Soy Clone

2:22pm: Tooting a horn
Jack and I was recently interviewed by Duncan McGreggor at twisted.

http://twistedmatrix.com/trac/wiki/InterviewChesspark200802

We talk about twisted, python, XMPP, and of course, Chesspark. Thank you very much for the interview Duncan!

9:39am: Tweet Roll for Charleston
Hey, someone put a tweet roll for Charleston micro bloggers. I call it a tweet roll because it is like a blog roll but for twitter. :)

So, all you lowcountry folk check it out! http://twitter.com/chasbloggers

12:54pm: KISS or The Simplification of Punjab
It has been seven weeks since I have updated this. :( That is not good. Anyway, to remedy this problem I am gonna document some problems I am currently in the process of solving. The first one, is the complexity of Punjab. Punjab is a HTTP XMPP connection manager. It provides a way to use Jabber or XMPP via HTTP.

Currently, punjab provides a SOAP, XMLRPC, HTTP Polling, and BOSH frontend to XMPP servers. The only one that works well is BOSH. The others have been a chore to maintain.

Because of this, I am gonna cut down on what Punjab 1.0 will be. Here are the steps for the KISSification of Punjab. :)

1. Make the requirements to run punjab the current version of twisted and twisted words. (Backwards compatibility is out the door till later.)

2. Focus on just BOSH. Clean up the code and the session interface to just do BOSH.

3. Write tests to make sure Punjab is 100% BOSH compatible.

4. Make a 1.0 release.

Please make comments below if you have any thoughts on this. After those 4 steps are made, each 'new' thing in Punjab will try to be as simple as it can. Current thought is a JSON version of BOSH.

NOTE: as of now #1 is done. The rest will be other posts.

11:56am: Posted using LJ Talk...
Just created a new group on GGE http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/group/xmpp I need to blog more. :)

2:39pm: Twisted Words XMPP Component Example
Just created a twisted words component example for a friend. I decided to post it here so maybe people can find it. http://www.butterfat.net/wiki/Documentation/TwistedJabberComponentExample

9:45am: XMPP and Chess
Last night http://chesspark.com released a new web interface to our XMPP based chess server. We also have a new way to get a game with a redesigned, notification based, game finder. You can still get a game with the old ways too. :) In the near future their will be documentation on the technology and protocols we use. Lots of the XEPs like MUC, BOSH, and Pubsub. Also, I hope to blog more about that when I get a chance. For now, go play a game and have fun!

9:12am: Attention, the release level is at orange.
Just released a new version of punjab. Check it out at http://www.butterfat.net/wiki/Projects/PunJab . Many thanks to the people that made this happen! Especially, thanks to Jesir Vargas and Fabio Forno! We are close to a 1.0 release and I am excited!

7:33pm: Punjabi MC
I am testing and getting the newest punjab in subversion ready for release. I will mention the improvements when I make the announcement. I like blogging via my xmpp client. I am thinking about moving my blog, where should I move it to?

8:53pm: Frank the bot post
It has been awhile since I have logged into the livejournal jabber server. I should go look at the state of djabberd too. :)

6:14pm: chess widget
A new feature at chesspark is a game viewer widget. So that you can embed chess games in a blog post or web page. This game is one I recently lost (which I do a lot). Of course you can also download the PGN, but the game viewer is cooler. :) There are gonna be many more features for sharing games and chess info. One is embedding live games and chat in a widget similar to this.



If you can not see this try http://thetofu.com/chess.html for the same example.

3:48pm: Hip Hop Chess
If you are in the San Francisco area this Saturday, there is an interesting event coming up. It is a Hip Hop Chess Federation event and I wish I could go. Notice the sponsor at the bottom of the image. ;)




http://chesspark.com/article/7/

1:02pm: Some stuff
Just some quick notes that I feel I should blog about.

Danielle will be 30 on the 31st! Contact me if you feel like you should be at the party. :)

Just released a bug fix version of palaver!

Chesspark is going well and we have made many improvements lately.

Vote for it on jyte! :) You will need an openid account to vote.

http://jyte.com/cl/chesspark.com-is-the-best-place-to-play-chess-online?

11:38am: Great Games Experiment
Been fooling around with yet another social networking website. This one is for games.

http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/user/twonds

Needs more xmpp games. :) Also would be cool to have an xmpp interface.

5:15pm: Punjab release
A new version of punjab has been released. Also, we left sourceforge for various reasons. The new url is http://www.butterfat.net/wiki/Projects/PunJab

This release has small bug fixes involving sessions and it now works with the newest versions of twisted and twisted.words.

I got rid of the old demo too. I will put up a new one soon. If you want to demo what punjab is capable of you can visit http://chesspark.com The webclient uses punjab.

4:13am: Interesting project
I just wanted to make note of an interesting OpenId project. It is called ModAuthOpenID and it is an apache2 module that protects resources using openID.

Check it out at the following URL:

http://www.butterfat.net/wiki/Projects/ModAuthOpenID

3:41pm: some updates
The following is a quick overview of what I am doing these days:

1. I just bought a new house and have been doing all the fun stuff that comes with it, like painting, moving furniture, and fixing things. I also installed some flood lights on the back porch. I will have pictures up eventually.


