Kind: Articles

Simple Location

• • Rounds all numbers to a maximum of two decimal points, as I introduced a bug in the last version that would fail to fill in numbers in the post editor due form validation requirements.
  • Extracts additional location information from Compass…mostly the information I store when I’m on a plane, to generate a better description of the location. It also passes this info to WordPress more effectively so it could do more in future.
  • I also introduced a new location provider. If set, if you enter a 3 letter airport code in the location name box, it will replace it with the location and name of that airport, as well as the weather. In future, I may add a similar reverse address lookup for people.
  • Misc bug fixes

Syndication Links

• • Some bug fixes introduced in 4.2.0
  • Due to the request to allow syndication provider checkboxes to be checked by default, I introduced two new filters: syndication_link_checked and syndication_link_disabled. The first parameter of each is a boolean that if true, will set either checked or disabled on that Syndication Provider. The second and third parameter is the uid of the provider and the post_id of the post.

I have been very reluctant to add an auto-post feature that just syndicated everything. I wanted some more granularity around this feature. But I’m not ready to implement it at this time. So, as a compromise, I’ve added a filter if someone does not want to wait for me.

I am once again co-organizing and once again volunteering to handle the  video for the intros, sessions and demos. This means I will be bringing the equipment to record the sessions, which will be ultimately available online. You can watch our last event, in Berlin Germany, here. The intros, demos, and keynote are not yet up, but I’ve added most of the sessions. You can see examples of those at the prior event in Brighton UK, available here.

IndieWebCamps are a great place to talk about creating or updating your own website and the technologies or ideas around it. The first day involves sessions, the topics for which are chosen by the attendees. The second day is when you build and demo something you built the previous day.

It is a fun event at a minimal cost. If you are in the area, why not stop by?

The problem is transforming the input from Southwest into the format another system can accept. I did not want to write an Android app for this…I wish there was one.

So, instead I used Tasker,  an automation app for Android that does have scripting in it.

So, if you retrieve http://getconnected.southwestwifi.com/current.json, you get the following JSON data.

 {
  "pcent_flt_complete": 0,
  "altVal": "-24",
  "lon": "-73.867",
  "satcomm_status": {
    "commlink": "active",
    "linkparams": "not-stale"
  },
  "dtzone": "CDT",
  "within_us": true,
  "etad": "09:20 AM",
  "lat": "40.775",
  "gspdVal": "10",
  "ttgc": "2h 15m",
  "dist_remain": "888",
  "actime24": "07:05"
}

The Task I created consists of three actions. It uses the HTTP Request action to get the above JSON. Then it uses the below JavaScriptlet(Tasker allows you to write JavaScript, to convert the data into the GeoJSON that Compass expects. The third action posts that to Compass.

var parsed = JSON.parse( http_data );
var gmt = new Date().toISOString();
var alt = Math.round( parsed.altVal * 0.305 );
var feature = {
      "type": "Feature",
      "geometry": {
        "type": "Point",
        "coordinates": [parsed.lon, parsed.lat, alt]
      },
      "properties": {
        "timestamp": gmt,
        "percent_complete": parsed.pcent_flt_complete,
         "dist_remain": parsed.dist_remain,
         "source": "flight",
         "airline": "wn"
      }
    };
var compass = { "locations": [feature] };
var featurejson = JSON.stringify( compass );

Now, I am known for not doing much JavaScript work, preferring PHP. But this was simple enough. I could have added more of their parameters, or, since Southwest does not put the flight number into their JSON, allow it to be set.

It is triggered when I am connected to SouthwestWifi, in Airplane Mode, and every 5 minutes. I wasn’t sure if I should poll more often, but 5 minute intervals seemed reasonable. Regrettably, Southwest does not provide more parameters like speed.

I wish some developer would write an app that would do this, partially because, if the wifi goes down, the request will fail and I’ll lose it. I’d rather cache and retry. Also, GPS Logger has some limitations. I wish there was an Android version of Aaron Parecki’s Overland app. Being as he wrote Compass, it works well with that and has those caching features.

I have two flights on two different airlines in the next month, and will see if I can write similar scripts. I enjoy the challenge of trying to write and test it on my phone live.

Next, I need something to display a visualization of this with altitude.

Bughouse involves 2 chess boards

• Teammates sit beside each other playing opposite colors
• Whenever a piece is captured, it is given to their teammate.
• Teammates can use a move to place the piece on an unoccupied square.
• Pawns cannot be placed on the ends of the board.
• The first person to lose by checkmate or time loses for the team.
• Bughouse is usually played with chess clocks.
• When played without a clock, there is usually a rule preventing a player waiting for pieces (stalling or sitting) indefinitely. One rule states that players may not delay their move beyond the time that it takes for their partner to make three moves
• There is no specific rule against verbal coordination.

