Now, I could have set up a Greasemonkey script to redirect me once I hit an unsecure Wikipedia page, but then it's too late. (I'm usually going directly to the article via web search results.) I could also use Greasemonkey to rewrite URLs in web pages, but that's a mess. Instead, I wanted to intercept any requests to unsecure Wikipedia and redirect them on the fly, before they even left my machine. Here's how I set up my browser to always use SSL for Wikimedia sites:

1. Have Apache with virtual hosts and Mozilla Firefox with FoxyProxy
2. In my default virtual host:

   <Directory /var/www/>
   	RewriteEngine On
   	RewriteBase /
   	RewriteCond ${HTTP_HOST} !.*mycomputername.*
   	RewriteRule . rewriter.php [L]
   </Directory>

3. And this file at /var/www/rewriter.php:

   <?php
   
   $host = $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'];
   $path = $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'];
   
   // ensure path is not of form http://...
   if(strpos($path, '/') !== 0) {
   	$start = "http://$host/";
   	if(strpos($path, $start) === 0) {
   		$path = substr($path, strlen($start) - 1); // include slash
   	} else {
   		die();
   	}
   }
   
   if(preg_match('/([a-z0-9]+)\.wikipedia\.org/', $host, $m_domain)) {
   	header("Location: https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/{$m_domain[1]}{$path}");
   	die();
   }
   
   ?>

4. Then set up a proxy in FoxyProxy, early in the chain, called "rewriter". Set it to a SOCKS 5 proxy at localhost:80, using the whitelist regex http://[a-z]+\.wikipedia\.org/.*

Obviously, the setup as written here only gets Wikipedia, but it could easily be expanded to Wiktionary, Wikibooks, Wikimedia Commons, and other sister sites.

I'll delete any tech-support questions in the comments area, so don't ask them. This guide is for advanced users only. Discussions of potential improvements are welcome.

Usually, the standard hierarchical filesystem model is perfect. I have a project Foo, it contains folders for source, compile info, and binaries, and each of those folders is probably hierarchical as well. The source and binary folders usually have matching subdirectory structures, but that particular duplication of structure is OK, because the binaries folder is generated, not edited; I never have to think about changing both directory structures at the same time.

This standard model fails when I have to work with multiple related projects. If I put the Foo and Bar projects side by side, I notice that both have src and bin directories. Perhaps I should have a src folder and bin folder instead, each subdivided into Foo and Bar directories! Each has advantages and disadvantages that are immediately obvious. This is known as the problem of cross-cutting concerns, where there are strong yet orthogonal organizational principles that compete for priority.

I like to imagine that we would be better off with a new filesystem model, perhaps one based on matrices, tagging, smart searches, filters, or DAGs. I don't know what the right answer is, but I'd like to hear your thoughts on the matter.

An initial hurdle facing developers of these toolkits is the problem of loading source code. Javascript is loaded and executed natively in the browser environment, and it would be nice to load alternative language sources in a similar manner. So, today I wrote a library to do that.

The library, called LoadForCompile, is invoked with a MIME type and a callback. It searches the DOM for script elements with the given MIME type, loads their sources, and passes them to the callback. There is a very simple demo page with a "compiler" that displays whatever source code it is provided. Following is the documentation for the library.

Description

LoadForCompile will retrieve alternate-language source code and pass it (in order) to onLoad. Any sources that cannot be retrieved will be ignored by default.

If the onFinish argument is provided, it will be called when all sources have been loaded and passed.

If the onError argument is provided, it will be called with (src, k), where src is the offending URL and k is a continuation of the loading process, so the relying client may continue or entirely halt the loading process by calling k or not calling it, respectively.

Usage

1. Place script elements in your HTML document with desired MIME type.
2. Each script element may have a src attribute, an inline body between the opening and closing tags, or both. The body is guaranteed to be called immediately after the associated remote source, or not at all.
3. Finally, call LoadForCompile with the MIME type and callbacks.

