Boring Computer Stuff

A few updates on the site. Firstly, I’ve cleaned up the CSS rules somewhat, so the right-hand-side panel is now a little closer to the main content (this should help Gavin’s repeated problem with IE. Not that I have a copy to test it on, but I’m sure he’ll tell me if it makes things better or worse).

Secondly, the RSS files now include HTML formatting, and look nicer in a newsreader (at least they do in NetNewsWire). I'll be updating to a Necho feed once the new format settles down.

Finally, I've added a sideblog. This works in conjuction with an AIMbot that I wrote this afternoon. It's called barbelith49, and lives on AOL's AIM network. Currently, it supports three commands (IM barbelith49 as you would a normal person, and type one of these words instead of a normal message):

1. where is ian — tells you where I am right now (in case you have some strange need to know, or if I forget where I am)


2. mail — how many mails are currently in my inbox


3. blog (your text here) — the main function of the bot. Anything after the word blog will get posted to the sidebar. All HTML is stripped out before the entry is posted (I'll probably add link support in the next few days).

We'll see how this works, shall we?

UPDATE: Okay, basic hyperlink support has been added. If you want to add a hyperlink, enclose it in square brackets, e.g. [http://www.x.org]. The bot will replace the text with the proper HTML, making it look like this: [link]. I imagine the code is a little fragile, so if you break it, let me know.