"Sinner transgressed by creating evil." Category Archive
December 15, 2007
MovableType Template Guidance, Please
I have updated the software behind this web site to MovableType 4, but my templates are stuck somewhere back in version 1.x with a smattering of new functionality patched in here and there.
I'm not looking to overhaul my site, necessarily. I do want to retain the essential current look, feel and color-scheme. I want to maintain what I think is a light-weight design that is primarily HTML and CSS
But I am flying the flag of defeat. My interface is inconsistent, and my categories and headings obscure the structure. Finally, maintaining all of the templates individually is counter-intuitive/counter-productive when I have a marvelous tool full of widgets, plugins and modules.
What stops me before I start is the sense that migrating from my old templates to the new template system is going to take herculean effort.
Has anyone done this? Does anyone have good pointers on resources?
I'm not looking for someone to do the work for me, but I do need help in determining where to start and looking at how to break the project into chunks that I know I can manage.
In short, I'm looking for a design mentor.
Barring that, I'm looking for tips, thoughts, and feedback.
Many thanks in advance for your ideas, my friends.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 10:07 PM :: 2 Submissives [+]
September 17, 2007
The Deciding Factor
Researching possibilities for a pen name, I came upon the following:
sinnernoun
a person who sins (without repenting)
And that was all I needed to see.
Sinner?
At your cervix service.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 8:58 PM :: Submit. [+]
September 6, 2007
Updated: Good News/Bad News
Since I switched the comment system, I have had no spam, which was the goal.
However, I haven't gotten any real comments, either.
Now I'm worried.
*****
Update:
I received email this afternoon from lovely people who tried valiantly to comment, only to be thwarted by the CAPTCHA text. And this was because there was no graphic text to enter into the correct dialog, and therefore no way to authenticate.
I am nothing if not frustrated and defeated. I don't know what the change was between when the CAPTCHA text worked and when it didn't. I wouldn't have turned it on for the site if it didn't work in my tests, but today it didn't work for me, either.
So it is now off.
The plug-in I was using before the upgrade is no longer working, the tools built-in to the blogging software are not working, and I am throwing my hands up in disgust.
I don't want to have to turn on moderation again, but it looks like that's the only way I will be able to keep the bad guys from abusing you and me both.
In the mean time, I'm republishing my site with the CAPTCHA off. We will see how it goes.
Yours In Frustration,
~Soulless
[+] Posted by Sinner at 9:34 AM :: 5 Submissives [+]
September 4, 2007
Updating Site Now
Comments are working now, so far as I can tell. Anything I wrote recently should be commentable.
There are a few small glitches.
Right now, the comments function does not remember your name, your email address or your URL. If you like this feature, you will be annoyed that it isn't working yet. I'm trying to correctly link the JavaScript file in my template, but so far the two times I've attempted to fix it, I have broken the template and it won't publish new entries.
The other issue is cosmetic. Basically I need to update the site style sheet. I'm not happy with the way comments are presented. Right now my page templates are now a combination of MovableType 2.x, 3.x and 4.0. The only way I'm going to fix it completely is to redesign my site around the new templates and the new template tags.
That will come in time.
Thanks for your patience.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 11:26 PM [+]
All For CAPTCHA
Yeah, I went and had to mess with well enough and now comments are pretty broken.
Sorry.
Feel free to send me email at this domain. My email alias is sinner.
If you do instant messaging, I do that, too. Add sou11355 on AIM or Yahoo!
Hopefully I get comments fixed in the near future.
Watch this space.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 7:25 PM :: 1 Submissive [+]
August 17, 2007
Thank the Gods!
I just upgraded to MovableType 4.
It didn't go smoothly…
But if you can see this, then the blog is still kicking.
And I am breathing deep, deep sighs of relief.
Skip the rest of this post if you're not interested in the minutia.
Sweet mother of fuck was I scared the whole damned thing was gone.
How was I supposed to know how badly it could go? I had performed major and minor upgrades in exactly the same fashion in the past. When I found the new version of MT was available I quickly downloaded it, then uploaded new version over the old. All that remained was to log in to commence the database upgrade.
But there was no logging in. Only an error message.
And I had begun the upgrade without first doing the most important thing I could have done: a backup.
Yeah. I know.
I nearly gave up. It took me days to see possible avenues of reconstruction. I pulled down a copy of my database just in case… I don't know. Maybe I could start over and upload the data some way?
Then I started deleting crap so that I could try again by uploading the new blog software cleanly--no residue from the old, you know? But I ended up over-writing my index.html so that the front page was gone. Just a generic MT homepage placeholder remained.
After some digging, I managed to find a copy of it. I had to look in the caches of many web browsers. After uploading it, at least the site *looked* intact. Even if it was still broken.
It really sucked to be unable to log in. I wanted to say at least that I was down and would be back soon. If it had gone much longer, I would have resorted to editing the front page manually.
