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Battle won, war still ongoing.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

He imagines himself as The Big Bad, Who Is Universally Feared… instead of The Big Jagoff, Who Is Universally Mocked.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

I was promised a recession.

White supremacy is terrorism.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

Biden: Oh no. We’ve upset Big Pharma again.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

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Let’s finish the job.

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Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

Bad news for Ron DeSantis is great news for America.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

You are here: Home / z-Retired Categories / Site Maintenance / Site Maintenance Update

Site Maintenance Update

by | 60 Comments

This post is in: 

Thanks to all of you who hit the paypal link last week, we raised close to 2k for the website. The best part of it, though, was that commenter EnderWiggin (it is ok, no one could have known what a wanker Orson Scott Card would turn out to be) got in touch with me and he works with a company (Revolutionary Systems) that handles this sort of IT thing. Although they would normally charge close to 5k a year for this kind of thing, he has agreed to take us on for $500.00 a quarter. That means we have a dedicated technologist for the next year, and I am really kind of excited about it. This will start on 1 January and run throughout next year, so everyone thank EnderWiggin for taking on the responsibility, and thank you for donating. The best part is not having to grovel for cash until next year.

Additionally, I will have some server news in a couple of weeks (maybe a month or two) that is pretty interesting.

So thanks again for donating, and again, aside from the paypal link, the best way to support the site is to click ads that interest you or use the amazon link to do your purchases. You can always find it to the right there, but here is an additional link:

First thing on the list is to add an edit function for every browser.

Again, thanks.

Reader Interactions

60Comments

  1. 1.

    Rick Taylor

    Fantastic! I hope your new technologist can fix the block quote function so it quotes the whole selection instead of just the first paragraph.

  2. 2.

    EnderWiggin

    Thanks to John and BJ community for letting us take this on. Hopefully we can make the site easier for everyone to use.

  3. 3.

    Sentient Puddle

    Pimping the donation links again? Did you blow through your loose women budget already?

  4. 4.

    MP

    EnderWiggin – does your company port existing sites to a new CMS? If so, let me know how to contact you as that’s something I need to do for my firm’s website.

  6. 6.

    SteveinSC

    I need a guide to using “Comments” related to references to posts on the particular. I.e. if I want to link to an earlier post on the page, do I use the “link” button? I’m scared to try it for fear of looking the fool.

  8. 8.

    DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)

    You found someone to tech the site for $2,000 a year? Erickkk Erickkkson and his buds over at Redstate are going to be pissed that the liebrul cornspiracy is being furthered by the liebrul IT vanguard!

    Congrats! :)

    If our ‘new’ BJ doesn’t emit a flowery scent from my browser every fifteen minutes for one year, you are going to hear from me!

  9. 9.

    SGEW

    Hooray for EnderWiggin! [And, yes, boo to Orson Scott Card, but that’s neither here nor there]

    All we want is for the site to work well enough for you to be happy, John. Of course, for you to be happy, every one here would have to stop complaining about the site’s functions; as this will never happen, all we can ask for is for you to do whatever the fuck you want with it. And functional edit functions. Plz. The pony you can keep for yourself and/or Tunch.

  11. 11.

    Leelee for Obama

    Thanks enderwiggin! It will be scrumptious to have edit again! I suffer from severe typese dyslexia.

    And we are a bunch of whiners-so John is right. But we whine because we love.

  17. 17.

    Catsy

    And please, dear FSM, an editor that simply strips out disallowed HTML and LEAVES VALID HTML THE FUCK ALONE.

    What this editor does to the most bog-standard, simple HTML formatting ought to be a crime. I know how to write HTML just fine and do not need it creatively interpreted for me.

  20. 20.

    MikeJ

    @Catsy: does this get to turn into another wish list post? How about just deleting one little entry from the css, bold on blockquote? I realise this is the most trivial of all fixes, but being the easiest to do should put it at the top of the stack.

  21. 21.

    Stooleo

    no one could have known what a wanker Orson Scott Card would turn out to be.

    God, ain’t that the truth. I regret every dime I’ve put in his pocket.

  22. 22.

    RememberNovember

    But Orson Scott Card is exactly where he needs to be as a Science Fiction/Fantasy writer: Conservative Fruitopia.

  23. 23.

    KDP

    Thank you for the update. FWIW, for several days now the Amazon button had disappeared for me in Firefox 3. It’s back now thought, and I’ll be doing some shopping. Soon.

  24. 24.

    Perry Como

    And please, dear FSM, an editor that simply strips out disallowed HTML and LEAVES VALID HTML THE FUCK ALONE.

    There’s a RegExp for that.

    /trollin’, trollin’, trollin’

  27. 27.

