Gregory Szorc's blog

Christmas Break Really Isn't a Break

Christmas Break is supposed to be a break. For me, it is just time to do all that stuff that I didn't have time to do alongside course work.

Below is my to-do list between today and the first day of classes:

• Take my last final on Wednesday
• Complete work on USG Finance System
• Arrange for USG server to be moved into an ITS data center
• Rebuild LAMPS software on USG server so it is up-to-date and has better security practices in mind
• Rewrite CAS module for Apache so it works with Apache 2.2 and has support for CAS version 2 protocol
• Modify Case's CAS server to work with the new authentication web service
• Modify existing LDAP modules for Apache so we have something that works with dynamic groups and caching
• Upgrade my OpenSearch plugin for MediaWiki so it supports the new 1.1 specification
• Write a comprehensive spam prevention extension for MediaWiki
• Create MediaWikiFarmer, an application that makes it simple to establish a wiki farm using MediaWiki
• Create Fraternity Tracker, an identity management and member tracking tool specializing in the operations of fraternities
• Buy Christmas gifts
• Move rooms in the house
• Finish construction work on the 3rd floor in my house
• Install exterior floodlight on house
• ... and other stuff I am forgetting

Well, it is time to stop writing my to-do list and to start eliminating items from it.

You can ping this entry by using http://blog.case.edu/gps10/mt-tb.cgi/5014 .

Yeah, but rarely people really enjoy "break" or else they'd get bored.

"So how was your summer break?"
"GROAN! It was boring as hell- I was dying to get back to school - I didn't do anything all summer."

So break really means, an opportunity to do all the things we couldn't do during non-break times because we were busy with schoolwork and homework. Your whole list of things to do-- you are choosing to do them. :) Hope you have a good break!

"Write a comprehensive spam prevention extension for MediaWiki"

See http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/SpamBlacklist_extension if that helps

"Create MediaWikiFarmer, an application that makes it simple to establish a wiki farm using MediaWiki"

You might want to ask the wikimedia developers. Tim had it set up so that visitors could create a new wiki just by following a link. It was disabled after it started getting abused.

I use SpamBlacklist on the Case Wiki. The extension isn't very use friendly is isn't actively maintained. It works, but there could be a much better system in place. I would be cool to have features that automatically block users, categorize spam based upon its level of infraction, etc.

MediaWikiFarmer will be much more than just an automated create a wiki here project. It will allow wikis to be in sync with one another. Wiki farm administrators will be able to define what values in DefaultSettings.php will be on a global scale. Administrators will also be able to set which variables can be overridden locally. It will have automatic interwiki prefix generation. And more.