I finished the clean upload. I had first deleted the contents of the static files folder, then basically everything but the index file and the configuration file from the root directory.
That worked. Yesterday, after days, I was finally able to log in to my blog.
Then I wrote the first draft of this entry and...
There were errors my the templates. Old template tags that are no longer supported. The software would save new entries but it wouldn't publish them.
Tonight I was able to eradicate those old tags. And I finally published this entry.
There are still some fixes and kinks to work out. But I am alive.
I'm alive I tell you.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 10:09 PM :: 2 Submissives [+]
July 28, 2007
Had the Urge
I've been trying to make the over-all design make sense, to make it easier to move from section to section, and to make it more obvious that there is more than one way to navigate the labyrinth.
And I wanted a sense of newness while retaining a similar feel.
So there.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 2:54 PM :: 9 Submissives [+]
June 29, 2007
Updated: New Links
I have linked to some new (to me) male bloggers. I had a few in the past, but new to the roster are Pain Healer and Sadistic Excess.
I grouped the men into a new category called "Conspiring." So I am "Lusting" for the girls and "Conspiring" with the boys. The "Loving" category is for female bloggers who don't write about sex as a focus, but who are thoughtful, witty, and therefore sexy.
I added other categories, too. I broke out sexuality and BDSM advocacy groups into a category called "Strengthening," and added a "Deepening" category for sites that are more informational and instructional, again with regard to sexuality and the BDSM lifestyle.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 11:21 PM :: Submit. [+]
March 1, 2007
I Think I'm Done With That Project
Four years and two moves later, I finished categorizing every post.
I just spent the last four hours categorizing stuff from July of 2003.
Wow, man. Holy fuck was I nuts.
I still think I'm crazy, just not so on-the-edge or over-the-top as then.
I found myself wondering if it was the meds. But, no. I remember. It was a whole confluence of things.
I never want to go back there. There is stuff I want to revisit and resolve, but that whole situation was something I hope I never experience again. I was in constant emotional pain.
It's so not like that anymore.
Thank you all.
Thank you, Flower.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 12:26 AM [+]
February 24, 2007
At the Risk of Sounding Indecisive
I have reopened comments.
Thank you to Mercy and Philip who were kind enough to offer advice to my last post.
I turned on an extra field on my comment form. You have to complete the name of my blog. Capitalization counts.
If you don't, the comment won't be deleted, but it will go to moderation without being published—and that's all I have been trying to accomplish all along.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 1:09 PM :: Submit. [+]
February 23, 2007
I'm Sorry About the Spam
There have been a lot of comments made by Spammers.
I won't turn commenting off, because I think comments are important, but I am turning on moderation permanently. I'm tired of useless trash showing up on my pages and getting sent out on my feeds.
It just means that you won't see your comment until such time as I weed through the spam. I intend to do so at least daily, or as often as possible.
This is only unless or until I MT is updated or there is some plug-in which can enable some sort of verification. I'm skittish about requiring people to get a TypeKey account just to comment once in a while.
I'm sure open to ideas. Let me know what you think.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 1:52 PM :: 4 Submissives [+]
February 4, 2007
I Have Decided to Edit My Old Stories
It's been a long time. I don't know if they have aged well, or not… But I want to go back and look at what I started.
There are also any number of stories and situations that I never completed, for a variety of personal and creative reasons. I don't promise to finish stories that are three or four years old, but It could happen.
What I want to do for the most part is to re-edit them into a more traditional and linear format. My old blog entries (and therefore stories) came from a period of time when I felt reasonably safe with a browser window open to my site all day long. Any and every pervy thought made it past my (admittedly weak) internal censor and on line. I'm not saying that was good or bad. However, in the current iteration of this site, I think it makes the stories harder to read.
Before, all of my posts only had a time stamp. There was also no title or category. So text in a post could be stand-alone or refer to the one before. Sometimes I intended my posts to do both—It was intentionally free-form and stream-of-consciousness.
When I brought them here to this site and this blog tool, categorizing and titling the posts broke them. There I things I wrote that I have no idea any longer what I meant or who it might have been directed to.
Suffice it to say, instead of bending this tool back to fit those posts, I'm going to re-edit to make the stories flow better and to possibly make them more portable.
I don't intend to make many changes to the original posts. They will retain all of the original spelling and grammar errors and reside at the same URLs.
But I am going to take the old stories and dress them in new clothes.
I won't promise this will happen tomorrow or anything. It always took me many hours to write those little vignettes and time feels so fleeting, anymore. But it is something I feel inspired to do of late.
Thanks, RG. I still love your work.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 10:52 PM :: Submit. [+]
January 4, 2007
Fixin'
I found a bunch of crap that was just plain wrong in my archive pages. I am so *not* a coder.
I've wondered a lot why people don't click around more on my site. My research showed that the navigation sucked.
I found broken links all over the place.
I aspire to be a coder. I am a hack.
