Gmail's Down

Gmail went down a little over half an hour ago. I was signed in at the time, and I checked the status of Gmail when my Gmail Manager extension in Firefox displayed an error. Sure 'nough, I couldn't access anything in Gmail. All attempts to load Gmail were met with error code 767, which I couldn't find any information on anywhere. I submitted a lockout report to Google after trying all the alternate URLs I could think of. Nothing works. I'm stuck with no email. Great.

Update 8:48 PM: Gmail is back up again. Why can't we have a stable email system?

AM and Total Power

So, remember my post about that stupid Animation:Master software? I got it installed. My teacher gave me the administrator password to my school computer. Yep, I can have total control now. Not that I'm going to use it. I'm still sticking to the motto of only using programs I can make work under Limited account privileges.

Mail Fetcher: Active

I just noticed today that Google added the long-awaited Mail Fetcher feature to my Gmail account. And they didn't give me a "New Features!" link. Somehow, I feel cheated, but I also feel a great big w00t coming on. I HAVE MAIL FETCHER! YEAH! Now I can start ditching my other accounts' stupid interfaces and bring everything together under the one account. I'll be able to search and sort messages from all my other POP-enabled accounts just as I would messages to Gmail. This is absolutely GREAT!

Overzealous IT Departments...

...can be a real problem. I'm enrolled in 3-D Animation this quarter at school, and I'm using one of their laptops for classwork. Which means I have a Limited user account. Which means I can't install (most) software. Which effectively means I can't take the course, since the Animation:Master software required for the course has an annoying requirement of its own: an Administrator account for installation. All I can do is sit and wait for my school's IT guy to tell me how to install the stupid software on their stupid computer. Maybe they'll think twice about locking people out before they do it again next year...

Rock the Script (Don't Rock the Script Baby), Redux

I'm back again. I've officially launched the new website. There's still one page that wouldn't work for some reason, but it isn't a critical section. I'll probably just remove it. I managed to insert the __utmSetVar() function into the site. Now if only I could make PHP's mail() function work. I think my host blocked it.

Study Day?!

I walked to orchestra rehearsal as usual today. I carried my violin the whole way, like always. Only to find that I didn't need it. That's right, the conductor declared a study day, because of some test going on. I didn't know what test, wasn't told, and certainly wasn't involved. And I didn't have anything to study, of course, so why was I there? Because I always am. What a waste of time! I did get to clean cellos and sort band uniforms, though. That was interesting, but I'd rather have worked on Beethoven's Fifth...

Rock the Script (Don't Rock the Script Baby)

While I've never fancied myself a particularly good programmer, I must admit I feel I've outdone myself with the (almost complete) new version of a website I maintain. I've reprogrammed the entire thing in PHP, cutting down file storage needs on the server as header information is included dynamically from separate files when the pages load. It's a new kind of template system that requires only a simple snippet of code in the actual page. And the page titles are automated, too, with a variable being passed to the header (where the title tags are) on each load.
But the best part has to be having a login system whose credentials can't be accessed from "View source". And hidden cookie settings that control everything, including which navigation to show (members' or non-members'). And pages that are part of the members' section, and aren't public, display a "Please log in" message when a user who is not logged in visits them. Plus, the URI of the current denied page is included as a GET parameter in the URI of the login page, so users can be directed right back to where they came from. Plus some custom messages implemented via more GET parameters and we are in business. The only problem is, I haven't figured out how to run __utmSetVar() on login, but I'll work on that soon (my previous new site would have used it to keep track of who logged in). Maybe an if statement in the footer...

The Propaganda War

I've known about so-called "bots" on the MSN (now Windows Live) instant messaging network since, well, I signed up. I recently (several weeks ago, actually) set up a hack to Google Talk that would allow me to use that program with the AIM, MSN, and Yahoo! networks. Which means I can talk to the bots again. And that means they can see me. One in particular, called "Spleak" (no link for you, ad-pushers!) is supposedly a virtual person that you can talk to. I have one word that can describe it: unsophisticated. Say anything more complex than a sentence fragment and you lose the bot's comprehension, causing it to reply something along the lines of, "I don't quite understand you."
That's all right, since there are plenty of (menu-based, harrumph) features to enjoy, and the polls are fun (except the "Hot or not?" questions, which are kind of pointless, since I don't know who any of the people are usually). But when the program starts firing random ads at you, when you're marked as busy in Google Talk (I don't actually know what I show up as on MSN or AIM), it gets annoying. Just saying. Hope none of you ever get hit by bots like this.
Fortunately, "Spleak" is the only bot that ever does this, so it's not widespread. But obviously it's possible, and other makers might integrate this functionality into their bots. It wouldn't be so annoying if those irritating programs could understand and communicate with you when you explode after they send an unsolicited message. Their "What?" responses just serve to make you angrier...

PHP: PHP Hypertext Power

I've spent the last two days learning a smattering of PHP in my spare time. I'm trying to create a more secure login system for my website, and PHP seemed like the way to go. Since it is (nearly?) impossible for visitors to view the source of a PHP script in a browser, it's much more secure than the client-side solution I use now. Just use a PHP array to store the data and loop through it searching for POSTed input. It's now functioning as a lookup tool for names in the login database (all I've gotten to so far is the name processing), but given the amount of time it took to write that, I should have myself an original login script that's perfectly tailored to my needs within a week or two. Then comes converting the entire site to PHP so I can use some of its other virtues... More on that coming later in the month.

[Drools] Rounded Corners... Columns... Templates... Dang! It's CSS3 :(

I've been exploring the features of CSS3 over the last few days, and I'm loving it absolutely. Too bad it won't be really supported until 2010. It has so many useful features, like native column support, rounded corners, cross-browser opacity control, and all kinds of other useful and cool things. Too bad none of the current browsers on the market support any of the features. Mozilla and Firefox come close with proprietary -moz commands, but all the other browsers (those not based on Mozilla) don't display them. It could be a while before CSS3 is turned into a standard, but I can't wait.

Good Boy, Google

It's about time. I noticed that Google finally fixed the Gmail sign-in page. Since January 1, it has been stuck at 2800 MB, since someone forgot to write the code that would manage the storage increase past New Year's Eve. Now I see that it is counting up once again. Good boy, Google! You fixed something that should have been taken care of, uh, December 1st, 2006.

To Whomever at Apex Learning Cares:

Apex Learning:

It has come to my attention that your AP Macroeconomics course switches presentation formats in Unit 7. Please, please correct this. Not only is the change irritating, the "new" style is much less usable than the "old" style (Units 1-6).

================

I should send that to them. They've changed formats for their presentations. The old ones, used in Units 1-6, were great, with forward/backward buttons for skipping through content, great for review. The "new" ones don't. Argh! And as I've mentioned before, the volume levels are continuing to decrease; I am now at full volume and can barely hear anything. This needs fixed!

Wonderful Features, Apex. Not! (Part 2)

As a continuation of "Wonderful Features, Apex. Not!" I post this:

Seventh, Apex has used two different narrators for their AP Macroeconomics course. A man and a woman, who alternate units. The man was usually audible, but is no longer in the last unit. The woman, too, was audible, but has been very very quiet the last couple units she did. And the narrator in the AP Biology course is perfectly audible, at the same system volume level. Sounds like some Flash files need to be adjusted...

Hey Google! Mind Your Code!

Today, the storage counter on the Gmail sign-in page stopped. It got stuck at 2800 MB, and it stopped because some programmer at Google forgot to write the code to make it work past the new year. Now I know you're busy, Google, but you've got to mind your code. Having the Gmail storage counter stop on January 1 is inexcusable. Make the changes before the new year, say around December 1?