The MKVille Blog - Misc

Search and replace in multiple files in linux

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 13:31:00-0400

This is a bit off my normal ColdFusion topic, but one worth mentioning. I'm moving an application to a new folder on my linux-based web server. Unfortunately, the app created a series of files in a series of folders that all have the old path. They are generated by the app and only exist on the web server, so I cannot change them locally and re-publish them. In order to change the paths, I used a new-to-me technique called "Perl DASH pie". Now, I haven't actively developed on Perl for years (eg. pre-ColdFusion), but this is a beaut! Here is the syntax that you run from the linux bash prompt:


perl -p -i -e 's/original text/new text/g' [filelist]

How easy is that? For even more power, combine that command with the find command to choose your file list:


perl -p -i -e 's/original text/new text/g' `find . -name '*.cfm'`

(Note the strange mix of single quotes and angled quotes if you are trying to reproduce this!) Very powerful stuff! Kudos to this Python cookbook entry and this blog post for taking me down this road.

Surface Computing from Microsoft

Wed, 30 May 2007 09:24:00-0400

Well, it seems Microsoft unveiled something they've been working on for five years. No, not Longhorn server--it's a new initiative they are calling "Surface Computing" (see the ZDNet video on it). It's a computer with only a touchscreen--and a large one at that--one that takes up half of a standard coffee table. It has many similarities to what Jeff Han showed off several months ago (see related posts below). One additional feature over Han's demo is how it can interact with objects outside of itself--for instance a credit card to pay a bill or a loyalty card to remember what your favorite foods or drinks are. Seems to be a game-changing technology...

You think you have good error messages?

Tue, 27 Feb 2007 14:03:00-0400

I received this wonderful error message from google today when trying to get into my Google Reader. Only slightly better than many of Microsoft's errors. Reminds me of errors and other messages that often appear in open source linux programs ;)

Touch screen on steroids

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 14:52:00-0400

I know I'm late to the game on this one, but I had to blog about it so I could remember where the link is. In this video, Jeff Han and Phil Davidson demonstrate how a multi-touch driven computer screen will change the way we work and play. All I can saw is AWESOME!

Everyone's doing it... or a developer's persona

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 21:03:00-0400

No, I wouldn't jump off a bridge, but here is my contribution to the developer's persona bandwagon started by Tim Buntel:

33 years old
Married for 12 blissful years to a wonderful woman, with four kids popping out along the way
I drive a rusty, trusty (usually) 1996 Chevy S10
Built a house 7 1/2 years ago, two story/four bedroom. Finished the basement with the help of a great friend and a small construction company
Finds the Mac-PC TV ads intriguing, likes the look of the Mac, still using Windows everywhere
TV? Who has time for TV? Okay, so I watch Lost (I think Ray got me hooked!)
I enjoy the outdoors, but never have enough time for it
My wife is an awesome cook; I think it is my love language. Thank God for a high metabolism.
I enjoy big band sound, classical when I'm in the mood, but I mainly listen to Christian music.
Youtube? Ah, no time for it!

Now running BlogCFC 5.5

Wed, 25 Oct 2006 19:08:00-0400

I finally updated. I was running a REALLY old version of BlogCFC. I finally got it updated while here at MAX. This may cause the feed aggregators to see all my feeds as new...

I made it to MXNA!

Thu, 12 Jan 2006 15:07:00-0400

Well, I first blogged about submitting a request to MXNA for aggregation back in November. I recevied the e-mail _yesterday_ that my site had been added. Woohoo! Amazingly, that was two months to the day from when I submitted the request. Could it really take that long? Do Mike Chambers and Christian Cantrell (whom "signed" the welcome e-mail) review the sites that are submitted? Did they have a huge backlog? Anyway, it's good to be on a blogsphere aggregator. This should hopefully spur me to post more often than I have been.

Submitted to MXNA

Fri, 11 Nov 2005 22:43:00-0400

Well, I finally submitted my blog for aggregation on the Macromedia XML News Aggregator (or MXNA for short). When I signed up, they were aggregating 596 feeds, so hopefully I will be quickly approved and will become number 597. I plan on blogging more regularly, so this should help keep on that task.

It's been a while

Wed, 26 Oct 2005 23:19:00-0400

Well, it has been a while since I've posted. A very LONG while. Several months in fact. CFUnited is long over, and BlogCFC 4.0 is about to be released. Flex 2.0 is in alpha, and the last Macromedia MAX has concluded. ColdFusion 7.0.1 has been released and surveys have gone out for possible Scorpio enhancements. Lots of things to blog about, so little time to blog. I do promise that my next blog posting will come much more quickly...

Starting to blog again!

Wed, 29 Jun 2005 08:00:00-0400

Well, I'm going to try blogging again. The next few blog entries will certainly show why I'm blogging (lots to talk about).

First Blog Entry

Sun, 27 Mar 2005 23:51:00-0400

Today marks my first blog entry at MKVille.com. I have great aspirations of becoming a regular blogger, dealing with subjects such as ColdFusion, web design, web standards, web application programming, life, and other topics that may rear their ugly heads along the way. I've certainly been influenced by the blogs of Sean Corfield, Ray Camden, Joe Rinehart and many others. Their helpful blogs have driven my desire to publish the meager thoughts and ramblings I may have. But if I can help one person out there with something I have discovered and written about, then this blog will have served its purpose. Kudos to Ray Camden for this great (and free) blog software. Thanks to those who made it work on BlueDragon (since I cannot yet afford a full-blown CF server). Thanks to Joe Rinehart for doing the legwork on integrating BlogCFC and Aura--now I need to come up with my own design to fit in. And thanks to the challenge and pushing of Nick W., without whom I probably wouldn't be doing this blog today and MKVille still wouldn't have a hosting home. Lastly, it's delightful that this posting comes on Easter Sunday, for without today, my life is meaningless.