But…
I've made some slight changes that hopefully make the site easier to read, to decipher and to navigate.
I hope it's better.
I'm open to suggestions.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 10:27 PM :: 2 Submissives [+]
November 12, 2006
Still Reliving The Past
I'm finding a lot of spelling and grammar errors in my old posts. But still you kept reading.
You're really a trooper.
Thanks for sticking with me.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 3:38 PM :: 1 Submissive [+]
Updated Blog Links
I've tried to keep my links up-to-date. I went through them one-by-one just now. I killed links to blogs that were "members only" and to blogs that don't seem to exist any longer.
If I got your URL wrong, or if your link is missing, or if you want me to change the name of your link, just let me know. I'm an easy-going guy. I'll fix it or change it.
Likewise, if you think there are sites I should know about that I do not already link, I'd want to know that, too.
Thank you for reading, my dears.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 10:49 AM :: Submit. [+]
October 31, 2006
Struggling to Write the Right Thing
I'm nothing if not prone to over-analysis.
This site has never been purely a sex blog, although I eagerly explore and dwell on (and in) sex and sexuality. I get lots and lots of hits from Eros, for which I am very grateful, but I the logs show consistent clicks in and what I imagine are quick clicks out because penises and vaginas comingling are not the only topic I write on. Take this post. (Please.)
And I think to the chagrin of some, this has never been purely a BDSM blog, either. Again, I have eagerly explored some topics relating to dicovery and practice. Further, I have employed blatant and obvious design elements which tend to lead the casual observer in that direction. Others might say I was latent and oblivious. I don't know any more and I find myself not caring so much, anyway.
What I want to do is to promote your rights an an individual to practice your own version of sexuality (an it harm none) free from intervention from government and from society. That's pretty pie-in-the-sky, but that would be an ideal end to aim for. I guess it comes down to who gets to define harm, but that's a discussion for a different day.
Other goals I have are to sexually arouse you and to keep you spell-bound. Some days I think I have that one nailed. Other days, like today, I feel clueless and fear a complete and permanent loss of creativity.
Consistent threads I have seen in my writing are persistent efforts at psychological self-diagnosis and variations on the theme of "Gosh, I'm horny." This blog has been my deepest secret, it has been my absolute confidant and it is a pure expression of need.
What I wanted to know by expressing my thoughts here is that really, truly, I was not insane. More than that, I wanted to know I was not alone. Reading my past entries has shown me that I have indeed been more than a little crazy in spells. But mostly it has been my own insistence that there was something amiss. My relentless harping on ADD and depression and then my ultimate (though thankfully temporary) foray into the world of the Twelve Steps.
Finally,the thing that was the secret, my obsession with a female coworker, is now moot. I have since divorced the woman I fell out of love with. I no longer work with or know the whereabouts of the obsessee. And I am in exactly the type of relationship I wrote about and that I dreamed of three years ago.
That means a lot of the anger and self-hatred has dissipated. My outlook has changed. So I warn you that the topics and subject matter won't always be what they were. I honestly don't know where it's headed. I would like to think that my writing will be less about hating myself and more about being deliciously evil.
For what it's worth, I do plan to keep writing—this is no swan-song or fare-well. This is an acknowledgement of transition and a mourning of the passing of what has been.
Thanks for reading all this time.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 5:17 PM :: 8 Submissives [+]
October 30, 2006
Making Progress
Holy Crap…
Well, I've been editing old posts of late, as I mentioned earlier. And I've made substantial headway.
The reason for the editing is because I have moved this blog twice. For about the first year, none of my posts had titles. It was very stream-of-consciousness with only a time stamp and a byline to indicate a new post. I think I had a date divider as well.
I had that blog initially on Blogger, before blogger was purchased by Google and before there was a built-in commenting system. I've noticed that some of the posts pertain directly to comments I remember receiving, but I no longer have them as I was using a third-party commenting system. It might be possible to go back to that service and find the comments and reconstruct the feedback, but that is a project for another day. [A look a how it was in the beginning.]
Then I moved over to TypePad. I still have a placeholder site there, but it only points here. TypePad actually deletes all of your old pages when you close up shop there. I don't have anything to show regarding how that blog looked. It was a three column design, which was the basis for the look I have today.
I don't remember when I started having categories, whether it was on TypePad, or whether it was when I moved to MovableType on my own host, but hundreds and hundreds of entries now need to be retitled, because the import tool assumed the first line of the post was the title when I brought everything here. And then there's the whole category thing.
It was really hard to remember what I was thinking in a lot of cases, so most of them head into the "revealing" category. I use that as a sort of catch-all for revealing my thoughts. Especially when I blog things I would not say.
But it has been a trip, remembering my frame of mind when it comes back to me. Some of the old posts are really scary—like I-was-insane scary. Some of them are really sexy. And I ran across all kinds of Haikus I dashed off. Even some entries which were composed of nothing but paragraphs of Haiku.
