Media type for .xslt

Apache uses /etc/mime.types by default to map file extensions to Internet media types (IMTs), a.k.a. mime types. Unfortunately, for most Linux distros this file does not have an entry for .xslt, just .xsl (Fedora Core 3 doesn't even cover .dtd, though SuSE does). I prefer the .xslt, although I admit that preference is a crufty one, dating from before .fo because mt edominant extension for XSL- FO. I ended up hacking my IMT mapping to make sure it has:

text/xml                        xml dtd xsl xslt

I had to restart apache2 for this to take. I expect Apache caches the mappings.

Of course, in that move I sidestepped the whole debate over XML media types ( 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8), etc. In particular, I chose not to use application/xml or `application/xml +xslt`, in part because I was unsure of UA compatibility. And don't even ask about Microsoft's rogue text/xsl, lest I embark on a long polemic about corruption and pestilence.

[Uche Ogbuji]

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Quotīdiē

Invertebrate phosphorescence
Shines fiercer than your languid light,
So jinking creatures in the moor
Presume more pride than yours by right.

Hypermortal microbes drunk on
Photons purge them through the dark,
Yet scorn to field your wizened squibs
These ages after they embark.

The heavy earths that choke your core
Like old, sclerotic arteries
Mock worlds you used to stoke to life
In all its teeming congeries.

—Uche Ogbuji—from "Brown Dwarf"

Today I fulfilled requests both old and new by posting a few of my own poems. They are:

"Brown Dwarf" [update: published at Wisdom Crieth Without in 2014]
"11 February 1996" [update: published at About Place in 2014]
"Mantis" [update: published at Verse Virtual in 2014]

These pieces that I picked are about a decade old. I've had enough time to decide that they're good enough to publish. I'm even more excited about my more recent work, but I'd like to give it some time for me to come to a similar level of comfort with it. Certainly not a decade, I expect.

[Uche Ogbuji]

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Swat 4 Review on Adrenaline Vault

The Adrenaline Vault (my favorite game review site) has recently posted a review of Sierra's Swat 4. This is the follow-up to one of the best close quarters first person shooters I have ever played. It was the game that got me into that genre of online games and eventually into Counter-Strike (still the most addictive computer game I have ever played). Looks like Swat 4 will be worth the price of admission. The last game I purchased (World of Warcraft) was a bust, mostly because I just didn't have the time to develop my character. So, I think I'll give this game a try.

[Uche Ogbuji]

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Don't wait for your distributor; upgrade that Firefox RPM right away

"HOWTO: How to build Firefox 1.0.4 RPM from Nightly Build", Thomas Chung

This morning, I’ve been seeing a lot of “Firefox exploits” in various news sites including [SNIP LIST]. This makes me to think “hmm, how long do we have to wait until Fedora Project releases their official Firefox updates?” “Is there a faster way of getting the latest Firefox build like RIGHT NOW?”

Yeah, brah. Just what I was wondering. See also "More Details on Arbitrary Code Execution Vulnerability".

The answer is YES! We can build Firefox 1.0.4 RPM from Mozilla/Firefox Nighlty Build Tree.

Oh. Smack. Let's do it.

First, I followed instructions in "HOWTO: How to create rpmbuild directory". You can probably skip this part if you don't mind a root-based RPM build, but I'll be wanting to do some Fedora RPM hacking later on so I might as well. As root, I installed the rpmdevtools RPM

# wget ftp://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/fedora/linux/extras/3/i386/fedora-rpmdevtools-1.0-1.noarch.rpm
# rpm -i fedora-rpmdevtools-1.0-1.noarch.rpm

Then as my own user:

$ fedora-buildrpmtree

There'll be no output, but you should now find:

$ ls rpmbuild/
BUILD  RPMS  SOURCES  SPECS  SRPMS

$ cd ~/rpmbuild/SOURCES/
$ wget http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/nightly/latest-aviary1.0.1/firefox-1.0.4.en-US.linux-i686.tar.gz

Right now this build is the same as the release candidate announced by Asa Dotzler.

$ wget http://fedoranews.org/tchung/firefox/nightly/20050509/firefox.desktop
$ wget http://fedoranews.org/tchung/firefox/nightly/20050509/firefox.png
$ cd ../SPECS/
$ wget http://fedoranews.org/tchung/firefox/nightly/20050509/firefox.spec
$ cd
$ rpmbuild -ba ~/rpmbuild/SPECS/firefox.spec
$ sudo rpm -Uvh ~/rpmbuild/RPMS/i386/firefox-1.0.4-20050509.i386.rpm

You might have to su to root rather than sudo on that last command, depending on your set-up. Now just checking:

$ rpm -q firefox
firefox-1.0.4-20050509

Bet! There goes that round of 'spoits (let's hope).

[Uche Ogbuji]

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4Suite 1.0b1 for Fedora Core 4 Test 3

Hooray! The 4Suite RPM shipped with Fedora Core 4 Test 3 release is "4Suite-1.0-8.b1.i386.rpm", according to the RPM list. As Dave Pawson and I found out a few days ago, this is 4Suite 1.0b1. I was worried it may not make it all the way through FC quality control in time, but seems it did. I need to try out FC4T3 on one of my non-critical machines this weekend. I also need yet another non-critical machine so I can check out all the hype about Ubuntu.

