I got a tragic call this week. I knew it was coming and there was nothing I could do. I put it off for almost five years and my dad finally pulled the plug for me.
Back in 2005 I was in a car accident which all but killed my 1970 Chevy Nova. I had hopes of someday fixing her up and bringing her back to life. She sat in my godfathers back yard for a few years now. Back in my head I new that it was just too expensive to fix her back up. I kept holding off hoping something would come up where I could afford to take care of business. Well, the was is over and time won. My godfather just needed the space and it had to go. My dad knew what had to be done and had her taken to the junk yard. It’s sad but it just had to be done. I don’t know if I could have done it. I’m sorry baby, you gave me so many great memories.
I spend some time at work figuring out how to get Media Wiki to work with the Collection Extension. The Collection Extension is a nice plugin that will allow you to export wiki pages as a PDF and create a collection of wiki pages and export them as a pdf book.
Here are some quick n dirty notes on the overall process. I will come back and provide a full guide once I put the proper notes together.
- Install Ubuntu Server (I went with the new 10.04 LTS release). Run all updates.
- Setup LAMP Stack: Apache, MySQL, PHP5, php5-mysql, php5-curl.
- Install a lot of dependencies and additional software: build-esentials, python dev tools, ect…
- Setup mwlib as described in the installation instructions. There are some dependencies there so make sure you read carefully. Use easy_install mwlib to install.
- Again, follow instructions very closely to setup mwlib.rl. You will need mwlib.rl to render pdf files if you are using a Media Wiki server inside a private network. Use easy_install mwlib.rl to install.
- Checkout the latest Collection plugin to your extensions folder. Make needed changes to your LocalSettings.php file. I noticed that for the Collections plugin to properly work some of your settings have to point to a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN). IE: wiki.mydomain.com instead of 192.168.10.16.
- When you run the render server, mw-serve, you have to tell it what interface to listen to using the “-i” flag. Here is an example, “mw-serve -i 192.168.10.16″. The default interface it listens to is 0.0.0.0 so you will get an error when you try to render a pdf file from you wiki site.
This is the overall process, kind of a big general view. Again, these are just some “quick n dirty” notes. I plan on writing a more detail guide with deeper explanation of how things are setup and why I did some things that I did and I will also note where I had some problems. Hopefully someone out there will find this useful.
It has been a while since I posted so I just wanted to come on and post an update on what has been going on with me:
- Still trying to lose those 27lbs by my birthday in August. 15lbs down so far in about 6 weeks.
- Past two weeks have been kind of rough, mom got sick and was in the hospital for about a week and an old friend die in a car accident.
- Ubuntu 10.04 LTS has been released and it kicks ass, both desktop and server. Been geeking out on it.
- Got to see Kevin Smith (Silent Bob) live at the House of Blues in Hollywood.
- Finally canceled my MySpace account and I’m considering getting rid of the FaceBook.
Hope everyone out there is doing great. Be safe and goodnight.
I had this great Tia (Aunt) when I was a child. She constantly appears in my early childhood memories. There was one other thing that stood out from here and one particular memory that sticks with me. My aunt, as great as she was, was an obese woman. As long as I could remember, she was a large woman and it got worse over the years.
About six years ago she came over to our house to have my dad work on her car. I was on my summer break between Junior and Senior year of college. She brought with her some Jack in the Crack. I guess she was in a hurry and needed to get something to eat. While I sat in the living room watching TV my mother and Tia sat in the kitchen and talked. I don’t remember what they were talking about, but I do remember something she had said. While eating her “food” she told my mother in Spanish, “The doctors told me this food is going to kill me, but…. I don’t care any more.” That comment scared the shit out out of me.
At the time I was in the worst shape of my life (215lbs). I had already given up fast food as I had grown sick of it as I lived off of it. I decided I was going to drop some pounds. I stopped drinking sugary drinks and I gave up alcoholic drinks. Since I had the time I ate more often (healthy foods of course). I love my fruits and vegetables. I did not exercise much besides the occasional walks and jumping jacks. Oh yeah, I also drank a lot of water that summer.
After about three months vacation was over and it was time to go back to school. I had lost 25lbs. I knew I had lost some weight because I was all of the sudden able to fit into old clothes that did not fit me at the start of my summer break. I also got the you lost wight comments from fellow students and professors.
Thanks Giving Day of that same year my Tia die. My parents and I went to go see her at the hospital. We asked to see her and were told a nurse would be out to talk to us. The three of us stood there knowing a nurse was coming out to tell us she had passed away. It sucks to stand there and wait for someone to tell us what we all probably had suspected, but at least it was someone else that said it and not one of us. Her organs just couldn’t take it anymore.
Since then I put the weight back on. I have fluctuated between 205 and 220. Last week I decided I am going to lose 27lbs for my 27th birthday. But this time I hope not to keep it off. So far, 4.2 down, and 22.8 left to go.
On a side not I also decided to get back to doing a lot more photography. Here is a picture of me smiling (because people say I never smile in my pictures):
Almost eight years ago I took a weekend road trip to Berkeley with friends. I fell in love with the school and the area. I decided then and there that I was going to to attend UC Berkeley. I bought a Berkeley sweater (which I still own) and wore it all the time. I went around telling everyone that I was going to transfer to Berkeley (I was in my second semester of community college at the time). People would ask me if I had gotten in already and I assured people I would. I had not even applied, but I already believed I would get in. They day finally came. Months of waiting after applying. Slowly the letters came in. First letter was for UC Santa Barbara, followed by UCLA, and finally Berkeley. I got in! Let me tell you, I was one cocky kid that week.
I turned down the offer and instead opted for the University of San Francisco (USF). Yeah, I went around telling everyone that I was going to Berkeley and in the end I choose not to (that’s an entirely different story). The point is, I went around telling people I was going to do something and when I go around openly telling people I am going to do something I intend to stick to it. This is why I have posted my plans for my 27th birthday this year.
I turn 27 in late August and I have decided to loose at least 27lbs by then. I have been slowly packing on pounds over the years and I decided I need to do something before I end up having one of those days where I look in the mirror and ask WTF happened. I have also decided to face one of my biggest fears: heights. I will celebrate the big 2 7 by jumping out of an air plane, I’m going skydiving!
I am putting this up here to have a public record of my intentions. I will lose at least 27lbs by late August and jump out of a plane (with the possibility of falling to my death). Right now I’m 210lbs and the goal is to at least hit 183lbs. I will update on the status on my weight loss and booking of a jump.
Jose
