Author: kiusau

Life is full of surprises. Still, you can quit at anytime, if you have grown weary of their outcome. For, after all, survival is but a first step; it is a primitive instinct that does not distinguish us, humans, from other animals. Accordingly, if it is all that you can achieve in life, do not be surprised that others treat you like an ordinary animal. Alas, if it is all there is left, and you have grown weary, it is good justification to depart. Before you go, however, look deep inside and determine if you are not the cause of your own demise. For, in the end, society owes you nothing, and even your parents are likely to forsake you, if you have not been grateful. Have you said thanks for all that you have received, and have you given in return for all that you have taken? John F. Kennedy once stated "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country". Obviously, he was not thinking of taxes, but the help that he would require to become an effective president. Little that is great can be achieved alone. Then too, it takes great leaders to motivate society and move it forward in a manner that will pave the way to a better tomorrow. The world is in need of good leaders. Maybe you are one of them in disguise. Indeed, no one owes you a living, but if people see you struggling they are apt to lend a hand. Just do not be afraid to reach out. And, do not quit, if nothing is given in return. For, many people simply do not care, and you must not let them get you down. You have a right to your own life and the pursuit of your own happiness, so do not be afraid to claim what is yours. Just do not take what belongs to others, if it not without their permission or obtained in fair competition. And, cry out when you have been cheated, but only if there is something to be gained from your cries, for few people like a cry-baby. Be judicious, strategic, and select your battles wisely. Do not waste your time with trivial injustices, for we all make errors, and we are all, therefore, subject to the injustice of others. It is the very thought of exercising my freedom of last resort that keeps me alive, for it is the comfort that I can put an end to my suffering at any time that allows me to endure enormous pain. It is what gives me the courage to fight for what is right without fear of losing. It is a powerful freedom that you should never surrender! Just do not make pain your goal, or you will surely finish a loser. Then too, never place pleasure over goodness and know to distinguish between the two. In liberty, Roddy

Happy New Year 2018!

In celebration of the new year Grammar Captive is proud to announce a 46 percent increase in page views with a secure connection, and a 40 percent increase in page views with an unsecured connection during the final month of the solar new year just concluded.

These recent increases have returned Grammar Captive to the trajectory that was so rudely interrupted by circumstances in late July of 2017.  If things continue to move forward as they have during the final quarter of the just passed year, Grammar Captive will launch its first podcast during the second half of the month of February, 2018.

Roddy

Different Context, Different Technique

Have just completed the first successful upload to the Seven Gates newsletter data tables.  What I thought would be an easy task turned into a full day’s worth of work.  What worked for the podcasts, simply would not, could not work for the newsletters.  It has been a painful lesson.

In any case, the next step is to create the routine that fills the Seven Gates newsletter template with new values for each new edition.  Hopefully this task will proceed smoothly now that the enhanced newsletter entry form and data tables correspond.

Have a great week!

Roddy

In Celebration of the Winter Solstice

Today hosts the longest night of the year; it is also the day that I completed the restructuring of the Seven Gates newsletter’s data base.  Except for the assignment of a foreign key on one of the newly modified tables, things moved ahead fairly routinely.

The restructuring was the result of just one of the many new things learned during the four months spent developing the Grammar Captive Weekly Podcast host page.

We are one step closer toward integrating new issues of the newsletter with newly created podcasts.  When completed the Newsletter will become still another source of direct access to the newest podcast.

Roddy

End of the Year Metrics (Preliminary Report)

Slightly past the mid-month mark of December 15 Grammar Captive is proud to take note of the following:

The number of unsecured pages already viewed on December 17th beats the total number of pages viewed at the end of the month of September by 2%.  On September 30 Grammar Captive recorded 6,673 views for the month of September alone.  Only seventeen days into the month of December Grammar Captive has already recorded 6,811 views for the month of December.

The number of secure Grammar Captive pages viewed during the month of November was 1067.  As of today, Sunday, December 17, 2017, the number of pages viewed for the month of December has already reached 1,197 — a 12% increase, and there still remain a full two weeks of viewing!

