Conservative Calling

How to get Subtext Akismet Spam Filtering to Work On Godaddy

2007-12-24T12:09:34-06:00:00

I have been using Subtext for a few months now and I absolutely love it. There were a few things that weren't quite like I wanted but that was no big deal because it's open source. I just changed the code and uploaded my own version. There are many built in features I didn't enable at first just to see if they were needed. One such feature was Akismet spam filtering support.

I get email notification every time someone posts a comment on this blog. However, I don't get an email when I get a trackback (aka pingback and pingtrack). I logged into my Google analytics account this morning and found that people were finding my site via some pretty racy search terms. Sure enough, there were hundreds of spam trackbacks on my blog.

No problem, right? I'll just enable Akismet spam filtering which is built into Subtext. All I had to do (or so I thought) was to sign up for a free WordPress account which would give me a free Akismet API key, then enter that key into the comment options in the admin section. Well, it wasn't that simple and at no fault of Subtext or Akismet. Turns out Akismet will not work in a medium trust environment because it needs to make web service calls to the Akismet servers.

I did a quick Google search and found Paul Haack's blog post about the issue. He anticipated this problem (you gotta love Paul and those other Subtext guys) and setup the option for Subtext to use a proxy for web service calls like this. I then searched Godaddy's support documentation but found no mention of a proxy. I suppose it's something they don't exactly want to advertise if they can help it. I sent them an email through their support system and got a response within a couple of minutes. They do have a proxy! I added the proxy settings to my web.config and now I have full Akismet spam filtering.

If you're in the same situation, just add the proxy host and port to your web.config (around line 300).

<add key="ProxyHost" value="http://wc-v01.inet.mesa1.gdg" />
<add key="ProxyPort" value="3128" />

A Great Day For Human Life

2007-11-30T10:02:23-06:00:00

I read an article by Charles Krauthammer this morning and was reminded of how important it is to have a president with moral values. Millions and perhaps billions of lives have been saved. Would this scientific breakthrough have happened eventually? Quite possibly. But I doubt it would have happened this soon.

A decade ago, Thomson was the first to isolate human embryonic stem cells. Last week, he (and Japan's Shinya Yamanaka) announced one of the great scientific breakthroughs since the discovery of DNA: an embryo-free way to produce genetically matched stem cells.

Even a scientist who cares not a whit about the morality of embryo destruction will adopt this technique because it is so simple and powerful.

The embryonic stem cell debate is over.

Which allows a bit of reflection on the storm that has raged ever since the August 2001 announcement of President Bush's stem cell policy.

The verdict is clear: Rarely has a president -- so vilified for a moral stance -- been so thoroughly vindicated.

Read the full article here.

Anyone Want to Sponsor My Nextel Cup Team?

2007-10-19T13:06:00-05:00:00

I had some fun yesterday at the race track. I was invited to go to a sales pitch for geeky web stuff and it was the best sales pitch ever. They had food, they had a plasma TV raffle (which I didn't win) and they paid for everyone to ride in a Nextel Cup car around the track at 165mph. Apparently I can be bought.

Blogging in Style - Windows Live Writer

2007-10-17T13:55:37-05:00:00

As mentioned a few posts below, I switched blogging software to Subtext. I have also recently discovered a really cool blog editor, Windows Live Writer. Most blogging services have a web editor for posting and editing your blog. Subtext is no different. And just like all other blogging services, the web editor in Subtext leaves much to be desired.

That's where Windows Live Writer comes in. It installs on your local computer and functions very similar to Microsoft Word but it is built specifically for blogging. All of the features you wish your web editor had, this has. Don't have Subtext as your blogging software? No problem! WLW works with most blogging services. It was originally written for Windows Live Spaces but the authors were smart and made it compatible with nearly all other services as well.

Installation was a breeze too. I simply typed in the URL of my blog and it automatically detected which software I was using and configured itself to post to it. It automatically detected all of my categories and posts and imported them into the editor. All I had to do was start typing. It couldn't be more simple!