I forgot about how prolific and creative I was. I hadn't realized how far I shut down when I went into "therapy" prior to my divorce.
I want it back.
I still have about four hundred posts to clean up. That's just in the period from mid-May through July of 2003.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 8:25 AM :: Submit. [+]
October 29, 2006
Ancient Spelling Errors
Yeah, dammit.
The good thing about going through my old posts is that I'm catching all of the spelling errors.
Embarrassing.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 1:08 PM :: Submit. [+]
October 28, 2006
Consistent
Been editing old posts… No, I haven't deleted a word!
I found two posts entitled "Cunt." (1,2)
I have lost my fear of that word.
I love cunt.
And I'm slowly getting the old posts properly titled and categorized.
I'm relieved that I'm not in the crazy depressed, trapped, roller-coaster treadmill place that I used to be in.
And the new Firefox is so worth it. Built-in spell check. Get it.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 10:29 PM :: Submit. [+]
October 11, 2006
Mobile Test
This is just a little test to see if this Treo can utilize some of the services I pay for.
Then I can write and post without fear of anything on my work PC.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 9:55 AM :: Submit. [+]
June 16, 2006
Site Maintenance
I turned off trackbacks.
It's a cool idea, sending a site a ping when you're referring to a specific journal entry. But In the duration of this blog being run on the current software, it has been used all of 4 times legitimately. While daily i've been deleting 50 to 200 spam trackbacks.
It wasn't working for what it was intended for.
I'll just rely on my stats to show me where hits are coming from instead.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 2:16 PM :: Submit. [+]
March 9, 2006
Finally Fixed the By-Line
I've been wanting to do that for years. My old TypePad site was set up that way…
So now in addition to reporting when I sinned, it reports how. Which cleverly is the link to the category archive.
So does it make sense now why I named my archive categories the way I did? ;)
I'm such a dork.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 3:58 PM :: 3 Submissives [+]
March 1, 2006
Comment Spam Will Be Deleted.
I'm trying to keep up with the comment spam. I'm sorry so much got through before I could delete it.
As always: if you would like to advertise on my site, you must ask for my permission.
Unless it becomes unmanageable, I will keep comments open. I do have steps in place to reduce comment spam, but it looks like I will need to take additional steps.
Does anyone have advice for a good MovableType plugin? Or ways to alter my comment templates to make them less useful to script kiddies?
[+] Posted by Sinner at 6:32 PM :: 1 Submissive [+]
November 14, 2005
Apologies: Archives Links Broken
Dammit.
It looks like my upgrade to MT 3.2 was not without issue. I never thought to check the archive links in the drop-down menus.
I am currently researching what I did wrong and will fix it when I figure it out.
Updated:
I'm not sure why, but in the URL in the menus, it became imperative that I specify the file index.html in each of my archive folders. I have just updated the template for the site accordingly and I hope to have resolved the issue permanently.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 6:06 PM :: Submit. [+]
June 28, 2005
Clip, Clip Here, Clip, Clip There…
…And Goo–gling all night long.
That's how we make the tem–plates do
What we wan–ted all a–long.
;)
My apologies to the citizens of the Merry Old Land of Oz.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 4:25 AM :: Submit. [+]
June 26, 2005
I Don't Know Jack
But thanks to Google and this man, I have modified my Atom template to include comments.
I feel good about that.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 7:19 AM :: Submit. [+]
May 15, 2005
Art Project
It occurs to me tonight to try something sculptural.
I mean, it seems so obvious to do cheesecake art. I adore cheesecake, and I do think it can be artfully done. I will still probably make explorations along those lines.
Tonight I remembered an idea I've long had. A pitcher. Inspired by classically Greek lines, but different. The exterior would remain porous and unglazed—a terracota color. The interior would be glazed pink. The neck would be narrow, but the lip or spout would be elongated and gently tapered.
Yes, it would look like that—like the feminine.
I can also imagine your form, your pubis, your mons, your majora and minora—and trying to capture them. Having you spread your legs and labia before me while I layer something latex-like on you. Spreading it and pressing it. Covering you completely.
How it would kill me to wait.
But then to uncover you and see you and your opposite. How it might pull and tug as I peel it slowly away.
And then I would wash you gently and thoroughly.
And because I couldn't control myself, I would begin to lick and to suck.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 1:13 AM :: 2 Submissives [+]
April 16, 2005
New Project
Finally.
Any questions?
Which is to say:
I invite your submissions!
[+] Posted by Sinner at 3:26 AM :: 5 Submissives [+]
April 4, 2005
RSS Question
Does anyone know how I should tweak my various RSS templates so that feed readers get the current version of a post, even if they have previously downloaded that same post?
For example, if Boing Boing updates a post throughout the day with submissions from readers, my RSS reader gets every version of that post. How could I do something similar with movable type?