    Chad N Freude

    I’ve been out the loop (or loopiness, if you prefer) for a while. What’s the deal with Orson Scott Card?

    And thank you EnderWiggin. If you give us Edit, and perhaps Preview, I shall worship at your shrine forever.

  28. 28.

    Jay in Oregon

    @EnderWiggin:

    I will say a prayer for your immortal soul as you begin to peer into the abyss that is the WordPress template.

    *shudder*

    In all seriousness, you rock for offering to help out.

  29. 29.

    MikeJ

    But Orson Scott Card is exactly where he needs to be as a Science Fiction/Fantasy writer: Conservative Fruitopia.

    Scalzi, Doctorow, Mieville, Kim Stanley Robinson, and many others aren’t in conservative fruitopia.

  30. 30.

    Leelee for Obama

    @General Winfield Stuck: It’s that lovely ability to look at what you’ve typed, think it’s fine, you hit submit. Then, you re-read your post and see that you have typos, mis-spells and inversions galore.

    It makes me crazy.

  31. 31.

    Elie

    Thanks Enderwiggin

    John I will also try to keep up with things on my $$ end so you can keep BJ up to speed. Its tight sometimes but worth it!

  32. 32.

    Roger Moore

    @SteveinSC:

    I.e. if I want to link to an earlier post on the page, do I use the “link” button?

    If you want to link to an earlier post on the page, the easiest way to do it is to click on the “reply to this comment” widget (the one that looks like a curvy arrow) next to the timestamp for their post. That auto moves you to the comment box and pastes in a nice “@Poster Name” auto-linked to the comment you’re responding to.

    The “link” button is for links to outside websites. It pops up a nice dialog box where you can paste the address you copied from the address bar in your browser. Just make sure you don’t accidentally get two (or zero) “http://” at the front of the address, which would screw up your link.

  34. 34.

    Nethead Jay

    @Perry Como:

    There’s a RegExp for that.
    —
    /trollin’, trollin’, trollin’

    Bwahahahaha, nice.

    But seriously, EnderWiggin, thanks for taking this on. I know that WordPress can be a bit beastly sometimes.

  36. 36.

    Roger Moore

    @Bad Horse’s Filly:

    is spell check an imposible impossibbble impossible function to have?

    I think so. I don’t think it would be too hard to implement the programming part in JavaScript, but you’d have to provide a dictionary somehow. Downloading one as part of the script for each page would be a massive bandwidth hog. You’re better off using a browser that includes spell checking.

    OTOH, it might be nice if we either got a fixed spam filter that didn’t send every post that spells socializm correctly into moderation, or at least something that would warn you when you used a forbidden term.

  37. 37.

    Little Dreamer

    @Leelee for Obama:

    You think that’s bad? Try watching someone else (say like TZ) type a post, see the typo and NOT say anything because it may annoy him that I’m correcting him, and then watch him hit submit!

    Yup, I do that all the time. ;)

  38. 38.

    chuck

    I realize there’s oodles of archives to consider, but my wishlist is to shitcan WordPress, then launch the shit can into the sun.

    Is that on the roadmap?

  39. 39.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Thanks, EnderWiggin! And thank you too, John Cole, for . . . well, you know . . . just for being you.

    I add my request for backgound on what Orson Scott Card did that he shouldn’t or didn’t that he should. I used to enjoy him but haven’t read any of his books for years and basically haven’t been paying attention.

  41. 41.

    Little Dreamer

    EW, I’m inserting my obligatory thanks here, because if I don’t, I’ll be considered an ingrate. Just kidding.

    Thank you.

  42. 42.

    Leelee for Obama

    @Little Dreamer: That is totally understandable-I have to bite my tongue constantly with proof-reading things my Grandkids write. Then, I cross my fingers that they get taught the correct thing by someone less wonderful than Grandma! You just can’t correct love notes from the Grandkids!

  43. 43.

    Stooleo

    Orson Scott Card is pretty much your standard conservative wackaloon. Re-education camps for gays and global warming denier. For me, I was a huge admirer of OSC and his writing. Enders Game and Speaker for the Dead are really fabulous books and to find out his political views were so out of sync from my own, was a huge disappointment. So, if you want to read the books, please get them at a used bookstore.
    Wikipedia has more info.

  44. 44.

    arguingwithsignposts

    Good news all around. I’m still hoping for an iPhone/iPod Touch-friendly version that doesn’t always hang on some code as it’s loading in Safari. (cough, WPTouch plug-in, cough)

  45. 45.

    bystander

    EnderWiggin, anything you do to keep this oasis upright is going to be a bonus. Thanks in advance for the days the place prompts you to snatch yourself bald. You might be eligible for sainthood by Jan 1, 2011. I’ll gladly nominate.