[Uche Ogbuji]

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Rant: The Infiltration of Hallmark Days

Okay, with the hope of inspiring more content from moi, I'm starting a 'rant series.' My topic today is Hallmark Days (which is the term I choose to refer to holidays with little to no significance other than to generate revenue for gift vendors). I was chastised today for missing a recent holiday and it sent me into a fury which quickly rendered me unable to express why I felt it was a bit unfair.

Perhaps it's just me, but I feel that anniversaries and holidays are supposed to be days that truely stand out from the others. They usually indicate a day delegated to celebrate a particular virtue, theme, or value or they mark the anniversary of an event of importance. Wedding anniversaries, birthdays, anniversaries of historic importance, and religious holidays seem (for me) to fall into the catagory of days that have specific significance to the people who celebrate them.

However, at what point do we draw the line between days with obvious significance and days with a significance prescribed by people and entities with commercial interests in the buying and selling of gifts? Should such a line not be drawn for fear of seeming trite? I could name a few holidays that - in my opinion - only serve the purpose of feeding the spending machine that we have become (the color red comes to mind). However, I think the most constructive suggestion I could leave would be to consider the true importance of a holiday you wish to celebrate with loved ones. Ask yourself if it represents a value that deserves more than just a brief mention or if it only being remembered as a result of common ritual. In addition, ask yourself if you aren't better served in demonstrating your love for someone special in your life on a daily basis instead on just those marked on your calendar.

[Uche Ogbuji]

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SSH CVS access for 4Suite developers

I've lost count of the number of times I've gone looking for this post by Jeremy which describes how to add additional SSH keys to our accounts on the cvs server. Having several machines I develop 4Suite on, I keep having to add new SSH keys. The instructions are below:

All CVS developers,

There now exists an automatic system for adding additional SSH keys to your existing account. The login message has been updated to display this information as well. To add SSH keys to your account, use:

  • [version 1] "scp identity.pub @cvs.4suite.org:sshkey"
  • [version 2] "scp id_dsa.pub @cvs.4suite.org:sshkey2"

My pserver string is: :ext:cogbuji@cvs.4suite.org:/var/local/cvsroot

[Uche Ogbuji]

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Quotīdiē

So long ago—another life.
I can feel your heartbeat.

It's not a dream—remember us.
I can see it in your eyes.

We'll find our place in time,
A place in time beyond the sun.

We'll find our place in time,
A place in time to call our own.

--Amanda Abizaid--"A Place In Time"

Free "A Place in Time"! That's not an advertisement, but an imprecation. If you watched The 4400, a fun science fiction TV series (started last year and—hooray!—picked up again for this year), you'll have heard the gorgeous song in its intro. Lebanese-American Amanda Abizaid (viva emigrante!), a totally small-time (but shouldn't be) singer/songwriter composed and performed this brief ditty (the above are the entire lyrics of the munit or so that make up the song).

If you haven't heard it you can listen to it on the Bosshouse Music Web page Flash intro.

She starts off humming the extremely haunting bars that form the backbone of the song, and croons softly through the verse that's ostensibly a love lyric, but carries a very gothic edge to it because of the way the minor key clutches at your ear. It's soft rock, but hardly as forgettable as you'd expect from that genre. It almost feels as if she's going to break into major key for the chorus, but somehow it loses none of its creepy feel despite the modulation. Lori and I actually used to sing "We'll find our place in time, in space and time..." when we heard it on the series, because of the theme of the series, and the fact that the lyric felt as if it should treat on something at least as exotic as the space/time continuum. Abizaid only hints at such a stretch when she says "A place in time beyond the sun."

So gorgeous song, right? Time to go buy the CD, right?
Uh, nuh-unh. It turns out that, unfortunately, the only way you can hear the song is by watching the show or going to the Boss House Web site. Viacom/Paramount, those notorious IP churls, are holding on to the song with a vise grip. I'm not sure why; the response to the song was tremendous, and people are fairly clamoring to buy it. This should be good promotion for the series. Here's's just one of the forums discussing the matter. Abizaid, when contacted by e-mail was originally very generous in sending people MP3s of the song, but then, in her words:

Thank you for your kind words about "A Place In Time". As much as I would like to [send out the MP3], unfortunately, I got a call from Viacom/Paramount Pictures this weekend saying I am not allowed to give out an MP3 since I do not own the song. If there's any way to get the song, they would be the one's to get in touch with. I hope you understand. Hopefully with all this interest in the song, there will be a longer version. Keep your fingers crossed.

Oh, they're crossed, alright. There's a lot more that's crossed, as well. Sometimes you just want to roach-stomp Big Media. Let's hope Viacom comes to their senses and release a soundtrack with a longer version of "A Place In Time", or at least free Abizaid to include it in an album. Until then, if we want polymer rather than bits, we have to content ourself with Abizaid's EP The Great Plan, which is very good, but not really offering anything quite as breathtaking as the 4400 theme song.

[Uche Ogbuji]

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