I welcome comments or email: sou11355 (i.e.:soulless). I use Gmail for email.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 12:01 AM :: 2 Submissives [+]
February 11, 2005
Where In The World?
I added a Guest Map link on the right.
Because I like to know where you're coming from.
PS: Apparently, you have to leave a comment or else it won't work.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 9:37 AM :: Submit. [+]
December 30, 2004
Grey
I brought the grey back. I like it and I missed it from my previous designs.
I think I finally hit on levels of grey that work both for effect and legibility.
It feels more comfortable, like turning the lights down a little.
So things are more about you and me.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 3:01 PM :: 5 Submissives [+]
December 28, 2004
RG Told Me Comments Weren't Working
And I'm glad she did. Who knows how many others might have tried to comment over time but didn't mention it.
I'm hoping that's fixed now. It seems to work from where I'm posting this entry.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 1:47 PM :: Submit. [+]
November 30, 2004
I Don't Have an About Page
Since I left TypePad, I don't have an About page. But I'm thinking about building one along the lines of 100 Things About Soulless.
Anything you're dying to know?
You can ask anything...
[+] Posted by Sinner at 12:21 PM :: 2 Submissives [+]
October 18, 2004
Done Deal
Well... for better or worse, I have moved completely away from TypePad. I'm grateful for the experience I gained working with my templates there, but I have always wanted more control, and I have always selfishly wanted to say "I did it myself!"
While—truly—all I have done here is install software, the installation does work and and I am responsible for it.
I don't know if I will ever customize the Movable Type software—if I will ever necessarily reach that level of sophistication or even need that level of sophistication... I just find the fact that I could do it to be very reassuring.
Now, I just want to work on my design chops. I have some ideas bouncing around in my head for ways to change the site template and I plan to be working on those as time goes on. Meanwhile, I'm sticking with the sort of Halloween theme I have going. :: shrugs :: It does the job for now. The way this site ends up should look much different that it does today.
There is an MT 3.0 Bible coming out at the end of this month which I plan to use to extend my knowledge, and there is a Hacking MT book coming out in January that I can't wait to get my mitts on.
The other thing I want to do is have a few photo galleries. Some shots of me like I had at the TypePad site, and some of my favorite porn.
More as the site develops.
Thanks for moving with me!
[+] Posted by Sinner at 12:11 AM :: 2 Submissives [+]
October 14, 2004
Not Sufficiently Evil
This design needs more darkness.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 12:13 AM :: 5 Submissives [+]
October 13, 2004
No More Blog Design
Not tonight anyway.
I brought my links over, finally. Find them along the right. And do check them out. I like all of them.
Click. Click. Read. Read.
Almost done. I need to find a nice tool for generating photo albums. I want to host the HTML and the images, so I will not consider another third-party service. Anyone have recommendations?
[+] Posted by Sinner at 12:59 AM :: 2 Submissives [+]
October 9, 2004
Those More Practiced Among Us
Hrmm. I wonder what I've done. If you're the sort to have multiple browsers, look at my site both in IE and in Firefox/Netscape/Mozilla. Clearly I broke something, but I am at a loss to determine what it is.
Dammit.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 8:14 PM :: 1 Submissive [+]
October 7, 2004
Sigh!
One step forward, two steps back!
There's nothing like making trouble for yourself by setting the FTP application you're using to ASCII instead of auto.
I spent a long time trying to figure out why my images were so screwed up... But now everything seems to be working better.
I'm way sleep deprived.
I'm going to upload my images, yet again, then call it a night.
The redesign will continue tomorrow... or Friday. OR maybe I'll just make it look like the old one. I dunno. We'll see what develops.
Thanks for your patience!
[+] Posted by Sinner at 12:40 AM :: Submit. [+]
October 5, 2004
Technical Issues
Just FYI.
I don't know what I'm about to fuck up, but I'm about to map blackasmysoul.com to another server and set up an instance of Movable Type there.
It could end up screwing up a majority of my links... or not.
For the time being, all of my content will remain available at blackasmysoul.typepad.com.
I will make certain that no content is lost. I've already done a preliminary export, and I will do another before I turn my Typepad account off.
I'll lose some cool Typepad features. I'll miss that. But I'll learn more about blog setup and publishing, so that's a good thing.
All I know for sure is that the look will change a bit... but I'm keeping the color scheme largely the same. And I have already had a request to keep my eye visible.
Here we go!
[+] Posted by Sinner at 11:55 PM :: Submit. [+]
September 27, 2004
Update Your Links
Please be sure that you link to me using the following URL: http://www.blackasmysoul.com/.
For financial reasons I may be forced to do some consolidation of my domain resources... and this particular iteration of the site may go by the wayside. However, if you keep pointing to the domain above, you'll be able to follow this site wherever it goes.
Just an FYI.