If this sounds too good to be true, then try it yourself.

Reading the Qur'an

2007-10-16T14:48:14-05:00:00

I have long been interested in religious studies not only about Christianity but about all world religions. As a Christian I have taken a lot of time to carefully read The Bible and understand its teachings (as any Christian should). There is much left for me to learn and I don't think I can ever get to a point where I can say I know everything about The Bible and Christianity. I have found that one of the best ways to learn about your own religion is to study another and then compare and contrast. It will either reinforce your faith or shake it at its core. Either way, it is good to know what you believe and why you believe it.

Several years ago now, I began working with a man who I will characterize as a seeker. He has a Muslim background (Sunni to be specific) but could never really call the religion his own. He is attempting to find the truth by studying all of the main world religions and he is trying to be as objective as possible. I have had many conversations with him over the last several years regarding Christianity and we have both been surprised at some of the differences and similarities. I have committed to studying with him and I think the best place to start is Islam. Since his background is in Islam, studying it first will give me a good understanding of his perspective. It's also a good place to start since Islam has become such a major topic around the world.

Even though I will be bringing a Christian perspective, I hope to approach this study as objective as possible. I know I won't be able to be completely objective and in some cases I'll look to my Christian background to compare and contrast, but I'm going to do my best to read the text for what it is. I just happened to grow up in a Christian family but what if I had grown up in a Muslim family or even Hindu? Might I believe as strongly in them as I do Christianity? My studies of Christianity have revealed lots of supporting evidence. Does similar evidence exist for other religions?

One important thing I have learned from studying The Bible is that context is key. Context about the culture of the time and even the situation of the person who penned the text is very important in comprehending the entire meaning of the text. I'm sure context is just as important in the Qur'an. I already know that the Qur'an was written in the early 600s although it did not exist in its current form at that time. It is widely believed that Muhammad revealed the entire text orally and that it was written by his followers. Different parts of the text were revealed at different times and the Qur'an is not organized chronologically. I also know that the Qur'an makes claims about Christianity and Judaism which I will not discuss until the next post.

A few months ago one of my favorite blogs started "Blogging the Qur'an". I have intentionally not read any commentary on the Qur'an including the site linked above so I can be as objective as possible. I would, however like to take a similar approach in my study. My plan is to first post about the general context of the entire text and to give some background as I understand it. I will then make a post about individual chapters. For each chapter I will attempt to present a summary, make some observations and then list questions I have about that chapter. Hopefully, someone can respond to some of my questions. My first post will come soon.

Switching to SubText

2007-10-11T14:30:00-05:00:00

As you have probably already noticed, the site has changed dramatically. I am switching blogging software from blogger to SubText, a free open-source .NET blog. This will allow me to do basically whatever I want since I can change the software to suite my needs. You may also notice that most of my previous posts are gone. I only took the time to import my favorite ones and the rest I'm just leaving behind.

A few things still on my conversion to-do list:

Update skin for the photo gallery.
Update the photo gallery. I think it has been several months since I uploaded any new pictures. I didn't stop taking them and I have many new ones to put up.
Create a custom icon for the header.

Let me know what you think about the new look.

Christian's First Poem

2007-02-19T11:15:16-06:00:00

Christian and I were home alone on Sunday morning and he was divinely inspired to write this poem. I helped him along but the words are his.

Ode To My Kitty

My dear kitty,
I love you so.
I wonder why,
why you go.
When we touch,
you let out a loud grrr.
I bet that's because
I'm pulling out your fur.

Introducing Christian Douglas Cecil

2006-04-25T10:53:37-05:00:00

DOB: 4/22/2006 Weight: 6 lbs 5.7 oz Length: 21 inches

Jenni was absolutely amazing during labor and delivery. It only took 7 hours of labor which was a welcome surprise to us. Jenni and Christian are doing very well. More info to come later.

Click here to see some photos.