The site was down for most of the night. I really need a fast reliable, reasonable cost host. The host we currently have changed something in the way that $_SERVER['TRANSLATED_PATH'] was reported. I changed all references to $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] and it worked. I wonder why it changed. It had worked in the code for months. Oh well.

>>Posted By: paul

I signed up for a new host at a site with PHP 5 so that I could recode the site to be more efficient by taking advantage of the new upgrades in PHP. Unfortunately, it is a bit more expensive so if anyone wants to donate feel free to click on the donate link at the top of the page, any bit helps and would be greatly appreciated. If you want to donate in some other non-paypal way please feel free to contact (e:paul) .

>>Posted By: paul >>Updated By: paul 10/08/04 00:28

I just wante dto go over some recent updates for people who didn't knwo about them.

[size=m]Restaurant Review[/size]
I added the restaurant links to the top, which links to the epeeps peer based restuarant review system

[size=m]Estripbot[/size]
I added the bot link to the top, so that people can easily get to the estripbot and add it to their buddy list on aim. For those of you that don't knwo the estripbot is an aim robot created by (e:ajay) that allows people to communicat ewith the site itself and ask qeustions. The estripbot can tell you who is online, read you the last 20 posts, tell you the weather and more. just type help when talking to it, to find out what commands are avaialable.

[size=m]Inlinks[/size]
The inlink code needed to link to another journal is now printed at the bottom of every journal entry. You can also click on the chain link icon next to it, in order to have the links stored in your epad for later use.

[size=m]epad[/size]
.Your epad is your own personal notepad on the web. You can access it from anywhere and save text to it. At any point you can back up the text by sending it to your email via the supplied form. To get to your epad, click on the little pad icon in your control panbnel or visit elmwoodstrip.com/epad

[size=m]Others[/size]
News journal - The link to the news journal has been moved to your contorl panel. People visiting the site will see its link highlight in the top twelve list when someone posts. The news journal is the only group journal on the site. Any epeep can post to it using the little newspaper page icon in your control panel.

News journal - The error which denied some people the ability the edit their user links on their journals has been fixed thanks to (e:twisted) pointing ti out to me. To update your userlinks, which appear under your stat on your journal, simply click on the green pen icon next to the word links.

>>Posted By: paul

I've worked on the epeeps, peer based, restaurant reviewa bit more more and took some of the suggestions into account. For example, I added the number of reviews for each restauarnt into the list so you can find restauarnts with reviews. I moved the title over, shrank them and fixed the stats box so their was no overlapping. I still need to add an email input form and some other odds and ends but unfortunately, I have more errands and hardware fixingand school today.



To get to the site click here or click on the "restaurant" link at the top of the elmwoodstrip.com link bar. If you eat somewhere add it or if it's already there just review it. Once we have a bunch of review I will be able to release the more exciting features of the site.

>>Posted By: paul >>Updated By: paul 10/05/04 11:38

This is from the allpowertothepeople local calendar

Public Hearing on CertainTeed PVC Plant on Buffalo Waterfront
where: Erie County IDA
when: September 29, 2004 9:00 am - 10:30 pm

Urgent Action Alert – Public Hearing on CertainTeed PVC Plant on Buffalo Waterfront - Wednesday 9am!

What: The Erie County Industrial Development Agency (EC IDA) is holding a hearing on CertainTeed’s proposed PVC plant on the Lake Erie waterfront in Buffalo. Make your voice heard, and join us at this critically important hearing!

When: Wednesday September 29th , 9:00am

Where: Erie County Industrial Development Agency
275 Oak Street
Buffalo, New York

Please also consider sending a letter to the EC IDA (address and sample letter copied below)

The EC IDA is holding this hearing to solicit public comment on the EC IDA’s plans to grant further tax breaks to CertainTeed. Information on the hearing can be found at: If you need a ride, more information, directions, or want to carpool, call Citizens’ Environmental Coalition at cecmike@choiceonemail.com or 716-885-6848.

>>Posted By: paul

I was taking a look at the stats for the journal with over 100 entries to see if there were any trends. i am 100% not a statistician, so I thought maybe someone else could look at it.

I noticed some trends:
1. The number of posts does not directly reflect the number of views. While more posts generally mean more views, it is not always the case.

2. Being connected to others helps. The more people you become friends with in real life, that are also on the site, the mroe views you have.

3. Number of images is not directly correlated to number of views.

4. If you are korean, you are very popoular or you look at your own journal a lot when not logged in.



>>Posted By: paul >>Updated By: paul 09/29/04 14:22 >>Updated By: news 09/29/04 14:47 >>Updated By: news 09/29/04 14:48

Okay, (e:ajay) has created the greatest update for the site. For those of you that do not know, he has created an AIM AOL bot that can answer questions about the site. It is currently in beta stages but is highly functional. To chat with the bot, simply add "estripbot" to your aol buddy list.

[size=m]Current Commands[/size]
journals - Lists the journals by author, title, and time posted
read number - Replace number with the number of the journal entry you want to read from the list provided after typing journals
peeps - Lists the peeps that are currenlty online
help - Lists the commands available

If you don't enter one of the preset commands the bot will try and engage you in a conversation. Try it out.



>>Posted By: news >>Updated By: news 09/28/04 20:01

Yesterday was an almost record day with about ~300MB of bandwidth used. Think of that like trading ~210 floppy disks full of information.

Welcome new epeeps. If you have any questions feel free to email or IM paul. You can also ask questions in the chat box and surely someone will respond during the day.

[size=m]Inlink Update With epad Support[/size]
I updated the inlink process. An inlink is a way of linking your journal entry to another journal entry on the site. There are two ways to make an inlink.

1. When logged in you can see the inlink code for any journal entry at the bottom of the entry. If you copy that copde into your journal, it will make a link to the journal you copied from.

2. If you are going to be making multiple inlinks, you might find it more convevnient to have all of the inlink codes copied to your epad. Your epad is like your own digital notepad or clipboard. You can use it to save and store text, which you can email at any point using the email feature at the top of the pad.

To copy the inlink text to your epad, find the entry you want to inlink to and click on the little chain icon at the bottom of the entry. The journal inlink code will then be copied into your epad where you can store it for later, or copy it right away for use in your journal. To open you epad , simply click on the pad icon in your control panel. It is the one to the right of the # sign.

You don't even have to be at the site to use your epad. The epad is accessible at elmwoodstrip.com/epad . If you were not previously logged into the site, you will be asked to login on the epad page. Your epad is a private space that only you will see and is not accessible without your password.

>>Posted By: paul

The server elmwoodstrip.com is based on had some unscheduled site maintenence that needed to be done. So we apologize if the site was not responding from 10pm to 12 am est. Thanks for your patience!

>>Posted By: matthew