Boxed Lightning it is....

OK... so Boxed Lightning it is instead of Brabur. You know come to think of it a bur in the bra does sound a little rough... I'm jus' sayin'.

So, what we can do is just log onto www.boxedlightning.com and go from there. Since I already have the site ready to go, you will need to change your DNS settings. Also, since I call it brabur on the server, we can change the .htacess file so the browser will show boxedlightning instead of brabur.

As far as the design is concerned, as I stated in the last post, it's pretty easy because there are a lot of templates available. I have built about 20 sites now using Drupal and of all the CMS suites I have used like joomla, word suite, etc., this is by far the best because of the functionality of it. The problem though is that because it offers so much integration and options, the learning curve is a little long. Plus, just grasping the concept of how it works takes some getting used to.

Everything about the system is customizable so each site you build is completely unique although the engine is the same. Here are some links to help you see what I mean.

Drupal Main Site - Click Here

Theme (design) building and templates - Click here

Modules and Plug-ins - Click here

Forums and help from users - Click here

Documentation and key concepts Click Here

The other thing I really like about this CMS is how easy it is to implement custom PHP code within your site. This is like the icing on the cake as far as really making your site a custom piece of work. Like I say, the learning curve is steep, but once you begin to grasp it, you can build a very functional, very professional site in no time at all.

With all of that said, with your graphics capabilities you should have no problems designing our site to be fun and exciting. The beauty is also that after you design the site the way you want it a click of the mouse will change the whole site and everything I've already done will be there, except with your design.

I look forward to doing this project with everyone and I really do think we will have a great time.

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P.S. I Forgot To Mention

The site is fully functional now, but you cannot access it yet with the domain name. I will have this done by Thursday afternoon. Meanwhile, you can access it here.

When you get to the site, simply click on the 'Create a new account' link and register. You will have to be manually approved, and then you can start playing around with it.

Lattehead, as far as redesigning the look of the site, it's fairly straight-forward if you have say Dreamweaver and know a little java. Their are hundreds of templates already available that can be customized and implemented. Click here for details on theme customization and technical details on redesigning the look and feel of the site.

I am glad you approve, Lattehead, since you started Boxed Lightning originally. I just didn't want to step on any toes.

All right.... let's have some fun!!

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Here's an Idea....

I am currently teaching myself the new version of PHP 6.0, which is a computer programming language designed specifically for structured query language enabling the creation of dynamic web pages with content that changes depending on certain programmable parameters.

I have been using 5.0 for several years, but the release of 6.0 has opened up a whole new set of programming tools designed to take advantage of 3G mobile networking, certain I-phone applications, web 2.0 and especially the new web 3.0, and a whole lot more. I am using this in tandem with the open source Apache server environment, which has now become the standard, and probably will be for awhile, due to the absurd instability of the Windows server environments.

By the way, if I seem like I am somewhat negative toward Windows, and Microsoft in general, well I am. Frankly, Microsoft produces the absolute crappiest source code in existence that serves nothing more than to use up absurd amounts of disk space and memory. I really do like their Microsoft accounting program, and a few of their games, but that's about it. And, from a programming point of view, I absolutely cannot stand Windows as an operating system. Not 3.1, windows '95, windows '98, windows 2000, Me, XP, Vista, or even 7, even though Windows 7 is pretty snazzy. Want to know what I am talking about? Try a Mac. Better yet, download a copy of Linux, and use it on the computer you use now. You will be amazed. By the way, Linux is free, Windows costs $299.

Anyway, I have also been using Drupal, which is an open source content management system for designing and implementing web page design, both in an Internet, and intranet situation.

The reason I bring all this up is I would like to expand on Zach's Boxed Lightning Blog. Almost like a social networking site within the family. Boxed Lightning of course would be the primary blogging tool, but we would add our family intranet site for everything else.

We could blog (boxed lighting), do pictures, music, video, email, Geoff and I and anyone else who wanted to could jam in real time over the Internet, watch movies, play games, you could have your own web-page, whatever. And it would be our family intranet, in other words, our own closed Internet environment, and only we would have access to it.

This would serve two purposes. One, it would let me practice my programming skills, and two, you could log in, and access anything from one domain.

For example, you would log in, then you could post to boxed lightning, or you could upload pictures of our Superbowl party to our picture department, or have your own web page, or anything you want. Plus, everyone would have their own email account so it would be really easy to email each other.