  46. 46.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @stooleo. Thanks for the info on OSC. If I am remembering rightly, Robert A. Heinlein was another SF writer who went all wingnutty glibertarian.

    Always so sad when someone whose work you’ve admired turns out to be a douchenozzle. F’rinstance, there was a time in my life when I really enjoyed *Ben Hur* but once Charlton Heston got all NRA cold-dead- hands about everything I could never bring myself to watch it again. Even the chariot race.

  47. 47.

    Little Macayla's Friend

    Thanks to all contributing to upgrade in whatever way.

    @Roger Moore:

    Downloading one as part of the script for each page would be a massive bandwidth hog.

    Does this mean someone like me with dial up would see pages load that much slower if there was a spelling checker?
    I realize some blogs have commenters using misspellings for cheap snark, but they rarely if ever interfere with the meaning.

    And not a lot of additional active X controls? Too picky?

    Commenters have clued us in on tricks for using, for example, block quotes. If possible, a tutorial link up by the lexicon after changes are complete?

  49. 49.

    burnspbesq

    Great news about the site, and thanks to ender and his company.

    I don’t remember-when John declared his apostasy, did any big-ass rightard pundit beg him to stay on the team? Frum’s love note to CJ cracked me up.

  51. 51.

    geg6

    EnderWiggin, you rock. And I’ll be praying to the FSM for your soul. You’re gonna need it. Wonderful place with wonderful people, this BJ blog.

  52. 52.

    Tsulagi

    @John Cole:

    I don’t think there is an ebay referral program.

    Think I’ve seen ebay links on other sites. I spend way more on ebay than amazon. Maybe others like Max do too.

  54. 54.

    grumpy realist

    John, thanks for posting the Amazon link. I buy sporadically but usually drop a lot of $$ when I do, so getting you to have a small percentage of that is a Good Thing.

    One thing I’ve noticed is when I fire up the BJ screen through the incredibly fusty version of Outlook that’s on the computers at my law school, all the ads on the left-hand side migrate to being in the center of the screen covering up the text. Has anyone else seen this problem? Don’t know if this afflicts other browsers under other environmental conditions and it’s certainly not worth fixing if it’s only my law school’s ancient Outlook that is affected. I never have problems when I access from work (again Outlook, but undoubtedly a newer version) or from home (Safari or Firefox.)

  55. 55.

    Little Macayla's Friend

    @MikeJ:
    At the moment, IE 8 (Microsoft IE Build 8.0.6001.18702), XP w/SP2.
    I haven’t gotten a consistent feeling on the different browsers’ security from reviews / hacking contest results. And because of the age of my machine, I try to have as little as possible going on in the background.
    It’s also a character flaw – even when using MS Word, I don’t use the spellchecker, just a dictionary. And when I bought my second 35mm camera a few years ago, I got one with only manual settings. Etc., etc.

    @MikeJ:

    their website

    Were you referring to the revsystems.com site?
    I’m not seeing any superimpositions there right now.
    Coincidentally, BJ was doing exactly that for me yesterday (maybe Mon.), but not today.

  56. 56.

    grumpy realist

    Oh, and I’d like to put in a plug for Robert Heinlein. He was a very gifted writer and he certainly wasn’t your standard glibertarian. To anyone who thinks Heinlein didn’t understand the usefulness of government, I suggest you read “Coventry”, which is a very acute critique showing what it exactly would be like living in a libertarian society. Heinlein also wrote a non-fiction book explaining how the US government works and explaining how we, as US citizens and voters, could get involved as our civic responsibility. Yes, Heinlein showed a strong libertarian-and-guns streak in his writing, but I think he always realized the difference between the idealistic pipe dream and what would happen in reality. Much of what Heinlein wrote was not so much a justification of libertarianism, but showing how a libertarian society only flourishes in very unusual conditions (on the cutting edge of the frontier (Time Enough for Love), under a despotic government (The Moon is a Harsh Mistress) and would be doomed to fail in a steady-state democracy/economy. In fact, the end of The Moon is a Harsh Mistress explicitly shows this. After the revolution and overthrowing of the previous government, the Lunies start creating their own rules and regulations affecting everyone. The main character grumbles about what it is in human beings that makes them want to try to control everyone, but the only way out he can think of is flee to find another frontier.

    I think Heinlein used SF as a way to explore ideas of government and how humans interacted with each other. Don’t confuse the ideas that his characters spout as being automatically ideas Heinlein himself had. He was far more complex than Lazarus Long.

  60. 60.

    Ashley

    I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you down the road!

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