TariqAyad.com

Dr Jerald Dirks and his Journey of Faith

tariq — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 13:16:00 +0000

Dr Jerald Dirks, talks about his journey of faith.

Very interesting if you are a seeker of truth

http://tinyurl.com/jdirksfaith

My Hiccup is Gone (the one I had 5 mins ago)

tariq — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 08:38:08 +0000

Yep, Just followed these instructions and they worked.

http://www.cognitial.com/hiccups.asp

The MetaBlog API (Creating and Editing Posts)

tariq — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 03:25:00 +0000

I was writing an extension for my blog that uses the MetaWeblog API, so here is what I have learnt about it.

It uses XML RPC for communication. So if you are coding in .NET you will need the xml-rpc library from CookComputing.

XML-RPC

Firstly an Introduction to XML RPC over here (I would recommend reading the whole series posted there) so that you may get an idea of

1. XML RPC Types

2. Request

3. Response

4. Errors (a.k.a. Faults)

Using CookComputing XML-RPC.Net

The following link shows you how to use xml-rpc.net library from cook computing connect to the WordTracker system.

Link

MetaWeblogAPI

I would recommend you reading the MetaWeblogApi spec to have an understanding of what the API is expecting as the payload of the RPC calls.

So getting down to detail

1. Making a Post

The metaWeblog api new post method signature is

metaWeblog.newPost (blogid, username, password, struct, publish) returns string

which translates as the following into csharp decorated with Xml_rpc.net

[XmlRpcMethod("metaWeblog.newPost")]
        string newPost(
            string blogid,
            string username,
            string password,
            XmlRpcStruct rpcstruct,
            bool publish);

Please note the parameter of type XmlRpcStruct, you can use a regular struct instead of this, and XmlRpc.net will translate it into a XmlRpcStruct type.

What is mandatory for this struct to have is a title, description and link. For blogengines that don't support link pass "content" as the value.

Ok so this is fine and dandy, but what about more complex blog engines that support tags, categories etc.

What I have discovered is that a well formed struct for that satisfies this requirement is as follows.

public struct MetaWeblogRpcStruct

{

public string title;

public string link;

public string permaLink;

public string description;

public string[] categories;

public int mt_allow_comments;

public string mt_keywords;

public string wp_slug;

public string mt_basename;

public string pubDate;

public string mt_excerpt;

public bool publish;

}

so the newpost signature now is

[XmlRpcMethod("metaWeblog.newPost")]
        string newPost(
            string blogid,
            string username,
            string password,
            MetaWeblogRpcStruct mwrpcstruct,
            bool publish);

So coming back to RPC, we need an interface that defines the metaweblog api which we could base a proxy on.

hence

public interface IMetaWeblog: IXmlRpcProxy
{
     [XmlRpcMethod("metaWeblog.newPost")]
     string newPost(
         string blogid,
         string username,
         string password,
         MetaWeblogRpcStruct mwrpcstruct,
         bool publish);

}

So now that that is done, how do you make a post.

First you need to generate the proxy

IMetaWeblog metaWeblog = (IMetaWeblog)XmlRpcProxyGen.Create(typeof(IMetaWeblog));

Then set the endpoint for the RPC call (i.e. metaweblog url of the blogengine)

metaWeblog.Url = "http://localhost/blog/metaweblog.axd";

// Make a post

string ret = metaWeblog.newPost(
blogId, UserName, Password, struct, struct.publish);

What is returned from the metaweblog api when new post is called? A GUID to the post, you will need this if you are to edit the post later on.

2. Editing a Post

The metaweblog api signature for editing a post is

metaWeblog.editPost (postid, username, password, struct, publish) returns true

which when added to our interface looks like

public interface IMetaWeblog: IXmlRpcProxy

{

[XmlRpcMethod("metaWeblog.newPost")]

string newPost(

string blogid,

string username,

string password,

MetaWeblogRpcStruct mwrpcstruct,

bool publish);

[XmlRpcMethod("metaWeblog.editPost")]

bool editPost(

string postId,

string username,

string password,

MetaWeblogStruct content,

bool publish);

}

The procedure is the same as creating a post except the fist parameter "postId" should be the GUID of the post to update.

Spiritual Calling: Till Kingdom Come

tariq — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 03:24:00 +0000

This is a good informative lecture on speaking about "The Way" and it similarities between Christianity and Islam.

Even if you may be resistant to this topic, its still good informative listening.

http://www.thefinestway.com/post/Till-Kingdom-Come.aspx

Site Highlight: WMPoweruser.com

tariq — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 19:51:45 +0000

If you are a Windows Mobile User, then this site should be one of your frequent haunts.

Its not? well take a look-see anyway it has a whole bunch of reviews and news.

http://wmpoweruser.com/

Enabling Outlook Instant Search on WIndows 2008

tariq — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:43:00 +0000

Here is how

Portable Packet Sniffer

tariq — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 05:10:31 +0000

I found this tool today, its a packet sniffer, and they have a portable version of it too.

WireShark

SkyFire is Good (really)

tariq — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:49:15 +0000

Yep if you have a mobile device and want a proxified web browser (i.e. aka opera mini) take a look at Skyfire, they just went live with version 1.0 and its actually quite good. and yes, you can view flash content, and audio content etc etc.

Go get it.

Firefox 3 Extensions I Use

tariq — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 05:46:00 +0000

This post is a just a reference for me in case I have to re-install firefox I would have blue print of all the extensions I use. Of course you also may be able to discover some extensions through it.

1. Quick Drag

2. Hide Menu

7. All In One Gestures

UPDATE: I created an add-on collection for the above here

On Buying American Cars

tariq — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:35:32 +0000

Not that I know anything about this subject, but I came across the following review and its interesting hearing someone's opinions on this subject, specially with all that's gong on GM right now.

http://icantseeyou.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/05/ford-gave-me-a-lincloln-2009-mks-to-drive-for-five-days-here-are-my-findings.html