Just in case.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 1:06 AM :: Submit. [+]
August 30, 2004
Cleopatra's Suicide
If I'm not completely mistaken, this is thought to be the anniversary of the day Cleopatra chose to have an asp bite her.
However, a quick Google search just indicated dates of August 10th and 12th...
[+] Posted by Sinner at 12:42 PM :: Submit. [+]
August 2, 2004
UPDATED:
I'm now forwarding email to a Gmail account, which I think ought to work like... buttah. So far, so good. Still, keep me posted.
...
It's come to my attention that some email to my soulless@blackasmysoul.com address is bouncing. In particular, anything generated by tribes.net and some stuff from hallmark. But some stuff from hallmark is working?
I don't get that.
Have any of you had email bounce when trying to send email to me?
[+] Posted by Sinner at 9:40 AM :: 1 Submissive [+]
July 13, 2004
Mods
If I moved some of my pornography links to a secondary page, would it change the character of my site too dramatically?
Has anyone gotten good (or ill) use of those links?
I want to know. Seriously.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 12:27 AM :: 3 Submissives [+]
June 20, 2004
Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Comments and Spam
If there are going to be any links to porn on this site, it's because I like the link. If you want to advertise your site, talk to me.
Otherwise, please expect your spam to be deleted and your IP blocked.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 11:22 PM :: 4 Submissives [+]
May 11, 2004
Lurking on My Own Blog
I've been making some behind-the-scenes changes. Unless you're in the habit of clicking on all of my page links regularly they will largely have gone unnoticed—which is as it should be.
Meanwhile, it's been pointed out to me that it's not possible to see my whole blog at once on some smaller or differently-abled equipment. ;) My layout looks good (IMHO) at a screen resolution of 1024x768 or better. My intent is to modify my layout to better accomodate varying screen and browser widths. I am open to suggestions or hints, for you coders with mad skillz.
Much love, as always!
[+] Posted by Sinner at 10:10 AM :: 1 Submissive [+]
April 7, 2004
Master of My Domain
Announcing http://www.blackasmysoul.com/
My registrar has a lovely identification protection service, so getting my own domain seemed like the thing to do.
All links to me at the Typepad domain will still work, of course, as the site has not physically moved, but all of my internal links have been updated to reflect my domain name.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 11:19 AM :: 1 Submissive [+]
April 6, 2004
Coming Soon
I hope so!
But seriously, I may be announcing a new domain shortly...
[+] Posted by Sinner at 9:37 PM :: 1 Submissive [+]
February 20, 2004
Well, I did it.
I killed the original Blogger site yesterday. Today the old URL comes up as "not found."
I'll miss the old site a little. But Typepad is a way groovier host. I can do so much more here with my meager skillz than I could at Blogspot. Coming here was the right thing to do.
So I guess technically blackasmysoul.blogspot.com is up for grabs...
[+] Posted by Sinner at 2:03 AM :: Submit. [+]
February 18, 2004
Done With That
OK, as I promised myself, I rated my site's content with a tool provided by ICRA. It was more complicated than I thought, since I pull scripts and images from other domains, but I was able to use the testing tool provided at the ICRA's site and got a green light indicated that all of my content was rated in my meta tags.
While I was at it, I made some additions to the "Blogging" section on the lower right and the "Loving" and "Reciprocating" categories on the left. Finally, I updated all of my templates so that the "Sinner" and "Sin" links appear in the header of all of my pages.
Wouldn't it be easier if the header was a separate file that could be included in any template? Um, yes. That's on the list.
As soon as I send in this post I'm going to republish the site. Wish me luck!
[+] Posted by Sinner at 10:30 AM :: Submit. [+]
February 14, 2004
One Down
One to go.
I'm going to keep a text-only format for this page.
Where did the photos go?
Follow the Sinner link at the top of the page.
Sin is a link to my stories (They are accessible through my archived posts as well, still in the writing category.).
[+] Posted by Sinner at 5:16 AM :: Submit. [+]
February 13, 2004
Notes to Self:
1) Create new album for images. Yes, that's it. And I can continue along the lines of the themes I've been developing. Then maybe I can go back into more Safe To Read At Work (tm) territory.
2) I should probably register with some of the content filtering services. Any ideas as to which ones I should do?
[+] Posted by Sinner at 9:37 AM :: 1 Submissive [+]
Those Wicked Things You Do
Well I can be wicked, too.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 2:29 AM :: 1 Submissive [+]
February 9, 2004
Tweaking Again
I just changed the site templates a wee bit. I realized I had two links called "Reading" that lead different places. That is no longer the case. There is still a post category called Reading, about books I've read. The list of current books I'm reading is farther down on the left.
Archives and Categories are also available on the left, behind the link called "Keeping."
[+] Posted by Sinner at 4:08 PM :: Submit. [+]
January 21, 2004
Sad Thing
I've had to delete six comments this morning alone which I believe to be the work of spammers. I have added the offending addresses to a banned list.
