Phases

Phase 1 was a "1st person action enquiry" which involved preparing the required technology and investigating SMART tasks with 43things.

Since it was successful, I now know that I should be able to proceed with Phase 2, which attempts to answer questions about ommunity members attitude to the idea of building up common resources and knowledge on the Wiki.

Phase ONE needed to be very flexible and barely planned, since it was an exploration into the unknown for me. Phase TWO I think, needs to be more carefully planned if it is to produce valid results as part of the Action Research process.

So the next task is to tidy up after Phase 1 -

* fully transfer out from the old host
* check permissions on the config diirectory, tidy up /wiki
* minimal wiki skinning

And then

* Plan Phase two

planning phase two will involve

* seeding the Wiki with an illustrative initial structure
* drafting an initial message which broaches the project to the community (show this to peers)
* thinking about data collection
* identify non-members who could also be contacted - DM, OhV
* deciding on a few definite goals, research questions
* identifying more possible SMART tasks for phase two

so , quite a big task altogether. I shall give myself until Saturday 5th Jan to complete this planning cycle, and then launch the main part.

See more progress on: SMART05 - plan the next phase

Albert Hall

I have dozens of the cassettes, bought from asian music shops in East London, but now I listen to the music through last.fm which is the best radio station ever since it plays roughly what I tell it to!

I went to two Nusrat concerts in London, one was at Wembley town hall and the other at the Albert Hall. Both excellent.

He's dead now, of course.

See more progress on: listen to more Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

getting closer

I spent 2 or 3 hours working intensively on Sunday morning, completing SMART03 and then tackling the next steps towards getting the wiki up and running on the new host.

* I saved the account details in gmail and private furl.
* I set up a new ftp connection in Dreamweaver.
* uploaded all the mediaWiki subdirectories and files to the new host.
* logged in to the dc-hosting control panel
* experimented with the file manager therein. This is a tricky tool, when choosing a file from the directory tree-structure on the left it doesn't always seem to tally with the one pointed to by the control panel ( add read/write/exe permissions etc ) on the right. It took many attempts to make the /config directory writable.

*But once I succeeded, the php script which configures the wiki did actually start to run.

That was a breakthrough.

The script then demanded answers to questions about the mySQL database

it took several attempts to even find the place for managing this part of the hosting, but once discovered it is easier to recognise another time. I created a database called "wiki" and a user for it, then put these details into the config script. After a few goes, I got it right and the script ran right through, telling me that my wiki is now installed - and I can click ::here:: to start using it.

Another breakthrough, even if clicking there does only result in an error message from the browser - "ukcider.co.uk not found".

Since then I have wondered whether it's todo with the delay in DNS transference, although that doesn't make total sense it's the next thing to rule out. So tomnorrow will tell. If that's not it, then I have to look at the database creation, config parameters and file permissions again, uninstall and re-install everything and try again looking out for references to the domain which may be absolute instead of relative or something like that.

So I was disappointed that I didn't get it working today, but I suppose I have made quite a lot of progress really.

See more progress on: SMART04 - install MediaWiki at dc-hosting

technical support

I managed to run ahead of myself a little, so the first entry is about what I have already done rather than defining the task.

I had a useful discussion with frankie over some fine belgian beers on saturday night, and learned some important concepts. For instance, I now understand that the wiki pages are not held as generated html files at all, but as data or tables within the MySQL database. The wiki installation script needs to be pointed at that database.

The MySQL database server is a seperate entity from the Apache web server. I can create more than one MySQL database, and also create users of them. This somehow ties in with the wiki users

If you order a big bottle of champagne style brut beer, make them get the glasses ready before they open the bottle.

See more progress on: SMART04 - install MediaWiki at dc-hosting

Done

I checked out dc-hosting and discovered that the professional bronze account should be more than adequate for my future needs, so I bought one for £47 a year. I know it's possible to get media wiki working there because frankie has done it, and I watched a little as he installed evan's movable type blog there ( not so sucessfully, it turned out )

I've also done a "partial transfer out" from 10quid and pointed the old domain at the new hosts DNS servers. This will actually happen at 0400 or 0800 tomorrow morning, but I still have to go back and do the "full transfer out" sometime, otherwise they'll try and charge me for domain name renewall later in the year.

See more progress on: SMART 03 - find a new hosting service for the website

Yangtze Gorges trip

I did this in 2000 and it was a wonderful trip. I had the photos developed onto CD, then made some of my first web pages about it.

http://www.yangtsegorges.ukgateway.net/

I'd love to go back when the dam is completely finished to see how the landscape has changed.

See more progress on: Visit China

a pile of recently shot haggis. 

Define Task

Specific

1) research Moin Moin
2) download files for installation
3) Find out what's needed to install it and if possible go ahead
4) Record findings and progress as a learning activity web page.

Measurable
YES, when the web page is completed, I know I?ve done it

Achievable
YES, even if I find out it's not possible, this completes the task I set myself.

Relevant
YES, If this works then it's the simplest solution and enables me to get up and running sooner so I can concentrate on the community research.

Timed
I'll do this and more this weekend.

See more progress on: SMART 02 - try uploading a moinmoin Wiki

Live in a city with half decent public transport

that's it really

See more progress on: find an alternative to owning a car

Back up

My Movable Type blog is back up now.

Over here

blog still down

My other blog, the one with photos, news, videos, commentary and stuff has been unavailable for two days. This is because it's hosted on a computer connected to Anglia Polytechnic University and the connection is not working at present. So don't bother clicking here for a bit.

ASQ

Another Silly Quiz

Which File Extension are You?

Fish, fowl and big hare. 

Sea Containers  

milennium bridge 

London Bridge north bank 

Oxo tower 

St Pauls with rainbow 

Cannon Street Station 

Sunset at Southbank