Assorted Slashdot Notes

Assorted odds and ends to babble about late on a friday night. Read if you feel like it. Ignore if you like. Updates on Slashdot's code etc.

What a week. We've been having server problems. Obviously. Any time I fix one bug, another nasty one rears its head. Currently its a mysql mem leak, before that it was the users script not properly sending email. Hopefully those 2 are both fixed, but I might be lying. Regardless, I figured I'd post a list of recent fixes and changes in the Slash code base. version 0.3 is still coming. I just keep getting pulled away to work on random stuff, or this gnulix rash that we've recently been infected with. Anyway, heres the list:

• section isolation should be ready
• author linking function
• prog2file strips duplicate white space (saves ~2k on any cached page)
• Cleaned up tables, add indecis and defaults where relevant
• Optional author default section
• point+1 for logged in posts
• Credit Dispensor
• Horiz/Vert Menu
• section dir creation automated
• auto URL getting for preview screen.
• Make dailyStuff execute from slashd (no more cron jobs)
• hash dispComment and dispStory
• isolated indexes display proper title
• Story editor image upload
• Expires meta tag on cached pages
• Parent link on nested comments
• Threshold controls on printComments
• Users script should be sending out a friendlier header (and not crashing)
• A few plugged memory leaks
• much much more that I'm sure I've forgotten. Anyway, what else is worth mentioning? I wish comment posters would grow up. This gnulix crap is frustering- I just deleted every comment containing the string. I have homework to do, and other code to write and I just can't deal with it. We're slowly getting more moderators, but we're going to need many more (don't ask!) to keep up. And a few folks are working on some crazy ways to help automate the process to a certain degree. We'll see how that works.

  I need a few topical icons- I'd like one for 'Source Code' one for 'Hardware' and one for 'Open Source Software'. ESRs contest will hopefully select a winner for the last one before we die *grin*. I'm open to suggestions for the others.

  Currently I'm trying to deal with mysql leaks, and the current comment rash that seems to have appeared. Neither is easy. The way I see it, the comment posting has several complicated potential solutions (email ideas if you like, but I can't reply- trust me, I've probably heard your idea before *grin*) ranging from

  1. Set AC posts to -1, or change the default page threshold view to be +1. Effectively removing ACs from normal view. They aren't deleted but they are at least filtered for the vast majority of users. Since the vast majority of crap comes from ACs, this would help. We'll put this to a poll next week I guess.
  2. Disable AC posting. I don't wanna do it, so ACs, shape up please. Its not everyone. Its probably just a few people. Its just sad that they ruin it for everyone. I'm sure they think they are quite 31337.
  3. Require logins for all posts, but allow posting anonymously after that. I don't like that because then my logs will show who you are. If you want to be anonymous, I don't want to know who you are either. That way when somebody tries to sue me, or send me to jail, I really can say I don't know who you are.
  4. Post the IP of ACs. It's a joke. Haha. Nevermind, its friday, I'm tired :
  5. More moderators - we now have a dozen or so. I think we probably need twice that many, so I'm working towards that at least. This is the most practical solution, and will happen anyway.

  Anyway, I'm getting very very sleepy. A solid nights sleep will make me much happier.