I assume the list will be largely ineffective... but I'm finding that I'm going to have to be vigilant now.
I wonder if Typepad has implemented anything or can implement anything similar to the MT Blacklist plugin? And I wonder if it would even be effective against attacks like these.
Other alternatives are to allow commenting only for registered users, or to allow no commenting or trackback pings at all.
Advice?
Anyone?
Thoughts?
[+] Posted by Sinner at 9:44 AM :: 4 Submissives [+]
January 14, 2004
More Tweaks
I have moved some of the sidebar content to the right now as you have no doubt noticed.
I wanted to bring more attention to a few things, but I don't want the design to seem too busy...
Let me know what you think.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 5:48 AM :: 7 Submissives [+]
December 28, 2003
Hype Machine
Me and Maculate Deviant might be going to tag-team you...
More to come.
(Yes, I did mean it that way.)
[+] Posted by Sinner at 3:53 PM :: 1 Submissive [+]
December 2, 2003
That's Better
I spent some time hunting last night and came up with the images I used in my new banner. That coupled with a tweak to my stylesheet means that my page looks effectively the same in more browsers. Identical? No...
Meanwhile, still no sign of a job and I've masturbated four times in the last 24 hours.
In part due to my research for images for my banner and in part due to blog entries like this one that made me hard.
Not to mention (OMG) the lovely email and images I have been receiving lately...
Let's see, I'm at home all alone and I've got this raging erection... yeah, I think I will masturbate.
Did I ever tell you that you're the best?
[+] Posted by Sinner at 2:41 PM :: 2 Submissives [+]
November 20, 2003
Site Updates
OK, I've twisted a Typepad feature into something it was probably never meant to be... But the books that were formerly listed in the left column are now on a page of their own.
If you like, click the "Book Shelf" link to see what books I'm reading when I'm not lurking.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 3:24 AM :: Submit. [+]
November 17, 2003
Site Updates
I brought over more links from the old site. And freshened them a bit.
They're on your left under the headings of Titillating and Masturbating. Enjoy.
I have.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 3:08 PM :: Submit. [+]
October 22, 2003
Retention
Been trying to categorize all of my old posts. I've done about 150 in the last 12 hours.
It takes time because it's a web-based interface. Because I read the post again to give it a title.
The Typepad import tool grabbed words from the first line to give a title to all of my old Blogger posts—which were never titled originally.
It's kind of fun, in a way. Knowing what I meant to say when I wrote the posts.
Then I can make the titles witty, or I can make them part of the flow of the post, or use the title to elucidate what would otherwise be obtuse.
Because I eschew obfuscation.
But I digress.
What I mean is, it's a way to recreate what I had written. Polish.
But I have edited nothing, save grammar, spelling and the like. Not the words.
Although I can't help wanting to add layers of meaning.
It's just my way.
The secondary result of this work is that you can see more and more what the categories really mean to me. And maybe, if you've been a long-time reader, figure out what I was really saying. And perhaps to whom.
But maybe you already knew.
++
Wheels are spinning.
+++
When parts of posts disappear, I feel like I've missed something...
[+] Posted by Sinner at 4:17 PM :: Submit. [+]
October 9, 2003
The Agony of Defeat
Sigh.
I am embarrassed to admit that I have tried three separate times now to get a blog running on my server at home.
And actually I've learned a lot in the processs. But I have lost much sleep—I haven't been to bed yet since 0700 yesterday.
Did two attempts last night. Tried an ASP/MSSQL based tool which has effectively no documentation. And got nowhere. Database was live. Server ran pages. But no dice.
Found some good documentation about MT, and that's the tool I'm working with at the moment. (Flipside made me want to, cause it's so damned fast) But... Even trying to run as simple as possible using the built-in database support, I was unable to get the server to run the scripts or even do something as simple as serve pages. That's what I get for using a Microsoft OS. I'm going to try one more time with Apache instead of IIS. And if that doesn't work, I'll force myself back to linux.
I'm pissed that linux is probably the best choice. Pissed because I don't want to learn another operating system. Isn't Windows bad enough? Well isn't it?
I will feel l33ter if I can get the blog tool running on windows. It's not designed to work well that way, but there are a number of people on the web who say it can be done.
Get ready for it. I'm gunning for ya.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 1:16 PM :: 2 Submissives [+]
October 7, 2003
Too Many Projects
I'm spreading myself pretty thin lately.
Not only have I moved to this new blog tool, but I have another personal web project going that has the added twist of a database I must manage.
I'm nearly ready to throw in the towel on that one tonight. I'll apply security updates to the server, but otherwise, sheesh!
I really need to focus.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 12:54 AM :: Submit. [+]
October 4, 2003
Stories
I dug through old posts last night. Found the beginning posts of some of my first stories. They're going to be assembled in the "writing" category. Scroll down a bit and you see the available categories on the left.