If this is what traffic looks like without substance, Grammar Captive is very hopeful about what traffic will look like with substance.  Maybe, just maybe, fourteen months of effort is beginning to show promise.

It is the lot of the entrepreneur.  He takes a risk, works hard without pay, and hopes for the best.  Unlike government that creates new government jobs from private sector jobs that it destroys with taxation and the servicing of government debt, the entrepreneur creates new jobs derived from his own effort.  It is the entrepreneur that makes an economy grow — not government!

Roddy

Exhaustion and Delight

So inspired and exhausted by the recent technical achievements a long overdue break of sorts was taken.  And, in the spirit of Christmas it was decided to perform a little “tree decorating”.  What did this include?

  • A new addition to the Grammar Captive main page — namely, a section on the nudge.online business model.  It can be found under the heading Other in the Grammar Captive navigation bar.  If you ever had any doubts about what Grammar Captive is truly about, you will not want to miss this new section!
  • A complete overall of the section on Internet Security as previously announced.
  • Alphabetization of the list under Other in an effort to make it appear less haphazard.
  • Elimination of the use of the scope attribute in the CSS/HTML <style> element.  The entire element was replaced with a dynamically loaded CSS stylesheet.  This insures formatting consistency across browsers.
  • Grammar Captive has now been tested with Safari, Firefox, and Chrome.  Internet Explorer has always been a very large, other world for your host.

While returning to the heavy tech stuff this week will be devoted to integration of the Seven Gates newsletter and the Grammar Captive weekly podcasts.

Although an archive for the newsletters is already in place, there is no mechanism to access them methodically as one is now able to access the weekly podcasts.  This seemingly large task will be put off until after podcast production begins.  For, after all, only the truly dedicated will want to read stale news, and Grammar Captive is still not a proven success.  Furthermore, podcasts are far more easily distributed and will likely reach a far larger audience by the very nature of their medium and content.

Roddy

Secure and Unsecured Data Transmission

The problem of failing Javascript functionality when viewing Grammar Captive webpages using the https:// protocol has been resolved.  As a result, the section on Internet Security under the Other heading in the navigation bar on the Grammar Captive main page was completely overhauled.

An update to Grammar Captive’s legal promise is now pending, as well.  Technological advancement requires social adaptation.

Roddy

Integration Complete

The Grammar Captive Weekly Podcast host page that was previously called podcast_dev_copy.php has now been appropriately integrated into the Grammar Captive main page as podcast_hostpage.php.

In addition, not only can all Grammar Captive webpages now be accessed, viewed, and manipulated via the SSL protocol https://, but all files with .html extensions can now be treated as if they were PHP files with .php extensions.  This latter, seemingly small modification makes it possible for Grammar Captive to employ the PHP $_SESSION variable and cookies on every page as needed.  It opens a whole new world of web application functionality.

This said, it is now time to integrate Grammar Captive’s Seven Gates newsletter with the new podcast host page.  Economic reality insists  that podcast production begin as quickly as possible.  The new functionality must come later.

Roddy

Knowing When to Stop

An artist could spend his entire life painting one picture and die in poverty with little or no feedback about what he had actually accomplished.  Or, he can paint many pictures, share each with the world, and earn a living doing what he loves most — paint.  In effect, a successful artist knows when to stop and move on to his next painting.

And, so it is with Grammar Captive.  We are nearing the end of our second major painting and have begun the integration of the Grammar Captive Weekly Podcast page with the Grammar Captive main page.

Now, when you open to the main page, and click on the phrase Weekly Podcasts in the navigation bar, not only do you open to a brief description of the most recently produced podcast, but also to a link that takes you to the same, but more elaborated podcast on the Grammar Captive Weekly Podcast host page.  There you need only Click and Listen for a second time and the podcast is yours!

After a little more refurbishing of the podcast insert on the main page, the integration of Grammar Captive podcasts and the Seven Gates newsletter will begin.  Indeed, we are much closer to real podcast production than we have ever been before!  I am very excited.

Roddy