Specification

LoadForCompile searches the DOM for any script nodes bearing the target MIME type. For each one, it records the src attribute and the contents of the text node, if any. It is an error to have non-text elements as children of the script node, and in such a situation the behavior of this library is unspecified.

The library uses asynchronous requests to load any remote resources specified by src attributes. This loading occurs in an unspecified order. If any remote source fails to load, the library will mark that source (and any associated inline body) as invalid. If onError is provided, it will be called with a continuation function that will resume progress. (If the continuation is not called, no additional callbacks will be made.)

Note that if onError is provided and does not call the continuation, onFinish will not be called.

Metadata

The library is in version 0.2 and is licensed under the LGPL.

I use xset, a command that can set various preferences in the current X display. One of the parameter sets is b, the properties of the system bell. It can be used to set the relative volume, pitch, and duration. Here's an example:

xset b 50 700 5

That example sets the system bell to 50% volume, a pitch of 700 hertz, and a duration of 5 milliseconds.

Experiment by entering that command, then pressing [Backspace] on the next line of your terminal (to generate a system bell.) Your hardware may not support certain combinations, in which the bell is silent.

To have this setting take effect every time you log in, add it to your session startup commands. In Ubuntu, that's System :: Preferences :: Sessions.

I was developing a GWT application with Eclipse and ran into a client-server communication issue that manifested at runtime. The client would request an object from the server, the object would properly serialize and deserialize (verified by JS debugger), and then GWT's glue code would throw IncompatibleRemoteServiceException (saying "This application is out of date, please click the refresh button on your browser.")

Ultimately, I believe this exception was occurring because either

1. the class in question extended java.util.EnumMap, a standard Java library class that GWT reimplements in JS, or
2. accessing Whatever.class is disallowed in GWT, but is required for generic code that deals with enumeration types.

When I rewrote the class to itself reimplement EnumMap (but specialized to a specific Enum), the exception disappeared. Read on for gory Java details:

EnumMap maps values of an Enum to values of some other type. In my case, I was mapping to Boolean values, creating a selection of the Enum. Ordinarily I would just use EnumMap<MyEnum, Boolean>, but unfortunately, EnumMap is not Serializable, since it has no nullary constructors. And why is this? Well, its constructors need to retrieve the list of enumeration values, and not only do Java generics erase the type information that would otherwise allow access to this info, but one also cannot call T.values() where T is a parameter type extending Enum. Basically, it's a whole pile of language-design fail.

I tried to get around all these issues by subclassing EnumMap and calling super(MyEnum.class) in the constructor, allowing it to be nullary (and therefore supporting serialization.) Ultimately, however, this code was rejected by GWT, and I found it easier to just write a specific reimplementation of the library code.

(Eclipse 3.4 x64 on Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex x64, GWT 1.6.4 plugin, ia32 Sun Java 5 libs.)

Alas, iguanas are not in the cards today. The Point is beautiful as always, though, with both smooth and jagged rock formations lining the sides. On the walk back to GRC I see a mangrove I hadn't noticed before, what might be a Bahama Mockingbird, and a yellow-flowered Wild Unction Vine.

Crab hiding under overhang

I packed the night before, so the only thing left to do before getting on the truck is to go down to the seashore and say goodbye to the island. I throw back the shells I had collected, but keep the smooth sea glass. A mid-sized crab scuttles under an overhang of the boat launch ramp I am standing on, and I nearly dip my camera into the surf to take a closeup photo. It comes out beautifully.

----

The return trip is a breeze, except for the Nassau airport, where we have to go through Bahamian airport security, followed immediately by grumpy, power-tripping US Customs agents, and then through US airport security. Hey, handle that laptop gently, or at least don't slam it on the table! The San Sal airport was delightfully insecure, which made me feel relaxed. This harrying makes me anxious.

Finally, we are home. My mom picks us all up from the airport, and we watch the Tina James' Magic evening primroses open, exotic flowers in our own yard.