1. The automation quandary.
    
   One thing that’s a pain in the butt for sure: There’s no way to automate updates for WordPress!
   If we want true peace of mind, we pretty much have to visit the WordPress backend every single day, or at least get Emails notifying us when updates are available for WordPress, and be unusually proactive about it–Especially with your add-ons, checking to see whether or not your active plug-ins are even being updated any more.
   
   (If you know of a way to automate updates on WordPress, please let me know.)
   
   So now, not only do webmasters have to keep their website software in check, but they also should be keeping track of program updates on all of their computers all of the time (And not just FTP programs. I’m talking about programs you’d never think of updating, such as Adobe Air).
   
   One way they may have gotten to my website is through an FTP program called Filezilla. Hackers can get full access to your website’s files using exploits if you happen to have an FTP installed on one of your computers and it happens to be outdated.
   
   I use three different computers, two of them on a regular basis. One of them had an outdated installation of Filezilla on it. Now it’s been updated. But every time I see another update, I pretty much have to run to the other computers and make sure they get updated, too.
   
   Pain. In. The. Ass.
   
   Luckily, I’ve found a better way.
   
   I don’t know if you have a smartphone, but one thing that’s great about them is they notify you when updates are available for all of your applications. You just touch ‘download and install’ and it starts doing just that in the background, much like how Windows Update works. No extra footwork required from you.
   
   There’s a program that behaves much the same way for Windows-based computers called Secunia PSI. It scans for installed programs, and listens for updates in the background, installing them right away (that is, if you choose to set it to’ automatic’). Once you have your PCs and laptops on auto-pilot, Secunia will make sure everything from Winamp to Avast! Antivirus stays up to date, up-to-the-minute (it even listens for Firefox and Chrome plug-in updates). And in most cases, there’s no extra footwork required.
   

    

    

    

    

 

2. The structure of web files, and their ‘rights’.
    
   When I first got my web space, one thing that was overwhelming to me was the file structure. It’s nothing like a C:\ drive, and there was no explanation from the web hosts telling me what’s what. I had to experiment and use a lot of guesswork to try and piece things together. 

   Unfortunately, if you don’t know why the structure is the way it is and what files do what and go where, it’s very difficult to track down a hack and fix it, much like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack (if you’ll excuse the cliché), except it’s multiple haystacks and you don’t even know what the needle looks like.
   
   Certain files and folders need certain rights, and if you don’t have them PERFECT, if you make one single mistake, your entire site can be compromised.
   
   The domain root folder structure:
   
   I’ve only been on one web host, so I can’t be sure they’re all the same, but mine’s laid out like this: (I’ll label the directories we’re concerned with right now.)
   
   =============================================
/ <-(This is the system root directory. There are important config files in here. These are not publicly accessible.)
/.cpaddons
/.cpan
/.cpanel
/.cpcpan
/.entropybanner
/.fantasticodata
/.fontconfig
/.htmltemplates
/.htpasswords
/.MirrorSearch
/.sqmaildata
/.trash
/access-logs
/bin
/cpmove.psql
/etc
/mail
/php
/public_ftp
/public_html <-(This is the web root, where all the files that are publicly accessible are located. Literally, this is www.5-Rings.com and all of its subdirectories.)
/quarantine
/sql
/sql_restore
/tmp
/www <-(This is literally a redirect to public_html.)
=============================================
   
   Starting with the System Root directory (the plain ol’ forward slash), there may be an .htaccess file here, depending on if your server is being run with Apache or not. 

    

    

    

   One interesting thing to note is if there is a dot in front of a file, browsers ignore the file entirely. But that doesn’t mean the web host cannot preprocess commands from one of these dot files before displaying a web page to the end-user (a server-side command). 

    

    

    

   The rights to the files in this directory should be ‘644’. That is, everyone can read the files, but only you can write to it. 

   
   
   The power of .htaccess: Read the rest of this entry »

The location page got a hefty update. The characters page got a minor one (I’m going to update that more, soon). Since I came up with a lot of those names on-the-fly, feedback is most definitely welcome. Especially if anything I named there also happens to be the name of a rare foot disease, or whatever.

Anyway, the next scene is when I start to coordinate the groups of characters I’ve introduced.

There’s traditional Shiirati music as a backdrop; heavy rhythmic drum beats echoing through the city due to the festivites.

There’s Cauinn—along with nearly the entire population of the city—at the Feast of the Eight. She still has Cirellio’s lock of hair and is waiting patiently for him.

