Month: September 2009

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Letting Go (of domain names) Is Never Easy

So, I have registered a few more domain names than I really need. The domain names are usually a result of this:

  1. I get a good (or bad) idea for a web site project
  2. I think of good (and bad) domain names for the project
  3. I register a domain name for the web site
  4. But, because I already have work, family and a whole bunch of existing projects to attend to, I never get very far with implementing the web site

Then, a year later, the domain name needs to be renewed. One possible action:

A slight hope of continuing the project and some squirreling tendencies makes me renew the domain registration.

Another possible action:

Let the domain name registration expire.

But it does not feel good at all:

No! Not one of my domain names! They are part of the family! If I let them expire they will be bought by someone running a parked domain monetization scheme!

I actually counted to three domains of mine that will expire during the months to come. And then there are a couple of domain names I want to register if they become available… Letting Go Is Never Easy!

Btw, have you tried my Google Apps™ Test service? It checks if a domain name is connected to Google Apps, the Google Apps mail service, Google Sites or Blogger.

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Today’s thoughts about programming languages

Maybe some of you have heard me ranting about this already?

  • I’m not productive enough in C++ and I feel too limited by Java
  • A large chunk of Java frameworks seem to serve no other purpose than to workaround limitations in Java
  • I believe (and hope!) that Java will cease to be the default language in the non-Microsoft world, and that other JVM-based languages such as Scala, Groovy and JRuby will become more important
  • How can I convince a client to allow Scala, Groovy or JRuby in a project?
  • I should really get some C# experience!
  • It seems like I almost always resolve to PHP when I need to get something done quickly… which reminds me of an upcoming blog post about a recent fight with SoapServer and SimpleXML to implement WSSE UsernameToken authentication.
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TaskFreak hacking part 2: date format

My TaskFreak hacking goes on. In Sweden we often use ISO 8601 format for dates (year-month-day), but TaskFreak does not offer this out of the box.

Most date formatting comes from the DATE FORMATS section in include/config.php but even after changing these date formats I still don’t get all dates displayed as I would like.

For example, the text box for the date when editing an item is using the TZN_DATE_FRM constant defined in include/classes/tzn_generic.php. There’s a pretty naïve comment in the source code, saying that there is a “US format” for dates and a “rest of the world” format. Fortunately (for the US), the rest of the world is not united in opposition.

To get the date format I wanted I changed the constant definition like this:

define("TZN_DATE_FRM","%Y-%m-%d");
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Facebook mail servers blacklisted by Spamhaus XBL!

To be more exact, some Facebook mail servers are listed in the Composite Blocking List (CBL), including but probably not limited to these:

  • outmail002.ash1.tfbnw.net – 69.63.184.102
  • outmail004.ash1.tfbnw.net – 69.63.184.104
  • outmail007.ash1.tfbnw.net – 69.63.184.107
  • outmail009.ash1.tfbnw.net – 69.63.184.109
  • outmail110.ash1.tfbnw.net – 69.63.184.110

CBL is not very informative, but writes:

ATTENTION: If you are running IPSwitch Imail, or similar shared hosting software, please contact the CBL by email. If you are running Ensim, please read this for a workaround. Otherwise, this IP is infected with/emitting spamware/spamtrojan traffic and needs to be fixed.

This will prevent me and others using sbl-xbl.spamhaus.org from receiving some Facebook e-mails. Good thing they are not so important! 🙂

Update This was corrected around midnight (UTC) between Saturday and Sunday.