We could have a chat session where we all chat at the same time, or video conference, or anything else our little imagination might come up with.

More than anything, this gives us all a unique but effective means of communication which I desperately need because I have such a hard time keeping up with everybody. Plus, it provides a history of our family activities and an ever expanding evolution of what our family does.

I have started the site now, and you can check it our here. It is going to say access denied so log in with these settings:

Username: user

Password: password

The site will probably be WWW.BRABUR.US (not .com), unless anyone has a better name. Please let me know as soon as you can and I will reserve the domain name.

I will set it up so that everyone can be an editor which means you can create pages, stories, upload pictures, etc., etc.

Also, you can have a new e-mail account if you wish which would be like EDCOX@BRABUR.US. You know who Ed Cox is don't you?

This email address works like any email address, but it really works good for communicating back and forth within the intranet site. You would have a complete set of tools like an address book, a calendar, and the works. This will allow me to continue to improve my skills on email site programming which I really need to do.

Let me know. I think we can have a lot of fun with this. By the way, as I'm sure you guessed the website name BRABUR.US is for Brackeen - Burch. The .US extension is for us, I thought that might be a neat twist. But, if you prefer, we could have .com, .net, .org, or whatever you want.

Oh, one more thing, I would love it if Zach would design a logo. Go to the site and see what I mean. This would be a logo for the top of the page.

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Man, What A Game!!

How about that Saints and Vikings game? Was that not a thrilling game? You know, Minnesota should have won that game and they would have except for that ridiculous play with 19 seconds left in the game that Favre passed on. What the heck? I mean, don't we all know in that situation you do everything possible not TO LOSE THE FOOTBALL?

Otherwise, I thought both teams played very well except for the turnovers on Minnesota and the penalties on New Orleans. Really, the game could have gone either way and I knew that whomever won the toss when they were going into overtime was going to win.

I really wanted to see Favre get them to the Superbowl... what a career ending that would have been. In fact, I would not be surprised if he played again next year. It's not unheard of.

Does anyone know who the oldest quarterback of all time was in the NFL? He played from 1949-1976, and also was a field goal kicker, a lineman, a quarterback and several other positions.

He also has the distinction of having played in the 40's, 50's, 60's, and 70's. What a deal. Click Here to read about him.

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Here I am.... Rock you like a Hurricane

Dear jimminy... I had no idea that scorpian has been around that long. I remember cruising Kickapoo in Shawnee (quit laughing) jamming to "Rock you like a Hurricane"




This is a live video from Russia of all places. I actually have always liked Scorpian, and went so far as to buy a cassette of theirs, which says alot, because I do not buy music very often, especially cassette tapes!!

I remember my yellow 1977 Pontiac LeMans playing this song. I had two 12 inch Cerwin-Vega subwoofers in the trunk with about a 500 watt amplifier so, needless to say, we jammed quite a bit to this song, especially after a Friday night Shawnee Wolves football game when we would all go to what we called Walkers Land and drink Boone's Farm and smoke some lefties.

Gosh, what a dork I was.

Anyway, this is very interesting. I guess all rock bands sooner or later must come to an end, except of course, The Rolling Stones.

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Send me an Angel

Okay, so the title was a little....eh. If you are not aware, Scorpion, the band I most remember from
this house, (Zoom in a little, look at the street view, really try to recall the time Theodore wrote F**k Edie in the dust on the lamp), recently announced they are calling it quits. I recall Daryl, the female Daryl, singing, "Let's spend the night together "...from the song "The Rhythm of Love" atop the flattop mountain. This was just a hop skip and a jump from "Jimmies". I'll buy a bottle of good Pepsi Throwback to anybody that can show me where that was.

Seriously, the interesting part is not that Scorpion is ending it, but rather that they have been at it for 44 years. Yes, 44 years. That is 1965. Actually, when their world tour is finished, it'll be 2012 and it will be 46 years. That is older than Mike or my girlfriend.

That started in 1965. Mother, our mother, graduated High School in 1963, the same year Kennedy was shot.

Ah the Winds of Change.

I have not eaten a Chocodile since then, but I am sure they are just as good.

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Superbowl Formula

In honor of the Superbowl, I am bringing back a school project I did that gives the winning formula that every GM in the league should see. Click the image to see it in all of its glory.

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