2. MUSC is as fun as usual. ;)


3. Punjab should have a new release and a mochikit javascript library that ships with it soon.


4. Palaver should also have a new release with many new features added, more to come on this later.


5. Last but not least has been Chesspark. It has been just over a month since beta release and things have been moving along. We are about to release some new features like correspondence games and tournaments. If you have not checked it out yet, you should check it out now! We are also in need of a web developer to help with the web client and website. If you are interested in working with python, django, twisted, xmpp, or ajax then please apply. Chesspark is also open source friendly. :)

4:32pm: Chesspark
I have been working on a project for OGG, LLC called Chesspark. If you did not catch the announcement, Chesspark just went beta. It is an online chess community and uses XMPP for its IM and game protocol. Punjab and Palaver are some open source projects it utilizes. It also uses jabberd2 as the server and idavoll for two of its pubsub mechanisms. The weblient located at the following url :

http://chesspark.com/webclient/client.xhtml

uses http binding provided by punjab. It and the windows client will be released under an open source license shortly. The jabber client library strophe is already open.

Of the many neat features chesspark has, there is one that I like a lot. It is the ability to use an existing jabber account to play chess. You just enter that as your chesspark account and then create a password that is used just for the chesspark website. Then, using your existing account and password, you log in with a chesspark client and you are able to play chess and still keep your existing roster.

We have many ideas for future features and with a growing interest it should be an exciting chess community! We are also hoping to do more games in the near future. I am excited!

I am sure I will be mentioning chesspark more, but if you would like to keep up with new features, etc you can follow the news or blog at chesspark.

4:40pm: Deskbar and Gajim
Just wanted to mention a plugin written by Matthew. It is for Deskbar and interfaces with the jabber client Gajim. Check it out!

http://www.butterfat.net/wiki/Projects/DeskbarPlugins

9:30pm: A new version of palaver.
We have released version 0.3 of palaver. This version has bug fixes and supports its old file back-end and a new postgresql back-end. It also has support for 'player' roles and 'player' affiliations. Now that it has a new postgresql back-end, I am gonna do a write up on how to provide a web interface to palaver with django! Keep looking out for this! :) You could also use punjab, but I will save that for later. Speaking of punjab, it should have a new release soon.

11:40am: Long long time
It has been a long time since I last posted. I just have not had the inspiration or time to make an entry. Lets see my last post was Jan. I can just list some things that have been keeping me busy. Here we go.

• I got married!


• Went to Portugal!


• Friends got married!
  
  
  
  • http://mollieandbrian.com/
  
  
  • http://www.ashleighandscott.com/
  
  
  
  


• Amy!


• Danielle!


• Work! :)


• Other Work :(

I know that list is not that exciting and cryptic, but I will try and post more often.

Note: There will be more pictures on the wedding site when I get them.

P.S. I will update on some of my software projects seperately. I have new releases of punjab and palaver coming soon!

11:04am: google search for open cameras
Remember the google search for open webcams? Well, it is easier now. :)

Check out :

http://digg.com/software/Google_map_of_open_webcam_s

5:32pm: Palaver
Today, along with Online Game Group, I released the initial version of palaver. It is a multi-user chat component for Jabber and XMPP servers. The intention is to support all features of JEP-0045 as well as the relevant extended discovery features of JEP-0128. It is done in twisted. The project will also go beyond the JEP and have a web based admin and many other features.

The sky is the limit with twisted. :) An IRC interface would be interesting. A user could connect to palaver with an xmpp client or an IRC client.

I am really excited about the twisted words jabber part. There is a lot of potential for some neat stuff with this project. Even world domination? :)

Anyway, I want to thank Ralph Meijer for his work on the twisted.words project! Without it, punjab and palaver would not have been as easy to implement. Thanks!

8:54pm: twisted command line xmlrpc client
Here is a command line xmlrpc client for my and your enjoyment.


( click here for fun )

10:32am: October
So, October has been a very busy month. But it has been fun. A few exciting things have happened that I will just mention quickly.

One, I went to Charlotte and attended a monday night football game. Proof is at the following URL :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35034363567@N01/tags/football/

Two, I asked the most wonderful person in the world to marry me and she said yes! Ring is at the following URL:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35034363567@N01/55630202/

This was the MOST exciting that has happened and I do not have words for how psyched I am about spending the rest of my life with Danielle. :)

Three, Amy had a very crazy Halloween party that was a blast! It was hard to take pictures with all the loud, wild kids having so much fun, but we have some at the following URL :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35034363567@N01/tags/halloween/

5:29pm: map.butterfat.net
The jabber google map at butterfat has been updated! It now has many new features. You can use an address to find a place or use it to add a 'resource' or 'object' quickly.

Speaking of 'objects' you can now add them to the map. You can permalink to them. You can also add comments to the objects. The object stuff is now complete enough to get a feel on where we are going. You can tag the objects with a type and you can add property keys to these object types.

You can now permalink to resources, even if the user is not online.

There is also i18n support and currently have translations for spanish and finnish. Anyone else willing to translate should contact me. Internationalization is implemented in a javascript library that reads xml files to do the translations. This library is now a separate project known as b28n and is located at the following URL: http://www.butterfat.net/wiki/Projects/b28n

Next thing is to rework the bots and add support for pub-sub. We can then add extended presence and other cool jabber things!

We also may add the ability to chat. :) Many many thanks to everyone who gave us feedback!!