There’s the guards patrolling every city street.

There’s Cirellio sneaking through the city.   Read the rest of this entry »

Cirellio enters Shiira, ties off his horse and gets hydrated. He wanders the city until he finds his target, a building called a ‘relic house’, which is much like a city museum.

Before long, people start flocking south to prepare for the Feast of the Eight, but a woman appears to be following him.

No matter how many turns he takes, she keeps pursuing. When he finally lets her catch up, it turns out her name is Cauinn, a mystic. A Legionnaire.

She can tell he’s a thief right away and disapproves of his lifestyle. He doesn’t think much of mystics, either. Read the rest of this entry »

Prologue-

1. a preliminary discourse; a preface or introductory part of a discourse, poem, or novel.
2. an introductory speech, often in verse, calling attention to the theme of a play.
3. the actor or actress who delivers this.
4. an introductory scene, preceding the first act of a play, opera, etc.
5. any introductory proceeding, event, etc.: Appetizing delicacies were the prologue to a long dinner.
–verb (used with object) 6. to introduce with or as if with a prologue. Read the rest of this entry »

Izzit the last day of world-building month, already?

I guess I’ve been taking this past week easy. Oh well…

Then today will be all about random worldbuilding topics.

Milkfin: The most common freshwater fish. Looks like a black and white koi. (see? random! lol)

Okay, let’s try this a different way.

A chain reaction. Like a game of dominoes! I’ll start by explaining something, and if I mention something new in there, I’ll go on to explain that, too. Let’s see how far that gets me before I run out of new terms in my explanations or get sick of it.  :P

What to start with? Hm… How about the ancient rules? Read the rest of this entry »

The elemental order:

What appealed most to me about elemental systems is how the idea is possibly as old as storytelling itself, and fortunately, the Five Rings helped my story come together to make a whole lot more sense.

Analyzing the pseudoscience, I started to wonder if there was any significance to the order of the elements; it seemed like there was virtually no consistency to what order the elements were presented in as I did research.

But, with a little more research in that direction, I found that various sub-cultures had at least attempted to make sense of the elemental order.

The astrologists seem to think it’s Fire first, then Earth, then Air, and finally, Water.
Fire = Aries, Leo, & Sagittarius.
Earth = Taurus, Virgo, & Capricorn.
Air = Gemini, Libra, & Aquarius.
Water = Cancer, Scorpio, & Pisces.
Interestingly, most astrologists still feel the classic elements are necessary to properly interpret an astrological chart.
There are mysterious problems I see with this setup, though. Like why is Aquarius, the water carrier, associated to Air?

According to Tarot readers, it’s Water, Air, Fire, and Earth, corresponding respectively to Cups, Swords, Wands, and Pentacles. Frankly, I’m not sure what ‘Air’ has to do with ‘Swords’, etc. And I can find no explanation as to why this elemental order was chosen over another. If anyone can enlighten me, please do. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve read that a great way to learn more about writing quickly is by joining some kind of writer’s circle or critique group. So, I’ve been looking around, and found there’s only one local group around where I live, called “Wordsmiths by Night” (named such because they all have day jobs, and gather together at night after work to write at the local coffee shops). That sounded really nice, but I guess I was hoping for a fiction-only group. Maybe even a fantasy-only group. I checked at my college and, to my dismay, they didn’t even have a writing club! Realizing how limited my options were, and not having the free time to run my own, I took my search online.

I joined writing.com and critiquecircle.com, but the upgrade-to-paid-membership schemes there were a big turn-off. Luckily, I came across a blog that mentioned Forward Motion (fmwriters.com). I was surprised I hadn’t come across it before, considering it was founded by Holly Lisle. It’s been around for more than ten years and the group is tightly knit. It houses a treasure-trove of knowledge and the people there are very friendly, patient, and willing to help writers of any skill-level. Their mission statement is basically to guide its members to a writing level suitable for being considering for publication. Despite the website’s archaic appearance, it’s one of the largest writer’s communities out there. Considering the friendly, inviting atmosphere, I’m not surprised!

They post challenges every month as writing warm-ups, and this month was haikus. I dove right into their challenge and had a lot of fun. And, as usual, critiques are welcome!

Dare I rhyme haiku,
Even though I don’t have to?
Dare to rhyme, I do.

Scratches on the wall …
In a jail cell … in a jail
Cell … in a jail cell…

To him, it was like
A morganatic union;
Left us with nothing. Read the rest of this entry »