Four Player Chess is played with a standard board with an extra 3×8 section on each side. There are no official rules. Here are my notes based on a little research.

• 4 Player Chess can be a partnership game, where the object is to checkmate both opposing players at the same time.
• In other variants, you can have partnerships, every player for himself, or temporary alliances.
• Turns move in clockwise order.
• Queens must be placed on the same color..usually white

The most well known 4 player chess was created by Capt George Hope Verney in 1881. There is a copy of his book on the subject here…

• Option 1 – Verney’s original rules for 4 handed chess
  • The players who are opposite each other become partners
  • No communication is permitted between the partners.
  • The pieces of partners do not attack each other, therefore, their Kings can even be next to each other.
  • No player can make a move to place his partner in check
  • Castling is not permitted
  • Pawns can only move one square at a time, not 2 on the first move as in normal chess
  • For a pawn to become a Queen, it must reach the edge of the board of one of its enemies, not its partner.
  • When a pawn reaches the edge of the board of its partner, it may reverse direction until it reaches the end of its own side…after which it may do so again. It should be marked somehow appropriately.
  • The game is won when two of the partners are checkmated.
  • When one partner is checkmated, his pieces are not removed from the board, but remain in position. His partner continues the fight singlehanded, while the player misses his turns. His pieces cannot move or be captured, they merely block the board.
  • A partner can release his partner from checkmate by capturing pieces or forcing their move by the opponent.
  • An opponent, having checkmated a player, can release him, but cannot capture other pieces in the same move.
• Option 2 – Hughes 1888 Variant. All of Verney’s rules except:
  • Pawns may advance two squares initially.
  • When a pawn’s move is obstructed by a pawn of its partner, it can leap over it, provided the square it moves to is vacant
• Option 3- Variant of prior options where your partner is next to you, rather than opposite.
• Option 4 -A Non-Partner Variant
  • Castling and en-passing are permitted. All standard chess rules, except as follows:
  • A player’s king must actually be captured to eliminate the player.
  • A player may move into a potential checkmate
  • A checkmated player may move any of his pieces
  • An eliminated player’s remaining pieces stay stagnant on the board (default), but may be captured.
  • Pawns can be exchanged for another piece on reaching any end row (ahead, or to the side).
  • The last king standing is the winner, or the last two kings standing if they declare a truce or an alliance (unless one of them decides to eliminate the other.)

I wanted to put out to any WordPress user for some input. The IndieAuth plugin creates an IndieAuth endpoint inside your WordPress installation. This means that you login to your site and that login generates a token to give Micropub, Microsub, or other clients in order to let them have access to your site.

Alternatively, if you don’t install it, the IndieAuth code inside the other plugins will connect to an external IndieAuth endpoint, defaultly indieauth.com. Indieauth.com, for example, delegates your login to a third-party site(Github, for examplle) on which you have an account that you link to from your website. So all you need is to add a link marked up properly to your site for that.

So, the question is, why would people want an external login to a built-in login? Since it uses the WordPress login system to get your credentials, you could install any number of login enhancements for WordPress that would work seamlessly to accomplish the same goal if you want to log in using a third-party site, for example.

It is definitely more secure for you to use authorization under your own control than delegating it to another site. To try and make my life easier, I would like to make Micropub and Microsub dependent on having the IndieAuth plugin installed.

The only use case presented for allowing an external site was…what if I want to sign into Site A with the credentials of Site B? That would be web sign in. There is functionality for that built into the IndieAuth plugin, but it probably deserves to be its own plugin so you can install it or not as the case may be.

Web sign in presents you with a URL and then, when you ask to log in, searches that URL for an IndieAuth authorization endpoint. If none is available, it would fail back on another technique, such as relmeauth…looking for alternative login providers.

Hoping for some comments on why people might want to maintain the external option.

Going forward, Micropub posts with a location property will be set to public by default unless the client sends information indicating otherwise.

To support fixing the ones set incorrectly, there is now a bulk action to set multiple posts to private or public.

For Micropub posts without a location property, there is now a setting to add one from the backend geolocation provider. This will obviously not work with the web browser based provider, only the ones that work in the background. There are currently 2 bundled in.

• Set Location from Author Profile – This will always pull the location set in the user’s metadata. You can read about how to set this here. Thereotically, any external provider that supports HTTP requests could use this
• Compass – Aaron Parecki’s location storage system. I selfhost my own copy.

In a future update, will be looking to set Compass API lookup per user so each user could have a separate feed for location.