. English.  This release contains both English and German language files.  If you are fluent in another language and are interested in using PolarBlog in another language, please read this blog entry.

• Comment email notification not always being sent.
• Comment emails not being sent, but replies work.
• Displayed comments sometimes appear out of order.
• Search results are displayed oldest to newest instead of newest to oldest.
• "Next" navigation button is erroroneously displayed with search results.
• Double slashes in URL when PolarBlog is the servers root page.

• Added I18N_LANG
• Added I18N_CHARSET
• Added I18N_DATE_SEPARATOR_FORMAT
• Added I18N_DATE_FORMAT
• Added USE_GOOGLE_LINK
• Added USE_WORD_COUNT
• Deprecated DATE_SEPARATOR_FORMAT
• Deprecated DATE_FORMAT

After much contemplation, I've finally come up with something to put on my front page other than just the lava lamp.

I've been unhappy with the front page for quite some time, but wasn't really sure what to do with it.  I didn't want my blog as my front page so I needed to come up with some sort of introduction page.  After all, it is effectively the "welcome mat" at your front door and should make a visitor feel welcome and explain what they will find "inside".  Thus I've added such an introduction and a brief outline of my various projects.  Actually, I think most user of my site come through one of the "side doors"…most likely one of the projects, but then surf around from there.  I know this is often how I learn more about someone on the web…I find a deep link into their site and then start exploring the rest of their site.  Thus my new front page provides a quick rundown of who I am and what's going on here.  I hope you like it as most anything would be an improvement over the previous stark page that it was.