If you click the permalink for those posts, it will take you to a series of pages where each post is visible singly, and you can click next or previous from there. Maybe that's confusing.
One day I plan to assemble the stories into a more traditional format. You'll know when I do.
Love.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 5:03 PM :: Submit. [+]
Lust
I see you.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 2:43 AM :: Submit. [+]
October 3, 2003
A Little Baggage
This TypePad tool is very cool. It does a lot of things automagically, and it gives you the ability to tweak and break things under the hood that other blog tools don't approach.
I just brought over all of my old posts. No need to go back to the old place any more. Just keep it right here, baby.
What's more, with categories I'll be able to put all my stories in one place. That way you can fast-forward past the slow parts. You know who you are. You're dirty and that's why I love you.
But, heh heh, not so fast darlin'. I gotta do the work first.
Sometimes, it's all about the antici-
[+] Posted by Sinner at 2:55 PM :: 4 Submissives [+]
October 2, 2003
Large Print Edition
I'm sorry about the font size. I'll get it tweaked when I have time to experiment with CSS again.
On big monitors the font looks small... that's my excuse.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 10:08 AM :: 4 Submissives [+]
October 1, 2003
Everyone:
It's time. Although it's not perfect, it's functional. Therefore, please update your links as follows:
http://blackasmysoul.typepad.com/
Thank you!
The new stuff is going there starting now. The old stuff will follow.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 1:12 AM :: Submit. [+]
September 23, 2003
Code
::sigh::
All I want to do is make everything work the same as it did somewhere else.
You would think this would be easier to do than it is...
So I have spent the day alternately tweaking CSS, or trying to copy a drive image.
Two projects. Two goals.
Neither will be reached without significant additional effort.
I want it now.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 5:42 PM :: Submit. [+]
September 3, 2003
UPDATED:
I have a new tagline:
"A Den of Iniquity."
;)
[+] Posted by Sinner at 7:18 PM :: Submit. [+]
August 8, 2003
Whining, But Tweaking
Blogger was being a complete pain in the ass about publishing, else there would have been posts earlier today...
Meanwhile, I tweaked the template for the page yet again. The bottom of the left column was getting messy to I tried to clean it up a bit. I may choose to drop the buttons in favor of plain text... I don't know yet.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 11:52 PM :: Submit. [+]
July 29, 2003
OK:
Now that I have completely fucked around with the details, please let me know if it's better or worse. There are subtle changes above and less subtle changes on the left.
Or maybe it looks the same as it ever was?
[+] Posted by Sinner at 11:56 PM :: Submit. [+]
July 23, 2003
There.
The finishing touch. I think that will do for now.
Apparently I like the 13 pixel font size versus the 12. If I mention the archives again... how 'bout I don't mention 'em again?
Thanks for your patience.
We will return you to your regularly scheduled blog.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 7:50 AM :: Submit. [+]
I'm trying to teach myself new HTML tricks, primarily by copying Other People's Code.
I have learned that it is possible to use Blogger's Archive Index Template as part of a drop-down form thing.
My deepest gratitude to Girls In The Bag for the idea in the first place (View—>Source), and to Google for taking me to various sites to help me understand at least some of what CSS can be used for—at least the things I specifically wanted to know. I do not have mad skillz where HTML is concerned, but with enough tweaks I managed to confuse the code into working.
I may still experiment a bit, but so far it works well enough...
[+] Posted by Sinner at 2:26 AM :: Submit. [+]
July 17, 2003
Hmmm. Nice.
I go post my URL in a comment system and I end up botching the spelling.
But anyway, server logs are a fun way to discover new sites, n'est-ce pas?
Yeah, I'll quit with the French because I don't want you to think I'm a pretentious ass.
But anyway, 4:00 PM approaches and my lovely spreadsheet is still empty.
And I hear my director's voice...
[+] Posted by Sinner at 2:45 PM :: Submit. [+]
July 15, 2003
OK, Is It Just Me?
Why does it say "5 submissions" when there are so clearly only four?
strong>UPDATE:
It's not just me. Other sites using enetation have incorrect counts. It's cruel getting my hopes up like that.
I mean I love that I even get comments, I just would rather know the real number.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 10:05 PM :: Submit. [+]
July 14, 2003
Hrmm...My 3V1L 5killz are developing...
I have found suitable blog software at long last. Now only to make comments work as well.
Soon my entire blog will be mine!
Bwaa ha ha ha ha haaaaa!
[+] Posted by Sinner at 11:33 AM :: Submit. [+]
July 11, 2003
New Style
I got a new style-sheet going for the document I've been working on these past few days. It's so fucking corporate that my boss is going to shit gray flannel.
[+] Posted by Sinner at 9:59 AM :: Submit. [+]
June 2, 2003
BTW
By the way, I joined a ring today.
The ring code will appear at the bottom of the page before the night is through.
Now, the ring I can create as a result will be announced later—probably this week. You will all know as soon as it happens, I promise.